Don’t you sometimes wish that more Congressional Democrats would somehow find their spines? Wouldn’t you love to see them wield that big stick like the Republicans did during the eight years of W’s administration?
Hell, the GOP still carried on like the cock of the walk even after they lost control of the House and Senate following the 2006 midterms! They regarded the Democrats as more of a nuisance to be ignored than any kind of real obstruction…and they basically continued doing whatever they wanted to do…right up until they lost control of everything in November of 2008.
Even that hasn’t stopped them because except for the White House, they’re still controlling the show in Washington. The GOP has framed the Health Care Reform debate since the outset with one outrageous claim after another…putting the Dems consistently on the defensive. Death Panels, rationed care, socialized medicine, covering illegal immigrants, Medicare cuts…the Republicans, their activist organizations and their media shills throw whatever they can think of at the wall, knowing full well that even though it’s all bullshit, some of it will stick and all of it leaves a stain and a stink that never quite goes away.
In short, they play the game however they have to in order to achieve their goals. When they were in power, the Republican objective was to craft virtually every single piece of legislation and tailor every other decision in such a way that it would benefit big business and the wealthiest Americans. And now that they’re not in power, at least not in theory, their sole objective is to stop the Democrats at every turn.
They succeeded wildly then, and they’re succeeding wildly now…and it would seem that the Dems, at least insofar as they’re currently constituted, are not capable of winning this game. With far too few exceptions they just don’t appear to have the stomach for the fight. So once again the GOP is controlling the show, and that my friends is a sad commentary on the people we sent to Washington to bring about ‘change we could believe in’.
Look at the evidence! Every time someone speaking for the Dems stands up to be counted by speaking his or her mind on an issue, they end up being villainized by the right wing and that’s the story the mainstream media runs with. Worse yet, no one on the left comes to their defense. But every time a Republican stands up, even someone like South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson who’s only claim to fame was acting like an unprincipled idiot, they end up being lionized by the right wing…and guess what story the mainstream media runs with in that instance?
The real tragedy in all of this is that for the first time in our history the stars all seemed to be aligned for meaningful Health Care Reform, but the Democrats look as if they can’t, or won’t, carry the ball across the goal line. On the surface, the reasons might seem complicated…but they’re really not. Simply put, too many Democrats are more afraid of losing the financial support they receive from the health industry lobby than they are concerned about losing the support of their electorate. Apparently money talks louder than votes.
We may yet end up with some sort of a Health Care bill being passed into law, but it’s looking less likely every day that it will contain any meaningful reform…that it will have the teeth to bring the health insurance industry to heel. We sincerely hope we’re wrong… but as of right now it just doesn’t look very promising. The Republicans are still being allowed to wield their big stick even though the Democrats have the power of numbers on their side. But the numbers don’t mean jack if the Dems aren’t willing to use this advantage as their hammer. That’s what the GOP would do!
When are we ever going to learn? If it’s worthwhile playing the game, it’s worthwhile playing to win. Carpe diem Democrats…Carpe diem.
SC
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Isn't it interesting that both the Dems and Reps are more worried about losing their lobby money than in doing what is right. Gotta love our public servants. Money gets those folks elected and money keeps them there. Congress needs term limits. We also need laws restricting the use of lobby money to influence legislation.
ReplyDeleteOn a seperate note, I remember Nancy Pelosi (I really dislike her and her policies. She really seems phoney to me when she speaks.) on the news expressing her disappointment in the Republican members of congress when they were dragging their feet in passing the bank bailouts. Shouldn't it have been the other way around if the Republicans were the supporters of the wealthy and the big bankers? What was she and the other Dems in congress trying to cover up? It is complete BS that taxpayers had to cover the bad investments that these folks should have never taken on in the first place. That was something that I never really understood.
Do you think the government would bail us out if you or I went to Vegas and blew all of our money on bad games (investments or loans to the predatory financial institutions)? I don't think so. They would be sure to be there with their hand out if we were to win.
If memory serves me correctly, through the majority of years, Democrats have always been the majority in the congress on the federal and state levels, except for the early nineties during President Clinton's term and during the first term of President Bush. Even then, I don't believe that the Republicans had that much of a majority. Why then, haven't any positive health reforms been put in place? Why haven't the Democrats gotten more done? The answer is simple corruption and money. The same goes for the Republicans. Enemies during election time, but best friends after innauguration.
If you think the federal government is screwed up look at NC. They have been under Democrat control for a long time.