(Community Matters) It was a terrific trip. DNC meetings for our national finance committee and national advisory board. Heard from lots of folks. We asked for a meeting reflecting accountability for spend and how we’re responding to electorates’ priorities and sensitivities. I went keenly attuned to the investment of our donors’ monies and the promises we made them as we raised, as well as the promises of the Administration & those of us who worked to elect him to the electorate.
I came away impressed by the thought and reflection, by the articulation of lessons learned – not only in MA but in NJ and VA as well. I don’t mean to suggest the left will be any more pleased than the pragmatic middle of our party from the president’s speech tonight – obviously, I haven’t read it. Since early 2008, I’ve noted that the President is a pragmatic man. He’s always promised a keen focus on the middle class, on healthcare, on energy/climate control, on rescuing our economy and on education.
Has it been foolhardy to spend so much political capital in the first year on rescuing the economy, insuring children (s-chip), establishing a strategy & spend on two wars, hiring thousands of top level people, rebuilding America’s standing in the world, and fighting for healthcare? I think not. Have we handled healthcare correctly, many say not. And, yet we’ve gotten further than any previous administration in 60 years – though, admittedly, close doesn’t count. It’s not over by a long shot.
Have we lost perspective of Americans’ demand for more focus on the deficit and spending? I guess there are initiatives being announced to address this.
Down to 59 in the Senate – I’ve already said on here, I’d prefer 58. Let’s thank Senator Liebermann for his chairmanship this last year and move forward with a new one. Fifty nine (or fifty eight) – these are incredible numbers. I think we’re better off with a little competition and the need to strike some consensus. If Republicans decide they only want to obstruct, pull the trigger – do away with the filibuster using the same rules they proposed.
As far as all the Wall Street bankers screaming that the populist rhetoric is not what we promised while running: You are spending hundreds of millions on an army of mercenaries (lobbyists) to kill all proposed regulatory reform and consumer protections. You are jacking up credit card and banking fees. You are still borrowing at the Fed window, relying on gov’t guarantees for money market accounts & commercial paper lines, and paying yourselves obscene amounts of money. If this were pre-revolutionary France, you’d have already lost your heads. Until you negotiate in good faith and call off your mercenaries, you cannot complain with any integrity.
Community Matters 