The Tennessean 11/12/2014, Page A15 TENNESSEE VOICES Dems running from a winner By William W. Rosen Its obvious that the Democratic Party and those recently running for national office never paid attention to George Santayanas famous statement that Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Nor did any of them bother to digest the muchquoted early October article by Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman, who detailed why President Barack Obama is, in his words, a historic success. Krugman was not initially a fan of the president. Krugman lists the success of the Affordable Care Act, which added millions to the health insurance rolls, giving them financial security and access to care they never had. Premiums are below expected rates. Health care costs have decreased for the first time ever. The passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, which Obama signed in 2010, put controls on previously uncontrolled and unregulated banking practices that were a major cause of the George W. Bush Great Recession. That act includes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects consumers from predatory lenders. Krugman praises Obamas leadership that brought the U.S. from the depths of a crippling recession to higher employment. The deficit has been cut in half. As a result, the U.S. has substantially recovered where European nations have not. Krugman describes how Obama has made strides to address critical environmental issues. Alternative energy is up, foreign oil purchases are at their lowest levels and the presidents executive orders have started to control CO2 corrupting the atmosphere. Krugman cites Obamas stands on national security, his gutsy decision that killed Osama bin Laden, and keeping his promise to disengage from the longest, most expensive war in U.S. history. Krugman cites social changes that have come with the Obama administration, especially in the gay community. He discusses improvements in health care, financial reform, the economy, national security and social change. He writes that no president has accomplished or can accomplish all that was promised, but, he concludes, under the circumstances, Obama is a historic success. And what did the Republicans have to advertise? Fear. In all of the battleground states, Republican candidates repeatedly ran ads blaming Obama for Africas Ebola and Syrias ISIL terrorists. And yet, no Democratic candidate yelled BS! Nor did Democratic candidates showcase that for eight years, congressional Republicans voted against minimum wages, equal pay for women, an infrastructure repair act that would have created thousands of jobs, sensible immigration, civil rights for gays and women, alternative energy, fixing the trillion-dollar student debt crisis, an assault rifle registration supported by a large majority of the public, a tax of 3 cents on the dollar (3 percent) on the richest 1 percent, and on and on. What Republicans universally supported was voter suppression. And many of the recently elected support the banning of the IUD and other forms of contraception. So what didnt the Democrats learn? They did not learn the Al Gore lesson. When Gore ran for the presidency, he wanted nothing to do with the greatest, most likable, most astute politician in a generation: Bill Clinton. Not embracing Clinton likely cost Gore the election. If Gore had coattailed on Clintons popularity, on his legacy of economic stability and on the highest U.S. employment in history, there would have been no need to count hanging chads. The Democratic Party and virtually all of its recent candidates simply ran away from a winner to the detriment of each of them. There is no accounting for stupidity. William W. Rosen is an attorney and photographer in Franklin.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 23:57:59 +0000
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