Editorial from today’s New York Times
Tuesday’s election was indeed a “shellacking” for the Democrats, as President Obama admitted after a long night of bad news. It was hardly an order from the American people to discard the progress of the last two years and start over again.
Mr. Obama was on target when he said voters howled in frustration at the slow pace of economic recovery and job creation. To borrow his running automotive metaphor, voters threw the keys at Republicans and told them to drive for a while, but gave almost no indication of what direction to drive in.
Republican leaders, who will take over the House and have a bigger minority in the Senate, say they heard the American people tell them to repeal the “monstrosity” of health care reform, in the words of the likely House speaker, John Boehner. In fact, the American people said no such thing. In polls of Tuesday’s voters, only 18 percent said health care was the nation’s top issue. While 48 percent of voters said they wanted to repeal the health care law, 47 percent said they wanted to keep it the way it is or expand it — hardly a roaring consensus.
The “loud message” to cut spending cited by Mr. Boehner was actually far more muted. The polls showed that 39 percent of voters say cutting the deficit should be the highest priority of Congress, but a statistically equal 37 percent prefer spending money to create jobs. Fully a third of those who want to spend money to create jobs were Republicans.
More voters (correctly) blamed President George W. Bush for the economic problems than President Obama, and even more (also correctly) blamed Wall Street.
The Republican victory was impressive and definitive, although voters who made it happen were hardly spread evenly across the electorate. The victory was built largely on the heavy turnout of older blue-collar white men, most in the South or the rusting Midwest.
Democratic candidates did better among voters younger than 30, minorities, city dwellers, and those living on the East or West Coasts. But women essentially split their vote between the parties — and that is a major challenge to the Democrats, who also failed to turn out their core voters among young people and minorities.
The new Republican officeholders will have to quickly address the economic pain and fear expressed by the voters who flocked to them in frustration. But it does those voters no good to say the answer is as simple as cutting discretionary government spending. It is time to show how cuts would lead to jobs and to specify which ones should be made — and how they plan to reduce the deficit while also preserving the Bush-era tax cuts.
Mr. Obama offered some specific ideas. Extending unemployment insurance. Extending tax cuts for the middle class. Providing tax breaks for companies that are investing in American research and development.
He proposed finding common ground on energy policy, developing domestic natural gas resources and encouraging electric cars. He took Republicans up on their offer to start banning earmarks, while urging greater investment in infrastructure. And he acknowledged that he could have done more to change Washington’s messy and secretive ways, and to have been in closer touch with those suffering from the recession.
The question is how the Republicans will act. For two years, they have refused to cooperate on any of those ideas, simply to deny Mr. Obama a policy victory and try to reduce his re-election prospects. If they are serious about accepting Tuesday’s mantle, they will join in governing and not simply posturing.
Carrie, I really like your practical spirit! What a fantastic and simple way to inform people about the limitations of welfare support, and engender a little empathy and awareness.
I’ll keep this in mind for next year’s Halloween rounds.
Patty,
Ron Paul is a nut all right!
And I’m in on the beans and corn-bread as long as we’re organic local small-farm, non-GMO and gluten free! – and no fair eating off of plates made in China.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
😉
Business have not been hiring – alhtough they have the funds and the need – in great part because the health care bill has been in limbo. When that has a definite resolution, companies will hire.
While shutting down health care reform is a huge agenda of the pubs, businesses hiring again will be an off-shoot of that agenda.
I HOPE they try to claim HI is not really a state! Maybe it should just be part of Japan anyway. Like we should give Alaska to Russia while Palin’s holed up there on a moose-hunting expedidition. Ssshhh! Don’t tell her!
Oh and Kids are ALREADY “hungry” in the republic of USA. Absoultely. Lots. And not just for food (real nutritious food.) but for education – and purpose in ‘being’.
Impeachment was the first thing going through my head too – as the tea-ravers are being so blatent I figure that’s the only way for them to go – assination wouldn’t serve. Trying to “lynch” (in so many words – that is “hang him out to blow in the wind”) would serve their mission just hunky-dory. The “blow job” technique has been used.
Accusations of masterbation perhaps?
Ittybitty rant done.
From today’s Politico Playbook
IN “60 MINUTES” SIT-DOWN, OBAMA ADMITS PERSUASION FAILURE – WILL EXAMINE MESSAGING “GOING FORWARD” – ACKNOWLEDGES “FRUSTRATION” AMONG SUPPORTERS
CBS News: “President Obama tells Steve Kroft that one of the reasons the electorate has become disenchanted with him was his failure to properly explain his policies and persuade people to agree with them. It was, in effect, a breakdown in leadership: ‘Leadership isn’t just legislation,’ he tells Kroft, in his first one-on-one interview since his party lost its large House majority to the Republicans … The interview will be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT).”
–KROFT: “There is this feeling — particularly among people who are among your most ardent supporters, who feel a little disappointed that they think that you’ve lost your mojo. That you’ve lost your ability, that touch you had during the campaign, to inspire and lead. Everybody in Washington writes about a sort of aloofness that you have. How do you respond to that?”
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “You know, I think that — over the course of two years, we were so busy and so focused on getting a bunch of stuff done that we stopped paying attention to the fact that leadership isn’t just legislation. That it’s a matter of persuading people. And giving them confidence and bringing them together. And setting a tone. And making an argument that people can understand. And I think that we haven’t always been successful at that. And I take personal responsibility for that. And it’s something that I’ve got to examine carefully as I go forward. You know, now I will say that when it comes to some of my supporters, some of my Democratic supporters who express some frustration.”
Huh? The federal reserve printed gazillions of dollars yesterday. Business doesn’t hire because of the GOP. Get a grip already. Might as well shake hands with your new best friend inflation and figure out how to make it work for you. Wall Street hooked us good yesterday with their old bait and switch to make a fast buck and now China owns us, lock, stock and barrel.
Everyone should eat beans and cornbread (plentiful in the US) for the next 4 years to get rid of the debt, and hope the tea party can make good on at least one old Ron Paul item – getting rid of the federal reserve. Won’t ever happen because at least 60 percent of the people think Ron Paul is the wingnut.
hypnotic,
Thanks, I am glad to be of help! 🙂 Actually I only sound paranoid. What I do is look ahead at the worst case scenario and see how I would deal with it and then make plans based on reality but with an eye on all possibilities both good and bad. After facing the worst (mentally) and finding I can survive it, everything that comes after that (and things are usually never as bad as the worst case scenario) seems a lot easier to deal with.
Eric,
Maybe being a Trans-Culture person will become a “high crime.” :::laughing:::: Imagine all those military kids who were raised in foreign countries (but born here in the U.S.) suddenly being called criminals. I am one of those people; born in Chicago but lived in Germany in 1964-66, lived in Okinawa in 1975-76, lived in Greece for 21 days in 1978, and lived in the Occupied West Bank village of Jaba’a for five months in 1979. I guess that makes me and all the other military, diplomat and missionary Brats jailbirds. Oh and to top it off, I am a registered Democrat so that closes the deal right there! :::snort:::
Oh, oh and like Obama, I am also a Generation Jones kid, too! :::shaking head:::
cmassy,
I am so sorry about what you are going through! I hope something happens that makes things better for you. Are you getting all the help you can? Please e-mail me at carecare7 at msn dot com if you need any info about ideas; I have been through what you are going through and I found out a lot of things that helped.
The reason I say the businesses will start hiring is because they want the GOP to look good for the 2012 elections. If the GOP seem to be getting people back to work and spending again, the hope is that people will think “Obama and the Dems sold us up the creek with big spending but the GOP got us back to work so we should KEEP them in power.” Unlike so many people, they do think long term sometimes.
E-mail me. I mean it. Just call me the information lady; I don’t charge for the info because I truly believe in helping people as much as I can. I can’t give money because I haven’t any myself but I CAN give knowledge, experience, and compassion.
Way back, Oprah had some millionaires on her show and asked them what drove them to make their millions even after they had more than they or their kids or grand kids would ever need. They said it was the challenge of seeing their net worth go up. They said it was a numbers gamne to them. If they were worth 3 million last year, they had to top that and get to 6 million the next year etc., (this was in the early 90’s when a million seemed like a lot of money). I remember thinking then; why not turn that around and make it a challenge of numbers in a different direction; if I helped a hundred people last year, can I help 300 this year? If I helped 400 families last year can I help 1000 this year? That’s my philosophy (among others) and I mean to keep doing that one person at a time. 🙂
By the way, a friend and I went trick-or-treating for toilet paper when we took our kids. We collected 42 rolls, one from each home we went to. We added some from ours to make up 12 four-packs of toilet paper which we then donated to Catholic Charities because I know that food stamps doesn’t buy toilet paper (or soap or deodorant or pads or detergent or shampoo or toothpaste). Cash assistance (for our family of six back when we were on it) was only $520 a month which wasn’t even enough to pay the rent much less the utilities and all thoise non-food items you need to keep clean enough to GET a job. Imagine, we two gathered 42 rolls; if every family gathered 20 or more rolls we could keep more poor families stocked with toilet paper! A side effect was that all those families learned (to their surprise) that food stamps doesn’t buy toilet paper (or other health and hygiene stuff). Maybe they will donate other things now to help people out. Information IS a good thing!
I tell this not to brag but to show that even little things can help if we work together.
Well, an impeachment. Hmmm, let’s see, would the public catch on that this is habitual? Impeached for being a Democrat? The “high crime and misdemeanor” would be…being born where? In Kenya? Or maybe Hawaii isn’t really a state. It’s just a pile of lava.
Carrie, I appreciate the blog comment you posted Eric’s last Wed. Podcast, a blog from CREDO. I found that very helpful.
And I appreciate the insights you share here (sans paranoia). I agree with so much of what you say about joining together and living on less. This country is so rich with so much to go around… nobody should have to suffer.
Thank you for your message of strength!
L
“People will think the GOP is doing a good job because the unemployment numbers go down until they realize they have lost their safety nets.”
You know Carrie, I don’t think unemployment is going down for the next few years. No, I don’t mean that as hyperbole – I’m being serious. I think that normally big business would do exactly as you say just to do the GOP “a solid.” But I think corporate America has gotten very comfortable hoarding so much cash that they just won’t let it go no matter who’s in charge of the House. Full disclosure: I’ve been unemployed for the past 2 years and at almost 50, I’m quite scared about this.
One thing is pretty certain: commodities and perhaps some equities will continue to go higher with the GOP majority in the House. I believe that the top 2% of America is preparing for the bottoming out of the country.
As for the rubes who helped install the GOP? Well, they’ll be the first ones up against the wall…
Prediction: Those big corporations and companies that were sitting on a ton of cash and not hiring will suddenly let loose and start hiring to make the GOP look good. They will pay slave wages and no benefits. Meanwhile, the GOP will waste our time by granting the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy AGAIN, working to impeach Obama, and in the distraction of seeing the unemployment numbers go down, they will get rid of Social Security and medicare for anyone 60 and under and get rid of Food Stamps and Medicaid for the poor. People will think the GOP is doing a good job because the unemployment numbers go down until they realize they have lost their safety nets. Banks will suddenly start lending again while the GOP works to repeal the credit laws that went into effect under the last congress. Democrats will continue to pretend to work for main street America while secretly still being in the pay of corporate America.
People had better start educating themselves, stockpiling medicines (even if they have to go to Mexico to get them) and find ways to get lab screen materials (home strep screen tests etc) as well as community health coalitions. People will have to save money in their mattresses, stockpile on foods, learn to can foods from their gardens and invest in solar powered freezers and homes. Communities will have to start donating food, paper goods, and cleaning supplies for those who will fall off food stamps and everyone had better get to know and be willing to help their neighbor. Families will have to keep living together even as the kids grow up because no one will be able to afford to move out now.
We will HAVE to change from the “Me-Me-Me” of the past 40 years to an “Us-Us-Us” like people did during the Depression.
In my own state, (AZ), they threatened to lower the elegibility income for food stamps for a family of four to $6000 a year; if they do millions of kids will be without food stamps or health care. Kids will go hungry. We have to pool our resources people. We have to take care of each other and draw together because those who don’t won’t survive. We must be willing to GIVE more and live on LESS. Stop buying things you don’t need; kids lived through the depression with so little and they grew up into decent adults. Maybe this time will redirect us to what is really imnportant; family, friends, community, not conspicuous consumption. Simplicity will save us AND the planet.
The agenda of the “gop” is loud and firm summed up by the ‘announcements’ that the number one, the one and only important, agenda they have for the next two years is to get rid of Obama.
Reading conservative ‘news’ and blogs makes me want to upchuck, but perhaps a little upchucking is just what the national health plan doctor ordered.
While I’ll skip the joining of their party (I don’t do raves) like Eric, I suggest we all take some time to inflitrate as it were, and get a grip – or a gasp – on what this bigoted, selfish and blatently stupid mindset really is. Instead of believing we know what these folk are preaching to each other and then playing duck and cover. (Cheney blasting away comes to mind here.)
We are In The Game – and we have let this election happen because even thouogh we are tired and beaten down, we still insist on playing the games of the three stupid monkeys, (see, hear and speak).
At any rate; something needs to be blown wide open here – the can of worms is already gaping wide – time to catch some big ones on their own hooks.