In his 2012 nomination acceptance speech in Charlotte, President Obama argued that this election represented “a choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future.” It is also true to say that we faced a choice between two fundamentally different visions of the past. And despite Obama’s reelection, the debate rages on in a closely-divided electorate and in Washington. Underneath disagreements over Obamacare, Medicare advantage cuts and Medicare vouchers, and individual retirement accounts, there is an argument about which model of social policy is best for the country.

Also this hour: Should Congress and the President use the approaching fiscal cliff to reach a "grand bargain" and reform Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security? We talk with State Senator Steve Hobbs (D-Lake Stevens) and Michael Lind of the New America ...

"Economist Michael Lind, a policy director with the liberal New American Foundation, said social security "has not contributed at all to the present crisis. It's two wars, a recession and tax cuts of which a disproportion benefited ...

Not only did he spring from the ranks of the plebeian, not the preps, but—as Michael Lind points out in What Lincoln Believed —he aimed to both increase opportunity and expand national power. A corporate attorney, he backed railroad interests and ...