Dave Lindorff: Democrats in Congress: The Wheels are Coming Off

[demobabe]

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

The wheels are coming off the Democratic machine, with angry voters starting to lose patience with the Party's chronic inability to act decisively on any of the key issues of public concern.

In a Reuters dispatch on June 18, Democratic leaders in Congress concede that voters are angry with them for not doing enough to end the Iraq War. They might have added that voters are also angry at them for not impeaching the president or even for moving on Rep. Dennis Kucinich's bill to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney (H Res. 333).

"I understand their disappointment. We raised the bar too high," bleats Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

No Harry. You didn't raise the bar too high. You ducked under the bar, when it came time to act to defund the war.

Last month, instead of cutting off funding for Bush's war in Iraq, Congress passed a measure providing him with over $100 billion to fund it, attaching no strings to the measure -- not even any deadlines for starting to withdraw troops. This after running a 2006 campaign on ending the war.

No wonder Democrats and the independents and, yes, even Republicans who voted Democrats into control of Congress last November are furious.

"We can only do so much," whines House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

No, Nancy. The problem is that you have done so little. Next to nothing really. Of the vaunted list of progressive measures you came into office as Speaker promising to push, only one -- the minimum wage bill -- passed, and you managed that only by making it "blood money" (tying it to the Iraq War funding bill so that the president wouldn't veto it). That was a sick deal -- making the same poor Americans who disproportionately carry the burden of fighting an insane, criminal, and brutal war in Iraq also earn their raise by funding that war with their hard-earned tax dollars. And besides, it's a pathetic measure anyway, offering workers only a minor raise for the first year, and ultimately, after a year and a half, bringing them to a wage -- $7.80 per hour -- that most workers in the country already receive, or will be receiving by July, thanks to state laws.

Full article here: http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/1083

[Double T]

1. New Democratic leadership in Congress is needed immediately or 2008 will be lost............

AGAIN!

[napi21]

2. I understand the frustration. I am frustrated too! But I am not blaming

the Dems for all the failure! There HAVE been quite a few successes in the House, but because we hold such a slim majority in the Senate, it's STILL the Pubs who have stopped almost every bill, and the one they did manage to pass, the PUB PREZ vetoed!


I understand I am posting on an activist Dem blog, but listen to cspan WJ sometime. I'm not alone! There are a lot of people who feel the same way I do. There were quite a few people this AM who called to say "I don't understand the 22% rating of Congress! I think the Dems have done, or tried to do what they promised, and it's the obstructionist Pubs who have stopped it all!" If the real poll numbers for congress is 22%, the Pub side must be 5% and is dragging down the Dem numbers that are at least 50%.

[tblue]

3. I bet those negative numbers are almost all because of the Iraq vote

If hope the Congress understand how to read the polls, and doesn't make the mistake of tacking to the right.

[corkhead]

18. Hopefully those polls will scare those cowards into doing the right thing.

if they are going to be afraid, we need to make our elected officials afraid of US

[Toots]

14. So do you feel democrats are doing anything about their subpoenas being ignored?

I am a realist. I know we will have US Troops in Iraq for the next several Decades. No one is going to change that. What I want is this Criminal Administration held accountable. I don't see that happening at all. I see hearings and that seems to be the extent of it. I have yet to see Congress charge anyone of any crimes although there is ample evidence to do so. Until they do something to hold these thugs accountable they will not earn any respect by passing a minimum wage increase that has already been in place in virtually every state..They need to shit or get off the pot so to say..IMO

[KittyWampus]

21. What subpoenas being ignored? The one and only subpoena that hasn't resulted in testimony

was issued to Condi Rice.

Why are you putting a plural on that?

Mainly it just show you don't know what you are talking about.

Every other subpoena has resulted in someone testifying before Congress.

And as far as the one issued to Rice, it's been maybe two weeks.

Congress doesn't just go haul her in. There is a process.

Just because you have the patience of a 5 year old doesn't mean Congress can just blithely ignore due process.

[demobabe]

23. It makes you wonder

An overwhelming majority of folks don't want us in this war and the polls have shown that for quite a while. What did they think was going to happen when they voted to fund the war?

[southern_belle]

4. k & r - No more excuses.

Personally, I am sick of hearing why the Dem's can't do anything. Yada Yada Yada

You've lost me! The only way to get me back is to grow a spine, but as they say, a leopard doesn't change his spots. :thumbsdown: :rant:

[radfringe]

5. the political landscape and '08

at the moment the presidential office is the Dem's to lose.

as far as congress goes... I'm sensing a growing "THROW THE BUMS OUT" mood and it won't be directed just at republics - it will be across both aisles

[Rebellious Republican]

6. I am no rocket scientist, however I can do the math.

I am not sure how our democratic Representatives are supposed to be able to affect great changes when, the rethugs own the Executive branch, the Judicial branch and almost half of the legislative branch's of our government. Then lets add on the corporate controlled media that hinder and prevent "we the people" from making informed decisions. For those of us that are savvy enough to get our information from reliable sources such as DU. We are prevented from having our say because they own the e vote and put in what ever they want. So for now, we live in a corporatocracy and we have a long haul ahead of us to regain control from corporate America. We can only chip away at it until we rest control from the stranglehold that corporations have on america.There is still much work to be done, until then quit buying into the propaganda that is put out to discourage people from supporting the the democratic party. Its simple, do the math!

Care to become informed......

http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110221/

http://www.corporations.org/media/

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

[Warren Stupidity]

10. Take the example of the funding of the escalation of the occupation.

All the Democratic Party needed to do, which they could have done with a simple majority in the House, is not pass the funding bill. Alternatively, they could have sent the original (and massively flawed) bill they did pass right back to the White House. They did neither. They caved.

So far not one subpoena has been enforced. When Rice said no, Congress blinked and changed the date. Other subpoenas have been authorized but not issued. The staring contest is being won, we are doing all the blinking.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. a majority is still a majority. the power of the purse

REGARDLESS OF WHO STOLE THE WHITE HOUSE, is mighty, but only if you choose to use it.

The leadership in both parts of congress is pathetic. The only thing more disturbing is the growing power of the DLC. and lobbyists. and AIPAC.

[Eagle_Eye]

7. We have the momentum on our side

We have to keep this going and vote Democratic in 2008.
There is too much riding on the next election to start pointing fingers at our Democratic Representatives. Winning the next election is the key to making lasting change.
If it is the best the Democrats can do is just hold the line against the bush regime, then let's hold the line and throw the REPUBLICAN BUMS out in the next election.
The republicans are the problem. What we need is less of 'em.

[Berry Cool]

8. K&R

I'm tired of the "But...but...but WE DON'T HAVE THE VOTES" handwringing. I don't care if the Dems have the damn votes or not. They should either try to GET the damn votes, or if they can't, put things on the table regardless, vote their conscience anyway and show their true intentions. If they don't, they are complete wimps. And as far as the war goes, they will forever be playing the part of Charlie Brown, and the Republicans will be forever playing Lucy, convincing them that this time they really WILL get to kick that football. Um, no, you won't. (Look at all those who rolled over for the latest funding bill. "But...but...we'll really be able to hold their feet to the fire if things aren't better by September!" You believed that one? Ha! Fat chance!)

[annabanana]

9. I think Lindorff's brain is falling out. . .

We're not as angry at the Dems as we are at the crime syndicate that's perpetuating the slaughter. . . not yet.

[mmonk]

15. First you get mad at the republicans and their abuse of power.

Then you elect democrats to a majority in hopes of a change. You get no change. Then you rightly get mad at the democrats. It's all about 08. Suppose Hillary wins the nomination? Suppose Giuliani wins the repuke nomination? Giuliani wins and what were we sold down the river for? Some stupid theory if we resemble the republicans in policy or don't appear liberal, we'll win? What poppycock.

[KharmaTrain]

12. Where We Were...Where We Are...

I don't think some were watching the "political scoreboard" from 1994-2004. It was dominated by right wing talking points and Mighty Wurlitzers...the Democrats were continuously on the defensive and relegated to almost invisibility. A year ago, Democrats couldn't even bring an ammendment to the floor to flush the toilet, yet play much of an opposition. The GOOP control was that complete...the Democratic party let itself get beat down repeatedly the party resembled a victim of abuse until last year's elections.

Two years ago, some of us...maybe even many of us...feared that the Democratic party was on the edge of destruction...it couldn't win elections and was totally shut out of all levers of power. The first step on the road back was the 2006 election...and it was more the Repugnicans to lose than it was ours to win. In many districts it was the contempt of boooshie or the local rep that did more to help elect a Democratic majority than Daily Kos or some massive "change of heart". It was more a rejection of Repugnicans...Democrats have yet to earn their keep...and that's what next year's election is about.

To expect a 10 year minority mindset to vanish overnight was overly optimistic. Sadly there aren't the votes in the Senate that can over-ride a veto or close down a fillibuster (unless we use the "nuclear option") that makes getting even the most popular legislation passed difficult and has made the controversial ones almost impossible. The Democrats are still getting their "sea legs" as they're playing a game of "catch up and get ahead"...from an impatient base that justifiably wants change and accountability.

So would those who are so pissed at Reid and Pelosi prefer how things were a year ago...or three? How about working on bolstering the Democratic majority...convince, not deride, those who are reluctant and use the upcoming election to send a true message of change...make it truly a Democratic victory. The ball is in our court.

[dysfunctional press]

13. and what are angry voters to do...?

if electing Dems doesn't work...what will?

what real options are there?

anyone?

[mmonk]

16. Under a no real option situation like we live under today,

people become cynical and don't vote. Lower voter turnout historically favors republicans.

[KoKo]

19. That's the worry...folks will give up....angry Dem Base who got involved

after 2000 selection is losing its momentum. You have to have an energized party and grassroots folks on the ground to win an election. You have to offer positive results or at least be out there framing your positions. Right now we have endless candidate debates that skirt around many of the most important issues that face us. The country is beaten down by the Bush policies. Abused people often stay with the abuser because they feel no hope. That's not good for our Party or our Country.

[Peace Patriot]

17. Be practical. Be strategic. Start with the "trade secret" vote counting.

There are a lot of things blockading democratic change in our country, that have been building up for several decades, primarily the filth of our campaign contribution system and "military-industrial complex" lobbying, and the takeover of all our public airwaves by corporate news/entertainment monopolies that, through relentless, 24/7 fascist propaganda and war mongering, create a national narrative that demoralizes and disempowers the great progressive majority.

But this latest thing--instituted between 2002 and 2004 to keep Bush in office and keep the war going--elections tabulated electronically, in extremely insecure and insider hackable voting systems, run on "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code, owned and controlled by rightwing Bushite corporations--is the coup de grace. It makes change IMPOSSIBLE.

The people have a fighting chance regarding the filthy money in campaigns--which we demonstrated in 2004, by matching the Bush-Cheney fatcat donations nearly dollar for dollar, by means of internet fundraising and many small donations. Not that we should have to do that, just to pour money into the pockets of war profiteering corporate news monopolies, for campaign TV ads--but, accepting that circumstance as a given, we did it. Similarly, we can overcome the war profiteering corporate news monopolies's disinformation by word of mouth and grass roots organization (and, of course, the internet--our new "Committees of Correspondence"). We showed that also in 2004, with people flocking to the Democratic Party to oust Bush--a nearly 60/40 blowout success over the Bushites in new voter registrations. (Where did all those voters go?)

"Trade secret" vote tabulation was fast-tracked across the country, paralleling the Iraq War (both acts by Congress in the same month--October 2002), with these powers of the people in mind: That we outnumber the fascists, that we can match their money and that--through word of mouth, and the internet and past successes of our educational system--the core values of the American people, peace and justice, have held fast in the teeth of intense, 24/7 warmongering.

I think they knew that 56% opposition to the war (Feb. '03) would grow to 70%, and that our democracy might well work sufficiently well enough to end the war and bring about reform, even with the handicaps of the campaign money system and no free press.

Thus the secret, privatized, rightwing corporate-controlled, non-transparent vote counting--with the Democratic Party leadership colluding with the Bushites to keep it under the radar of the American people.

I frankly blame our party leadership more for this--the "trade secret" vote counting--than I do for the war. It is so incredibly anti-democratic; such an "Iron Curtain" blockade to change; such a deep betrayal.

Be practical. Be strategic. Extrapolate backwards. We must first peel back the "trade secret" vote counting--state by state, county by county (the most viable venues for changing it)--and restore transparent elections before any other change is possible. WITH transparent vote counting, we will begin to elect true representatives of the people, and begin to solve the other problems--busting the corporate news monopolies, taking their license to use the public airwaves away, reinstituting the "Fairness Doctrine," campaign finance reform (publicly financed election campaigns), restoring Voting Rights Act enforcement, preventing Bushite "voter caging lists" and other illegalities, and eventually, busting the war budget, restoring accountability, etc.

Transparent vote counting is democracy's most fundamental requirement. Without it, we have a population that is 70% opposed to the war, and a Congress that will not end the war, no matter which party is in the majority, because they are virtually ALL (s)elected by Diebold/ES&S voting machines and their secret code, and not by us. They are not beholden to us any more. They are beholden to: a) big donors and "military-industrial complex" lobbyists; b) the corporate news monopolies (who shape the debate toward fascist views, and will defame and "swift-boat" them if they get out of line, no doubt aided by Bushite domestic spying and black ops); and c) --the coup de grace--Diebold/ES&S secret vote counting, which assures that no antiwar majority will ever take over Congress, and that no antiwar candidate will ever be elected President.

"Trade secret" vote counting COMBINES WITH other grave erosions of our sovereign power as a People, to PREVENT us from changing this nation's course. To stop us cold.

You only have to consider this "Democratic" Congress' inaction in the case of FL-13, and their failure to immediately reform the election system, to understand how collusive our leadership is in this war and other fascist policy. Diebold/ES&S secret vote tabulation is the MAIN prop-up of the war, in the face of overwhelming public opposition.

FL-13 was a case of egregious vote stealing by ES&S machines, which 'disappeared' 18,000 Democratic votes for Congress, in an election that was decided (for the Republican naturally--is it ever otherwise?) by some 350 votes! This matter languishes in Congress, which has the power to decide it--while Bushite courts in Florida are cementing into law Diebold/ES&S's assertion of the right to profit from our elections with "trade secret" code and to DENY the public ANY ACCESS to their code EVEN IN an egregiously miscounted election.

Congress is sitting on it! It's not that this one Democratic vote in Congress will change things. It's that they DON'T WANT TO CHALLENGE Diebold/ES&S's secret control over election results. And Congress has done nothing, and will do nothing, about this "trade secret" code. It has been locked in by both parties--a "Stalinist" vote counting system!

Well, we've got to UN-lock. That's where we've got to start. Nothing is going to change until we do.

Our election system is very complex, with many factors contributing to an un-democratic Congress and a tyrant in the White House. Be practical. Be strategic. Kick this pillar of fascism in first. "Trade secret" vote counting. And all the other pillars will start to fall. Believe me.

[KoKo]

20. And....so little is being done about it.. Even with all the activism

and exposure. Every election cycle we see the same covering up while the activists try to expose and get legislation to make the next election secure. Even when we manage to win legislation in our states the Repug Machine sends in National Elections officials and "ops" to overturn the legislation we have passed. Our party refuses to take a unified stand on having a verifiable paper ballot, and prosecution of those who are disenfranchising voters. Instead both parties keep promoting legislation that will eventually force Voter I.D., Internet Voting plus Instant Runoff and Same Day Registration that can lead to more voter abuse.

[Peace Patriot]

22. Funny how they hang on to "trade secret" vote counting with teeth and talons,

isn't it?

I might go for Instant Runoff voting, and liberalizing of registration rules, but, in the current context, they are a distraction, unless they are combined with a demand for transparent vote counting.

I am greatly encouraged by the intense activism on this issue--and NOT discouraged by any failures or endruns by the fascists (whether D's or R's). They are not going to give up the "secret" code easily. It is the lynchpin of endless war and other fascist policy. It's how they've done it, in the face of huge opposition. I totally expected that the fascist corporations and/or cowardly or corrupt Democrats would behave this way. I'm a Californian and saw them take down our Secretary of State Kevin Shelley (who had sued Diebold just before '04)--with both D's and R's participating in that horror. They will stop at nothing to keep "Fatherland" security control of this country, and prevent us from regulating (or dismanting?) the global predators and war profiteers who are not just hijacking the U.S. military and our treasury for a corporate resource war, they are killing the planet!

We, the people of the U.S., are one of the keys to peace and justice in the world. We could be doing so much for those goals. That's what we WANT to do, as a people. The bad guys know this. That's why they took away our right to vote, and won't easily let us take it back.

The election reform movement is one of the most wonderful signs of life in our country. But we do need to realize that restoring democracy here may be a long, hard road. And we need to look to models of success--like Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina, and South Africa, also India, and our own past civil rights and labor movements, all of which suffered brutual oppression at the hands of fascists before democracy was established or restored. There are no easy quick fixes. It needs to be a collective undertaking, involving education, grass roots organization and strategic thinking: such as tackling the non-transparent vote counting system first, as a basic condition of democracy.

The election reformers have the right idea, but it more than likely will take time, and many a discouraging moment, before we succeed.

It is difficult NOT to think in continual crisis mode, with our Constitution being dismantled, and many people suffering horrors and death under this regime. But take some time to think back to where we were on Nov. 3, 2004, the blackest day in American history. Think how few people knew. Now there are some shards of light, and many more know. And, more than this, the vast majority CARE, and want to know what the hell is wrong with this country. They are looking for answers. I have a lot of hope because of that. The overwhelming majority of Americans have shown amazing resistance to war propaganda. Somehow they are getting informed. The same thing will happen on non-transparent vote counting--the most black-holed scandal of them all.