[Peace-discuss] Politican's talk vs. votes -- what's more important?

[Mildred O'brien]

Well, so did I--warn about the CARES Act when I first learned of it: "The fat cats will be lined up at the feeding trough" were my exact words--but I'm not a member of the U.S. Congress, just a common cynic.  
Who couldn't see what would come down?  AOC should grow up and act in the capacity she was elected and DO something about it--like vote NO & work to get other colleagues to--instead of doing The Speaker's bidding.  Remind anyone of a local politician on the end of the Illinois House Speaker's  string? 
Midge 
















-----Original Message-----
From: J.B. Nicholson via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
To: Peace Discuss <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Sent: Thu, Dec 17, 2020 4:27 pm
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Politican's talk vs. votes -- what's more important?

Brussel, Morton K wrote:
> AOC says things as a congressional representative that no, or few, others do.  So
> I find the criticisms here self defeating, not to say annoying. Yes, she’s not
> ideal, but who is stepping forward in Congress more than her?

Generally, a politician's talk doesn't interest me much because votes on policy are 
what affects people's lives. AOC spoke against the CARES Act, for example, in another 
arm-waving speech on the floor of the House which was sharply critical of the CARES 
Act. In that speech she pointed out how the general American public would get 
"crumbs" and she was right in that assessment. But AOC did not challenge Pelosi to 
get a roll-call vote for the CARES Act which would help us more clearly identify who 
was on our side in our collective time of need. There appears to have been no real 
negotiations on terms for paying the general public more money over a longer period 
(such as a UBI) to help us avoid insolvency during a pandemic. There was no apparent 
talk to a senator to convince them to use their power to put a hold on the bill while 
they drummed up public support for better terms. After listening to the audio of that 
vote it's clear that only a couple of men voted against it (as Jimmy Dore rightly 
pointed out at the time, saying something like "unless AOC suddenly sounds like Lou 
Rawls when she says 'no', she voted for that bill"). Fellow 'squad' member Rep. Ilhan 
Omar also rightly spoke against the CARES Act and wrongly voted for the CARES Act; 
Rep. Omar was slightly more honest than AOC about it admitting her vote.

Even Pelosi knows that talk against something Pelosi wants to happen is far less 
important than voting against something Pelosi wants to happen. So Democrats go on 
and on about how we all deserve health care as a right and they'll cosponsor Medicare 
for All bills pretty widely. But as we've seen with HR676 (when the Democrats had a 
majority in both houses of Congress) and as we're seeing now, bringing Medicare for 
All bills to the floor for a vote is a no-go. This is also the case in California, 
5th largest economy in the world, which is run by Democrats. And on the CARES Act and 
on voting for Pelosi as speaker (which AOC initially said she wouldn't do but then 
did), AOC provides no challenge to party power on these important issues. This 
disincentivizes me to want AOC in Congress as I prefer someone who fights for our 
interests. AOC's words about "bringing the ruckus" turn out to be nothing but talk.

Arguments against perfection ("she's not ideal") are a false dichotomy and 
unconvincing. As to who is better than her strikes me as a distraction because AOC 
has power now so her votes matter. When the rhetoric that got her into office is so 
diametrically opposed to where she's going now, it's right and proper to quote that 
and see if she's living up to her own values on the important issues of the day 
(which certainly includes Medicare for All).

Claiming that such criticism is "self-defeating" is nonsense; the only thing that's 
self-defeating is not to try. And that's true on both AOC's end and ours as Americans 
who want Medicare for All. There's no good reason for AOC not to challenge Pelosi on 
Medicare for All in precisely the way that AOC is being told to do -- no vote for 
Pelosi without bringing Rep. Jayapal's Medicare for All bill to the floor for a vote. 
We are right and proper to demand things of our elected officials.

Even if Medicare for All doesn't pass into law, AOC has a chance to be seen fighting 
for what we want in a substantive way. If she puts in that effort, that won't be 
forgotten and we can all tell her district to re-elect her because she has walked the 
walk. But if she caves into power-pleasing we can cite that too and push for 
replacing her with someone who will work for our interests. We stand to lose nothing 
by getting elected representatives to do their job in carrying out what we want and need.

Jimmy Dore makes excellent points in https://youtube.com/watch?v=jbZFO-pmJMo and I 
explicitly include the yelling and swearing in that assessment. If one can't get 
excited over helping the American public face a lethal pandemic and a depression with 
a practical and widely-supported program that also saves us money (Medicare for All), 
one simply isn't paying attention. Tone policing and bogus arguments are no match.
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