before August 2. President Obama and Congress will agree to a deal that will address the national debt before a global financial panic is created. The Republicans will demand a reduction in future spending as the cost to be paid for extending the debt ceiling. This will happen.
Thus, the vital question for progressives is: at what price? What can Obama and congressional Democrats agree to and still maintain their commitment to society's underdogs? How can they keep their soul and still compromise?
The Democrats need to prioritize who they will protect from the GOP jackals. In an ideal world, help would come to all who needed it. But this is the real world; resources are limited, the debt is high, the Republicans control the House and the Democrats don’t have a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. The wolves are not only at the door, they have ripped the bolt off the wall, and the door is ajar.
So, let’s go to brass tacks: at the end of the day, before the August Congressional recess, what policies or/and groups should lose the least with the inevitable compromise? Or, to put it in a positive way, what should Democrats fight for?
The biggest issue: jobs. Embrace out of the box thinking on how to stimulate job creation, like the one suggested by Bill Bradley. But, also fight for extending unemployment benefits into 2012, if the rates are still cruelly high.
Another huge issue is health care. Make sure that the Affordable Care Act starts to get implemented. This is the place the GOP partisans will try their hardest to politically hurt Obama. They look to defund, or underfund, key components of its implementation. If they can starve it of funds, then, viola, it isn’t “working,” and the GOP will crow about how right they were…Make the connection to how the reform helps senior citizens. Also don’t stiff the states when it comes to Medicaid.
Mortgage Relief is also important. People want to stay in their home. There are lots of interesting proposals around, but the bottom line is that too many people are still losing their homes. Maybe expand the duration of the emergency mortgage relief that was included in the financial reform bill. The housing emergency has not gone away for many Americans. If that is impossible, then, at the minimum, do no harm. Do not make it any more difficult for people to stay in their homes.
Also, keep trying on immigration reform. Along with morality, start arguing the economics of it to the folks who are against it. In particular, that will help the U.S. economy, not weaken it.
In short: fight for jobs, to protect health care reform, helps folks stay in their homes, and keep pushing for immigration reform. These issues are not exclusively fiscal, but there they contain fiscal elements within them. And they are important enough to be included in any ‘grand bargain’ that occurs this summer.
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