Polls are clear: The Republican Party is weighed down by negative views by the public that has not forgotten how the party of fiscal conservatism ran the US economy off the rails. But since 2008, what have Democrats done to win the support of a nation burdened by wars and a devastated economy? In answering this question, control of Congress could return to the GOP. Republicans may succeed by doing nothing except saying, 'no, no and more no'.
I am in the camp complaining that Democrats should have made clearer-- much clearer-- how the transformation of the global economy has put the United States at a severe competitive disadvantage, and how serial asset bubbles papered over clear warning signs that the result would be both high unemployment and the sharpest division in wealth creation since the age of the robber barons.
For the most part the Democrats have been persuaded that no one got elected or re-elected by saying how bad things are, and so they have tried to put the best and most positive spin. It is not working. And certainly not working as 30 second political ads on TV. In my lifetime, there has never been a wider gap between facts on the ground and our national political life.
That gap separates the power of corporations against the interests of people; the freedom to compel consumption from freedom, period. Corporations are too powerful in the United States, and the most powerful are mainly using the American consumer to propel their profits into the globalized economy. In case you haven't noticed, these corporations also support the Tea Party.
10 comments:
I wasn't a supporter of Obama and did not vote for him. ALL of my friends who were big Obamaniacs now pretend they never voted for him.
What you are seeing is a meltdown and the flames are the same ones that scorched Bush. Though I didn't vote for Obama, I don't like the idea that my president is so weak in terms of public support.
Maybe we all need to gain some perspective instead of constantly destroying sitting Presidents with whom we disagree.
The answer is real simple. The American people have come to the cold realization that 2 years after Obama was elected and both the Senate and House went under D control, the question---are we better off today than 2 years ago---which was the same question that the D's were asking 2 years ago. The answer is a resounding NO!!! Its no wonder that the polls are indicating what they are. We are a country in trouble, and the people see it, they smell it, they sense it, hell we are living it. Let's hope the tide turns quickly and we go back to the basics that made this country great.
Don't blame it on the Dems. Gimleteye has it right -- the rise of the machines, our corporations, is pounding us all into the ground. These corporate giants sit on the sideline fueling our unrest. Get smart people the other party can't fix what is broken.
Here's something I wrote that Sun-Sentinel ran yesterday (Herald passed):
Obama has logged many successes
September 7, 2010
With the primary elections behind us, conventional wisdom predicts a rough November for President Obama and the Democrats. While an unacceptably high unemployment rate acts as a millstone around the president's neck, the historic achievements of Obama merit mention.
*He avoided a second Great Depression. The bank and auto bailouts, however noxious, worked and soon may be turning a hearty profit to the government.
*Health insurance reform is making an impact and, with careful oversight, could begin to curtail runaway health care costs while covering 30 million additional Americans, a historic achievement.
*The excesses of Wall Street and our financial systems, the true culprit of our current anemic economy, have been re-regulated with consumer protections.
*Two new superme Supreme Court justices are in place.
*America is no longer despised abroad the way it was under Bush/Cheney, and torture has been ended.
*On the economy, it's undeniable that the current employment outlook is bleak, but not desperate if you look at the long run. A slow, but steady recovery will continue in fits and starts.
*The president's bi-partisan debt commission will chart a path towards dealing with the national deficits and debt.
And against this, what do the tea party Republicans have to offer? Arguably, little more than vitriolic anger and accusations that the president is a Muslim, fascist, socialist, illegal immigrant (born in Kenya) or whatever other fictitious conspiracy theories cable news is propagating. Tea partiers seek to slash immediate and long-term spending, but offer no specifics on what consequential programs are to be cut. Extending Bush tax cuts for millionaires while proposing no corresponding reductions in defense, Medicare or Social Security is folly. They offer nothing substantive on ending our addiction to carbon energy or how to reform our immigration laws to humanely deal with millions of poor, undocumented immigrants. Indeed a party of "No."
John Ise is a resident of Miami Shores.
To the poster that says Obama has had many succeses...please, spare us the rhetoric. D candidates running for office now are running away from O and his policies. They don't even want to be in the same area code that the President is in. You say health care is working...yeah right, health care costs are rising, benefits are being reduced, and costs to businesses is skyrocketing.
Bailouts are working, yeah right, try another fairy tale.
America is now liked again, what a crock of crap. America has been weakened! Let's all weep and let's all sing kumbaya with the bon vivant French and other countries that envy us. Peace through strength is more of what we need. The job market is bleak but not desperate, try telling that to the thousands of unemployed and the thousands losing their homes. What rock have you been under?
yes they will , to a new and young republicans no the old school republicans.
There are a lot of people to blame for the financial crisis we are still in, so don't think its all on Bush or the GOP. But Obama is making things worse! Keynesian economics should be discredited as a cure for recession, but Obama and his lefting Marxist administration insists on borrowing and spending more and more! Plus he never misses an opportunity to bash business and profit-making. This Big Government administration simply cannot assure Wall Street or Main Street that "help is on the way" - its more like "more taxes and regulation are on the way to make sure we spread YOUR wealth around". No wonder businesses won't hire in this anti-business climate Obama has created.
Maybe in 2012 we can elect a candidate who, you know, has actually accomplished something in his life to demonstrate competence instead of hubris.
I disagree. Obama has done a great job under very difficult circumstances. We have a health care bill, we are out of Iraq, we have the stimulus, we are trying to get the banks under control, we helped the auto industry, and there is lots more. I am sure a laundry list of accomplishments can be generated just on newspaper reports alone. But the more important thing here is we are trying and we are moving in the right direction. There is no need to go back to the policies that got us here. As they say in the Matrix, we have been down that road before and we know where it goes. While we could not overcome 8 years of massive neglect and excessive greed in 2 years, we are headed in the right direction. We need to get at least even board again before we even consider allowing republicans to rule again. If we go back before we come back from the brink, the republicans may succeed in destryoing this country. And we may never come back because we have allowed it to go too far. So these midterm elections are important in staying on course.
Last anon---everything you mention above is costing me and the rest of the people more money, including the generations after us. So no I don't like it, I don't agree with it, and I think it sucks!!!!! Your anti Republicanism and pro Obamaism is blinding to a fault. The Republicans are not destroying this country, and for the record neither are the Democrats, in an absolute sense. Our system of checks and balances is the best in the world. What is destroying this country is the veering of course of what got us to the top and what made us great. Think about that!
So, you want Sarah Palin to run the government. . .
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