grass roots

President Barack Hussein Obama has stopped flirting with the possibility of a value added tax. He has all but announced his intention to pursue the issue. He’s sure to find a firestorm of resistance waiting for him.

Obama and Paul Volcker - together they have discussed VAT.

Seems like the Congressional Republicans are getting much better at this guerrilla legislation thing. Good thing for them too. The loom of November throws shadows for some Republicans too. There’s still resentment out here regarding the establishment Republicans and what the grass roots saw as a betrayal of the trust we placed in them. That same ‘grassroots’, whether you call it the Tea Parties or the Patriot Movement, is a walk down main street America. It’s all walks of life, it’s Mr. and Mrs. Everyone.

That’s what it’s come down to… it’s us or them. Most complex problems have simple solutions, this one is as simple as it can get. We simply have to take the House and Senate back in November. Failure is not an option.

The Value Added Tax has reduced most of Europe to perpetual economic mediocrity. With economies struggling under the burden of socialist regulatory bureaucracies, the value added tax was enough to keep Europe’s economies from being competitive… it stifled job creation and entrepreneurism. It created a permanent sub-class of social welfare dependent families, because there were no jobs!

The socialists of Europe are a classic example of the failure of socialism, every one of these workers’ paradises grinds their people underfoot with crushing taxes on every level. It’s something that Obama wants here… it’s the only way he can begin to pay the almost incalculable debt he has created for this country and its citizens to deal with.

I think that the DeMarxist left has overreached itself badly this time. This battle is not Republicans versus Democrats. It’s between the DeMarxists and the American People.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Organizing citizen involvement in campaigns is a lot easier than mobilizing Americans in the legislative process.  It's a hard lesson President Obama and his team are learning this summer.

The White House says it's going to pull out all the stops to show a groundswell of support between now and when lawmakers return to Washington after Labor Day.

I'm skeptical it will work.  Some of the reasons are outlined here.

Part of it has to with asymetrical energy.  My friend Jon Henke has it right when he says the Democrats enjoyed the power of a "storming the fortress" mentality while Bush was president. No more.   Now  the enthusiasm is with conservatives and Republicans.

Then there's the issue of lawmaking vs. campaigns.  Elections involve a binary choice: vote for candidate A or B; give money or not; make telephone calls for a candidate or do something else, etc.

The legislative process is more nuanced and often requires compromise.  It's hard to get people energized about supporting a middle ground position.

For all the talk about conservative "astro-turf" grassroots, it seems the White House and DNC are more guilty of trying to prime their allies.  My guess is the genuine energy and enthusiasm we see developing this summer around a "counter moblization" to the President's health care approach will only grow int he weeks ahead, no matter what the White House tries to orchestrate.