"Cuomo's Big Problem in 2016: Democrats"

Ari Melber (The Nation):

Eric Alterman, a columnist for The Nation and the Daily Beast, notes that Cuomo’s budget will cost New York schools

2,600 teachers and another 1,000 city workers, “many of whom work in health care for the poor, at a time when the need for both could hardly be greater.” Those cuts were not inevitable austerity measures, Alterman emphasizes, since Cuomo “fought tooth and nail to ensure the death of New York’s millionaire tax, at exactly the moment when its proceeds might have been able to prevent exactly [these] kinds of cuts.” MORE...

Eric Alterman on "Kabuki Democracy" and the Beltway Dogfight

Eric Alterman (excerpted on AlterNet from his new book, "Kabuki Democracy):

To be fair to the Democrats, they are a far more ideologically diverse party than the Republicans and contain many moderates, many of who, in past Congresses, would easily have been conservatives. To further complicate matters, the more conservative or “centrist” representatives are almost always the most vulnerable because they do not represent reliably liberal districts (many were recently recruited for the purposes of winning in “purple” districts). As NPR’s Ron Elving observed following the publication of yet another poll predicting a Republican landslide, House Democrats were divided between their safe “sitting pretty faction” and “the more fragile ‘scaredy cat’ faction that could be carried off by even the gentlest of anti-incumbent breezes.” As a result, the Democratic leadership in both houses is forever forced to compromise with its own side rather than its opposition.

Now add to this the fact that, as Roberts rightly notes, “Congressional Republicans exercise far more party discipline, are far more extreme ideologically, and are far more willing to twist and abuse procedure than are Congressional Democrats.” It’s true, as pundits like to claim, that both sides “do it,” but Republican conservatives do it better, more often, and to far greater effect. As New York congressman Anthony Weiner wryly observes, too often Democrats arrive at “knife fights carrying library books.” MORE...

"Is America a 'Kabuki Democracy'" (video)

MSNBC-Dylan Ratigan, video (08:05).

Howie P.S.: Eric Alterman visits Ratigan.

Eric Alterman: "Kabuki Democracy—And How to Fix it "

Eric Alterman (The Nation):

It's no secret our democracy does not work well anymore. In many respects, including that particularly large swath of issues that involve someone's monetary profit and someone else's loss, it can barely be said to be a democracy at all—unless one takes the view held by some in Washington and Wall Street that money fulfills the function not only of free speech but of citizenship itself. If America is to ameliorate its current democratic dysfunction anytime soon, merely electing better candidates to Congress is not going to be enough. We need a system that has fairer rules, that diminishes the role of money and that encourages politicians and journalists to investigate and portray the realities they observe honestly, thereby reducing the distorting lenses of finance, ideology and ignorance. And yet these items rarely feature on any progressive agenda. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Alterman's book tour was supposed to bring him to Seattle's Town Hall tonight but "inclement weather" back east has caused this event to be cancelled.

Ari Melber: "Most important political TV this week" (video)

MSNBC-Countdown, video (09:44):

Eric Alterman and Neera Tanden debate Obama & Kabuki democracy.

Howie P.S.: This might have been the most important political tv of the month if Tweety could have controlled his motor mouth.