WASHINGTON, DC – In the months since the party’s “shellacking” at the hands of the Tea Party-fueled GOP, a specter has been haunting leading Congressional Democrats – calls for fundamental reform. Bedeviled by high unemployment numbers, a yawning budget deficit, and an intractable war in Afghanistan, the donor community has criticized the party’s performance as running the gamut, in the formulation of one trade association head, “from confiscatory to collectivist.” Of particular concern was the party’s rhetorical commitment to the unemployed, under-water homeowners, and the needless public needling of the financial sector’s bonus culture.
Feedback from the grassroots has been similarly disenchanted, although differing somewhat in both the diagnosis of the country’s ills and the prescriptions for remedying them. Key party officials were skeptical however that the clamored-for Wisconsin-style populism would play, given Republican objections and the steadily improving economic climate. Nevertheless, party leaders maintained that fundamental change was imminent, although it would be hashed out behind closed doors in close coordination with key CEO’s in strategic sectors. The man spearheading this initiative is General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt, a close presidential ally, widely admired for his rent-seeking ability, right-sizing skill, and creative accounting prowess.
The president himself remains determined to further advance this public-private partnership by also forging a new bipartisan working majority. “Let me be clear. We’ve heard our critics and are prepared to work with Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader McConnell to enact the sort of agenda the American people have come to expect from us. That’s why moving forward, to win the future, I can assure the American people of one thing. I pledge to redouble my efforts in stage-managing the transition to unbridled bankster hegemony by adopting a sunnier style and renewed rhetorical aplomb… Yes we will.”
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