Blog

Robert L. Borosage

By Robert L. Borosage

Co-Director Campaign for America’s Future

Today, in the New York Times, an Institute for America’s Future op ad calls on us to “remember who we are,” comparing the present crisis with that our parents and grandparents faced at dawn of the New Deal. To see the ad, go here.

If, as seems likely, Obama is elected and Democrats win greater majorities in both houses of Congress, will we witness a new era of bold progressive change – a 21st century Green New Deal? Certainly many of the elements are present:

.. “their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit, they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They only know the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.”

In his “closing” for the election, Obama is already issuing a similar moral indictment. He too is calling Americans to come together, to trust one another.

In one week, you can turn the page on policies that have put the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks on Main Street….

I know these are difficult times for America. But I also know that we have faced difficult times before. The American story has never been about things coming easy – it’s been about rising to the moment when the moment was hard. It’s about seeing the highest mountaintop from the deepest of valleys. It’s about rejecting fear and division for unity of purpose. That’s how we’ve overcome war and depression. That’s how we’ve won great struggles for civil rights and women’s rights and worker’s rights. And that’s how we’ll emerge from this crisis stronger and more prosperous than we were before – as one nation; as one people.

Does all this add up to a new era of bold reform? Two more elements are vital.

Obama will face the same choice in the worst economic crisis since that Great Depression. Yet, today’s conditions are far less dire. Many voices will counsel caution. Many will tell him to limit his priorities. Many will warn of unsustainable debts and deficits. What he decides is needed will be telling.

The current progressive movement is neither as organized nor as grounded. Some good many are pure Obama fans. Some – including much of the best of the bloggers – grew up in opposition to the war in Iraq and the crimes and catastrophes of the Bush administration. They are scornful of compromised Democrats, suspicious of a leadership that didn’t end the war, cynical about the many corruptions of modern day politicians. Most of the organized progressive movement has spent the last years fighting to stop bad things from happening. Will a progressive movement come together that is independent enough to push Obama hard to go father than he might otherwise go, and responsible enough to help support reforms, and go after those in both parties that stand in the way? The Obama White House will clearly prefer the remarkable base that they have built during the campaign, ready to be mobilized in his support. Will they come to appreciate the benefits of an independent progressive movement demanding more than they think is possible?

Inheriting a country mired in two wars, headed into a deep and long recession, marked by Gilded Age inequality and growing insecurity, the next president will face stark challenges. If Obama is elected, he will have the moment, mandate, momentum, and moral armament to launch a new era of bold progressive reform. And in the coming months, if all goes well on Tuesday, we will learn if he has the audacity of hope to undertake it, and whether progressives can forge a force for change to propel it.

By Robert L. Borosage
Co-Director Campaign for America’s Future

History was made yesterday. The American people demanded an economic bailout strategy that helped Main Street as well as Wall Street. When congressional leaders came up short, fierce public pressure forced the House to vote “No.”
But, with the financial crisis deepening, saying “no” is not enough. It’s time to act.
Tremendous pressure is already mounting from the White House and Wall Street to exploit people’s anxiety, dress up the same weak bill and ram it through this week! Congress needs to hear from you NOW, to resist this pressure and take a stand to rebuild Main Street and reign in Wall Street.
Tell Congress: Resist Wall Street. Stand up for Main Street. Deliver a new “New Deal.”
The defeated bailout package promised more failed trickle-down logic — bailout the financiers at the top and prosperity would trickle-down. To get the economy back on track, we need a new “New Deal” that rebuilds the economy from the bottom up.
• Invest In Main Street: On Main Street, jobs are disappearing, infrastructure is crumbling and local budgets are straining. A $200 billion economic rescue package for Main Street would generate clean American energy, extend unemployment benefits, aid states and localities to avoid debilitating cuts and modernize our crumbling infrastructure.
• Save The Homeowners: Defaulting mortgages are at the heart of the crisis. Keeping deserving people in their homes is critical to shore up Main Street and Wall Street. The bankruptcy courts need to have the power to renegotiate mortgages and reduce foreclosures.
• Hold Wall Street Accountable: Instead of simply propping up reckless firms, we should establish a Reconstruction Finance Corporation that can take over financial firms, sort out the solvent from the insolvent, close down some and merge others. We also need modern regulation that cracks down on the abuse. And taxpayers deserve preferred shares in any bank or investment house that we are forced to rescue.
This sort of new “New Deal” economic rescue plan puts Main St. first. It’s what Congress should have done from the start. Tell Congress now: Resist Wall Street. Stand up for Main Street. Deliver a new “New Deal.”
Make no mistake, the financial crisis is serious and severe. Big problems require bold solutions. And problems caused by conservative policies need progressive answers.
Conservatives are regrouping now. They’ll try to put progressives on their heels, and pander to Wall Street with more deregulation and top end tax cuts — the same conservative policies that derailed the economy and ravaged the markets in the first place.
You beat back Wall Street once, but their pressure will not let up. Congress needs to hear your voice again NOW to build on this stunning victory. Your voice already stopped a bad bill, now it can pass a good one.
Tell Congress: Resist Wall Street. Stand up for Main Street. Deliver a new “New Deal.”