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TOPIC: "Tone-Deaf in D.C." - Both sides have misread results/voters wish (11/5/10)


Diamond

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"Tone-Deaf in D.C." - Both sides have misread results/voters wish (11/5/10)
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Read @ NYTimes.com
Op-Ed Columnist

Tone-Deaf in D.C.

It would be easy to misread the results of Tuesday’s elections, and it looks as if the leaders of both parties are doing exactly that.

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are offering voters the kind of change that they seem so desperately to want. We’re getting mind-numbing chatter about balanced budgets and smaller government and whether Mitch McConnell and his gang can chase President Obama out of the White House in 2012.

What voters want is leadership that will help them through an economic nightmare and fix a country that has been pitched into a state of sharp decline. They long for leaders with a clear and compelling vision of a better America and a road map for getting there. That leadership has long been AWOL. The hope in the tumultuous elections of 2008 was that it would come from Mr. Obama and the Democrats, but that hope, after just two years, is on life support.

Tuesday’s outcome was the result of voters, still hungry for change, who either switched in anger from the Democrats to the Republicans or, out of a deep sense of disappointment, stayed home.

It was hardly a mandate for the G.O.P.’s way of doing things. Nearly 15 million Americans are out of work. The public does not want the next two years to be a bitter period of endless Congressional investigations of the Obama administration; more tax cuts and other giveaways to the very wealthy; and attacks on programs like Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance that offer at least a measure of economic security for ordinary people.

It would also be a mistake for the Democrats, a terminally timid party, to cave in to their opponents and start embracing a G.O.P. agenda that would only worsen the prospects of ordinary working Americans and the poor.

The Democrats are in disarray because it’s a party that lacks a spine. The Republicans, conversely, fight like wild people whether they’re in the majority or not. What neither party is doing is offering a bold, coherent plan to get the nation’s economy in good shape and create jobs, to bring our young men and women home from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, to rebuild the education system in a way that will prepare the next generation for the great challenges of the 21st century, and to reinvigorate the can-do spirit of America in a way that makes people believe that they are working together toward grand and constructive goals.

Great challenges demand great leaders. Marian Anderson once said, “Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it.”

Continues @ NYTimes.com

Good summary of voters' anguish. 

Just as Dems dreamed up a mandate, Repubs have too.. Well, they incited anger in the country that was angry already at Dems inability/unwillingness to focus on job, and in doing so, Repubs have REDEFINED what the anger is about via many advertisements.  But the real anger is about the decline in the economy, loss of jobs, increasing risk of losing the competitive edge of this economy vis-a-vis others.

-- Edited by Sanders on Saturday 6th of November 2010 05:26:55 PM

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Democracy needs defending - SOS Hillary Clinton, Sept 8, 2010
Democracy is more than just elections - SOS Hillary Clinton, Oct 28, 2010

Madam Secretary Blog at ForeignPolicy.com
Project Vote Smart - Stay informed and engaged!


Platinum

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I couldn't agree more. I've already read how the Republicans have stated they have a mandate to eliminate the last 2 years of every thing AND to overturn abortion rights. Right back to the same old fights we had for the last 30 years. They still haven't heard a single word the people have said and they still don't have a clue what they were elected to do.

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Platinum

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Both parties are so busy talking to themselves they can't hear the voters. And you know what? They really don't care what we have to say. It's sad but true.

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Diamond

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Voters' fears, hopes and aspirations have not heard.

Voters got fed talking points - this time not from an individual candidate's campaign office in Chicago, rather from many advertisements funded by AFP and other obscure nonprofits without "I approved this message" from a known face that vouches to the veracity of the claim - someone who can be called upon to defend their ad; someone whose claim can be refuted.

Voters have voted to promote the interests of big corporations that are happily sitting on the extra cash made by making products/services outside the country that are being sold not just in those other countries but also right back here in the U.S.   Yes, lower cost basis products and services means big profit margin.  It is the new Corporate Columbus who has hit the gold jackpot, unfortunately at the expense of our jobs.  No wonder DJIA is doing so well.

And, yes, very small businesses and entrepreneurs are hurting. The economy is very unkind to entrepreneurs lately. There is really no money for them - their chance of succeeding in this economy is very bleak.

And, yes, tone-deaf D.C. and tone-deaf us.  We are not seeing what is happening to ourselves. 

The country is still suffering from inability to create new jobs; cutting government spending may not work well for the economy (- it is very bad timing).  It has immediate impact on M3.  Monetary measures do not help much in this regard a it does not change the fundamental equation of purchasing power.

It is the economy stupid!  But it is the global economy stupid!



-- Edited by Sanders on Sunday 7th of November 2010 10:09:51 AM

__________________
Democracy needs defending - SOS Hillary Clinton, Sept 8, 2010
Democracy is more than just elections - SOS Hillary Clinton, Oct 28, 2010

Madam Secretary Blog at ForeignPolicy.com
Project Vote Smart - Stay informed and engaged!
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