Populist Reform of the Democratic Party
In reply to the discussion: Understanding the Corporate Welfare Giveaway known as the ACA... [View all]sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)important issues, especially BECAUSE we knew it was a rare moment in time that that needed to be taken advantage of, while Dems held the majority AND had a mandate from the people.
And surely THEY knew that pushing through legislation quickly was the key to getting it done.
One issue eg, I thought would be pushed through immediately, the people in general were for it. Gays in the military. Even some Republicans would probably have voted for that.
Instead this administration actually fought against it. When a court ruling declared the DADT unconstitutional, the DOJ fought it, delaying the passage of a bill for months and months.
I couldn't understand that.
Then there was the Bush Tax Cuts which, we were told, would not pass.
How were these two issues connected? After months of waiting on both issues, we were told, the only way to pass legislation regarding Gays in the Military, was to extend the Bush Tax Cuts.
And maybe I'm cynical, but it dawned on me that this was planned, they had no intention of ending those tax cuts but knew the public would be furious. However, if they ended DADT, it would appease some of the people.
And that's exactly how some people argued for extending the Bush Tax Cuts 'we wouldn't have ended DADT if we didn't 'compromise' on the Bush Tax Cuts.
When in reality BOTH could have been dealt with in Jan, 2009.