WE SHOULD: 1) Work to end the divisions that are weakening America; and 2) Defeat the Establishment’s efforts to doom the Left to irrelevance, by challenging Obama NOW (let the president know that he can not take us for granted, pursuing a Bush-Lite agenda and doing his utmost to protect the same power elites that control the Republican leadership).
1) End the dividing of America — Extend an olive branch to the Right: a) Formally congratulate your local Tea Party — or other grass-roots conservative groups — on their recent election victories; b) Communicate your belief that we should join forces on the less ideological issues and priorities common to both the Right and Left, such as:
— JOBS/THE ECONOMY (Left and Right, average Americans favor investing in infrastructure and education; applying a minimal tax to the trading of derivatives; reforming, or repealing outright, trade pacts like NAFTA; ending the “underground” economy that has driven wages downward; and keeping people in their homes — together, we can pressure policymakers to address these issues; the economy will benefit)
— FIX THE HEALTH INSURANCE LEGISLATION passed by the Democratic congress (Left and Right will never agree on the Public Option or Abortion Services, but most of us DO AGREE that this predatory industry still needs serious reform, so let’s add some meat to this skeleton of a bill by ending PhRMA’s backroom deal with the Obama administration, as well as the insurance industry’s exemption from anti-trust legislation)
— CUT WASTEFUL SPENDING (phase out corporate welfare to industry giants that are using government subsidies to crush the small business owner and small farmer, alike; bring TRANSPARENCY to the Federal Reserve, Pentagon, and international aid agencies and private contractors that have misspent BILLIONS in the post-9/11 era with NO repercussions or reforms to prevent their continued looting of the nation’s wealth)
— END THE (counterproductive) WARS that are doing bin Laden’s work for him: bankrupting the U.S. (bin Laden’s stated goal) and creating terrorists around the world – it’s high time we had a MAJOR STRATEGIC OVERHAUL in the War on Terror
2) Escaping irrelevance — Announce our intention to FIRE OBAMA (the new record holder for sprinting at the greatest speed and distance AWAY from a mandate — one of the largest in history; giving away the store to his discredited opposition; and constantly repudiating his base);
— Coordinate with other progressives and select a candidate (SOON) to run against the president in the 2012 Democratic Primary (Russ Feingold would certainly be a step in the right direction: He opposed NAFTA, the Patriot Act, and the Iraq War; took a principled position against the watered down Financial System “reform” bill…)