Like many of you I am livid at Republican obstructionism. If only we had a Democratic House I think...And then I become pessimistic and resigned, thinking about the fact that we are talking about myriad, disparate races around the country, all very different from one another, ultimately lacking a common ideological ligament.
And, then, I think to myself. What, exactly, is keeping us from dynamically creating that solidarity? I mean, the DNC amply illustrated that we have the perfect spokesman for annunciating the tenets of Democratic economic prosperity - Bill Clinton.
What if.... Clinton was to preside over a confab of economic thinkers in order to devise a progressive platform for addressing chronic unemployment. I believe we could produce an "American Jobs Promise Act", a combination of modest Keynesian stimulus and a middle-class tax holiday that would be unassailable by the Republicans. Would they really go all in opposing a scheme of middle class tax cuts (the magnitudes of said cuts would be up for discussion and would be tailored to maximize tax receipt returns in a two-year window before the next mid-term; even a modest surge in tax receipts would severely undercut the arguments of the anti-Keyesian cliques...)
Now, lets say we get Democratic candidates to pledge to support this Act as their very first official action upon being elected to congress. We have, in effect, created the rationale for voting in a straight Democratic ticket. Moreover, we have the very real and significant advantage of having empirical reality on our side! Hell, even Romney commented he didn't want to cut spending too precipitously during a recession (well at least before his political advisers told him to STFU...). Anybody one doesn't have his head up his ass know that Keynesian measures work; the trick is calibrating things so that the results are readily apparent in the proper time-frame. A combination of relatively modest legislative measures along with a continuation of the Fed's current monetary policies would most likely result in a 'meaty' economic uptick which would insure continued support beyond the mid-term.
Yes, I know. Shit happens and things could go wrong. Europe could fall apart at the seams, Israel could attack Iran. There is always any number of factors which can torpedo a valid course of action But, if we truly believe in the rectitude of our policies and there is the opportunity to be truly 'game-changing',I don't think we should ignore the risk-reward ratio that this tact offers.
I'm already imagining the political hardball on this...:
Clinton: Well, the Republicans are trying to torpedo this even before it gets off the ground...saying, there go the Democrats, piling up the debt and ignoring common sense Americans who know that the answer to Washington's spendthrift ways is to run the federal government the way we run our own families' finances...But LISTEN!
Let's say you're a hardworking American, struggling with all your might to improve the lot of your life, and the life of your family... And, despite your best efforts, all you could find was this minimum-wage job...But, through Providence and perseverence, you have encountered this great opportunity and found a job that pays twice what you're currently earning. The only hitch, and I mean the ONLY hitch, is that this job is across town and there is no way you can get to work via bus. So you need to buy a car in order to get the job done. But you don't have money to pay cash for the car. What do you do? Well, what would 99% of Americans do? ...Do I even need to tell you the obvious!? They'd get the car! They'd go into a little debt and they would get that car! Because they would know, with absolute certainty, that that act of faith would pay for itself over and over, for years and years to come ....What would you call a person who didn't borrow the money to get the car? Be honest now... You know... You would call such a person a FOOL!
And that, my fellow Americans, is exactly what I'm asking you to do - have that small leap of faith that will pay for itself many times over, for years and years...
[Cue bit lip...]