Calling Radicalism by Its Name - NYTimes.com

The New York Times editorial linked below underscores the points made by President Obama's speech April 3 at the AP Luncheon in Washington.  The Times highlighted Obama's emphasis on what I've believed for awhile now, that the Republican Party is uninterested in consensus or compromise in pursuit of an extreme agenda.  To quote the editorial, 'But, in this speech, he finally conceded that the party has demonstrated no interest in the values of compromise and realism. Even Ronald Reagan, who raised taxes in multiple budget deals, “could not get through a Republican primary today.”'

Another telling part of the editorial dealt with the disingenuous criticism by House Speaker John Boehner.  'The speech was immediately attacked by the House speaker, John Boehner, for failing to deal with the debt crisis, but Mr. Obama pointed out how hollow that charge has become. “That argument might have a shred of credibility were it not for their proposal to also spend $4.6 trillion over the next decade on lower tax rates,” he said.'

In my view,  the contemporary GOP -- so far removed from the days when I was a Reagan Republican -- serves only its donors and their corporate interests.  All else is a fig-leaf covering to justify what the Wall Street set wants: regulatory gutting, Citizens United judicial decisions, reduced workplace rights from insurance coverage to internet passwords, and the like.  Baldface flow of benefits toward the upper class squeezes the middle class toward the vanishing point, and it is somewhat reassuring that President Obama is mounting a more forceful defense of equity and of the middle class ... and finally abandoning his three-year effort to compromise with what has become an intransigent political party.

Calling Radicalism by Its Name - NYTimes.com