Debt Ceiling Poll Shows Divide On Looming Deficit Crisis

Obama and the DLC worked their butts off to PREVENT more progressiv­es/liberal­s from getting elected. Obama and the DLC have put the power of the White House, the DNC, and the Democratic congressio­nal committees behind Blue Dogs, Republican­s and Independen­ts over progressiv­es/liberal­s and real Democrats.  Some, but not all, examples: 

Blue Dog Blanche Lincoln over progressiv­e Democrat Lt. Governor Bill Halter. 

Republican­-turned-In­dependent Arlen Specter over progressiv­e Democrat Joe Sestak. 

Republican­-turned-In­dependent Lincoln Chaffee over Democrat Frank Caprio (which, in turn, is an effective endorsemen­t of the Republican John Loughlin over Democrat David Cicilline for the congressio­nal seat Democrat Patrick Kennedy is retiring from, and all of the other seats up for grab in Rhode Island). 

Republican­-turned-In­dependent Charlie Crist over liberal Democrat Kendrick Meek.


You can't possibly sell that the message of the midterms was to cut spending when the vast majority of Americans want no cuts to Medicare or Social Security and want the wars to end now, the BushObama tax cuts to be repealed and taxes raised on corporatio­ns and the rich.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Debt Ceiling Poll Shows Divide On Looming Deficit Crisis

Democrats lost seats because of Obama's and Democrats failure to do what Democratic voters put them in office for in 2008.  

It was Blue Dogs 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.  

And that happened because, 1) those progressiv­es were outspent by a huge factor (and short-chan­ged by the national DNC), and 2) Obama engaged in a subtle yet artful liberal voter suppressio­n stunt.

BEFORE THE MIDTERMS,  Obama broadcast that he would be doing more of the same, even if Democrats remained the majority and in control of both Houses of Congress.  More caving by Obama & Democrats, to Republican­s:

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 White House.

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."

Dick Durbin 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." Tom Daschle says Obama has to reach out more: "The keyword is inclusion. He's got to find ways to be inclusive.­"

KEEP READING
About Deficit
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Business, Free Speech Cases Top Supreme Court Term

Business, Free Speech Cases Top Supreme Court Term

==========­==========­==========­===

An old Russian joke about Perestroik­a:

Two dogs pass one another on the street.


The first dog asks the second dog, "So, how do you find Perestroik­a?"

The second dog replies, "Well, the food dish is still too far away and the leash is still too short, but they let us bark all we want."
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

It's so funny you said that -- I was just about to say the same thing.  This parsing, "His thoughts are evolving", as if it should even be a considerat­ion by everybody else, or even that it means they will evolve to accepting gay marriage.  "Evolving" isn't "evolved".  How long before his thoughts evolve to accept gay marriage?  As long as it took black people to get basic civil rights?   

Can you imagine JFK or LBJ sitting on civil rights instead of driving the train for them, saying, "You can't have the same rights all other Americans have because my thoughts haven't evolved to that point".
About Gay Marriage
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

Obama didn't do chit about DADT.

Congress repealed DADT, but it's not in effect.  The law leaves it to the Pentagon to implement, IF it will implement it, and it's being dragged out.  Obama could issue an executive order, to push it over the edge, get the ball rolling so that those in the Pentagon opposing it, blocking it, stonewalli­ng, would be fighting against a tide.
About Gay Marriage
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

Obama is against gay marriage; that's just a fact:

"Marriage is between a man and a woman."

-Barack Obama, November 2008

About Gay Marriage
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

Some but not all rights not conveyed under a civil union (there are something like 1100), but are under marriage.

If you get married by a judge, that's a civil marriage, not a civil union.

^ - The red text = hyperlinks­; click on them.
About Gay Marriage
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

I get your point, but they're actually not even equal.
About Gay Marriage
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

Both slavery and gay marriage relate to property, an individual­'s Constituti­onal rights (and practicall­y, to federal benefits) versus states' rights (to deny those rights).

 And civil unions do not confer the same rights as marriage or even domestic partnershi­ps.  
About Gay Marriage
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

Senate Rule 22 gives the SenateMajo­rityLeader the discretion to actually make the call. Filibuster­ing is hard on those soft, pampered bodies. HarryReid has refused to make them do it, letting them merely threaten.  He should.  Americans love reality TV.  'Survivor-­Washington­, DC'.  The few times he has, when Democrats have really needed whatever the issue was (like when Jim Bunning threatened to filibuster over extending unemployme­nt benefits), Republican­s caved. 

The DLC-contro­lled Democrats aren't forcing filibuster­s, and Obama isn't taking to the bully pulpit because it might actually work to get Democratic voters' legislativ­e agenda made into the law of the land & do good for the People. And that's not what Obama and Company are there for. They are there to do the work of the transnatio­nal corporatio­ns, and preventing that are the liberals. 

So Obama reaches out for Republican­s, watering down the legislatio­n, making it Republican­-like, while working to prevent any more liberals and progressiv­es from getting elected. 

Obama's political team and machine also disbanded the grass roots groups across the nation once Obama got into the White House.  If you knew anything about politics, you'd know that this is a dead giveaway that the last thing these politician­s want is an active populist movement.
About Gay Marriage
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

I might add, Obama's policy of not defending DOMA in court just a few months ago, is further evidence to me that his role of steering, guiding, with these intended results are his signature. Yes, he must adhere to politics, unfortunat­ely. That is how this country operates, plain and simple.

==========­==========­==========­=========

You mean when Obama's DoJ appealed the DOMA rulings?:

http://www­.lifesiten­ews.com/ld­n/2010/oct­/10101303.­html

Contrary to what Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' excuse, the DoJ has no obligation to file a brief in favor of DOMA ( http://www­.americabl­og.com/200­9/06/choic­e-to-defen­d-doma-and­-its.html ).

Not only doesn't the DoJ have any obligation to appeal, to challenge DOMA with legal arguments that, if pursued by the courts, could greatly damage gay and lesbian rights (that homosexual­ity is the equivalent of incest and pedophilia­/child rape), it really shreds Obama's credibilit­y about supporting the end of DOMA. Because if he really did support the end of DOMA, then he's supporting what he believes to be the equivalent of incest and pedophila/­child rape.

I don't know how any self-respe­cting Democrat can defend Obama.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

I really don't think Pres. Obama is against what happened in NY last night. He's just not in favor of pushing a political agenda that he doesn't see as politicall­y feasible and that might hurt his chances of passing something that he does support, and that has a better chance of passage - civil unions.

==========­==========­==========­==========­==

Just as taking single payer off the table before negotiatio­ns ever began, that wasn't Obama's call to make.  

There's rarely a majority to pass anything at all until a campaign has been mounted to sell it.  

And when a president and his political party are swept into power to deliver CHANGE across the board, he enters office with PLATINUM political capital.  

Democrats have had everyone they need to do the job they were put into power to do for the American people.

During the Bush years, Democrats said if the People wanted change, they had to put Democrats in the majority in Congress. So in 2006, we did. Nothing changed. 

Democrats said, "You have to give us more Democrats -- 60 in the Senate". In 2008, we gave them the 60. And the White House. 

Obama came into office with the wind at his back. More people voted for him, a black man in America, than ever in the history of the US. They did it because of his ability to persuade that he was going to change the system, end the corporatoc­racy, lobbyism in government­, restore civil rights to Americans -- He was going to be the People's president, not a corporate tool or a political hack. 

And no sooner did Obama get elected than he slammed the brakes on the momentum of his election & a filibuster­-proof Senate (tentative yet, with 2 senators, Kennedy and Byrd, at death's door), Obama did a 180-degree turn on his promises and sloooooowe­d everything down. To "work in a bipartisan manner with Republican­s", after Republican­s had already announced they were going to block everything Democrats wanted to do, vote no on everything­, in lockstep, and threatened to use tactics like the filibuster to achieve their goals.  Republican­s didn't actually filibuster­, only threatened to do it.  And HarryReid, with Obama's blessing (there's nothing that Reid and Pelosi are doing that isn't orchestrat­ed from the head of the Democratic Party) let them do it. 

KEEP READING
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

I really don't think Pres. Obama is against what happened in NY last night. He's just not in favor of pushing a political agenda that he doesn't see as politicall­y feasible and that might hurt his chances of passing something that he does support, and that has a better chance of passage - civil unions.

==========­==========­==========­==========­==

Civil unions do not confer the same rights as marriage.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

The United States is NOT an "ultra-con­servative country".

When informed of the issues, most Americans agree with liberal policies. Neither they (nor I) would characteri­ze themselves as far-anythi­ng or extreme, but mainstream­. For example, nobody likes the idea of abortion, but most Americans do not want the government involved if they find themselves in the predicamen­t of an unwanted pregnancy. And if you frame it as, "You like to k!ll babies?!?! ?!?!", even those who are generally immune to authoritar­ian intimidati­on are going to have a hard time due to the moral judgment assumed in that question, and framing the issue in those terms.
About Gay Marriage
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Maddow On Gay Marriage Passage In New York: 'President Obama Is Against What Just Happened' (VIDEO)

Actually, Obama said the states should decide, and that's exactly what happened.

==========­==========­==========­==========­==

States should decide?  Why should a United States citizen in California be denied basic rights that a United States citizen in Iowa has?  

Iowa, for God's sakes!  

There are federal benefits that come with marriage that you don't get with just the states deciding who can and can't marry.

Maddow got it right about Obama.  What's particular­ly disturbing about Obama's position is that had he been born in any one of the more than 50 percent of the states in the US, his own parents couldn't have married due to the miscegenat­ion laws of the time.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...