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So, for some strange reason this week, Barack Obama decided to freeze the pay of all federal workers for the next two years. He did it, of course, under the guise of fiscal responsibility, but it leaves one begging the question: is this man a Democrat—is he a liberal?
I hate asking that question, because I voted for the man in 2008. I too, was wrapped up in the hope and change of that time—I believed that our country was finally ready to move forward on every front: our economy, education, foreign policy, energy, etc. Sure, I knew there would be setbacks on the way, I knew that Republicans would try to block legislation, and that people in the media and on the right would continue to say moronic things like “tax cuts create jobs,” which of course, is completely ridiculous, especially when they are talking about income tax cuts for the richest 2% of people in our country. But, overall, I really believed that Obama would fight for the middle class; that he would, as a great orator, embarrass the Republicans when they bandied their plutocrat policies about Washington, and reject them outright. I believed that he would stick by the progressive principles he ran and won on. I had hope, but apparently that was naïve.
Because this man has caved, capitulated, and compromised at every possible turn. He first took up economic stimulus—a laudable goal—but ended up signing a bill that was far too small to impact the economy, and much of which was tied up in tax cuts that were so miniscule that many idiots on the right were actually convinced that Obama had raised their taxes (fostered by broad based lying by the right wing media outlets, and a tacit refusal by the rest of the media to challenge or repudiate the malfeasance that has crept, nested, and laid eggs in the fourth estate).
Next, he turned to health care reform, where he almost immediately ruled out a public option, held private meetings with the insurance companies that went on to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to lobby against him and slander the Democratic party. The end result was that industry insiders and Republicans were given months of air time to lie about the health care bill (that actually contained a lot of positive reforms), while the media looked the other direction. And the one person who had the bull horn in his hands, who could’ve called out the lies, who could’ve stood up for what was right, was Barack Obama, and he was silent.
In this short two year span, Obama has been too quick to compromise, he failed to lead on issues as a president should, and he has not used his bully pulpit to explain what is right and what is wrong to the American people. While Republicans hold up “Don’t Ask—Don’t Tell” legislation from reversing years of ugly discrimination against gay Americans, Obama should be screaming from the top of his lungs that “Republicans hate gay people,” and that “their position puts American lives in danger,” every day. When Republicans hold up the extension of unemployment benefits, Obama should lay out publicly the fact that unemployment insurance is the best possible type of economic stimulus there is, because for every dollar we pay out, it generates at about a dollar and three quarters of economic activity. He should then conclude, publicly, that it is clear that Republicans must want the U.S. economy to fail. And when Republicans take their other absurdly foolish positions, on things like refusing to enact the START treaty with Russia (designed to secure loose nuclear weapons and reduce stockpiles), voting against extending tax cuts for middle class Americans (we actually spend our money, which does create jobs)—because the bill didn’t include tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires (which Republicans did in lockstep in the House yesterday), and just lying all the time about everything from Obama’s trip to India to the healthcare reform bill, Obama should be shouting them down at every single turn.
Would he be attacked? Absolutely. But the right wing is already throwing every lying effort they can muster to defeat the man, so what is there to lose? Nothing, and yet ironically, Obama seems content to continue paying ransom to captors who refuse to let him go.
Ultimately, I think Democrats have to run a more progressive candidate against him in the primaries in 2012. The stakes are too high to do otherwise, and those who believe in moderation and compromise refuse to acknowledge the simple fact that our political climate doesn’t allow for that anymore, because the Republican party has proven time and again that they represent only the interests of the super rich and transnational corporations. They refuse to work in a collegial way with Democrats or anyone, for that matter, who wants to represent the interests of 98% of the American people. Moreover, they are extremely focused on manipulating public opinion, which they are successful doing because they have direct cooperation from much of the media (which is an oligarchy of 5 companies), and the rest of the media refuses to call them on it. We have to, at the very least, run a candidate that will tell the truth: that the Republican party is wholly corrupt, that it is supported by a media oligarchy, and that without drastic changes to our country’s governance, the middle class in this country is going to disappear, and the U.S. will cease to be a democracy.
The good news is that it is not all doom and gloom. There are progressive politicians out there that are fighting for the interests of the middle and lower class. House Democrats have proven that throughout their reign with Nancy Pelosi as their Speaker, consistently passing excellent reforms and legislation without any cooperation from the Republicans. Unfortunately, because our Senate is a non-functioning body, many of these bills have ceased to become law, as is likely to happen with yesterday’s action, where House Democrats extended tax cuts for the middle and lower classes. However, forcing Republicans to cast votes against 98% of the American people is exactly the kind of thing Democrats should be doing.
Ultimately, all we can do is run progressive candidates that: 1) are willing to stand up to the Republicans, call them on their incessant lying, and expose their malfeasance and corruption; 2) push for and pass effective legislation aimed at forming a robust middle class, and 3) fight for a United States in which every person has access to an effective education, affordable, high-quality health care, and a job that pays a living wage. Barack Obama is unwilling to stand up to the Republicans, does not seem to give a damn about the middle class (wage freezes for federal employees), and has done nothing significant to change the way we educate our populace, deliver health care (until 2014), or build our economy. And even if he can’t accomplish goals 2 and 3, because of Republican opposition, he simply doesn’t penalize them for it by saying anything to the American people.
I’m done with this guy. Next!