It is incredibly hard for me to get motivated to vote for the same Democrats who have squandered historic majorities in the House and Senate and support a Whitehouse that condones the actions of the previous administration. I am struggling to find anything salvageable beside the Lilly Ledbetter bill to pin my hopes on. PLEASE don’t run down the list again of all the supposed accomplishments of this congress and president. It reads to me as a wish list at best and, in some cases, it is a slap in the face to anyone who was hoping for real change from the policies of the Republican regimes of the past 30 years.
Aside from the Lilly Ledbetter Act (which, by the way, should have been approved by ANY Democratic administration and even some moderate Republican ones), the list of so-called accomplishments over the last two years leaves me asking; when Democratic values become so unrecognizable from the party of working people?
• GITMO – Still open. Well over a year since Obama’s inauguration America’s own gulag is still operating – thanks in no small part to a determined group of “Blue Dog” Democrats.
• TORTURE – In the view of a number of independent watchdog groups, torture of “enemy combatants” is still taking place either at the hands of US operatives or third party jailers acting on our behalf.
• WIRETAPPING – The Obama Administration has found itself on more than one occasion defending the use of warrentless wiretaps; leaving open the argument that the Holder Justice Department has just picked up where Bush left off.
• ENDLESS WAR – While President Obama declared the end to “Operation Iraqi Freedom” and the US combat role in that country; still some 50,000 American troops and an unknown number of private mercenaries will remain in that country for at least another year with many, including myself, believing that there will always be a significant US military presence there. By the way, US tax dollars will continue to flow there almost unabated to keep “our interests secured.”
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, President Obama indicated that a major benefit of the combat draw down in Iraq will be more resources available for his own personal Commander in Chief game. With US deaths understandably on the rise with the increase of troops available as targets, Obama insists that ‘We will fight them there so we don’t have to fight them here’. Now where have I heard that before? And even though there are a dedicated group of Progressive Democrats in the US House who steadfastly oppose the Obama surge, there are still enough; just as my own Rick Larsen, who simply cannot fathom the reduction in military spending that an end to our policy of fighting wars against ideologies would make possible. Even though he has just returned from Afghanistan complaining about the rampant corruption within the very government we are sending our young American lives to defend; Larsen will not entertain the notion of “Bring them Home.”
• HEALTHCARE – Far from the universal healthcare plank of the party platform (or even real healthcare reform), President Obama and what passes as Democratic leadership brought us a caramel pickle. A bitter dill pickle that mandates an additional 20 MILLION American buy a health insurance policy from the same companies guilty of gouging consumers for years. Even with the caramel coating of provisions that should eliminate prohibitions on pre-existing conditions and the inclusion of dependent children up to 26 years of age, the plan is still pinned to employment (leaving my son at 30 years of age, out in the cold) and still fails to cover every American.
• STIMULUS/EMPLOYMENT – Defying the best advice of almost every Progressive economist and Labor advocates; staring massive long-term unemployment in the face, congressional Democrats and the Obama Whitehouse eeked out a stimulus so limited that we are facing phase two in an almost certain “double-dip” recession. While proponents continue to tout the fact that the car was stopped from going over the cliff, you will be hard pressed to find anyone who will say they turned the car around. Rather than create any new direct government jobs repairing infrastructure or building a new high-speed railway or cleaning and maintaining our national parks or any number of other productive endeavors, the best this batch of Democrats could do was to prevent additional job losses over and above the natural gain/loss ratio.
Unfortunately there is more but I think you get the picture. People tell me that you cannot make the kinds of changes people like me are asking for overnight. That may be so but the worst of what I see is not the lack of action but rather that lack of desire to make these changes. Obama came into office declaring he would reverse our roles in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rick Larsen has likewise made it clear that he will not exert any effort to bring our troops home. Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House on a pledge that,”Impeachment is off the table.” fully supported by my congressman. The healthcare “debate” began with “Single Payer” thrown under the bus and ended with a watered down “public option” jettisoned for some ridiculous effort toward “intra-party bi-partisanship.” A 2nd stimulus? Forget it. We are now “deficit hawks.”
So I find myself asking the question: what exactly does the country gain by sending the same folks back who are in charge today? I know it’s not protection from the anti-choice brigades. Roe v Wade will be decided one state at a time and finally reaffirmed or overturned in the Supreme Court. Civil Rights? The Environment? Energy? Maybe in 2011 (the year that no one is up for re-election) they may grow a temporary spine and do something in these areas but, as they have not yet, what are the odds anything of consequence will happen two years out from a presidential election year? Will the Republicans repeal the half-efforts that this group created? Maybe, but most likely they will simply not enforce any of the legislation. That is what they do anyway. Besides, a repeal would assume the ability to override a presidential veto. Surely the Democrats who are left wouldn’t allow that to happen – or would they?
Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue
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