<HTML><BODY STYLE="font:10pt verdana; border:none;"><DIV>Roger writes:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"As a starting point, go back to Robert LaFollete. He was a Progresive Republican and then helped found the Progressive Party."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Could we also incorporate elements of Teddy Roosevelt's Bull-Moosers? I'd be in favor of that.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And Dave says:</DIV> <DIV><BR> </DIV> <DIV>> There is a great deal of common ground between progressives and <BR>> libertarians such as the elimination of corporate welfare, the sale of <BR>> public resources at below market rates, and privacy issues. Better we <BR>> start with the wrestling thing though. That did work for Jesse <BR>> Ventura. We can do that while watching the two party system rust away.<BR></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There is indeed common ground between us, and we ought to exploit it. Each year, The Progressive magazine lists the Top Ten corporate welfare hogs, and what they individually and collectively consume at the public trough dwarfs the percentage of GDP we spend as a nation on child immunizations, literacy programs, drug treatment, job re-training, and etc. In fact, while we're at it, why don't we really stick our Wellington boots in an enormous cow-pat and talk about agricultural subsidies? That should win us lots of friends here in wheat and lentil country. Then, onto grazing rights, and water rights, and . . . </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>No, let's do it your way, Dave. Wrestling first, being strung up by our farming and ranching friends second. Tell you what, while my secretary isn't looking (he's playing with his Playmobile Viking ship), I'm going to order a copy of Jeffrey Sachs' new book, "The End of Poverty." Sachs is an old-fashioned conservative (remember them?) who has written an exhaustive, detailed plan for fighting poverty in the Third World based on -- gasp! -- conservative economic principles. The following was culled from Farhad Manjoo's review of Sachs' book (and his commentary on why Paul Wolfowitz, the soon-to-be head of the World Bank should read it) in Salon.com. I'd send all of you the link to the full article, but you'd need to be a subscriber to Salon Premium to read it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Mr. Manjoo writes:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"But what should Wolfowitz do? How can he pleasantly surprise us? Here's one modest proposal: He should pick up a copy of "The End of Poverty," the fine new book by the economist Jeffrey Sachs, and then he should push hard to implement every one of its anti-poverty strategies. Sachs, who heads Columbia's Earth Institute and has guided several of the world's struggling nations to economic success, presents a rigorous examination of the foundations of extreme poverty -- defined as people whose incomes fall below $1 a day -- and, more important, a plan for completely eliminating such destitution by the year 2025. At bottom, the book, which is an intriguing mix of memoir, economics text, and polemic, argues that international development is worth pursuing, and that hope is not lost. Indeed, Sachs says, we ought to be more hopeful now than we've ever been before. The world now enjoys unprecedented wealth, and our technology makes confronting the poor world's problems easier than ever before. A generation ago, proposing the end of world poverty would have marked you as a revolutionary; these days, nirvana is a matter of simple, capitalistic economics, pursued in clever ways and with determination."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So, Roger, Dave, how does that sound? Capitalism in the service of social good? Why it sounds to me . . . it sounds to me like a plank in the platform of the new Progressive Libertarian Bull-Moose Party! Actually, I think I'll let my secretary in on this deal after all. As soon as he puts down the Viking ship, I'll have him write up a purchase order for Sachs' book in, as Dave suggested, "sharp red crayon." See, I'm already spending the party funds. That's because when I have the privilege of meeting Dave in Missoula this Thursday, the beer will be on New West Magazine. Gotta love a launch party that features a keg. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.auntie-establishment.com">www.auntie-establishment.com</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML><br clear=all><hr>Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : <a href='http://explorer.msn.com'>http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p>