For example, the Democrats rode into office on a two-year horrendously expensive campaign of "Change," demanding that we all tithe to them, our future Kings and Queens who promised to free us from the despotic Bush/Cheney regime. Yet once the Democrats took control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, they have done nothing but reaffirm and ratify everything that the Bush/Cheney regime did for the past 8 years.
Obama ran as an anti-war candidate, but since he got into office he has affirmed the wars, escalated the one in Afghanistan, started a new one against Pakistan, appointed Hillary Clinton ("I will annihilate Iran") as Secretary of State and allows her to intensify the rhetoric and presumably the secret interventions into Iran, and recently had one of his spokespersons tell the public that the U.S. military will occupy Iraq for at least another ten years. What change?
Obama's Department of Justice has supported the Bush/Cheney regime in all its dictatorial and illegal war-crimes policies including the "right" to kidnap, torture, and murder without any consequences (Obama just said they won't torture in Cuba -- but did not stop the practice in the CIA black-hole secret prisons around the world).
They have intervened in every lawsuit by an injured victim trying to receive compensation for being kidnapped and tortured, and they intervene on the side of Bush/Cheney to stop the lawsuit, stop the truth from being revealed. They refuse to let the public see the evidence of torture and war crimes, refuse to release prisoners wrongly and illegally held, refuse to release prisoners against whom there is no legitimate evidence of a crime.
The Obama DOJ refuses to enforce the law against the rich and powerful, which is the most important indicia of a dictatorship: the rich and powerful can get away with anything, even murder. The police and military state can kill working people (in this country and others) without consequence. The prison industry flourishes from the millions of small-time criminals locked up for decades for minor property crimes while the rich and powerful kill by the thousands, and nobody does a thing to hold them accountable.
Obama and the Democrats ran as the party that would stop the looting and plundering of America by Wall Street and the CEOs. But the fact is they have been the primary party (even under Bush) in supporting the hundreds of billions in bail-out money given to Wall Street. They support this theft of taxpayer money because Wall Street gives the Democratic politicians enormous bribes and kick-backs.
They refuse to conduct hearings, investigations, prosecutions of the criminals on Wall Street, which includes pretty much every person who worked there for the past ten years, despite the fact that these criminals have defrauded the public, and plundered and looted our country, perhaps destroying our economy and setting the stage for most of us to live the rest of our lives in dire poverty. They've put hundreds of millions of dollars into their own pockets of stolen money, yet Obama's Justice Department refuses to seize the assets or prosecute these people for international financial crimes against the world. They've stolen people's jobs, homes, and retirement funds, and the Democrats do nothing to try to take that money back and help the people of this country. And all along, Wall Street keeps paying the big bribes to the Democrats.
Obama and the Democrats claimed they would re-take control of the economy to help the citizens, yet since they've been in office they have done nothing to create jobs except a few part-time, temporary census workers hired by Obama.
Obama and the Democrats claimed they would get tough on the financial sector, and proudly proclaim their credit card "reform" bill which did not one thing to help the people of this country. They refused to cap interest rates, which is the only part of the credit card transaction that really matters.
The Democrats have been playing the Supreme court game for weeks, and apparently will for months: those mean old Republicans won't let us confirm Sotomayor. The problem with this story is that they only need 51 votes to confirm, so they should have immediate hearings then vote, and stop the fund-raising nonsense of turning the impotent Republicans into the bogeyman.
The Democrats blame the lobbyists, they blame the cost of campaigns, they blame the chamber of commerce, the blame the "powerful" healthcare and financial industry, say they won't let the Democrats do what they want. "Powerful" interests are working against them. Nonsense. Write the bill, vote on the bill, pass the bill. I wish my job was that easy. But instead of doing their job, the Democrats spend most of their time soliciting and accepting bribes. None of the lobbyists would be employed if the politicians would simply refuse to take bribes.
If the Democrats want to help the people, they should pass the strictest bribery law, strictest campaign finance laws imaginable. Stop the corruption. Stop taking bribes, stop selling their votes.
The efforts to pass the Employee Free Choice Act ("EFCA") have supposedly bogged down in Congress, the Democrats claiming they "can't" get it passed because the Chamber of Commerce and corporate lobbyists are battling against it. I don't blame the Chamber of Commerce or the lobbyists. They do what they say they will do: represent businesses. Who represents the people? Nobody.
Generally a left or progressive movement is developed at least in part through a political party that works on the local level to help organize people around the important issues, such as jobs, job security, benefits, environment, education, healthcare, and works on the national level to support those policies. But the Democrats don't do that. All the Democrats do is ask for money. And the Obama people ask for blind loyalty, labor, and money. I'm tapped out.
I just got an e-mail last week asking me to go out and campaign and lobby in support of Obama's health care reform policy. What policy? I replied: what policy is it that I'm supporting? What exactly is it that Obama is promising to do for me? What change? But they don't bother to tell me that, just as Obama has not bothered to tell us what exactly is it that he supports. It's beginning to appear that what he supports is just another corporate give-away. He will order all Americans to buy health insurance. Then "HOPE" that the costs come down. That kind of HOPE I don't need. No thanks.
I suppose Obama's next anti-foreclosure policy will consists of ordering all Americans to cure their defaults and begin paying their mortgages on a timely basis. He can deal with the issue of unemployment by ordering all Americans to go out and get a full-time job. End hunger in America by ordering all the citizens to begin buying food every day and eating it. How stupid do the Democrats think we are?
We hear "the left" blamed for the failures to stop Bush and the Republicans. But the primary blame falls on the Democratic Party which, under the guidance of Bill Clinton and Terry McCauliffe, became the Party of Corruption, the corporate party, the party of vote-selling and bribes and kick-backs. I don't know if it can be reformed. I don't think so -- I think it's too far gone.
Everyone is screaming that the Republican party is on its last legs. Maybe we should push the Democratic Party over the cliff at the same time, let new parties rise up and begin to provide leadership in this country. Such as, for example, if this healthcare "reform" goes down as expected, with nothing for the people, maybe millions of us can change our registration to Independent all at the same time. Maybe that would get somebody's attention.
The Democratic Party serves to prevent a progressive movement from taking shape by promising to do things to help the people, failing to do anything, then lying and deceiving the public by claiming that some evil Republican force prevents them from doing their job.
This is the perfect storm for the Democratic Party: they've got all the power, the Republicans are busted, and the Democrats can do what they want. But all we see are millions of dollars being paid to the Democrats by the corporations and a continuation of the Bush/Cheney policies.
I'm about ready to become an Independent, remove that little (d) from after my name. I'll send a Good-bye Card: Dear Nancy, Harry, Barack, Hillary and Rahm: This is good-bye forever. I'm just not that into you.
The "healthcare reform" is something new, as far as I can see.
ReplyDeleteUsually we are looted through the medium of the public treasury. I can't think of another instance where we have been forced by law to pay a corporation directly.
I don't count the auto insurance, because we don't all own cars. It can also be justified by protecting other citizens from being hit by an uninsured motorist and having to pay for that which wasn't their fault.
But to make every citizen pay for health insurance is a government sponsored and mandated extortion for private gain.
A new outrage.
Exactly. I agree completely. What a huge corporate giveaway this is going to be, but the Democrats will pretend it is "reform." They will use taxpayer money to give to the Health Industry to buy insurance at grossly inflated prices, will do nothing to slash costs for the rest of us, and will receive enormous bribes from the Health Industry for carrying out yet another con on the public.
ReplyDeleteOrdering Americans to buy health insurance as a "solution" to the healthcare problem ignores the problem, which is that everyone in that industry charges too much, and many Americans cannot afford the price.
It would be like saying they will solve the problem of hunger in America by ordering everyone to go out and buy a meal every day, and eat it. Or solve homelessness by ordering everyone to go rent an apartment and live there.
It's like the Democratic politicians don't live in the same world as the rest of us. Oh that's right: they're rich. They don't.