Amazon.com Widgets

As featured on p. 218 of "Bloggers on the Bus," under the name "a MyDD blogger."

Thursday, June 12, 2008

99 Percent of the Ground Versus 1 Percent

Even Republican operatives in North Carolina has figured out that the same old name-calling and unrestrained anger at the godless libruls just won't work in a time when failed conservative policies are so very apparent.

When U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., dismissed his Democratic opponent last month as "Nancy Pelosi's chosen recruit" who had "pockets stuffed with cash from Washington liberals," one of the loudest groans came from a fellow North Carolina Republican.

“This shouting Liberal! Liberal! Liberal! stuff is not going to work this year,” Lee Teague, the GOP chairman in Mecklenburg County, which includes Charlotte, e-mailed a reporter.

“McHenry and a lot of other Republicans in Washington need to get a clue,” he added later.


It won't work because conservatism has moved to such a dark and radical corner of the political map that they've ceded all the territory to the Democrats. Unless you believe in endless war, no taxes for the obscenely wealthy and the denial of Constitutional values, you're a liberal. Which is why the name ID among the electorate is so, well, liberal.

This is an opportunity and also a problem. In a fine post Chris Bowers lays out what we're fighting for with a new President and a Congress committed to change. The list is far more ideologically narrow than you'd expect.

H.R. 1591, U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007. Withdrawing between 100,000 to 120,000 of the 160,000 American military troops in Iraq.

Webb amendment to HR 1585: To specify minimum periods between deployment of units and members of the Armed Forces for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Employee Free Choice Act of 2007. Making it easier to join a union.

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Another worker's right's bill.

District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act : A bill to provide the District of Columbia a voting seat and the State of Utah an additional seat in the House of Representatives.

Rush Holt's verified voting bill. A verified paper trail for every vote cast in America.

Specter amendment to HR 1585: To restore habeas corpus for those detained by the United States.

H.R. 976, Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007. Expanding children's health care.

Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act : A bill to amend part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for fair prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries.

Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007. Increasing stem cell research.

Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act. Increased investment in renewable energy.

Harkin amendment to the Farm Bill. Not sure what this is, but it probably will pass when we get six more votes in the Senate.

Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. A centrist global warming bill that doesn't do much to stop global warming, from what I have heard.


Some of these are great, but for the most part it's a set of moderate goals. This would remove some but not all troops from Iraq; would expand health care and drug access but not overhaul a broken system; would take action on the climate but not in the way that's desperately needed; would establish a paper trail without a paper ballot. Restoring habeas, allowing equal representation in DC, getting increased union membership, and increasing stem cell research funding are great, and we ought to do them, but this is a pretty lukewarm set of proposals. Now, Dean Baker is right - Obama has to tread lightly on the economy to get elected, and that's understandable. The proof will come with what he does with a melange of progressive and centrist advice. However, even getting a tepid stew of center-left proposals is so far removed from what John McCain is offering, I can't yet get that worked up about it. After the election is another idea. But the disparity here is so great. Look at this chart of the differences between Obama and McCain's tax proposals:



Under John W. McCain, you're looking at massive tax cuts for the rich and a completely regressive tax structure. The rest of his ideas fall along the same ideological lines.

If we're fortunate enough to win this election, we will certainly have those battles on making the wave of centrist legislation that does pass as progressive as possible. Our work will have just begun, not ended. But the comparative study just shows there's no contest right now.

UPDATE: I recognize that it's hard to run on tax disparity since there are so many Republican hacks out there willing to lie about it. So let me make my argument with a more blunt instrument.



RUSSERT: The fact is you are different than George Bush.

SEN. McCAIN: No. No. I-the fact is that I'm different but the fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I've been totally in agreement and support of President Bush.

Labels: , , , , , , ,

|