The Republicans lost the 2008 elections
fabulously. The Democrats took the presidency with 10 million votes
and a 2:1 electoral advantage. Democrats also took the House with
nearly 60 per cent of the seats and held the Senate with a
theoretical 60 vote filibuster proof majority after Al Franken's
election was certified.
The GOP was, in fact, as weak as it had
been in decades. This fate was well-deserved. George W. Bush had
doubled the deficit in his eight years as president. He also started
an unjust and unnecessary war in Iraq that will cost the US more than
a $ one trillion in life cycle costs.
Obama ran as a president who wanted
bipartisan support. This was never to be. The GOP stone walled him from
his first day as president. Obama never even got a presidential
honeymoon. The Democratic Senate has now had to face a historic and
record number of filibusters: more than 130 in the last two sessions
of Congress.
No party will hold onto the House and
Senate indefinitely. Rightardia wonders what the GOP will expect when
the shoe in on the other foot. The extreme partisan politics of the
GOP will certainly elicit a similar response from Democrats.
Unfortunately the Democrat party is more like a collation than the
homogeneous GOP. The Democrats have a corporatist conservative wing
called Blue Dogs.
The GOP, on the other hands, has no
formal organization of moderate Republicans. There are probably three
to five Republicans in the Senate that will occasionally vote with
the Democratic majority. There are as few Republicans in the House that
are bipartisan. Was anyone surprised that the health care vote last
night was partisan? Not one Republican supported either HR bill that
passed last night.
What should the Democrats do? It seems
all they can do is pass as many bills as possible using
reconciliation. Drop any illusions about bipartisanship and pass as
many bills as they can prior to the next election. Nancy Pelosi should
continue to use the velvet gauntlet to move the nation forward.
Over time Rightardia hopes we hear less
about health care and more about employment, workers rights,
education and other progressive issues.
Nancy Pelosi was correct about health
care. Many workers have been held hostage by employers because they
would lose health care for their families if they quit their job.
Many workers will now be able to start new careers and small
businesses which will benefit our country.
The immediate features of
the Affordable health care Act of 2009 are common sense: preexisting
conditions are eliminated, lifetime insurance caps are gone and
children will be able to stay on their parent's insurance policies
until age 26.
Obama has shown that he can be a
transformational president and America is now capable of doing big
things again besides starting fruitless wars. The Democrats should
herald their political triumph with a series of public events around
the country. They should also makes efforts to marginalize their GOP
opponents as demagogues, nut jobs and extremists who prefer emotional
arguments to ones that are factual.
The Party of No just got a big
'yes' from the Democrats. The Democrats need to pass more
bills and refocus their energies on the other issues that are facing
the nation. Rightardia is elated the health care debate is just about
over.
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