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Another quiet accomplishment

by: bloomingpol

Mon Feb 01, 2010 at 18:14:12 PM EST
I say quiet because rarely does it get talked about, like so much that is going on in the new administration under the radar of the screaming media.  Here is something I didn't even know about, from John Judis.
bloomingpol :: Another quiet accomplishment
Yet there is one extremely consequential area where Obama has done just about everything a liberal could ask for--but done it so quietly that almost no one, including most liberals, has noticed. Obama's three Republican predecessors were all committed to weakening or even destroying the country's regulatory apparatus: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the other agencies that are supposed to protect workers and consumers by regulating business practices. Now Obama is seeking to rebuild these battered institutions. In doing so, he isn't simply improving the effectiveness of various government offices or making scattered progress on a few issues; he is resuscitating an entire philosophy of government with roots in the Progressive era of the early twentieth century. Taken as a whole, Obama's revival of these agencies is arguably the most significant accomplishment of his first year in office.
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Another quiet accomplishment | 5 comments
That's great! (0.00 / 0)

I think that's an important victory that needs to be fought and I really am glad this was accomplished. But for me, there are more glaring and more important issues on the table that have to be addressed and Obama is going in the opposite direction like not standing up to Wall Street, withdrawing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, not respecting detainees right to a fair trial, increasing the number of lawless mercenaries, failing to support a health care plan with a public option (even when the votes are there in the Senate to begin with), failing to close Guantanamo, beating the drums of war with Iran, assassinations abroad, not doing anything to reduce the executive powers that Bush-Cheney enabled in the last eight years, and increasing the military budget by obscene numbers, etc., etc.

That to me, as a Democrat, is alarming. How are these no different than the GOP on these major issues? How does this not represent the rise of an imperialistic power and/or an undemocratic state? Seriously, I'm NOT trying to bash Democrats. I just think we need to discuss these matters honestly, because I don't think they represent what Obama or the Democratic Party should be about. I'm also not trying to be negative. I'm just trying to get us to deal with the huge elephant in the room we're ignoring. We should be concerned and speaking out against these policy decisions. Yet we seem to be giving Obama and co. a pass. We shouldn't.

As I said, I'm trying to ask these questions in a respectful and honest matter because all of these developments are alarming. Why isn't it for so many of us at this Web site? Obama (and/or Congress) to me, is not making the right decisions for our country.  

that's not what this thread is about n/t (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
Actually, I think it's relevant. Who are you to decide? n/t (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
What? (0.00 / 0)
Kite has every right in the world to express an opinion as to whether you are hijacking the discussion. Who are you to question his/her right to do so?  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    
[ Parent ]
Fine. (0.00 / 0)

But I still disagree. Kite can question it, but he/she isn't judge whether it's appropriate or not. That's a matter of debate and not everyone would agree with Kite that it's shifting the discussion. I'm respectfully challenging Obama's record on a topic that deals with precisely that. In conclusion, it's pertinent.

Sorry Bloomingpol.

Now back to Obama.  

[ Parent ]
Another quiet accomplishment | 5 comments

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