Test for being a liberal Test for being a liberal

Atrios published a test for whether you are a liberal or not titled: "We're the Decider". I failed miserably:

Undo the bankruptcy bill enacted by this administration

No.

Repeal the estate tax repeal

I have a better idea - repeal the estate tax.

Increase the minimum wage and index it to the CPI

Index yes, increase no. Teenagers need jobs, and raising the minimum wage hits them and those living at home, by far, the hardest. This is silly minded, and has a history of being pushed by unions in order to get their own wages up.

Universal health care (obviously the devil is in the details on this one)

No. Maybe the program being tried by Romney in MA will work, and if it does, then I am willing to reconsider. But what the left means by universal health care usally is socialized medicine, and no thanks to that.

Increase CAFE standards. Some other environment-related regulation

While we are at it, why not sign the Kyoto Treaty? Americans' love of SUVs is fading, and, as a result of that plus high gas taxes, the market is going to do much better with this than will the government.

Pro-reproductive rights, getting rid of abstinence-only education, improving education about and access to contraception including the morning after pill, and supporting choice. On the last one there's probably some disagreement around the edges (parental notification, for example), but otherwise.

We have plenty of choice already. I am opposed to partial birth abortions, most 3rd trimester abortions, and am in favor of parental notification, preferably parental approval at least below 16, and in favor of at least teaching abstinence. In other words, my views are perfectly in line with those of a majority of Americans.

Simplify and increase the progressivity of the tax code

No. Simplify and flatten. Progressivity is class warfare, and those in Congress who push it have pretty well exempted themselvves from such taxes. One big reason that they oppose flat taxes I think is that they would end up paying a more fair share.

Kill faith-based funding. Certainly kill federal funding of anything that engages in religious discrimination.

This is a red herring if I have ever seen one. The amount of money going in this direction is de minimis. But I would be more than willing to kill whatever there is, if we could also kill PBS, NPR, NEA, ACLU, Legal Services, etc. funding.

Reduce corporate giveaways

Sure, when one industry is targetting through lobbying for tax breaks. But I would want this tied to an overall reduction in the corporate tax rate. After all, corporations don't pay taxes - people do. Corporate taxes are primarily paid through increased prices, passing such to the consumers. But to the extent they are not passed through, they come out of the pockets of the stockholders, who are primarily any more everyone's retirement funds.

Have Medicare run the Medicare drug plan

I have a better idea - have private enterprise run Medicare. This proposal is the left showing its colors in backing socialized medicine (which is what Medicare is). Of course, the suggestion above ignores that the program doesn't go into affect until tomorrow, and we have no idea how well it is going to work.

Force companies to stop underfunding their pensions. Change corporate bankruptcy law to put workers and retirees at the head of the line with respect to their pensions.

Yes on #1, and no on #2. They already have priority over many creditors - what is left are secured creditors and governments. And removing the priority of secured creditors would kill the lending market. The later proposal also ignores that a big reason that many companies get in trouble in the first place is that they have often been too generous to their employees. The reality is that if pensions came first, many of these companies wouldn't come out of bankruptcy.

Leave the states alone on issues like medical marijuana. Generally move towards "more decriminalization" of drugs, though the details complicated there too.

Agreed. But I would also like to see the FDA loosening up on a lot of their drug regulations.

Improve access to daycare and other pro-family policies. Obiously details matter.

Fine. Just don't mandate it through legislation. I am all in favor of daycare, but public daycare scares the heck out of me, and privately mandated daycare is a one-size-fits-all solution to this problem that is sure to cause more problems than it solves.

Raise the cap on wages covered by FICA taxes.

Better idea - eliminate the FICA tax. Removing the cap on wages would go even further towards turning SS from a "retirement program" into a welfare program. It is this link between the two that keeps it politically viable. But, of course, those who are pushing to raise the cap are mostly also in favor of welfare (but don't ask it here, because Welfare Reform worked so well).