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-- Dobbs: President, Congress ignoring crises
Dobbs: President, Congress ignoring crises
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/30/dobbs.May31/index.html
NEW YORK -- Libertarian fatalism has infected and afflicted the leaders of both political parties, and none of us should take seriously the partisan posturing from either the Republicans or Democrats.
President Bush believes in the mystical power of free markets to solve seemingly every domestic public policy issue, and the president's faith-based economic policies, including so-called free trade, have led us to higher record trade and budget deficits.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, is still in a post-election campaign that is attracting the amount of attention today that it did in his failed attempt for the presidency in 2004. And while he's still fighting the swift boat controversy, he has not articulated a national economic strategy.
The Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, says he wants border security first and then pushes through an illegal immigrant amnesty bill. The Minority Leader, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, between attending boxing matches for free, believes requiring that English be our national language is racist.
Sen. John "Straight-talkin' " McCain, R-Arizona, is beginning to take on the form of a political pretzel as he shapes his pandering for a run for the 2008 presidential election. And Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, is now lined up with corporate America in supporting the onslaught of cheap foreign labor into this country while forsaking his party's historical alliance with working men and women and their families.
These men are jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring symbols of their respective party's lack of commitment to truth, the American Dream and our nation's middle class. How are we supposed to take these political leaders and the parties they represent seriously?
The answer is obvious.
As the midterm elections approach, both political parties will be treating us to their usual propaganda blitzes on wedge issues such as gay marriage, abortion, gun control and the pledge of allegiance. But it's unlikely either party will articulate policy positions on the issues of urgent importance to our middle class and those that aspire to it. Those issues include, of course, a number of outright crises that the president and Congress are ignoring, rather than resolving.
The war in Iraq continues to cost American lives and about $6 billion a month. And rather than enunciate a clear strategy for victory, the president asks us for patience while assuring us there will be more losses and challenges ahead. The Democrats stand all but mute.
Our public education system is failing nationwide. While SAT scores decline, teachers in every state fail competency exams, and our high school dropout rate shows no sign of real improvement. Both parties point to their bipartisan bandage, No Child Left Behind, rather than propose real and immediate solutions.
Both parties are looking upon border security as bargaining leverage in corporate America's quest for cheap labor and amnesty for illegal immigrants. The skyrocketing cost of health care and a college education continues to put undue pressure on the already constrained budgets of most middle-class families. And still there is no national plan for the urgent development of alternative energy, nor even a call from either party for conservation.
As we move toward the midterm elections, there is little question that these critical issues will be foremost in the minds of most voters. And the months ahead provide an opportunity for both political parties to commit themselves to true governance and the development of public policies that resolve issues rather than perpetuate them.
We can only hope and, ultimately, vote.
+++++ Leave it to Lou to give them a piece of his mind about the out of touch fatcats in Washington, I found his funniest to be "Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, is now lined up with corporate America in supporting the onslaught of cheap foreign labor into this country while forsaking his party's historical alliance with working men and women and their families." Here it was Kennedy arguing essentially for big business and cheap labor that no lobbyist for Corporate agriculture could achieve with such blinding speed.
What the heck were Democrats thinking making Harry Reid Sen. minority leadder, that man is as dry and dull as mayonnaise on molding bread, everytime he speaks I feel like I took a dose of Ambien.
We know the midterms are coming because every broken promise from politicians will be made with the usual unininspired political phrases and partisan bickering while tangible ideas of merit will remain far and few in between from the Elephants and Donkeys. Here's to your vote my fellow Americans.
People don't want real solutions to any of our problems, because almost every real solution involves short-term sacrifice, and your average voter isn't willing to make that sacrifice.
Blame the system, not the men who are the inevitable product of it.
I don't like lou dobbs.
He's slimy as hell, and his TV show panders to the uninformed masses who consider themselves educated because they watch, well, Lou Dobbs, who tells them that all politicians are incomptent and only the People (aka, the viewers) are intelligent. And people like hearing that.
But that doesn't stop him from being right, in this particular instance. 
Quite telling then about the business as usual mindset that runs rampant in D.C. on these issues broached by Lou. Moreover what does it say about the voters who are willing to accept things as is without really getting any firm solutions from their elected representatives about issues that touch the majority of Americans. I often wonder is there even an opposition party in this nation, the Democrats don't count for very much when it comes to policy initiatives to advance this nation forward. Too bad the whole third party thing never quite worked out.
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| Originally posted by MehGoat I don't like lou dobbs. He's slimy as hell, and his TV show panders to the uninformed masses who consider themselves educated because they watch, well, Lou Dobbs, who tells them that all politicians are incomptent and only the People (aka, the viewers) are intelligent. And people like hearing that. But that doesn't stop him from being right, in this particular instance. |
He used a graphic from a white supremacist organization the other day to talk about "Aztlan."
If anything Lou Dobbs is helping the Republicans by stirring up xenophobic fears in order to distract from such issues as Iraq, etc.
I've never heard of this guy, so I can't comment on his track record, but I think he's pretty much spot on in this case. It's worth pointing out that this policy, adopted by populist parties, of politicking on irrelevent, bullshit "wedge" issues is hardly a phenomenon unique to the US: exactly the same thing happens in Australia too, especially around election time.
There was an article I read a few months ago which linked the decline in legitimate political debate to the rise of "career politicians" in political circles. Where once public service may have been seen as a path to pursue in later life as a means of giving something back to society (in Australia's case at least) you'll now find that the majority of people sitting in parliament have been in paid political positions from the beginning of their working lives, and that their place in parliament is essentially just the next logical step in their own, personal careers. Once politicians begin to place more stock in advancing their careers than in serving the public good, then the politics of the nation will naturally suffer. If the primary aim of the politician is to serve their own interests by advancing as far as possible up the political ladder, then they will submit necessarily to the appeal of politicking to the lowest-common-denominator demographics in order to maximise their chances of being re-elected. Nothing gets done, of course, but to the career politician - so long as he gets re-elected - it really doesn't matter.
The only way of combatting this is to limit the amount of contributions that can be made to political parties and by slashing the salaries of sitting politicians. The lower salaries may entail the risk of ostracising the "best and brightest" from pursuing politics, but I'd still rather a parliament full of naive altrusits than a parliament full of cynical mercenaries any day of the week...
This man is Lou Dobbs
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| Originally posted by Arbiter People don't want real solutions to any of our problems, because almost every real solution involves short-term sacrifice, and your average voter isn't willing to make that sacrifice. Blame the system, not the men who are the inevitable product of it. |
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| Originally posted by DJ Shibby How about, instead of blaming, we fix? |
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| Originally posted by Arbiter I'm afraid it's far beyond repair at this point. |
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| Originally posted by Renegade I've never heard of this guy, so I can't comment on his track record, but I think he's pretty much spot on in this case. It's worth pointing out that this policy, adopted by populist parties, of politicking on irrelevent, bullshit "wedge" issues is hardly a phenomenon unique to the US: exactly the same thing happens in Australia too, especially around election time. There was an article I read a few months ago which linked the decline in legitimate political debate to the rise of "career politicians" in political circles. Where once public service may have been seen as a path to pursue in later life as a means of giving something back to society (in Australia's case at least) you'll now find that the majority of people sitting in parliament have been in paid political positions from the beginning of their working lives, and that their place in parliament is essentially just the next logical step in their own, personal careers. Once politicians begin to place more stock in advancing their careers than in serving the public good, then the politics of the nation will naturally suffer. If the primary aim of the politician is to serve their own interests by advancing as far as possible up the political ladder, then they will submit necessarily to the appeal of politicking to the lowest-common-denominator demographics in order to maximise their chances of being re-elected. Nothing gets done, of course, but to the career politician - so long as he gets re-elected - it really doesn't matter. The only way of combatting this is to limit the amount of contributions that can be made to political parties and by slashing the salaries of sitting politicians. The lower salaries may entail the risk of ostracising the "best and brightest" from pursuing politics, but I'd still rather a parliament full of naive altrusits than a parliament full of cynical mercenaries any day of the week... |
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