Happy Holidays! Enjoy your holidays and your family and friends!
sunrise
Focus, People Focus
The saddest thing that has come out of this tax the poor to pay the rich debacle is the Democrats lack of political focus. Yes, we are all pissed that President Obama (yeah, I’m to mad to call him Barry) has cut a deal we all hate. Instead of carping on that, we need to remind the American people who the real culprits are in this situation. The fact that the Republicans have put the country in this position should be screaming from the headlines. To be honest, I have to say I feel a hint of respect for the position President Obama (still mad) took. He knew he would hear it from the Left (and rightly so), but he actually put the American citizens ahead of politics. Sort of…. It’s easy for pundits and our millionaire Congress to say let’s fight it out. We can back pay the unemployment benefits to those who lose out while we argue. You can not pay the rent with promises of unemployment checks. You can not feed your children with back pay. Promises will not make your car payment. My problem is that President Obama (really angry here, people) should have gotten a better deal. If you are going to play chicken with my grandchildren’s financial future, you need to at least get the unemployment benefits extension to match the length of the unnecessary tax cuts. Thirteen months versus two years? Honey you are part African, you can haggle better than that! Giving tax relief to the dead and losing tax cuts for the working poor? Do they have dirty pictures from your college years? Yes, it is a blow to the Democratic agenda. No, we do not need to be putting all the blame on President Obama (yep, still pissed). We need to remember, and remind the country, that this situation has stemmed from one thing: the Republicans trying to keep themselves from becoming an unemployment statistic. No tax cuts for the rich, no campaign funds, no jobs. It’s up to us as Democrats to remind the public of who is really at fault, and come 2012, make the Republicans regret that unemployment was only extended thirteen months.
Moving Forward
Well, it’s over. The overwhelming coverage of the 2010 Midterm Elections is finally winding down. CNN is putting away all its new toys and the pundits are cashing their very fat overtime paychecks. The hecklers on the right are reveling in their apparent victory, and the hecklers on the left are licking their wounds. What seems to be left out of the tallying of the “chicklets”is the very basic question: what happens to the Middle Class now? What happens to the 9.6% that can’t find a job? What happens to the mothers who pray their children just don’t get sick? What happens to the homeowners who are so far underwater that drowning sounds like a good thing? We can only wait and see. We can wait to see just how much “anger” can be turned into governing. We can wait to see how the Middle Class will benefit from the privatization of Social Security and the demise of Medicare the Tea Party candidates were calling for. We can wait to see if the Obama administration will continue to acquiesce too much in the name of bipartisanship to the conservative establishment that refuses to move anywhere near the center. But, we can’t wait for long. Yes, let’s hope that now that this election cycle is over, we can actually begin the real work that it will take to save the Middle Class. Let’s hope that now that the Republicans have a personal stake in the success of the country, the will begin work on the side of the American people. I know, I may be holding my breath until 2012.