Pretend Populists

Though always necessary, it has become trendy among politicians over the last few elections cycles to try and tell and ever discontented majority populace they understand the angst. People seeking elected office on both sides of the isle are trying to play to the middle income and low income Americans now more than ever. Not only is there an election around the corner and a need for them to play to the largest sources of votes, but the public are looking for people that can deliver what has not been delivered thus far. Yet how much of what we have been asking for as a nation has been delivered on over the last three elections?

We know the economy will recover at some point, and that is the most important aspect of the upcoming elections. We don't know when, however, and the handling of it by both parties has shown precisely where their allegiances lie. Neither seems to care much for the plight of the everyday person – the majority of Americans. Sure they say they do and no more loudly than at election time. But their actions have been telling.

The most important thing in any national crisis is strong leadership and in a democracy that means more than one person or office. In any situation this is true. Take 9/11 as an example. When it happened our leadership went to busying themselves with figuring out the responsible parties and moving to pursue them. At that moment we needed more than just decisiveness from the Executive Office for effective action.

We needed a Congress ready to come to the table and work to resolve the problem we were facing. It can be argued one way or another about Congress more properly vetting the information etc. But with regards to 9/11, not Iraq, Congress was willing to work with the Executive Office and the experts to take decisive action as best they felt they could at the time. Very few Americans at that time or even now feel going after Al Qaeda in Afghanistan was the wrong thing to do. It was done in part through cooperation and a willingness to put the pettiness of everyday politics aside for the better of the nation.

Fast forward to the inauguration of President Barack Obama and since then we still have yet to see this kind of coming together in this economic emergency. There has been no willingness to put the greater good of the nation before more selfish interests on the part of the members of Congress. The economy has been suffering since 2007 and Congress has acted as if this were nothing more than a number.

They have acted as though this were just something they had all the time in the world to sit and work through waiting for the opportunity to act advantageously coming up with a win for their side – high fives all around. What they have seemed to miss is the fact people are suffering. On both sides of the isle it is like there is just this weird accounting problem or imbalance that needs to be worked out. It's as if they were elected to win a game of numbers and will and all they have to do is play a combination of chicken and hardball to eventually prevail.

Both sides have behaved this way, but one side's behavior has been especially disappointing. The left here like the left in most every country claims to be the party (as there is currently only one party to represent the entire left in the US) that represents the “people” and the working class. Yet how much of that have we really seen demonstrated and played out in front of us? Time and time again they have had opportunities to demonstrate their dedication to the majority of Americans and really stand out that way. The fact is they have failed and failed miserably.

We know that cutting entitlements for the 99% while working feverishly to block cutting them for wealthy corporations – the 1% - has been a priority for the right and they have not tried to hide it. Make the wealthier even wealthier and we will all be richer. Yet while the companies owned by America's wealthiest corporations once employing Americans at a decent wage here have been shipped overseas we have not seen this. All the while the power of American worker unions has been cut. For most of the period between the late 1970's and roughly 2007 - 2008 American wages stagnated and obviously have recently declined.

The logic of as the wealthy get wealthier so do the rest of us just doesn't pan out. There is more money to dump into campaign coffers from wealthy corporations but that's about it. There may be economies where that kind of growth is happening but those were incredibly poor nations that received help from us in three ways. First they were the beneficiaries of currency manipulation deals between the FED and their central banks. Second they got our military to protect factories once located here from the very people that kept their economies from healthy growth in the past and that keep American factory owners and top level management from being kidnapped and extorted and legally robbed by any corrupt politicians there might be in those nations. Finally they got our jobs!!!!

The wealthy of this country benefitted tremendously by these practices and we became poorer. We expected the right to protect wealthy corporations, but we also expected the left or center left (if there are such things in this country's elected leadership anymore) to be on our side. But it's like they've given up.

Our schools have regressed and slid without a care. It's as though they're all on autopilot waiting for the nation to crumble like they've given up. Oh they spout the speeches and come election time talk about what everyday Americans need and want according to the stats. But aside from election time when are they acting like it?

The entire nation, fed up with power grab politics of the previous administration that favored the wealthy gave a super majority to the party of the left. That party didn't just promise change but listed specific changes they would bring. They had the Executive Office, the House and the Senate and they never used that time to pass the top promises. They never held the financiers on Wall Street responsible for the sub-prime mortgage crisis accountable. Not a single 'buck stops here' top tier executive got sent to prison. Instead over and over they were rewarded with huge injections of cash.

As a result they weren't just rescued they were enriched. They became wealthier than they were previous to the crisis – and us? Are we wealthier? When we look around our suburban cul de sacs are our neighbors better off? Are people feeling more or less secure? When we look around our urban neighborhoods are people happier with more jobs and better employment opportunities?

How are the schools for our children doing? How are the schools for the children of wealthy CEO's whose companies received bailouts doing? Is this fair? Were we treated fairly? Was the super majority given to the party currently claiming to be representing the left or ordinary folk wisely used? How do you feel about it? What do you feel? Do you feel better off? Should we be spending money sending aid to rebuild Libya and Iraq already slated for 2012? Where will that money come from? Should we be spending more money in Afghanistan until 2013 or bring that money home and put it to good use here on government spending and going back into our pockets?

What the heck are we doing spending money sending even more troops to Uganda? What's that all about and where is that money coming from? More deficit spending on another war in another country from the president that ran against wars in 2008 and was swept into office based in part on promises he made accordingly? Can anybody say the left is the right is the right is the left because outside of names I sincerely doubt they really know the difference between the two parties and I thing they feel most comfortable with things being that way at this point.

To read about my inspiration for this article go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.