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First, let me say that I supported John Kerry in the election, but had serious misgivings about his pro-war stance. My views are pretty much in line with Dennis Kucinich, although I supported Howard Dean because of his strong anti-war stance. I have been questioning whether there is a place for me in the Democrtatic party of today, especially with the calls from some within the party that they need to move even farther to the right.
Here is a response I sent to a friend who describes himself as a "moderate" Democrat -- in other words, he agrees with the Republicans on a lot of things, but can't handle their radical right wingers.
He blames the election loss on the pro-choice people, NOW, and the ACLU:
First of all, I believe that these so-called “moral values” issues can always be trumped by economic interests. “It’s the economy stupid.” Kerry was so compromised by being beholden to corporate interests, that he could not effectively do this (he didn’t want to be seen as a “redistribution Democrat”). Blaming pro-choice people, NOW and the ACLU is just a smokescreen for the real culprit: the corporate takeover of the Democrats.
Thank you for helping me to understand what the Democratic Party really is. Under the guise of a “big tent”, the far right wing of the party calls all the shots, puts up the candidates and sets the agenda. There is no voice for someone like me, but we’re still expected to work for the nominee, no matter how much he shares with the Republicans in terms of agenda.
You and the Republicans have effectively quashed any voice from a third party, thus ensuring that the national debate will be kept within narrowly defined limits that benefit the large corporate interests who finance Republicans and right wing Democrats.
The end result is that for the foreseeable future, we can expect:
1. There will be no real electoral reform. If you and your pals in the Republican Party were really interested in democracy, you would eliminate private campaign funding completely, do away with restrictive ballot access laws, allow for instant runoff voting (to make sure the winner wins with a majority), have proportional representation (so everyone has a voice), allow for a binding no confidence vote, have same day registration, and demand a verifiable voting system. But none of this will happen because this would mean power would go back to the people of this country rather than in the hands of large corporate interests.
2. The permanent war in the Mideast will continue with full support from the Democratic power structure. This benefits the defense and oil industries, but is costing everyone else dearly in terms of thousands of dead and wounded and billions of taxpayer money wasted on an unnecessary war.
3. No crackdown on corporate crime, abuse, and fraud. Republicans and Democrats have been bought off by large corporate contributions to ensure they won’t be held accountable.
Here’s what Ralph Nader says on this subject:
“The US needs to crackdown on corporate crime, fraud and abuse that have just in the last four years looted and drained trillions of dollars from workers, investors, pension holders and consumers. Among the reforms needed are resources to prosecute and convict the corporate executive crooks and to democratize corporate governance so shareholders have real power; pay back ill-gotten gains; rein in executive pay; and enact corporate sunshine laws, among others.”
4. The continued swelling of the ranks of the uninsured, and continued increases in healthcare premiums, to the benefit of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. This ignores the huge cost to society of not having everyone insured. If everyone were insured, they would go to the doctor early instead of waiting till they are in bad shape (which costs us much more). Also, preventive care can reduce future illnesses and save everyone in the long run.
5. The continued increase in the ranks of those earning less than ten dollars and hour –last I heard this was over 40 million: the Wal-Martization of the workforce. Along with this, the continued crackdown on unions.
6. The current tax cuts will be made permanent – to the benefit of the well off, but again screwing the ones who need it the most. As many have pointed out, these tax cuts mean that states will continue to cut programs, raise college tuition, and raise property taxes in order to stay solvent. This effectively makes a tax increase for the middle and lower classes.
7. Privatizing social security: great for Democratic and Republican benefactors on Wall Street but bad for everyone else. How can they expect some average Joe to make wise investments?
8. The U.S. will continue to alienate the rest of the world in its misguided use of the overwhelming superiority in military power. One can only guess what the consequences of this eventually will be, but the backlash is bound to come in one form or another.
9. The continued assault on the environment, to the benefit of the corporate bottom line, but costing everyone else in terms of medical expenses as a result of bad air, polluted water, etc.
I realize that a John Kerry presidency would have addressed some of these problems, but in order to do that we have to win the election. That can’t be done as long as the candidate is constantly concerned about offending corporate interests. This allows the Republicans to win over lower and middle class voters with the “values” argument while at the same time screwing them economically.
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