MAKE ME DO IT!

MAKE ME DO IT

When A. Phillip Randolph, head of the Sleeping Car Porters Union, complained to FDR that he wasn't doing enough to end the depression, the president said, “Make me do it!” It is clear that President Obama is now inviting the same pressure and his campaign staff, and the Occupiers, are making him “do it.” The 2012 slogan, “We Can't Wait!,” might have come directly from a poster carried by protestors, for it clearly reflect their view and his decision to use executive authority to do what congress won't seems to be evidence he intends to “do it.”

The Latin phrase, vox populi, translates simply as “voice of the people,” but the only voices politicians listen to are their financial backers', pollsters', and announcers reporting results of the election. Now, however, the vox of the people is being heard in cities and towns across America, including the 10,000 who protested in Oakland, California on November 2. And there are some signs their voice is being heard, and not just by Democrats. House Speaker Boehner and Senate minority leader McConnell have muttered they might allow some modest revenue increases, .i.e, taxes, to be included in their scheme to lower the deficit.

But what is far from clear is whether the voice of the people will change Wall Street's control over our country. What is loud and clear, however, is that “Jobs” has replaced “Deficit” as the one word challenge politicians will face in 2012 and the country is not turning to Wall Street to put America back to work. What we must do now is demand that Congress “do it!”