Democrats Step Up

by digby

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c

Foreclosure Crisis

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

It’s good that Jon Stewart is on this story, but it’s kind of sad that in his zeal to “restore sanity” he failed to see something very important about how this story finally came to the attention of the mainstream. A smart friend of mine sent this to me last night that I think is the first positive message that has real salience in this current election:

A lot of people are trying to say that all politicians are the same, that your vote doesn’t matter. Well, let’s look at the evidence. In the last month, here are some news stories about politicians.

Democrat Alan Grayson Calls for Foreclosure Moratorium Democrat Ohio Secretary of State Attacks Foreclosure Fraud President Obama Pocket Vetos Pro-Bank Bill That Would Increase Foreclosures
Democrat Harry Reid Calls for Foreclosure Moratorium

Democrat Nancy Pelosi, California Democrats Calls for Investigations of Foreclosure Fraud Democrat John Conyers and Carolyn Kilpatrick Call for Foreclosure Freeze Democrat Ohio Attorney General Attacks Foreclosure Fraud, Sues GMAC Democrat Illinois Attorney General Asks for Foreclosure Halt in Illinois Democrat Maxine Waters Calls for a Foreclosure Freeze Democrats Alan Grayson, Barney Frank, and Corrine Brown Call for Fannie to Stop Working with Foreclosure ‘Mills’ Being Investigated for Fraud Democrat Earl Blumenaur Asks for a Foreclosure Freeze in Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley Calls for a Special Investigator for Foreclosure Fraud Democrats Luis Gutierrez and Dennis Moore Call for Investigations of Bailout Recipients Engaging in Foreclosure Fraud Democrat Attorney General in California Asks for Foreclosure Halt Democrat Attorney General in Massachusetts Asks for Foreclosure Halt

And on and on and on….

Notice a pattern here? If not, let me give you another hint.

Republican Richard Shelby Tries to Weaken Rules, Kicks Regulators

I wonder why banks and corporations are spending $5 billion on this election, nearly all of that for Republicans.

Save your home. Vote Democratic.

In the Democracy Corps memo I posted about a couple of days ago, it was clear that people don’t want to hear about who’s to blame for any of this. They aren’t in the mood. What they are looking for is a sign that somebody, somewhere, is doing something to fix the problems.

This is the clearest example I’ve seen of the difference between the two parties in dealing with the ongoing economic crisis. Democrats like Grayson and Franken and even the leadership all called for action the minute this scandal bubbled up. The Republicans — crickets. Their first instinct is always to protect the fraud merchants and the Big Money Boyz, no matter what. They truly don’t care — indeed, they think the homeowners are getting what they deserve: last night that zombie Ralph Reed arose from his shallow political grave and appeared on CNN parroting the old tropes about Fannie and Freddie lending to undeserving black people and ruining everything for the rest of us.

The Dems are far from blameless and it’s true that the owners exert outsized influence over both the parties. But in situations like this you can see a clear distinction between the moral and ethical impulses that make a politician — and a voter — choose one party over another.