2010 Mid-term Elections: Defending Hope and Change
The 2010 midterm elections take place on November 2nd, 2010. Voters must choose a direction: affirm the 2008 election of Barack Obama and the Democratic Party OR return to Republican Party policies.
Throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, we learned about Obama’s policy positions, agenda, style, and campaign promises. I think it is clear that Obama’s presidency has fulfilled any reasonable expectations.
By the time Obama won the election on November 4th, 2008, the United States faced one overwhelming priority: prevent another Great Depression. The Obama administration worked with Congress to enact critically important legislation that stabilized the economy. Economists generally agree that the “stimulus package” of 2009 and other measures saved the U.S. from a much more severe recession or even a depression. Virtually every Republican in Congress opposed this, and in doing so, Republicans emerged as “the Party of No”. “No” has been the Republican Party strategy since Obama took office.
Obviously, the right thing to do is for all Americans to work together to find practical solutions to our many serious problems. Instead we are mired in power politics. I am for progress. The Republicans have no interest in solving any problems.
“He who controls the past, controls the future.” - from 1984 by George Orwell
For many years, Fox News, right-wing talk radio, and assorted other right-wing media have built up a sophisticated American mythology to replace reality. This mythology is like “Lord of the Rings” or “Star Wars” in that it creates a detailed alternative reality with its own heroes and villains, fictional history, plots and subplots, typography, and language. Right-wing media perpetuate their mythology 24 hours a day, every day, year after year.
The Tea Party Movement celebrates this mythology and has pushed the Republican Party toward an extreme and reactionary agenda. The Tea Party movement unites two key factions of ultra conservatives: Sarah Palin “Christian Nation” dittoheads allied with Ron Paul libertarians. The Palin faction is larger. The two factions unite in their belief in America’s #1 Myth: “the U.S. Government taxes me and takes my money just to give it to lazy people”. These two factions have serious disagreements about foreign policy and social issues, but this #1 Myth is especially popular lately. Some people find comfort in this myth.
For many years, U.S. Federal tax rates have been quite low historically speaking, and Obama’s 2009 tax cuts made tax rates even lower. There are many reasons the “great recession” of 2008 happened, but no serious economist suggests “taxes too high” as a reason.
Reality #1 is that the “free market” on its own cannot result in a workable national economy. People who believe otherwise need to study the U.S. economy and history of the 1890’s. No one in their right mind would want to return to that misery. Through decades of progressive legislation, basic government interventions eventually helped lift the U.S. population to a higher standard of living and a more decent life. These government interventions included: child labor laws, legalizing labor unions, allowing women to vote, civil rights, worker safety regulation, environmental protection, minimum wage, public education, food and product safety standards, public transportation, investment in infrastructure, assistance for the elderly, a safety net for disabled people, unemployment insurance.
Any country that does NOT have this basic government involvement is called a hellhole.
Tea Party mentality decries even minimal government involvement as “socialism”. A scary word if you do not know what it means. Obama is not a socialist. Franklin Roosevelt saved capitalism. Historians will likely say Obama also saved the U.S. capitalist economy at one of its most critically unstable times. The U.S. economy is still in very bad shape. We need to address many structural problems. Healthcare reform is a step in the right direction, but again the popularity of right-wing mythology attempts to thwart every effort to move us toward stability and prosperity. The right-wing believes we all need to suffer just to make sure that no lazy people benefit.
The Tea Party Movement says it is rooted in the tradition of the Founding Fathers and the U.S. Constitution. Actually, they have much more in common with the “Know Nothings” and other reactionary movements that promoted hatred of immigrants and any one else who was somehow different than themselves. Sarah Palin and her followers believe that they are “the real America” and the rest of us somehow are something else. The historian Richard Hofstadter described this as “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”. Fear, paranoia, tribalism, and hatred are the exact opposite of the traits our Founding Fathers tried to instill into our nation.
The U.S. Constitution makes it clear that the Federal Government must “promote the general welfare”. This is in the first sentence of the constitution and is really part of the “mission statement” for our government. The Republican Tea Party ignores this fundamental duty. Instead of the “general welfare”, they think everyone should be on their own in a “survival of the fittest”. In their vision, working together to help us all is “socialism” and must be opposed. Protecting the wealth of the rich is their top priority.
Most people are unhappy that the economy remains in poor shape. The wealthiest always seem to do fine. I think it is sad that some people have lost faith in the Obama Administration. Some progressives feel the administration has not done enough. Some of the moderate independents who voted for Obama in 2008 have moved toward the Republicans.
Voters made the right choice in 2008 in electing Obama and by giving Democrats the chance to run both houses of Congress. January 20th, 2008 (Obama’s inauguration) until now is simply not enough time to solve the most severe economic crisis since the 1930’s. Giving Republicans more power now will only slow us down further and prevent us from solving the many problems we face. The United States needs to invest in the future, including educating the next generation. The choice between the two parties is very clear.
I hope voters wake up to reality and avoid the mythology of the right-wing. I find it amazing that many people simply will not vote. Voting is a quick and easy thing to do. Yes, presidential elections are a big deal, but so are the midterm elections. Spending maybe an hour every two years is the least all of us can do to ensure we have a decent country.
President Obama cannot change America on his own. He needs the support of Congress and intelligent voters who pay attention to the news and vote every two years. It would be very easy for us to keep the momentum of 2008 simply by getting people out to vote for the Democrats. Yes we can, and maybe we will.
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