I have been clear from day one of this site that I will not be a cheerleader for any politician based on what “party” they belong to.  I’ve repeatedly pointed out that I eagerly voted for and supported President Obama during the 2008 campaign – despite a few concerns that “popped up” during the process. (like his vote for the FISA bill and his seemingly enthusiastic support for the TARP bailout plan of the Bush/Paulson administration)  I mean, even with my disappointment with Obama, can you imagine John McCain and Sarah Palin tackling the issues of today?  And, what if McCain had a heart attack or something debilitating?  Sarah Palin as President of the United States.  I’m just pointing this out because I feel it’s my obligation to participate in any discussion regarding the issues (of course, I “get” that my participation in this discussion moves it NOWHERE, it only makes me feel better) and, I’m not encouraging anyone else who’s unhappy with Obama to vote third party, don’t vote, or worse yet – vote republican, I’m just sharing my disappointment that the status quo is continuing to rule the day in Washington DC.  I think Obama has succumbed to that “evil” force (DC’s “status quo”) to the point where we have to accept he won’t be able to get out from under the weight of some of his more curious decisions while still in office.  Just the same, the alternative is repulsive and Americans need to realize the stakes in the upcoming 2012 election.

Before I delve into that topic, a quick history lesson.  When Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office he immediately went on the attack against the corporate powers who were willing to sacrifice the well-being of the average American for their own greedy economic self interest.  (and, the reality proved that Roosevelt’s “New Deal” was better for “them” in the long run anyway)  Even with the “radical” approach Roosevelt took to the “Great Depression” it took years to pull America out of its funk with the help of World War II which really was the “glue” which pulled people together.  In the end, after the war, America’s middle class grew to be the envy of the rest of the world and the “target” of the right wing “CABAL” which was formed from the privileged elite that had driven America into depression in the first place.  It’s the same thing we’re facing today, a group of wealthy individuals who rule major corporations which are “too big to fail” and who have a sense of GREED beyond the average person’s comprehension which allows them to think that if there’s more out “there” for them to “get” then they should have the “right” to get it.  They are smart, they are powerful, and they will stop at nothing to get what they want.  Additionally, they feel no sense of obligation to the “commons” that they so willingly use with an astonishing unwillingness to pay for.  Roosevelt knew these people would fight him and “hate” him, and he “welcomed their hate.”  That’s where I believe President Obama has “missed the boat.”

Just the other day the congress and President Obama reached an agreement on a budget for the rest of 2011.  Just the fact they were going through this process at this time is a testament to the timid nature of today’s democrats.  During the previous two years they had a strong majority in both houses of congress, yet we ended up with watered down bills that were the “crowning” achievements of Obama’s first two years in office to go along with no budget for 2011, the continuation of the “Bush tax cuts,” and not only the two wars Bush left Obama with, but now we’re getting sucked into a third.  Obviously, President Obama and today’s democrats haven’t paid much attention to the history books – OR – they are so afraid of the corporately controlled media that they have become unable to act on traditionaly democratic principles – OR – they’ve been bought off by the large corporations and their lobbyists as well. (unfortunately, I believe the latter is the most likely reason for the situation we find ourselves in as a country)

I haven’t seen the details of the recently agreed to budget proposal, but some of the “hidden requirements” the republicans were throwing in which had nothing to do with the budget, were repulsive.  One of them included the end of the free lunch program in the public schools.  Now, as a teacher who reads a lot of books about contemporary issues, I’ve been aware of the republican party’s attempts to undermine public education for years.  That was the main purpose of “No Child Left Behind.”  It was absurd on its face, yet I could see the schools weren’t set up to defend themselves in the political realm.  The only entities able to defend public schools are the teacher’s unions – which, if you’ve been paying attention, are directly in the “crosshairs” of republican destructionists.  If they (republicans) can destroy the teacher’s unions, the public schools will be like “sitting ducks.” So, I’ve watched for several years as this scenario has been unfolding, but when I heard that republicans were targeting the free lunch program, their heartlessness and ruthlessness became even more vivid to me.  In my school, almost 80% of the students rely on the “free lunch” program for most of their food.  They get breakfast and lunch every day – sometimes, I’m not sure of how much else they get (at least some of them).  Why would the leaders of the richest nation on earth go after the poorest of the children?  Even I thought this was beyond their parameters.

The republicans also want to eliminate health care for poor pregnant women (prenatal care), Head Start – which benefits countless poor children, Medicaid – which supplies health care for poor children, the S-Chip program – also designed to provide health care to children, yet they want to make sure NO ONE gets an abortion and the pentagon gets EVERY cent it can.  Now, please don’t misunderstand me here, I’m not a believer in abortion – I’ll save my personal opinion on that because as a male I’ll never be in the positions to have to make that choice – and, I would hope that the procedure would be rarely relied upon, but the idea that we want EVERYONE to have their babies, but we won’t support the health care of the babies born into poor families is beyond my comprehension.  This seems to be the mantra of today’s republican party – go after the most vulnerable – and, during my lifetime I’ve always counted on democrats to make sure the republicans can’t succeed at this quizzical goal.  What I’m concerned about the most these days is that I no longer feel I can depend on the democrats to put up a firewall against these republican attacks on “the least of these” as Jesus put it.

They (republicans) have succeeded in moving the “bar” of the debate in Washington so far to the right that any “compromise” accomplished by Obama and the democrats always seems to me as a “cave in.”  Take for example the “Bush Tax cuts” that, when Obama was elected I thought he would repeal immediately.  Instead, what we ended up with is their extension for another two years, and I can almost guarantee you beyond that.  President Obama has had opportunity after opportunity to say “ENOUGH” already to these right wing corporatists, but he continues to seemingly feel that any agreement he can squeeze out is better than nothing.  What continues to happen is that the republicans continue moving the above mentioned “bar” so far in their direction to the point that, as a former conservative (1975), I’ve now become “liberal.”  This latest budget proposal didn’t even consider the FACT that what this economy needs is MORE people working and how MORE government spending aimed at green energy and infrastructure would be the fastest way to employ millions of desperately unemployed workers.  Instead, what we ended up with is democrats “agreeing” to “only” something around $40 BILLION in “cuts” from social programs which will make hardly a dent in the budget deficit while leaving the MASSIVE military budget as sancrosanct – AGAIN!  This is what has been happening my entire adult life.  The military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned against is eating this nation alive, economically, from the inside out.  And, their power is now such that no one in Washington DC (save for maybe Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich) dares to “mess” with them.

Here’s the problem as I see it.  President Obama, a good man who I don’t think for a minute doesn’t mean well, right from the start of his administration (I’ve been pointing this out since day one) has signalled to the republicans that they can “tromp” all over him.  The day he blocked ALL the investigations of Bush/Cheney – stating he didn’t want the distraction – he told the republicans they could get away with anything they wanted – there would be no push back.  Honestly, I’ll never understand the thinking behind that decision, but – as I stated at the time – it was a deal breaker for me.  I have totally lost my enthusiasm for President Obama.  His words have become empty rhetoric for me.  It’s like someone totally focused on looking “presidential” without taking any risks.  And, the results of this are going to continue to get worse – unless, miraculously, there is such a groundswell of populist support for “progressives” that somehow the republicans are turned back out of power in 2012.  I’ve written before of the importance of a democrat being in office in 2012 if for no other reason than the upcoming supreme court nominations.  But, if the democrats lose the senate, I’m not sure what kind of nominations Obama would make should he be reelected.

The democrats will probably not run someone against Obama because that would increase the chances of a republican in the White House in 2012 – and, think of who that might be.  Sarah Palin?  Mike Huckabee?  Mitt Romney?  Haley Barbour?  Newt Gingrich?  Donald Trump?  Tim Pawlenty?  Scott Walker?  Are you kidding me?  Can you imagine ANY of these people running the government of the United States?  Well, I couldn’t imaging the “tea party” gaining a stranglehold of congress after the election of 2008 either.  But, the democrats took a situation – the mess left behind by Bush/Cheney – and turned it into a “gold mine” for the extreme “right” of the republican party by patronizing to the “middle.”  I predicted from the earliest days of Obama’s administration, beginning with the pardoning of Bush/Cheney, that “progressives” would be turned away from the polls – and, that’s exactly what happened in 2010.  Now, with the full force of “Citizens United” behind them, the republicans are planning on retaking the senate and the White House in 2012 and implementing the “permanent republican majority” imagined by Karl Rove during the heyday of the GW Bush administration.

If the working class of this nation doesn’t rise up and fight for its rights – and I mean during the next two years – the outlook for America’s economy and “we the people” will be bleak.  There seem to be no end of people like the Scott Walker’s, the Rush Limbaugh’s, the John Boehner’s, the Mitch McConnell’s, the Bill O’Reilly’s, etc., etc., who will do anything for money.  And, there’s no shortage of money coming from the corporate elite who are secretly planning to turn the United States into a corporate run entity.  They have control of the media, they have control of the House, they have control of the courts, they still have a strong influence in the Justice Department (remember, under Bush/Cheney the Justice department was turned into a republican “tool”), they have the funding that will come thanks to “Citizens United,” and they only need to take three seats in the senate to have control of both chambers – UNLESS, the American workers band together and vote AGAINST this republican CABAL!

For those of us who are deeply disappointed in President Obama, we need to vote against the republican opponent – the FACT that Obama is not a “change” agent as he portrayed himself aside, he’s a major improvement over ANY candidate the republicans can put up!  To me, the question seems to be how hard will I have to hold my nose to vote for him.  I can guarantee you that this year’s budget debate was only a prelude of things to come.  The republicans have their “sights” set squarely on Medicare and Medicaid and the NEXT major target, once they’ve undermined those two programs – and “privatised” them (like they try to “privatise” everything) is SOCIAL SECURITY.  They were repealed during the Bush administration, but that doesn’t stop them at all (can you imagine the blow to progressives if, after turning back Bush’s attempt to undermine Social Security, the republicans succeed while a democrat’s in office?).  And, if they can find a slimy way to accomplish their goal, they will be fine with that.  Republicans have shown what they’re about since the 2010 elections in places like Wisconsin, Ohio, Idaho, Michigan, Indiana, and other states where they are trying to undermine the last bastion of progressive unity able to put up any kind of fight against their newfound financial strength from the “Citizens United” decision of the Roberts court – collective bargaining.  Destroy the unions, privatise everything (including public utilities and schools), and essentially eliminate the ability of any organized group to combat them in the future – thus the “permanent republican majority” I mentioned above (and, have written about many times in the past).  Today, I have to admit, Hillary Clinton was correct when she pointed out in the campaign that Barack Obama was not “up to” the challenge he’d be facing from the republicans.  The two things I’m hopeful of:  first, President Obama would realize that this is a WAR for the heart and soul of America and – like it or not – he’s the leader of the progressive side of the “battle” – and, he’d start drawing some “lines in the sand” with the republicans (I hope it’s not too late already) and, secondly that the groundswell of populist “BLOWBACK” that started in Wisconsin would continue to grow and that the workers of America would stop allowing the Fox “news” people and the republicans to divide them in a way that allows the wealthy elite to complete their takeover of this great nation.  I have to admit that those who are on the “other” side are relentless, they will stop at nothing to get to their goal, and they have a well thought out plan that they’ve been scheming on for years.  However, the thing I can rest on is there are more of us (middle class workers) than there are of them – once people see past their lies!

Final thought:  I’m reading a book on the history of the CIA and I believe more Americans should be discovering about our “secret” history that is hidden from mass view by a complacent or complicit media.  I just recently completed a book on the history of the Bush family – and it’s connections to the CIA – and, all I can say is the more I read, the more concerned I am as to the direction of this great nation.  It seems as if the easy thing to do is “look the other way” and pretend “all is well.”  If the books I’m reading (and there’s a lot of them) are anywhere close to accurate – well, all I can say is that ALL IS NOT well!