Something for Dems to Think About
Just had a conversation with a hard-working young woman who seems to have gotten what little she knows from all the wrong sources. She's under the impression that Obama and Dems have done little to nothing to help lower middle class people like her. Rather, she believes they've taken actions that tend to reduce jobs (apparently, the "job-creator" father of her child has suggested to her that he has less money to give her because Obamacare is forcing him to spend more on health insurance for employees).
She is literally under the impression that Dems' actions have been such as to reduce jobs, in an effort to help the impoverished. And it's not that she wants to hurt those worse off than her; it's just that people like her and others in the struggling middle class are under such financial stress already, that she can't get on board with helping those who are even worse off. She thinks our goal should be more jobs, and that what the Dems have been doing has hurt that goal.
So HERE's the problem: I can't point to much that Obama and the Dems have done, or actually tried to do, to help increase jobs. It seems they've been too busy negotiating against themselves in the light of what they say is "realistic."
If they'd tried to pass a WPA-style program, even if the effort were futile, and put Repubs on the spot for blocking it, we'd at least have something we could point to. But Dems didn't do that (or a lot of other things I'd have liked them to do). Trillions in stimulus and other actions have helped the very rich -- but we've spent very little to directly help the 99%.
Of course, no matter what Dems do for the rich, the rich aren't going to create jobs so long as there's no demand (which won't happen so long as gov only helps the rich); and of course the rich (and the media they own, which is 95% of traditional media) will call Dems evil socialists no matter what Dems do.
Meanwhile, I and my young friend have grown substantially poorer during the last 6 years, and she has no clue that Obama might have wanted to help her, if he hadn't been too busy being "realistic." And I don't have much I can point to to refute her impression.
The Repubs certainly seem to find some value in "futile" gestures, given the number of times they've tried to repeal Obamacare.
So my comment is, I would like to see Obama and the Dems engage in a lot more "futile" efforts to help the 99%. They don't have to try to pass the same legislation 37 times, or whatever no. Repub efforts have reached. Just once or twice would be a big improvement.
In fact, I find it hard to understand why they haven't been doing this, even if it were only as window-dressing. Because at least it would help establish that concepts such as the public option aren't REALLY all that far outside the conception of all rational beings.
In fact, one has to wonder if that's why the Dems haven't allowed themselves to engage in such window-dressing -- because their corporate masters would get mad at them, because it might actually tend to shift the public vision of what's rationally possible back toward some kind of real center.
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