If Obama's election has proven anything, it is that politicians will try to be whatever they think they can be and attempt to please all voters so that they can get the most votes possible in America's winner-take-all electoral system. There must be some consideration to the fact that outlandish rhetoric about gays and immigrants is all about kicking around wedge issues to turn voters out in November. After all, did the Federal Marriage Amendment get passed and enacted under President George W. Bush? No. Republicans said what needed to be said to get voters to the polls in crucial states like Ohio during the 2004 Election, but little action against gay marriage transpired afterwards.
On the issue of cap-and-trade, it is not clear that this is the right solution for Democrats to get behind. In addition to the fact that Democrats balked at putting any meaningful effort into passing or debating a climate change bill before the midterm elections, lawyers with the Environmental Protection Agency, Laurie Williams & Allan Zabel, wrote in the Washington Post:
"The House and Senate climate bills are not a first step in the right direction. They would give away valuable rights in cap-and-trade permits and create a trillion-dollar carbon-offsets market that will not lead to needed reductions. Together, the illusion of greenhouse-gas reductions and the creation of powerful lobbies seeking to protect newly created profits in permits and offsets would lock in climate degradation for a decade or more. The near-term opportunity to create an effective international framework would also be lost."
As for a possible attempt to privatize Social Security, the Obama Administration has already opened the door for privatization by allowing Alan Simpson to lead a Deficit Commission or "Catfood Commission" to find ways to reduce America's deficits. Simpson has displayed sharp ignorance about Social Security by promoting the Republican idea that Social Security is going bankrupt and is a burden on government. How could anyone have faith in an Administration's effort to fight the privatization of Social Security when a man who said Social Security is "a milk cow with 310 million t-i-ts" is involved in decisions that will determine Social Security's future?
And, should we really not be afraid of more disastrous economic policies if Democrats keep control of Congress in November? Congress, with the consent of Obama, half-assed the economic stimulus. The country now needs more stimulus yet the Democrats are bought off by free market ideologues in the Chamber of Commerce so they do not have the fortitude to argue for a second stimulus package. They have been unable to organize a campaign to impress upon Americans the importance of extending jobless benefits and so Republicans have played games with money that should be going to unemployed Americans. And, they have run from defending Elizabeth Warren as she comes under fire from Big Banks for her dedication to consumers and willingness to go after corporate interests that threaten the well being of the economy.
With the issue of food stamps being slashed, well, the Democrats already did some of that. They did it to fund education and health care. This was what they chose to cut instead of taking money from defense, which is about 57% of the federal budget.
All of this should come as no surprise--- Obama packed his economic team with Wall Street insiders and he sold out by allowing a "team of Rubins" to come on board and greatly influence his economic policies.
The prospect of a government shutdown, endless investigations of Obama, and government paralysis would be frightening if one could say the gears of this system are really working for we the people. But, when every reform or regulation seems to further entrench corporate power into the system, it is difficult to empathize with the plight Obama or Democrats might experience if Republican operatives have their way.
Democrats should probably welcome a shutdown. The shutdown Newt Gingrich briefly engaged in back in the 1990s likely contributed to President Clinton's re-election in 1996. If Republicans displayed their obstructionism even more prominently, it would probably be easy for Democrats to sell themselves to voters in 2012 unless a number of Democrats become involved or complicit in the shutdown to win voters in their districts. This is not beyond the realm of possibility because many are already running ads that are against the supposed accomplishments the Obama Administration has made.
Democrats should probably welcome endless investigations of Obama. What with Birthers, the Tea Party, and the fact that a poll has been released suggesting Bill Clinton is America's most popular politician, the Democrats could on a daily basis remind Americans of how Republicans engaged in a hunting of President Clinton and stalled change and that is exactly what they are doing now. It would resonate because a significant amount of Americans remember the Clinton Years as being good years compared to the Dubya Years.
And, alas, there is little reason to fret about the possibility of a paralysis of government. Senate Democrats just struck a bargain with Senate Republicans to block Obama nominees and prevent President Obama from making any recess appointments while senators are back home campaigning for the midterm elections. This means Republicans and Democrats are willing to either push for or be complicit in the paralysis of government.
Plus, in the past months, Democrats have failed to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and pass a 9/11 First Responders health care, a small business bill, and a defense supplemental. They also struggled to get jobless benefits extended. All they have been able to get through are measures comparable to a resolution commending the University of Southern California men's tennis team or an act ot provide for the issuance of a Multinational Species Conservation Fund Symposium stamp.
Government is paralyzed. Congress isn't working. Change may have "come to Washington" with Obama, but Democrats and Republicans have greatly misunderstood Obama's message.
Now, inevitably, readers will ask what they are to do given the fact that both Democrats and Republicans are involved in wreaking havoc on America so that they can protect their corporate financiers and ensure those financiers continue to support them in this election and future elections.
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