This Is Not 1994

I am sick and tired of people suggesting the Republicans are going to storm the House like they did in 1994. 2010 is not 1994. Barack Obama is not Bill Clinton. Here are some reasons why.

1. There is no Newt Gingrich in the picture. 
2. There is no Contract On America. There is not likely to be one. The only things the Republicans have is obstructionism and the Bush policies. The voters already decided in 2008 how they felt about the Bush policies. And obstructionism does not get you votes. You have to have a positive agenda. The Republicans don't have one. 
3. Barack Obama is not Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton's economic record was outstanding, but Obama has beat Bill Clinton in the greatness department. To me that was a foregone conclusion on the campaign trail itself. And the greatness went official after he passed health care reform, something presidents struggled over for half a century. 
4. Bill Clinton's health care reform had failed as he headed into November 1994. Barack Obama's health effort passed. That is his backdrop as he heads into November 2010.
5. Barack Obama has been compared with JFK, with FDR, but never with Bill Clinton. Now is not the time to start on that. Clinton and Obama are just different. Their styles are very different. 
6. Bill Clinton did not campaign much for 1994. He was considered too unpopular to be effective. Barack Obama's popularity is not the same it was in December 2008, but it is still good. 
7. Barack is going to be able to explain that the Wall Street meltdown was an unexpected inheritance. The bailout happened before he got there. He is going to be able to explain the stark necessity of the stimulus bill. Without it the country would have been in Great Depression II right now. The unemployment rate would have been closer to 30% than 10%. The American people are going to understand that.  
8. He is going to be able to say he wants to focus on Congress reform and immigration reform in 2011. That he is a foe of debt and deficits and they will be at the center of his 2012 agenda going into the second term. But these past two years have not been the time for balanced budgets. These past two years have been the biggest economic crisis in 70 years. And the government had to step in to avoid Great Depression II. 
9. The Tea Party "movement" has made the GOP even more of a minority party. The harsh voices that are known to alienate people in the mainstream have taken over.
10. Barack is going to be able to energize the Obama surge crowd of 2008, not to the same extent perhaps as 2008. But he is going to make the case and they are going to come out in large enough numbers. One important point he has to make is that grassroots electioneering is not the same as grassroots governance. The netroots/grassroots need to acquire governance literacy. You can't attain power and then lose interest in it once you have it. But governance does require that you become more knowledgeable of the contours of power, of the compulsions of the opposition party, the compulsions of the various interest groups within your own party. Energizing people to show up to vote one day is comparatively simple. But governance is about conducting complex transactions on a daily basis. And the grassroots has to take an interest in that exercise of power like it took great interest in attaining that power. So far the grassroots has not lived up to the idea of grassroots governance. It does not have to be that way. You got to act like a party that feels being in power is but natural to you. You can't be feeling awkward and out of place once in power as if you miss being in opposition. Some of the netroots/grassroots act like they miss being in opposition. That has to go. 

Keeping The House And The Senate
Iran, Obama 2010, Reshma 2010
Perfect Time For Congress Reform
Save Immigration For 2011
Sep 15 - Oct 31: Obama-Reshma Should Crisscross The Country
September 14 Will Birth The New Woman
Reshma Saujani Is The Second Stimulus Bill This Country Needs
Reshma: Obama's Number One Weapon For November 2010
Obama Needs To Ride The Reshma Insurgency Wave To November Victory

Maloney Dismantled Glass-Steagall And Gave Us Great Recession

I read a reader comment at the New York Daily News that tells you all you need to know about Carolyn Maloney and the dismantling of the Glass-Steagall Act. That dismantling is what brought about the Great Recession, it is now widely believed in most intelligent circles. And this entire time Maloney has been telling the media and whoever else will listen that Reshma Saujani is the Wall Street's candidate.



In The News

New York Daily News: Reshma Saujani Launches New Anti-Carolyn Maloney Site: Updated: TheRealCarolynMaloney.com

Comment by Jonri: I live in the district. Way back when, I voted for Maloney when she ran against Bill Green. She won because of redistricting. The redistricting included Roosevelt Island, Astoria, LIC,etc.--areas which Green had not represented. Green carried the areas that had been part of his district. Maloney won because of Roosevelt Island and Queens. Since then, Maloney has ignored the rest of the district and catered to big money donors from the Upper East Side and from outside the district. I really chuckle when Maloney claims that she is in favor the small fry and anti the financial industry. Go back and check the record. Like a lot of people, I think the current economic mess, especially in New York, was caused by the dismantling of Glass-Steagall. That bill created lines of separation between banks and riskier investments. It was dismantled by the Gramm-Leach-Biley bill. Maloney not only voted in favor of the bill, she was one of the conferees. Yes, the bill had a few consumer protection clauses in it and that's what Maloney touts. But the whole subprime mortgage fiasco is in part the result of the gutting of Glass-Steagall and Maloney was an active participant in the gutting. Maloney was more than willing to do what the BANKS (not the securities firms) wanted her to do back then. And the result was a disaster. When the crisis hit, Congress didn't react quickly enough. And given her committee position, Maloney is responsible for that too. I've gotten invited to several Maloney events. The cheapest ticket to any of them was $1,000--out of my league. I saw Maloney at a community event a couple of months ago--the first time she's attended in over a decade. I tried to talk to her--a line formed. Maloney ignored all of us and talked to local elected officials--people she already knows. I gave up and left the line. Got about 2 feet when 2 of her campaign workers blocked my path and asked me to sign her petition. Of course, I said no--but now at least I knew why she bothered to attend this annual event after so many years of absence.

Our Town NY: Reshma Saujani: New Solutions To East Side Problems: a jobless recovery with no end in sight and politicians in Washington and Albany that are failing to act...... Public spaces like Ruppert Park may close, bus lines are being cut and bedbugs are a growing problem.......Right now, creating jobs must be our first priority ...... I’ve proposed a new 21st Century Jobs Corps to provide educational training grants to help unemployed Americans, like construction workers, find work in emerging sectors. I’ve also proposed a National Innovation Fund—a public-private partnership to invest seed money into start-up businesses in next-generation industries. I believe we should eliminate capital gains taxes on investments in micro-enterprises to empower entrepreneurs with innovative new business ideas. And I am calling for a $15,000 student loan credit for math, science or engineering college graduates who go to work for a clean-tech, biotech or high-tech start-up in New York for at least three years. We should also double the $2 billion in grants awarded to our entrepreneurs through the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs......... I will push for a national Tenants’ Bill of Rights to protect homeowners and oppose plans to privatize public housing...... The completion of the East Side Greenway must be a priority. I’m also concerned about the potential construction of a high-rise at the Ruppert Playground on 92nd Street........ The Second Avenue subway will ultimately be a positive addition to the community. But we need to engage the community throughout the building process. ...... New York is the greatest city in the world, but our politicians in Washington and Albany are failing to lead.

The Lo Down NY: Maloney/Saujani Quizzed On WNYC: The back-to-back interviews on WNYC last Friday will give you a pretty good idea what to expect during that midday radio-only encounter