Yeah, I know. That’s an overused phrase. I was thinking of using The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same, but that’s overused too. And, frankly, I feel as though I sound like a broken record. However, there’s no way around this damned post. I’m going to spend my time going over some of the headlines and stories I’ve been treated to since the November 6th reelection of Barack Obama.
1. The GOP continues to harp on having to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to reduce the deficit. How many times do we have to enlighten these morons? Cutting these “earned benefits” will not reduce the deficit because they do not now and have not in the past contributed to the deficit. The money saved by cutting these programs will not go toward the deficit. The money will simply go back into the programs. I guess I shouldn’t refer to the GOP as morons. They aren’t. They are scumbags catering to the wealthy and Wall Street. Let’s take it from the perennial voice of reason in the senate.
Can you hear us now? (I’m guessing not.)
2. Let’s move on to the filibuster issue. It appears that the GOP is upset about this whole idea of filibuster reform. Why wouldn’t they be? Shit. It’s their best friend in the obstruction game. And that’s why it needs reform. Unless we can get to the point where we have up and down votes, we’re just going to be constipated for the next four years. The GOP, supposedly a friend of veterans, even used it to block the Veterans Jobs Bill this year. If you have not yet signed the petition for filibuster reform, please do so now. The link is here. The reform is being championed by Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren, and Senators Jeff Merkley, Kirsten Gillibrand, Tom Harkin, Amy Klobuchar, Jeanne Shaheen, and Tom Udall.
3. Oh, the fiscal cliff. Come on, people. The fiscal cliff has been created by giving tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and engaging in never-ending, money-sucking wars. Let’s get real here. Tom Cole (R-OK) has gone on record and prodded the GOP to extend the tax cuts to those earning less than $250K, and allowing them to expire for the wealthiest Americans. In other words, let’s get the top earners to finally pay their fair share. Of course, John Boehner is having none of that. According to Mr. Perma-Tan, it would hurt small businesses. That’s a crock of shit, Mr. Boehner. And we all know it. We’ve had these tax cuts now since George W. Bush was president, and they haven’t done a damned thing to improve the economy or create jobs. All the tax cuts have done is line the pockets of the top two percent. Apparently, the GOP brain trust (if that’s what you want to call it) didn’t get the message we sent on November 6th. They don’t want to get the message. What they want to do is continue to kiss the ass of the wealthiest Americans so that they can rake in reelection money. It’s time to vote out the rest of the dead beats that have no intention of bending to the will of the American people.
Exit polls confirmed that more than 60% of the American voting public favors a tax increase on the wealthiest Americans. Here’s what the middle class will do with their tax break: Spend it. They’ll spend it on clothes for their kids. They’ll repair their cars. They’ll buy food. They’ll spend it on things they need for their homes. They’ll pay bills that they haven’t been able to pay. In other words, they’ll stimulate the economy. Here’s what the top two percent will do with their tax break: Nothing. They’ll put it in the bank. Or they’ll give it to Wall Street. Neither of those will stimulate the economy.
The Bush Tax Cuts expire at the end of this year. The only way they will continue is if the Democrats allow them to continue. We cannot let that happen. I don’t care how starry eyed you are over the reelection of Barack Obama. If you think we don’t have to hold his feet to the fire you are dead wrong and living in La La Land. Like their Tea Party counterparts (they haven’t gone away, folks) the Progressives need to get active and be aggressive over the next four years and beyond. I voted for Barack Obama, but I have the same problems with the guy I had back in 2008. He sounds like a total Progressive on the campaign trail. But he’s subject to change without notice.
4. You knew the report that states America will be “energy independent” by the year 2020 would stimulate the vivid imaginations of the country’s climate change deniers. Yes, they’re touting our vast resources and new technologies, like hydraulic fracturing. Amidst all this hoopla is the rumor that Barack Obama is set to pull a post-election reversal and fast-track approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline. This might surprise you, but it doesn’t surprise me. Barack Obama is a politician. He’s not the savior the Obamabots have bought into hook, line and sinker. I voted for him because he was the only alternative to sniveling, greasy, smarmy, millionaire-loving, homophobic, misogynistic Mitt Romney. I have no illusions at all about Barack Obama. In my opinion, the climate change issue alone should be enough to convince the people of this country that a third party is absolutely essential to our very survival. Neither the GOP nor the Democrats even chose to discuss climate change during the campaign, in spite of the fact that 84% of Americans now believe that climate change is quite real and is affecting our weather right now.
You can bet your sweet lives that nobody is talking about the devastating environmental costs associated with this supposed “energy independence.” They will be huge. The XL Pipeline alone is an environmental and climate change disaster in the making. But no matter, the GOP and oil companies will keep their heads firmly planted in the tar sands over the whole climate change issue. Apparently, so will Barack Obama. Frankly, they don’t give a shit about climate change. What they care about is money. This “energy independence” pipe dream will ensure that we remain dependent on fossil fuels for the next hundred years. Scientists across the globe are in consensus that global warming is real and that it is man-made. A new report prepared for the World Bank by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics paints a grim picture of our future if we do not heed the call. The entire 84-page document can be read here.
I guess my point is that I fear Americans will settle back into their comfort zone, awaiting our reelected savior to simply comply with the will of the people. This is the American people’s modus operandi. Barack Obama has been reelected, so everything is going to be just fine. That thinking isn’t based in any kind of reality. In spite of the resounding message sent on November 6th, the GOP has absolutely no intention of changing and becoming cooperative. There is absolutely no evidence of that. In fact, while John McCain and his associates are talking about changing the party to appeal to more people on a national scale, the exact opposite is happening in the states where the GOP is in control. There, the GOP is still trying to pass extreme immigration and abortion laws. The GOP is still debating a woman’s right to contraception. Same shit. Different day.
As for President Obama? Well, he doesn’t have to worry about treading carefully anymore. He will not be running for reelection again. But I don’t think that will matter. He’s simply not bold enough to make any real change. He’s not a natural fighter. If we want real reform, if we want anything done, it has to be on us. There is no way around it. If we sit back and wait for him to do it, we are destined for another underwhelming administration.
Categories: 2012, Democrats, Elections, GOP, Progressives
Revolutionary Radar 
There is nothing new. The “news” is only gossip or recycled tales of sexual or political scandal we have hear a hundred hundred times. Only the names and faces change. The world is locked in a perennial status quo stalemate of old ideas and repetitive inanity. We are dying from the entropy of ideas and the lack of courage and innovation.
I agree, Ivan. And the most loathsome thing about it is that the American people sit back and accept it. At the end of the day, we are the only ones who can change the dialogue.
Sadly, we live in a phony, “fake-believe” world, and the tsunami of vacuous rhetoric is more than a little daunting. I wish there were “dialogue” to change. All I hear is monologues.