Progressives are (as we should be) stunned, frightened and angry to hear the Republicans running on making cuts to Medicare and Social Security during these midterms. Democrats should be hitting back a lot harder against efforts to cut benefits and privitize programs that need to be expanded until all Americans are assured access to healthcare, retirement with dignity, and a safety net in case of disability. Overhauling Medicare and Social Security is urgent and has been neglected for way too long. It needs to happen now, and it needs to be done by progressives. But Democrats aren’t solving the problem either. Nobody is. No one in leadership is stepping up to the plate.
Sometimes the most important things to do are those that are not the most immediately politically salient. But political courage pays off over the long term. When there is a problem, leaders know they need to step up and confront their voters with it, showing them what they are going to do about it. That is what leadership is really all about. Leaving a badly needed overhaul of Social Security and Medicare unaddressed only gives Republicans an opportunity to say they are at least doing something about the problem. Some plan will look better than no plan at all. Granted there are no easy answers. Social Security is set to become bankrupt as baby boomers retire. Meanwhile there is a need to expand healthcare coverage and strengthen the disability safety net that so many people with disabilities rely on to pay for their care. But solving hard problems is what governance and leadership is about.
Kicking the can down the road may seem to have an immediate political benefit in elections where just a few voters in a deeply polarized society are making determinations about who wins. But American voters don’t want to be talked down to. If you want to bring people together, the best way to do so is to unite them around the solution to a common problem–something that affects everyone. Social Security reform could be such a uniting cause.
People on both sides of the aisle agree that there is a problem and that there needs to be a solution. Differences about how to fix the problem present an opportunity for compromise. Most importantly, the extremists in the Republican party will show the American people just how fanatical they really are when they inevitably oppose a compromise for no good reason.
Social Security reform is an example of the need for people in power to take on the really tough issues instead of avoiding addressing crucial problems that need to be addressed. People will turn out to vote when they know that they are getting out to vote for people who don’t shy from difficult issues but tell people they will take important problems on and make a real difference in people’s lives. It is this aggressive spirit that is most needed in the progressive movement now.
Progressive Without Apology 