After the "shellacking" this past election, Republicans regained the majority in the House of Representatives. Republicans, remember, since 1980 have continuously undermined the American middle class until it is now in its death throes. Earnings for the middle class have been stagnant for thirty years while the top few percent of Americans have reaped huge dividends. As a percent of wealth, (generally defined as what a person/family owns minus all debt) the top one percent holds 34.6 percent of all wealth while the bottom 80 percent (wage and salary earners) share just 15 percent of America's wealth. In terms of financial wealth, (defined as "net worth minus net equity in owner-occupied housing" ) the top 1 percent holds 42.7 percent of all wealth in America while the bottom 80 percent share 8.7 percent. Yet, it was largely the middle class (albeit the older, whiter, racist, ignorant, fervently religious variety) that ran roughshod over common sense and put the Repubs back in power after that party has single-handedly transferred trillions of dollars from the middle class to the top one percent; the same party that refused to regulate the financial industry which has resulted in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
It would seem to be a no-brainer that Democrats needed to fight the good fight against an obvious Plutocratic takeover of America. But, the Obama Administration sought to reach "compromise" via bipartisanship. The Obama method of negotiation was to give in to the demands of the Plutocrats BEFORE sitting at the negotiation table. With every sellout, the Republican media spin machine spewed more and more mis- and dis- information, lies, deliberate distortion and outright fabrications intended to paint the middle-of-the-road Obama Administration as being radical Socialists/Marxists. Absurd. But, effective. Because a majority of Americans are truly vapid, uneducated, ignorant and blinded by false sense of patriotism, they bought the fiction of Republican spin-meisters and voted the criminals back into office.
Now, just how much bipartisan cooperation did Obama obtain with that strategy? None…For those of you whom will object by way of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" bipartisan legislation repeal, the courts had already made the issue moot; either repeal it or the courts will do it for them. As for bipartisan support for the Bush Tax Cut extension, it only came when Obama agreed to increase the national debt by another trillion dollars going to the top 2 percent so that 2 million unemployed would continue to get their meager checks. Health care? No bipartisan support for a watered down bill that, while helping to ameliorate some of the problems, in no way alters the fundamental problem of a profit-bloated insurance-driven industry. In fact, it isn't exactly news that the 111th Congress was basically rendered null-and-void for the better part of two years by the No-ist Republicans that closed their ears to appeals of doing the business of the American People and simply folded their arms in defiance; using the time to create a new reality that all the faults of government and economic decline were the fault of Democrats, in general, Obama, in particular.
As the election proved, such a strategy worked to perfection.
In response, Obama is shaking up his staff. It seems apparent that he'll offer the job of Chief of Staff to William Daley, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive and former U.S. Commerce secretary, in order to "repair relations with the business community after coming under fire from industry groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The nation's biggest business lobbying group opposed Obama's health-care and financial-regulatory overhauls and committed $75 million to political ads in the midterm congressional elections, mainly directed against Democrats." Get that? Obama now believes he needs to play nice with the scoundrels that gambled outrageously and lost causing a worldwide near-depression and then took a multi-trillion dollar bailout from the American people even as they were busy laying off tens of thousands of workers and still haven't begun to create the atmosphere for increased lending in order to grow jobs that have been promised since Reagan but never seem to appear. This is the same William Daley that wrote a December 2009 op-ed piece in the Washington Post in which he suggested that Democrats, "plot a more moderate, centrist course or risk electoral disaster not just in the upcoming midterms but in many elections to come."
One would think such an electoral beating would bring clarity to the mind of Obama and his advisors. Sadly, Obama has stated that the new reality of a Republican majority in Congress requires MORE compromise, MORE movement to the "center" in order to regain strength.
All the above must be considered in context of the incoming class of Republicans being Tea Party devotees; people so far right that only five years ago they were seen as lunatics; a fringe element so outside the mainstream that they were laughable; a strain of stupid that started with Ronald Reagan and has grown ever since until now becoming middle-of-the-road centrist.
Thus, our brave agent of change, with the audacity of hope to strengthen him, with a majority of Americans behind him and with a majority in both houses of Congress, squandered that opportunity. Obama now plans to sell completely out to the fractious factions of brutal Plutocrats and Rightwing-nuts. Having given away so much for the benefit of so few, having decided to give-in rather than fight, embracing one-way compromise as the operative strategy for future, there is no hope to be had. Incoming Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who will chair the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, plans on conducting hundreds of "investigations" into everything from the "radicalization of Muslims in America," to "climategate," to "corruption in the Obama Administration" (which he termed the "most corrupt President in modern times" even though there isn't any evidence to remotely suggest any corruption whatsoever), to the "Obamacare" Healthcare Reform Bill passed into law and which Issa wants to see repealed, to the "black panthers" voter intimidation allegations (prompted by a video of two black men hanging outside of a voting place even as voters entered and left without any interfacing at all), to revisiting the alleged ACORN improprieties, as well as Obama's response to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill (notice Issa isn't about to investigate BP, Halliburton or Transocean). Darrell Issa is the Congressman who sent a letter out to 150 businesses and business groups asking what regulations they would like to see overturned in order to prompt job creation. In fact, Rep. Issa plans on holding seven new hearings a week for the next two years (a mammoth fishing expedition funded by US taxpayers for the sole purpose of creating a storm-cloud of controversy in hopes of sweeping Obama out of office in 2012).
Yeah, Barack…sounds like you'll have a lot of luck with that new strategy of utter capitulation. Really appears that the Repubs are up for compromise. I guess you have forgotten that when you came into office and there were bona fide war crimes to investigate (with nearly 2 million dead Iraqis as a result of Bush's initiation of a war that was predicated on pure backroom PNAC bullshit, not to mention the tortures or massive private contractor fraud, etc etc) you stated the country needed to move forward so you conducted ZERO investigations.
See how you're to be repaid? Not with bipartisanship, but rather, with witch hunts and the devastation of your Presidency. In two years, the American people will surely understand you let the Republicans rule when in the minority even as they rule when in the majority. Which should lead the electorate to wonder: Why bother vote for Democrats?
There was so much promise with your election. Now? Thanks for nothin'…
