There has been a bit of discussion around here recently about a new slogan for progressive candidates. Simply put, we should rise about interest group politics and look toward the "common good."

The second wave came very quickly. The nay sayers came in what I'll consider two groups for the sake of simplicity. The first group objects to the very idea of having such a simple slogan. They want real policy ideas.

I had a similar gut reaction to this. There are real problems for our nation and no slogan will solve them even if it's clever. The thing is that the slogan isn't in place of a real program. It's just something to get us elected. Once we're in power, we'll have time to tie it to specifics.

The second group of nay sayers have a more important point. Calling the Democratic Party a collection of interest groups is an insult we've accepted far too long. If each demographic group is a "special interest," the term has no meaning. Let's reserve it for the groups who have money and influence well out of proportion to their numbers.

Both groups of objections can be answered in the same way. Looking at the common good is not just a slogan. It's a frame of mind designed to help us craft policy. When we look at a problem, we need to look for a solution that benefits most of us without inflicting undue pain on others.

What makes Bush's tax policies so offensive? They are designed to benefit a chosen few at a great cost to the common good. Those who make money primarily from investments will get a huge tax break over those who go to work and bring home a paycheck. It's discrimination and it is a case of true interest group politics. No one interested in the common good would ever come up with such a policy.

Progressive Democrats can hold up the ideal of the common good and use it to focus ideas. A society benefits when all of its citizens are able to contribute. Therefore, discrimination against anyone is against the common good. It doesn't matter who is facing the unfair discrimination. It is against the common good whether women, minorities or anyone else faces prejudice not based on their own actions. Therefore, the constituent groups should benefit along with the rest of society.

Taxation is another issue where the common good needs to apply. There are some things that only government can do well. What those things are is up for discussion but those services are funded by taxes. How should the tax burden be distributed? Those who can afford it should pay more. Those who are flat broke need help and cannot pay for it. Hopefully, they will benefit enough to pay for another person who needs help later on.

Those serving the common good must learn from experience. At one point in our history, taxes on the richest people did stifle innovation. Lowering those tax rates benefited the common good but those tax rates should not be zero. There is a difference between lowering taxes to benefit the economy and lowering them to serve an ideology. Experience needs to trump ideology for the common good to be served.

Science and education have always served the common good. If a parent wants to teach their kids about religion and/or take them to church, they have my full support. In school, they need to learn about evolution and safer sex. It's all about learning from science, history and the mistakes our society has made. I believe in life long monogamy but it's a minority belief. Therefore, condoms in schools and other measures are necessary. Kids should not be required to pay for their youthful mistakes for the rest of their lives.

Progressive ideas are already tied to the common good so we should point this out. Even rich people would benefit from better educated and skilled workers along with the improved infrastructure their tax money could buy.

Obviously, I've skipped foreign policy here. It should also reflect the common good. For now, war with Iran would be very bad. That should be simple enough to say. War with Iran will mean more dead brave soldiers who wanted to serve their country. We can do better for them and not repeat our mistakes. No war with Iran unless we or our allies get attacked.

Let's tell the public that we're looking out for the public good. Specifics tend to be more than most people want to hear so why not give them a nice slogan? Those who want to see more detail should be able to see specifics on web pages and in books. Let's see if we can reconnect with the public on an emotional level. We could always go back to rolling out 40 point plans.