(2 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
Well I’m still kind of unhappy that dday has left the building just as I was with Valtin, but his replacement DSWright has highlighted an interesting dichotomy.
Democratic Party Divided As Obama Inauguration Approaches
By: DSWright, Firedog Lake
Friday January 18, 2013 6:47 am
The Democratic Party has always prided itself on having a “big tent.” But representing a diversity of interests is different than representing conflicting interests. As President Obama’s Second Inauguration approaches the divisions within the Democratic Party over wealth inequality and social justice are boiling to the surface.
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Calling the DLC “center-left” is a bit of a misnomer. The correct division is between Corporate Liberals and progressives. Those that genuinely believe (or are paid to genuinely believe) that the growth of Corporate Power in American society is not only a positive development but necessary for progress. On the other side are the progressives who believe the power of capital – particularly finance capital – has grown to the point of suffocating democracy and the possibility for progress. No easy divide to bridge.
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In no debate is this divide more clear than on entitlements where Corporate Liberals have decided to swallow right-wing talking points whole despite all evidence to the contrary. They also have, to an embarrassing degree, embraced Wall Street’s worldview on debt. After bailing out the banks – making private debts public debts – the Corporate Liberals have sided with the Republicans to now extract debt payments from the lower classes to pay off that odious debt.
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And of course the Corporate Liberals’ biggest blind spot, (is) the environment. Despite lofty goals and rhetoric climate change remains unaddressed in any meaningful way. By his own metric Obama has failed on one of the biggest issues of his time.It will be interesting to see how this divide plays out for the remainder of Obama’s presidency. Neither side of the divide has a compelling reason to lay down.
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