I wonder if people remember 2008? There was a total solar eclipse, we were introduced to Katy Perry, and Michael Phelps made Olympic history and ate massive quantities of food. 2008 was also the year that we supposedly figured out that conservatism, compassionate or otherwise, had failed. After the eight years of continuous disaster that was the Bush Administration, America voted for change.
The election of Barack Obama was supposed to signal a clean break from the policies of the previous regime, and to the more optimistic among us, a repudiation of a generation of American politics ushered in by the election of Ronald Reagan. Two short years later the Republicans are poised to take back Congress, sporting the largest polling leads the party has ever received. So what happened? To put it simply, the American political process happened. The structures of our institutions operate in a way to provide several veto points; the result is that the majority of reform measures are kneecapped and gutted before they ever see the light of day. Given the accomplishments of the Democratically-controlled Congress, financial and health insurance reform for example, it may seem as if the party had cracked the Progressive legislation code. Recent polling regarding the Democrats’ chances in this November’s midterm elections suggest otherwise. The reality is that this situation was entirely predictable, and probably inevitable.
Health-care is a fine example of this dynamic in action. The Senate filibuster rules coupled with outright Republican obstructionism, required as a practical matter, that the Democratic party march in lockstep and vote as a bloc. This allowed lobbyists and pressure groups time to target a handful of Senators in an effort to thwart the entire process—then after failing at that, to water it down. At the same time the corporate media swung into high gear, criticizing the Democrats for producing a partisan bill, when there was quite literally no bill that would have garnered Republican support. This isn’t a case of off-the-cuff analysis; it’s an assertion bolstered by the fact that the final bill signed into law with no Republican support was basically the Conservative think-tank’s response (read: The Heritage Foundation’s response) to the reform efforts proposed during the Clinton Administration. Therein lays the rub: if the only ideas Democrats are capable of turning into legislation are Republican-inspired, it’s hard to fault voters who question exactly why we need a Democratic party.
You might be saying to yourself, “Won’t the Republicans pay a political price for subverting efforts to benefit its constituents?” The truth is that they will, eventually; but not before they’ve stopped the momentum of the progressive movement, increased disillusionment in government, and ensured the continued suffering of countless American citizens. Unfortunately, from the Republican viewpoint, this isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. Remember this is the party of Reagan, who said, “Government is the problem.” This is the party of Newt Gingrich, who along with his congressional cohorts shut down the Federal government in the ‘90's. Besides those people suffering from unemployment, home foreclosure, ill health, or any number of other serious issues that Republicans don’t care about unless it provides the opportunity to demonize someone, don’t contribute to election campaigns.
Eventually the wheels will fall off. The GOP will heed the demands of its culturally conservative base and overreach. Or, the policies of endless tax cuts for the wealthy, and economic deregulation, will once again set the economy ablaze, at which point the voters of America will demand change, and the process begins anew.
No comments:
Post a Comment