| The fact that Democrats clearly won a mandate - even according to Republicans! - in last month's election and that voters resoundingly rejected Republican policies and endorsed Democratic policies - CEOs are now in agreement that we should raise their tax rates! - has still not dawned on many of our representatives back east.
Senator Mark Udall is a prime example of how the DC Beltway can block out common sense and insulate our leaders in an endless I-495 loop of self-reinforcing conventional wisdom.
Here are some snippets from his latest senate newsletter that shows all the symptoms of someone who doesn't know, or doesn't want to know, what the voters clearly said in the last election.
Dear Zappatero,
Two weeks ago, small-business owner Lisa Goodbee, president of Goodbee & Associates in Centennial, and 14 other small-business owners met with President Obama in Washington, D.C. They asked him to continue working with Congress to reach a balanced deal that fixes our budget.
Duh.
They weren't the only ones moved to action: Colorado State University student Kirsten Silveira also recently traveled to Washington to ask congressional leaders to work together - across party lines - and address the looming fiscal cliff.
Deficit Hawk* Udall invokes The Phony Fiscal Cliff of Doom© 4 times in his fear-mongering letter. Krugman says it's phony, as do others. Even Udall's peer Senator Tom Harkin sees that, though he mistakenly blames the "fiscal cliff" noise mostly on right-wing media when journalists and politicians of all stripes, including Udall, continue to use this phony language that is intended to raise fear about our economy and evade legislative responsibility so Radical Republican policies can be enacted.
As the new year approaches, our country is at a crossroads: We can risk going off the fiscal cliff or we can seize this chance to set our nation on a more stable, sustainable footing by responsibly addressing our growing deficit.
Constant repetition of "fiscal cliff" is meant to scare his constituents. Watch how many times Erskine Bowles, Alan Simpson, and Lloyd Blankfein invoke "fiscal cliff" in this vid. Erskine Bowles, failed financier, is particularly odious in the video.
Why can't Udall explain the true nature of the Republican concocted deadline to his constituents instead of stoking their fear?
Write a letter to your editor telling Congress that "compromise" isn't a dirty word -- in this case, it is the solution.
No one said compromise is a dirty word. But, compromising with liars who don't negotiate in good faith and who abuse the democratic process is stupid.
The Marines have a saying: every crisis is an opportunity in disguise. I strongly believe the fiscal cliff is an opportunity for members of Congress to reach across the partisan divide and create a comprehensive, balanced deficit-reduction plan - an approach that doesn't force the middle class to bear the brunt of the tough choices.
Funny enough, the "fiscal cliff" will actually achieve many of Udall's stated goals here. That's why many people say we should let it happen.
In order to reach this budget deal, we all need to set aside our rigid pledges, ultimatums and sacred cows. Compromise is not capitulation.
"Sacred cows" - this is Mark telling you he's ready to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Let me remind you that he and his family and staffers will most likely never feel the brunt of those cuts.
In fact, finding common solutions that leave everyone with something to cheer and something to dislike is how Washington used to accomplish great things before partisan politics got in the way of compromise and consensus.
Udall still desires to compromise even after being given a clear mandate by voters. He still wants our side to have to give something - anything - so Republicans can save face with their own.
And this, finally, is why politicians like Mark Udall constantly crave bipartisanship:
The mantle of Bipartisanship allows politicians to evade responsibility for enacting bad policy against the will of the people because they cannot convince their colleagues to support it or voters to remove the obstructors from office.
Here's what compromise should mean to our employees in Washington, DC:
"Compromise" means, damn it, make the government work in the way we told you clowns we wanted it to work last month.
There are other polls that say, quite clearly, that the American people are fed up with Republicans acting like jackasses, and that the American will blame them overwhelmingly if we go down the Gentle Fiscal Incline, and that what they mean by "compromise" is not we'll trade Granny's food for Tagg Romney's boutonniere money but, rather, some actual soaking of the people who got fat during the previous three decades of shoveling the national wealth in the general direction of the Van Alen Belt.
Definition of Deficit Hawk here. |
