In this Year in Review, the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy offers a look back at: the best and worst in public policy this year, the six events that impacted the future of America, a report from the frontlines in six states and from the blogosphere, our recommended reading list, a recap of what the think tanks of the conservative Right are up to, and, as always, the 2005 Injustice Index. No matter how you slice it, 2005 changed America.

What changed in 2005?

This was the year of the Great Unveiling, in which what many knew to be true was unavoidably evidenced to the rest of the world. 2005 revealed essential truths about America, both in its pain and in its promise.

The pain of the people of New Orleans, living in poverty so entrenched that they were unable to leave their city as it flooded, became the pain of America. The images of the aftermath of Katrina shocked the country and sparked a national conversation about poverty in America. What was not discussed was that New Orleans ranks not first or second of American cities in poverty, but 17th. The essential truth of America is that 37 million of its people live in poverty.

The pain of the working people of America was revealed as the labor movement, united under the umbrella of the AFL-CIO, split up, prompted by the record low union membership, a dramatic departure from the gains of the labor movement.

It was also revealed as Wal-Mart became known in our consciousness as more than a big box store with small prices, but as the employer of 2 million people whose average income is less than the poverty line, and whose refusal to provide health care pushes the tab onto the taxpayers who fund Medicaid. The essential truth is that working people are having a harder time than ever, with one in two behind schedule in saving for retirement, a median 401k account balance of less than $20,000, and over 45 million Americans uninsured.

But there is promise: despite a concerted effort by the conservative Right to present government as the enemy, Americans intuitively understand their relationship to their government. We rely on government to maintain its infrastructure, from the roads of Colorado to the levees of Louisiana. We rely on government for effective leadership, not the kind of cronyism revealed by President Bush’s choice of unqualified administrators like the FEMA head Michael Brown. We rely on government to provide insurance so we can grow old in dignity, as the President learned when Americans soundly rejected his 2005 attempt to privatize Social Security.

Between the Supreme Court and the growing frustration of the American people with the Iraq War, the national landscape was enough to keep everyone occupied. But a lot was happening on the local level. Illinois offered a plan to insure all of its children while Florida offered a plan to undermine Medicaid. Philadelphia proposed opening up its borders by making the entire city wireless, while gun-toting vigilantes in Arizona patrolled their borders to take the immigration crisis into their own hands.

Please join us as we take a look back at 2005.

Here’s what you’ll find in the DMI Year in Review:

The Best and Worst of Public Policy: From Maryland’s bill to make large employers pay their fare share for employee health care to the Department of Education’s cutbacks in college aid, a look at the year’s best and worst policy.

The State of the States: From Connecticut’s fight to get the dirty money out of politics to Colorado’s rejection of the catastrophic “Taxpayer Bill of Rights”.

The DMI 2005 Injustice Index: The real state of the union in 2005, by the numbers.

Eye on the Right: A look at what the well-funded think tanks of the right have been up to over the past year.

The Year in the Blogosphere: A look at the role blogs played in impacting politics, policy, and public opinion. 

The 2005 Reading List: Tools to refute the antiquated arguments of your in-laws.

How 2005 Changed America: A recap of the events that defined 2005.