By D. Tree - Jan 21st, 2010 at 11:00 am EST 

Dear Fellow Democrats,

We worked so hard to elect a Democrat majority in 2006, and Barack Obama in 2008. We accomplished this by coalescing our different internal groups: progressives, liberals, independents, and - yes - even Conservadems.

Now that we have some amount of power, I am so saddened to see our party do what it has done in the past: our diverse groups are fragmenting because we expect some "perfect" version of policies to be enacted immediately. We seem unable to act like a TEAM.

How will we ever be able to govern, if we cannot compromise with each other? It will be impossible, and we will lose the power we worked so hard to attain... before we ever have a chance to show the American People that our ideas will make this country better.

Let me give you an example: Like you, I am receiving emails from various liberal and progressive causes - causes I supported during the elections, and during the fight for a public option. These action groups are now calling on me to petition the President to fire his top adviser. They are calling on me to demand my senators and congresspersons vote against the Healthcare Reform bill because it doesn't have a public option. In essence, at the same time conservatives and independents flee our party, my liberal fellows are actively fighting AGAINST the president we worked to hard to elect!

My fellow Democrats, don't you see how wrong this is? Have you ever heard the phrase "Cutting off one's nose to spite their face?"

Please don't misunderstand me. I am as liberal as they get! But I am also a PRAGMATIST. We need to learn a bit of pragmatism in our party. We have a Healthcare Reform bill that will cover over 30 millions uninsured Americans, will end discrimination against pre-existing conditions, and that will reduce the deficit. What, pray tell is wrong with that???

In politics there is a concept called a "Strategic Initiative." It is an idea that Republicans have long used to powerful effect: When you can't get a "perfect" bill, you pass something as close as you can get. A bill that opens the door to more progressive change, and that makes it harder to turn back time. That is what the Senate Health Reform bill is. Its not perfect, and it doesn't include a public option - something I fought very hard for, and something I know in my heart is necessary for effective reform. Heck, I support a Single Payer system, but I understand its too early for us to get that right now.

The House has passed its bill. The Senate has passed theirs. The time for insisting on a Public Option in THIS bill is passed. But, ask yourselves this: Are we more likely to get a public option in the future if we let this bill die? Or, having passed this bill that gets us one step away from a Public Option, will we be in a better position to pass it in the near future?

Fellow Democrats, we MUST seize this moment and pass reform now. We have delayed long enough. Debated long enough. If we work against this bill now, we are only playing into the hands of Republicans who want to kill the bill and start over. This is wrong politically, and will be the death of progress before it even has a chance.

Look, Democracy is messy business. Its not perfect, and it will never be! We cannot afford to hold progress hostage to our own perfect versions of reality! If we do not learn how to compromise with each other to form a Governing Coalition, we shall never achieve our progressive aims and our beloved country will only suffer further under the leadership of a party that CAN work lockstep together - and you know who that is.

Thank you for your time, D. Tree

supreme court -supreme idiots. 

By matt evans - Jan 21st, 2010 at 10:47 am EST 

Well they just killed Mccain fingold , The last fence we had between us and a total corporate take over of the political process. Corporations will now be able to spend whatever they want on support of their corporate agenda.You and I are limited in the amount we can send to a polition -they are not.We can't afford to purchase a commercial -they can afford thousands who do you think will be able to get their word out? So thanks to the supreme court its time to say hello to corporate america.Now they can bail themselfs out.With our money .So if you thought we might get hit by a tidal wave -just wait this election will have waves of biblical proportions.bought and payed for by The Untited corporate States Of America. What happened to - By the people For the people ?

First Year Review: Effective Liberalism

By Paul Heise - Jan 21st, 2010 at 10:20 am EST

After a year in office, Pres. Obama gives his administration a B+ but others are disappointed not to find much Change You Can Believe In or, conversely. too much change they don't believe in. The Right is painting the president as a dangerous and even demonic collectivist while the crusaders of the Left condemn him as compromising everything and lacking a liberal core. The supposedly neutral purveyors of the conventional wisdom are planting the idea that Pres. Obama is a growing disappointment.

These people base their judgment on a review of the big, life-and-death, unsolved crises that were inherited from the previous administration. Pres. Obama may have gotten his stimulus package, they say, but this did not cure the worsening unemployment of the Great Recession. The bankers who brought on the financial crisis have kept their billions and are even giving themselves bonuses. The watered down healthcare bill hangs by a thread on the Senate reconciliation process. The ramping up of the Afghan war is seen as a short-term fix that can only lead to a long-term disaster. This is bolstered by the accusations from the Right of socialism and the trash talk of the birthers and death panelists.

People, especially Democrats, are not paying attention. President Obama is within a yard of scoring the biggest piece of social legislation in 40 years. The New Yorker magazine reports that “the Senate bill would provide about $196 billion per year in subsidies to low-income and working Americans. That's more ... than the federal government spends on the earned income tax credit, Head Start, assistance to single mothers and their children, nutrition programs like food stamps, and the National Institute of Health combined.” That's more than a start and it can be built upon. The $700 billion stimulus package may not be big enough for Paul Krugman but it was big enough to keep the economy afloat and get past the threat a of depression level collapse.