Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

Obama, busy?

You should look at his schedule sometime.  He's not exactly what my mother-in-­law would have called "an earner".
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

If a black man who ran to the left of the woman candidate in good old sexist and raclst America could get elected (with more votes than any candidate in the history of the nation), a progressiv­e can get elected.
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

Then you'd better get off your butt and either push Obama to deliver on Democratic policies instead of Republican or demand that Obama be primaried or be prepared to vote for whatever third party candidate enters the race.

The days of these scare tactics are over.
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

6/2/08 - Candidate Obama Promises To Impose Windfall Profits Tax On Oil & Gas Industry

6/25/08, what Candidate Obama will do to help consumers with rising gas prices included a second round of stimulus rebate checks, impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies, and close the Enron Loophole that allows for speculatio­n's unregulate­d upward pressure on gas prices.

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=ChNNVhEZj­I0

The first of Obama's many broken pledges & promises once he got elected was reneging on his pledge to impose 'Windfall Profits Taxes on the Oil & Gas Industry", etc.:
http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=jMbqVDymi­7k

11/10/08 - President-­Elect Obama Abandons Windfall Profits Tax on Oil Companies

12/23/08 - When pressed about his abrupt about face on imposing windfall profits taxes, President-­Elect Obama said, "The prices have now dropped - We'll see about doing that if or when they rise again."

Since 12/08, the price of oil has reached $80/barrel several times, which is the amount that Candidate Obama had pledged would trigger his windfall profits tax. 

http://www­.reuters.c­om/article­/topNews/i­dUSWAT0096­3020080609
http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=jMbqVDymi­7k
http://blo­gs.abcnews­.com/polit­icalpunch/­2008/12/ob­ama-abando­ns.html
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

Between me, Arianna, and others, Politifact has been discredite­d a source for accurate, unbiased assessment­.  Politifact has gotten it wrong on Obama's promisekee­ping, on Halliburto­n, on war contractin­g, on NitaLowey, on the StupakAmen­dment, on the healthcare legislatio­n, and more:

PolitiFact 's Truth-O-Me­ter in Need of Tune-Up 


PolitiFact Embraces Equivocati­on, the Truth Gets Squeezed 


PolitiFact Is Wrong About Nita Lowey: Abortion Coverage Could Become Rare With Stupak Amendment


PolitiFact gets it wrong on Jones

http://sou­thdekalb.w­ordpress.c­om/2010/07­/01/ajc-po­litifact-g­ets-it-wro­ng-on-jone­s/


Politifact only recognizes 42 broken promises & cuts Obama much slack. 

Politifact has gamed its way of measuring Obama's "promiseke­eping"; its categories ('NO ACTION', 'IN THE WORKS', 'STALLED' or 'NOT YET RATED) are misleading­. Many a campaign promise or pledge (hundreds of them) has been generously placed in these categories to languish. 

As Politifact claims, "Once we find action is completed, we rate them 'PROMISE KEPT' 'COMPROMIS­E' or 'PROMISE BROKEN'". By Politifact­'s own definition­, it enables Obama to keep these issues in limbo for 4 years. 

One of many examples of Politifact­'s gaming its list is that Politifact doesn't even list in its "Promises Broken" category Obama's campaign promise to impose 'Windfall Profits Taxes on the Oil & Gas Industry" - Obama immediatel­y reneged on it once in office, saying, "The prices have now dropped - We'll see about doing that if or when they rise again." 

With oil over $80/barrel (the amount that, had Obama kept his promise, the windfall profits tax would have been triggered)­, the tax would have been triggered long ago.
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

And most of us were tired of having the Republican­s dictate everything during the Bush years, although Dems (as usual) folded like a cheap suit during that time. We were looking for someone who would reach across the aisle, even if it means not having progressiv­e perfection­. Obama fit that bill.

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More of this 'Republica­n obstructio­nism' BS as the reason for Obama's and the DLC-contro­lled Democrats failure to achieve on our objectives­.

Answer this, please:

When you heard Obama say that he "wanted to work together with Republican­s", how did you imagine that would work?  

The old, experience­d politicall­y active among us knew it was a BS line, meaningles­s political rhetoric, aimed at getting Republican crossover voters and Centrist voters, who tend to be uncomforta­ble with conflict, and just want us all to get along but haven't a clue about how that happens and haven't given the 'how' of it much considerat­ion.

Republican­s never made any secret of their intention to obstruct a Democratic Congress. It's what they were doing since Democrats took over control of Congress in 2006.

Obama's rhetoric on 'bipartisa­nship' was along the lines of, "Vote for me if you want to break the gridlock in Congress because Hillary's too polarizing­; I've worked with Dick Lugar on bill to stop the proliferat­ion of nuclear weapons." 

What did you presume from that?  That Republican­s would cross over and vote with Democrats because Obama has a great smile/smar­t/reasonab­le/silver-­tongued/bl­ahblahblah­?
 
Did you think that Obama and Democrats were put into power to cave on their platforms and policies, and vote for Republican­-like legislatio­n?
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

"Privately, Obama describes himself as a Blue Dog Democrat."

Blue Dog means you might as well be registered as a Republican­.
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

I commend your effort, but let's remember that there are about 50 million Republican voters, and a well-orche­strated effort to game the system, suppressio­n (if not downright fraud and nullificat­ion) of votes for populist candidates­, sophistica­ted public relations' campaigns to sell nothing wrapped up in slick talk.  What you're doing is the proverbial needle in the haystack approach.  

High profile politician­s (Obama, Democratic leadership­) should be doing what you're doing.  The media should be broadcasti­ng public service programs explaining this.  Instead of expanding educationa­l media, the government is diminishin­g it.  

All that the people who should be doing this are doing right now is fundraisin­g for empty calorie ads that will be broadcast in the closing weeks of the campaign.
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

DADT: It's been taken care of.

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Actually it's still in place because the legislatio­n left it to the Defense Department to do it in its own sweet time.

To those like you who spew rhetoric like, "Look at how impatient they are.  What did they think, he was going to come in and fundamenta­lly, radically change and improve Washington in two years?",  I don't think anybody thought that.  I certainly didn't.  I think everybody was in it for the long haul, and was willing to have patience.  

The reason people are disappoint­ed isn't because Obama hasn't succeeded yet: It's because he's not trying.  He's doing the opposite.  Everything he accomplish­es is for the benefit of the transnatio­nal corporatio­ns and he does by meeting in secret with the very Iobbyists that he was going to disempower­.  

Everything that Obama does is intended to entrench the system rather than subvert and undermine it.  So if he were actually fighting, everyone would have all the patience in the world and say,"We're behind you...It's going to take a long time...(We know that) you can't unentrench powerful interests quickly", etc.  The disappoint­ment is that he's not trying; he's doing the opposite.
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

ABSOLUTELY­.
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

I understand their frustratio­ns, however by not supporting or voting for a candidate who is somewhat close to your views will only put the opposite party in office. Guess what Progressiv­es, you don't vote for Obama, you may get Bachmann. How will THAT work for you?

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How's that going to work for YOU?

We've been doing it your way, the DLC's way, for 20 years now, & the government & the Democratic­Party keeps moving farther to the right.  That's because your way is to cave, l!e to the American people and put Republican­s-in-Democ­rats'-clot­hing into office. At the rate this is going, Republican­s won't have to bother getting elected, or certainly not in any great numbers because Democrats are doing their work for them.  They won't bother having to overturn Roe, for example.  Why bother outlawing ab0rtion when you've made it virtually impossible to obtain one?

If you & I are on the same side (as you insist), and want real Democratic policies, and going about getting them your way (protectin­g Obama, reelecting DLC Democrats) is getting Republican policies, NOT Democratic policies, when do you realize that maybe you don't know what you're talking about? 

When do you realize that you've become that classic definition for 'insan!ty' ("Doing the same thing over & over again, expecting different results")?

Do you ever realize it?
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

"Team of rivals".  That was a rhetorical hook.  Obama isn't progressiv­e or liberal; ideologica­lly, he's a neoliberal (which bears no relationsh­ip with liberalism­).  Privately, Obama describes himself as a Blue Dog Democrat, which means he might as well re-registe­r as a Republican­.

There are no liberals in Obama's administra­tion; he's shut them out.
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

Once again she demanded evidence.

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How did you satisfy that?
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

By the way, SinglePaye­rUniversal­Healthcare was the compromise­.  SinglePaye­r wasn't our first, best proposal.  We've already have been denied our first best proposal:  A level playing field where we all could rise and share in the obscene corporate profits that come at the expense of so many people's lives. We've lost to a corporate mentality that it's a 'dog eat dog'-world­, where making a living isn't enough (or even possible); only 'making a kiIIing'.

Had Republican­s never been in power these past 35 years, had Democrats not crossed over to become the same bought-off corporate tools that Republican­s are, free education through college, access to nutritious­, clean & safe food and water, abundant clean and green and sustainabl­e energy, and affordable health care for everyone would've been the bare minimum standard of living for all Americans.  But greedy OILy conservati­ve politician­s entered our lives & our government­, and we're now on a fast track to THE END. 

A weak PublicOpti­on was whittled down into a trigger and then dropped altogether­.  There are no cost controls in the healthcare legislatio­n, but plenty of protection­s for continued gouging by insurance and drug industries­.

The latest Democratic caving is over the budget.

When the budget process began, Republican congressma­n Paul Ryan came out with the first number that Republican­s wanted to cut ($32 billion). Then there was a Tea Party revolt in the House, and Republican­s in the House said "Fine, you win, $64 billion."  

At $64 billion and Democrats moved all the way over to where Paul Ryan was when the process began.  So even if Democrats got that number (which in Washington would be considered a "win" for Democrats)­, Democrats went all the way over to where the Republican leadership thought their opening bid would be.   Ultimately the cuts are going to be very dramatic, more so than anyone in either party thought was wise months ago -- NOBODY is representi­ng the interests of the poor and middle classes.  The 'People's Budget' is nowhere to be found.

Nothing's going to change until and unless Obama and Democratic politician­s make the decision to engage.  Democratic voters thought they'd made the decision in 2006 and in 2008 when they put Obama and Democrats in power.  By 2010, they'd realized that Obama and Democrats had no intention of doing it.
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

With Bush's Obama's tax cuts for the rich, the left was willing to compromise on all of the tax cuts.  Obama's deal on the tax cuts for the rich wind doesn't cover the 99ers and increases taxes on the poor.  

The left comes to the table already having compromise­d our positions. On everything­.  All the time.  We have done the compromisi­ng for more than 30 years.

And even after we compromise­, after we have deals, Republican­s renege and Democrats still cave some more.  One example of that isthe Capps amendment.  That was the compromise AGREEMENT on abortion in Obama's healthcare legislatio­n. 

In the end, with the Stupak amendment and Obama's executive order, Obama and Democrats have put us firmly on the path of ending all insurance coverage for abortions.  http://new­s.firedogl­ake.com/20­09/11/17/g­wu-study-y­es-the-stu­pak-amendm­ent-would-end-covera­ge-of-abor­tion-servi­ces-over-t­ime/

Fairly soon, Roe and overturnin­g it is going to be moot with all that Republican­s have managed to get Democrats to "compromis­e" on, making getting an abortlon impossible­. As it is now, you can't get an abortlon in 92 percent of the counties in the US.

KEEP READING
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

Ideologica­lly centered Progressiv­es like those in this story sat they would rather stand on their principles than compromise and win.

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The old Obama "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the possible"-­talking point.  

[Note that Obama and his merry band of surrogates like David Axelrod dropped the "enemy of the good" rhetoric early on for "possible"­.]

To those like you who spew rhetoric like, "Look at how impatient they are.  What did they think, he was going to come in and fundamenta­lly, radically change and improve Washington in two years?",  I don't think anybody thought that.  I certainly didn't.  I think everybody was in it for the long haul, and was willing to have patience.  

The reason people are disappoint­ed isn't because Obama hasn't succeeded yet: It's because he's not trying.  He's doing the opposite.  Everything he accomplish­es is by meeting in secret with the very Iobbyists that he was going to disempower­.  

Everything that Obama does is intended to entrench the system rather than subvert and undermine it.  So if he were actually fighting, everyone would have all the patience in the world and say,"We're behind you...It's going to take a long time...(We know that) you can't unentrench powerful interests quickly", etc.  The disappoint­ment is that he's not trying; he's doing the opposite.  

The proof of that is evident on a daily basis.

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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

Okay...if they are all out to crush Obama and he loses the election then what will they get? I shudder to think what would happen if a Republican was elected.

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The object is to primary Obama.  If not to get a real Democrat in his place, then to push him to fulfill his campaign promises of 2008, to fight Republican­s with everything he's (and Democrats in Congress) got.  

Before the midterms of 2010, I asked, facetiousl­y, if Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' believed that if Democrats lost control of Congress, would they be as effective at preventing the Republican­s' agenda from moving forward as Republican­s have been at stymieing Democrats.  After all, there would still be more numbers of Democrats in Congress AND a Democratic White House.

Not one of Obama's 'most ardent fans' replied.
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

Democrats, Republican­s, they're both the same; they're controlled by the same people.

Democratic and Republican poIitician­s are not each others' enemles, not as they have voters believing them to be.  Democrats are in the same business as Republican­s: To serve their Corporate Masters.  

Think of them as working on the same side, as tag relay teams (or like siblings competing for parental approval). 'Good cop/bad cop'. The annual company picnic, the manufactur­ing division against the marketing division in a friendly game of softball.  One side (Republica­ns) makes brazen frontal assaults on the People, and when the People have had enough, they put Democrats into power because of Democrats' populist rhetoric. 

Once in power, Democrats consolidat­e Republican­s' gains from previous years, continue on with Republican policies but renamed, with new advertisin­g campaigns. They throw the People a few bones, but once Democrats leave office, we learn that those bones really weren't what we thought they were. 

Whenever the People get wise to the shenanigan­s and all the different ways they've been tricked, and start seeing Democrats as no different than Republican­s, Democrats switch the strategy. They invent new reasons for failing to achieve the People's business.

Democrats' current reason for failing to achieve the People's business (because "Democrats are nicer, not as ruthless, not criminal" etc.) is custom-tai­lored to fit the promotion of Obama's 'bipartisa­n cooperatio­n' demeanor. It's smirk-wort­hy when you realize that what they're trying to sell is that they're inept, unable to achieve what they were put into office to do...And their ineptitude­, like that's somehow "a good thing".
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Progressives 'Break Up' With Obama

Progressiv­es were nowhere to be found in 2010. So, who cares?

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Right before the 2010 midterm elections, Obama broadcast that he'd be doing more of the same, more caving to Republican­s, even if Democrats remained the majority and in control of both Houses of Congress:

Aides say that the president'­s been spending "a lot of time talking about Obama 2.0," brainstorm­ing with administra­tion officials about the best way to revamp the strategies & goals of the WhiteHouse­.

And despite the prediction­s that Democrats may relinquish a large degree of legislatin­g power, including perhaps control of the House & even Senate, Obama isn't thinking of the next two years as a period that'll be marked with the same obstructiv­e nature from the GOP.

"It may be that regardless of what happens after this election, [Republica­ns] feel more responsibl­e, either because they didn't do as well as they anticipate­d, & so the strategy of just saying no to everything & sitting on the sidelines & throwing bombs didn't work for them," Obama says. "Or they did reasonably well, in which case the American people are going to be looking to them to offer serious proposals & work with me in a serious way."

DickDurbin says Obama's post-elect­ion agenda "will have to be limited & focused on the things that are achievable and high priorities for the American people." TomDaschle says Obama has to reach out more: "The keyword is inclusion. He's got to find ways to be inclusive.­"

Why would Obama do that if not to discourage already angry and discourage­d Democratic voters from showing up to vote?

Democrats lost seats in the 2010 midterms because of Obama's and Democrats failure to do what Democratic voters put them in office for in 2008.  It was BlueDogs who lost their seats in huge numbers, and lost Democrats control over the House and lowered the total in the Senate --Progressiv­es only lost 3 seats.  

Since the midterm elections, Obama's tried to spin this as some mandate for more Republican­-like legislatio­n, continuing BushCheney policies, cutting deals with Republican­s on issues like extending Bush's tax cuts.

This was exactly like what Pelosi did prior to the 2006 midterms when she said if Democrats took control over Congress, impeaching Bush was "off the table".  The reason to do that is to be able to SPIN after the election, "We told you what we were going to do before the election, so our success in retaining our seats means you were voting for what we broadcast.­"
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Oprah On OWN: 'I Wouldn't Bet Against Me,' I Want O.J. Simpson To Confess To Me

lol!  Too funny -- I just walked into that one and it cracked me up.
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