I remember how we were told by the Democrats that the 2006 election was supposed to be so incredibly important. Yet, the Democratic Congress that was brought to power expanded the war in Iraq, sabotaged ENDA, attacked civil liberties, did nothing for people displaced by Katrina, and refused to even hold impeachment hearings. It was as if the GOP still controlled the Senate and the House.

Now, the Obama transition team seems to be doing everything it can to continue the policies of the past 28 years, even though those policies have been disastrous for the country. The proposed cabinet appointees in the two most important national security positions have been reactionary and pro war.

Hillary Clinton????
Robert Gates????

That's just plain crazy. Both of them have shown a lack of judgement and competence in foreign policy and national security matters.

The rot is spreading throughout the proposed new administration. Obama has made Rahm Emanuel, an inept, rightist, war mongering, Phonycrat his chief of staff. Obama actually has chosen Lawrence Summers as the Director of the National Economic Council. Never mind that Summers, through his efforts to push market deregulation and corporate controlled trade deals, is one of the people most responsible for the Crash of 2008. Summers, during his tenure at the World Bank, also exported US jobs abroad while creating enormous poverty and misery in non-Western countries.

The rot extends to policy as well.

News reports keep saying that Obama will be "flexible" about withdrawing from Iraq, even though his opposition to the Iraq War was the main reason he won the Democratic nomination. Never mind that there is no possible way for any serious effort to revive our economy to even be attempted without rapid and full withdrawal from Iraq. Any politician that tries to keep our troops in Iraq couldn't care less about tackling the economy.

Obama also seems determined to carry on the most damaging of Bush economic policies as long as politically possible. Obama doesn't even want to get rid of Bush's tax cuts for the rich until 2011. From the NY Times 11/23/08:

A member of the Obama economic advisory team, William M. Daley, acknowledged that because of the gravity of the situation, Mr. Obama was leaning toward letting a Bush tax cut for the wealthy expire on schedule in 2011 rather than repealing it sooner.

Even if the Bush tax cuts are rolled back, the rich still will be paying far less than their fair share in taxes. Even worse, given our economic crises, letting the rich have more money for speculation will destabilize the markets further and increase the severity of the downturn. Most rich people just aren't responsible enough to be trusted with large sums of money.

Another problem has been really troubling to me. There is no mention of expanding public transportation in Obama's "stimulus package" that I've been able to find in the press, and I have been looking. I guess Big Oil counts more than Global Warming to Obama.

Obama seems to be going out of his way to confirm the views of Nader and the Greens that there isn't much difference between the Democrats and Republicans. We need someone in the White House who is courageous and honest enough to lead our country, not someone in the Reagan/Bush/Clinton/Bush mold who makes corporate interests, endless war, and big money campaign contributions the highest priorities.