President Obama needs to go back and look at the pictures of his inauguration, and see, once again, the faces of the people who elected him: women, men, young people, working people, people of every color, liberals, union members, ordinary Americans. These are the people who campaigned for him, knocked on doors, phone banked, and gave till it hurt to elect the Change We Can Believe In. He probably wouldn't see anyone in those throngs who looked like corporate CEOs.
With large Democratic margins in the House and Senate, he could have pushed through the change he promised. He could have ended "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on his first day in office. He could have rammed through universal Medicare--not a public "option," but REAL healthcare reform. He could have stimulated the economy with a jobs program, and ended the wars. (No he didn't need 60 votes--the Republicans have had no problem pushing through policies without having 60 votes since 1923! It's called "reconciliation.")
Instead, he chose to continue corporatist Republican policies. To escalate the wars. To give massive bailouts to rich Wall Street banksters--who continued to pocket billions in bonuses--while tacitly accepting double digit unemployment. To encourage a health care policy that enriches the for-profit insurance companies at the expense of ordinary Americans while taxing (TAXING!!!) health care benefits--and then trying to convince us it's a great plan! He chose to kiss the butts of pseudo-Democrats like Nelson and Landrieu, and capitulate to Lieberman.
Is anyone surprised that ordinary Americans are furious? Is anyone really surprised that a Republican won a Senate seat in Massachusetts, a state that hasn't had a Republican Senator in more than 30 years? Hey, Rahm, do you still think you can forget about your "base"? As President Harry Truman said, "Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican all the time." And the people of Massachusetts did.
Maybe now that the fantasy of the "60 vote coalition" has been trashed, you can forget about kowtowing to the pseudo-Dems, and get to work with 51 votes, like the Constitution says. Nelson, Landrieu, and Lieberman can go spend some time with their families.
Hey, Obama, are you listening? Because if you don't wake up and start acting like a Democrat, if you don't start making good on the promises you campaigned on, the Coakley debacle is going to pale in comparison to the blood bath facing the Democrats in November. Deservedly.
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