DJWinfo

• Beyond the Beltway this Sunday (TV and live radio)

  Number of comments: 0
  I'll be on Beyond the Beltway with Bruce DuMont this Sunday, November 29th on live radio (via WLS 890 am in the Chicago region and around the country on these affiliates) as well as a taped television broadcast on WYCC and Comcast Cable.
  
  I imagine' [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 1:12pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• A video speech on advocacy, high speed rail, lobbying and citizen participation

  Number of comments: 0
  I gave a speech to Green Drinks as part of a sustainable transportation discussion last month in Chicago. I talked about high speed rail, www.FourBillion.com, the need to demand that our government budgets reflect our progressive values (show me the money!) and how one person really can make [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 7:45pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• The US has single-payer health care (and a public option): TRICARE by the US military

  Number of comments: 0
  There are almost 10 million Americans in a world-class single-payer health care system today. It's called Tricare and it is for those in the military, their families and reservists. 
  There is no insurance company involved.
  That's the beauty. No parasitic for-profit paper-pushers between a doctor and a patient. High-quality [...]
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  Posted: September 15, 2009, 9:37am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Great high speed rail blog post comparing France to Midwest -- it's all policy choices

  Number of comments: 0
  For some people who still think that Eruope is better suited for high speed rail than the United States because of higher population densities or flatter terrain or any other reason, check out this long post by The Phony Coney comparing the Cincinnati-Chicago corridor to France's TGV showing that the' [...]
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  Posted: August 20, 2009, 10:04pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Governor Pat Quinn improves elections starting in 2010 with better voter registration (extends grace period an additional week)

  Number of comments: 0
  A little more progress in the permanent effort for more responsive government: Governor Pat Quinn signed into law a measure that gives Illinois citizens an additional week to register to vote or update their address before each election.
  The bill is HB 267 (now Public Act 96-0441), sponsored [...]
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  Posted: August 17, 2009, 10:18am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• I'll be on BBC's Simon Mayo programme tomorrow at 9:15 am CST defending our President

  Number of comments: 0
  Tomorrow from 9:15 - 10:00 am CST I'll be explaining to the good listeners of the BBC's Simon Mayo programme that President Barack Obama retains the solid support of a majority of the nation (not to mention the largest number of Democratic senators in decades) and that the months-long [...]
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  Posted: August 10, 2009, 2:40pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• I'm glad Obama is calling for "health insurance reform" not "health care reform"

  Number of comments: 0
  Great news.
  
  President Barack Obama is holding a press conference tonight on the topic of "health insurance reform" and not on "health care reform." I just received my email from the White House (or the DNC) with the vastly superior language.
  
  The problem is with our broken health [...]
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  Posted: July 22, 2009, 3:30pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• The Founding Fathers would have loved the European Union (they would have let Canada join the US!)

  Number of comments: 2
  The Articles of Confederation (the United States' governing document from 1781 until before the Constitution replaced it in 1788) allowed Canada to join the United States at any time it wished, simply by accepting the terms of the Articles of Confederation. Here's the language:
  
  Art. XI Canada acceding to [...]
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  Posted: July 09, 2009, 8:31pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• 2010 Illinois primary election calendar shortened: candidate petitions in one month

  Number of comments: 0
  Lisa Madigan already deserves credit for single-handedly achieving a long-held goal of voters and reformers: she has dramatically shortened the 2010 Illinois primary season. Consider that petitions hit the street in one month and almost no one has decided what they are running for yet. Usually a primary campaign season [...]
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  Posted: July 06, 2009, 5:18pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Mark Kirk tells China not to trust the US government. Seriously.

  Number of comments: 1
  The Chinese government is largely financing most of our debt, and now that we're trying to spend our way out of a recession (the right economic policy, by the way), we really need to keep China on our side.
  
  Well, Representative Mark Kirk made that a little more difficult.' [...]
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  Posted: June 15, 2009, 11:58pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Europe votes this week. Imagine if we participated as well

  Number of comments: 0
  People in 27 European nations are voting this week to elect the members of the European Parliament.
  
  This is a triumph of democracy in the history of the world. Only elections in India involve more people.
  
  The people of Europe speaking several different languages and with grandparents who [...]
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  Posted: June 07, 2009, 10:27am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Gladwell: Relentless effort trumps skill, and underdogs win more than you think

  Number of comments: 3
  One of the best ways to win against someone who superior skills is with relentless effort.
  
  That's how underdogs win: they take the fight to their opponent in a socially unacceptable way to trump their opponent's superiority.
  
  Malcolm Gladwell has a good feature in the New Yorker [...]
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  Posted: May 10, 2009, 11:21pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Obama's 100 days on Milt Rosenberg's WGN show tonight

  Number of comments: 0
  I'm leaving Springfield early to appear on Milt Rosenberg's Extension 720 show tonight from 9 to 11 pm to discuss President Barack Obama's wildly successful first 100 days.
  
  Who would have thought in 1999 when a state senator from Hyde Park was working here in Springfield under Pate Philip's [...]
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  Posted: April 29, 2009, 4:42pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Another difference between Democrats and Republicans

  Number of comments: 0
  Yesterday, the Senate Republicans voted to keep government barriers in place from citizens and taxpayers from voting while the Democrats in the Illinois Senate Elections Committee voted to reduce some of those government restrictions from citizens voting in elections.
  
  The place was Room 400 of the Illinois Capitol (the [...]
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  Posted: April 29, 2009, 8:11am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• White House to announce high speed rail plans Thursday....very exciting

  Number of comments: 0
  This is very exciting news.
  
  President Barack Obama (who essentially single-handedly transformed American rail policy by investing $8 billion of stimulus funding into rail -- 15 times more than what the federal government had ever invested in one year before) is scheduled to announce the federal plan for how [...]
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  Posted: April 16, 2009, 12:56am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Today's special election is a waste; fill vacancies in one election, not two

  Number of comments: 2
  Today’s special general election between Mike Quigley, Rosanna Pulido and Matt Reichel is a waste of time, money and resources. Taxpayers will shell out almost two million dollars to hold an election in the 5th Congressional district with only three names on the ballot. And the result of the election [...]
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  Posted: April 07, 2009, 7:12am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Metra should take credit cards -- a Senate bill would require just that

  Enclosure: [download]

  Number of comments: 0
  Yesterday Senator Michael Bond (D-Grayslake) and I held a press conference on his legislation that requires Metra to accept credit cards for fare payments.
  
  I represent the Transit Riders' Alliance, a project of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, and we enthusiastically support Senator Bond's bill. Hopefully [...]
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  Posted: March 27, 2009, 9:26pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Poll: Majority of >100K income earners favor a higher tax rate for high incomes

  Number of comments: 1
  This report is a few months old, but particularly timely.
  
  The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University conducted a poll last fall and asked Illinois respondents what revenue-generators they would support. The most popular way for the State to raise more money was a federal-style [...]
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  Posted: March 23, 2009, 12:12am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Media headlines are wrong: Quinn proposes tax cuts for most, tax increase for some

  Number of comments: 2
  That's what the headlines should be about Governor Quinn's likely budget proposal.
  The Governor has confirmed that he wants to cut the income tax for everyone by making the first $6,000 of income tax free. Right now the first $2200 of income is tax free. So the benefit is basically $120 [...]
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  Posted: March 13, 2009, 5:12pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• From Bush-Blagojevich to Obama-Quinn. What an upgrade!

  Number of comments: 1
  Just think: two weeks ago, the two chief executives for Illinois residents were President George Bush and Governor Rod Blagojevich. Tonight, they are President Barack Obama and Governor Pat Quinn.
  
  That is the biggest upgrade in an eight-day span we've ever seen.
  
  We went from two executives who' [...]
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  Posted: January 30, 2009, 12:05am EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• President Barack Obama. Sometimes the good guys win.

  Number of comments: 0
  The first time it hit me was after his speech in Grant Park when the brassy presidential music started to play. All the pomp and circumstance around the closest thing we have to a King would be placed on the thin shoulders of a guy who was working three jobs [...]
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  Posted: January 20, 2009, 9:34am EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Live from Cleveland: Speaking engagement on Amtrak advocacy before All Aboard Ohio

  Number of comments: 0
  Good morning from Cleveland!
  
  I'll be speaking in a few hours before a meeting of All Aboard Ohio on the topic of Amtrak/transit advocacy, sharing lessons learned from the successful effort in Illinois to double the size of the Amtrak program in 2005-6. I helped to lead that' [...]
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  Posted: January 07, 2009, 6:17am EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• My discussion of Professor Barack Obama as part of Time's Person of the Year coverage

  Number of comments: 0
  Barack Obama was my law professor in 1998. I was fortunate to be interviewed by Time Magazine (along with Illinois State Board of Education Chair Jesse Ruiz) in Classroom 5 of the University of Chicago Law School where we shared our thoughts and experience with Professor Obama's inclusive and real-world-oriented' [...]
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  Posted: December 28, 2008, 4:01pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Stockholm traffic management lessons from Randy Blankenhorn

  Number of comments: 0
  Today at the Metropolitan Planning Council's "Around the World in 90 Minutes in Global Infrastructure Best Practices" Randy Blankenhorn of CMAP shared some insight into how we can reduce traffic congestion through better management, Stockholm-style.
  
  We don't really do much to manage traffic flow in Northeastern [...]
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  Posted: December 17, 2008, 2:44pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Senator Jeff Schoenberg hits the blogosphere

  Number of comments: 0
  Joining Representative John Fritchey in Blogistan, Senator Jeff Schoenberg launched Deep Blue Illinois, a policy-oriented blog with some good political insight as well (at least based on his first three posts....).
  
  Senator Schoenberg was one of the first blog readers, even telling me on the record [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2008, 3:34pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Federal stimulus an opportunity for passenger trains and transit

  Number of comments: 0
  Change is coming to Washington, and that change could mean a new investment in transit and passenger trains.
  Today, President-Elect Barack Obama is in Philadelphia meeting with almost all of the nation's governors who are pushing for a major federal investment in infrastructure and Medicaid spending. The governors are looking' [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2008, 9:32am EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Best bailout for GM, Ford, Chrysler: Government health insurance (with private doctors)

  Number of comments: 2
  While the Democratic leaders in Congress are pushing hard for a bailout of some kind to the nation's big three automakers (Ford, GM and Chrysler), the Republicans have basically said no. 
  "The financial straits that the Big Three find themselves in is not the product of our current economic'" [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2008, 8:21am EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Huge overflow crowd at Highland Indiana rally

  Number of comments: 1
  This multi-racial crowd has overwhelmed the park on a beautiful Halloween night. Costumes aren't allowed so kids are wearing their parents jackets over princess outfits. The crowd tastes victory in Indiana while we wait for the next President to appear. It feels like a new majority. Friendly, crowded but firm' [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2008, 7:51pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Who should I vote for? If you make less than 100 grand, Obama. More than 250 grand, McCain.

  Number of comments: 0
  If you are going to base your vote exclusively on which candidate will cut *your* taxes, then the choice is clear, depending on how much money you make.
  Start by remembering how much money you made in 2007 and how much you realistically expect to make next year. Got it?
  [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2008, 9:55am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• McCain calls Obama tax plan socialism for "spreading the wealth" ...

  Number of comments: 0
  John McCain calls Barack Obama's tax plan "socialism" as it w0uld reinstate the tax rates we had from 1993-2001 where any income above $250,000 paid an additional 3.6% more than they do now. 
  That's the difference between our economy today and "socialism" according to the Republican Party -- if someone [...]
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  Posted: October 28, 2008, 3:17am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• 20,462 people would have been excluded without grace period registration

  Number of comments: 0
  The deadline to register to vote in Illinois is 28 days before the election. After that, the state extends a grace period of an extra 14 days where citizens can register to vote, but they have to do so in the office of the election administrator (no drivers license facilities [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2008, 11:02am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Upcoming radio appearances: the BBC and Beyond the Beltway

  Number of comments: 0
  Must be a B for Barack alliteration: the BBC and Beyond the Beltway have kindly asked me to appear on their shows as a Democratic voter voice in the next week or so. 
  I'll be on Beyond the Beltway tonight (to balance out the right-of-center Mancow who is' [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2008, 11:21am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Best voters guide I've ever seen -- Tribune's website

  Number of comments: 0
  This is one of the coolest innovations in voters' guides I've ever seen.
  The Chicago Tribune (which does the most work of any organization in the state interviewing candidates for public office and offering those answers to the electorate) now has a very nifty online feature: a voter-specific ballot that [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2008, 4:57pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Poll: Illinois voters want federal-style tax brackets

  Number of comments: 0
  Two-thirds of Illinois voters want a progressive income tax with federal-style tax brackets instead of a flat rate income tax according to the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute's most recent poll.
  That's by far the most popular method of raising revenue.Add income tax brackets with a higher rate for [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2008, 12:52pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Why would anyone vote for more Republican rule in Washington?

  Number of comments: 1
  Republicans have screwed things up so badly that they all ought to be fired.
  Why would anyone vote to give Republicans more control over the government after they:
  1. Invaded the wrong country after we were attacked2. Got rid of all any regulations over the banks that could have stopped [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2008, 10:59pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Undecided voters -- and most voters -- want big government spending

  Number of comments: 0
  I learned something watching the presidential debate last night: we want big government spending.
  
  Every time McCain would rail against "big government spending" as the problem at the cause of our financial crisis, those little lines by the undecided Ohio voters would stay flat or go negative. And every [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2008, 10:43am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Post-debate discussion on WGN tonight with Milt Rosenberg

  Number of comments: 0
  I'm going on the Milt Rosenberg show on WGN 720 am tonight for some post-presidential debate discussion. Apparently we're doing something fun by steaming live for awhile on WGN Radio 2 when we're pre-empted by sports and then going on the air. Should be a good time. [...]
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  Posted: October 15, 2008, 4:36pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Canadian election shows how to run a voter registration system without our problems

  Number of comments: 0
  Voter registration in the United States is a mess. Because it is the job of the citizen and not the government to keep voter registration information current, it's really up to the political campaigns and other non-government, private organizations to help people register to vote.
  Some of these private, transient' [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2008, 12:50am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Updated -- list of Cook County judges to vote against

  Number of comments: 1
  I had a bit of feedback on reprinting the Chicago Bar Association's recommendations for judicial candidates in Cook County, so I thought I'd see who else is not recommended.
  Typically, all state judges win their races. That seems wrong to me (especially as today I saw a WBEZ story [...]
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  Posted: October 13, 2008, 1:48pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• The list of Cook County judges to vote against this election

  Number of comments: 0
  The Chicago Bar Association just released their evaluation of all the judicial candidates on the ballot this November. Most of them are qualified and worth a vote. But about six of them are not, and they are the people that we should vote against this November.
  They are:
  Anthony [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2008, 4:28pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• My magazine written up in 37signals blog

  Number of comments: 2
  I publish a magazine for the public transportation field called More Riders. It's for anyone who wants to help generate more riders on transit by better communication.
  
  Today, the Chicago-based software company 37 signals wrote us up in their Product Blog, since I use their products' [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2008, 10:55am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Amtrak train riders should vote for Obama since McCain votes against Amtrak

  Number of comments: 0
  I think John McCain made a major strategic mistake last week in Washington: he continued his decades-long record of opposition to Amtrak by voting against the best federal legislation for Amtrak in a decade. The bill is HR 2095, the Passenger Rail Improvement and Investment Act. Barack Obama voted [...]
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  Posted: October 04, 2008, 1:00pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• DeFazio unveils a non taxpayer-as-sucker fix to credit crisis instead of a bail out

  Number of comments: 4
  The fundamental problem with forcing you and I and every other American to risk $2300 of each our taxes to buy stupid loans from investment banks that -- if they were so smart, the Wall Street wizards never would have bought in the first place -- is that we are [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2008, 8:43am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• History repeats itself? 1932 failure and then passage of big legislation is instructive

  Number of comments: 1
  Jim Oleske has a post on dailykos with a history lesson.
  In 1932, Congress tried to pass a new tax since government funds were all drying up. There was a Washington consensus around a sales tax. But the people said no, and the Members of Congress rebelled against their [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2008, 2:31pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• I'm glad the bailout of investment banks did not pass

  Number of comments: 2
  I hope it doesn't.
  Yes, the bill that just went down is much better than the absurd plan the President put forward a few weeks ago. But it isn't nearly good enough.
  If the financial sector is the problem, then a tax on financial transactions (like a stock fee) is [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2008, 1:23pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• No bailout of investment banks. Or at least use a Wall Street tax to pay for it.

  Number of comments: 3
  The problem is that banks became investment banks (and insurance companies and every other financial instrument seller they could). So when they started buying stupid investments, like mortgages that the homeowner could never pay for, the stupidity spilled over into non-stupid things, like running a bank. 
  Well, it looks like [...]
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  Posted: September 26, 2008, 4:54pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• When will McCain answer the "divided Republicans" question

  Number of comments: 0
  One of John McCain's biggest rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, Congressman Ron Paul, just formalized his rejection of the McCain/Palin ticket in favor of the Constitution Party's presidential campaign of Chuck Baldwin.
  Congressman Paul was earning up to 25% of the votes of Republican primary-goers in the [...]
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  Posted: September 23, 2008, 10:22am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Obama Administration: Pragmatic above all else (my quote in the New York Times)

  Number of comments: 0
  I appear in a story in the New York Times Sunday Magazine today on what lessons can be drawn from Professor Barack Obama of the University of Chicago Law School. He was my professor for Voting Rights in 1999 so I was quoted as part of today's story.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: September 21, 2008, 9:30am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Another $85 billion for the bankers? Do you know how much high speed rail we could build for that?

  Number of comments: 3
  It's unbelievable. Money is no object when the banks are in trouble.
  
  $85 billion for an insurance company loan.
  
  We could make a loan to a private company for $85 billion to build and operate the best high speed rail network in the world and within five years, [...]
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  Posted: September 16, 2008, 10:10pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Toe-to-toe with the Barack's Swift Boaters tonight on WGN

  Number of comments: 3
  I was fortunate enough to be invited to appear on the Milt Rosenberg show (streaming now on www.wgn720.com) on WGN 720 am to defend the idea of truth and honesty on the other side of the table from David Freddoso, the author of a hatchet job on Barack Obama. [...]
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  Posted: September 15, 2008, 9:33pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Our common purposes: Meeks, black students and New Trier education

  Number of comments: 3
  The best part of Senator Obama's acceptance speech was the second half when he returned to the theme of his political career. He reminded us that we've lost a sense of common purpose in the partisan wars. We're losing the idea that we are all in this together and that [...]
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  Posted: September 02, 2008, 9:39am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• My column on Chicago Ascendant in Huffington Post - Chicago

  Number of comments: 2
  I wrote a column about Chicago's Ascendancy for the new Chicago version of Huffington Post.
  You can check it out and play with their cool features here. [...]
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  Posted: August 19, 2008, 4:04pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Olympics makes me think we need global government

  Number of comments: 0
  All this Olympics pageantry reminds me that we need a global government.
  Not the corporate global government we have today under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or the World Trade Organization, where unelected officers can strike down national and state laws.
  
  A real one, with an elected [...]
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  Posted: August 11, 2008, 11:09pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• How I would save the local newspaper

  Number of comments: 2
  Take this one for what it's worth, but with newspaper stock prices in freefall and absolutely no buyers stepping up for the many local papers that are for sale (since no one can figure out how to turn around the fundamental economics of dwindling subscription base, falling ad revenues and [...]
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  Posted: August 05, 2008, 11:00am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Illinois constitutional convention needs to amend the redistricting provision

  Number of comments: 0
  One part of the Illinois Constitution is clearly broken (even Dawn Clark Netsch agrees) and that's the provision that governs redistricting.
  
  The General Assembly gets to draw the map. And if they can't, then a Commission is set up to do the job, 4 Dems and 4 Republicans. And [...]
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  Posted: August 04, 2008, 12:46pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Vote for my video on transit with US PIRG ("I love traffic")

  Number of comments: 2
  I co-wrote a video with my friend Andy Cobb (who directed and edited the entire thing) calling on Congress to fund transit in order to lessen traffic. We tried to make it funny by having the protagonist love traffic and call on Congress *not* to fund public transportation that sucks [...]
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  Posted: July 30, 2008, 5:52pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Why isn't Obama's replacement going to be elected instead of selected?

  Number of comments: 1
  Assuming that Senator Barack Obama is elected our next President, then someone will have to decide who will be Illinois' junior U.S. Senator for the next two years.
  Illinois law currently vests the Governor with the exclusive power to appoint a replacement to represent Illinois' 12 million citizens in the [...]
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  Posted: July 27, 2008, 12:39pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• If France can improve their constitution, why can't Illinois?

  Number of comments: 1
  Today the French parliament (by one vote!) agreed to a sweeping series of constitutional improvements.
  The list of improvements is here (according to the Associated Press).
  One neat one: the parliament will elect a few representatives for French citizens living abroad. The Democratic Party does that now (Democrats Abroad [...]
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  Posted: July 21, 2008, 4:51pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Sales and property taxes are too high -- vote for a constitutional convention

  Number of comments: 4
  The main reason why property taxes are too high in Illinois and our sales tax in Cook County is too high (the highest in the nation, as a matter of fact) is because our state income tax is too low. And it's too low because of the state constitution. The [...]
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  Posted: July 19, 2008, 6:59pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• The Alliance for the Politics of Fear convenes to oppose improvements in Illinois government

  Number of comments: 2
  Thanks to Rich Miller (subscribers-only, so if you don't subscribe to Capitol Fax, sign up) for the raw audio of a press conference launched by an Alliance to Protect the Status Quo -- I'm sorry, the Alliance to Protect the Constitution -- that are looking to spend $3 million [...]
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  Posted: July 14, 2008, 5:31pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Changing what is possible is our job

  Number of comments: 1
  

  "People say politics is the art of the possible, but they are wrong. Politics is
  the art of creating the possible. And what is possible is what people
  believe is possible."

  
  Isn't that a great quote?

  
  This is the core mission of progressive advocates. We need to shift the [...]
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  Posted: July 14, 2008, 12:12pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• War, Inc., a comedy on war profiteering by John Cusack, playing this weekend

  Number of comments: 0
  War, Inc. by Chicago's own John Cusack looks like a good film to check out. It's playing this weekend and at the Landmark Century Cinema n Lake View and the Landmark Renaissance Place in Highland Park.
  
  It's hard to get our arms around how much money corporations are [...]
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  Posted: June 13, 2008, 3:56pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• What is John Kass' obsession with Barack Obama?

  Number of comments: 11
  I really don't get it.
  
  I try not to let John Kass get under my skin. I admire his background as a reporter and I think he turns a poetic phrase. But his overwhelming narcissism to fancy himself a political force unto himself combined with his currently zealotry to [...]
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  Posted: June 08, 2008, 9:02pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• One of the coolest political moments in my lifetime

  Number of comments: 4
  Chicago's own Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for President.
  
  And as the "Democrat with backbone" -- a creature he called too rare in his U.S. Senate campaign kickoff speech -- he essentially accepted the nomination in the middle of the Republican convention hall! The audacity! I love it.
  [...]
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  Posted: June 03, 2008, 9:45pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Hyde Park event today on democracy and the national popular vote

  Number of comments: 1
  

  I'll be participating in this discussion tonight and am also scheduled to discuss the national popular vote on the Cliff Kelley show on WVON this afternoon.
  

  One Person, One Vote? Reinventing Democracy

  Monday, June 2

  6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
  Experimental Station
  6100 S Blackstone Ave
  Chicago
  [...]

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  Posted: June 02, 2008, 12:22pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Hold Em Poker for February 2010 tournament....the best World Series of poker in a decade

  Number of comments: 0
  I've been playing Texas Hold Em lately. Probably way too much for my own good, so if my analogy is strained, you know what to blame. But as we approach the 2010 Democratic primary, it's a huge poker tournament. Let me explain.
  Eric Zorn kicks off the campaign season [...]
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  Posted: May 29, 2008, 8:46pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Great idea: a federal same-day voter registration law

  Number of comments: 5
  Thanks to Upper Midwest Democratic Members of Congress Russ Feingold, Amy Klobuchar and Keith Ellison for introducing legislation in the House and Senate for same-day voter registration in federal elections.
  
  This news article from the Dickinson Press out of North Dakota has the skinny.
  
  The idea that [...]
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  Posted: May 02, 2008, 10:39am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• The General Assembly will decide this week whether we hold a constitutional convention next year

  Number of comments: 1
  This week is the deadline for the General Assembly to place constitutional amendments on the November ballot. (The Constitution has a six-months-before-the-election deadline).
  
  The main reason to hold a constitutional convention is because voters have not had an opportunity to amend the constitution in a substantive way for over [...]
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  Posted: April 29, 2008, 11:00am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Obama tells the truth on gas tax; McCain and Clinton are pander bears

  Number of comments: 7
  Have you heard of the pander bear?
  It's an exotic cousin of the panda bear.
  The pander bear is a political candidate who tells voters what they want to hear, even when they know it's a bad idea, in order to win some votes.
  And John McCain [...]
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  Posted: April 26, 2008, 4:25pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Obama's magic number is 291. Help him clinch.

  Number of comments: 0
  It's like baseball.

  Near the end of the season, teams that are going to make the playoffs have a magic number of wins (or their rivals' losses) to clinch their spot. We also have a magic number: the number of delegates to pick up in order to clinch the nomination. [...]

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  Posted: April 24, 2008, 6:45pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• I'll be on WGN primary night on Milt Rosenberg's Extension 720

  Number of comments: 2
  Just got word that I'll be discussing the results from the Pennsylvania primary election on Milt Rosenberg's Extension 720 where Senator Clinton will graciously acknowledge the obvious -- she has lost the primary race since she did not earn more than 65% of the vote in Pennsylvania and she [...]
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  Posted: April 21, 2008, 1:34pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• History of the English language driven by the French

  Number of comments: 0
  I subscribe to Delancey Place, a fantastic free email-newsletter with insightful excerpts from books and magazines. I encourage you to subscribe or read the blog. The editor of Delancey Place is Richard Wade Vague.
  
  This is a good one that I'll repost in its entirely.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: April 19, 2008, 1:14pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Cayman Islands-style economic development by tax haven

  Number of comments: 0
  How are we going to generate more wealth in Illinois, create more jobs and otherwise strengthen our economy?
  
  The best way is to develop a workforce that is the smartest in the world. It's also very powerful to invest in our infrastructure so our transportation network is strong.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: April 10, 2008, 3:12pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Progressive constitutional amendments popping all over!

  Number of comments: 3
  Good things are happening in Springfield as legislators are actively proposing improvements to the constitution -- particularly the ridiculous provision that imposes a flat-rate income tax.
  
  The Illinois Constitution reads:
  

  SECTION 3. LIMITATIONS ON INCOME TAXATION
   (a) A tax on or measured by income shall be at [...]
  	

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  Posted: April 04, 2008, 12:05am EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Great new Illinois public affairs blog by David Ormsby

  Number of comments: 1
  Usually the people who really know state government and state politics keep their opinions to themselves or share them exclusively with their paying clients. (Did I just insult myself a little bit? A little bit. Little bit.)
  
  David Ormsby is a nice recent exception to that rule.
  
  He [...]
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  Posted: April 03, 2008, 11:14pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Thanks to Milt Rosenberg and Bruce DuMont

  Number of comments: 2
  I just came back from a fun bloggers discussion on Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg. Hiram Wurf and I represented the progressive wing of the nation while Richard Baehr and the proprietor of Copious Dissent represented the dead party. Thanks to Milt and the Extension team [...]
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  Posted: March 22, 2008, 11:49pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• If Richardson can endorse Barack, why can't Rahm Emanuel?

  Number of comments: 1
  There is only one super-delegate from Illinois who has not endorsed Barack Obama.
  
  That's Congressman Rahm Emanuel.
  
  He remains neutral in this contest.
  
  Trouble is, the superdelegates are going to decide the nomination.
  
  And that means Rahm Emanuel's vote at the Denver convention will be crucial.
  [...]
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  Posted: March 21, 2008, 8:10pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Why one big pool -- Medicare for all -- will reduce government spending

  The February 2008 edition of Illinois Issues has this insightful piece in Bethany Jaeger's cover story called Collective Action:
  
  

  Illinois paid nearly $3.9 billion in payroll, or "personal services," in fiscal year 2007. That doesn't include higher education or retirement or Social Security benefits for more than [...]

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  Posted: March 20, 2008, 5:26pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Experience important in Obama, Clinton presidential campaign?

  Perhaps you are wondering how much experience should matter when you are choosing between Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton.
  
  I found the following test from kos on the the votemaster website:
  

  Suppose you had to choose between two Presidential candidates, one of whom
  had spent [...]

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  Posted: March 10, 2008, 10:28pm EDT
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Want convention business? Then keep Sam Zell off welfare

  Number of comments: 2
  The idea that an asset worth a billion dollars owned by one of the wealthiest men in Illinois should get government money is so preposterous on its face that I'm a little sad that we have to argue whether or not we should put Sam Zell's Chicago Cubs on welfare.
  [...]
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  Posted: March 08, 2008, 12:00am EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Illinois Business Roundtable says no we can't to improving Illinois government

  Number of comments: 1
  The Illinois Business Roundtable (a sort of Chamber of Commerce) released some really excellent research on the 2008 question as to whether we voters should exercise our option to improve our Constitution through calling a convention.
  
  The full report is available from their website here.
  
  Really [...]
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  Posted: February 27, 2008, 11:44pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Two questions for every advocate

  1. What do you want?
  2. How will you get it?
  
  These are the basic advocacy questions.
  
  1. What do you want?
  
  If a legislator or advocate can't answer that question, then there isn't any actionable request. This is policy development -- the translation from a vague [...]
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  Posted: February 19, 2008, 11:41am EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Intercity and commuter rail should unite for more federal investment

  The federal transportation bill is up for reauthorization in 2009. This time the bill is likely to undergo major revision because the funding source for highways and transit -- the federal gasoline tax -- is not generating enough money to keep up with the escalating costs of maintaining highways and [...]
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  Posted: February 12, 2008, 3:40pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Barack Obama explains to an undecided voter why she should vote for him instead of Hillary Clinton

  This is a succinct explanation from Senator Barack Obama to an undecided voter in a large town hall meeting why she ought to vote for him instead of Hillary Clinton.
  
  I think it's a great opportunity for undecided Democratic Party primary voters to hear directly from Senator Obama [...]
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  Posted: February 12, 2008, 2:07pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• How does proportional representation in delegate selection for the presidential campaign work?

  Number of comments: 4
  Today is the nation's biggest exercise in using a modern election system -- proportional representation -- in recent political history.
  
  It's a fantastic day for people who believe that our politics suffer from using winner-take-all elections for most of our government, as millions of civic Americans for the first [...]
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  Posted: February 05, 2008, 11:39am EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Economists' data: best way to lower crime is less enforcement of prohibition

  Number of comments: 1
  Three economists recently published a paper titled "What do Economists Know About Crime?" that studied crime rates over the last 80 years or so. They measured crime rates and compared it to a range of crime-fighting policies that have changed over time to see which policies actually resulted in [...]
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  Posted: February 05, 2008, 11:28pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Radio appearances on WGN, WLS

  On the eve of Tsunami Tuesday, I'll be on Bruce DuMont's Beyond the Beltway with GOP operative Dan Proft and RealClearPolitics.com founder Tom Bevan where I will continue to boldly predict that our next President of the United States of America will be Chicago's very own [...]
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  Posted: February 01, 2008, 6:54pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Using first names of candidates improves likeability

  This is good stuff (courtesy of US News and World Report's Washington Whispers blog: apparently the operatives at the RNC are following good language discipline and are not permitted to refer to "Barack" and "Hillary" but rather only "Senator Clinton" and "Senator Obama."
  
  If people are used to [...]
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  Posted: February 01, 2008, 3:53pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Tax policy in the Obama-Clinton presidential debate

  Number of comments: 1
  The language of tax policy -- especially when we need to figure out how to avoid bankrupting the Republic with high taxes on lower incomes and low taxes on high incomes -- is endless fascinating (at least, to me).
  
  How we convince the majority of the electorate to support [...]
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  Posted: January 31, 2008, 7:34pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• The biggest waste of advocacy money: a New York Times ad

  Why do so many advocacy organizations insist on raising $150,000 to run an ad in the New York Times?
  
  It is one of the worst ways I know to advance an issue.
  
  An ad in the New York Times does very little besides make donors feel that they've [...]
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  Posted: January 30, 2008, 2:29am EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• New voter? Take a hike. No same-day registration here

  Number of comments: 3
  Tuesday, democracy's door swung shut in Illinois. With the most exciting presidential primary of the last two decades less than two weeks away, the new voters, the unregistered and those who have moved since they last voted are now officially locked out of the primary.
  
  What a shame.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: January 24, 2008, 1:03am EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• What's the best way to lobby? Recruit a messenger

  I was just speaking with a potential client, typical of many progressive organizations: a 501(c)(3) membership organization based in Washington, D.C. with an aggressive vision, a healthy budget and not much of a track record influencing Congress. They are stuck in the same Beltway quicksand as lots of other groups [...]
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  Posted: January 21, 2008, 2:40pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Barack Obama's speech at Martin Luther King Jr.'s church in Atlanta today

  Today Senator Barack Obama gave a speech at Ebenzer Baptist Church in Atlanta. This was the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s church.
  
  In Illinois, anyone can still register to vote if they show up at the county clerk's office. This grace period of an extra 14 days after the [...]
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  Posted: January 20, 2008, 5:25pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Inc. Magazine: Entrepreneurs want government-financed or -regulated health care

  The growing political chasm between Corporate America (represented by most Chambers of Commerce organizations) and entrepreneurial small businesses that actually create jobs is growing.
  
  Health care is the latest example.
  
  According to Jane Berentson, Editor of Inc. Magazine, most entrepreneurs favor Democratic candidates over Republicans, and one [...]
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  Posted: January 16, 2008, 2:21pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Zorn and others upset with the Governor should curb the amendatory veto power

  Number of comments: 2
  Governor Blagojevich threw a dramatic bottom-of-the-ninth curveball this week: he would agree to sign the sales tax increase for transit (and public safety in the suburbs) to avoid the severe service cuts and fare hikes if and only if transit fares are completely eliminated for all seniors. This rather progressive [...]
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  Posted: January 12, 2008, 5:18pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Debate shows Obama the organizer and legislator versus Edwards the attorney and litigator

  Number of comments: 2
  I'm a fan of John Edwards. I like this platform and the populist language of his campaign. I'm voting for Barack Obama. And John Edwards' latest email blast helped explain why Obama's approach is superior than Edwards'.
  
  Barack Obama is all about us. He wants to bet on the [...]
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  Posted: January 06, 2008, 1:07am EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Great moment in Democratic presidential debate between Clinton, Gibson, Edwards and Obama

  Number of comments: 2
  The subject came to tax policy during the Democratic presidential debate on ABC in New Hampshire. Charlie Gibson took a very anti-tax position and suggested that as we slip into a recession, we should not "take money out of the economy" by raising taxes on high incomes. (Of course, [...]
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  Posted: January 05, 2008, 10:21pm EST
  by Dan Johnson-Weinberger

• Reaction from Barack Obama's Iowa caucus victory

  I had suspected – or perhaps hoped – that the nation's Democratic primary voters would take to Senator Barack Obama the way that Illinois' primary voters had four years ago in his first statewide race. Tonight in Davenport, I found it to be true.

  The Iowa caucus is a rather [...]

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  Posted: January 04, 2008, 2:25am EST
  

• Al Gore calls for a global tax on carbon to fund a progressive income tax cut for people

  This is cool.
  
  As part of his Nobel acceptance speech, Al Gore said:
  
  

  And most important of all, we need to put a price on carbon -- with a CO2 tax that is then rebated back to the people, progressively, according to the laws of each nation, [...]

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  Posted: December 12, 2007, 9:20am EST
  

• Obama concert Friday at the Riv with Macy Gray, Jeff Tweedy, Stephan Jenkins, Jill Sobule, Cool Kids, The Changes, Canasta

  This is a cool thing: there's a big concert tomorrow night at the Riviera for the Obama for President campaign. The headlines are in the headline (Macy Gray, Jeff Tweedy and lots of others).
  
  Tickets aren't cheap ($50 to $500), but it's a fundraiser for the campaign that is [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2007, 3:29pm EST