I've long said that my line in the sand is the point where Dems and/or the president put entitlements on the table and fail to defend them with every ounce of strength they have. I'm pretty sure that line has been crossed. The question now is, what do I do about it?
It's a tough decision to make. On the one hand, the only leverage I actually have with any of these Dems is my vote. On the other hand if I withhold my vote, my money, and my service from these Dems, the short term results will likely be somewhat worse. (Although in the longer term it may help to push the party back to supporting their own platform planks). As I was considering my options about this, something occurred to me:
There is no election today.
This means that I can use my leverage TODAY with no risk of enabling any consequences that I don't like. And every day until the elections, I can continue to make my choice and use the little leverage that I have.
Similarly, the congress and the president do not have to count their votes today. Today they can make their choice about whether they support me, the things I stand for, and the things I thought we worked for in common. They can make that same choice tomorrow, and every day up until the next election. The way they make their choices will determine how I make my choices, and we both have a number of days to size each other up and decide how to behave until it's time to pull the lever.
Today's choice is this - I will neither vote for nor will I volunteer or send money to the campaigns of anyone who has said entitlements should be cut. As of today, they may NOT count on my support or my vote.
It's within the power of these elected officials to change my vote. All they have to do is stand up for the principles they claim to believe in. I should add that it's also within the power of any reader here who thinks this is a bad idea to change my vote as well. It won't be done by screaming about the supreme court or Lily Ledbetter, but it can be accomplished by getting our party and our president to stand up for the people they claim to represent.