The Conservative Resurgence

Two important things happened in the fall of 2008, the western world entered the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and Barack Obama was elected president. These two events, one of which invoked fear and the other hope, have obviously had enormous consequences. For many there was a conviction that Obama’s inauguration would mean decisive action would be taken both to reverse the effects of the recession that griped the nation in early 2009 and ensure that the abuses of the private sector that caused it would not be repeated.

Unfortunately events proved these convictions false.

Certainly Obama and an overwhelmingly Democratic congress were quick to pass a stimulus bill, but due to conservative pressure (from both Democrats and Republicans) the monetary size of the bill was inadequate to reignite the economic potential of the country.

This was the Democratic majority’s first and most important mistake that has contributed to the conservative resurgence witnessed over the past year.

Republicans in Washington have, from the beginning of the Obama’s presidency, positioned themselves in opposition preventing much of anything from passing while still blaming Democrats for not addressing the worries of the American public.

It is clear that the number one concern for Americans right now is the need for more jobs. Equally clear is that the private sector alone cannot be counted on to create those jobs. A stronger and larger stimulus bill would have invested more capital into public works projects creating much needed jobs. Obama’s stimulus was not large enough to do this on a scale necessary to counter the recession. This provided the Right in this country with just the fodder necessary to attack the president and prevent even the most minor reforms from being passed.

The rallying cry of the Tea Party movement (the most notable expression of Populist anger in this country) has been the need for jobs and fewer taxes. Never mind the fact that much of the stimulus was made up of (some would say squandered) on tax cuts and the stated goal of it was indeed to create jobs—this has not been articulated adequately by anyone and, due to the stimulus’ small scope, has been visible to almost no one.

This uncertainty and seeming lack of action is where much of the anger comes from.
This rage has been brilliantly exploited by both special interest organizations (Freedom Works) and commentators (Glenn Beck) to prevent much of anything from being accomplished in Washington.

However, it is far too easy too simply blame these special interests (mostly corporations who lose-out when reforms are passed) for what is happening. They would not be nearly as successful without a citizenry looking for answers. There is certainly legitimate resentment and fear across this country. Average real wages (the value of wages adjusted for inflation) have decreased since the 80s while the money made by top percentiles in the country has grown vastly. So the real question should not be “Why are these people angry?” but rather “Why has this anger not been directed towards the status-quo?”

This is where the failure of the Left is most evident.

On any given issue from health care to investments in a green economy there is little doubt that Americans would benefit from swift action, but the case for this has not been made. Democrats in congress have only proposed the most tepid reforms—a cap and trade bill instead of a carbon tax, minor reforms in health care instead of larger overhauls of the dysfunctional system—and this has only dug their hole deeper.

The clearest case of this failure of the Left to direct public anger towards the real problems hurting the country has been the question of regulating the big banks. The anger across the country following the massive bank bailouts, largely viewed as payouts for campaign contributions, has been quite clear. It would not been difficult to pass strict regulations to end some of their most grievous practices, but this has not happened. Even on the question of creating an agency with the express mission of protecting consumers from deceptive bank practices there has been little action until recently.

I fear that this trend will continue until grass roots groups who were motivated so successfully to elect President Obama can once again reignite their passion and push the agenda of congress and the president closer to what this country needs.

However until this happens, when asking who has caused the Conservative rage gripping the country look not to any successful case made by the Right but rather the failures of the Left.

Some Thoughts About the Tea Party Movement

In a video I just watched on YouTube taped during a talk Noam Chomsky gave in October (Part 1 & Part 2), he briefly discusses the Tea Party Movement and offers a unique perspective regarding it. (Also, read here for another unique perspective.)

Too often the Tea Party movement has been treated with derision by the elite liberal community (most notably their frequent labeling as "tea baggers"), but this strikes me as counter productive and often elitist. This is likely because the movement has mostly come out in opposition to policies supported by the Democracts, something that was most clearly evident during this summer's town hall meetings. Frequently liberal commentators simply wrote these individuals off as results of 'astroturfing,' meaning that they were payed by some special-interest to protest. Although there was some truth to this argument, the fact remains that these are real people with, as Chomsky say, "legitimate grievances."


These are people who see the massive bailout of the financial industry, the power of lobbyist in Washington and the lack of choice presented by the two-party system and are angered and frightened. But unlike most with similar views they have chosen not to be cynical, but instead have decided to speak up using their inalienable right as citizens. Unfortunately most organization of these people has been precipitated by right-wing groups, who I feel have twisted this massive mobilization of people in order to support position which run contrary to most of these people's self-interest. I don't mean that the protesters are stupid, but I do believe that they haven't been presented with any viable alternatives to those presented by the right.


This lead to Chomsky's most important question, "Why isn't the left organizing these people?" It seems that most of the individuals at these protests are working-class individuals who resent the unholy relationship between government and corporate interests. Oddly, during the health care debate the protests at town hall meetings (not the same thing as the Tea Party protests, but having a similar sentiment) suggested that the status-quo was working. This is understandable. The Democrats, who were the main outlet for the venom of the protesters, only proposed minor adjustments to the system; some of which serve to strengthen the corporate bureaucracy that controls the system.


One can only imagine if the Democrats has proposed true reform in the form of some sort of single-payer system, or Medicare-For-All (as Sen. Bernie Sanders heroically defends here). Certainly the attack could not be any worse than those used over the summer (i.e. death-panels) and at least real fundamental change would be occurring. The Democrats would have more arguments on their side (universal coverage, ending bureaucracy, lower costs), but instead the Democrats proposed a tepid bill; the senate version even lacking a public option which polls continuously showed was supported by the majority of the country.


Maybe it is fanciful to think that the Tea Party protesters would come over to the the other side if these proposals were made, but it certainly could have activated a progressive groundswell in support of reform rather than the opposition most progressives have engaged in. Regardless, it is time for the elites to stop degrading the Tea Party movement and progressives to start organizing in a similar fashion.