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What's good for the goose...
Author: Raine    Date: 02/04/2010 14:03:30

Yesterday it was the Democrat's turn to have question time with the President. In what looked more like a panel of people standing up for political campaign ads, Senate Dems stood forth to ask the president questions. Not surprisingly this debate was far more low key and even somewhat genial.

But make no mistake, a message was sent to the majority party. The question is now, did they hear? In one key exchange, Senator Blanche Lincoln asked:
And are we willing as Democrats not only to reach out to Republicans but to push back in our own party for people who want extremes, and look for the common ground that's going to get us the success that we need not only for our constituents but for our country in this global community, in this global economy? Are we willing as Democrats to also push back on our own party and look for that common ground that we need to work with Republicans and to get the answers? And it's really the results that are going to count to our constituents. And we appreciate the hard work that you put into it.

To which The president replied: [...]
"If the price of certainty is essentially for us to adopt the exact same proposals that were in place for eight years leading up to the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression -- we don't tinker with health care, let the insurance companies do what they want, we don't put in place any insurance reforms, we don't mess with the banks, let them keep on doing what they're doing now because we don't want to stir up Wall Street -- the result is going to be the same," he said. "I don't know why we would expect a different outcome pursuing the exact same policy that got us into this fix in the first place."

Middle class Americans, Obama said, "are more and more vulnerable, and they have been for the last decade, treading water. And if our response ends up being, you know, because we don't want to -- we don't want to stir things up here, we're just going to do the same thing that was being done before, then I don't know what differentiates us from the other guys. And I don't know why people would say, boy, we really want to make sure that those Democrats are in Washington fighting for us."
This is what I and many other Democrats have been waiting to hear from this President. One of the biggest problems we have in the Senate is the timidity of those that were elected to enact laws.

They are more concerned with getting re-elected than making the hard choices for the American people, and in turn they do end up looking like Republicans. The problem is, Republicans don't want these conservative Dems either. By and large it is because they simply don't stand for anything but the status quo. and this was the message that Obama was trying to tell them yesterday.

Not one question was asked regarding Health Care reform, but make no mistake, the President mentioned it numerous times, saying that if we don't get it passed, we are just as bad as the other party in regards to obstruction.

Evan Bayh took the cake, asking a question regarding the Economy he actually had the nerve to say the following:
[...] “my question to you, Mr. President, is (in) speaking to independents, conservative Democrats, moderate Republicans – people who know we have to do this – why should the Democratic Party be trusted? And are we willing to make some of the tough decisions to actually head this country in a better direction?”
and here was the most best response I have heard yet:
Well, I'll tell you why the Democratic Party should be trusted -- because the last time this budget was balanced, it was under a Democratic President who made some very tough decisions. (Applause.)

I think this is pretty straightforward. Bill Clinton made some very hard political decisions. Some of you were there in Congress. You know how tough those votes were. You got no help from the other side. But as a consequence, the economy took off and you had a $200 billion surplus at the end of his presidency. So I think he deserves enormous credit for that. Those of you who took those votes deserve enormous credit for that. That's why we've had -- we should have credibility.

But we're still haunted by the debates that took place from the '70s, the '60s, right? And that hasn't completely worked through the political mindset. So we're still saddled with this notion of the tax-and-spend model when, if you actually look at it, we've been very fiscally responsible.
Now it time for Dems to act like Dems and get the legislation we need passed for our nation to go forward. Sometimes it is easier to hear than listen to what's said. Let's hope the latter happened.

and
Raine




 

42 comments (Latest Comment: 02/05/2010 03:22:33 by Raine)
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