Republicans Massachusetts Victory Is a Potential Gift to Democrats

[stevenleser]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Republicans-Massachusetts-by-Steven-Leser-100120-704.html
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January 20, 2010

By Steven Leser

The Democrats could become the NY Jets of politics. The NY Jets football team took a pounding in the early part of the football season. Then they figured out what was wrong, made changes, and have won something like 8 of their last 9 games including their two playoff games so far.

There is no question that this last loss was bad and embarrassing, not to mention unnecessary. I haven't even visited Free Republic in the last 72 hours because I know what I would find there. They are laughing at us. Rush Limbaugh is laughing at us. That's all OK as far as I am concerned. Let them laugh now. They have given us a golden opportunity. As embarrassing as it is to lose Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts of all places, it is better to lose one senate seat now rather than 12 Senate seats in November.

We still could lose a lot of senate and house seats in November. What this loss has done is woken us up to that fact, because if things are so bad that we can lose a seat in Massachusetts to the Republicans, we can lose any seat anywhere. Yes, that is how bad things are. Yes, Coakley ran a bad campaign. Even with a bad campaign, we outnumber Republicans 3-1 in Massachusetts. The demographics would make up for either a weak candidate or a bad national situation for Democrats but not both. As I wrote yesterday, if we lost with those demographics, it means we are losing the base nationally.

A MoveOn.org poll http://pol.moveon.org/brownpoll/results.html of Obama voters who voted for Brown and Obama voters who decided to stay home, showed what motivated these voters to cross party lines like they did. Anyone who is serious about politics should study that poll and its cross tabs. With that poll, any mystery of why things happened as they did evaporate. Voters are upset about the economy, they think more is being done for wall street than main street and those Democrats and Independents who voted for Obama and turned to Brown or stayed home didn't like the current Health Care Reform bill because it didn't go far enough. Speaking of not going far enough, the consensus of this group is that they are not getting enough change from President Obama.

One of the suggestions I wrote about yesterday is that we ditch the current Health Care bill and go with Medicare for all through reconciliation. One of my friends was concerned about that because we are beginning an election year and there is a very small window for completing any work on Health Care Reform before election season begins. Here is the solution, H.R. 676. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-676

This bill is ready to go, it is only 20 pages long and everyone knows and understands what Medicare is. Representative Weiner offered Republicans in congress the chance to privatize Medicare via a bill a few months ago and they declined. Congressional Republicans must like Medicare. The idea of government run Health Care Reform isn't THAT upsetting to them. That is an argument that is easy to make. The whole bill is an argument that is easy to make. The bill should be sent to the CBO for immediate scoring and then rushed through the reconciliation process. Game, set, and 51 Democratic senators later (no need for Republicans, Lieberman, Nelson or any other blue dogs. If they want to vote for it, they are of course welcome to do so) match.

Because its important, I want to reiterate the other items I mentioned yesterday http://www.opednews.com/articles/Coakley-Loss-Massive-Blow-by-Steven-Leser-100119-207.html that I believe the Obama administration needs to do right now:

- Bring back the CCC or a modern equivalent and put people back to work by any means necessary...Take a page from FDR and give people jobs.

- Kill DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell via Executive Order...The Gay community is an important and sizeable piece of the Democratic base. Do this for them and you will see a huge amount of energy come back, I promise you...Update: The way to do this with DOMA is with a Presidential finding that says that DOMA is unenforceable due to Equal Protection issues.

- Bring some top people into the administration who know how to get things done...If I were President Obama, I would offer someone like a James Carville anything and everything to come in and straighten things out.

- Fix the DNC...They aren't helping to push legislation, they aren't helping to excite the base, they aren't helping elect anyone. This wasn't true a year ago. There is one simple answer here. BRING BACK HOWARD DEAN. Beg him if you have to in order to get him to come back.

Yes, the Republicans scored a big victory yesterday. They also may have done us a big favor. If we Democrats and in particular, President Obama, understand what happened and why and take the right steps to fix the problems, we can beat them in November and turn yesterday's victory into a premature electuation (an appropriate made-up word for a party of teabaggers, no?).

[Jade Fox]

1. This "victory" will make the GOP cocky......

I don't believe much has really changed politically in this country, but you can bet the Republicans will pounce on the Brown win as a magical sign that their once-bleak future has been turned around. That will likely cause them to make some large mistakes based on imagining they've gotten their bearings (and support) back.

At least I hope so.

[stevenleser]

2. LOL, cocky...

... particularly funny choice of word considering the last sentence of my article!!!

:-)

:fistbump:

[Lifelong Protester]

3. Some really good points, I especially like the CCC

idea~ people have to see something NOW. It IS like the Great Depression, it is for those unemployed, uninsured, and worried. And there is a lot of worry, which later cooks up into anger and impotence (sorry, am really not trying to play off the 'cocky' remark!).

The WH needs to look at their team, and scrap or push waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to the bench some of the folks who have been eithter 'not helpful' to downright 'bad baggage'.

Obama has a chance to MAKE this an opportunity, a turn around. I believe with the right people advising him, he can turn things around. But get going. NOW.

[stevenleser]

4. Thanks! I really dont understand why you WOULDNT do it...

the states and Fed Govt are paying for these folks in unemployment anyway (at least most of them, those that havent been on it so long they have used it all up). Pay them a little more and get some work out of them.

Nothing would tell the unemployed how much we care about them like this.

[BlueIdaho]

5. Fire Rham and send Gibbs and Axelrod on a 12 month fact finding tour of America.

Surround the president with people who aren't afraid to tell him the plain unvarnished truth. Ask every Bushco appointee to submit their resignation effective immediately and inform the military that our engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan will end in twelve months - period. Go on TV and tell America there will be no more funds for banks - demand immediate repayment of all TARP funds, tell them their loan is due. Tell them that if they can pay bonuses, they can fend for themselves. Take all salvaged TARP funds and invest in works projects for everyone and anyone who wants a job. Fuck deficits - put America back to work making things to be sold to Americans.

That might just be a good start.

[andym]

6. I like the idea of doing HR676 through reconciliation

HR676 essentially eliminate private insurance (a good thing) and shifts everyone to the new Medicare, that is, it is single-payer.

So, the CA nurses study suggest that the price of this program is $2 trillion a year (of course it will result in net savings to individuals). That would expand the federal budget about 1.7 fold. So could a program that expanded spending that much (and necessitated new taxes) be passed by reconciliation rules which require government savings? If so, I say go for it. If not, I suggest allowing a Medicare buy-in for all, at about 5% over cost, where the 5% is used to prevent the Medicare fund from going insolvent. Then add in the tradeoff of Medicare Advantage savings to create subsidies for the less well off and we would still have something valuable.

[quaker bill]

7. I am not all that taken with Carville

but agree on Dean. The CCC idea has merits, but would have been far better 6 or 9 months ago. DOMA and DADT, bear considering, as both would energize the base, prove generally popular, and be a good thumb in the eye for the repugs. It could easily bait them into running a gay bashing campaign in the fall, the sort of simple ugliness that the majority have grown to expect and profoundly dislike from them.

Most folks intuitively know that same sex couples are no real threat to the military or their mixed gender marriages. Those who are confused about this were not likely to support any of our candidates anyway. Both issues have great social justice impact and easy to explain talking points. Simple things like "if a gay person loves this country and wants to work hard and put their life on the line to defend the nation from terrorists, why would we make or support a law to prevent it?"

[davidpdx]

8. Good suggestions, especially the one about brining Dean back

Someone needs to start a fire Kaine petition. I'll sign it. I also agree, Obama needs to change up some things at the WH and tell Congress either they need to start moving stuff through or he'll not be campaigning for people later in the year. Having the President and Air Force One as a backdrop is a force to be reckoned with and for those in tight races, maybe they'd rather lose then have the support of our President.

[secondwind]

9. K&R!

[stevenleser]

10. Kicked for the midday Thursday crowd

:kick: