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Obama seems to be much more interested in creating a mythical bi-partisan agenda then in enacting policy that will actually help the nation out of this mess. The question is why?
The typical rationale is that because he doesn't have 60 votes in the Senate, the Republicans still hold huge control and he has no choice but to bend over & let the people collectively take it. Yet, in the House, he did not need a single Republican vote and he gave HUGE concessions in the bill to the Republicans who then UNAMIOUSLY voted against it. Now, he is preparing to make further concessions to accomodate the Republicans in the Senate under the guise of getting a bill that will pass.
However, the reality is that it is Obama, NOT the Republicans who hold most of the cards (like 95% of the deck). The American people are FURIOUS with the Republicans rule and outright rejected the Republicans in the last two elections. Citizens desperately WANT to be governed differently. Obama controls the pulpit, the dems control the Senate & the House, & they are not using any of this massive power to stop the Republicans from demanding changes to the stimulus that will outright hurt the economy further. No, their whole strategy is to make huge concessions. In fact, it is astonishing the level of power that the Republicans are able to assert in their incredibly weakened state. Further, as one very astute DU'er posted in another thread today, it does NOT take 60 votes to pass a bill, it takes 51. And, it is very unlikely that when push came to shove, the Republicans would put themselves in the politically untenable situation of voting against a stimulus plan given the current economic wreck.
Obama has the will of the nation behind him. He can dictate the news cycle and the media spin. He could be DICTATING THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE, not concedeing our money & resources to placating the Republicans. Yet, he appoints a anti-commerce Republican to chair the Commerce Department. He fills other critical posts with the right of center democrats and more Republicans.
Why?
Is it because Obama doesn't realize the position of power he holds? Is it because he truly believes that the Republicans will suddenly change their behavior because he is playing nice with them? Does he really think that watering down a stimulus bill and recovery plan to appease Republicans is the best plan? Does he think that appointing the same people who were part of the creation of the problem is the best way to resolve the problem?
And, does anybody really believe the answer to any of the above questions is yes?
If the answer to the above questions are no, then why is he doing this? Why is he squandering the biggest opportunity the democrats have had in decades to create true change? Is Obama vested in keeping this broken system operating under the same old corporate status quo and giving the people only enough crumbs to stop them from outright revolt?
These are the questions we need to be asking ourselves. We, as a people, MUST understand the motives of this President and whom he actually represents. Because, if it is not us, we need to have a long overdo discussion about how we reclaim our power. About how we hold our politicians accountable....About what we do, if the democrats have truly abandoned us for corporate rule.
That changes everything.
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