Ultra Right Congress Declares War - On its own Electorate

Congress, controlled by the ultra right, is at war. Their foe? Their own electorate. It's debatable whether they've noticed or not.

The NewYork Times reported today that Republicans in Congress have said they’d agree to raise the debt ceiling if Democrats agreed to, amongst other things:

Delay the health law for a year; Overhaul the tax code; Keystone XL oil pipeline construction; Offshore oil and gas production; Increase permission for energy exploration on federal lands; Roll back regulations on coal ash; Block new Environmental Protection Agency regulations on greenhouse gas production; Eliminate a $23 billion fund to ensure the orderly dissolution of failed major banks; Eliminate mandatory contributions to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Limit medical malpractice lawsuits; Increase means testing for Medicare.

President Obama’s response was to say “No Congress before this one has ever, ever, in history been irresponsible enough to threaten default, to threaten an economic shutdown, to suggest America not pay its bills, just to try to blackmail a president into giving them some concessions on issues that have nothing to do with a budget.”

But he isn’t the only one who looks on this madness with disgust.

When the US Government shut down in 1995 after a budget battle similar to the one that’s currently happening, 51% of Americans blamed Republicans in Congress, and 28% blamed Bill Clinton. 

In a recent CBS poll 44% of respondents said if the same thing happened again they would blame Congress Republicans and 35% Obama. Obama has less support than Clinton did but how much of that is attributable to agendas that have nothing to do with budget or even of government is an unknown. Whatever the reason, despite that resistance to Obama, Congress Republicans are still in the firing line and their unpopularity is increasing virtually by the minute.

When asked ‘Who do you trust more to make the right decisions about the nation's economy – Republicans in Congress or Barack Obama?’ 45% of respondents chose Obama, and 33% chose Republicans in Congress.

But when the poll questions focused solely on Republicans in Congress – i.e. the distraction of the Obama-agendas is removed from the picture - then the reality of how much support Congress has even amongst Republican voters is quite shocking. 80% in total (and 75% of Republican respondents) disapproved of the overall job Congress is doing. 80% of respondents said they believed that threatening a government shutdown is not an acceptable way to negotiate.  

In this latest blackmail fiasco the ultra-right Cabal, which appears to control Congress, represents about 25% of the Republican electorate. Yet it continues with the behavior that is destructive to the US as if it has the right to ignore those it represents. Is that even constitutional? It sure doesn't look like democracy.

Far Right Holds US Hostage Again: Boehner Bows to Pressure

Some people who have never been poor, or who have been but were able to pull themselves out of poverty, are grateful, and empathetic towards those who are less fortunate – for whatever reason - and humble enough to be aware of 'there but for the grace of God go I'. 

Some seem to be so terrified of poverty that they’ll see and represent themselves as being better – having more character, being more willing to work hard and face challenges down – than those who haven’t been able to rise. They’ll disparage the poor or downtrodden and won’t care if they starve or suffer. They’ll step on anybody, shove them out the way, in their desperation to keep themselves safe and will find a way to make that an admirable trait as well. 

Is it that some humans are just inherently nasty? As Hamlet said, “I have thought some of Nature’s journeymen had made them [men] and not made them well, they imitated humanity so abominably.” (Hamlet III.II.34) More likely it’s about deep rooted fear that doesn’t show on the surface and that they themselves aren’t aware of.

Whatever the reason, the ultra right in Congress continues to imitate humanity abominably and to pressurize House Speaker Jim Boehner to sacrifice the interests of the country to those of the select few.  A week ago he bowed to that pressure, afraid perhaps of losing his position if he weighed in on the side of sense and sensibility. This time the demands were that he tie money to keep the government open after September 30 to stripping finance for President Obama’s Health Care law. 

Perhaps these ultra conservatives might have a different viewpoint if their child had to go to the emergency room and died because they didn't get seen to in time or if they themselves were paralyzed for life because they didn't get proper care.

It’s a tragedy that America’s fate is so often in the hands of this grouping of people. Especially given that the President is a man with heart but also with powerful understanding of the dynamics of a healthy middle class. A man who has performed miracles given the obstacles thrown in his way but who could lead the country to truly great heights again if he wasn’t blocked all the time. Pearls before swine.

Comments left on a New York Times article about Boehner’s dilemma illustrated how those ultra conservatives in Congress made their way into power, and how they’re in the minority, which everybody knows. Even Republicans.

Somebody calling themselves “Yes I am Right” from Los Angeles quoted the Bible:

“2 Thess 3:8-10

8 Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:

9 Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us.

10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”

Another reader, ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ said “Feeding poor people is the work of Satan, you are creating a dependent class. Starve the poor, and soon they will join the labor force as responsible workers. Give lazy slaves an option such as food stamps, and they will refuse to serve their Corporate Overlords! Work! Work! Work! A few days on the factory floor and Work Work Work will be blasted into their brains. Work, you peon, work! If you are not a productive citizen, and by productive I mean making me rich, then you must die since you are worthless.”

This being the New York Times, which generally draws the most intelligent comments out of all the online high profile news outlets, the above abominable comments were the minority. The majority were humanitarian and sane.

On the other side of the fence, Carrie from Missouri said “I am disabled and receive $812 in Social Security Disability and $137 a month in food stamps. How about we require our senators and representatives to live off that for a month before they vote to take food out of the mouths and hands of the needy?”

Sherry Jones from Washington commented: “The problem with not making sure capitalism takes care of people is, no one can buy the goods you're selling, increased poverty, hunger, homelessness, crime, despair, and social unrest.

“We tried lower taxes and trickle-down and it didn't work. The rich just got richer and everyone else is barely treading water. We tried deregulation and bankers crashed the economy. The resulting unemployment is long-term and intractable. And now House Republicans punish the people who got hurt the worst, the people who are truly drowning, the unemployed poor. They cut education, they cut work training programs, and then they cut food stamps for people who can't find work.

“It makes people feel good I guess, in a sadistic kind of way, but punishing the victims of voodoo economics is not the answer.”

Her comment got a lot of recommendations, which was good to see. As for Congress holding the government hostage again, it didn’t work last time and it’s even less likely to work this time. They just can’t get enough of making fools of themselves. While they toy with the US economy and its fate.

US Immigration Laws and the Latino Vote – Persistence Pays

Persistence always takes courage and it always eventually pays off. In the US, Latinos have always been challenged by the immigration laws and US fear and scorn of them as a race. But none of that has stopped them coming in and working whenever and wherever they could. In states like Texas they’ve done – and still do - the work some Texans feel is beneath them and often gotten paid lousy wages and been treated like dogs.

Gradually, despite racial resistance, they began to make a significant contribution to the economy as a group and as numbers grew so did resistance, partly because Latino gangsterism also mushroomed. The combination of poverty – because so many Latinos couldn’t get work or were paid such terrible wages – and the ease with which guns are available in the US, had a lot to do with the violence, although it’s rarely acknowledged.

Ppunitive laws passed in the last few years haven’t discriminated between gangsters and hard-working Latinos – which speaks loudly of racism and fear. Because of the way they’ve been exploited and treated as if they were almost not human, Latinos been utterly disempowered politically. Still, numbers have continued to grow, and so has their awareness of their basic rights, and of their power as a group. Some have even boldly spoken out about their illegal status.

But not all Latinos remained illegal. And those who managed to get legal status fought for the rest. Finally their numbers and the momentum of their persistence have reached a threshold where politicians have to pay attention to them.

In the last election, Republicans had a chance to get the Latino vote because Obama hadn’t come through with the immigration promises he made – partly because of Republican resistance. But they couldn’t get over their racism and shot themselves in the foot repeatedly. So they lost the Latino vote. 

That old boys’ club mentality- not just about immigration but about war, taxes, gun control, government spending - lost them the election, and immediately post election they seemed aware that unless they changed they’d never be elected again because their support base is dying off and not being replaced.  

Still, Republican old boys clung to their position. Firstly they did it on taxes, and they lost. Now they’re doing it with gun control, government spending, and war – resisting Chuck Hagel primarily because he doesn’t believe in war for its own sake, which includes Israel declaring war on Iran. Their back is to the wall on all issues, but they simply can’t let themselves see it yet. This is not a subtle group. 

With immigration, they see it, miracle of miracles. At least in the Senate. President Obama, who can’t be accused of doing it for political reasons, has been working on an overhaul of immigration laws that will give legal status to most of the 11 million currently illegal Latinos. He’s not proposing amnesty; certain conditions have to be met, including paying back taxes, but it does acknowledge the role Latinos in the economy and reward them fairly for it, whether they are highly skilled workers or low-wage earners. It acknowledges their basic human rights.

Whitehouse officials say Mr. Obama has made immigration a top priority this year (nytimes.com). He wants to push it through Congress on one bill – in my opinion, maybe because he’s got so much to do and it’s a way of avoiding another long-drawn-out, hair-splitting, knock-down drag out fight. Maybe because he’s tired of giving the old boys more room to manoevre than they deserve – again, my personal opinion. 

He aims to present his plan in a couple of weeks (nytimes.com). There is some Republican resistance to a single bill of course but so far the plan has had bipartisan support in the Senate. Early in Obama’s first term he couldn’t get it past Republican resistance. Back then, Republicans were over-sure of themselves – just as they were with the fiscal cliff. Now they need that Latino vote and they know it. In two major areas they have had to admit defeat and it hasn’t been dignified. 

I wonder if they’ll ever learn that lesson. Probably not. It’s frustrating, because they stand in the way of real progress, but they can’t stop the tide of it and that’s what really matters.

What’s that Bob Dylan song? The Times They Are A-Changin’

Come gather 'round people / Wherever you roam / And admit that the waters / Around you have grown / And accept it that soon / You'll be drenched to the bone / If your time to you / Is worth savin' / Then you better start swimmin' / Or you'll sink like a stone / For the times they are a-changin'...

Come senators, congressmen / Please heed the call / Don't stand in the doorway / Don't block up the hall / For he that gets hurt / Will be he who has stalled / There's a battle outside / And it is ragin' / It'll soon shake your windows / And rattle your walls / For the times they are a-changin'.

That was a different era, but the words still apply. They always will.

IMAGE adapted from a poster for a 2012 post-election reception and briefing presented and hosted by La Coalicion

Fiscal Cliff – Republicans Forced to Face Their Own Impotence

Hall of Columns, US Capitol

Architect of the Capitol

So Congress caved.  Last night, prior to their approval CNN, BBC and Sky News all showed the same footage, of House Republicans bitching about how totally unacceptable the Senate bill was – including some who hadn’t read it yet. All the reporters seemed to believe they would send it back to the Senate with amendments.

But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi shot that idea down when she and a group of Democrats took questions from reporters. She was impressive. She has such a polite demeanor, but she’s a woman of steel. When a reporter asked her what she thought the Republicans would do she shot back very smartly saying she didn’t know yet, and wasn’t going to comment on the only source of information they had – namely reporters.

She added, though, that the only acceptable response from House Republicans was a straight up and down yes or no. She made no attempt to hide her anger at the poker playing they have been indulging in and her low opinion of it and expressed no patience for their whining about having to work so late into the night over New Year.

She laid the blame solely at their door in no uncertain terms. She was tired, everybody was tired. America was tired. And the House Republican blustering continued. The majority leader Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia said he would never support the bill. There was much gnashing of teeth over it and scorn for it. But they caved in the end. Of course they did. 

And they got a worse deal than they would have if they had accepted President Obama’s last proposal. 85 Republicans and 172 Democrats voted yes. 151 Republicans and 16 Democrats voted no.  Mr. Cantor voted no. Paul Ryan voted in favor. Whether that’s because he saw sense or because he’s fundamentally a shift-in-the-wind kind guy, I don’t know. I don’t trust him. But that’s by the bye. At least he voted for sanity.

Hardliner House Republicans have walked away with the prize of being the worst gamblers in politics. They insisted on playing poker and they’re lousy at it. They lost their gamble, beating their chests until the last moment then having to give in and look like the fools that they are.  Will this teach them that their job isn’t to gamble? I doubt it.

If they want to leaern the lesson they'll benefit. If not, they'll carry on turning people off.  I think this is a grand victory, not because of the deal itself, but because hardliner House Republicans have been forced to learn that they can’t do what they want and ignore the consequences, and that they’re not as powerful as they thought they were.