The Punk Patriot Plays Pundit: What Obama Should Do

So there's this hullabaloo about the Bush Tax Cuts.

Here's what's going down:

The GOP is saying that they want to make the Bush Tax cuts permanent.
If we do that, our country is so incredibly fucked, you have no idea. If we dont' start paying back our debts, other countries are going to drop the dollar like it's hot feces, and our creditor nations like China are going to call in our debt. We'd be totally fucked.
We HAVE to increase revenue and pay down our debt.

The GOP is making a power move, saying that "If you don't give us what we want, we're not going to let you have anything!" Basically they'd block every possible vote on things like Unemployment benefits, and other much needed reforms.

Now, I'm going to get super cold and game-theory on you.

What Obama should do is this: Veto the tax bill, force the Bush Tax Cuts to expire, and throw out the Unemployment benefits with it. Then immediately go to the microphones and say, "America needs congress to get SERIOUS. (explain the debt crisis). We gave the GOP an opportunity to give middle income Americans an extension on the tax breaks, while letting the tax cuts for the most wealthy expire so that we can do the responsible thing and pay down our debt.

"The GOP felt that it was MORE IMPORTANT to give the wealthiest 2% of Americans millions of dollars that we can't pay for, that we're borrowing money from China to pay for, than to give the working people of this country the majority of Americans, a much needed break.

Then the GOP will freak out, and accuse Obama of all sorts of things. Who cares what they have to say, it's a bunch of noise.

Obama stays on the offensive, accusing GOP and BlueDogs in congress of opposing the policies that we need to make America great again.

Unemployment benefits end for thousands of Americans.

Hit the microphones, and beat the GOP over the head with it. Blame them for letting them expire, because they were more worried about serving the super-wealthy than helping out the Average American. Lay out a New Deal type plan for putting americans back to work.

Homelessness ticks up as folks lose unemployment benefits.

Once again, Obama hits the microphones, accusing the Congress of inaction, and paint himself as the change agent whose progressive policies will save the day.

Repeat this tactic ad naseum until you beat them into submission.

How do I know this will work?

It's what FDR did.



By allowing the GOP to frame the debate, Obama will inevitably lose:
* the argument
*the war of ideas
*he'll lose ground on policy
* and he might even lose the next election.

Punk Patriot * Wall Street Time Bomb?

Download the track "Wall Street" from this episode: [Download]

What good are Pundits, anyways?

Hi there pundits. I want you to look at yourself in the mirror.

Take a good, long, hard look. I want you to ask yourself this question, and really think about it-- What good does your column do for voters? And let's be intellectually honest about it.

The horse race style "coverage" is handled well enough by the corporate media already. Do you really think that your stats and pontifications-- which seem to be nothing more than a redux of 24 hour news network coverage-- adds anything of any value to the mix?

Does it benefit the voters, most of whom don't even understand what Single Payer Healthcare is, and have never even heard of HR 676, yet know the very real pain and frustration of being denied vital life-saving coverage by their health insurance corporation?

Does your "insight" help us to understand the platforms of the candidates? Does it help us to understand the root causes of the issues that we face in our daily lives?

Do you help us to stop the killing by allowing the voting populace to know the details of the exit strategies of all candidates? (Obama and McCain both want to leave troops in Iraq permanently, for instance.)

Telling us which demographics the Big Two politicians are polling well with-- does this give us the tools we need to make an informed decision about which candidate matches our own personal platforms?

Rehashing polls done by corporate-owned news media, with margins of error large enough that they are statistically insignificant, does not aid the average voter who is struggling to pay the bills and is looking for real solutions to the problems they face in their life. Most Americans really don't care that you've decided who is going to win.

So, I'll ask again, and I hope you do as well: What PURPOSE do you serve?

Your contributions are nothing more than an empty hall of mirrors. You, telling us, what we are supposedly telling you, that we're thinking. Why not give us something to think ABOUT?

The inane fluff you publish as a pundit distracts from the fact that there's a WAR going on-- with over a million innocent Iraqi's and over 4,000 US soldiers dead, that the US Gov't is trillions of dollars in debt, that we have a growing trade deficit with just about everybody, that the Federal Reserve is destroying the power of the US dollar, and that in America NINE TIMES the number of people who died on 9-11 die EVERY YEAR simply because they lack access to adequate health care, or were denied coverage by their insurance provider.

What are the candidates going to do about any of this? Regarding health care, both McCain and Obama both want to put your tax dollars directly in the pocket of health insurance corporations-- who play a middle man between you and your doctor, telling you what treatments your doctor can give you, not for your own health, but for the health of their shareholder's stock returns. But of course, you're not going to let us know about that. You're just going to tell us what we think about gaffes, petty branding disputes (Change? Hope? Puppies? Apple Pie?) and other such drama more appropriate to high school lunchrooms. Actually, I take that back. Your average high school student probably cares more about the platforms of the candidates than your average pundit.

You pundits chase after us, wondering what we are thinking and who we
are going to vote for so that you can make accurate predictions about
how we're going to vote, and you have nothing to offer but intellectual
cotton candy-- light, fluffy, no substance, no nutritious value, and
likely to cause tooth decay.

Only it's our society that is decaying.

Thank you for your contribution to the downfall of Democracy.
Or inversely, your total lack of any contribution whatsoever to a well informed voting population.