President Obama Yesterday:
There are too many people who happily embrace Madiba’s legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality.
President Obama later yesterday:
Today’s bipartisan budget agreement [without extension of unemployment insurance] is a good first step. . . In the immediate term, Congress should extend unemployment insurance, so more than a million Americans looking for work don’t lose a vital economic lifeline right after Christmas, and our economy doesn’t take a hit.
The key word is "should." Of course they
should, but without some pressure, they
won't.
I am a big "perfect is the enemy of the good" person. I have defended prior compromises by the President because of the limited options due to the intransigence of the Tea Party et al.
But before the Dems agree to a deal that sells out 2 million uninsured, they should evaluate the possible outcomes:
1. Dems insist on extended UI, and the rest of the deal.
2. Republicans go nuts. Threaten to shut down the government.
3. Dems make this a campaign issue. Do everything possible to inform people that the Republicans want to punish people who are unemployed. Tell them the Republicans are asking for cuts in social security in exchange for extended UI. Tell them Dems will never agree to social security cuts.
4. If necessary, let the shutdown occur in Jan. The Republicans are now the shutdown party and it's likely they will be blamed. (No amount of Sunday talk blather will change that.)
At least play this out until the deadline.
Be FDR Democrats.