In the wake of the chained-CPI fiasco, the gutting of the public option in the ACA (let alone single-payer provisions), the sequester and the Grand Bargain madness, the gradual evisceration of Dodd-Frank, the Keystone XL Pipeline (simply the fact it hasn't already been nixed) and now, the swipe at the LGBT community and the proposed increase in the H1B "cheap exploited labor" visa in the current Senate proposal of the immigration reform bill- it's all adding up to a big political-philosophical jumble of questions about how the Overton Window could have gotten shifted so far to the right, and what to do about it. This is having serious consequences for the very political character and the nature of policymaking in the country right now. Any of these things would have been fought with claws bared by Democrats merely a decade or two ago, heck even most Republicans would have balked at proposing such measures so far to the right of anywhere in the world, not to mention compared to the 20th-century history in our own country! Yet now these right-wing beyond-extremist policies are treated as "elements of sensible compromise" by the media and unfortunately, as a result, also at least considered by some Dems in office as an olive branch to the TGOP, which winds up being rejected anyway.
I want to first stress here that I sympathize with the ugly dilemma that Democratic officeholders are stuck in. Kos raised these issues in a Diary yesterday, and while I disagree with his conclusions, I understand where he was coming from. I also have the utmost respect for President Obama in general, for navigating such a thicket yet still getting so much important legislation passed- the stimulus, the partial repeal of the Bush tax cuts, the good parts of the ACA and Dodd-Frank, bringing most student loans out of the hands of private lenders and of course, his SCOTUS appointments. I can't imagine having to do such a tough job in the face of such rabid, ferocious opposition as Obama's had to deal with, while maintaining such poise and coolness in the face of it.
But with that being said, we're running into a real problem now with the Overton Window pushed so outrageously far to the right, which is the only way that such hideous ideas as the chained-CPI, the Medicare and Social Security gutting in the Grand Bargain, and the LGBT and H1B provisions in the Senate immigration reform bill could have ever been talked up as elements of "compromise". Since the Teapublicans have now gone so far to the Right that even some fascists look moderate, the whole idea of "compromise", "pragmatism", "bipartisanship" or "meeting the opposition halfway" loses all sense and justification. Compromise for the sake of compromising never works, as the United States saw for example with the Missouri Compromise and the other various attempts at finding a "middle ground" on the enslavement of human brings, that did nothing more than postpone the inevitable Civil War in the 1860's. Basic principles of human rights and workers' rights cannot be compromised on the altar of pragmatism or expedience. Too often, even members of our side, abetted by the clueless media, get bamboozled by calls for "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good' or something of the sort. But in cases like this, with such defining principles at stake, it's not a choice of the perfect vs. the good, but progressive legislation and policies vs. watered-down and eventually flat-out regressive alternatives that can get consideration, in any form, only because the shifted Overton Window has blinded our media to the norm in practically every part of the civilized world.
So in other words, it's seeming to me more and more that under the current unfortunate circumstances, compromise and bipartisanship are simply impossible with a GOP that has become so extremist, without doing enormous and potentially lasting damage to our own cause. It's one thing to settle for half-a-loaf on things like the repeal of the Bush tax cuts (as I think was fairly argued for earlier this year) with tangible gain even if the full cuts weren't repealed, quite another to support bills so fundamentally at odds with not only the Democratic Party platform, but the whole principle of a modern society. So the only answer is to do the opposite of self-defeating "compromise" and "bipartisanship" under such circumstances- accept that the political leadership of the country is irrevocably split for the moment, fight like hell for our causes, re-frame the issues and control choice of words, stand firm so the media (if not anything else) moves the Overton Window back toward the left, keep our proposals unabashedly progressive with not an inch given to the conservajerks, and then simply let the GOP progressively implode in subsequent elections as they continue to oppose popular legislation, as on things like jobs bills and single-payer health care.
I bring this up not only from the perspective of policymaking, but also serious concern about our electoral viability. When news of the LGBT and H1B "compromises" in the immigration reform proposal broke earlier this week, a distressingly large number of fellow Dems in my immediate and extended circles, including activists who were very active for us in 2012, were enraged in a way that gave me unpleasant reminders of the mood leading to the 2010 disaster. The partners of LGBT citizens would be rendered ineligible for sponsorship, and the H1B and other non-immigrant visa numbers would not only be thoroughly increased, but also demands for even considering applications by American workers for a wide variety of jobs would be gutted, as would other worker protections for Americans and guest workers both (a direct attack on both American and immigrant workers, with only exploitative employers benefiting). This goes against pretty basic Democratic principles of equal rights under the law and workers' rights. That hasn't gone unnoticed, and I fear this "compromise" is already turning into a budding political disaster for us.
An LGBT friend of mine was in tears when the news was announced, and she and other LGBT volunteers had campaigned heavily for our side in 2012. In fact in my experience, the LGBT community was among the most dedicated, committed and hard-working for Democratic candidates and causes last year. Not only does this "compromise" feel like a slap in the face to them, it may cost us much of the crucial passion, votes, dedication and contributions of this loyal community in 2014. There were more than a few voices on Tuesday expressing their disgust and now inclining to stay home in 2014, just like what happened to us in 2010. The same goes for the unions and workers of all stripes, the very core of our national support. As Meteor Blades has done a great job of documenting, the economy inherited from George W. Bush is still in generally miserable shape (and the sequester may well make it worse), with so many discouraged workers and long-term unemployed dropping off the rolls and not showing up in the U3 numbers, plus the record poverty levels and underemployment. So worker protections in any immigration reform bill, especially in an economy like this, have to be ironclad. Yet this bill would do the opposite. Workers are hopping mad, and the AFL-CIO has pivoted in opposition to the bill, which is hardly the kind of thing we need prior to the steep climb we have ahead of us simply to hold the Senate in 2014.
Plenty of solid Dems that I know, even many solid campaigners in 2012, are already inclining to just sit out 2014, and my own urgent pleas to them to re-consider- You'd be making it worse! Orrin Hatch is the culprit here! The only solution is to elect more Democrats and focus on our agenda!- are falling on deaf and indifferent ears. When people are frustrated or feel betrayed by organizations they've strongly supported and shed their sweat for, on such fundamental matters, such appeals to reason or logic often don't work, as we painfully saw in 2010 and may see again in 2014. This is the real damage from attempting to compromise on such key principles with the extreme Right, and the bitter truth is that it hurts our side far more than it hurts theirs.
As another barometer, NYTimes commenters are probably the most liberal of any major newspaper as can be seen from a click on almost any article, but when the strongly right-leaning revisions to the proposed bill were announced, even they lined up in almost unanimous, and quite vocal opposition to the immigration reform bill currently in the Senate. And the tenor of the top-rated comments is in line with the same objections from Kossacks here- anger about the sell-out of the LGBT community, and the ludicrous increase of the H1B and other guest-worker visas without protections for Americans or guest workers. (I've had friends and neighbors struggling with unemployment, facing foreclosure and insolvency, attempting suicide, tossed out on the streets or living in their cars, stuck without health care and neck-deep in student loans, so I can totally sympathize with the raw survival-level economic angst everyone is expressing there.) I'm not even convinced that the immigration bill does a good job with the core goal that we all support- a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and bringing them out of the shadows. There are so many strings attached to the legalization and naturalization process, with the ridiculous and dangerously open-to-interpretation part about citizenship "only when the border is secured (which for Teapublicans would be "never")" that this bill bill seems to be against the interests even of that core group, and my Latino friends have given at best a lukewarm response to the proposal.
To sum up, the Republicans have been cleaning our clock on the immigration reform bill, much like the budget, the Grand Bargain and other core legislation, enough to pose some real dangers for us as the 2014 elections draw closer. The mirage and utter futility of "bipartisanship" and "compromise" in the face of such right-wing extremism has pushed Democrats in the Senate to propose legislation that would cruelly turn against the dedicated LGBT community, increase the H1B and other such visas while removing critical worker protections for both Americans and immigrants in a weak economy, gut the Diversity Lottery visa (which would disproportionately hurt African immigrants), and even do a poor job in its key element of legalizing and naturalizing undocumented immigrants to the USA- all for the sake of passing a terrible bill that, even it could make it through the Senate, would be dead-on-arrival in the House of Representatives anyway. So the Republicans have fooled Democratic Senators into putting together a hopeless, unacceptable bill for which the main effect on our side is angering and turning off our own core supporters, in a manner similar to support of Chained-CPI and the Keystone Pipeline, ahead of a mid-term election decided above all by turnout, when we're already facing an uphill battle to defend the Senate. The desperate desire for bipartisanship among Democrats in office is already causing grave damage to our side.
What's the solution? Just bite the bullet and realize that we cannot compromise with right-wing extremists like today's Republicans, push our progressive agenda unabashedly, and then steadily wear down the Republicans and their grossly unpopular ideas, election-by-election. On things like immigration reform, Democratic Senators should categorically reject this immigration reform bill and propose an alternative that would respect the human rights of immigrants, workers and the LGBT community alike, rather than giving up the drafting process to corporate shills and lobbyists, and force the Republicans to suffer the consequences for opposing a strong bill that has genuine and deep-rooted support. In the meantime, the alternative is not "do nothing"- Executive Action and perhaps small bills tucked into larger ones like Appropriations, to help speed up naturalization in general and do other things that would help provide an effective path to citizenship for hard-working undocumented immigrants, can help solve some of the most pressing problems. Fight like hell for Democratic nominees. Appoint judges and Supreme Court justices to repeal Citizens United, and push hard for reforms of campaign finances that keep corporations and big money out of campaigns, an idea that's broadly popular with Republican as much as Democrat and Independent voters at the grass roots level. Be as tenacious and ferocious as the Tea Party in standing up for their views in the media, but in our case with popular support on our side. I suspect that among other gains, this alone will help move the Overton Window back to the Left. I don't know why the Overton Window has shifted so far right-ward, and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this, but I suspect it has something to do with corporate control of the overall media, conservative dominance of talk radio and certain other media and maybe above all, aggressiveness in framing the debate, choice of words ("welfare" vs. "safety nets"), just the sheer out of control craziness of the Right and all the media attention it gets, which maybe inevitably pushes the Overton Window to the right. Rather than meekly giving into this and compromising with those who simply can't be compromised with, elected Democrats should instead be pushing back.