We need a democratic party!

It’s truly amazing how far the Republicans are pushing.  We have governors refusing unemployment aid from the federal government, prominent Republicans are openly calling for severe cuts in social security, medicare, and medicaid, a recent Republican report favors steps to reduce wages in both the public and private sectors, and it goes on from there.  Their agenda, pulled from the darkest days of the 19th century, cannot possibly command majority support.  Or so one would think.

That Republicans remain electorally competitive can only be attributed to the connivance of the world’s second most right wing party, the Democrats.  Obama is missing in action and is rightly seen to be in lock step with Wall Street and corporate America.  My home state Colorado Democratic senators – Michael Bennett and Mark Udall – are on record favoring the recommendations of the outrageously regressive, Obama instigated Bowles Simpson report which:

1) Slashes discretionary spending;

2) Increases the regressive gas tax by 15 cents per gallon;

3) “Substantially” lowers marginal income tax rates;

4) Lowers corporate tax rates and eliminates tax on foreign operations;

5) Slashes medicare benefits;

6) Eliminates low interest college loan support; and

7) Reduces social security benefits.

The pendulum must be approaching its rightward limit.  There are a number of hopeful signs and I came across one today while talking to my consistently republican brother.  He at first told me he thinks Obama and the democrats are doing nothing for the economy, to which I of course agreed.  He said he’s increasingly taken aback by the rising calls for cuts in social security and that is his most important issue.  Illustrating vast confusion, he said he likes Donald Trump (!) but even more so is beginning to like Dennis Kucinich!  The key point to which we both agreed is that neither party is representing the bottom 80%.

The country is oh so ripe for a democratic (small d) party.