Obama Turnaound?

If and when Barack Obama's Presidency turns around, we'll only know the moment that it did from hindsight, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it may be coming soon or may have already happened. On his listening tour of key Midwestern states, the President defended his health care reform plan and even tried to turn the phrase "Obamacare" from a pejorative to a badge of honor, saying that it means that he cares about people's health coverage and that his opponents obviously don't. But that's not the moment that will possibly be seen as his turnaround moment.

On the issue of jobs, Obama, says he plans to announce a sweeping jobs program (including, I assume, infrastructure repair) and dare the Republicans to oppose it, as many in the Democratic party base and the media have urged him to do. But he won't offer it until September, even though Chris Matthews seems to think that it would be wise for Obama to call Congress in session now. But Obama may be wise to wait. Who follows politics in August anyway? I mean, apart from Matthews? Right after Labor Day - a day honoring workers - would be a perfect time to galvanize his base and get people's attention, when everyone's settling into their regular routines. As for passing a jobs bill now, that's not going to employ the jobless any faster than passing it in September would. But that doesn't matter, as Republicans seem hell-bent on taking the dare and blocking it. And what better time to make them take the dare to oppose a jobs bill than when people are just beginning to focus on Washington again?

Meanwhile, Republican attempts to have two Democratic state senators in Wisconsin recalled failed, as both Democrats fended off GOP challenges yesterday in the second round of recall elections there. So, despite coming up one seat short of taking over the state Senate, Wisconsin Democrats have won four out of five recall elections and may have one Republican senator, the aforementioned Dale Schultz, on their side in opposing Governor Scott Walker's most extreme reforms. And they have more of an impetus to get Walker to face a recall election in 2012. So if this is a victory for the reactionaries (don't call them "conservatives," it's a misleading label suggesting that the American right shows restraint), I'd love to hear how.

And I'd love to hear from Mitch McConnell how the idea of the U.S. becoming more like European countries - and getting public medical insurance, paid family leave, paid child care, low homicide rates, quality public transportation, superior public education, and the opportunity to buy a Volkswagen Polo - is a bad thing.

Back On the Block

In one short week, Senate Republicans have blocked a number of bills that would have benefited millions of people and strengthened out democracy. After blocking a clean energy bill, and a federal election disclosure bill, as mentioned earlier on this blog, the Guardians of Privilege (GOP) blocked legislation aimed at giving tax breaks to small business to help create more jobs. So who are people angry at? The Democrats, of course.

Let me explain. Republicans hope to paint the Democrats as being ineffective in getting anything done and insist that the legislation Democrats offer will only add more spending to the deficit, so any bill Republicans stop deserves to be stopped. Thanks to key words about budget concerns - offered up by Republican sloganeer Frank Luntz - Republicans hope to regain control of both houses of Congress - even the Senate, where they need ten seats - and commit America to a fourth decade of supply-side economics that benefit the rich and create the kind of jobs adult Americans will have to compete with their own teenage children for.

The Republican act of stopping economic legislation passed by Democrats and blaming economic inaction on the Democrats when the Republicans got us into the mess we're in seems like an episode of an old sitcom where a character takes the rap for a misdeed he didn't commit while the culprit gets away with it - at least until the last scene, when he's exposed. The editor of The Nation, Katrina vanden Heuvel - whose name sounds menacingly European - suggested on Ed Schultz's MSNBC show that Democrats base their campaigns on exposing Republican stall tactics designed to make President Obama fail and bring the Palinistas and the Bachmanniacs into power.

But, sadly, unlike one of those old sitcom episodes - except for an episode of, say, "Seinfeld" - Republicans are poised to get away once again with their misdeed. That would be pretending to stand for the little guy when in reality they plan to run roughshod over him. In regard to the small business bill - which Republicans had once supported - the Senate GOP insist they're holding it back at so they can offer more amendments to it. By that, they mean that they want to add tax cuts for the top earners in this country and block extensions of credit to small businesses to create jobs. But they frame it as providing tax relief to working Americans and trying to keep the government from bailing out private enterprise. Oh my gosh, they sound so . . . reasonable! They seem to make . . . sense! I'm not going to fall for that, but many of my fellow Americans will, because they are, well, morons. Even if the Democrats could make a concerted effort to do what Katrina vanden Heuvel suggests, they wouldn't get very far. No matter, because I do not believe the Democrats have the ability to make their case. They're Democrats, remember?

In other news, Chelsea Clinton got married today. Watch me not care.