LETTER FROM WASHINGTON
To Democrats Abroad
28 January 2015
Tom Fina
Executive Director Emeritus
Obama
used his State of the Union address to declare that the United States
had turned a page from economic crisis and massive military engagement
abroad that would now allow pursuit of the public policy goals that had
motivated his first seeking the presidency.
These were achievements that Democrats had been afraid to claim and Republicans had been unwilling to admit.
Those
goals centered on remedies for the growing abyss between the rewards
for those living by their labor and those living by their capital. His
agenda to close that gap is as exhaustive as the complex society in
which we live. Central is the call for a reordering of our tax structure
to increase the share paid by the wealthy and to decrease the share
paid by the middle class. That would make possible greater social
services for the working class - paid sick and parental leave, child
care, free community college and continued subsidization of college
tuition to increase real income for the majority of Americans who have
seen it stagnate for the past 15 years.
Beyond
that, he reaffirmed his commitment to act to slow climate change, to
protect Obamacare, Wall Street regulation and his actions to regularize
the presence of millions of illegal immigrants under constant attack by
Republicans. He defended his steps to reestablish normal relations with
Cuba and warned Congress not to sabotage his negotiations with Iran. And
he repeated his call for massive investment in infrastructure,
expanding broadband availability and retaining net neutrality.
Faced
with the new Republican majority pledge to roll back his immigration
actions, to chop out parts of Obamacare, to impose new sanctions on
Iran, to force approval of the XL pipeline, to water down financial
regulation and to make access to abortion more difficult, Obama
responded to each with a promise of a veto (nine in all) if it reached
his desk.
The
Republican reaction was a predictable: dead on arrival. But, while
they are united in opposition to Obama and his goals, they are deeply
divided amongst themselves and further pulled apart by the struggle of
their presidential candidates. Those centrifugal forces reduce their
ability to govern rather than obstruct.
The
near universal Democratic reaction has been to repent their flight
from his policies in the mid-term elections, to close ranks in his
support and to see his platform as the framework for the 2016 Democratic
campaign.
The
press recognized Obama’s defiant assertion of a liberal national agenda
and the feisty confidence with which he laid it out before a hostile
Republican majority. The Commentariat agreed that Republicans would have
none of it. What was he thinking?
My
take is that Obama knew all of that. But, he had multiple aims. First,
he expects that by getting his advocacy of these issues before the
public across the nation, he will get some bipartisan legislation from
Congress and help to move action at the state level - as has been the
case for raising the minimum wage in 5 states and expanding Medicaid in
29 states. Second, he is rallying national support for the executive
actions that he will take during the remainder of his term on climate,
family leave, wilderness protection, healthcare, financial regulation,
trade unions, closing Guantanamo, rolling back ISIL, improving police
relations with minorities, gun control, pre-K education, equal pay for
women. Third, he hopes to shape the agenda for the 2016 elections,
drawing a clear contrast between the Democratic view of a strong federal
government as the servant of the people and the Republican view of it
as the enemy of the people.
Unlike
previous SOTU addresses which were closely held until delivered, Obama
embarked on a 3 state 3 speech tour to spell out his agenda in advance.
Since TV viewership has been in steady decline as the public has turned
to the social media, he followed up with a remarkable set of YouTube
interviews (January 22). His TV audience was the lowest in 15 years (32
million) but his message reached almost 10 million more through YouTube,
Facebook, Twitter et al.
Like
Teddy Roosevelt and his Bully Pulpit and Franklin Roosevelt and his
Fireside Chats, Obama is trying to generate public support for major
public policies. TR was indefatigable in crisscrossing the nation by
rail and lecturing every knot of the curious who came to listen. When he
ran for election on the Progressive Party in 1912, its platform
foreshadowed our issues a century later. It called for limits and
disclosure of campaign contributions, registration of lobbyists, a
national Health Service, social insurance for the elderly, the
unemployed and disabled, a minimum wage for women, workers’ compensation
for work injuries, an inheritance tax, a Federal income tax, women’s
suffrage. He campaigned to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor,
for government for the middle and working class, for a “living wage” as
well as direct election of senators and for a federal securities
commission. Moreover, for TR there was “...no greater issue than that
of conservation....” While his advocacy of a progressive income tax,
popular election of senators and women’s suffrage were all blocked
during his presidency, they did became the 16th, 17th and 19th
Amendments to the Constitution.
This
is a reminder that new public policies in our democracy may require
years of public debate but when they resonate with the electorate (e.g.
gay marriage), they can become law. It is also a reminder that the great
debate today about the gap between stalled middle class income and the
exploding wealth of the rich has long been a central political issue
with the remedies for the inequity little changed over the past century.
Obama
joins the great American liberal reformers calling the nation to fight
for the more humane, just and equitable society that is within our
grasp. The rise in his job approval ratings from 38% in September to
50% in late January suggests that his agenda does resonate with American
voters.
My December Prediction:
Republicans will claim credit for Obama’s return to prosperity if they don’t kill it with more austerity.
McConnell, January 7, 2015:
“..we’re
finally seeing some economic data that can provide a glimmer of hope.
The uptick appears to coincide with the biggest political change of the
Obama administration’s long tenure in Washington: the expectation of a
new Republican Congress.”
Comments: demsabrd@gmail.com
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