The election is over and things did not turn out the way we wanted. As has everyone else, I have been giving a lot of thought to our path ahead. So here is a four point plan that summarizes my thoughts on where progressives go from here to win the war.
- Most important, the truth is on our side. We know the country is headed in the wrong direction and this administration or another republican one is not going to fix it. Bush stubbornly refuses to change course, and in his delusion actually thinks things are going well. Here are some points to keep in mind.
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America has an annual structural budget deficit of around $ 500 billion and coupled with the trade deficit ranging in the dire range of $60 billion a month, it is a recipe for a severe economic correction. The coming economic hurricane will make the stock market bubble of 2001 seem like a mild summer shower. If foreign investors decide that America is a bad investment, they will quit buying treasury bills. This will cause a rapid drop in the dollar and a rise in interest rates. (There are already signs that confidence is waining with Bush's re-election as the dollar has hit a historic low against the Euro). Higher interests rates will cause the overheated construction and real estate industries to dry up. Since these have been propping up the economy for months, a deep recession will follow, pushed forward by high energy prices and uncertainty caused by the mismanagement of Iraq and the war on terror. If this gets coupled with a terrorist attack, we may be looking at a depression.
Bush has no real plan to deal with Social Security, Medicare and the coming budget crisis. We are ladened with debt now and more will be pilled on. A quick look at the state of the budget makes it clear that when the baby boomers start to retire, just five years away now, all those IOUs accrued over the last eight years are going to come due and there will be no money to pay for it.
Bush has no real plan for the health crisis. Any fool can see that the idea of medical savings accounts is not going to help those without a job and addresses few of the problems people now face. Tort reform will only decrease medical expenses by 5% at best, with most studies showing no effect. We can expect more people to lose their health care and increasing health care premiums for those lucky enough to keep their insurance.
Bush has no clear plan in Iraq. This is truly a no win situation. At best we get out with a democratically elected government in Iraq that hates our guts. At worst the country decays into civil war and even if we stay, we will have no way of controlling the situation. In all the ranges of cases Iraq will become an ever increasing base of terrorism that, I am saddened to say, will likely result in a second terrorist attack on U.S. Soil.
Many important foreign policy problems are going unnoticed including Iran, North Korea and Russia. I would not be surprised to see military action against Iran to eliminate their nuclear capability. I have no idea what is going to happen with North Korea. And yes the Russians. The recent concentration of power by Putin in Russia is concerning and they may become a threat ten years down the road. Add to this the problem of loose nuclear weapons in Russia, a program that the Bush administration wants to cut, and there are alarming problems to deal with. Our allies are going to be no help with any of this. I am sure they will declare a diplomatic war on the U.S. because it serves their interest now to limit our power.
The ongoing scandals of the Bush administration will surely come to fruition in the second term. What effect this will have is probably limited due to the dominance of the republicans in congress and the weakness of the 4th estate. But, you never know.
All of these problems have to catch up with the government at some point. A perfect storm may be brewing where the economic, health, and foreign policy problems converge causing a multi-tiered crisis. All of the above are a matter of when, not if. Clearly, we have the truth on our side.
Give them enough rope to hang themselves with. Democrats in congress should not support bills, but they should not use parliamentary tricks to scuttle them. It would, in my opinion, be counter-productive to filibuster everything, since this would give the Republicans a scapegoat for when things go south. I would save the filibuster for the horrid judges Bush is surely going to try to appoint to the supreme court. As bills are proposed and passed the Democrats have to clearly and truthfully lay out the problems with the bills and their consequences. We have to speak with one voice and avoid hyperbole, sticking to the facts . Democrats should also aggressively propose bills to real solutions. Take the many good ideas in the Kerry campaign and make them into bills. Push them, talk about them. Sure they won't get passed, but it gives an alternative view.
We need to keep organized for when the pain sets in. In one short year, progressives have built an amazing machine. This level of organization took decades for the conservatives to put together. As is evidenced by the smack-down of Sinclair, we are rapidly gaining in power and soon will be able to counter the Republican noise machine. This work has to continue and it is encouraging to see that most have not given up, but plan to continue the fight. We are making great progress and this has to continue. By the next election cycle we will be a force to be reckoned with. I add my voice to the many that want Howard Dean as party chair. He will do a great job leading the troops.
Create the progressive noise machine. One of the most important parts on being organized is to continue building our media outlets. Air America is a great start. Clearly there is a market for these types of outlets. We also need to bring in The Nation and Mother Jones Diary and other progressive magazines. We need to also keep the pressure on the news organizations, make them as afraid of us as they are of the right-wing press. When our warnings, described above, come true, we need to howl from the roof tops, I told you so!, using our shinny new noise machine. The silver lining in this election is that it's all in the Republicans hands and they cannot blame the coming disaster on the Democrats. Republicans own this mess and we have to keep the stains on them.
Reframe the debate. Finally, lets take a page from Newt Gingrich's playbook and start portraying the Republicans using the power of the English language. We should be much better at this than we are, in fact we should be better than the Republicans. C'mon all you liberal, elitist English and creative writing majors. What are words we can use to describe the Republicans? Here are some ideas to start with.
- Mean-spirited
- Selfish
- Immoral
- Unamerican
- Empire
- Imperialistic
- Cold-hearted
- Chicken Hawk
- Radical
- Servants of the rich
- Pharisees
- and most importantly, LIARS
It is time to start calling a lie a lie and quit beating around the bush. When a republican lies, call them on it as they are doing it. Don't wait your turn. Challenge them to prove what they say, give facts that support your side.
Finally, we need to take religion back from the Republicans. We need to constantly point out that they talk the talk, but do not walk the walk. Hammer this over and over. Every time their legislation hurts the public or benefits a corporate crony. Every time one of them is caught in an immoral act. Every time they lie. Pound, pound, pound. The sheer repetition will finally start to break them down.
Anytime a bill or person from the Republican party is talked about, these words and ideas have to be used to describe it or them, if at all possible.
If we follow this type of plan, we will wear them down. They are due for a fall because of their misguided policies and their arrogance. We have to be ready to push them over the cliff when they get close.
Let me know what you think.