March 27, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

Even the FluxIs in FluxBY MICHAEL VENTURANewt Gingrich speaks of President BarackObama’s “European socialism transplantedto Washington” (The New York Times, Feb. 28,p.15). Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of SouthCarolina calls Obama “the world’s best salesmanof socialism,” and presidential hopefulMike Huckabee says of Obama’s policies that“Lenin and Stalin would love this stuff” (TheNew York Times, March 1, p.WK1). HouseMinority Leader John Boehner of Ohio,preening for the 2012 GOP nomination, callsthe stimulus a “down payment on a newAmerican socialism” (Associated Press online,Feb. 28). And the ever more bombastic LouDobbs, plugging his broadcast on CNN’s TheSituation Room (March 17), warns, “Liberalreporters, left-wing writers, and socialist academics– they’re on the loose!”Well, something sure feels loose. Even theflux is in flux.Boehner: “I told my colleagues … [t]heyought to get the idea out of their minds thatthey are legislators. But what they can be iscommunicators” (The New York Times, March14, p.19). In this emergency, theRepublican Party’s congressionalstance is: Contribute nothing.And reject everything. TexasGov. Rick Perry recently “rejected$555 million in federal stimulusmoney that would expandstate unemployment benefits.… Perry’s decision comes despitewarnings from Texas WorkforceCommission Chairman Tom Paukenthat the state’s unemployment compensationtrust fund could be operating at a deficit byOctober” (Associated Press online, March12). Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is doingthe same, though his state “ranks fourthin children living below the poverty line”(The New York Times, March 11, p.WK10).South Carolina has the second highest joblessrate in the country at 10.4% (AssociatedPress online, March 11), but GOP Gov. MarkSanford is rejecting elements of the stimulusand was against its passage, though it “wouldbring South Carolina an estimated $2 billion-3billion” (The Economist, Feb. 14, p.38).Are these Republicans “irrelevant, clownishand childish,” as Frank Rich writes (TheNew York Times, Feb. 1, p.WK9)? Perhaps. Arethey crazy? Maybe. Scared stiff? Absolutely.Rich, in the same article, quotes a Galluppoll showing “only five states (with 20 totalelectoral votes) now lean red in party affiliation.”But Republican politicians who agreewith Rush Limbaugh’s “I hope he fails”verdict on Obama may be doing so out ofcynical calculation.As has been widely documented, whitemale workers are the core voters of thelettersat 3amRepublican Party. In this crisis, “men areexperiencing 82 percent of the recession’sjob losses” (Slate.com, quoted in The Week,March 6, p.14). That’s a staggering number.Its political significance is equally large.The people hurt worst in this crisis are theRepublicans’ core constituency. These arealso the people who will be helped most andfastest by Obama’s stimulus. If Republicanmen substantially benefit from the policies ofa Democratic administration, many will voteaccordingly. Right-wing Republican politiciansare doomed if they allow Obama to helptheir own constituency, so they’re acting toharm their own people – because, paradoxically,that’s their only chance to stay in power.Refuse to legislate. Reject stimuli. To retainwhat clout they have, they do all in theirpower to ensure that their own constituencycontinues to suffer.It may seem like political suicide now, butit won’t if Obama fails. Should his stimulusnot work, Republicans can say, “We told youso.” Then they’ll be the party many turnto in the elections of 2010 and 2012.(A Leninist tactic if ever therewere one.)Not that this is unheardof for a political party. Butour economic crisis makes itfar more stark, and this timepeople seem to be catchingon. “About three-quarters [in arecent New York Times/CBS Newspoll], including 6 in 10 Republicans,said Mr. Obama had been trying to work withRepublicans. But only 3 in 10 Americanssaid Republicans were doing the same. …[Sixty-three] percent … said Republicansopposed the [stimulus] for political reasons,not policy ones. … [Obama’s] job approvalrating of 63 percent includes 88 percentof Democrats and 44 percent of Republicans[my italics]” (The New York Times, Feb. 24,p.1). In an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll,“Republicans trailed by more than a 30-pointmargin on the question of which party is bestpositioned to end the recession” (AssociatedPress online, March 8).The other stalwart GOP voting blockhas been evangelicals. Obama won 24%of the white evangelical vote in November(The New York Times, Nov. 7, 2008, p.24).Combine that with surveys showing thatAmerican religiosity is in decline, and yousee more trouble for the GOP. A recent poll“found that most faiths have lost groundsince 1990 and that the fastest growing religiouschoice is ‘None,’ up from 8 percentto 15 percent (which makes it larger thanall denominations except Roman Catholicsand Baptists)” (The New York Times, MarchPEAT DUGGINS15, p.WK12). That article reported “twice asmany Americans have a ‘great deal’ of confidencein the scientific community as do inorganized religion.”Which may be why there was little brouhahawhen Obama reversed Republican policieson stem-cell research and abortion – thoughthat may also be the fruit of Obama’s strategyof confronting all the big issues at the sametime. Deer-in-the-headlights Republicans haveso many things to yell about, it’s hard toprioritize. They’re reduced to ranting aboutsocialists and sounding not quite sane.Politically, Obama’s strategy is Republicanobliteration. “According to an analysis bythe Congressional Budget Office, more than74 percent of the [stimulus] money will bespent within the next 18 months” (The NewYork Times, Feb. 14, p.15). “The boost todemand is backloaded to 2010 and beyond”(The Economist, Feb. 14, p.13). In otherwords, the stimulus plan is designed to bein full swing in time for midterm electionsin 2010. Whether this will ultimately begood economics is questionable for reasonsI’ve not space to go into, but it certainly isgood politics.Obama’s strategy seems to be working“on the ground,” as they say. Chattanooga,Tenn., is just across the border from Georgiaand maybe 30 minutes west and a hopnorth of Alabama. The Chattanooga TimesFree Press is the area’s sole daily newspaper.Something’s going on when a publicationso situated prints this political cartoon, byClay Bennett: a presidential election posteron a brick wall, featuring a smiling RushLimbaugh dressed in a suit, a “Rush” buttonon his lapel. On the poster, in large caps:“HOPE” – and beneath that now-loadedword, in smaller caps, “For Failure” (reprintedin The New York Times, March 8, p.WK2).Hope for Failure.Satirizing Rush Limbaugh on cable andlate-night talk shows is to be expected. WhenLimbaugh is fair game in Chattanooga, changeis afoot.After the mad Republican excesses of theselast eight years, there’s something deliciouslysatisfying about all this. But don’t get carriedaway. We may come to regret that there are sofew intelligent, classically conservative voicesmaking themselves heard – voices to questionhow the Constitution applies to thesenew economic structures and proposals. IfObama’s plans come to fruition, governmentwill have unprecedented influence in housing,banking, insurance, health, and even employment.It’s not socialism, nor capitalism, either,but it does give the government far morepower in many more avenues of daily life –and you never know who’ll be running governmentin several years’ time or how they’lluse that power.Given the present global collapse of capitalism,there are cogent arguments to be madethat this new governmental economics is necessaryfor our well-being, even for our survival.Still. Just because it’s necessary doesn’t meanit’s good.■32 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E MARCH 27, 2009 a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m