The Plan
Big Ideas for Change in America
by Rahm Emanuel & Bruce Reed


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

Rahm Emanuel is the mayor of Chicago. But he wrote this book while he was a member of Congress. In between those two, he served as Pres. Obama's chief of staff, which is the highest post one can have and not be in the Cabinet.

Emanuel served Obama primarily as a strategist -- i.e., a political role rather than a policy-making role. He falls into the category of politician known as "bulldog" -- he gets things done by brashly pushing things through. Emanuel is perhaps most famous for cussing explicitly and frequently (but not in this book!).

Emanuel is a populist liberal, while Obama is a progressive. Emanuel believes that government can solve many more problems than Obama believes. In particular, Emanuel believes in the War on Terror, and in building up the armed forces as the means to "win" that war (p. 150). Progressives like Obama don't like the term "war" applied to terrorism at all. Emanuel also believes in "universal service", which means all young people would be drafted into civilian service (but it's not a "draft" since it's not military, in Emanuel's view; pp. 58-60).

The title of the book refers to a "new social contract" that Emanuel lays out on pp. 52-53, which serves as the framework for the rest of the book. Summarizing Emanuel's Plan:

Presumably Emanuel has another Plan, for his own personal political future. He left a powerful White House position to run for mayor of Chicago. That gives him "executive experience," as the politicians call it, which is a credential usually reserved for governors but also gets bestowed on mayors of very large cities, such as Rudy Giuliani of NYC. He also has legislative experience and White House experience -- a strong combination to run for president some day. So stay tuned....

-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, Dec. 2011

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Education     Increase college graduation rates, like all other countries.     Provide more choices within the public school system.

Energy & Oil     Usher in a Hybrid Economy in American cars.     Backing away from Kyoto was policy error & economic error.

Foreign Policy     Build new arrangements for the new economic era.

Health Care     Universal healthcare is not out of reach.

Homeland Security     Universal civilian service for all young Americans.     We cannot win the War on Terror without more troops.

Principles & Values     The Plan: new social contract for a changed world.

Social Security     Help people build a nest egg outside Social Security.

Tax Reform     Overhaul tax code for those who NEED wealth.

Technology     Bring America's healthcare system into the 21st century.

War & Peace     Iraq stretched our troops thin too thin for Afghan success.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Rahm Emanuel