Wade To Democrats: Don't Blow Your Second Chance!

Hey DNC, let's get real, we may be Progressives and union people, but we're not pushovers!  Silly us, we totally bought the "Change We Can Believe In" thing and took it at face value!  Collectively, we gritted our teeth as we saw each of the President's campaign promises result in legislation that was watered down by something that looked more like capitulation to vested interests than compromise.  All we could do was shake our heads when the President didn't put up much of a fight for those promises. We hit the breaking point when certain members of  the President's Cabinet, made vulgar and snide remarks about progressives and unions, the core group of Democratic Party supporters.

Many of us, myself included have decided to give you a second chance and vote for Democratic candidates in November because we know that electing Republicans or Tea Partiers will result in a total corporate takeover of the USA.   What we want from you in return is the realization that you can't fix America's unemployment problems with "green jobs" rhetoric alone, they will not replace the massive hemorrhaging of jobs that "free" trade caused.   You have to stop the corporate outsourcing of jobs by keeping one of the President's original campaign promises of eliminating tax breaks for corporations who outsource manufacturing overseas.  You have to do whatever it takes to make this happen!  Since unionized jobs have helped American families realize the American dream and have been a wage and benefit pacesetter for ALL jobs in the USA, we ask you to support the Employee Free Choice Act and introduce other legislation that empowers unions, working people and the middle class!

On behalf of America's senior citizens and future retirees, we ask that you defend Social Security and Medicare and realize that it is what stands between retiring with dignity and retiring in poverty.  Working people have paid into the fund for years and expect it to be there for them.  Congress and the Senate have treated it as a giant piggy bank to tap when they need funds for things that have nothing to do with Social Security.  Don't expect to balance the budget on the backs of seniors and the defenseless!  While we're on the subject, the Presidentially appointed "deficit" commission seems to have a decidedly Republican agenda -- WHY?

Now onto an issue that you probably hoped I wouldn't raise - HEALTHCARE!!   Health care reform was a major campaign promise.  You had an opportunity to bring a TRUE world class health care program to the USA, rather than one that cares more about protecting the interests of insurance companies than the health of our citizens.   The ONLY way that could have happened was for the legislation to be passed quickly, by a unified Democratic Party that still had a solid majority.  That didn't happen, due to bickering Blue Dogs and a White House that was looking for "bipartisan" approval of the Health Care Bill.  The Republicans took advantage of your party's lack of a unified message on health care to do what they do best, spread fear, uncertainty and doubt to the American public, thus giving birth to the term "ObamaCare".

At this point, I have to give my assessment of the state of the Democratic Party and it's function in our two party system.  This is just some very intuitive conjecture, so take it for what it's worth. The Republicans talk a good game about patriotism to get the hearts and minds of working people but that's a smokescreen that hides their pro-corporate agenda.  The Democrats always take a we're going to help working people approach while they are campaigning but once elected, return to bi-partisan mode.  They have to take a bi-partisan approach out of necessity because unlike the Republicans who unite under the banner of corporatism,  the Democrats can't unite under the banner of populism because it's internal structure is inherently bi-partisan.  The Democratic Party is composed of Democrats and Mini-Republicans (Blue Dogs), thus making it dysfunctional.  Lobbyists infest both parties with the Republicans giving them their complete attention.

Yes DNC, as I mentioned previously, we are giving you a second chance, don't blow it or unions and progressives will unite behind a viable third party in 2012!