This post first appeared on Open Left.
This has been a pretty weird political cycle, and I’m starting to wonder whether it is the strangest ever. There have certainly been cycles that have been more dramatic- such as the 1968 cycle of assassinations and a powerful incumbent being taken out by a quirky intellectual troubadour- but in terms of pure weirdness, this could be the tops. And I’m not even talking about Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck.
The weirdness I am referring to is this odd sense I have that both parties are trying so hard to lose. Obama started out the cycle by appointing one of the main architects of the incredibly unpopular Bush bailout plans- Tim Geithner- to be his chief economic policymaker and spokesman, and followed that by re-appointing Bush’s Fed chief Ben Bernanke. Now that we’re into campaign season, the message group closest to the Democratic establishment (Third Way) is solemnly advising us to avoid being too populist in a year when anger at the banks and other corporate CEOs is as high as it has been since the 1930s, and the aforementioned Geithner writes columns bragging about economy recovery when the official unemployment rates remains stalled at close to 10%, and the true unemployment rate is several points higher. While all this goes on policy-wise, the White House political strategy in a year when their base is disheartened seems mainly to be to make their base even more upset.
This post originally appeared on Open Left.
You would think that having won some of the key battles in financial reform in spite of destroying the world economy with their greed that bank lobbyists would be counting themselves lucky and relaxing a little. But they believe it is their God-given right to win every single legislative battle and run all things finance-related with no oversight, regulations, barriers, or fairness to other economic sectors. And because they are so completely used to getting their way in all things, the idea that they might possibly, actually lose a few of these legislative fights is making them frantic.
This post originally appeared on Open Left.
The two biggest issues in the news of late are financial reform and immigration. Talk about contrasts: the richest and most powerful in society vs. the most outcast and oppressed. It is easy to figure out which side to be on.
I can’t help reading the e-mails of Fabulous Fab and the testimony of the Goldman Sachs guys, and think of stories I read about immigrants like this powerful piece from Jill Richardson:
This post originally appeared on Open Left.
The stakes in the war over financial reform are deadly serious, but I also have to admit it is fun to watch. It has dawned on politicians of both parties that voters’ anger at Wall Street is not fading anytime soon, and that the usual insider establishment political tactics aren’t working exactly the way they usually do. I have heard a peep lately whining about class warfare because, well, everyone is doing it whether they mean it or not. Republicans and certain Democrats who have taken a lot of money from Wall Street are trying to sound populist, but they are getting nervous that they may have to face some tough decisions on votes around certain amendments. It happened in the House when Alan Grayson forced a vote on opening up the Federal Reserve to an audit, and the banking lobbyists that control the Federal Reserve weren’t able to defeat the amendment in a public vote on the floor, and it may well happen again in the Senate on some amendments.
This post originally appeared on Open Left.
We progressive populists spend a lot of time banging on big business, and rightly so. Concentrations of money and power dominate our political system way too much, and head to the exploitation of worker, the degradation of the environment, distortions and traumas to our economic system, and many other ills.
