Huge Issue Ignored by Democrats

Relatively few votes can swing elections, as Democrats learned in 2016. That’s why it seems odd that there’s virtually nothing in the Democratic platform about making government work better.   

Almost two-thirds of Americans believe government needs major overhaul, as political scientist Don Kettl and I write in Newsweek. There’s nothing illiberal about better government. Clinton/Gore promised government that “works better and costs less.” Obama promised “change we can believe in.” Yet Hillary Clinton in 2016 ceded overhaul arguments to Trump, who promised to “drain the swamp.” Why would Democrats make that mistake again? 

Our nonpartisan Campaign for Common Good focuses on fixing broken public operating systems, paralyzed by their own red tape. We present clear visions of simplified frameworks that allow all Americans, including public officials, to get the job done. That’s what Americans want.

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• Today, we held the fourth forum - Cleaning Out Healthcare Bureaucracy - in our Campaign for Common Good. If ever there was a framework ripe for big overhaul, it’s the bureaucratic nightmare of American healthcare: “inefficient, unaffordable, unsustainable, and inaccessible,” as the American College of Physicians describes it. Former CMS Head Mark McClellan suggested that the COVID-19 disruption provides the opportunity to present ideas for big change. The forum is available to watch in its entirety here.