Why are The People Not Being Represented? with David Swanson of Democrats

davis once it is a lot of the new book daybreak undoing the imperial presidency in forming a more perfect union he's also the former pressing cure for dennis kucinich is two thousand four campaign he also presidential campaign also give some consulting for the two thousand matron former communications according to for a corner of and uh... runs davis was in dot org apart of democrats dot com p b america dot org after downing street dot org analyst goes on and did you been very busy a little bit yeah a little bit and now i'm booked tori yes apparently so first tell me real quick with the books on united com month break from activism and looked at why is it that in just about every case what the majority of americans want our government is doing something very different responsible representative republic were bombing other nations into democracy we'll have much representation and white is that and what's gone wrong and made it worse in particular over the past eight or nine years are and what can we do about it what can we be doing as activists that's more strategic and what's our long-term vision including amending the constitution and having a better system of government and so the book or is a lot bombed and that is a lot lately a certain different places so you know we have an issue that might be less for the glove that is the public option hale every poll shows overwhelming support for it yet we can't get the politicians even democratic politicians to sign up sup to be fair about fifty six at anemometer right but we need that extra for uh... and and obon was been in my opinion before mister ford so what's holding them back orders what is your research in your studies dot what i do quibble with the idea that's something that's going to hit two five percent of us is public whether it's an option or not i'll grant you but that it's public high and i think what's being missed here is the critical fact that the fifty-seven most progressive congress members in the house three months ago said we will not support a bill this bad it's got to have a serious public option tied to medicare rate it's got to be at least some sort of talk and competitive measure it does have to be the secret the word of socialism that the republicans are telling everybody and that a lot of obama supporters think used true thank you note that it's a secret plan to do something really good but if it's if it's not this level we're going to vote against it uh... and whether you think they were right to change their minds and say well it's better than nothing will vote for it i disagree with that but even if you think that it's important that when the most progressive members take a stand on something always cape every single time take a basic near ninety of wrote a letter to bush and will vote against were funny at least a regarding no i need a cave in it's a huge political problem we talk about all the time but why do you think of the ones that are fighting it are fighting in the first place why are they not representing why are the blue dogs are the republicans want to know what they're doing exactly welfare taking money they're taking the orders of the leader of their party who in the case of the democrats is the president the man who was supposed to execute the will of the congress and now it's reversed in the case republicans it's the republican leader and end orchestra they're taking the money and let me why is this is that okay let's put it this way what would you do differently to make sure that they answer to the people who bought it for them rather than people given the month well ultimately we get the money out of the system we get a decent communication system including media outlets like this one and not the ones that destroy our technician we we get rid of the complete control that the two parties have over their members so that we have five hundred thirty-five voices instead of to week we have all kinds of reforms of our election system and and so on abut in the short run working with what we've dot we have to not compromise the debate epic at the outset and have the most progressive representatives bulb us tell the president that they won't mentioned single payer which again the majority of americans for decades have supported impulse so david what what's going wrong why it is of the progressive voice crew rush in the public spear i mean because single-payer was seen as like some sort of hacks like hawaii experienced influenced you know and endeavor we went from a so why but look at the labor unions and activist groups out a d_c_ who have memberships or eighty five percent of on one single payer they've officially supported single-payer for years and years and they open this debate saying we're going to demand a public option and they organize rallies around the country sainthood can't bring a poster that says single-payer it's gotta be all about the public option andy pre compromise why because they asked the congress members what to go out and tell their members to lobby for using people as props rather than taking what people want to the congress members and the more progressive congress members had made the same deal with the president so the systems already read before you can get with it for the people you're saying but i'd guess my question is why is it really what the union leaders they're not paying the same money as they congressman from lobbyists are they i mean they are delighted to now be in meetings in congress in the white house and you know the a_f_l_c_i_o_ couldn't get in the press conferences at the labor department when bush was president now they're sitting around the table design in the future of the nation and they're happy to not mention employee free choice act anymore is gone is gone because they did everything they needed to do they elected democrats and they don't need to do anything else and the fact that that's nonsense has not gotten through today uh... we're trying to give sorties author daybreak undoing the imperial presidency in forming a more perfect union uh... so david uh... we've had that ten months of overall men offer so far uh... what's your initial analyses i know you fought like help too you know to impeach impeach bush janey and fight against the will believe so it's there of violations of the constitution which now ironically we hear the right we're talking about the competition so off have we reached the promised land or or not i mean that's what i saw altogether that did the fantasy that we have headaches tends to be idea that that the republicans are actually right and this is a back door to a decent health care system i is is incredibly destructive i mean in november two thousand and eight we behaved as if we've had a coup and we've been in the habit of having kudos in two thousand two thousand four but in two thousand we had an election we elected somebody with a bunch of people we elect a bunch of people to the first and most powerful branch of our government jazz nothing to do with the guy who's supposed to execute the will of the congress and then we behaved as if we can occur when we went home sat on our hands we d funded the peace movement we shut down activist groups and we say let's see what happens the weapons makers and sickness industry didn't let up for a minute twenty four hours and you had rahm emanuel run in the white house and and we sat back and did nothing and that's weird just sorta getting over that now but we ought to have not gone through that whole cycle of expectation and then disappointment and we certainly ought to not still be unit now so you're saying we should be fighting your bomber bottom of your senator just as hard or or you know it's it's almost as polish it's almost impossible to influence a precedent and you know we didn't use to try to get bush to end the wars we used a protest in and then try to get the house of representatives to stop the money now all the peace groups say asked the president not to escalate the war so the same thing of framing the debate with a pre compromise where our position is dot escalated their position is forty thousand troops milligrams twenty thousand troops or my position is in the whole thing moves the debate somewhere else and why do you mean you can't of course the press the president is not up again for four years the president can ignore whole regions of the nation the president takes ten times the money as any senator from any industry here today the president is corrupted by the corporate media night and day everyday it is did the president has openly said look i'm going to nor congress i'm getting more public opinion polls and we're supposed to cheer in c thank you for ignoring us because you're being principled and doing the right thing in your smarter than we are that's that's not new that we can't influence a president what's new is that we're putting our energy into trying and he'll can't you've got a media outlet but ordinary person who has a big job and can only send so many emails and phone calls and so forth needs to focus on the house of representatives heaving douse arose as a key did you see david obese statement kabc news said hey you know what i'm not interested in spending any more money in afghanistan prison or the next ten years respect of so much if i a incentives we would fixing our health care system and we have no way to pay for afghanistan so im inducer catchment or about that more mature later but lessons are really positive support it's been good message it's it's good to hawk it's not action and and congressman mark has been very open about the fact that they're not pretending they would ever pass this to happen up with their colleagues on it they're not dreaming about the senate doing it you know senator levin has made similar comments uh... it's like barbara leased bill that's saying we don't want to ask pay for escalation it's like jim mcgovern's bills and we want to exit plan is all of these bills send the right message it's but action would be building a list of house members who will vote no on the money and in the senate the president to do whatever they please but they can't fight a war today that you know it's not a hundred questions three but i can answer how did you know activism because you have i mean obviously that the specific ideas of this how you do activism this as we get our gate and it makes a lot of sense of course going after the house that's where the money is and it's and we talk about on the show all the time much easier to go out for a congressman because it takes less money or a senator from a small state you know and the lobbyists know that in but we also know that right which i don't know that we should note he should know that right so but had to get an activism in the first place that's the curious choices and ayla uh... when i was in graduate school i got involved in living wage campaigns you know as a student in california admirably or get involved in campaigns now i didn't think you know that the people emptying the trash can in the philosophy department you have to have to over jobs and never see their families you know and then i became a newspaper reporter where i was being taught to camp right back to correct that so then i thought you know when i wrote for labor publications but then i went worked for a card where i could borrow what if i wanted to say of you have an acorn spotting all right so talk to me about it or not a no apology repair taxi and some aren't there but what is a corn actually do it organizes people in low-income neighborhoods people of all races and backgrounds and it organizes them in great numbers and gets them too for meetings and build leaders and paid dues think they'd pay to be part of this and they were run it understaffed facilitates and they start working together stoplight at the dangerous intersection or get their teachers in their schools and eventually they build to where they have a presence in the state and the and the city and they start passing local and state legislation and eventually national but what's the goal like so they're communion or has a sold one of their goals like you said put up or stopped like your cousins you know people are out of accidents or people when you get the broader goals one of the broader group will on like astroturf in groups their agenda comms from their members and so on national campaign comes out of a lot of states and localities have on the same date they begin working on stopping predatory lending getting these bad loans out of neighborhood switch if people would listen to a court wall street would've been a lot better off instead acorns being blamed for football street did why didn't i disagree with that because uh... wall street guys we're going to walk through through the romance is home we have a story on that later in the program and uh... they're back to making their record bonuses so they're in great shape ido bigger c_e_o_'s would've been better off i do in order for voided a catastrophe but but you know what a condo is that is a problem for republicans is that they were just relaxed people to vote in low-income neighborhoods that's that's not a court doesn't tell me about democrat because register poor people yes they are required to register anyone and everyone by and if someone registers and puts down mickey mouse they're required to hand that ian and fly to get as paid by the way this jerk wrote down mickey mouse and in every case i'm aware of where somebody years later said haley a corn tried to register mickey mouse dibona getting really did vote when you think it was turned in and flagged bike acorn as required by law alright we're at a time today but you know we are want to have the on again for some of things that your the constitutional issues that i know you care deeply about and then also as a defender of acorn resolution become the official he likely to venerate part prabhu kendrick and at every chair the but they break undoing the imperial presidency forming a more perfect game will put up in the t likely library to a lot of great stuff in here david thank you so much for coming on interest really appreciate thank you alright we'll be right back milestones