Told You So!

The only sane man in government?

Indulge me in a long quote:

I think what we will be seeing… within a few months [is] folks complaining on the floor of the Senate, and this is what they will say: “You know what?” The deficit is high. The national debt is too high…. [We] are going to have to deal with our national debt.” The Republicans will tell you: “Oh, we have a great plan to deal with it. We are giving tax breaks to millionaires. But now we… have to make deep cuts in Social Security….We are certainly going to see attacks on environmental protection, on education…. Cut. Cut. Cut…. [They] want to move the country back into the 1920s when essentially we had an economic and political system which was controlled by big money interests; where working people and the middle class had no programs to sustain them when things got bad, when they got old, and when they got sick; when labor unions were very hard to come by because of antiworker legislation…. They do not believe in things like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Federal aid to education.

Rhetoric from the Senate over the current debate on a budget compromise to keep government running beyond August 2? I wish! These words came from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on December 10, 2010, when he led an ultimately unsuccessful filibuster against the last budget and tax deal crafted by President Obama (a nominal Democrat), spineless Democratic compromisers, and Republican pyromaniacs who threatened to shut down government unless they secured an extension of Bush-era tax breaks for the richest 1% of Americans and corporations (but not small businesses).

In his speech Senator Sanders also noted that the 2010 agreement to extend tax breaks was, allegedly, just for two years. He wryly noted, “I suggest you take that with a grain of salt,” and predicted that the push would come to make the cuts “permanent” as soon as the deadline approached. He also predicted that the GOP would cry “raising taxes” and seek to strike fear into the hearts of all Americans, when the taxes in question actually impacted only those making over a million dollars.

Is Sanders a voice crying out in the wilderness, or the only sane man in government? My vote goes for the latter. Those who read Sanders’s filibuster today might well think they’re reading the morning paper as everything he predicted has come to pass. Particularly striking is Sanders’s blistering condemnation (with the facts to back it up) of the trickle-down myth. If you still think that wealthy jetsetters and corporate piggies create jobs, you are seriously deluded. There is no evidence that this happens, and a considerable track record of these folks eliminating American jobs in favor of sending them to places like Vietnam, where they can pay workers 25 cents an hour.

Sanders also said that the only thing to do is for people to reclaim democracy from robber barons and the flunkies (in both parties) who serve them is to put politicians’ feet to the fire and force them to serve their constituents, not lobbyists. Flood their offices with emails, calls, letters… and work like hell to dislodge those who refuse to do the people’s will.

I’d go a step further in the current budget debate. Contact representatives who oppose the GOP plan and send a single message: No Deal! Send the same to the White House. It’s time for Obama to stop playing diplomat and, to use a British phrase, pit a bit of stick about. Let the Republicans shut down government on August 2. It didn’t work out so well when Newt Gingrich pulled that stunt under Clinton, a far savvier president than Obama has been thus far. Let Republicans go home and explain why granny didn’t get her social security check, why Billy can’t get a student loan, why the local veteran’s hospital is closed, why mom didn’t get her unemployment check, and why state services partially funded with federal money aren’t operating. In short, urge Obama to have the courage to let the pain happen so people see the GOP plan stripped of its rhetorical window dressing. If ever there is a case of no pain, no gain, this is it.

Make the call--No Deal! While you’re at it, add a “God bless Bernie Sanders.” I’ve said it before and will say it again: we need a lot more independents like Sanders in government and far fewer Republicrats.