A Liberal Work List

Not a wish list to sigh "if only" over; a to-do list to get working on.

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money:

That said, I believe in pretty much the entire range of left-liberal ideas. That includes the entirety of the socialist welfare system of Europe, gay marriage, stringent environmental regulations, access to abortion, etc.

I’d argue that I am far to the left of most self-described leftists on organized labor, largely because I think many of them just don’t care or see it is an anachronism. I am opposed to much of U.S. foreign policy. And yes, like most self-identified leftists, I am disgusted by the so-called war on terror, torture, the treatment of Bradley Manning, etc.

Now none of this is particularly notable. But I have other positions as well that would certainly be more controversial and pretty “left” I think. Here’s a list of 10.

1. Make recognition of the state of Israel dependent on moving the boundaries back to the 1967 lines and destroying the settlements.
2. Repeal the 2nd Amendment
3. A constitutional amendment to guarantee employment
4. A constitutional amendment to guarantee collective bargaining
5. Extend the most vigorous provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to the entire nation
6. A government ban on the harvesting of most fish with vigorous regulations and punishment provisions for violators
7. An 100% estate tax. You die, the government takes it all.
8. Pricing based upon percentage of income. You go to the gas pump–the price of gas is based upon last year’s income that would be encoded on a card you have to show.
9. U.S. companies can move overseas if they want–but the U.S. minimum wage applies to those workers. Also to contracted suppliers.
10. A constitutional guarantee to terminate a pregnancy, no questions asked.

I don’t really talk about these things much. Why? They are irrelevant. They are so far out of what is possible that why bother. Do they make me more of a leftist? Who cares.

That's exactly what repugs should have been saying 40 years ago about reichwingnut demands to outlaw all abortion and all birth control, to eliminate labor unions, to prevent Democratic voters from voting, to stop all immigration from anywhere except Northern Europe, to reduce taxes on corporations and rich people to nothing, to gut Social Security and Medicare and give the president carte blanche to attack any country he happens to take a dislike to - "They are so far out of what is possible that why bother."

But they didn't say that. Instead they ignored "political reality," went to work, organized and kept pushing and pushing and pushing.

And here the repugs are, on the verge of achieving just those "irrelevant" and "so far out of what is possible that why bother" goals.

What would happen if liberals and leftists starting demanding Erik's list above? What could it hurt to try?