JonathanTasini

This morning, I was out campaigning early at a subway stop in the 15th Congressional District as part of my effort to win the Democratic primary for the seat currently held by Charles Rangel. Beyond the positive feedback, I also had enough of the following reactions to raise deep concern: “You are all corrupt” and “I’ve had it with the Democrats”…this in the 2nd most Democratic district in the entire country. For that reason, I came back to my office and decided to set up a petition calling on Charles Rangel to end his bid for re-election–for the good of the country, the 15th Congressional District and the Democratic Party.

Today, I have written a letter to Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic Party, asking that, as chair of the party, he use his powers to make sure that no Democratic Party candidate, and no campaign committee or leadership PAC, accept a single dollar from Goldman Sachs, and that all those entities return any money pocketed from Goldman Sachs during this cycle. I have asked him to go one step further: in order to support President Obama’s legislative efforts to reform Wall Street, that he banish all money from the financial services industry from the coffers of any Democratic Party candidate or entity.

The danger in a blip of good news is that it’s simply that: a blip. It is certainly a good thing that the data shows that 162,000 jobs were added in March. But, the truth is that this is not much to celebrate. And it actually should be a siren to move dramatically to embrace a much more ambitious jobs program on the order of $1 trillion.

One in five in our country does not have decent paying work. We have the greatest divide between rich and poor in 100 years. A secure retirement is now something that millions of people are quite worried about–thanks to the behavior of the people who were entrusted with the responsibility to manage the economy. The people are begging for reform. Yet, because of a combination of the corruption of the political system (aka campaign contributions) and a simple lack of common sense and decency, greed has not abated. The opposite: it has increased and resumed its rampage.

Yesterday, I raised my concerns about the Senate’s proposal to hand more power to the Federal Reserve Board and give the Fed the role of protecting consumers. Honestly, I thought it was a cruel joke and a perfect example of the Washington insiders protecting the interests of Wall Street. Barney Frank agrees.

In one day, you can read how the powerful economic interests have defeated the public interest.

Among the most troubling retreats, in my view, in the public discourse has been the adoption of the false idea that deep government involvement in the economy is a bad thing. It’s a retreat that too many Democrats have taken part in. The problem is the FACTS say otherwise. And the known left-wing organ, The Financial Times, illustrates the point today.

There has been a lot of controversy about the pro-life television commercial that Florida quarterback Tim Tebow will appear in during Sunday’s Super Bowl. Here is one Peyton Manning should do.

We are angry, rightly so, about the obscene bonuses and pay given to bankers and the financial mandarins who destroyed the economy. Part of the problem is that the political dialogue–parroted by the traditional media and the political leaders who are bought and paid for by the financial industry– never questions a basic premise: that financial institutions have to pay “market rates” to retain “top talent”. But, it’s an entirely rigged and phony system. And, while I understand the desire for immediate revenge on the part of the people, if we want real change, we have to challenge the mindset.

Our democracy is for sale. Every day. It is the reason people are just fed up with the dysfunctional political system. People want real change that will give them back a smidgen of security. The Republican Party has shown itself to be incapable of managing our economy. But, there is a fight underway for the soul of the Democratic Party: between Wall Street Democrats and the people.