[Peace-discuss] "Centrist" & EFCA, etc.

[Stuart Levy]

On Fri, Nov 07, 2008 at 01:18:06AM -0600, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>    Next Administration Shows Signs It Will Seek
>    Middle Ground With Business on Thorny Issues
>    By Elizabeth Williamson
>    The Wall Street Journal
>    November 6, 2008
>
> Washington -- The weak economy, congressional races that empowered 
> moderates and President-elect Barack Obama's choice of business-friendly 
> advisers suggest Democrats will go slow on controversial labor and 
> regulatory issues.
>
> A bill that would make it easier for unions to organize workers, efforts to 
> regulate greenhouse-gas emissions, and a slew of contemplated taxes will 
> likely take a back seat to broader economic issues for now, Democratic 
> operatives say.
>
> "This administration from what I'm seeing is going to be very mainstream, 
> middle of the road on tax and business policies," said Scott Lilly, a 
> senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a think tank 
> close to the Obama transition. "I believe most businesses are going to find 
> it pretty moderate ... they're trying to convey that."
>
> Later this month, Congress is expected to start crafting an 
> economic-stimulus bill, which has the qualified support of the Bush 
> administration, depending on what it includes. Beyond a likely extension of 
> unemployment benefits and more rebate checks for Americans, the bill could 
> include money to work through a backlog of state and local infrastructure 
> projects, a potential boon for the construction industry.
>
> Some Democrats say the bill could include incentives for alternative-energy 
> initiatives. But anything more controversial -- such as a provision 
> allowing bankruptcy judges to lower mortgage payments for homeowners -- 
> likely won't be included.

  [...]

Yes.  Exactly.  They (in this case, I think it's the Wall St. Journal
people themselves, in the guise of news reporting) are doing the same
thing that we must do, just as Klein and others predicted: telling
Obama what he needs to do, and what the acceptable limits are.


Yesterday NPR held a call-in-and-interview program, asking people
around the world what they thought of Obama's victory and what
they expected it would mean.

They interviewed Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who said, among other things,
that he expected Obama to bring US troops out of Iraq.

Ted Koppel, one of the interviewers, promptly and derisively cut in, 
saying something like, Oh, but we know that's not going to happen.

As Neil says, smile & keep fighting!