The Republican media machine-- supported by the full weight of Fox News, Talk Radio, conservative bloggers, and word of mouth of the 28%ers—tried to take their best swing against Obama, Progressives and Democrats on Wednesday. National turnout, even by the most optimistic projections, was around 250,000. The 0.2% of the people that voted in a national election four months ago have had their say. Now it’s our turn.
The teabagger message was a muddled mess. In Norman, OK, the teabaggers met at the federally-funded Amtrak station. In Chicago, they met in the plaza in front of the Post Office across from the Federal Building—holding signs that said Obama was a Nazi. In Syracuse, the organizer of the tea bag protest was a woman on Social Security disability that didn’t make enough money last year to pay a dime in taxes. In Bloomington, Illinois, they met in the public square and insisted that the protest had nothing to do with Obama or the Democrats per se, but a newfound abhorrence to runaway spending.
Now it’s our turn to send a message.
I have to admit, I have been amused by the protests. Over the past eight years as George W. Bush doubled the deficit, there was no protest by anyone affiliated with the Republican party about runaway spending. From 2001 to 2007, when the Republicans held the White House and Congress, George W. Bush didn’t veto a single congressional bill. When Democrats repeatedly protested tax cuts, deficit spending, the falling dollar, a runaway trade deficit, giveaways to corporate America, an unnecessary war with a $2 trillion price tag, and a Medicare prescription drug bill that cost $1.2 trillion and was a giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry, we were marginalized, ridiculed, and demeaned.
But now that the Bush administration and Republican congressional policies have destroyed our economy, all of a sudden the Republicans are outraged at government spending to try and stop the freefall of the American and World economic systems. If it weren’t so utterly perverse, it would be hilarious.
Eighty-five days ago, Barack Obama took the oath of office and became the 44th President of the United States. Since then he has passed a $737 billion economic stimulus plan (nearly half the cost of the Bush Medicare Prescription Drug Bill, less than the Bush administration’s bailout, and less than half the cost of the Bush administration’s War in Iraq). He has started to restore honesty to the federal budget, which hid the costs of two wars. He has proposed cuts to unneeded Cold War era weapons systems. He has proposed money in the budget to start the process of creating a national health care system. He has targeted funds to modernized the health care records system, increase jobs in environmentally-friendly industries, and targeted money towards education. He has rallied allies to our aid in Afghanistan. While offering loans to save the American automobile industry, he has demanded accountability.
There are some clear signs that his economic policies are bearing fruit. The Dow Jones average rose by about 15% in the month of March. Polling numbers indicate a radical swing in right track/wrong track numbers since he took office. He negotiated an international consensus in strategy at the G-20 meetings in Europe. He has proposed an opening of the trade between the US and Cuba after 50 years. His approval ratings so far with the American people range between the low and high 60s.
O.K., yes, it's hillarious to watch the GOP fail at basic demonstration techniques that the Democrats mastered 40 years ago. But while the Republicans capture headlines with their protests, the vast majority of people that think this new president is doing a very good job are mostly ignored. Following the sham of an Astroturf protest engineered by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Talk Radio, and the Club for Growth, it’s time for Progressives and reasonably-minded people to let their feelings be known. Write your local paper. Call your representatives. Volunteer in your communities. Let people know that you’re seeing signs that things are turning around.