The world is taking it all in, Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States. People from London to Tokyo cheered the results and today the dollar is up against the Euro and the markets are....well, the markets are the markets. The facts are that the Democratic majority in the House and the Senate grew tremendously because the nation demanded a change. As 2009 begins, the 111th Congress and the new President have great expectations thrown upon them. The critics in the media are already salivating over a repeat of Clinton's first term, where the Democrats ended up crumbling under the GOP's ability to trick Americans with wedge issues and fearmongering. Yet where Clinton's neo-liberal agenda failed, a progressive one under Obama will succeed.
From ThinkProgress:
As Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman explains, “In this election, Obama proudly stood up for progressive values and the superiority of progressive policies; John McCain, in return, denounced him as a socialist, a redistributor. And the American people rendered their verdict. Now the work begins.”
A mandate for progressive change exists. In a memo released today, the Center for American Progress Action Fund writes, “Obama ran on the most progressive platform of any presidential candidate in at least 15 years, including a promise of universal health care coverage, a dramatic transformation to a low-carbon economy, and a historic investment in education.” Read the full memo below:
Our nation today is only now realizing the extent of the resounding victory for progressive ideals registered on election day. Progressives triumphed in all regions of the country and won overwhelming support from individuals of all different backgrounds. President-elect Barack Obama defeated Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) decisively, winning the most votes in history and the largest share of the popular vote of any presidential candidate in two decades. Candidates running on progressive platforms helped Democrats expand their majorities in both houses of Congress. Democrats now have the most elected members of Congress any party has held since 1995.
Now comes the hard part. Our country faces enormous challenges, many the direct result of eight years of hapless conservative governance. The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression is only the latest blow delivered to the American people after years of stagnant wages and the worst job-creation record since Herbert Hoover. Our increasingly costly health care system leaves out more and more Americans every year.
Years of war in Iraq have left Americans less safe at home and abroad despite the incredible sacrifice of our brave fighting men and women there and in Afghanistan, where the Taliban and the Al Qaeda terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 are mounting a comeback. And our planet is now eight years closer to catastrophic climate change.
Sen. McCain and other conservatives supported these policies, and they ran this election year on ambitious conservative plans that would have gone even further. The American people rejected these stale ideas yesterday, understanding the dismal consequences of conservatism these past eight years. The urgency of our problems was central to the decisions of American voters, who were significantly more likely to say that the economy, taxes, heath care, and energy were “very important” compared to four years ago, according to the Pew Research Center.
That’s why candidates who embraced progressive solutions to these problems won. Obama ran on the most progressive platform of any presidential candidate in at least 15 years, including a promise of universal health care coverage, a dramatic transformation to a low-carbon economy, and a historic investment in education. Winning congressional candidates also embraced progressive policies. And polls showed that voters supported progressive solutions by wide margins.
In a few short months, leaders who support progressive ideals will take up the reins of government in Washington. We must rise to the occasion. We must move beyond the false choice of left versus center to embrace solutions as big as the challenges we face.
We need investments now to jumpstart our economy while laying the foundations for sustained economic growth. Restoring confidence in our economy will require a new direction for the economy, health care, clean energy, and education. And we must be willing to set priorities on government spending to restore budgetary responsibility in the coming years.
If we do these things, then we can translate yesterday's victory at the polls into a victory for health care, clean energy, national security, and a stronger and larger middle class. The American people are ready. Now it’s time to deliver.
Krugman is exactly right, this isn't 1992. America is hurting more than ever under the tutelage of conservative ideologues and now we must go a different way that puts people first ahead of corporate America. Obama said it in his victory speech last night, it is time for Main Street to come before Wall Street (I'm paraphrasing) and that we must rise and fall as a nation united. That means following the guidelines that Center for American Progress lays out as well as other progressive organizations. The old ideas didn't work, now lets get back to policies that have worked for us in prior trying times, and adapt them for our 21st century.
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