[courtesy of California Progress Report]

George Lakoff
Co-founder
Rockridge Institute

My years at the Rockridge Institute have been enormously productive: four books in the past four years, a lot of other writing, and perhaps most important, my colleagues there and I have worked out a great many of the technical details of the cognitive science of political thought in America. I plan to build on that foundational research.

On June 2, 2008, my book The Political Mind will be published. It is a popular introduction to what has been discovered about the brain and the mind over the past 30 years and why it matters for politics. I will be on a book tour during the month of June, and will spend considerable time after that promoting the ideas in the book.

I plan to do more writing, mostly short pieces on timely subjects, and to go seriously into digital media with podcasts and videos -- and to do media interviews and talks around the country.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Progressive Framing Think Tank to Close Doors April 30

By Frank D. Russo

The following letter has just been received announcing the end of the Rockridge Era.

The Rockridge Institute was founded with a mission: to teach Americans about the role of values and framing in political debate, and to help progressives equalize the framing advantages enjoyed by conservatives. With your help, Rockridge has done more than any small think tank could be expected to do. About 1,000 of you have donated to support our efforts. More than 8,000 have registered as members of Rockridge Nation to engage actively with us. And hundreds of thousands, both in the US and abroad, have bought our books and used our materials. If you are one of those hundreds of thousands, political discourse will now look different to you. As you read the newspapers and the blogs and watch TV, you can see the effects of our work everywhere. Your support has made that possible. For this and so much more, you have our complete admiration and gratitude.

Nonetheless, the Rockridge era will come to an end on April 30.

What we have written will remain as archives on our websites www.rockridgeinstitute.org and www.rockridgenation.org.

by WhatAre Progressive Values [courtesy of Blog for America]

(This is part of an ongoing series of interviews of progressives telling personal stories about their values for the "What are Progressive Values?" documentary project - ProgressiveSpirit.com ).

I ran into Joe Brewer cleaning the streets of Oakland on Earth Day. Joe works as a fellow at the Rockridge Institute in Berkeley, California.  He says empathy is the basic progressive value and tells a personal story about his experiences growing up in a small town and his visit to India.

by Chuck Watts [courtesy of Blog for America]

Created by joe_at_rockridge (Rockridge Institute staff member) on Friday, February 1, 2008 06:00 AM

The story of Iraq will be told as a story of betrayal. But which version of that story prevails – who is cast as the betrayer – will have profound and lasting consequences for the future of our country.

This article was co-authored with guest Rockridge Fellow Scott Parkinson.

As we enter this crucial election year, progressives need to be wary that our greatest strength – our long-standing opposition to the debacle in Iraq – could become our greatest weakness. A trap has been set to clamp down on progressives when the apparent progress from the 'surge' inevitably unravels into a new round of intense violence.

by Kevin Shaw [courtesy of Blog for America]

Hat tip to Susan Rowe...

Don't Think of a Sick Child: The Logic of the Health Care Debate

In launching this campaign, the Rockridge Institute is contributing to progressives as they consider and focus their health care message. We have written a thoughtful white paper, as well as talking points, prototype television advertisements, blog posts, op-eds, and other material designed to bring some consistency and honest framing to the cause of health care security. To the many groups and individuals engaged in this cause, it is our hope we will be of some help to your heroic efforts.

Lots of good reading at:

http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/health

by Susan Rowe [courtesy of Blog for America]

This Rockridge Institute study is about the we and us debate in comparison to the me and mine debate.  Their ad is very interesting.

(video) Rockridge Institute healthcare ad Don't Think of a Sick Child:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg44c9ZvA0E

read more »

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Eric Haas
Senior Fellow
The Rockridge Institute

The House on Thursday passed a modified version of the SCHIP bill, with a vote that was seven votes shy of a veto-proof majority. There were 142 members of Congress who voted against extending health care to more poor children. Behind their rhetoric, their intentions are clear: They want to protect the health insurance market and the huge profits that go with it.

But the huge profits are killing health care. We all know that now. Profit-maximizing insurance companies are bad economics. They make money by denying care, which is a terrible way to try to keep us healthy. (The Rockridge Institute's white paper on health care security has details.)

And, profit-maximizing health insurance does more harm than that. It is also killing our sense of community. It pits us one against another to get affordable and available insurance policies, strangling the trust and cooperation we need to thrive. If we can't come together when we need each other most—when we're sick, injured or dying—without our vulnerability being used as an opportunity to maximize profits, then the U.S. is a hollow shell. The community that makes our nation a family is dead.