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A Conservative
Face to Liberal Ideas
February
11, 2002
by Jeffrey Commaroto
Elected Democrats have been in something of a daze since
Bush entered the White House. They gained a little swagger
in their step following their take over of the Senate. However
much of that got lost immediately following Sept 11th and
the question became "How do we fight a popular president when
he is fighting a popular war?" But that has been the wrong
question these last five months and it has lost the party
a lot of ground. The real question is "How does a conservative
administration fight Democratic policies and ideologies that
were used to make him popular?"
For all the talk of the nation swinging conservative there
has been little to no mention of how all of the policies that
Americans are applauding run against the conservative instincts
that Bush and Cheney advocated during the campaign. From nation
building and a more involved America in foreign affairs to
big government institutions and the involvement of the government
in regulating corporations. These are what Americans are applauding,
not corporate welfare and the destruction of the environment.
A good deal of the Bush administration is made up of members
who spent much of their lives writing about the inability
of government to be effective and who advocated at every turn
to scale it down. However with Sept 11th policemen and firemen,
both group's state and local employees and federal organizations
like the FBI, CIA and FEMA have been heralded as heroes and
saviors of the common good. It was big government that was
there to save our nation, to extend its power to shut down
the air lines to prevent further attacks on Sept 11th and
it is government regulation that is helping to secure our
travel right now.
It is also Democratic ideology and Clinton era policies that
are making this president popular. To Bush's credit he has
been willing to toss aside the asinine reluctance to embrace
them that he held during his campaign. But unless Democrats
aggressively point out this fact, they will be the ones to
lose out in the next election.
Republicans have never been afraid to use whatever situation
they could to advance their goals and to put fire under their
opponent's policies. In times of crisis leaders lead and aren't
afraid of advancing the cause they feel is right. As a party
Democrats haven't always shown this same tendency and when
witnessing leaders like President Clinton show an inkling
of the same strategy have tended to shy away. This is exactly
what Al Gore did during the last presidential election. It
cannot be what Democrats do now.
As Bush and Cheney point out the power and elite training
of our military it is the responsibility of Democrats to point
out it was the Clinton administration that spent eight years
funding and training them to do it. For all the talk of Republicans
who made fun of this generation of soldiers and servicemen
I believe it is their responsibility now to apologize to those
Americans and admit they were wrong.
As Bush and Cheney distance themselves from Enron and call
to question what was happening on Clintons watch. It is the
responsibility of Democrats to point out the name of Clinton
appointed Commodities Futures Trading Commission Chair Brooksley
Born who in 1997 called for greater disclosure of energy derivatives.
They need to drop the names of Clinton appointed Treasury
Secretary Larry Summers who in 2000 proposed a crackdown on
tax havens and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) who proposed banning
investment of more than 10% of an employees total 401(K) in
stock. Finally the name of President Clinton himself who vetoed
the Public Securities Litigation Reform Act which helps prevent
lawsuits against corporations who are accused of securities
fraud. All of these actions could have helped stop the Enron
debacle but were opposed, vetoed and/or watered down by the
Republican congress.
It is the responsibility of Democrats to call into question
Bush's connection to big oil and the administrations reluctance
to wean itself away from Saudi Arabia, a known supporter of
terrorists and the breeding ground of most of the Sept 11th
hijackers. It is the job of Democrats to ask for billions
of dollars to be stopped from corporate welfare and put into
the development of a national energy system of solar, wind
and hydrogen renewable energy that will boost our nations
security, create hundreds of thousands of new domestic jobs
and clean our environment. Finally it is the responsibility
of the Democrats to outline a political structure and ideology
that helps wean themselves off of big money corporate donations,
supports real campaign finance reform and doesn't shy away
from it's beliefs even when they aren't as popular as they
are now but are still vital to our national development. In
the 2000 election Ralph Nader asked what the difference between
the two political parties was and three percent of the voters
couldn't come up with an answer. It is time for the Democratic
Party to give all of its members the answer they have been
waiting for. A true second national political Party!
It is not a conservative wave that is hitting this nation,
just a conservative face taking credit for liberal ideas.
Poll numbers come and go, just as they did for George Bush
Sr. after the Gulf War. But a working Democratic Party that
pushes forward the true objectives of the American people
and fights the good fight without cowering down can last even
longer then it all ready has. Time is definitely on the party's
side - it's just a matter of the party getting with the times.
Jeffery Commaroto has authored numerous serious and satiric
articles and editorials from a liberalist perspective in addition
to running thinkersden.com
and commaroto.com
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