Democratic Depression

What a week in politics. First there was the upset victory of Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race, ending the Democrat's ability to avoid a filibuster, meaning the Republicans can now stop any health care reform dead in its tracks. And it seems like they are determined to do this, regardless of the consequences for the country, because it makes the Democrats look bad.

Then, just after Obama announced he was getting tough on the banking industry, and wanted to limit how big they could get to avoid future economic disasters and bailouts, there was the outrageous decision of the US Supreme Court to withdraw any limit to corporate funding of election campaigns. That's right. Unlimited. Meaning, unless the Democrats find some way to stop this, through corporate law, our democracy is pretty much dead. Meaning, in the 2010 elections, you can expect the Republicans to sweep up a lot of House and Senate seats and gain a majority. Meaning we can forget about health care reform, economic recovery, or a second term for Obama. Meaning our new de facto government, will, quite literally, become a cartel of the likes of Exxon, ConAgra, and Blackwater.

The Democrats can't seem to manage to accomplish anything even when they have a clear majority. How is it that Bush and Cheney did whatever they liked even when they didn't have a majority in the House and Senate? The whole idea of bi-partisanship doesn't work. The Republicans don't want to cooperate. There is no health care plan that everyone can agree on. The Republicans just want to cause the Democrats to fail at anything they try to achieve, and they want power back as soon as possible so they can continue their agenda of dismantling what's left of democracy and solidify a shadow corporate regime.

Yes it's depressing. I feel even more full of despair than I did during the Bush years. That's because Obama got my hopes up. I tried to resist, as I explained in a post around that time. Like so many Democrats, disillusioned by a disastrous two terms of Republican rule, and waking up to the deregulatory betrayals of the Clinton era, I didn't jump on the bandwagon of hope without reluctance. But he was so charming! Barack Obama managed to revive the idealistic strain in Democrats around the country. We had to stop being cynical and band together, and believe! I did. Now, a year later, it feels like all may be lost.

This is a critical moment in the fate of the United States. If the Democrats don't stop trying to please everybody, and stop trying to compromise with a completely uncompromising GOP, they will lose the mandate that they were given by the American people just one short year ago. They need to stop worrying about alienating conservative voters because of ideological differences and just do something. Results will get votes. Prove to them that left-leaning policies will work. Now's your chance! If the country swings back into the control of the Republicans, the damage may be irrevocable. How much worse can the economy get? How long can we last with our failing infrastructure? How much more can corporate power increase its stranglehold on the rights of Americans to pursue life, liberty, and happiness?

This is scary stuff. It's terrifying and it's depressing. But depression is not going to help us. Democrats need to be as angry, as full of unmovable conviction, and as uncompromising as Republicans are in our vision of where this country needs to go. This is a war we cannot afford to lose. For the love of democracy, Obama, now is the time to martial the party and lead us into battle. That is why we elected you.

One small change

Hip mountain Mama has a great idea.

Starting the first of January, and continuing each month until April, leading up to earth day- April 22- bloggers are making a change for the greener every month and blogging about it. I try to be environmentally conscious in my daily choices, but there's always room for improvement.

So, January is the month of no plastic bags. And that trend will continue ever after. I definitely try to minimize plastic bags already, but I need to be more organized if I'm really going to kick the habit. So I just bought some portable cloth resuable bags which I'm going to carry with me everywhere. That way I am not only ready for my usual trips to the store, I'm ready for all those impromptu ones too.

These are the bags I ordered. I thought they'd be a fun way to get into the mode. I'm kind of psyched about this project. Anyone else who wants to join in, latecomers are accepted.

Get a job!

Every day on my way to or from work on the F, there are people asking for money. Sometimes it's the startling middle-aged white woman talking about her three children and her lay-off, the note of desperation in her voice when she says "Please! Have a heart!", somehow leaving me unable to look at her, let alone reach for my wallet. Sometimes they are charming three-piece mariachi bands, who clearly aren't living on the street but just need a little extra cash. But mostly it's really poor people, visibly homeless, tired, mentally ill, addicted, or just plain ill. They have various approaches. At Christmas time, one man sang a carol that really left me heartbroken. Others change carriages at every stop and give the same speech to the whole car. "Ladies and gentlemen. Please. If you can find it in your hearts to lend a helping hand to a homeless person in need."

Sometimes, I give a dollar here or there. But usually I don't. Because I can't give every day, and I can't choose who is most worthy. They all are. And I know my dollar isn't going to change their lives anyway.

Today, there was a homeless man outside the subway station. He asked me for change, and I gave my usual lame smile and apology. A graying middle-aged man in a shabby suit approached the subway entrance at the same time, and muttered at the man "Get a job!" As he raced down the stairs next to me, he continued "Get a fucking job! Another lazy American!" This is what I wanted to say to him, but didn't. This is what I thought to myself all the way home, and then posted on some thread somewhere, where someone espoused the same simplistic viewpoint. (I found it when I googled "homeless get a job.")

Can you explain to me how a homeless person should go about getting a job? What kind of job? Where do they go? What if they have no work experience, no high school diploma? No home. No shower, no clothes to wear to an interview. No telephone or internet to do research. How are they supposed to begin? If you don’t know the answer, how do you expect someone living on the street to know?

This is not to say that they can’t change or don’t want to change, but these people need a helping hand to get there. It is not easy to change when your life has fallen apart. Many homeless people struggle with mental health problems and addictions. They need support to put their lives back together. Of course, it’s much easier to just put the blame on them, rather than feeling morally obliged to help people who haven’t had as much luck as you have.

Of course there are stories of people who have overcome amazing obstacles and managed to turn their lives around without help. But does that mean people who don’t feel strong enough, or don’t yet know that they are strong enough to do that, should be left behind? Everyone deserves a helping hand. Most homeless people don’t have the support of family and friends that the rest of us take for granted. How far would we have gotten without it?

I wanted to say this to that man. But he probably wouldn't have listened. And I didn't want to get involved in a conflict with some strange man in a subway station. There are a lot of crazy people in New York. But that's a whole 'nother post.

Our system sucks.

The New York Times "Health" section includes overviews of other nations with universal health care systems:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/09/29/health/health-care-conversations.html?ref=health#/13/

After the article about France, I found this comment from a reader:

"So much has been said about how good the French (and other countries) healthcare system is and how it is paid for/provide by the government. What has escaped almost every article and conversation on the subject is that most these countries have higher effcetive [sic] personal income tax rates than the USA. So what we in the US pay in healthcare insurance premiums people outside the US pay in higher income taxes.

— RichC"

And an equally uninformed, if more concise, response from another reader:

"Hmm…no mention of how high the tax rates are in France. Poor journalism but great rhetoric.

— NoBama"

This is my response:

"People often cite the higher taxes in countries with universal health coverage, and they seem to believe our lower taxes are an even trade-off, ie. we pay insurance instead. But the overall costs of taxes plus health care costs per individual is higher in the US than in countries with universal care. And they get better care.

Take France, for example. They pay 45.3% of their GDP in tax, in exchange for a great system of universal quality health care, education, sick pay, paid vacation, paid maternity leave, and subsidized child care FOR ALL.

In the USA, we pay 29.6% of our GDP in tax, and on average 15% of our GDP on health care costs. Total cost: 44.6%. And what do we get for that? Not much. That doesn’t even include parental leave and child care, which is another huge cost for Americans.

It’s time people abandon irrational fears about losing ‘choice’ or ‘freedom’, and realize that these things are already in danger, when we live without the basic rights which it is a government’s duty to provide for its citizens- universal health care, sick pay, parental leave, and quality education.

Statistic sources:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/tax_tot_tax_as_of_gdp-taxation-total-as-of-gdp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:International_Comparison_-_Healthcare_spending_as_%25_GDP.png

So, I wrote my comment in the New York Times. But it didn't make me feel much better. With the democrat's ability to prevent a filibuster now lost- (Massachusetts to the Republicans?! Can this be attributed to global warming?)- and the creeping sense that no matter what Obama wants to accomplish, our permanently log-jammed political system won't allow it, I think it's going to be at least another fifty years before the USA has anything like a functional universal system along the lines of France or Germany. Oh well. The food here really is very good. But it'll kill you. And you can't afford to get sick.