Winds of change hit both parties

By John Pardee: Wow, what a stunning upset in the Senate race in Massachusetts. Well, not really when you take the pulse of America today. Americans are fed up with typical D.C. politics no matter who gets tossed.

The entrenched GOP were tossed in '06 and '08 and a solidly Republican congressional seat in upstate New York went Democratic for the first time since the Civil War, late last year. Now a solidly Democratic Senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy for nearly 50 years is being turned over to an unknown Republican.

If you look at the long arc of the last few election cycles, it is crystal clear what we the people want: change, stupid. In essence, it is the People Party voting out the Power Party and the left and the right are becoming united in this effort. I supported candidate Obama who campaigned so eloquently and passionately about fundamental change.

He spoke of holding "fat cat" bankers responsible yet under their old Wall Street pal Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's watch they are fatter than ever and using our money to buy other banks and lobby Congress to kill or water down financial reform. Candidate Obama supported universal health care yet he rolled over so easily when centrist Democrats and entrenched Republicans told him that idea would not sit well with their health industry financiers.

He spoke of holding "fat cat" bankers responsible yet under their old Wall Street pal Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's watch they are fatter than ever and using our money to buy other banks and lobby Congress to kill or water down financial reform. Candidate Obama supported universal health care yet he rolled over so easily when centrist Democrats and entrenched Republicans told him that idea would not sit well with their health industry financiers.

I feel betrayed that now President Obama and the Democrats seem to have become so tone deaf so quickly to their own message. Did they think we were just tired of corrupt and well connected Republicans? No, we're tired of all the corrupt and well connected everybody in D.C. helping out their bankrollers at the expense of the middle class and the working poor. The Tea Party movement should have been a wake up call but I think they simply mistook their anger as partisan sour grapes.

True, some of the speakers and organizers were retooled GOP opportunists, but the anger and frustration seen at the rallies were real. But we are all mad as hell, not just my friends on the right. The one thing I have in common with my conservative friends is that we understand the system is stacked against us. The well connected and the super rich get taken care of and we middle class and working poor vermin continue to get ripped off.

A conservative small business owner I know was just telling me about the Health Care bill and how he and his employees will get hammered because he has provided them a "Cadillac" plan to protect their families as best he can. But big labor recently negotiated a $60 billion Cadillac "waiver" for union families. That is great for union families but where is my friend's waiver?

He'll be forced to reduce coverage, make the employees kick in more or take a big hit in this tough economy. He was fine with a modest tax on the rich to fund expanded medical coverage and so am I.

But of course the super rich had their toadies in the Senate make sure that idea died in committee. I was talking to another conservative friend who is trying to negotiate a restructuring of an upside down mortgage, a term used when the mortgage balance is greater than the value of the home which is common in this post real estate bubble burst economy. The bank in question is one of the big institutions called before Congress to get "a stern talking to."

They bought up the mortgage from Countrywide and now are playing hardball with my friend and will not budge with him or even allow him to sell his house via Craig's List to minimize his outstanding debt. This bank got billions of our tax money with no strings attached. Did they use it to start lending or paying off toxic assets? Of course they didn't. Instead they gave themselves giant bonuses, bought up smaller banks and took what was left to further lobby Congress against real financial reform while my dear friends are facing foreclosure by the same bank posting record profits and stratospheric bonuses.

They need to hear our cries for real reform or risk being roadkill in 2010 and 2012. There is much we on the left and right agree on and we should make it clear we'll roll over anybody who doesn't respect our common values including making the people's needs supersede those of the corporate lobbyists and provide honest, transparent, responsible government. No more revolving door lobbying, no more no-bid contracts, no more unfunded mandates, no more undeclared wars or government programs on our kids' credit cards.

Did the Democrats lose in Massachusetts yesterday? No more than the GOP lost in '06 and '08. No, what I believe we are seeing is the fed up masses starting to assert their power with a unified voice. I think this may signal the emergence of The People Party who is angrily voting out the Power Party because they were acting so brazenly against us, not even trying to pretend to be on our side. We must keep up this fight against the entrenched powers in D.C.

Going forward my friends, please don't let the coming partisan dog whistles distract us from the mission of reestablishing the power of the people as the framers intended. United we stand, divided we, the working class, fall.