Tag Archives: democrats

Political Rants

Boss-capades.

This continuing deadlock on unemployment benefits is really getting up my nose. Looks like some of our representatives – certainly a lot of Republicans – seem to think that people prefer being unemployed and that somehow giving them the minimal aid that unemployment offers is an incentive for remaining that way.

Not surprising. They, after all, most unapologetically represent purist free enterprise extremism, at least as it relates to ordinary people, workers, the poor, etc. (It’s a different story with respect to corporate America, but more on that later.) Capitalism works best for the ownership class when there’s a massive surplus of workers – that’s just basic economics. It depresses wages, it keeps the rabble in line, and it makes certain that the best talent is always available. Anyone who has ever worked through a recession knows what I’m talking about. Raises become rare or non-existent; bonuses dry up. Always the same excuse, too – the bad economy. And yet the boss seems to be doing really well. Buys him/herself a new car, lives the good life, seems well-fed enough. Built into this dynamic is the knowledge that jobs are scarce, and that you can be replaced any day. It’s a businessman’s paradise, I tell you. Bosses’ nirvana.

So, hey – unemployment insurance payments make people less desperate. That will never do. And subsidizing the ludicrously expensive (and aptly named) COBRA health insurance program – which costs an unemployed couple upwards of $800 a month to maintain – would spoil the market for insurers. Hell, that would be like the “public option” – unfair competition for United Health Care or BlueCross. Not to worry, boys. Old John Boehner, John Kyl, and the crew will save your bacon. Again.

I don’t want to let the Democrats off the hook here. If they were so committed to working class and poor families in this country, they’d push a lot harder than they are now. There’s no “fire in the belly” with the vast majority of them, and that’s because in large measure they answer to the same paymasters. Oh, yes. They’ve passed the thing called “Wall Street Reform” – a watered-down package of mild adjustments that won’t deeply upset any investment banker. It’s better than nothing, but only if we insist that it does not stop there.

I know … it’s amazing that, after working to win a contentious election like 2008, we still have to fight for every inch. Best get used to the idea. Elections matter… but only if you’re willing to fight every moment between them.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

E Pluribus BBQ.

Me thinkst the Democratic party has missed a real opportunity here to show the American people how committed they are to the well-being of working and poor families, their supposed constituency. Extension of unemployment benefits have been stopped yet again by the Republicans (joined by some particularly execrable Democrats), whose threat of a filibuster is enough to weaken the knees of the ruling party. As I’ve mentioned before, the filibuster is never actually joined, just threatened, and in the gentleman’s club that is the U.S. Senate, that is enough for the majority to stand down. So having fallen short of their 60-vote supermajority, the majority has declared the holiday weekend to be underway. That’s for Congress, not for the millions of unemployed. How’s that for solidarity?

Hey, Harry Reid – time to take the gloves off. If the Republicans threaten a filibuster over benefits for the long-term unemployed, hold them to it. Make them stand there, hour after hour, day after day, through the bloody holiday weekend, defending their obstructionism and showing the entire country how little they care about those on the losing side of our economy. What a great opportunity for you to demonstrate that your pro-working stiff rhetoric isn’t just a lot of hot air. (Unless, of course, it is.) There would be those who call you partisan, divisive, etc. Let them! They say that anyway. Slug it out on behalf of workers, both poor and middle class, and you’ll end up with something a lot more valuable than a weekend barbecue.

Besides, the Republicans are always complaining that their ideas never get a fair hearing. So let’s hear ’em. Trouble is, we’ve heard them all before. Cut taxes. Cut spending. Expand the military. Balance the budget. Invade another country. Anything new there? For chrissake, their “idea man” is Paul Ryan (a.k.a. Eddie Munster), and he’s just dedicated to rescuscitating Bush’s plan to eviscerate Social Security and Medicare. I overheard him on “Morning Joe” the other day saying that Keynesiansim doesn’t work. Well, Paul… yeah it does. Of course, you haven’t tried it yet – your party convinced the Dems to strip most of the infrastructure spending out of the stimulus before voting against it.  Think Keynesian spending is ineffective? Try cutting the defense budget or the prison industrial complex and see what happens. For something that “doesn’t work”, it sure has a lot of defenders.

Hey, look… I come from a community that would barely be breathing if it weren’t for government spending. If our local Republicans think money from Washington or Albany is a bad thing, I’ve yet to hear about it.

I encourage you to remind your congressperson and senators that the jobless still need help… and they shouldn’t be made to wait until Congress’s 2 week vacation is over.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Backlash.

A few brief and sullen meditations this week. Not much to say, really, but I’ll say it anyway.

‘Lection Show. Primary day was a bit underwhelming, to say the least. Not surprised to see Arlen Specter voted down. Just a bit too much political opportunism there to survive, I suppose. Never been very keen on him, I must admit. He was one of the decisive votes in pulling serious infrastructure spending out of the stimulus package last year, as I recall. And it’s hard for me to forget his spirited defense of Justice Thomas, whose bitter judicial philosophy (such as it is) we have been saddled with for the past two decades (and will likely have to live through for another two). John Murtha’s seat stayed in Democratic hands – that’s a disappointment to some.

So was Rand Paul’s victory in Kentucky, against an establishment candidate avidly supported by Cheney, McConnell and others. While Paul has gotten himself tangled into knots with some absolutist libertarian positions, he shares his father’s disdain for both of our useless wars. That, at least, would be an embarrassment for his party… and a well-deserved one, at that. He would also be one of the only truly anti-war senators. Hard to fault him for that.

What I can fault him on, though, is the logical outcome of his extreme libertarianism, which his recent comments illustrate. He’s troubled by what he sees as a heavy handed approach to BP by the administration, since that violates his sense of the total separation of the public and private spheres. For one thing, it’s amazing to me that he would consider what’s happening between Obama and BP overly intrusive or burdensome to the oil giant. If anything, it’s way too cozy and too permissive. Personally, I think they should break BP into a million pieces and cash each fragment in as a downpayment on the damage they’ve done through their greed and negligence. But Paul refuses to acknowledge human agency in either the BP undersea oil volcano, or the Massey Energy mine disaster, or I imagine any similar circumstance. “Accidents happen”, and when they do, government looks for people to “blame”.

In that respect, he sounds severely unhinged. But only because he’s willing to say out loud what many right-wing politicians and tea party “patriots” (i.e. former Bush voters) are thinking quietly to themselves.

luv u,

jp