Tuesday: Can any of it be fixed?

Mar 10th, 2009 | By benwyskida | Category: Politics

PINKO DAILY BRIEFS: For the first time since President Obama took office, I've started to worry that maybe the political system is so intractable and impossible that we can't get anywhere. The Times wrote this morning about the competing interests tugging at the President's budget; The Washington Post had this item on (well-deserved) progressive ire over more money to the banks; it's arguable that the bank bailout - think of it as a three-legged stool along with the stimulus and the housing plan - is extremely flawed; and now a number of Centrist/Conservative Democrats are bailing on the Employee Free Choice Act, arguably the most important piece of legislation to the future of labor unions (and many struggling workers) in generations. The caveat here, of course, is that papers like The Washington Post and The New York Times exist to push the "turmoil" stories, so "Democrats in Disarray" is the kind of piece they're supposed to write whether it's true or not. But then you look at something like global warming and wonder if it's solvable in a democracy. Can we take the steps we need to take when a Senator from one state opposes a cap and trade system because it will hurt jobs there, and a Congressman from another opposes it because they want more money for a fuel source that is made in their district? I'm depressed. A couple other stories today:

Good news! My friend and the remarkable activist Van Jones has been named Barack Obama's green jobs czar Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, putting an inspirational leader dedicated to eco-equity in an important position shaping the administration's energy and climate policy.
Bad news! The U.S. Census person won't count gay people because it's a "lifestyle choice."
Open your checkbooks! It's the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers, a group that is imperiled and hard to talk about politically so they don't get a lot of love. Follow that link and give a donation if you can.

File Under: Pinko Daily Briefs

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Andrew March 10th, 2009 10:02 am
“I’ve started to worry that maybe the political system is so intractable and impossible that we can’t get anywhere.”

You are absolutely right. I’m a small business owner. Small businesses need capital RIGHT NOW to survive. I have calls in to my Congressman’s office (Hello? Donna? Pick up the phone please?). The Small Business Administration, Federal and local offices. Four banks, one with which I currently hold accounts and three others that have received tens of billions of dollars in federal bailout money.

I’ve gotten one call back from my small, locally-owned, regionally-operated, responsible bank. They can’t do anything because they haven’t gotten any new money. Because they didn’t screw up. Anyone else? The silence is deafening.

So this Employee’s Free Choice Act? Don’t mean shit if there’s no employers left. Let’s get some priorities straight in Washington. Get the money flowing. It’s already been allocated, now get it out where we need it. Stabilize the business atmosphere in a way that works, rather than throwing good money after bad to the crooks, scrooges and fools. Rewrite the regulations to reflect the current condition and requirements. Get Secretary Geithner his deputies and undersecretaries so he’s not the only guy in Washington doing the work.

For all of the money ($730 million) applied by the Stimulus bill to the Small Business Administration and all of the money (hundreds of billions of dollars) applied to the banking industry, everyone’s paralyzed. It’s one thing to trumpet passage the legislation, But if nobody works to enact that legislation, it’s far worse than doing nothing at all.