War-On-Women vs. Budget Cuts

Watching President Obama’s speech of Friday might made me think it was the Democrats and not the Republicans making the case for irresponsible spending cuts over these last weeks. Sigh.



Real glimpses of Obama as community organizer, here. I have nothing against community organizers – quite the contrary. Over the years I have worked with some amazing individuals with great capacity to sit folks down and help them figure out what they want to make out of their lives and their communities. I have seen community organizers help good folks takes their plans into prioritization and implementation stages. And yes, I have seen what good organizing can do to bring people on different sides of the table together in compromise and good faith. In “bi-partisanship,” you might say.

And while the community organizer view of the world certainly assumes a certain level of competent leadership, I am not sure it is what this country needs right now. And my fear is, that is what we got this week in the budget compromise. Give each side the tools to figure out what they really want, and then let them duke it out in the name of the higher good – compromise.

Combine that with the fact that the Republicans have found the ultimate trump card in their continuing war-on-women, and the future is none-too-bright. I am convinced that at least on the Federal level, the Republicans don’t want to completely declare victory in the war-on-women. They would rather keep their negotiating card under the guise of such absurdities as cuts to Planned Parenthood, and then use it to continue chipping away on budgetary spending cuts. All in the name of compromise and bi-partisanship. While of course, taking the worst of their social issues agenda to the states, where never-ending damage can be done anyway.

In reality, the dialogue has not shifted much over the last 15 years, since the days of Speaker Newt Gingrich and the last government shutdown.  And I have no reason to believe that what we saw happen in the wee hours of Friday night will not become status quo during this time of divided government. Republicans trading in some of their social agenda imperatives – at least on the national level – in return for continuing cuts, cuts and cuts. In these last few days we even saw the likes of such anti-abortion stalwarts as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Mike Huckabee and Michele Bachmann calling for compromise.  They get to keep their trump card for future use, while turning to the state legislatures to chip away at the rights of women, gays and minorities.

A win-win, situation of sorts.