So the Senate is set to pass S.2155, basically a gutting of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. And it is doing it with 17 members of the Democratic caucus. Not only will S.2155 make another financial crisis (and you and I will have to pay for) more likely, it does other things like make discrimination in lending easier. Good job by 17 political “Allies.”
But don’t get me wrong: I understand what’s going on — probably better than the Democratic politicians themselves. First, Chuck Schumer is allowing this. He’ll vote against it, but all the lobbyists will know that he set up the situation so that he can say to his constituents that he was against it, while being the most important person who is allowing its passage. What’s more, many of these Democrats are owned by the banking industry. They are voting this way because it is what they believe. These are the kind of Democrats we desperately need to rid ourselves of.
Protective Voting Never Works
And then there are those who are voting for it because they are in a conservative state. And they think that voting for S.2155 will make them more likely to get re-elected. There are a few problems with this idea.
The first is that most conservative voters are fairly liberal when it comes to economic issues. So they won’t hold a parade that Democrat X voted for this bill. If they want to get in good with conservative voters, they should vote against abortion rights or make a racist comment. This bill will be hated by Democratic and Republican voters alike.
Second, they won’t get any credit for it. The president will get credit for it. The president is a Republican. They are Democrats. So any credit that is given will go to their Republican opponent, not them.
Trump Will Get Credit for S.2155, Not These Idiotic Democrats
I would have thought that all national politicians would understand this. In 2002, the Democratic Party decided to work with President George W Bush after 9/11. (I still find it amazing that a president can allow the worst attack on American soil in history and his approval ratings go through the roof. I wish I could get a job where the worse I do the more my employers like me.) Anyway, as a result of working with the Republican President, voters thought it meant Bush was great, the Democrats were savaged in 2002 — a year that the Democrats should have gained many seats.
The truth is that Senators who are less popular in their states than Trump, are going to lose re-election. Voting with Trump 100 percent of the time will not change that. The only thing that would have changed that is if they had switched to the Republican Party in January of 2017.
Democrats Are Making an Economic Crisis More Likely for Nothing
So now we are going to get a really bad bill. And even if it were a good bill, there is no time pressure; it could be put off for a year with no problems — except that huge banks would be less likely to destroy our economy again. But in return for this really bad bill, the Democratic Party gets — wait for it — nothing. Even the individual members will get nothing for it. And it will hurt other Democrats because it will make Trump look more like a competent leader, which we all know he is not.
It’s Hard to Say Republicans Are Worse Than Democrats
But this also bugs me on a personal level. Whenever I have an argument with a conservative, I know I’ve won when they get to the point of saying, “Well, both sides are useless.” Or whatever: corrupt, stupid, any pejorative that fits. When over a third of the Democratic Party votes for a bill that only billionaires want, it’s hard to say to these conservatives, “No, both sides are not the same. The Republican Party really is bad. The Democrats have their problems just like any party. But the Republicans are destroying this country.” Because now they can just say, “What about S.2155?”
Teachers’ unions in Saint Paul and West Virginia have just won significant victories. Voter approval of Trump is low. Voter approval of Congress is in a vat of radioactive zombie acid.
And this is what the Democratic Party leadership decides to go for.
This is Rahm Emanuel telling liberals in the White House to go fuck themselves (actual quote), Hillary Clinton telling climate change activists to grow up (actual quote), this is the Democratic Party leadership being “pragmatic.” Yes, that works. The other side is certainly pragmatic. Meet them halfway, why don’t you.
What the hell? What are these people doing? They’re not serving their constituents. They’re not helping the party or the country long-term. They’re getting re-elected, because they’re fluffing corporate campaign donors? So what! We have Republicans for that!
My God, Democrats, stand for something. Anything. Be against the banks. Be against health-insurance companies. Be against polluters. Be for increasing Social Security. All of that shit has near-universal public approval, and you’re cowering in terror lest you lose the support of Citigroup??? They support your opponents, too, if you haven’t noticed.
These cowards are afraid of losing a job. Newsflash: lots of us have, for much more principled reasons. Democrats, grow up or go fuck yourselves.
I’m sure you’re familiar w/ this quote:
“Republicans have nothing but bad ideas and Democrats have no ideas.” – Lewis Black
Black is such a hoot. He’s like a less arrogant, way less racist Bill Maher. But just as skilled at joke delivery.
What does it take to realize “both sides” ARE corrupt ? Government corruption is by far the biggest problem. All you hear or read is, oh the republicans did this or the democrats did that. One is every bit as devious and corrupt as the other.
All evidence to the contrary. Yours is the easy out. It is, in fact, the Christian one: an adulterer is the same as a rapist. It is akin to how racists rationalize their racism. No one is perfect. And I am no lover of the Democratic Party. It is simply that they are a far better alternative to the one and only option.