Progressives Must Demand CHANGE

Written by: Thomas Janowski on Nov 22, 2008 8:56 PM EST

Linked to groups: dfaROCHESTER

While it is easy to be overjoyed with a Democratic president about to take office and it's easy to be very pleased with Obama's cabinet choices, we cannot overlook what we elected him to do.

I wondered if I was jumping the gun here by thinking/writing about Obama's first 100 days in office.  Then I realized it is never too early to have hope.  I began to wonder how most of America will judge Barack Obama's first 100 days in office compared to us--his progressive supporters. 

I believe, first and foremost, a new criteria must be brought into play.  During Obama's first 100 days and his entire first term, we must pay special attention to CHANGE.  We will have to ask ourselves whether Obama is being successful with his theme of change.  We will need to examine his proposals and actions and determine whether they meet the criteria of CHANGE. 

I believe the criteria will have to be based on a two part definition of what change means in 2009.  First, we will have to figure out if Obama is taking America in a totally different direction compared to the 8 years of Bush.  Then we will have to determine whether Obama is taking America in a different direction compared to the idea of "politics as usual."

America needs change.  There is no doubt about that.  America faces some very tough times ahead and I'm afraid those tough times might allow Obama and House & Senate leaders to short change us on CHANGE--saying that introducing change now will be too costly and too painful for America.  We must not accept that excuse.

As progressives advocating for change, I believe it is up to us to keep Obama on the right track.  We must continue to speak out for change.  We must write to Barack Obama with our praise and our disappointment about his policies and actions.  We must continue to both demand and provide Obama with fresh ideas for moving forward.  We must also contact our congresspeople and senators to demand their support for Obama's changes.  We must also praise their successes and point out their failures in the quest for change. 

Those who did not support Barack Obama will resist any and all changes with fear and suspicion.  We have to take on that battle as well.  We have to talk with a friends and neighbors and family and let them know change is good.  Change is the right thing.  Change is difficult, but needed.

Barack Obama will have somewhat of a headstart with change in 2009 because he is already bringing hope to America when there has been so little for so long.

Within Barack Obama's first term as President, I have a list of things that I would like to see changed.  In my list, I forget about the most obvious and instead focus on a second-tier of obscure topics that need to be change in the first 4 years of an Obama presidency.  I'm giving him an entire term to make these changes because I'll admit there are higher priorities, though I feel these issues are important as well. 

1.  End all US involvement in "shock doctrine" events in foreign countries.  As described in Naomi Kline's book, shock doctrine policies involve countries such as the US supporting regime change through brutal military measures that shock the country and allow for US corporations to step in and gain a foothold in that country's business structure. 

2.  End all subsides to producers of high fructose corn sweeteners.  This insidious subsidy is one of the reasons Americans are become more and more obese.  Corn producers need no subsidies especially now with the emergence of the need for ethanol.

3.  End all subsidies to the US sugar industry.  The US sugar producers are profitable without subsidies.  If high fructose corn sweeteners become less significant, sugar producers will continue to see an increased demand and the US could offer some sort of tariff protection from foreign supplies of sugar.

4.  End all government support of of big oil companies--no tax breaks, no subsidies for building new refineries, etc.  This should be done first before imposing any windfall profits taxes.

5.  End the "violent nature" of talk when discussing the issue of terrorism.  The tough talk has always been a Republican thing, but lately far too many Democrats have joined the bravado bandwagon.

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