This diary is an extended comment on "Pragmatism and reality: The debt ceiling and Catfood Commission". The referenced article does a good job of describing the terrible straights in which we find ourselves. Unfortunately, so much like so many of the articles here a Kos, it is long on whining and doomsdaying and short on causation and what to do about the problem. The keyword in the title is the word "Reality". But then the article turns into a whining session quite quickly. The absolute best outcome of the current catfood commission is an automatic reduction in spending. Any resolution out of a committee with Republicans on it will be a disaster for the middle class. Much better to cut all programs equally, even if the current House of Representatives will distort the hell out of the cuts. And this gets us to the real meat of this comment.
We are in the position we find ourselves because we elected a president that ran on bipartisanship. In spite of all the other fine words from Barack Obama, he was focused on healing the divisiveness from day one of his campaign. That has been the downfall of this president and the nation. He has done as much harm to America as George Bush. He has arguably done even more harm. And he has left us with no means of escape.
When we lost the House of Representatives because of unabashed lies from the Republicans concerning PPACA, we lost it all. The refrain from the moonbat choir is the constant repetition of the "its about the economy" meme in discussing the 2010 elections. That election was not about the economy at all. It was about PPACA and the boogerman fear of non representative "big government". The thing is that this election will be about the same thing. And soon the Republicans will pivot in full into being about how government is supposed to enforce moral law and otherwise stay out of the economy.
But instead of rehashing the current "reality", I want to talk about what can be done to change the direction and to recover from the current disaster. Rest assured that the current disaster cannot be avoided. Hoping that cards and letters from the electorate will change the outcome in the current environment is a waste of time and energy. Authoritarians do not heed the wishes of the underlings. It is common practice to do things that the current master(s) KNOW are irrational and stupid just to prove that the master(s) can "get away with it". It is to "rub your nose" in the fact that you can't do anything about it. It is to make you KNOW that your opinion isn't worth spit.
Reality and Pragmatism have another side that is quite different from the observations in the referenced article. And in order to change the future course it is absolutely necessary to divorce the past and the present and to focus on the future. Nothing is going to stop across the board cuts in spending and any adjustments to the tax code are going to amount to yet another tax cut for the rich. Let it go. Let the commission fail and eat the cuts. That allows us to focus on the next election cycle and to truly home in on the real seat of power in this nation. It does not matter if Mitt Romney is president. What matters is that LIBERALS (pragmatic and realistic progressives) control the PURSE in the House of Representatives. The wars will end and the presidential power will ebb along with it. What will matter is the control of the House.
To gain the House, all that is necessary is to actually DO what pragmatism and reality force us to do. There is currently at least ONE initiative that will win the House and perhaps the presidency in 2012. The initiative has NOTHING to do with gay rights or womens rights or any other "rights". It has have nothing to do with unions and workers rights. Those are fine things to support, but they don't win the hearts and minds of the MAJORITY of the electorate in the way that the middle class wallet does. The Republicans have given the Democratic party the key to the city in their attack on Medicare. I see comments here at Kos claiming that Obama has given that away by mentioning a compromise on Medicare. But if we do not know what the compromise is, then how do we judge?. We should be asking our so called representatives why they have not commissioned the non partisan Congressional Research Service to prepare a report on the amount of savings that the typical American can realize on health care costs if we allow "Medicare Buy In", and/or the amount of additional revenue that can be realized in support of traditional Medicare by virtue of that same CHOICE.
The question is not about "big government" or "death panels" or any of the other Republican religious crap. It is about "reality and pragmatism". It is about the congress doing their jobs in being honest with the American people. My own calculations indicate that more middle class prosperity can be gained by not FORCING the American people to fund the private sector "protection racket". It is ultimately about CHOICE and freedom as opposed to being lied to and being forced into the arms of the medical insurance crooks. There is a distinct possibility that my numbers are wrong. But I obviously do not believe that. And that particular discussion is irrelevant anyway. The discussion should be about commissioning reports by the CRS based on the actual costs as seen in the here and now. If the report says that the American people (including the seniors) are better off without the choice of Medicare insurance then so be it. As Joe Friday used to say "Nothing but the facts, ma'am... Nothing but the facts".
The American people have rejected the PPACA because it drives the middle class into the arms of the private rip off artists. The Republicans are all for delivering the seniors up to the same thieves. If my own numbers are even close to right, "Medicare Buy In" resolves BOTH of those issues in a way that rewards the American middle class. So why are the Democrats not pressing for a non-partisan report????? Why are they not trying to get at the truth?? HMMMMMMMM???