The Tax Trap and Democratic Fecklessness

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) met with President Obama a few weeks ago and according to a report on ABC News reports that he is willing to work with him in the future . . . if he moves to the center or right (http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/09/sen-mcconnell-we-can-do-business-with-obama-if-he-moves-to-center.html). So when the Republicans are in the majority, they ignore and bully Democrats and do what they want. When they are in the minority, they ignore and bully Democrats and don't let them do anything. Many might see this as a troubling trend that undermines democracy, but the strategy appears to be working and might just allow them to regain control of the House and maybe even Senate this November. How does it work? As I wrote yesterday, a lot has to do with the media playing along with their framing acumen and rhetorical devices.

Among those strategies are the following: 1. Manipulate the truth and history to its most convenient rendition then offer quotes to the media who tend to report what you say without any fact checking or context. 2. Spread fear that any change will destroy the country, even as your policies have been leading us along that path for years. 3. Rule as if by fiat, even after one of the closest elections in history, then demand more bipartisanship before rejecting any bill you disagree with. 4. Sound reasonable as you push a corporatist agenda that undermines the interests of the people -- while pretending to represent those very people from the "elites" who have little power. 5. Capitalize on anti-intellectualism by rewritting history, spreading tautologies, and using religion, jingoism and nativism (in addition to racism, sexism and nativism) to rally your base and scare the white middle and working classes.

These strategies have been effective since Reagan, with a few bumps in the road, though the election of Obama seemed to have the potential to create a political realignment in America. It has not come to pass. Why? Well the strategies above have been very effective. And on taxes, an issue at the heart of attempts to reaffirm the role of government in the economy, Republicans have been pulling the same trick for years -- pass tax cuts that are supposed to be temporary (the only way they are a real stimulus to the economy) and then complaining that any attempt to let them expire is a "tax hike." Here is McConnell on the issue, "“This is a debate on tax increases. The current level of taxes has been there almost a decade." He also told us how Obama can regain the ear of Republicans: "We're interested in cutting spending and debt. If he becomes interested in that, I think he'll find us a willing partner. He says he's for trade agreements. We'd like to ratify trade agreements. He says he is for nuclear power. We'd like to do that. He says he is for clean coal technology. We'd like to do that. I mean, there are areas where we'd ought to be able to work together for the good of the country.” So follow Clinton and become a Republican in social Democratic clothing and we'll follow your policies while allowing our attack dogs (Limbaugh, Focus on the Family, Beck, Grant, O'Reilly, Tea Party, etc.) to pound you relentlessly.

Yet it would be unfair to ignore the Democrats complicity in their own failure. Obama ran a brilliant campaign and won a resounding victory. And then he got caught in the bipartisan language games Republicans bamboozled the media with. Obama is pushing policy through without our support, even though we are the minority and will not support anything he does. As Krugman argued on his blog a couple of days ago (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/us/politics/06charity.html?_r=1&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print), "This theory led to a strategy of playing it safe: never put forward proposals that might fail to pass, avoid highlighting the philosophical differences between the parties. There was never an appreciation of the risks of having policies too weak to do the job." The idea of not highlighting the differences between the parties is exactly the problem, and the idea that Obama might be the next "great communicator" has failed to materialize. If Democrats want to maintain power and actually get something done to change the current course of America, they need to provide an alternative narrative to America that transcends the ability of Republicans to dominate the debate and undermine their call for change.
 
P.S. An article in the New York Times today shows the lengths politicans go to raise money, including allowing corporations to donate to their chairites: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/us/politics/06charity.html?_r=1&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print. While this isn't implicitly bad, it is obvious another way that corporations dominate the political landscape today.