It's hard not to notice the pundits and talking heads barking at each other about this year's congressional and gubernatorial elections. Heck, at a time when so many people are struggling and need help, just to stay above the poverty line(or at least tread through it,) our politicians are out, wasting money to score political points. Much of the argument going into the elections this November is about jobs and taxes. And on both fronts, both parties seem to be working against themselves.
Most of the Democrats insist on using another stimulus package to keep the recovery alive and help put people back to work, although the only officials actually defending the spending from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act last year are those from the White House. Incumbent Democrats worried about the backlash from what Republicans call a “wasteful” spending spree, don’t even seem to be putting up a fight over whether such action to curb the recession was justified, or even necessary. This lack of willingness to engage and justify their actions is one of the contributing factors to the confidence gap the Democratic Party suffers, only two years after the “Change” mandate that swept them into Congress in 2008. For more on the confidence gap, Joseph Palermo has a great article on The Huffington Post here
On the other hand, Republicans wrecked the US and World economy, more than doubled the national debt, shrunk the nation’s safety net for the middle class, but want another shot at writing laws. One week, they embark on impassioned rants of populism and how the Liberals and Progressive Democrats are spending the nation into oblivion. The next, they’re promoting the preservation of the Bush Era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and Corporations, which by the way, makes up the majority of the nation’s debt over the next 5-10 years. This comes after unified obstruction of jobless benefits and aid money for small businesses in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
As unpopular as many incumbent Democrats are with their perceived spinelessness in the face of opposition, the Republicans are even less popular because of their mishandling of the government. And strangely enough, people seem to be willing to go give the Republicans another chance this fall – or at the very least, give them more leverage over Congress. I wonder if those that are disappointed that the President and Congress didn’t get enough done will feel better when virtually every initiative gets obstructed over the next two years.
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