Michael Moore has a new letter to President Obama blaming the President’s mistakes and flip flops on Rahm Emanuel. Michael has it wrong here. The mistake was Obama’s hiring of Rahm in the first place. Remember the old saying that President Truman had on his desk, “The Buck Stops Here”?
Howard Dean should have been appointed Chief of Staff.
As hard as it is to face, we have been hoodwinked by Obama. He is a big sell out. On top of all this, now we get to look forward to Republicans taking back Congress in the fall. Maybe when the Rs gut social security and medicare, we will get real change, not empty promises? It is disconcerting to look forward to things getting worse just so one can hope they will get better as a result.
In the wake of last week’s “bipartisan summit” — which proved that no Republicans in Congress will vote for health care reform — an avalanche of Democratic senators are announcing today that they will vote YES for the public health insurance option if it is brought up in “reconciliation.”
Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) are the latest to announce their support, raising the number of senators on record from 0 to 30 in under 2 weeks.
This is indeed very good news. Without a public option and with an individual mandate, the Democrats would be left out in the cold electorally speaking for a very long time. I know if I was 35 years old (give or take 10 years) and was forced to buy health insurance from a private, monopolistic corporation because of legislation passed by Democrats in Congress, it would be a cold day in hell before I would ever vote for a “D” again. Many younger people believe they do not need health insurance and would rather spend money on other priorities.
20 more Senators to go and we might actually get a bill that will be worthwhile after all. Thanks to our very own Senator Murray for her public option support.
Citing a desire to not “thin the field of Democrats” in the primary, Deb Wallace withdrew from the 3rd district race to replace Rep. Brian Baird. This is yet another example of why the “top two” primary system is undermining the electoral process. If we did not have political parties, the top two primary would make sense. It would be the “best man (woman) wins”. But when you have a system where you have to minimize the number of contenders in each party or try to keep the number running in each political party equal in order to have a fair race, democracy suffers. If Deb Wallace had remained in the race and lost, she would be seen as a spoiler if two Republican candidates ended up the top two vote getters. This is because she would be seen as dividing the Democratic vote up to the benefit of the Republicans. So because Denny Heck has more money and Craig Pridemore is more of a populist, Deb is boxed into a corner with no way out but to withdraw. This is not how democracy is supposed to work. Now we will never know if the voters in the 3rd Congressional District wanted to elect Deb Wallace.
In her Feb. 13 letter, “President should have more influence,” Ann Harris asked was her vote wasted on Barack Obama? What has he accomplished in a year? I would answer: the stimulus package; tax reductions; elimination of the F-22 fighter program, saving millions; Sonia Sotomayor; Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; expansion of SCHIP to cover 4 million children; public lands bill for 2 million acres of protected wilderness; credit card reform; comprehensive ban on lobbyists; regulation of tobacco by the FDA; stem-cell research; expansion of AmeriCorps national service programs. In addition there are accomplishments on the world stage; the Cairo speech; not turning over Afghanistan to the Taliban; strengthening of the Department of State; renewed engagement throughout the world; leadership in world climate change; ban on torture; organized and effective response to H1N1 and Haiti disasters.
I also voted for Obama, and I’m proud of these accomplishments and they are significant. I don’t regret my vote. Of course, it’s not enough. I’m impatient for health insurance reform; closure of Gitmo; re-regulation of banking; ending Iraq and Afghanistan wars, ending don’t ask, don’t tell; passage of “Card Check”; and carbon cap-and-trade. Do I wish I had voted for McCain-Palin? Nope, not for a minute.
It is easy to focus on what is not getting done and forget the positive accomplishments. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Follow Craig and his Congressional campaign on Facebook here and here.
You can donate to his campaign here and here. I just did. We need more people like Craig who delivers what he promises and who will stand up for us in Congress.
Corporatocracy, Joe Bageant and why President Obama cannot fix anything until things get more broken. Here is some white trash talk:
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