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Saturday 20 August 2011
The world had just watched in befuddlement as the mighty USA has reeled from the impact on its governance of a large group of members of Congress who have united in a pledge placed before them by Grover Norquist.
Norquist's claim to fame is his mission to "starve the beast" by denying the federal government of America of tax revenues, forcing it to cut its expenditures, draw back its horns, and shrivel into an insignificant force in American life.
To achieve this, the Tea Party members of the House of Representatives have all signed the Grover Pledge, which looks like this:
That pledge proved its worth when President Obama wanted a routine increase in the borrowing power of the government. The huge rump of Tea Partiers refused, forcing the Republican controlled House to say No to Obama's request, leading to weeks of negotiations and finally to a brokered compromise which required slashing expenditures but no revenue increases.
The Democrats are running scared, because they don't know how to overcome the Grover pledge. More and more candidates for election in 2012 are being forced to consider taking this pledge. All the Republican contenders for presidency have sworn the pledge.
And now along comes Perry, the Texas governor, who is eyeing Obama's job and is running on a jobs, jobs, jobs platform (along with assorted right wing ignoramus ideas such as praying to relieve drought, denying global warming and evolution, gutting the environmental standards of the federal government and a score of other simplistic platitudes).
But Perry's aim at the inability of Obama to create jobs is his deadliest weapon.
The inability of Obama to lower the unemployment rate from over 9% to less than 7% in the next 9 months spells doom for his chances of winning again.
But The Cat has hope for the Democrats, by casting one stone and getting two birds with it.
Democrats – and especially Obama – can fight back against Perry's charge and the Tea Party's pledge, in a way that could resonate with many Americans, defuse the power of the Tea Party, put Perry on the defensive, allow the Democrats and Obama to regain the initiative, and win both the House and the Presidency in 2012.
Not bad, eh?
The Cat's advice is simple.
Fight fire with fire.
Oppose the Glover pledge with a new pledge, to be taken by the President, by Democratic senators and congressmen.
That pledge is simply this:
Americans for Jobs
The Job Creation Pledge:
I, ____, pledge to the taxpayers of the (____ district of the) state of _____ and to the American people that I will:
ONE, oppose any and all efforts to reduce the ability of the American economy to increase the number of good jobs now available or in future to become available for individuals;
and TWO, oppose any financial or other legislative measures which will reduce the ability of governments at all levels to encourage and enhance the creation of good jobs paying good wages for more Americans, including without exception all measures which fail to achieve fairness in taxation for Americans.
Consider this Job Creation Pledge carefully, President Obama.
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