Apparently, OFA thinks I'm a valuable volunteer and community leader. I used to be and in a previous diary I told OFA they couldn't count on me and that I would not be volunteering for the next presidential campaign.
I guess they don't take no for an answer. So I am listening to Jim Messina, campaign manager and soon President Obama is supposed to be on this call. I am not sure if they are taking questions or not. They have not said is this was a dialogue or monologue. They want us to know how much they value us. As much as Rahm?
There are tens of thousands of people on this call. The President is now speaking and asking that we push the jobs bill. This reminds me of the time they called on us to pass the health care bill. I stood outside supermarkets several Saturdays and had a lot of unhappy Democrats tell me they wouldn't sign the petition with out a single payer option. Many were disgusted that Democrats didn't fight for universal health care.
President Obama is talking about shared sacrifice and how we all have to give. Really, the middle class and poor haven't given enough already? What is it they have left to give? What have the wealthy and corporations given so far? This depression is about a lack of demand so how is taking more from the real spenders, the real job creators - consumers, going to get us out of this mess?
So here we have a mini stimulus bill that has a few good things and a lot of republican policies that are not so good. They want the grass roots to push for this. The President is taking questions but I wasn't given an option of asking one. That's probably a good thing. He took 3 questions. Basically, the answers were we will put people to work and invest in education, infrastructure, etc.
The President finished trying to fire us up. The news is discouraging but he is confident that we can get this done. But it will take a long time, more than one term. He wants us to shake off our summer doldrums. Thanks and good bye.
I dunno, this just doesn't do it for me. I supposed I should feel grateful for some kind of second stimulus jobs bill. But as most respected economists have said, it's not going to be big enough. I support the infrastructure projects in this bill and I wish it went further. I am worried about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I don't think it is fair or productive to give incentives to companies to take on interns without paying them. The money should go to workers.
We need financial and tax reforms. We need to refinance mortgages for those threatened with foreclosure and clean up the whole paper trail mess. These things and many more will get us out of this recession/depression and on a secure footing to end the boom/bust cycle.
As I have said before, I really like Mr. Obama and his family. I think he and his family have done a lot to restore class and respect to the Whitehouse for this country internationally. I think he's very intelligent. But I am so disappointed in the continual movement to the right and to constant concessions and lousy negotiations. We needed bold action in the first two years and could have accomplished a lot more when we had the majorities in both houses.
I am a progressive and a Democrat and I will vote for Obama. I just won't give away my time and energy for nothing. I am all for fairness and sacrifice. It's time for corporations and the wealthy to be fair and to contribute.