Archive for category Party Politics
Gallup Poll: ‘Enthusiasm Gap’ Now 25 Points
Posted by Richard Warnick in 2010 Elections, Democracy, Democrats, Disaster, Elections, National Politics, Party Politics, Republicans, This Blog on September 2, 2010
Also, Republicans lead on the “generic ballot” by an unprecedented 10 points.
Source: Gallup.com
The last Gallup weekly generic ballot average before Labor Day underscores the fast-evolving conventional wisdom that the GOP is poised to make significant gains in this fall’s midterm congressional elections. Gallup’s generic ballot has historically proven an excellent predictor of the national vote for Congress, and the national vote in turn is an excellent predictor of House seats won and lost. Republicans’ presumed turnout advantage, combined with their current 10-point registered-voter lead, suggests the potential for a major “wave” election in which the Republicans gain a large number of seats from the Democrats and in the process take back control of the House.
Glenn Greenwald has a roundup of some of the reasons why. In general, we have a Democratic administration and Congress that steadfastly refuses to implement progressive policies. They are even plotting to roll back Social Security and Medicare.
Hope is Fading Away
Posted by Richard Warnick in Barack Obama, Civil liberties Infringement, Democrats, Disaster, Economy, Health Care, National Politics, Party Politics, This Blog, Unemployment on July 16, 2010
John Harris and Jim VandeHei yesterday wrote a Politico article in which unnamed White House functionaries complain that the administration isn’t getting enough credit for bringing the change promised in the 2008 campaign.
Digby offers a few thoughts that are obvious to those of us outside the Beltway:
First of all, the central premise seems to be that liberals should be happy that Obama has “gotten something done” without regard to what that “something” is. But the fact is that professional politicians always rattle off a legislative laundry list while activists care about process, politics and policy — and average voters only care about the results.
…Therefore, his political advisers should know that when the country is still reeling from unemployment and foreclosures after nearly two years, the passage of an inadequate stimulus bill, which unrealistic benchmarks and a giddy victory party ensured would be the only chance they got, the only people who will consider that a “success” would be beltway insiders. They should have realized that a health care bill that nobody in their right minds would have designed from scratch, the worst aspects of which liberals will be asked to defend for years to come, would be met with dampened enthusiasm by those who watched the process devolve from a sense of progressive purpose to an exhausting farce. They are expected to be able to predict that financial reform without accountability for what’s gone before, combined with the administration’s unwillingness to confront the civil liberties abuses of the last administration — indeed expanding on them in some cases — would show a lack of fundamental concern for justice among those who care about such things.
Since the Village is essentially a Republican town perhaps they assumed that liberals were all going to be the same dead-enders the Bush cultists were, defending their man until the day he was out of office (and then insisting they never liked him in the first place). That’s what “little people” (and paid political hacks) are supposed to do. But liberals are not known for cultlike devotion to their leaders — ask Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter.
Like I said, some things are obvious outside the Beltway.
An American Way Forward
Posted by Glenden Brown in Activist groups, American History, American People, Bigotry, Democracy, Democrats, Party Politics, This Blog on July 15, 2010
At its height, American liberalism combined strong social democratic instincts with a uniquely American innovations to create a powerful alliance between blue collar workers, professionals and technocrats, raised living standards and real incomes, produced a strongly egalitarian society and minimized economic disparity, tackled issues of racial injustice and produced a powerful, and effective, public education system. Ultimately it would be undone by its own success, a foreign policy disaster and a set of external shocks. At least in part, American liberalism tamed its initial opponents who created the Rockefeller wing of the Republican party that produced the first President Bush – someone moderate to the core of his being, a responsible leader, someone who took governing seriously while also being aware of the limitations of government. Nixon represented that wing of the party and for all his contradictions and failures, he nevertheless led an administration more liberal than any we’ve seen since.
American liberalism was undermined by its own success. Read the rest of this entry »
My Endorsement #1: Noyce for County Council
Posted by Glenden Brown in Democrats, Party Politics on June 22, 2010
Here’s why:
I am currently serving as the President of the Central Utah Federation of Labor, which also includes membership on the Utah AFL-CIO Executive Board. I am also currently serving as Vice Chair of the Jordan Meadows Community Council, and an advisor-trainer with Head Start Policy Council. I am also the First Vice President of the Salt Lake Community Action Program Board of Directors.
For decades, I have been involved in community activities within Council District 1, and beyond – I have served on the Board of Directors for the East Liberty Park Neighborhood Housing Services; on the Board of Directors for the United Way of Salt Lake; I also was an original member of the Salt Lake Police Civilian Review Board.
Equal rights are very important to me, and I have made use of my knowledge and experience to help advance equality in the workplace. I am the founder of the Utah Coalition of LGBT Union Activists and Supporters, and was a co-founder and co-chair of the Pride At Work Constituency Group of the National AFL-CIO.
As part of my commitment to providing engaging and effective community services, I am currently working with Salt Lake City Councilman Carlton Christensen on several projects, and I have an excellent relationship with the Democratic House and Senate members who reside in Council District 1.
He has support of both Paula Julander – who I tremendously admire – and Scotty McCoy about whom I’m slightly less than sanguine. Another of his supporters is Ralph Becker – and quite frankly our mayor is a smart man with good judgement.
My less than honorable reason for supporting Cal Noyce below the fold: Read the rest of this entry »
The Great Culture Change
Posted by Glenden Brown in Activist groups, American History, American People, Democracy, Labor Unions, Liberal, Party Politics, This Blog on May 20, 2010
The folks at The Democratic Stragetist linked to a really interesting paper by Andrew Levison examining the idea of making a populist appeal to win the votes of working class white Americans.
Levison’s paper tackles some very interesting topics, one particular section caught my eye:
The fall of the Democratic machine and the rise of TV politics
Levison succinctly summarizes the very influential powerful political dynamics of the mid-20th century:
In the 1950’s, every major northern city had a network of local union halls and local Democratic Party offices, which many blue-collar workers and other non-affluent democrats saw as an important and integral part of their community.
These institutions offered average citizens a real and distinct sense of inclusion and representation. Big city democratic voters knew that local union representatives and neighborhood party workers—men who they knew personally—sat around the table with the local politicians who then played an important role in the selection of candidates for city and state offices and participated in the definition of the positions that were taken on issues. The complex local apparatus of political patronage and the provision of municipal jobs and minor services to constituents by the Democratic Party political machine was, to ordinary Democrats, evidence of their recognized role and position, however small, in the party as a whole. Read the rest of this entry »
Random Thoughts on Britain’s Answer to 2000
Posted by Glenden Brown in Democracy, Party Politics on May 10, 2010
Although it does not seem as wrenching as 2000 was here, the Brits are going through a painful and inconclusive election season that is, thus far, failing to produce a government. Andrew Sullivan observed today:
Or to put it another way: 63 percent of Britons did not want a Tory government after 13 years of Labour. That’s the logic behind Gordon Brown’s maneuver today. He’s gambling that on most issues, the Liberal Democrats are actually closer to Blairite liberalism than Cameroonian conservatism. Get rid of the Brown stigma and the natural alliance has time to form. There’s more as well of course: judging whether getting into government right now would in fact be fatal to any party, given the country’s finances; personal pique; and the entire question of electoral reform.
Brown’s big move was his announcement of his resignation from party leadership and hence from the Prime Minister’s office once a new Labour leader is chosen. Read the rest of this entry »
Health Care: Beyond Cynicism
Posted by Richard Warnick in Barack Obama, Conservatives, Democrats, Disaster, Health Care, Hypocrisy, John McCain, Liars (politics), National Politics, Party Politics, Republicans, Tea Bag Party, This Blog, Tribalism & Blind Obedience to Authority, congress on March 24, 2010
This year’s health care debate is so hard to describe. The concept of cynicism (defined as “having a sneering disbelief in sincerity or integrity”) hardly covers it.
The word “cynic” or “dog-like” was first applied to the followers of the original ancient philosophy of Cynicism.
[T]he dog is a shameless animal, and they make a cult of shamelessness, not as being beneath modesty, but as superior to it.
The Blue Dogs of the U.S. Congress might not follow all the dictates of the ancient Cynics, but they embrace shamelessness wholeheartedly. And the same can now be said for most other Democrats. Of course, Republicans already repeatedly upped the ante on cynicism during the Bush administration.
Source: Poll: Most Say Health Care Fight About Politics, Not Policy
Candidate Barack Obama campaigned FOR the choice of a public option in health care. He was AGAINST the individual mandate, and AGAINST the Hyde Amendment. Only a month before the election, Obama severely criticized Senator John McCain’s proposal for an excise tax on health benefits for what it is, a new tax on the middle class.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not even pretend that the AHIP/PhRMA giveaway bill signed into law yesterday includes progressive policy ideas. No, she credits the conservative Heritage Foundation and quotes WaPo’s E.J. Dionne to say the legislation “built on a series of principles that Republicans espoused for years.”
If Bush had tried to pass this bill the entire progressive movement (such as it is) would have squealed like stuck pigs, with the volume and intensity they responded to Bush’s privatization of Social Security. …The question is why anyone was ever hoodwinked into thinking this was a “progressive” victory simply because the Republicans were against it. It was a Democratic party victory.
The White House is betting that those who committed themselves to Obama during the campaign won’t be bothered if he triangulates against his own campaign rhetoric and passes a right-wing health care bill — that their commitment to the ideals of the campaign will be trumped by their commitment to him as a personality. They may well be right.
UPDATE: Obama Hosts Anti-Abortion Signing Ceremony
UPDATE: Republicans Block Senate Committee Hearings, Including On National Security Matters, For Second Day In A Row
UPDATE: Viagra, ACORN and Gay Marriage: The 10 Most Ridiculous GOP-Proposed Health Care Amendments (Senator Bennett wrote one of them).
UPDATE: The prize for the lamest excuse has to go to Senate Democrats. They deliberately missed the chance to add in the public option to reconciliation, because then the legislation would have to go back to the House for another vote. Which it did anyway. Jon Walker on FDL runs down the list of now-inoperative Democratic excuses for why we can’t have the public option.
UPDATE: The prize for the worst bald-faced lie goes to President Obama today in Iowa City:
Challenged by a young man in the audience who shouted several times, “What about the public option,” a liberal-backed proposal for the creation of a government-sponsored plan to compete with private insurers, Obama said: “We couldn’t get it through Congress.”
How stupid does the President think we are?
Deem and Pass: That was Old School
Posted by Glenden Brown in Health Care, Party Politics, nancy pelosi on March 22, 2010
I’ve long felt of the big three, Speaker Pelosi is by far the most cunning and ruthless. Reid is pugilist, he likes a good fight; Obama is a strategic thinker, deeply engaged in the issues, but not cunning and certainly not ruthless. Nancy Pelosi, however, is reminding me of the great politicians of the past – like FDR she is cagey, shrewd, knows how to work the angles. Read the rest of this entry »
Did Speaker Pelosi Just Kill the Public Option?
Posted by Richard Warnick in Corruption, Democracy, Democrats, Disaster, Health Care, Lying, National Politics, Party Politics, congress, nancy pelosi on March 13, 2010
It’s hard to believe the Democratic leadership is as dumb as they appear. From yesterday:
In her weekly news conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed confidence that health-care reform would pass. But she also rang a death-knell for the persistent hopes of progressive Democrats that a public option could make an appearance in the final bill, despite months of evidence to the contrary.
…Pelosi said there would be no public option in the legislation. “We had it; we wanted it,” she told reporters. “It’s not in reconciliation … We’re talking about something that’s not going to be part of the legislation.”
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that senators would whip aggressively for a public option — but only if it was included in the bill sent over by the House.
David Swanson on FDL sums up:
Let me get this straight. The Senate will pass a public option if the House will. And the House will, because it already did. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi won’t allow it.
Of course, Senator Durbin knows that Senate Dems are afraid to hold an up or down vote on the public option. A “no” vote would anger constituents. A “yes” vote would make the health insurance lobbyists unhappy. Why not call Durbin’s bluff?
Democratic Party leaders are battling one another over who will get the blame for killing the public option. Instead, why not share the credit for doing the right thing? They have to know the for-profit health insurance industry isn’t sustainable. Fewer and fewer Americans can get coverage, as costs skyrocket uncontrollably. Eventually, single-payer or Medicare buy-in will have to happen.
Sixty members of Congress have pledged to vote against any health care bill that doesn’t have a public option. It is now up to them to prevent a breakdown of representative democracy.
UPDATE: On FDL, Scarecrow speculates:
The current plan is for the House to take a dive. They’re expected to vote for an unpopular Senate bill at the risk of their careers. In exchange, they get to vote on a reconciliation fix they fear will not be sufficient to save them, while leaving out key elements they know they’ll need to sell the plan.
I would tell House progressives: Don’t vote for this, they are unfairly setting you up to take the fall for not passing the public option!
UPDATE: Jane Hamsher on HuffPo:
The White House is telling people that if they don’t pass this bill, it will be a disaster for Democrats in the fall. That’s abject nonsense — their “fallback plan” for health care doesn’t have the toxic mandate that makes the IRS the collection agency for Blue Cross/Blue Shield, or any of the abortion issues that inflame both pro- and anti-choice groups. It is quite frankly a better plan, but most of the country wouldn’t know the difference over a bill that doesn’t kick in until 2014 anyway.
More info:
Tell Progressives to Honor Their Pledge: Insist on a Public Option (FDL)
The Democrats’ scam becomes more transparent (Glenn Greenwald)
Previous One Utah posts:
New Health Care Bill = Corporate Serfdom (February 22, 2010)
Can the Public Option Survive? (July 20, 2009)
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