I'm Going to Centerland

Barack Obama, you have just won your party’s nomination for President. Now what?

“I’m going to Centerland!”

At the risk of pissing off some of my very good friends I just cannot sit quietly on the sidelines while the candidate of change and hope keeps shifting into reverse.

From Candidate to Nominee:

During the primary campaign, Obama delighted progressives by staying on the attack against Hillary Clinton’s early support for NAFTA and for her time spent on the board of Wal*Mart. Then on June 9th; less than a full week from locking up the Democratic nomination comes this news:

Obama Names Rubin Ally Furman to Economic Policy Post
By Kim Chipman and Matthew Benjamin

”June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama's presidential campaign today named Jason Furman, who worked closely with former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, as economic policy director.

Furman, 37, most recently worked as an economist and budget expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, where he headed the Hamilton Project, an economic policy research group aligned with the Democratic Party that was founded by Rubin, now chairman of Citigroup Inc.'s executive committee.”

Now just to be underscore the significance of who Jason Furman is and what he brings to Obama’s economic team:

”Furman's appointment allies Obama's campaign with leading economic centrists in the Democratic Party,(That would be abbreviated DLC – tls) foremost among them is Rubin, 69, who helped found the Hamilton Project in 2006 and is on the group's advisory council. Furman is a former adviser to 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

Rubin orchestrated President Bill Clinton's economic policy of promoting free trade (That would be abbreviated NAFTA – tls) and reducing the federal budget deficit.”

Not quite the change I was hoping for.

Then there is the matter of taking sides in a Democratic primary race between a Georgia Blue Dog and a Progressive challenger.:

Obama cuts an ad to help John Barrow in his primary fight
Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 07:02 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

”Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has taped a radio commercial on behalf of U.S. Rep. John Barrow of Savannah, who faces a July 15 primary challenge.

It’s the first case of Obama involving himself in a local race in Georgia.”

Now it would be one thing if Senator Obama were helping Barrow (who endorsed Obama before the Georgia presidential primary) against a Republican challenger in November but, according to Howie Klein over at Firedoglake, Obama is choosing sides in a battle pitting a respected Progressive State Legislator against an incumbent Blue Dog:

”… today when I heard that Obama had endorsed John Barrow, the most reactionary Democrat in Congress, in a primary pitting him against Regina Thomas, a progressive state Senator, I wasn't in the slightest bit surprised. No one who recalls Obama's enthusiastic endorsement of Joe Lieberman against Ned Lamont could possibly be surprised. Obama, like McCain and Clinton, is a professional politician. One of their basic tenets is the Incumbency Protection Racket….”

Klein goes on to list some of the ironies in Obama’s endorsement of the Blue Dog from Georgia:

”As far as the current contretemps over retroactive immunity and warrantless wiretaps which Senator Obama opposes, Barrow is a major supporter-- one of the original 22 Blue Dogs who signed the letter to Nancy Pelosi demanding that Bush's policies be adhered to. Of course that forces one to notice that while Obama is refusing the corrupting influence of PAC money-- and insisting the DNC follow his lead-- and then you realize that his endorsee, Rep. Barrow, is a typically corrupt Blue Dog scarfing up whatever he can get from the companies who need his help. So... Obama refuses to take money from the telecoms and he is opposing-- like most Democrats-- granting them retroactive immunity for breaking laws. Barrow, on the other hand counts the telecoms, particularly AT&T, Comcast and Verizon-- the very ones who broke laws and demand immunity-- among his most generous supporters. He's taken tens of thousands of dollars from these shady characters and rather than recusing himself from voting on their special interests, he becomes one of their biggest supports... against Senator Obama's principled stand.

Regina, of course, whose candidacy may be harmed by Senator Obama's endorsement, has been working hard in the Georgia state Senate for the same exact principles and values Obama claims to represent. So while Barrow has publicly bragged about being a rubber stamp for Bush (watch that top video again), Regina has been opposing the war and working hard for the well-being of her constituents. As for the FISA bill Bush and Barrow want so desperately for their campaign donors... Regina and Obama are on the same page. "After reading the bill," she said, "the first thing I thought was that this was not good for any American citizens-- and it seems like a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. It doesn't look like what the Bush Administration wants is just the power to eavesdrop on terrorists-- I think we all agree that's his job-- but to also monitor any communication he wants to between any American citizens he wants to and without any lawful judicial supervision."

Which brings us to the most recent news on said FISA bill.

Yesterday brought news that the US House has passed yet another “bill of capitulation” that all but grants immunity from prosecution to the telecom companies that have aided the Bush Administration in illegally wiretapping American citizens. While this is a House bill and Obama resides in the Senate, it should be expected of a presidential candidate to have some sort of statement in response to this continuing assault on the Constitution. After all, while campaigning for the nomination, he certainly had a position back in October:

”It’s official: Obama will back a filibuster of any Senate FISA legislation containing telecom immunity, his campaign has just told Election Central. The Obama campaign has just sent over the following statement from spokesman Bill Burton:
“To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications””

Today’s statement?:

“…It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives -– and the liberty –- of the American people….”

So “Candidate Obama” will support a filibuster while “Nominee Obama” will ‘support the compromise’ even though the most contemptuous part of the bill is virtually unchanged. Folks, just like the Patriot Act, it does not matter to me who the President or Attorney General are, and no one should have the power to eaves drop on American citizens.

And then there is the matter of Public Financing…….

Yesterday we heard from “Nominee Obama” that he has decided that he will drop out of the Public Financing system for the general election season. This comes just over a year since “Candidate Obama” made headlines by challenging whoever would win the Republican nomination to join him in championing that very system. From the March 2, 2007 edition of the New York Times:

”… On Thursday, a spokesman for Mr. McCain said that he would take up Mr. Obama on a proposal for an accord between the two major party nominees to rely just on public financing for the general election.

Such a pact would eliminate any financial edge one candidate might have and limit each campaign to $85 million for the general election. The two candidates would have to return any private donations that they had raised for that period.

Mr. Obama laid out his proposal last month to the Federal Election Commission, seeking an opinion on its legality. The commissioners formally approved it on Thursday.” “…Mr. Burton added that if nominated Mr. Obama would “aggressively pursue an agreement” with whoever was his opponent.”

What changed? While the senator tells us that the very system he presented to the FEC is now broken, I simply don’t see the evidence. While he claims that the current system leaves him open to unmatched attacks from under-regulated 527’s, there really is no evidence at this time that there is any significant activity in the 527 department. What I see is the vast sums of money that Obama has been able to raise via the Internet; amounts I’m sure he had no concept of in February of 2007. He now makes the argument that, since all of this money comes from individual “small dollar donors”, he has somehow created a “parallel system” to the current public financing system. Well yes and no. If you are of the opinion that public financing only exists for the purpose of restricting Corporate, PAC, or “Special Interest” money from campaigns then you should be satisfied. However, if you believe like I do that the sheer amount of money involved in political campaigns is also an issue then you can’t be satisfied with this reversal of position. In 2007 alone, Obama and Hillary Clinton raised over $100 MILLION EACH! The pace has not slowed down in 2008. That is enough money to run my hometown (Everett, WA - pop. 100,000) for almost six months! By taking this step backwards, Nominee Obama, rather than leading the fight for change simply reinforces the notion that money trumps all.

Now I know that Senator Obama’s strongest supporters will say that ‘we must be pragmatic’ and ‘everyone moves to the center in the General’ but I have to say, if this is the change we are in for, it is no change.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue