ALPERN AT LARGE - One of the consequences of having two divisive Presidents in a row--and oh, yes, they've been plenty divisive--is that when one claims to be a conservative (George W. Bush) but does liberal things, and when one claims to be a liberal (Barack H. Obama) but does conservative things, it leads to a host of confusing consequences that makes our already-confusing political landscape that much more hard for the average American to grasp.
And confusing our political landscape continues to be! While our traditionally "liberal" Democratic leadership runs so many of the politically-conservative citizens (Republican and Democrat alike) and taxpaying base out of our state, the forces that now thump their chests as leaders of a one-party state risk alienating so many of their own constituents and throw even more Californians into the camp of "Independent".
And into the camp of "Confused" and "Betrayed" to boot. That taxpaying base we've run out of our state--well, they helped build this state college and infrastructure systems, and comprise much of the leadership and entrepreneurship that created a once-thriving middle class and an opportunity to create a better life for oneself in our former Golden State.
The surge in very rich/very poor doesn't a good economy make, and with smug liberals and disenfranchised conservatives left to contend with a Sacramento where Governor Jerry Brown is the new fiscal conservative and adult in the room to address budgetary and policy issues, it's a timely and fair complaint to wonder whether "conservative" or "liberal" really make any sense any more.
Take the BART strike, for instance. While the concerns of striking BART employees over safety/security issues were meritorious, let's not ignore the obvious--they wanted a big, fat raise while the commuters they are supposed to watch over are lucky to have a job and increasingly don't have benefits.
This BART strike mirrors our own problems in the City of Los Angeles, where the IBEW and SEIU and other public sector unions are dragging down the positive benefits of union/worker representation by proclaiming that they deserve raises no matter what the cost...and by hurting their constituents with a strike, BART employees showed that they really don't care very much about the little guy.
Even private sector unions are being forced to fight public sector unions at a time when employers (empowered by a spate of recent Supreme Court decisions) are being enabled to make workers into virtual slaves--without guaranteed breaks, meals and the ability to litigate over unpaid wages.
Liberal leaders? Conservative leaders? What do those terms even mean anymore?
Ask the average Latino or African-American taxpayer about their government services and utility bills flying skyward, and they'll easily explain to those living in their personal political bubble why "liberal" and "conservative" politicians and causes are leaving them without any champions to fight for them.
Good corporate citizen employers who pay their workers decent wages that will allow them to live off the public dole and be independent? Forget about it. Civil servants who recognize they work for the taxpayer? Forget about that, too.
And with the so-called economic "recovery" being so slow and so unable to reach the households of ordinary Americans (except those politically-connected few, of course), it's become hard indeed for the ordinary Joe/Jane American to find a friend in the circles of power we call representative democracy.
Re-enter George W. Bush, whose policies got us into so much of this mess, and we now re-enter the mystical and mysterious realm of what "conservative" or "liberal" really means.
Bush opened the door (with an unbudgeted Medicare Part D) for an ObamaCare that's being delayed and feared by an increasing number of employers, workers and independent contractors who now know what it is because it's been passed and upheld by the Supreme Court.
And while President Obama and other Democrats might benefit from a delay in the employer mandate, it's not a pretty picture.
Ditto for a President Obama who's performed diplomatic and military and budgetary nightmares to our country by furthering the misguided policies of his predecessor.
Ditto also for "comprehensive immigration reform", which like "comprehensive healthcare reform" was an effort started by former President Bush (for political, and not for economic reasons), and which has the ability to really hurt our economy--and the average worker, the little guy, the person who just wants a slice at middle class life and a better future for his/her children--and redefine what "breaking the law" is yet again.
Certainly, we do well to provide breaks and forgiveness for those who've run afoul of the law and who want to make right--but to lionize breaking the law?
To promote a pattern of employers who want slave wages and a new underclass?
To promote a pattern of empowering individuals who warp the intent of the Constitution for their personal gain at the expense of the taxpayers playing by the rules?
Not a very good set of ideas and paradigms for a nation that historically has sought to have citizenry empowered, and government limited in its overreach of this citizenry.
Traditionally, "Conservative" didn't mean being greedy and self-absorbed. Traditionally, "Liberal" didn't mean being lawless or without regards to spending within a budget.
But that's where things stand now. Perhaps so-called conservatives would do well to read up about Teddy Roosevelt, and perhaps so-called liberals would do well to read up about John F. Kennedy.
They were Americans who cared about the little guy while demanding all of us do our part without expecting unreasonable taxpayer giveaways from our neighbors. To be giving Americans first, and to respect the little guy.
So let's throw out a few new terms: instead of "living wage", let's use "independent wage" to allow families to survive off the public dole and which demands their employers and their employees bargain through shared efforts and sweat equity the ability to create loyal middle-class workers...and if over 40 hours a week is needed to pay for benefits, then so be it (as we simultaneously fight to keep the cost of benefits DOWN).
And instead of outdated buzzwords like "liberal" or "conservative" let's focus on new terms such as "principled" and "credible" and "honorable".
Words have meaning...but actions have even more meaning. It's time for our personal and collective actions to really mean something for a change, and never more than now has it been necessary to rethink what we call a given person or political party.
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected] He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 55
Pub: July 9, 2013