Commonweal Institute Executive Director Barry Kendall and Retreat Director Mirit Cohen with San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 gave all of us here at the Commonweal Institute an opportunity to celebrate the acheivements of Barry Kendall and all of his hard work forging the path for the progressive movement. The New Leaders Council's annual "40 Under 40" Awards honor young, innovative and dedicated progressive leaders throughout the nation, and this year Dr. Kendall was selected as an award recipient! Be sure to check the NLC website to see the impressive list of award winners.

On May 27, Executive Director Barry Kendall led a day-long meeting with 53 members and allies of the Progressive Ideas Network. Titled "Progressive Ideas in Action: Long-Term Thinking in a Short-Term World," the event gathered policy experts and intellectuals from inside and outside DC to look beyond the current policy battles and begin formulating the big ideas that will power progressive advocacy four, six, even ten or more years down the road. At the end of the day, Dr. Kendall offered participants an inspirational rallying cry, written with Institute friend and supporter Greg Colvin. Check it out:

With the goal of providing an opportunity for local and national news outlets to publish opinion and commentary from a progressive political perspective, the Commonweal Institute will produce and distribute weekly op-ed columns starting July 1, 2009.

A new lineup of Commonweal Institute Fellows, public intellectuals who have organically developed large audiences and authority in their fields through their blogs, publications and academic work, will write the columns on a rotating basis.

The op-ed columns will be posted at Commonweal Institute's Uncommon Denominator Blog and will be available for reprint free of copyright restrictions, with the only requirement that the authors be identified as Commonweal Institute Fellows.

The spark for this program came from a Commonweal Institute supporter seeking an alternative to the conservative and libertarian perspectives regularly featured in their local newspaper’s op-ed page. 

Executive Director Barry Kendall, co-chair of the Progressive Ideas Network, discusses the newest publication from PIN, Thinking Big: Progressive Ideas for a New Era. The book is a collection of succinct essays that outline the current reinvention of the progressive movement in the United States. It is an essential handbook for the progressive agenda.

Major issues discussed in Thinking Big include:

The voices of the Commonweal Institute have been heard on several radio and podcast programs in the last month, speaking up for progressive values and a pragmatic approach to solving problems. Institute Director Dr. Barry Kendall has been making the rounds to promote Thinking Big: Progressive Ideas for a New Era, the latest book from the Progressive Ideas Network. Click here to listen to his interview on Santa Fe Public Radio, or here for his discussion with Institute Fellow Bill Scher on the Liberal Oasis Radio Show.

Also, Commonweal Institute Fellow Dave Johnson was recently a guest on the BBC's "World Have Your Say" program, where he discussed international trade and the importance of protecting workers both at home and abroad. Click here to listen!

Finally, the Progressive Ideas Network recently recorded a series of podcasts to promote Thinking Big. These short interviews with today's leading progressive intellectuals were hosted by Institute Senior Fellow Patrick O'Heffernan. Press the play button below to listen to the first installment, where Dr. Kendall and Roosevelt Institution Director Nate Loewentheil introduce the book and explain why it's so important right now to think big.

For the complete podcast series, check out our Archive page -- and thanks for listening!

When Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced his proposal to bail out the banking sector a couple of weeks ago, people were disappointed with its content -- and shocked by what seemed like an obvious procedural fumble. First of all, taking the stage during the height of the Congressional tussle over the stimulus bill was a mysterious bit of timing. Second, the so-called “plan” was little more than a set of general guidelines -- basically a rehash of the original TARP bailout passed last fall under President Bush -- accompanied by a price tag that ran into the trillions. Critics blanched, Wall Street plunged, and many suspected a rookie mistake from the new White House.

Today, though, as I look at the trajectory of the subsequent debate, I am not so sure. I was in Washington, DC, when the bailout plan was announced.

On February 15, 2009, Mike Lux energized an audience of some 75 progressives at the Mercury Lounge in San Francisco.  Referring to his new book, The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be, Lux put events of the tumultuous recent past in historical context.  He spoke about the conflict taking place since the time of the nation’s founding between progressive advances for the common good and conservative retrenchments that favor the wealthy. 

Lux made the case that this is a time in which progressives have a great opportunity to address the serious problems our country faces: the economy, global warming, the health care system, immigration reform, workers’ rights, public financing of campaigns, and telecommunications policy.   He cautioned, however, that President Obama, whose style is to act as the "Conciliator-in-Chief”, will not be able do this alone. 

Change has come to America, and with it, a new opportunity for advancing big ideas, bold visions, and innovative solutions. Thinking Big: Progressive Ideas for a New Era is a collection of essays that takes advantage of this unique moment. It lays out a forward-looking agenda, crafted by the Progressive Ideas Network, an unprecedented collaboration of some of the brightest thinkers working for social and economic justice today. The result is a compact, handy guide to the progressive perspective on issues that will occupy Congress and the Administration in the months ahead. Click here to buy your copy today!

"With the entry of the Obama Administration, progressives hope to see a new era dawn in American politics, but we won't get there with the same centrist, incremental approach we've tried in the past," said Barry Kendall, Co-Chair of the Progressive Ideas Network. "Now is the moment to take our government and our country in an exciting new direction. That's why we brought together the best progressive minds for this project – to Think Big."

Listen to the podcast discussion of the factors that can lead to serious miscarriages of justice.

Dr. Katherine Forrest, who developed the workshop content and appears in the video, says, “More than ever, Americans are seeking ways to talk about politics without getting into arguments. They recognize the need to heal the divides that have developed during the past few decades, so that we can work together to deal with the problems our country is facing.”