The conclusion of the debt ceiling fiasco, and the appropriate progressive response.

So the debt crisis appears to be nearing its end. With the deal that was reached last night between all four legislative leaders between the House and the Senate, it appears that a potentially crippling default will be avoided. There are still votes to be taken and, given the nature of the Republican caucus, one must not necessarily assume that passage is at hand. However, with the political blame now resting on both parties for the seeming intransigence displayed during the debt ceiling debate (whether the equivalence is warranted or not), it seems folly that the Republicans would do something that would completely place the blame on them for a default.

There is a popular saying that tells us “The devil is in the details.” Well, what are some of those details? They include:

• $1 trillion in immediate cuts, with a “Super Congress” consisting of six Democrats and six Republicans that will recommend an additional $1.8 trillion in cuts later
• Debt ceiling raised until 2013, avoiding this sort of calamity in the middle of a Presidential year
• $350 billion in immediate cuts for the military, with a $600 billion trigger if further cuts are not agreed
• The termination of federally subsidized student loans for graduate students
• $60 billion in unemployment insurance will expire on December 31st

This is a pretty painful deal all around.

If you are a leftist or a liberal, you are pretty disappointed in this deal. The fact is that this deal gets us no revenue raisers, cuts needed assistance for students and the unemployed, and ensures that Medicare could still be cut when the Super Congress convenes to find additional cuts to make.

If you are a conservative, you are pretty disappointed in this deal. Revenue raisers may have been taken off the table now, but there is nothing codifying that they cannot be on the table with the Super Congress. The military, which was once seen as untouchable while fighting a “global war on terror”, comes under an immediate axe as well as a potentially much larger axe later on. And the level of intransigence that has been shown by Republicans with regards to the debt ceiling will surely be reciprocated when the Bush tax cuts come up for reauthorization, especially if Democrats somehow manage to win back the House. It is primarily for the first two reasons stated above that the Club for Growth has come out against the deal, and mentioned that they will be scoring a “yes” vote negatively in their ratings for individual members of Congress.

So what is the path forward from here for progressives?

Thomas Friedman has repeatedly called for a credible third party in American politics, much like what exists in most other countries in the industrialized world. This is an idea that I have discussed for years as well. However, there are two differences between my thoughts and those of Friedman’s that center around ideology and implementation. Friedman’s conception would be a centrist third party within the current single-member district plurality/Presidential system electoral framework. My idea is a leftist third party within a proportional representation/parliamentary system framework. Neither of our ideas is likely to be a solution to the problem surrounding progressive representation in our political system, seeing as there have only been five parties that have held the Presidency in American history.

Another idea might be to primary those members of Congress that are ambivalent or hostile to advancing a progressive agenda in Congress. This is a better idea. There are many Democratic members of Congress that have not advocated for students, the elderly, or low-income/middle class Americans in this debt ceiling fight, and there should be repercussions for this. However, progressives must be careful, as these things tend to have many unintended consequences. We only need to look at the 2010 midterm elections to see where “establishment” Republicans were subjected to primaries from the Right in races that were surefire pickup opportunities for their Party. They would end up losing in Delaware, Colorado, and Nevada, and losing the prospective Senate majority along with it.

To me, this is a chance to double-down on the Democratic Party, and remake it in our image. It is easy to blog, tweet, or put up a status saying that you are pissed off. It is easy to tell others that you will not vote, or actually follow through with that action. The real work involves going to your county unit, state senate district, Congressional, or statewide Democratic Party meeting and getting involved in the planning for that picnic, parade, fair, or local charity event that will attract people to become a part of the process. The real work involves making Democratic Party units more accessible to the general public. The real work involves going out and telling those that are disgruntled, angry, and disillusioned that things will never get better unless we get involved. We can all get involved, whether it be running for positions in your local Party, or even agreeing to help with something small, like the creation or regular updating of your local Party’s website or Twitter. To get involved, click here and select your state to find more information.

For my part, I have always felt that the American public suffers from a lack of knowledge about how their government works. That is why you get people that think that you can maintain services without new revenue, or that military waste and inefficiencies should be rewarded with further increases in funding, or that government should operate like businesses even though they serve completely different functions and have different stakeholders. My contribution will be periodic blog posts that focus on the core functions of government and how they work. They will focus on policy and procedural areas including:

• taxation and government spending
• committees
• holds and filibusters
• the relation (and difference) between the private and public sectors

The media has neglected its duty to inform for long enough. I get tired of only seeing Congress in the news for chicanery and tomfoolery; we should be informed on how our government works. I plan to do my part to ensure that this is done.

Get involved. Be informed. Keep fighting. They will not stop working towards achieving their ends, and neither should we.