Pundits and politicians, however, typically and predictably, are mostly chattering about the cosmetics.

Moderate Republicans, represented most forcefully by Sen. Olympia Snowe, Sen. Olympia Snowe,  are bemoaning the loss. Her perspective is seconded by David Brooks.

Democrats, liberals, and other Obama supporters delight in the prospect of a 60th vote in the Senate to break filibusters. Here are pieces from E. J. Dionne, Joan Walsh, and Gail Collins. They and others describe the continuing decline of the Republican party.

The news stories nicely illustrate the conventional labels and divisions and clichés: Republicans vs. Democrats, liberals vs. conservatives, beleaguered or endangered moderates.

Something just about everyone recognizes and agrees on: Specter saved his job. By becoming a Democrat, he’ll be reelected in 2010. He’ll get to stay in the club.

From another perspective, mine, this episode – and the surrounding discussion, regardless of the specifics – illustrates the real failure of our government and the political system. There’s not much difference between being a moderate Republican and a Democrat. Specter didn’t travel far, didn’t cross any ideological gap. His real affiliation is with the status quo party. Becoming a Democrat was just a minor detail, a change in the letter after his name. By switching, moreover, he actually strengthens the political status quo and the establishment consensus.

Here’s what the status quo party has given us: Economic recession/depression, a two trillion dollar Wall Street bailout, huge government budget deficits, worsening climate change, deteriorating urban areas, more than 700 military bases around the world, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the unelected and mostly unaccountable power of the Federal Reserve Board.

We the People deserve better. Citizen Dividends, the guaranteed universal basic income, will return political and economic power to ordinary Americans, to you, your family members, your friends and neighbors, your community.

We need a Peaceful, Positive Revolution. And it can happen within the next few years if enough of us spread the word.

Steven Shafarman

The anger is real and growing, though unfocused and therefore unproductive. One reason for the lack of focus is that people don’t know the history. “Give the money to us” is a lot more meaningful when we educate people about the movements for income security in the 1890s and 1930s, and the support in the 1960s from Martin Luther King, Richard Nixon, George McGovern, Gerald Ford, and more than 1,200 economists. That history turns “Give the money to us” from an angry rant into a viable policy.

When people express their anger about the bailouts, that ought to be our cue to talk about basic income. That’s how we can focus our anger and use it to drive the reforms we need.

Steven Shafarman

A secure income is necessary for freedom. As Franklin Roosevelt said, “Necessitous men are not free men.” (In Roosevelt’s speech, that statement was in quotes, so I presume he’s quoting someone else, though I don’t know who. Any leads?)

Stronger democracy, too. With a guaranteed income independent of our jobs, wages, and such, every American will be able to participate more fully in the political and economic life of our nation. That’s what democracy is supposed to be.

If you’re interested in some economic history and theory, some context for our current situation, here’s an excellent 38 minute lecture by Richard Wolff, a professor of economics at UMass Amherst. Though he doesn’t talk about Citizen Dividends, he makes an excellent argument for it.

Steven Shafarman