If voters expected the new Democratic control of Congress to drastically change the drift of the country, they now must feel sold out and deserted by the party that once was the populist champion of the average family.
Democrats buckled when President Bush demanded legislation that gives him more authority to eavesdrop on Americans without any court approval but with the nod of—can you believe this?—Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, accused of cover-ups, violating his oath to uphold the Constitution and attempting to oust prosecutors for political purposes.
Lost civil liberties is but one of the indictments of the political class. They're so consumed by ensuring their re-election that any agenda for benefiting the nation and its people is lost in their world of self-importance and self-adulation.
What's urgently needed is a genuine taxpayer revolt filled with outrage and organized ballot box retribution for Democrats and Republicans alike who have lost touch with the public interest.
Prolonging the Iraq war does not serve the nation's interest. If after four years of U.S. military support and billions of dollars in civil rehabilitation Iraqis can't or won't manage their own affairs, American taxpayers cannot be expected to extend generosity forever.
The vast treasures spent on Iraq are funds desperately needed at home for health care, for rehabilitation of crumbling public facilities and infrastructure, for research to avoid losing our industrial and technical edge to other countries, for urban crime fighting and social welfare.
A revolt should focus fury on the indefensible inequality of tax policy. How in good conscience can Congress tolerate for another day taxes on multimillion-dollar earnings of "hedge fund" managers at a far lower rate than their secretaries?
How can Congress continue to endorse tax breaks that reward corporations for shifting their headquarters to other countries and outsourcing jobs of Americans to foreign workers?
Unless Congress acts, millions of Americans could someday flood the streets in distress because their companies have canceled their pensions and/or they've lost their jobs in the prime of their work years to overseas workers.
In 1978, California voters proved that revolts work. A citizens' groundswell created and approved Proposition 13 to put a cap on property taxes.
If Americans don't demand real change, then politicians will have every right at the next election to sneer at voters the way Prohibition-era saloonkeeper "Texas" Guinan greeted her customers.
"Hello, suckers."
