Category[The Atlantic]

• Occupational licensing rules are pervasive and often arbitrary. It takes different amounts of money and time to become certified in different states for the same profession, and the benefits of these rules are unsubstantiated. This has a direct cost for workers, in terms of both fees and foregone wages, and an indirect cost for consumers, in the form of higher prices and reduced mobility.
• Trade associations play a key role in implementing and maintaining these rules. Professional associations can shape requirements around benefits for their members rather than the public interest, and they have an incentive to maintain high barriers to entry in order to reduce competition and raise wages for their members.
• Licensing rules are often ineffective in achieving their stated goals. Research shows that licensing rules don’t necessarily increase quality or public health and safety, and that they may reduce employment and exacerbate labor shortages in certain industries.
• Reforming occupational licensing is a start, but it is not enough. Rethinking occupational licensing is part of the larger project of building effective government and ensuring protection against health and safety risks. This requires more than deregulation, such as clear regulations and effective enforcement.

Published February 24, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Jerusalem Demsas’s original post Permission-Slip Culture Is Hurting America

• Simon Rosenberg became an overnight sensation by challenging the predictions of Democratic doom and highlighting evidence of a different narrative in interviews, blog posts, and tweet streams.
• Clintonism was the central project of the New Democrats, which focused on making the Democratic Party competitive at the presidential level again and resulting in 7 of 8 presidential elections won by the Democratic Party.
• Donald Trump’s rise has been a dark period in our history with the emergence of “Greater MAGA” which is rooted in a narrative of the white tribe rallying around itself and a sense of grievance, loss, and decline.
• In the 2022 election, there were two elections – one inside and one outside of the battlegrounds. Democrats were able to control the information environment and push turnout up through the roof, but outside the battlegrounds, the Republicans were still louder than the Democrats.
• To win 55% of the vote nationally, Democrats must become more competitive in the daily political discourse, build more media institutions, and become information warriors daily.
• The goal should be to expand, not to reposition when it comes to criticism of the Democratic Party.

• The Democratic Party has been highly successful since the late 1980’s. This success is reflected in multiple areas and is something to be proud of.
• The goal should be to expand, not to reposition. This means looking to young voters, Latinos, Never-MAGA or -Trumpers, and young women, post-*Dobbs*.
• The No. 1 job is to increase registration, communications, targeting, and to make young people the center of politics. This will be key for the Democratic Party to be successful in the next two years.
• The right-wing propaganda machines have bullied public opinion. This was the case in the lead up to the 2020 election, and there should be more introspection on why the general wisdom was so off.
• For the Democrats to win in 2024, the economy needs to be good and they need to be successful in Ukraine, while the Republicans need to present themselves differently than MAGA.

Published February 23, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Ronald Brownstein’s original post Why This Democratic Strategist Walked Away

• Jimmy Carter’s life story – His life story highlights the tension between what we plan and what happens, with Proverbs 19:21 “Man proposes, God disposes” being a key theme. He made luck for himself and benefited from blind chance.
• In office – As president, Carter faced the challenge of leading an ungovernable America, but had broader support than almost any of his successors. He was intelligent, disciplined, self-contained, and spiritual.
• Post-presidency – Carter lived a long and full life of purpose, inventing a new post-presidency role for himself, and eventually seeing his record and achievements reconsidered. He could not have received the Nobel Peace Prize had he died at 64.
• Context – It is hard to imagine the America of the late 70s, a country fraying on all its edges, dealing with globalization and environmental constraints, and politically with a Democratic base in the South, and a Republican stronghold on the West Coast.

• Culture and Economics: The US was a country fraying on all its edges, just beginning to absorb the shock of the Vietnam years, in its first wave of grappling with globalization and environmental constraints. Prevailing memories reached back far beyond Vietnam to the Korean War, World War II, and the Great Depression.
• Technology: There were no cellphones then, nor even bulky “portable” phones. Computers meant behemoths at major data centers.
• Civic Life: Richard Nixon’s downfall seemed to have reinforced the idea that there was such a thing as public shame. It was construed as embarrassing for Jimmy Carter that his hard-luck brother, Billy, was in a penny-ante way cashing on the family fame.
• Legislation: In the Senate, Democrats had a margin of nearly 10 seats through Carter’s time. In the House, under Speaker Tip O’Neill, they had a margin of nearly 150 seats. The serious legislative dealmaking was among the Democrats.
• In Office: Jimmy Carter did more than anyone else, before or since, to bring peace to the Middle East, with his Camp David accords. He also changed the composition of the federal courts, deregulated countless industries, advocated for human rights, and saved the US decades of woe with his Panama Canal Treaty.
• Legacy: Jimmy Carter survived to see many of his ambitions realized, including near eradication of the dreaded guinea worm, and his character, vision, and sincerity recognized. He was an unlucky president, and a lucky man.

Published February 21, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read James Fallows’s original post An Unlucky President, and a Lucky Man