I had the best weekend in a long time. My alarm wakes me up to NPR. And the first thing I heard on Saturday was a story about my home state Senator, Harry Reid, hinting that he's going to go along with the Polis/Pingree and Bennet letters calling for a Public Option through reconciliation. It was also reported that President Obama has also signaled his support for a Public Option via reconciliation.
This is a critical step towards restoring the public's faith in the power that they gave to Democrats in the 2008 elections. But it's been a long time coming. Even if it succeeds, it remains to be seen if it'll totally reverse the course of lost faith.
After all, while Health Care Reform was on everyone's plates, many were becoming impatient at the seeming disregard for the economy.
As a follower of electoral and economic history, I personally think some patience is needed with the economy. But there are some valid points to be made. Hence, enacting Health Care Reform is only one of the steps Democrats need to take to seal the deal for the 2010 Mid Term Elections ...
The Reid/Obama news made for a huge change over what many of us were thinking just one day ago about the dynamics of health care legislation. So I'm refining my post from a couple of days ago on how to win in 2010 in light of these new changes
Last Spring, Republicans were in trouble - a dying species by some observers. The public was frustrated and referred to them as The Party of "No" for their consistent anti-middle class stance on the economy, the first stimulus, health care, the environment and other issues.
I also remember that Arlen Specter was still a Republican. And yet, Democrats were able to pass the stimulus and other bills last spring at a blinding pace.
Then came health care. It dragged out for months. The tea baggers rose to prominence after evolving past the embryonic phase of their life when they were little more than the new name for the birthers.
Then came Scott Brown - only putting the Democratic caucus back to it's pre-Arlen Specter head count - still a commanding 18 seat lead in the Senate
But the public perception (stupidly - even amongst the Congress) is that the Dems were castrated by the Brown election. How tearfully untrue!
It's time to reboot before the 2010 mid term election season goes into full swing. It's time to pull the hood off of the tea baggers and restore their image to what they really are - The party of "No"
Polling numbers are down for Obama and the Democrats because people feel burned out by health care talk and ignored on the jobs issue. With unemployment high, people feel that bankers got their bailouts but the people looking for jobs got the shaft - perception or not, this needs to be addressed. So let's rekindle the spirit of Spring 2009 and bring jobs, the deficit, taxes, and fixing the banking bailouts back to the forefront. And lets do it at the pace that the public wants.
The people are complaining loud and clear. And the Dems are listening. Now it's time to start doing.
The new formula can basically be summed up as:
- Health Care (Now it's apparently at the top of the list again with the use of reconciliation)
- Jobs
- Addressing the Deficit
- Jobs
- Homeland Security
- Jobs
- Environment
- And did I mention, Jobs?
If the above items are addressed effectively and quickly, you can pretty much wipe out all Republican Talking Points!
And these are the tactics the Dems should use to get them done and breeze through the Mid Term Elections:
- Be clear and terse in creating legislation. As This Newsweek Poll shows, when people learn what's in the health care bill, they support it. Why? Since it's long and cumbersome to read, most Americans aren't going to read it. They become more reliant on the press to spoon feed it to them. And since most news confuses objectivity and the reporting of facts to "two sides to every story", people become susceptible to fear mongering. There's no way to tell the truth from fiction. And even for the good guys in the media, reporting the truth becomes difficult. I'm not saying that everyone's going to be downloading the PDF's for every revision of legislation if it's short. But perhaps more in the mainstream media and blogoshpere will. Those that do will be able to more easily and clearly explain the facts. And people will be less scared.
- Move quick - Go back to last Spring's pace of bill introduction and passage. Avoid giving Republicans and pundits openings to complain about the length of bills - not only should bills be short, they should also be frequent. Frequency lets people know you're working instead of hanging out with lobbyists. 5 small bills are better than 1 big bill. When you make the bills short and concise, it's easier to create those other related bills.
- On any budget/tax bill - health care or not - don't be afraid to use reconciliation! This would send the message that Dems are ready to act fast for the needs of We the People. When used on non-healthcare bills, it would also help mitigate the perception of reconciliation as a "trick" since we know Republicans are going to be harping on reconciliation (even they loved using it where they were in power).
And there's no shortage of good productive bills that Congress can work on. For instance:
- Not one jobs bill - Several Again, jobs bills are budget bills so don't be afraid to use reconciliation. What kinds of individual bills?:
- More Green rebates and/or tax perks for buying fuel efficient cars (hybrids/electric/clean diesel) - say 35 MPG+ (and no stupid cash for clunkers)
- More Green Energy rebates and/or tax perks for installing home solar/wind power solutions
- More money for schools - school budgets around the country are in trouble
- Get that student loan bill on the floor!
- More Emergency funds to repair ailing bridges/tunnels
- More money for TSA to quickly purchase new security equipment (look into those chemical detectors they have at the Statue of Liberty as an alternative to the whole body Xray)
- Emergency measure to immediately expand mandatory vacation time to a minimum of 3 weeks for all Americans. (OK, this probably can't be done through reconciliation, but more time off means many businesses will have to hire a little more to maintain productivity)
- One or more bills to address the deficit by coming up with clever solutions to reverse the Bush tax cuts for the rich and other measures
- New small business stimulus bills:
- More money for the Small Business Innovation Research program
- Tax credits for building or expanding American factories and credits for each new hire
- More, easier to apply for, SBA loans
- Expansion of Federally operated Venture Capital funds like In-Q-Tel
- Akin to the loan guarantees for the Georgia nuclear plants, how about some loan guarantees and other federal funds for multi-square mile solar fields in the sun belt and wind farms in the wind belt?
- Quickly push for the bank tax and anything to help quickly recover TARP funds - people want their money back
- Emergency funds to hire more Census takers in traditionally undercounted areas. (Also, undercounting usually hurts Democratic voters and candidates when redistricting comes around.)
- A series of new farm bills to eventually replace our broken farm bill and restore the life of the family farm:
- Subsidies to encourage the production of organic non-industrial (human edible) crops.
- Subsidies and credits to convert conventional dairies to organic
- Subsidies and credits to farmers that plant crops that enhance biodiversity and fight mono-cultures (Irish potato famine, anyone?)
- Tax credits for family farms and tax penalties for corporate farms
- Tax credits for live stock growers who install methane capture equipment (cow manure is a major contributor to Global Warming)
- Financial Aid for indebted farmers trapped in contract farming agreements to help retire debt and return to a self directed farm
- Emergency Money to find a solution for Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
Most of the above can be done through reconciliation. So, what will Republicans do?
- Employ a lot of parliamentary delay tactics. (OK, but things will still go through)
- Whine to Papa Bear.
- Skip town and enjoy the company of tea baggers at some rallies!
- Do their best to vote No. (Once again, they'll be the party of No - Success!!!)
Just as quickly as the beleaguered Party of "No" turned the tables, the tables can be turned the other way by focusing on delivering what the people want and doing it quickly. The mid-term elections can be a great success - and we can maybe even recapture our 60 seat edge or better.