5 years of obama from a socialist point of view

[Tucker]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024423703

Fri Jan 31, 2014, 08:47 PM

grahamhgreen (11,393 posts)

"Seattle's Socialist City Councilor Offers Radical Response to Obama Speech"

Last edited Fri Jan 31, 2014, 10:04 PM - Edit history (1)


Tonight, President Obama talked about the deepening inequality.

But that is a testament of his own presidency. A presidency that has betrayed the hopes of tens of millions of people who voted for him out of a genuine desire for fundamental change away from corporate politics and war mongering.

Poverty is at record-high numbers – 95% of the gains in productivity during the so-called recovery have gone to the top 1%.

The president’s focus on income inequality was an admission of the failure of his policies.

An admission forced by rallies, demonstrations, and strikes by fast food and low wage workers demanding a minimum wage of $15. It has been forced by the outrage over the widening gulf between the super-rich and those of us working to create this wealth in society.

While the criminals on Wall Street are bailed out, courageous whistleblowers like Edward Snowden are hunted down and the unconstitutional acts he exposed are allowed to continue.

Obama is the president who is using smartphone apps – games like Angry Birds – to spy against tens of millions of ordinary people in a completely blatant violation of basic constitutional rights.

The President claims ending two wars while he continues to intensify a brutal campaign of drone wars in multiple countries, killing hundreds of innocent civilians, and not to mention the plight of US soldiers returning with permanent medical conditions and declining veterans’ benefits.

Obama is the president whose broken website is a symbol of the broken hopes of millions who believed his promises for affordable healthcare.

“Climate change is a fact,” says Obama.

Here is another fact: Climate change is getting worse and worse, on his watch. There has been a massive increase in incredibly destructive practices like the use of coal and fracking.

Leadership in stopping the disastrous Keystone XL pipeline has come not from Obama or Congress, but from the thousands of courageous people organizing and taking direct action to stop it.

Obama shouts “Fix our broken immigration system.” He is the president with record numbers of deportations.

My brothers and sisters, these problems are not new. And they are not an accident.

Working people have faced nearly four decades of wage stagnation and rising income inequality.

Four decades, with four Republican presidents and three Democratic presidents. Four decades that show neither party can solve these problems and that both fundamentally represent the same interests – the interests of the super-wealthy and big corporations.

We will only make progress on the basis of fundamental, systemic change. We need a break from the policies of Wall Street and Corporate America. We need a break from capitalism. It has failed the 99%.

Both parties bow down before the free market, and loyally serve the interests of their corporate masters – the only difference being a matter of degree.

The political system is completely dysfunctional and broken. It is drowning in corporate cash.

Working people, youth, people of color, women, the elderly, the disabled, immigrants – the 99% – have no voice or representation

We need our own political party. Independent of big business, and independent of the parties of big business.

Some say it cannot be done.

But look at the example of my campaign for Seattle City Council. I ran as an open socialist. I did not take a penny in corporate cash. My campaign raised $140,000 from ordinary working people. I ran as an independent working-class challenger to the capitalist establishment.

I ran on a platform of $15 minimum wage, taxing the super-rich to pay for mass transit and education, and for affordable housing, including rent control.

I am only taking the average worker’s wage while politicians in Seattle and in Congress are totally out of touch with the lives of the rest of us.

We built a grassroots campaign of over 450 people. With almost 100,000 votes, my election was the first time in decades an independent socialist was elected in a major US city.

Americans are hungry for something different. And it’s not just in Seattle. A recent poll showed that sixty percent of Americans want a third party.

Let’s talk about minimum wage. Obama said, “No one working full-time should have to raise a family in poverty.”

And his solution? Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 over 3 years.

I absolutely welcome any step forward on raising the minimum wage. And it is outrageous how the Republican Party is standing in the way.

But let’s be honest: $10.10/hour over three years – or $20,000 per year if you are lucky enough to have a full-time job – is not a ticket out of poverty for working families.

Fast food workers and Walmart workers have gone on strike and built powerful protests in cities in every part of the country over the past year for $15/hour. And that is the only reason politicians are now talking about raising the minimum wage.

Look at the example of the SeaTac $15/hour initiative. A initiative for $15/hour minimum wage was on the ballot – and won!

“Let’s make this a year of action,” Obama said.

In my view, we need action by working people and the poor for higher wages and a $15/hour minimum wage. Action by young people fighting student fees and the debt around their neck for the rest of their life. Action by homeowners against the epidemic of foreclosures. By trade unionists against anti-trade union laws and for workers’ rights.

Get organized!

Get active in your union. Get active in a local movement. Join the struggle to defend the environment.

Join with me and my organization, Socialist Alternative, to challenge big business and fight capitalism.

The epicenter of the fight back in 2014 is the Fight for Fifteen. I urge you to be part of this struggle. Find out more and sign up to get involved at 15Now.org.

Solidarity!


We will lose if we do not excite the left wing of this country.


EDIT: oops, link http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/29/1273414/-The-Real-Socialist-State-of-the-Union#

DUmmies are out of options. Maybe they'll attempt a coup.

Response to Scootaloo (Reply #1)

Fri Jan 31, 2014, 11:43 PM

Star Member sabrina 1 (41,313 posts)
71. 'Even on DU'. You know what? Maybe this is what was needed. While we all thought we had

a party that was united for all the things mentioned in the OP, opposed to all those Right Wing policies, we remained in a state of denial. It wasn't until we won it all and still saw the same policies, the disgusting bi-partisanship garbage, they called it 'compromise' and it was always DEMS being asked to compromise even when they won.

And then the numerous appointments of Republicans, the remaining Bush people still operating with impunity five years later, like Clapper and Alexander eg.

It just occurred to me that we NEEDED to see what we are seeing now so openly on DU, so that we no longer remain 'hopeful' where there is no hope.

IF they continue to bash REAL DEMOCRATS, here or anywhere else, something good could come of all of this. Either we kick every fake, corporate Dem out of the party or as THIS is very, very likely to happen:

From the OP:

We need our own political party. Independent of big business, and independent of the parties of big business.

Some say it cannot be done.

But look at the example of my campaign for Seattle City Council. I ran as an open socialist. I did not take a penny in corporate cash. My campaign raised $140,000 from ordinary working people. I ran as an independent working-class challenger to the capitalist establishment.

I ran on a platform of $15 minimum wage, taxing the super-rich to pay for mass transit and education, and for affordable housing, including rent control.


As he says also, and I've seen these polls, 60% of the people want another party now. If the Dem Party continues to bash its own voters, as we are seeing right here on DU, if they are not smart enough to start giving their members something to vote for, then they will have only themselves to blame if voters finally get the message they've been sending 'We don't need your ideas, they are retarded, so just shut up and vote'. The first part is likely to sink in and finally be taken seriously.

PUMA..

Response to sabrina 1 (Reply #71)

Sat Feb 1, 2014, 12:08 AM

Star Member Scootaloo (9,420 posts)
75. The trouble I see is false progressives

The term "progressive" as a political appellation is problematic in itself - it's another term for conservatives who aren't reactionaries. For this reason - and the feeling that adopting the term was just giving ground to the right's demonization of "liberal" I've been refusing to use the term (not that liberal has a spotless history, but calling myself a leftist seems to derail any discussion right off the bat)

But you know, whatever, words change meaning over time, right? And then 2008 happened. And suddenly I'm hearing a lot of conservative bullshit coming from this "progressive" camp - not the politicians, they've always been middle-right twits because, well, they have money and power and that's what happens. but from the rank and file.

So, why did that happened? Did Obama make people conservative? BRFFFFFFT nope.

Two things; Authoritarianism and opportunism.

For the first, there are people who simply figure that everything coming from "their side" is perfect, and that any contest to that is therefore evil. Black and white thinkers. Thus why "firebaggers" like you and who say "could be better" are lumped with the shitting dicknipples in the tea party. I know the term "authoritarian" rankles a lot of people around here since it conjures images of a host of other political -isms, but it's a personality trait rather than a political movement, and no matter what, some segment of the population (sadly a surprisingly LARGE segment - yay psychological evolution) will display authoritarian traits.

The second, opportunism, is much more problematic, if no less annoying. You've seen of course all these republicans jumping from the GOP to become democrats. Are any of them changing their ideas and positions, do you think? I'm pretty certain they're not. The party switch is just a way for them to try to hold or gain power, of course; they're rats jumping from a sinking ship. They might be desperate, but they still carry the plague. And of course if politicians are making the very risky jump to what they see as the "winning side" of course voters, who have far, far less to lose, are doing the same.

I think DU has a large number of the latter, as well as a statistically normal number of the former. You'll note the number of posters who have long histories of anti-left, anti-labor, poor-bashing, racist and warmongering positions - which they shore up by paying lip service to marriage equality or choice. That is, they're conservative trolls on every issue that won't get them banned from DU, but sparkling angels on the issues that explicitly would get them chucked off the site.

right now the left's trouble is that most leftists are drawn from the people who AREN'T authoritarians and opportunists. naturally it's much easier to organize people who go with the flow, or limpet on for the ride, but not so much a grouping of people where everyone has four different ideas about how the thing should go.

Our plan is working,

Response to Scootaloo (Reply #75)

Sat Feb 1, 2014, 11:38 AM

A Simple Game (5,496 posts)
100. Nice post. Sadly DU hasn't been a liberal site for quite some time.

Even sadder is the fact that liberal bashing is openly and enthusiastically encouraged.

We even have posters defending bigots because they have a (D) after their name, and that is all they are, (D) in name only.

I think the time for liberals to abandon the Democratic party is long past due.

They are totally discombobulated.

It's worth a rowing over.

[Delmar]

Response to grahamhgreen (Original post)Fri Jan 31, 2014, 09:14 PM
Comrade Grumpy (6,501 posts)
10. I would vote for her.

Response to Octafish (Reply #123)Sat Feb 1, 2014, 01:06 PM
socialist_n_TN (9,405 posts)
126. Just a slight factual correction..........

The comrade is a gal and she's not mayor, she's a councilmember.

[Splashdown]

Response to Scootaloo (Reply #75)

Sat Feb 1, 2014, 11:38 AM

A Simple Game (5,496 posts)

...

We even have posters defending bigots because they have a (D) after their name...

...

Yep. Like Eric Holder, Barack Obama, Al Sharpton, Harry Reid, etc., etc., etc.

[Purple Sage]

[JohnnyReb]

My X-wife every 28 days.

Sorry, just being nostalgic for the bad old days.

[Carl]

These people just sicken me.
This country thrived and prospered for over 200 years on the concept that because we are free,we have the opportunity to better ourselves in life and our combined labors bettered everyones life as well.
It has not been perfect,there were corrections made along the way with ups and downs.
This country was great because it was a unique experiment in governance based on freedoms and rights we naturally posses.

Here we sit and lament the shape our country is in because a large percentage of the population has lost that desire for freedom and with the loss of the desire it is being taken away.

There they sit at the DUmp and lament and wail that the unicorn with the bag of goodies and freebies has not arrived for them yet.