How Obama Could Kill the Democratic Party

Obama is not going to change his spots. Or maybe I should say that Obama is
a Horse of a different Color. And that horse, the Democratic Party, is a
dead horse. Why do we keep playing, Let's Pretend? The Working Class has
no Dog in this Political fight. The Democratic Party kicked the Working
Class to the curb when they caved in and began sucking at the Corporate
Teats. How many times must we repeat, Man Cannot Serve Two Masters!!!
And neither can the so called Democratic Party. A political party will
either serve a certain group of people, or it will oppose them. It cannot
represent them and serve their opponents. How silly is that?
"Here, let me help you find a decent paying job. But it will have to be in
a non-union shop in a Right to Work State".
Ho Hum.

Carl Jarvis
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@optonline.net>
To: "'Blind Democracy Discussion List'" <blind-democracy@octothorp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 7:15 PM
Subject: How Obama Could Kill the Democratic Party


How Obama Could Kill the Democratic Party
Wednesday, 19 February 2014 15:10 By The Daily Take, The Thom Hartmann
Program | Op-Ed
If President Obama doesn't watch out, he could shoot Santa Claus. And if he
does go ahead and shoot Santa Claus, that will mean the end of the
Democratic Party.
In the coming weeks, the president is expected to announce his new budget
plan for fiscal year 2015. And while more than a year into his second term
in office, when he should have the Democratic Party behind him, many
progressives are worried.
That's because the last time President Obama put forward a budget proposal,
it included a plan to use the so-called "Chained CPI" to calculate Social
Security cost of living increase that account for inflation.
According to budget hawks, Chained CPI more accurately takes how seniors in
response to inflation, and therefore saves the government money. If the
price of hamburger goes up, and seniors start eating chicken, then the
government stops measuring the price of hamburger and instead starts
measuring the price of chicken, thus avoiding having to help seniors keep up
with inflation. In reality, this a sneaky way to cut Social Security
benefits over time.
When President Obama first proposed using Chained CPI last April,
progressives were outraged, and rightly so. The idea that a Democratic
president - a president from the party of Roosevelt, who invented Social
Security - could become the first chief executive ever to cut Social
Security is unacceptable.
That's why this time progressives aren't messing around. Last Friday, a
group of 16 senators led by Bernie Sanders of Vermont wrote a letter to
President Obama urging him not to propose cuts to Social Security or any
other social safety net programs in his fiscal year 2015 budget.
Let's hope President Obama listens to those 16 senators. Because if he
doesn't, and goes ahead and cuts Social Security, that would kill the
Democratic Party.
Let me explain.
At its core, the Democratic Party has always been party of "Santa Claus." It
has been the party that gives you stuff, namely Medicare, Medicaid, Social
Security, the 40 hour work week, the right to unionize, free public schools,
Head Start, food stamps, school lunch - the list goes on.
Acting like Santa Claus is, of course, the right thing to do for the general
welfare of "We the People," and fulfilling the general welfare is a
requirement of government, at least according to the Constitution.
But acting like Santa Claus isn't just the right thing to do, it's also how
politics are supposed to work in a democratic republic. Giving people what
they want and need made the Democratic Party successful in election after
election in the twentieth century. It won Roosevelt four terms in office, it
won Lyndon Johnson his massive victory in the 1964 presidential race, and it
kept Republicans out of power in the House of Representatives from 1955
until 1995.
As long as the Democratic Party acts like Santa Claus it will win elections
because Republicans, who at their core oppose the social safety net, will
look like Scrooge in comparison. That's just a fact.
Republicans know this. That's why they came up with a Santa Claus strategy
of their own. First outlined in a 1976 article by conservative strategist
Jude Wanniski, the Republican Santa Claus strategy is simple: instead of
giving people the "gift" of healthcare or the "gift" of retirement savings,
Republicans should give them the "gift" of tax cuts.
If the Republican Party could successfully become the "Santa Claus of Tax
Reduction," Wanniski argued, it could shrug off the Scrooge reputation that
had haunted it since the Roosevelt days and start winning elections again.
Today, it's obvious that Republicans have read their Wanniski. Since he
wrote his influential article, Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and
George W. Bush have signed massive tax cuts and, except for a brief period
between 2007 and 2011, the GOP has retaken control of the House of
Representatives.
In other words, the Republican Santa Claus strategy has worked. And it's
worked in two ways. One, as I just mentioned, is to be the tax cut Santa
Claus.
The other is by starving the government of revenues. Look at history and
you'll see this: when the Republicans are in power they run up huge national
debts and people like Dick Cheney say things like, "Reagan taught us
deficits don't matter." The day a Democrat becomes president, suddenly the
Republicans all start screaming about the national debt and pushing the
Democrats to shoot their benefits-based Santa Claus.
That's why Republicans have been whining about the debt and the deficit
since day one of the Obama presidency. Reagan almost tripled the national
debt, with nary a peep from Republicans. Clinton came into office, and
Republicans started screaming about the national debt, forcing Clinton to
"end welfare as we know it," something that is hurting a lot of families
during this recession. Similarly, George W. Bush rang up the bill with his
massive tax cuts and two wars, and now Republicans are yelling that
Democratic President Obama should privatize Medicare and cut Social Security
with a Chained CPI.
And in the bizzaro world of today's politics, it looks like Republicans
might have succeeded in convincing the President that he should shoot the
Democrats' best-ever-in-history Santa Claus program, Social Security.
Make no mistake about it. President Obama's decision to include Chained CPI
in his budget plan last year wasn't a fluke. He'd just won a huge election
victory, and there was no need to cut Social Security. But he still talked
about the "Chained CPI."
That's why progressives have every right to worry that he might do the same
thing this year and call for Chained CPI in his 2015 budget.
And if the president does go ahead and do that it, it would be game over for
the Democratic Party. If he cuts Social Security or even just calls for a
cut in Social Security, Democrats, not Republicans will become the party of
Scrooge. And no one, let me repeat, no one wants to vote for Scrooge.
Democrats have won election after election with their Santa Claus strategy,
and in the process, have made America a much better country.
Let's hope that President Obama recognizes this and takes his hand off the
trigger.
This article was first published on Truthout and any reprint or reproduction
on any other website must acknowledge Truthout as the original site of
publication.

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How Obama Could Kill the Democratic Party
Wednesday, 19 February 2014 15:10 By The Daily Take, The Thom Hartmann
Program | Op-Ed
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If President Obama doesn't watch out, he could shoot Santa Claus. And if he
does go ahead and shoot Santa Claus, that will mean the end of the
Democratic Party.
In the coming weeks, the president is expected to announce his new budget
plan for fiscal year 2015. And while more than a year into his second term
in office, when he should have the Democratic Party behind him, many
progressives are worried.
That's because the last time President Obama put forward a budget proposal,
it included a plan to use the so-called "Chained CPI" to calculate Social
Security cost of living increase that account for inflation.
According to budget hawks, Chained CPI more accurately takes how seniors in
response to inflation, and therefore saves the government money. If the
price of hamburger goes up, and seniors start eating chicken, then the
government stops measuring the price of hamburger and instead starts
measuring the price of chicken, thus avoiding having to help seniors keep up
with inflation. In reality, this a sneaky way to cut Social Security
benefits over time.
When President Obama first proposed using Chained CPI last April,
progressives were outraged, and rightly so. The idea that a Democratic
president - a president from the party of Roosevelt, who invented Social
Security - could become the first chief executive ever to cut Social
Security is unacceptable.
That's why this time progressives aren't messing around. Last Friday, a
group of 16 senators led by Bernie Sanders of Vermont wrote a letter to
President Obama urging him not to propose cuts to Social Security or any
other social safety net programs in his fiscal year 2015 budget.
Let's hope President Obama listens to those 16 senators. Because if he
doesn't, and goes ahead and cuts Social Security, that would kill the
Democratic Party.
Let me explain.
At its core, the Democratic Party has always been party of "Santa Claus." It
has been the party that gives you stuff, namely Medicare, Medicaid, Social
Security, the 40 hour work week, the right to unionize, free public schools,
Head Start, food stamps, school lunch - the list goes on.
Acting like Santa Claus is, of course, the right thing to do for the general
welfare of "We the People," and fulfilling the general welfare is a
requirement of government, at least according to the Constitution.
But acting like Santa Claus isn't just the right thing to do, it's also how
politics are supposed to work in a democratic republic. Giving people what
they want and need made the Democratic Party successful in election after
election in the twentieth century. It won Roosevelt four terms in office, it
won Lyndon Johnson his massive victory in the 1964 presidential race, and it
kept Republicans out of power in the House of Representatives from 1955
until 1995.
As long as the Democratic Party acts like Santa Claus it will win elections
because Republicans, who at their core oppose the social safety net, will
look like Scrooge in comparison. That's just a fact.
Republicans know this. That's why they came up with a Santa Claus strategy
of their own. First outlined in a 1976 article by conservative strategist
Jude Wanniski, the Republican Santa Claus strategy is simple: instead of
giving people the "gift" of healthcare or the "gift" of retirement savings,
Republicans should give them the "gift" of tax cuts.
If the Republican Party could successfully become the "Santa Claus of Tax
Reduction," Wanniski argued, it could shrug off the Scrooge reputation that
had haunted it since the Roosevelt days and start winning elections again.
Today, it's obvious that Republicans have read their Wanniski. Since he
wrote his influential article, Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and
George W. Bush have signed massive tax cuts and, except for a brief period
between 2007 and 2011, the GOP has retaken control of the House of
Representatives.
In other words, the Republican Santa Claus strategy has worked. And it's
worked in two ways. One, as I just mentioned, is to be the tax cut Santa
Claus.
The other is by starving the government of revenues. Look at history and
you'll see this: when the Republicans are in power they run up huge national
debts and people like Dick Cheney say things like, "Reagan taught us
deficits don't matter." The day a Democrat becomes president, suddenly the
Republicans all start screaming about the national debt and pushing the
Democrats to shoot their benefits-based Santa Claus.
That's why Republicans have been whining about the debt and the deficit
since day one of the Obama presidency. Reagan almost tripled the national
debt, with nary a peep from Republicans. Clinton came into office, and
Republicans started screaming about the national debt, forcing Clinton to
"end welfare as we know it," something that is hurting a lot of families
during this recession. Similarly, George W. Bush rang up the bill with his
massive tax cuts and two wars, and now Republicans are yelling that
Democratic President Obama should privatize Medicare and cut Social Security
with a Chained CPI.
And in the bizzaro world of today's politics, it looks like Republicans
might have succeeded in convincing the President that he should shoot the
Democrats' best-ever-in-history Santa Claus program, Social Security.
Make no mistake about it. President Obama's decision to include Chained CPI
in his budget plan last year wasn't a fluke. He'd just won a huge election
victory, and there was no need to cut Social Security. But he still talked
about the "Chained CPI."
That's why progressives have every right to worry that he might do the same
thing this year and call for Chained CPI in his 2015 budget.
And if the president does go ahead and do that it, it would be game over for
the Democratic Party. If he cuts Social Security or even just calls for a
cut in Social Security, Democrats, not Republicans will become the party of
Scrooge. And no one, let me repeat, no one wants to vote for Scrooge.
Democrats have won election after election with their Santa Claus strategy,
and in the process, have made America a much better country.
Let's hope that President Obama recognizes this and takes his hand off the
trigger.
This article was first published on Truthout and any reprint or reproduction
on any other website must acknowledge Truthout as the original site of
publication.
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Related Stories
Time to End the Cheney/Halliburton Loophole
By The Daily Take, The Thom Hartmann Program | Op-EdAre We Going to Be the
Flintstones or the Jetsons?
By The Daily Take, The Thom Hartmann Program | Op-EdThe New Fascism: Terms
and Conditions
By The Daily Take, The Thom Hartmann Program | Op-Ed

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