By Phil Mattera, Dirt Diggers Digest

The news that Byron Dorgan and Christopher Dodd will not run for
reelection has Democrats fretting that they will lose their 60-vote
supermajority in the Senate and will no longer be able to get anything
accomplished.

But what have we got to show, with regard to checking corporate
abuses, for the past 12 months of Democratic control over the
legislative branch as well as the White House? Last year this time,
excitement over Obama's election and the Democratic gains in Congress
persuaded many activists that great things could once again happen in
Washington. The big business agenda would supposedly no longer reign
supreme, and progressives anticipated major legislative gains regarding
healthcare coverage, financial regulation, the climate crisis and union
organizing.
Now those expectations seem hopelessly naïve. Rather than radical
changes, we've ended up with a disappointing series of half-measures,
quarter-measures, and stalemates.
The biggest frustration is in the healthcare arena. We seem to be on
the verge of getting a new system that will expand coverage and curb
some of the most egregious insurance industry abuses, but these
improvements come at a high cost. The final bill will likely have a
strict individual mandate compelling those without coverage to become customers of a bunch of blood-suckers yet a weak employer mandate
allowing many companies to avoid providing decent coverage to their
workers. It will not seriously regulate insurance rates yet may end up
penalizing union workers who gave up wage increases to get more
generous benefits. The bill that squeaked through the Senate and is
expected to form the basis of the final legislation is so compromised
that veteran reformers such as Physicians for a National Health Program
have called for its defeat.
After crippling the economy through reckless investments and forcing
millions of homeowners into foreclosure, the big banks have largely
been treated with deference by Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration. Nothing has been done to break up institutions deemed
too big to fail and thus able to extort massive taxpayer-funded
bailouts. Despite loud complaints from bankers used to sumptuous pay
packages, the federal government's restrictions on executive
compensation have been pretty indulgent. The bill that passed the House
in December creates a new consumer protection agency for financial
services, but it is unclear how much power it will have. And the bill
lacks aggressive regulation of the exotic financial instruments that
helped bring about the crisis. Separate legislation on credit cards
that was enacted curbs some of the industry's most outrageous practices
but does nothing about usurious interest rates.
The climate bill passed by the House in June not only shunned strict
emission limits in favor of the dubious cap-and-trade system, but it
would allow many major polluters to avoid paying for their emission
allowances for up to 20 years. And the overall emission reductions the
bill envisions are far below the level needed to make a substantial
dent in global warming.
And then there's the Employee Free Choice Act, the key priority of
the labor movement, which did so much to get Obama and many Democrats
elected. The legislation has been in suspended animation for many
months as Senate leaders apparently cannot muster enough votes to
overcome intransigent opposition not only from Republicans but also
from some Dems. EFCA remained stalled even after the AFL-CIO signaled it was open to compromise on the key issue of card-check organizing.
Overall, corporate interests have been remarkably successful over
the past year in avoiding serious restraints on their freedom of
action. Much of what the Democrats are accomplishing amounts to the appearance
of reform. It gives the impression that corporate misbehavior is being
addressed but is actually inoculating business against more stringent
regulation. In the case of healthcare, the situation is even worse: By
turning millions into captive customers, Congress is granting
unprecedented power and legitimacy to a discredited industry.
There are plenty of obvious explanations for this dismal
performance. It is easy to point to the corrupting effect of corporate
campaign contributions and lobbying by former Congressional staffers as
well as the pernicious role of conservative Democrats and egomaniacs
like Joe Lieberman.
But the progressive movement also deserves some of the blame. The
euphoria following the 2008 election gave rise to another bout of the
delusion that serious change requires nothing more putting in office a
certain number of people with the preferred party designation.
During the 1930s FDR is supposed to have told activists in a private
meeting: "I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it."
Although that quote has showed up
in several blogs over the past year, the underlying message seems to
have been lost on many of today's activists. With the absence of
substantial popular pressure, it has been easier for Congressional
Democrats to succumb to the siren song of the corporate interests.
Ironically, it has been the woefully ignorant and confused tea party
movement -- serving as a witting or unwitting stalking horse for the
corporate elite -- that has lately shown the power of grassroots
mobilization. Their positions make no sense, but the tea baggers have
made sure that Congressional Republicans maintain a hard-right stance
on everything.
Perhaps we will accomplish more if we return to our own barricades.