The time has come. Democrats are constantly on the defense and can't seem to find a way to regain the upper-hand, politically. Well, I've been thinking about it a lot lately and I think I have the solution. It's simple, elegant, and has the benefit of throwing everything into terms of stark reality (which does benefit democratic principles).
As a party, we need to take action. By "taking action", I don't just mean that we need to parade in the streets, complain more vociferously about Republicans, or put more scathing bumper stickers on our cars. What we need to do is to actually start fixing the things we've been complaining about - ourselves.
It is clear that as long as Republicans hold power, they will be more than content to pay lip service to specious "fixes" for the things that they postulate are wrong in this country without ever doing anything to actually make progress towards real solutions to the actual problems that plague us. Why? I'm sick of wondering why... we all have our theories about that. In the end, it doesn't matter, and name-calling and stone-casting solves nothing. We democrats have been bitching for years now about our crumbling American infrastructure and the shrinking middle-class and all the complaining in the world has accomplished nothing in this robber-baron military-corporate political climate.
Now is the time - the democratic party needs to set up a huge non-profit organization dedicated to fixing, say, five major American problems: I'd suggest starting with (1) providing universal healthcare and prescription drugs for all Americans; (2) rebuilding the New Orleans Levees to the specifications that would actually prevent a recurrence of the flooding (and repairing the Everglades to discourage future hurricanes), (3) fully funding the best public educational system on the planet from pre-school all the way through college, with a special emphasis on science and technology education (4) ensuring that every working American has a retirement check they can actually count on, and (5) rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, including border and food security and roads and alternative transportation systems, while fully funding major research into alternative energy sources, and helping support small businesses that are dedicated to building those new energy sources into major industries (companies that make electric cars come to mind).
Here's the thing - this stuff costs money. Lots of money. That money should be coming from our tax coffers, but the current administration would rather spend tax money on wars that endlessly line the pockets of their corporate sponsors, and offer corporate welfare for the remaining uber-wealthy American aristocrats whose holdings may not put them in line for contractor giveaways.
Hence, the Democratic party and everyone who believes in genuine democratic principles is going to have to perform an act of generosity unparalleled in U.S. history. We are going to have to pay for this stuff ourselves, without their help - like the Marshall Plan, only for the United States, courtesy of Democrats. We are going to have to put our money where our mouths have been, dig deep into our ever-shrinking wallets, and lift the entire country out of misery on our own backs (to the extent possible). If Republicans won't do it - we must. Otherwise, it's clear that it simply isn't going to be done. Our other option is no option at all - to go down with the ship, and allow our entire democracy to do likewise. No. Now is the time to take action. We basically need to raise our own taxes by an amount equal to what will be required to fix the country's major problems.
Is it fair? Not really. Republicans should be doing their part, rather than fighting for social darwinism and glorifying personal greed and xeonphobia at every turn. But fair no longer comes into it. It's sink or swim time. Time for the Democratic half of America to pull everyone out of our Republican-induced morass. We must invest in America - for everyone's sake. If that means repealing Republican tax cuts in our own homes and sending the money we should have paid towards taxes all this time to fix the problems America now faces, so be it.
So we set up a completely transparent non-profit organization (all financials will be open and free to the public, so we know exactly where all the money is going), figure out how much it will cost to do each of the five things listed above (adjusted for likely inflation), divide that by the number of democrats, and announce to every democrat in the nation that it is time to quit talking and arguing and fighting with the Republicans - it's time to get to work and do this ourselves. We will send in our monthly checks, and fix the problems that make life difficult for every American.
Not one penny of the non-profit money will be spent on democratic campaigning. In fact, I would strongly recommend democratic candidates give their campaign money to the "Rebuilding the U.S." cause. In the end, people are sick of listening to candidates argue with each other and name-call when what we need is action.
If the democratic party, backed up by every Democrat in the country, were to stop arguing with Republicans and take real action to fix the problems we all face, it would throw the emptiness of Republican posturing into stark relief. When we are clearly rebuilding everyone's schools and roads, providing for workers in their old age, saving New Orleans, providing actual security infrastructure for U.S. borders and food supplies (without spying on Americans to do so), and providing healthcare for Americans so they don't have to go bankrupt trying to stay alive and support their families - suddenly, Republican lip service would be exposed for what it really is... nothing but excuses. Every petty, untrue attack ad, push poll, and bottom-feeding appeal to bigotry would highlight their moral bankruptcy, as it should have all along. The unfairness of their policies that send our kids to war so they can suck money from the fearful middle class and give it away to their corrupt, rich cronies - will be readily apparent. People will start to ask real questions about where their tax money is really going.
In the end, it's no fun to pay for this stuff when the government should (and could easily afford to) do so if it weren't so corrupt, just using what it already has of our hard-earned tax money. However, these are tough times and such a monumental act of generosity is necessary to save America for future generations. Asking our children and their children to pay for the things the Republicans have let slide in the last six years is the most egregious form of taxation without representation. Not just irresponsible, but unAmerican in the most basic sense of the word.
This country is like a beautiful garden and the current administration has allowed it to be overrun with the weeds of corruption and greed. We cannot afford to let this continue - those weeds are on the brink of choking our flowers and vegetables to death. We must do the gardening ourselves.
And let's talk about greed. Greed is the greatest evil. I can't think of a single human-instigated misery in the world that wasn't caused by greed in one sense or another. It is a driving force, but incredibly destructive when applied without conscience or unfettered by a commensurate sense of responsibility. Our country is being run by right-wing authoritarians (see Altemeyer's work for the full flavor of my meaning). The Republican-authoritarian deity is personal greed, and their weapons are lies, xenophobia, and (ofen religious) bigotry. Is anarchy at the altar of the free market really what we want for our families, our communities, or our nation? If not, then we must stand up against greed and for responsibility, by taking responsibility.
The only thing that can effectively fight unconstrained greed from an ethical standpoint - and the only thing that will save our country from spiraling into ruin - is generosity. The personal generosity of the people who still care. The millions and millions of Americans who want to live in a country that is safe, has a strong middle class, provides them and their children with opportunities to succeed, and holds high ethical standards admired throughout the world. If we want a country that really believes in democracy, human rights, community, familly, opportunity, and fairness - a country with an infrastructure that provides the basic things necessary to support that future - we must do our part. We must pay taxes and demand transparency and accountability from those who spend our money. This administration has never offered accountability or transparency, but we can.
I would never suggest not paying taxes to the Republican government... that is a dangerous path to take and can cause far more trouble than it solves (although the appeal of the idea of not giving your money to such flagrantly lawbreaking brigands is undeniable). No - we must pay our taxes to them to the minimum required degree, then pay even more to actually fix the things they have so enthusiastically abandoned in their quest for world supremacy for the Republican-Corporate American Aristocracy.
Of course, we must also get rid of every single incumbent democrat who is beholden to the same forces that have corrupted the Republican party - every democrat who voted in favor of the Patriot Act without reading it... every democrat who gave Bush permission to start a war without insisting on verifiable proof of his ridiculous claims (hell, I knew he was full of shit back then - how is it that they imagined otherwise?)... every democrat who cares more about their personal glory than about protecting the future of our democracy. We must replace them with people who genuinely care about humanity and about America, and are more interested in public service than in lining their own and their friends' pockets.
Then, when the new democrats step back into power, we can all heave a sigh of relief, stop double-taxing ourselves, and start using our regular tax money for what it was meant to do - uphold our communities and support our security and prosperity as a nation. And we can hold those in power to high moral standards - whether they are Republicans or Democrats - and get rid of any office-holder who is incompetent, supports an opaque government, takes bribes, flagrantly lies or stonewalls about matters of grave importance to our nation, or denies any person whatsoever (not just any American) their human rights.
In the end, anyone who really, truly believes in the ideals of democracy believes that those ideas will win out in the end based on their own merit. We don't have to force democracy down anyone's throat... democracy's power is in its' power to persuade. It's like the old saying "the best revenge is living happily ever after". Well - the best way to spread democracy is to make life so wonderful for the people in democratic countries that other states would be crazy to want anything else. We are currently failing that ideal. America should be an inspiration, not a terror. Anyone who thinks democracy should be imposed at gunpoint doesn't understand the first thing about what government by the people means, and doesn't believe in the power of the democratic ideal to persuade on its own terms.
If we want to bring our country back from the brink of authoritarian corruption and disaster, it is time to take action. For ourselves, and even for them. It is time to sieze control of our fate and make a real difference. Either that, or it is time for all liberals to gravitate towards the blue states and prepare for the worst.