wobblies
Mayor
We need to take a deep breath and focus on goals. We have an opportunity to take back the House and deepen our majority in the Senate. We also need to focus on the theoretical differences with the GOP regarding self-reliance. Governor Romney is dead in the water. He was already in deep trouble after the foreign policy gaff, but it is hard to see how he will recover from this.
The GOP leadership knows that they will not win; they will start focusing on keeping the House. Democrats have to start talking about what self-reliance means in a modern age; two hundred years ago, most people had to be self-reliant and had the resources to take care of themselves. Many of you have seen the failure of the economy to recovery from the last three recessions to re-grow jobs with incomes that make it possible to live the American dream. Wars and government stimulus have been the only things that have kept us on track in any way. I’m not suggesting that Capitalism will crash and burn any time soon, but the private sector is not functioning as the prime producer of jobs if only because jobs are being exported to places where wages are much lower. Furthermore, every time employers begin to hire after a recession, they bring in people with a lower benefit package.
The Conservative notion of self-reliance is one of their most important core values and it has great merit. American citizens do have to look first to ourselves to survive and prosper. Government programs like welfare only delay or frustrate those efforts: that support is not sufficient for people caught in that trap to advance. These programs are anchors that sink rather than stabilize us. Those programs need to spend more not less on helping heads of households find work. These folks need child care. They need to be able to get to work. Yes, they need to hammer their kids about studying and preparing for work. Yes, they need to prepare them for being citizens. Still, that is not enough.
The Liberal response to self-reliance is opportunity. People can advance themselves and prepare to live the dream if and only if they have a real opportunity to do so. Certainly, there are people that rise up out of abject poverty despite their station in life, but they are the exception to the rule. When that happens, it is because we act as a village that protects, encourages, and helps us grow. President Obama’s inartful comment about ‘building that’ is exactly the value we should promote. People build thing as part of a community, and they do so by being responsible citizens, as the brother said. That part of his acceptance speech was perhaps the most prescient part of it. By the way, it is the workers that ‘build that’ not some investor who pays less in income tax than the workers do.
If we want to build bridges using American workers, we need to train thousands of welders. If we want to keep electronic jobs here, we have to train engineers, mathematicians, and scientists. That requires that we invest public treasure in the effort. We have failed to maintain and improve our superstructure for decades because of Conservative opposition. We need to double and triple down on that.
The basic difference between Dems and GOP reactionaries is a respect for citizens. The mantra about the 47% takers is right out of their view of the world. I humbly suggest that we not personalize our attacks on their ideas. GOP leadership is on the defensive right now and verge on being irrational about the state of the election. It is the rank and file of the party that is open to appeal, so long as we respect their fundamental views and be willing to discuss issues with them. Most of these people do not share the governor’s view of that 47%. We can tell who in this room is receptive to that, and there is no use in stooping to the level of some of these people: anyone throwing shit at others is bound to be splashed themselves.
We need to challenge every GOP candidate for national office to take a stand on this ‘47%’ mantra. We need to make them stand up and be counted.
God Speed,
David
The GOP leadership knows that they will not win; they will start focusing on keeping the House. Democrats have to start talking about what self-reliance means in a modern age; two hundred years ago, most people had to be self-reliant and had the resources to take care of themselves. Many of you have seen the failure of the economy to recovery from the last three recessions to re-grow jobs with incomes that make it possible to live the American dream. Wars and government stimulus have been the only things that have kept us on track in any way. I’m not suggesting that Capitalism will crash and burn any time soon, but the private sector is not functioning as the prime producer of jobs if only because jobs are being exported to places where wages are much lower. Furthermore, every time employers begin to hire after a recession, they bring in people with a lower benefit package.
The Conservative notion of self-reliance is one of their most important core values and it has great merit. American citizens do have to look first to ourselves to survive and prosper. Government programs like welfare only delay or frustrate those efforts: that support is not sufficient for people caught in that trap to advance. These programs are anchors that sink rather than stabilize us. Those programs need to spend more not less on helping heads of households find work. These folks need child care. They need to be able to get to work. Yes, they need to hammer their kids about studying and preparing for work. Yes, they need to prepare them for being citizens. Still, that is not enough.
The Liberal response to self-reliance is opportunity. People can advance themselves and prepare to live the dream if and only if they have a real opportunity to do so. Certainly, there are people that rise up out of abject poverty despite their station in life, but they are the exception to the rule. When that happens, it is because we act as a village that protects, encourages, and helps us grow. President Obama’s inartful comment about ‘building that’ is exactly the value we should promote. People build thing as part of a community, and they do so by being responsible citizens, as the brother said. That part of his acceptance speech was perhaps the most prescient part of it. By the way, it is the workers that ‘build that’ not some investor who pays less in income tax than the workers do.
If we want to build bridges using American workers, we need to train thousands of welders. If we want to keep electronic jobs here, we have to train engineers, mathematicians, and scientists. That requires that we invest public treasure in the effort. We have failed to maintain and improve our superstructure for decades because of Conservative opposition. We need to double and triple down on that.
The basic difference between Dems and GOP reactionaries is a respect for citizens. The mantra about the 47% takers is right out of their view of the world. I humbly suggest that we not personalize our attacks on their ideas. GOP leadership is on the defensive right now and verge on being irrational about the state of the election. It is the rank and file of the party that is open to appeal, so long as we respect their fundamental views and be willing to discuss issues with them. Most of these people do not share the governor’s view of that 47%. We can tell who in this room is receptive to that, and there is no use in stooping to the level of some of these people: anyone throwing shit at others is bound to be splashed themselves.
We need to challenge every GOP candidate for national office to take a stand on this ‘47%’ mantra. We need to make them stand up and be counted.
God Speed,
David
