I’ve heard a lot over the past few days about how the Republicans were able to do so well in Tuesday’s election. What is uncontroversial is that the Congress of the last two years has been an unmitigated failure, with fewer bills passed by the House than in any session in living memory. They put forward draconian bills that they know will never go anywhere. They work a week and take two weeks off. They demonize their opponents and make compromise a four-letter word. Where did they go right? Not sure, but the mid-term electorate has spoken, and they have rewarded failure with two more years of power and Republican leadership in the Senate.
That can only serve as an endorsement of the GOP’s strategy of doing absolutely nothing and letting nothing be done by anyone else. Here we are, at a time when interest rates are at historic lows, letting our national infrastructure rust away when we could be rebuilding it under very favorable terms, putting people to work, and investing in the future. Instead, we’ve opted for austerity at both the federal and the state level, laying off people instead of putting them to work, squeezing the air out of the economy years after the financial crash.
So, sure … this means more reactionary policies than before. You know, Inhoffe in charge of the Environment committee in the Senate; McCain presiding over Armed Services, Fox in charge of the henhouse committee, and so on. But hey … we’ve been through this before, right? If you want to work for positive change, here are a few things to look for:
- “Free” Trade – Lori Wallach of Global Trade Watch is warning that the fight over the TPP will take place in the House of Representatives, initially over fast-track authority. What you can do: Call your representative, Democrat or Republican, and ask where they stand on this issue; then tell them to do the right thing if they’re not already.
- War in Syria – The Republican Senate will want to double-down on American military involvement in Syria. What you can do: We need to raise our voices against this and do it now.
- Social Security / Medicare / Medicaid – The president will likely try to work with the GOP Senate to hammer out a version of his beloved “Grand Bargain”, giving away the store on Social Security and using the trust fund to pay for tax cuts, etc. What you can do: The president and our senators need to hear from us. Call them, email them, send up smoke signals.
Don’t give up. Organize. It’s the only thing we have … and the only thing we’ve ever had.
luv u,
jp
Sometimes it actually pays to be late. I’ll give you a for instance. There was this gig on Mars we booked for next month, and we were planning to take a private rent-a-rocket up there, having lost contact with our mad science adviser Mitch Macaphee. That’s fine. Only the rocket is an Antares Orbital CRS-3. Yes, THAT Antares Orbital CRS-3. The same one that blowed up real good a couple of days ago. Oh, yes. That’s the flight you WANT to be late for.
I know – that doesn’t sound like a gee-whiz, hyper positive, up-with-people rallying cry of the sort we have all grown to expect since our kindergarten days. It’s merely the truth – the vote is a right people have died defending in this country (see Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney), and we need to exercise it. We also need to encourage those around us to do the same thing. Because if we stay home, sit on our hands, choose to watch the game instead of marking the ballot, our opponents – those who are part of the wholly-owned corporate subsidiary known as the Republican party – gain even greater influence and power. Elections always have consequences.