Home > The Democratic Victory: ‘It’s the people’s agenda, stupid’

The Democratic Victory: ‘It’s the people’s agenda, stupid’

by Open-Publishing - Wednesday 8 November 2006
3 comments

Parties Elections-Elected USA Mary MacElveen

The Democratic Victory: ‘It’s the people’s agenda, stupid’
By Mary MacElveen
November 8, 2006

When Congresswoman, Nancy Pelosi the incoming Speaker of the House stated that impeachment was not on the table in relation to Bush, it angered most on the more liberal side of the Democratic Party including myself. Hindsight being what it is, it was smart of her to say that. In fact, if that had been our main platform, there would have been a sharp rebuke by the electorate itself. The take over only happened with candidates that tend to be more centrist and even conservative in their beliefs.

What they said through this victory was that the people’s agenda must come first and any ‘gotcha’ moment must be tabled. Yes, there will be investigations, implementations of the 9/11 commission reports and more oversight, this victory was in no way a mandate for any impeachment process.

Yes, I do hear those from the left side of the Democratic Party screaming at me, but they only have to look at the breakdown on how this victory was accomplished.

Representative Rahm Emanuel stated of this victory “The American people have sent a resounding and unmistakable message of change and a new direction for America,” What that says to me is that people want this government to focus more on the domestic agenda which has been all but ignored by the GOP led House of Representatives and the White House.

With several states raising the minimum wage, that sets the tone for a more formidable debate in the House that it must be done at the federal level. The federal minimum wage presently stands at $5.15 an hour. I feel those that have been left behind in the past by the GOP stated so when they chose to support Democratic candidates across this country.

Never did I think I would agree with the GOP Chair, Ken Mehlman when he stated “We have to continue to work and try to work on a bipartisan basis to accomplish things.” But that is exactly what America was saying last night as they rebuked the extreme right-wing agenda that has gripped this country to its very detriment. The GOP received a sound spanking yesterday and it is also up to them to come to some form of consensus in order to work on behalf of the American people.

While many independents as well as Republicans sited that corruption was one of the most important issues that affected their votes in which they broke for Democrats, if the Democratic Party is to succeed in this era of change, the people agenda should come before impeachment hearings. I think that the people through their votes took care of that wave of corruption that strangled the federal government.

Pressure must be placed on Bush to fire Rumsfeld as incoming Speaker of the House; Nancy Pelosi stated “We can not continue down this catastrophic path. So we say to the president, ‘Mr. President, we need a new direction in Iraq. Let us work together to find a solution to the war in Iraq.’ ”

In fact just before the midterm elections, three military publications called for the resignation of Rumsfeld and in a past Salon.com article two former generals Maj. Gen. John Batiste and Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton stated in two separate interviews, “they believe a Democratic victory will help reverse course from what they consider to be a disastrous Bush administration policy in Iraq.”

Batiste even stated "The best thing that can happen right now is for one or both of our houses to go Democratic so we can have some oversight," He then went onto say "It is time for a change." While we are still waiting what transpires with who will ultimately control the senate, the people through their votes stated that our soldiers were more important and our policy in Iraq. If we face the scenario in which the GOP retains control over the senate, any impeachment process will fall flat within that body. If the scenario plays out in which Democrats will take that house as well, the people sent a different message yesterday.

Also, we must pay attention to what Batiste stated which is that we must concentrate on oversight instead of a ‘gotcha’ moment.

In closing and on a personal note, when the GOP launched their impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton, I was enraged that they were not attending to the people’s business and left the party. In not addressing the people’s business through a right-wing ideology much was lost to us all. Yesterday’s victory was not about an extreme ideology, but a more centrist position being delivered to the congress and ultimately George W. Bush himself. If we are to build a foundation at governing smartly, and with the 2008 presidential elections just around the corner, we do have a greater chance of winning back the executive branch.

http://www.marymacelveen.com/blog/_archives/2006/11/8/2483211.html

Forum posts

  • Your thoughtless cheerleading for the Dweedle Dee party is stunning. I hope your medicine cabinet is stocked with valium. You’re going to need it when you see your team follow the same foreign policies as the Dweedle Dum Party did. Get used to the US military presence in Iraq. It’s going to be a long, long occupation.

  • Ms. McElveen: This article you have released has raised several points
    that I wish to contend:

    1] Are you saying you switched parties only because the GOP’s leadership
    was behind Clinton’s ill-advised impeachment proceedings?
    Does this mean you will switch parties again if the Dims attempt to hold
    impeachment proceedings against Bush & Company?
    If that’s the case, how can you or anyone for that matter, compare
    Bill Clinton’s marital transgressions with Bush’s ongoing attacks on our Constitution?

    2] You mention that many ’liberals’ were angered at Pelosi’s statement.
    You either have forgotten, or probably never knew, that there are millions
    of honest Conservatives who dropped Bush like a hot potato a long time ago,
    precisely because this demented man’s policies are far from being Conservative.
    Bush’s policy of waging war through 100% deficit spending is not only
    a disastrous policy; it is anathema to any honest Conservative.
    Also you have forgotten how much honest Conservatives cherish the Constitution of
    the United States, which our demented President has written off as being nothing
    but a ‘goddamned piece of paper’. A ‘goddamned piece of paper’ he nonetheless
    swore to Almighty God to defend and uphold. A ‘goddamned piece of paper’ he then
    proceeded to attack and subvert throughout his term in office.
    You need to read the American Conservative more often.

    Let’s not be like our mass media in confusing honest Conservatism with fascism,
    which is the worst kind of socialism in that a fascist government re-distributes the
    wealth of a nation in favor of an entrenched, well-moneyed plutocracy and a giant
    military industrial complex. Everybody else in a fascist state is to be fleeced.

    Also, let’s not be as ignorant as our mass media in categorizing all Conservatives
    as ‘Christian Fundamentalists’. Anyone who starts reading the Cato Institute’s website
    will soon stop believing that hog-wash.

    3] You are committing a grave error in categorizing as ‘liberals’ ALL those who believe
    that this failure of a President should be impeached.
    One good reason why the Repukables lost Congress this past Tuesday is the fact
    that they had already lost their core constituency, REAL CONSERVATIVES, a long time
    ago.
    If you don’t believe me, please go to the following link:

    http://www.republicansforhumility.com/

    This article will open your eyes.
    You can read this following article as well; it pretty much says the same thing:

    http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0521-03.htm

    4] The mere fact that Pelosi has already removed from the ’table’
    any possibility of impeaching this failure of a President tells us that
    the centuries-old Punch and Judy show between these two allegedly
    opposing parties will continue to go on as before.

    Pelosi assured Bush that she will not push for impeachment proceedings,
    and Bush in turn gave up his favorite yard dog, Rumsfeld, something he
    was conceding anyway, as a sign of his willingness to work with the new
    Dimocratic Congress.
    This is typical of how the Punch and Judy show takes care of business
    throughout its long history.
    Pelosi is saying this between the lines: “Never mind the will of the people,
    Oh, Great Decider, let’s work together, as fellow leaders in controlling ‘democracy’.
    Scratch my back, Repukable, and I, the new head Dim in town, will scratch yours”.

    5] Forget that the neocons were well on their way in making America a fascist
    police state; forget the fact that their deleterious policies were rapidly bankrupting
    the country, forget that their greed and corruption would have ruined our nation had
    they remained in power. NO, say you wonderful, ‘enlightened’ Dimocrats, we shall NOT
    do the right thing, which is to impeach these sons of bitches; no, let’s work with
    these mobsters instead.

    How much more evidence does one need to realize that both of these two-faced parties
    are a huge part of our nation’s most pressing and ingrained problems, & as a matter of fact,
    have created a good portion of these problems? How many more
    of these disgusting ‘bi-partisan’ photo opportunities must one endure to realize that both
    of these parasitic parties are the root cause to many of our country’s ills?

    6] People who work for criminals end up becoming criminals or they end up dead.
    And people who consider the pursuit of justice as merely the pursuit of a ‘gotcha moment’
    should not be listened to at all.
    If we were to follow your warped logic, Ms. McElveen, the FBI would have to stop their
    continuous battles with racketeers and Mafiosi, since bringing criminals to justice
    amount to nothing but empty ‘gotcha moments’ in your Dim mind.