Last Friday, congress approved a flurry of massive bills, thus forwarding the
GOP agenda and apparently turning the tide in Washington firmly in favor of the GOP.
CAFTA passed, as did the Transportation and Energy Bills. All three of these are complete abominations, but they passed with help from a lot of Congressional Democrats.
All of this just makes me want to scream.
All of this just makes me want to scream.
CAFTA will just expand the woes of labor in the US, helping to empty out the manufacturing base and continue the race to the bottom of worker, environmental, and consumer protections.
The transporation bill was a massive pork bucket with billions of dollars in giveaways going all over the country.
The energy bill is the most devistating of the bills. Not only was it rife with pork, it will not help address the real long-term energy issues we face, and worst of all, it Repealed PUCHA. This energy bill destroyed the protections of a trillion dollars of public utilities assets, which will now be at the mercy of Wall Street speculators. Can't you hear them howling at the prospect?
The point of all this is that if the Dems had held together they could have actually made a statement by being a large loud opposition.
15 Dems supported CAFTA we could have stopped it if they'd held firm.
Not a single Democrat tried to stop the Transportation bill, and only 19 dems tried to stop the energy bill that basically amounted to the death of the New Deal.
Sad, sickening, and STUPID!
If the Dems would have held together in opposition, they could have sent a real message to the nation of what the Democratic party stands for and what it can do, what it would do if it were in the Majority again.
Fiscal responsibility is an American Value. Smart government is an American Value. Fair Trade is an American Value.
The Democrats last week missed an opportunity to show that they are the party capable of best representing those American Values. The dividends could have been landslide victories in the '06 congressional races.
Brothers and Sisters of the Democratic Party, please, please, please find a solid message, and fight for it. There are still opportunities coming up. Hint: Ask the pretty boy in the black robes some TOUGH QUESTIONS.