dubmeup wrote:
Yeah Obama has no power to do anything cos he got elected for his last term on the back of such things as promising to stop the practice of signing executive orders.
Oh wait....Hang on a mo.....
This is a very good point. I did, in fact, include the fact that he promised to stop using signing statements to by-pass Congress, but has failed to do so, in my list of things that I'd like him to do.
Another thing to consider is...how often do we see some really contentious or, frankly, despicable bills stall at the Congress or Senate, but then ultimately they are forced through? Quite often. They pretend to play hardball, but this is just a theatre for the public to buy into, and God knows it works well.
Remember the 'debt ceiling crisis'? Well, surprisingly, the banking system ultimately got what it wanted, and the debt ceiling was raised. What a surprise. Now we have the completely phony 'fiscal cliff' debate. The Congress will fold like Superman on laundry day when it comes down to it because they know very well that the United States is weeks away from not being able to pay its social security. Whatever Obama wants to do may conceivably be watered down very slightly, but ultimately it will get passed, because if it doesn't then people will find out what a true shit-hitting-the-fucking-fan crisis is. Great, hoorah, we solved that crisis, America can go on borrowing, more and more people can end up in poverty and on food stamps, the can gets kicked a bit further down the road, the banking system gets what it wants, the corporate media who are controlled by the people who benefit will whitewash the whole thing to make it sound like the result was good for America and an example of a fully-functioning political system.
So if it's possible to bypass Congress for nefarious reasons, and to pass bills into existence when there's a supposed crisis, and to use all kinds of underhand tactics to get the Congress and Senate to accept things that they should oppose if they have a grain of morality left in them...then why isn't possible to get some good bills past Congress? Because no-one tries, that's why. No-one even attempts to address the root cause of corporate-fascism. As long as the Congressmen and women can keep getting paid, and the vested interests that run the country get what they want, and none of the millions of people that are getting completely screwed every day of their lives realise it, and continue to turn out and vote for the same two corporate candidates, then nothing can or will change, at least at a political level.
