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Web Letter

If the Democrats ever wanted to be bipartisan on healthcare, they hid it very, very well! There were a dozen significnt Republican ideas, such as allowing employers to form federations for purchasing insurance across state lines. The Dems killed a chance to increase competition for the benefit of workers.

Proper tort reform would have drained billions in waste from "defensive medicine." There are quite a few more. But the Democrats' idea of bipartisan was for Republicans to roll over and play dead, when everyone could have avoided this mess by meeting partway.

Web Letter

Excellent insight by Senator Sanders.

In politics, image is almost everything. The Democrats need to portray an image of success. I, a Democrat, am pleased with everything the Obama administration has done, I understand the political circumstances, I will not be apologetic or defensive.

For the future, the Democrats should drive home the following, and not get hung up on the details and the nuances. Most people don't care. Say it loud and often!

The Republican platform of deregulation and lax oversight is resposnsible for the financial crisis and high gasoline costs.

The Republican war in Iraq and the failures in Afghanistan have led to the huge deficit.

Web Letter

Sen. Sanders's article is a fine presentation of the disappointments of non-elite supporters of Obama for President since his inauguration. Sanders's article also offers a good list of repairs that the nation's political engine requires. The problem is, the engine cannot be fixed because there is no means of turning it off to install new parts, and as the heart surgeon told the auto mechanic, "I deserve more money than you because I have to fix the human engine while it is running." We have no constitutional cardiologists, only mechanics.

A point about the progressives in our country: progressives may be disappointed in Obama's first year--as if they had reason to expect better--but they are also greatly divided among themselves. Some, like me, have nothing but contempt for Obama and wish to see him humiliated in order to encourage another Democrat to lead the party in 2012. Others, like Richard Trumka (is a labor leader a progressive?) of AFL-CIO, still want to deal with Obama and take much less than half a loaf.