The part that resonated with me is here at the very end:
I don't believe the congress is the problem. And let's just say that if it is, if the majorities the Democrats have, the amount of popular outrage and the magnitude of the crisis we face aren't enough to push through real reform of the financial sector in the face of Wall Street screeching, then let's kiss health care and everything else goodbye. If the political will isn't there for something this vital, it's not there for anything and we are simply screwed.
And voila, today we have the Blue Dogs stamping their feet and gnashing their teeth at key provisions of the Obama budget. They are ready to scrap domestic spending and Obama’s signature tax cut and are giving ammo to Republicans like Eric Cantor, who now claims the Obama budget
"is so far out of the mainstream" that even members of Obama's own party are reluctant to support it.
Wait, last I checked Republicans loved loved loved tax cuts. Do they only like the kind that aren’t paid for in the budget? WTF?
So let’s head back over to Hullabaloo, where dday explains it for us:
But Obama paid for that tax cut in his budget. It was tied to revenue from a cap and trade plan. The reason the tax cut is out has nothing to do with expense, but because cap and trade has been excised. Kent Conrad and the Axis of Centrism just don't want to deal with climate change in a meaningful and substantive way, which will lead to more extreme weather, loss of snowpack, more hardship for farming, the loss of a great deal of the American coastline, and untold disaster funding needs.
This is how the government spends money in the name of saving it. And this is how "fiscal responsibility" is used as a cover to block progress.
So it appears there is no political will after all. And Digby is right: we’re screwed.
Hey, Blue Dogs: thanks for nothing. Don’t think we won’t remember this when you’re up for re-election.
