Megabanks survive and prevail. Useless, murderous war is endless. Living wage, family supporting jobs disappear perpetually. This happens partly because both major parties, on state -- wide and national levels, are thoroughly corrupted by special interest money. Our Constitution and rules of operation of the Senate make it possible for the Presidency or even a sizeable minority in at least one house of Congress to block passage of laws and actions that severely harm large numbers of Americans. But since the early Clinton administration elected Democrats have either failed to stop or actually co-sponsored some egregious harms. These include the
1. passage of NAFTA,
2. excessively harsh criminal, including drug laws,
3. abolition of welfare "as we knew it," and
4. deregulation of banks that allowed the Crash of 2009, plus
5. endless funding for war against the 1.4 billion Muslims living in over 40 countries mostly in the Middle East.
When the election of 2000 was stolen from Gore, by Republicans,
6. Democrats should have raised hell, even "shut down the government," until all the votes were counted. Gore had won the popular vote. Democrats failed majoritarian democracy. After that, it's been disaster after disaster. On February 15, 2003, there were protests against America starting a war against Iraq in 800 cities around the world. Thirteen large American organizations sent open letters to the president against it, but they were all ignored. Yet Congressional Democrats have continued to vote, in sufficient numbers, to keep appropriating vast sums of money to kill Middle Easterners.
7. Democrats could have least have voted to stop or reduce funding for the wars. Also, they vote, with Republicans, to approve very large arms sales to Middle Eastern countries.
In 2008 the Democrats were granted, by the voters, a sweep of the Presidency and majorities in both houses. It was a Roosevelt moment, a golden opportunity for a new New Deal or at least a new Great Society. They could have started by abolishing or reducing the filibuster and then passed those programs.
8. They baulked. In the end they and Republicans passed ineffective "stimuli" programs, laden with tax cuts and subsidies, and voluntary for the private banks.
9. Democrats should have voted against the Bank Bailout! That would have destroyed several of the largest private financial powers and weakened the corrupt lobbying hold of Finance on the government.
10. Democrats, together with Republicans, are failing badly to meet the challenge of global warming. Expense from adaptation will be so great it will severely harm the poorest people of the earth (including our poorest Americans countrymen.)
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