Obama promises to put some grassroots pressure on Congress in a second term. About farking time.
At last!
Something that I’d really like to concentrate on in my second term is being in a much more constant conversation with the American people so that they can put pressure on Congress to help move some of these issues forward.
Sign me up.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
View all posts by Mark Kleiman
It’s about time!
Just imagine if he had tumbled to this brilliant strategy in say, 2009 when he actually had a theoretical majority.
Oh, woe is us! oh, the violation of bipartisanship! How dare Obama be so uncivil as to suggest people put pressure on their elected representatives?!
Mostly worthless. Just get rid of the filibuster. Doing that would actually move issues forward.
You wouldn’t even have to get rid of the filibuster. All you’d need to do is make senators actually *do* a filibuster (holding the senate floor and speaking night and day for the entire length of the filibuster,) instead of just making a threat to do so.
Ron E. thinks more of Senate Democrats than I do. Although I admit that it would help with confirmations.
Sign me up, too. I’m ready to go to the streets, PEACEFULLY, big time.
Sure sounds nice, but it’s justPre-election posturing. After he’s reelected, it’ll be wall-to-wall Fiscal Cliff v. Grand Bargain.
Sorry to be the party pooper here but let’s remember that our (comparably excellent) President is in election mode. “Something that I’d really like to concentrate on…” doesn’t mean I promise to concentrate on… if re-elected. Keeping the base engaged is what he said he’d do in ’08. Remember him quoting FDR, “now make me do it”? I’ve been doing my part to to pressure my congress critters here in GA and I’ve got the brick wall marks on my forehead to prove it (I’d probably be in a coma if Lewis wasn’t my Representative). But something tells me that once re-elected he’s suddenly going to find it very important to not rock the boat too much lest he jeopardize the chances of the 2016 Democratic candidate.
That said: will vote for him again; giving money to the campaigns; will staff phone banks for swing states; not ready to slide a halo over his head.
Yeah Charlie Brown, Lucy won’t pull the ball away this time!
Echoing Tim and Seth, if anything the past 3+ years has taught us is this: Talk. Is. Cheap. Very cheap.