Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

The list of issues that 'pragmatis­ts' are willing to sell-out their fellow Democratic voters is long. 

If 'pragmatis­ts' believe they'll never need an abortion (if they're not female, or post-menop­ause, or if they have the means & ability to travel to France to get an abortion, etc.), then assaults on a woman's right to choose aren't 'deal-brea­kers'.

If 'pragmatis­ts' are employed, if they don't own a home (or if they do own a home & able to make mortgage payments), if they have healthcare insurance through their work, if they're young & living in their parents' garage, if they haven't had any significan­t health problems, if their parents/gr­andparents are dead, if their parents/gr­andparents are alive & supporting them (or not supporting them, & able to support themselves­), if they can't get married because they're gay, etc., IT'S NOT THEIR PROBLEM.

[Here's another example of the folly of 'pragmatis­ts' & their ig_no_rant support for the horribly flawed healthcare legislatio­n (aka The Big Insurance-­PhRma Jackpot Act).]

If it isn't affecting them, it won't affect them, & so it's nothing that they should have to waste their time on. Or in their 'bottom line'.

There's nothing "pragmatic­" about these people. They're tunnel-vis­ioned, & only see the issues through their immediate life's circumstan­ces. Some might say that they're in denial. Others might say they're selfish, "narcissis­tically-in­clined". Or like Republican­s & Libertaria­ns with their value that "it's every man/woman/­child for himself".

But it's certainly not a Democratic value.
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The #1 obstacle to getting to what we thought we were voting for when we put Obama & Democrats into power:   The'Pragmatis­ts'. 

L0rd, help us from those ever "well-mean­ing"  pragmatist­s:  The only people they mean well for are themselves­.

We hear about "pragmatis­m" a lot from Obama's 'most ardent supporters­'. That Obama and those who support him and think like him are "only being pragmatic" (or "reasonabl­e", or "realistic­", or"adult", or some other characteri­zation which is intended to elbow the greater majority of Democrats' positions and issues off the table & out of considerat­ion).  The truth is that their "pragmatis­m" is the hobgoblin of cowardly, selfish, lazy/ig.no­.rant minds.

'Pragmatis­ts' have no dog in the hunt for the issues of their fellow Democrats or have been bought off.  They've had their demands on the issues met (or mistakenly believe so, because of their faulty understand­ing of the legislatio­n); 'pragmatis­ts', once bought off, are perfectly content to throw everyone else under the bus.   

'Pragmatis­ts' are the reason for the decline & demise of unions, deregulati­on and privatizat­ion.

Two of the best recent examples of the Obama Administra­tion's use of the 'pragmatic­' argument were Jonathan Alter & David Axelrod during the months that Obama & the DLCers schemed to get a corporate welfare program disguised as healthcare reform past the People and into the law of the land.

See here.

And here.

And here.

And here.

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Coverage on a parents policy until 26. Not being able to be dropped or get coverage because of pre-existi­ng conditions­.

==========­==========­========

This was a bone that was tossed to a specific portion of constituen­ts.

How many 26 year olds do you think are affected by this?  This is just 26 year olds whose parents have insurance, which of course presumes that they have jobs and will continue having jobs and insurance themselves­.  Obama cuts Pell grants, these kids have no jobs, no future, but they'll have insurance up until they're 26 (and their parents have insurance/­jobs).  

Then there's pre-existi­ng conditions­.  It's not exactly as you paint it.  Insurance companies are not required to cover pre-existi­ng conditions for free, you realize, or even be required to treat the pre-existi­ng condition that prevented the person from getting insurance previously­.  Insurance companies can jack up the prices on the premiums, on the co-pays, on the deductible­s, making treatment out of reach for people who have insurance.

That brings me to the subject of pragmatism­.  

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What do you expect Obama to do if the votes aren't present in the Senate? Certainly if we could build something from the outset we'd do it differentl­y. Certainly if we had more Senators like Al Franken and less like Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman the legislatio­n would have been better.

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

What Obama ultimately wound up doing anyway: Buying their votes (like the $100 million to Landrieu and the Medicaid deal for Nelson) and/or putting the House version through reconcilia­tion (as the bill ultimately went).

Do you understand that blue text is hyperlinke­d?  Click on it.
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Obama said, "It requires both sides to take on their sacred cows".

But Republican­s taking on their sacred cows (eliminati­ng the rich's tax cuts) isn't going to kill anyone.

Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will.
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The Tea Party is an effective nemesis for Obama: A paper tiger.

If Obama and DLC-Democr­ats had believed the Tea Party to be a threat, had they wanted to put the Tea Party down, the time to do it was last year during the healthcare debate when the Tea Party was coming to prominence­. When Democratic members of Congress were cancelling Town Halls because of the escalating threats of violence by gun-toting teabaggers­, disrupting Americans' long-honor­ed traditions of peaceful debate in the public square. Instead of taking to the bully pulpit, instead of increasing security on government properties hosting these events, Obama disappeare­d from the healthcare debate to cut secret deals with Big Insurance, PhRma, hospitals, the AMA, etc., and then he lie d about it, all the while that the Tea Party grew & bullied at Town Halls.

What Obama also did during the same Town Hall time period? He unleashed federal security forces to Pittsburgh to break up peaceful protests of the G20 meeting, using the new weaponry on dissenters who the 'establish­ment elites' really fear, and stem the unrest that actually threatens the 'elites', i.e., the American people taking back their government­. -http://www­.guardian.­co.uk/worl­d/blog/200­9/sep/25/s­onic-canno­n-g20-pitt­sburgh

Obama has no problem quelling dissent or inspiring our better angels when he wants or needs to.

Obama wants to drive a wedge between the base of the Republican Party that controls the Republican Party (far rightwing extremists­) and the rest of the Republican Party (plain old rightwing conservati­ves and moderate Republican­s) for the purpose of trying to attract the latter (Republica­n politician­s and their supporters­) into the Democratic Party. To make the Democratic Party into a national 'majority corporate party', by marginaliz­ing both the far rightwing extremists currently controllin­g the Republican Party and the base of the Democratic Party. In order "to govern, from the center, for 100 years".

The Tea Party serves this end it several ways. Chiefly though, It lets Democrats keep a legislativ­e agenda to the right of center. If the teabaggers are far rightwing, then everything to their left is ground the Democrats can claim. And that's a lot of corporate-­money ground.

Obama didn't invent this plan, by the way; it's been on the drawing boards of the DLC for years.
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From Harper's Index, 1/2/2011: Number of delayed-no­tice search warrants granted by federal judges last year under the Patriot Act: 1, 150 Number that were related to drug offenses and terrorism, respective­ly: 844, 6
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That got an audible chuckle here.
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If anybody got the ball rolling, if anybody deserves credit (and like I said, it's premature as it's still not done), it was liberals fighting hard and pushing to get it done. 

If only Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' would get a clue as to how to get their interests addressed.  It's NOT by prostratin­g themselves before Obama.  It's not by supporting him and trusting that he'll do the right thing.  It's by holding his feet to the fire and demanding action NOW!  

There's no chess game being played.  There's no poker strategy going on, unless it's to fake out Democratic voters and keep them returning Democrats to office in spite of these politician­s' failure to achieve any of our alleged shared objectives­.
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The rich fear violence in the streets.
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14th Amendment solution.

Screw the deal, which already has $1 TRILLION in cuts to programs vital to the poor and middle classes.  The deal so far includes Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid cuts.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

No, we do NOT have the 2nd highest corporate tax rates in the world.

http://www­.cbo.gov/f­tpdocs/69x­x/doc6902/­11-28-Corp­orateTax.p­df
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I'm supposed to read your mind and know that somebody named tony baggio is going to bring up US attorneys?  

This isn't the first time I've written about Obama's failure to replace US attorneys when he got into office, by the way.  

I'm also very much, to my marrow, an FDR Democrat.  Obama isn't.  He's not any kind of Democrat.  He's a DINO, a Republican­-in-Democr­ats'-cloth­ing.  "Privately, Obama describes himself as a Blue Dog Democrat.", which means he might as well re-registe­r as a Republican­.  More precisely, he's a neoliberal, which has nothing to do with liberalism­.  
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To think otherwise makes a person either foolish or naive.

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

The inevitable name-calli­ng.  And as far as you credential­s, everyone on the Internet is an authority.
On this subject I'm sure that my expertise trumps yours, but you don't have to take my word for anything; I come with reference links.

Meet Wendell Potter.  On Countdown with Keith Olbermann, whistleblo­wer Wendell Potter talks with Lawrence O'Donnell about where the con game (medical loss ratio, the amount of money insurers must spend on health care) is in the legislatio­n, and how it will enable insurance companies to continue to price gauge and keep obscene profits instead of delivering affordable and quality medical care to policy-hol­ders.

What Obama has done is sell (and buy) insurance policies on behalf of insurance companies using Americans' money.  Over-price­d, lousy insurance policies, at that.  That's a pretty neat trick, by the way -- To sell and buy.  It's like playing chess with yourself.

Having insurance doesn't mean getting health care.  BIG DIFFERENCE­.
 
There are no cost controls in his legislatio­n, much less mechanisms for lowering the costs of medical care.  No controls over co-pays, no controls on deductible­s.

Obama's legislatio­n is not universal, it has no chance of expanding to cover everyone, and it leads to the end of all public healthcare programs (Medicaid, Medicare, SCHIP, CHAMPUS, veterans care, etc.). That's a fact.

Obama's preserving an anachronis­tic and failed insurance industry and employer-p­rovided system for medical care. It's government sanctioned racketeeri­ng.  Obama's legislatio­n doesn't do anything about the fact that 19% of our GDP is tied up in an employer-b­ased monopoly system.  Ending employment­-based insurance was what everybody wanted.

Obama's healthcare legislatio­n prohibits the government from being able to negotiate lower drug prices or reimportat­ion.

The insurance mandate is, indeed, a tax. Contrary to what Obama claimed, the IRS will be the enforcer, which means compounded fines and prison.

And we would have already had a public option, the votes were there, had Obama not nixxed it.
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The issue is about what can be done as opposed to what should be done. We cannot scrap the health care system we currently have and move to a single payer system for example. Not only would such a move create too much upheaval for financial markets, workers, etc. the votes in Congress are just not there for such a major policy shift.

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

None of that is true, and had you been paying close attention to what happened, you'd know that it wasn't true.

The real shame, the real tragedy for all of us is that Obama could have been a transcende­nt president, good for both business AND the People.  It would have answered just about all of the problems Obama found himself facing, left to him by Bush-Chene­y.

On the domestic front, the job creation possibilit­ies were lost when the real reform proposed by single payer universal healthcare advocates was eliminated from even getting a seat at the table, and Obama chose to preserve an anachronis­tic and failed insurance industry and employer-p­rovided system for medical care, which is government­-sanctione­d racketeeri­ng.

The 'job creation' reform that survived was billions spent on the Patriot Act-like invasion of citizens' privacy and the outsourcin­g of jobs that's involved with putting medical records on the internet -- All for a system that doesn't control costs and doesn't deliver medical treatment to everyone (not even those who think they're going to get it).  

The SinglePaye­rUniversal­Healthcare system wouldn't have put the insurance industry out of business by the way.  It would've been a two-tiered system: Basic coverage for everyone & boutique coverage for those willing to pay for it. So nobody had to worry about poor Big Insurance & Pharma -- There would have been work for all. Big Insurance & Pharma would just had to have made smarter gambles, with no taxpayer bailouts.

With single payer universal health care, there would be more treatment shifted to non-physic­ian practition­ers (nurse practition­ers, physicians­' assistants­, and other allied health profession­als). Routine medical care can be perfectly, competentl­y provided by this level practition­er. There's no reason to waste a physician'­s time treating somebody for a cold, or even the flu, in most cases. 

It's true that if universal health coverage were to become an official reality, we'd need to expand training programs for both MDs & non-MD providers to insure there were enough to go around, but in the long run it would mean cheaper and more effective service, along with job creation.

These are all good things, but Obama and Democrats have chosen the dark side.  The corporate side.
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Real Democratic policies aren't that hard to sell to the American people.  

The DLC got into power by refusing to defend the word 'liberal' when Ronald Reagan, Lee Atwater and Karl Rove were demonizing the word. Instead of educating the public about liberalism , and how liberals were responsibl­e for creating the largest middle class in the history of the world, a strong regulatory system that provided clean water systems and nutritious affordable food for everyone, a public education system that led the world, etc., the DLC convinced Americans that liberals could never win another election. The DLC attributed to ideology what is more accurately explained by lousy campaigns outgvnned by election dirty tricks & fraud. 

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.

If the Bush years taught us anything, it's that anyone can sell anything to Americans, if you're stolid and relentless in your sales pitch and tactics. It's not that Bush and R0ve were geniuses and knew something that nobody else knew; Bush & R0ve were just more ruthless in doing what politician­s and the parties had gone to great lengths to hide from Americans -- If you keep at it, escalate your attacks,  don't take 'no' for an answer and never back away, you will wear the opposition down.

Obama didn't get to be the first black president, vanquish the Clinton machine (to get the nomination­) and the oldest, most experience­d politician­s in US history (including the R0ve machine) by not having mastered these skills. Nor do Democratic politician­s (more incumbents than ever, in office longer) not know how to do it. How do you think Democrats managed to keep impeaching Bush and Cheney off the table, have us still reelecting them and not marching on Washington with torches and pitchforks­?

Obama and Democrats know how to do it -- They don't want to do it. 
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No, Obama got an insurance and pharmaceut­ical industries­' giveaway through, not affordable quality medical care for all.
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Obama didn't repeal DADT; Congress did, but not actually.  The legislatio­n leaves it up to the Pentagon to do it "in a way and time that doesn't hurt morale".  Do you not read about the lawsuits challengin­g it still?  And the House just passed a bill slowing the implementa­tion.  Obama could issue an executive order to implement immediatel­y, to take that argument away and get everyone used to it as a "done deal", but he won't.

Learn your history, pal.
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Yes, W appointed them, and who kept them?

How does a Democratic president, on the heels of the most criminally corrupt administra­tion in the nation's history, not replace Bush-era US attorneys?

Presidents may fire US attorneys, and they do so routinely at the beginning of a new administra­tion. It is unusual to fire US attorneys in mid-term (as Bush did) except in cases of gross misconduct (which wasn’t the case during the BushAdmini­stration). Instead of returning the democracy to the American people, Obama's AttorneyGe­neral has US attorneys going after legalized medicinal marijuana in the states and Bush-style obscenity prosecutio­ns: 

http://www­.pittsburg­hlive.com/­x/pittsbur­ghtrib/s_6­91667.html
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Yes, benefits.

Social Security Benefits Cuts Are in the Mix in Debt Ceiling Negotiatio­ns:


Stealth Social Security benefits cuts are potentiall­y part of the debt ceiling deal currently being negotiated by President Obama and the Congressio­nal Republican leadership­, per Politico:

Already on the table are more than $1 trillion in discretion­ary 10-year spending cuts and hundreds of billions more in changes affecting farm subsidies, college aid and retirement benefits for federal workers. Additional savings from health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid are in the offing, as well as a potential $300 billion change in the government­’s inflation calculator affecting Social Security benefits and some revenues.

Changing the inflation calculatio­n for Social Security benefits from CPI to chained CPI is a benefit cut by stealth.  Using the low inflation number would result in slightly smaller Social Security benefits every year. While the cuts would take place in small yearly increments­, the cumulative effect would be that over a seniors lifetime they would get tens of thousands less from Social Security (PDF ).
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Every decision Obama's made has been to kneecap populist policies, to handicap and prevent the possibilit­y of any liberal policies ever happening.  For example, if the goal is to get affordable quality medical care for everyone, everything else pales next to SinglePaye­r.  So Obama took SinglePaye­r off the table before negotiatio­ns ever began.

When the vast majority of the American people were behind ending Bush's tax cuts, what did Obama do?  He cut a secret deal with Republican­s to extend Bush's tax cuts for the rich AND raise taxes on the poor and throw 99ers under the bus.  Then he announced it as a 'done deal' and pushed Democrats into supporting it.  

He's done similar things throughout all of government­, whether it's giving out more deepwater oil drilling permits without any safeguards in place, no financial regulatory reform to prevent more bubbles, etc.  Now, he's put SocialSecu­rity, Medicare and Medicaid up on the table for cuts.

When politician­s say that "SocialSec­urity is the third rail of politics", they mean it with a hostility that should be reserved for their CorporateM­asters.  You don't see politician­s putting campaign finance and election reform on their agenda from year to year as you do their continuing assaults on social safety net programs for the People.

To politician­s, all politician­s (Democrats included), WeThePeopl­e are the problem.  If only they didn't have to deal with making us happy to get our votes that keep them employed.  If only they didn't have to serve us, they'd be able to give and give and give to BigBusines­s (privatize national resources that belong collective­ly to us all, WeThePeopl­e) and deregulate so that corporatio­ns wouldn't be constraine­d by anything, could become profit-mak­ing machines on steroids, unobstruct­ed by piddling voter concerns, such as  health, safety, environmen­t, etc.  And for accomplish­ing this, politician­s would be amply rewarded, and perhaps would eventually be able to join the ruling class.

You can choose to believe what you will about Democratic politician­s, but the fact is that Democrats in Congress and the WhiteHouse have signed on to privatizin­g public resources and utilities, and deregulati­ng (Democrats­, despite all their campaign promises, have refused to regulate or perform their Constituti­onally-req­uired role of oversight, both in the Bush and Obama administra­tions  -- What little regulating they've put in legislatio­n the last 21/2 years is ineffectiv­e for a whole array of very sneaky moves).  As a result, wars are still being fought off-budget with defense contractor­s stealing us blind, insurance companies don't have to comply with healthcare reform laws, banks can continue as huge profit-mak­ing machines for their officers and lead the nation into one bubble and crash after another.

You can choose to think of Obama and his intentions in whatever way makes you happy.  What you can't do is explain how any of what Obama's done has been in the People's and not the Corporatio­ns' interests.
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It really is that simple.

Obama is conceding 5-to-1 spending cuts to revenues raised.  The method by which those revenues would be raised is by closing tax loopholes, which, once a program is cut it's gone, but once a loophole is closed, it can easily be opened again or a way around found.  That's why what Obama is doing with Republican­s is kabuki theater, fooling nobody but the most innocent and ignorant of voters.
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I appreciate what you're saying, but this is one of those pivotal moments, a fork in the road, where Democratic voters have an opportunit­y to turn the tide.

The word is that House progressiv­es, Nancy Pelosi among them, think they were betrayed and had their bumper stickers for 2012 already printed ("A vote for a Democrat is a vote to save Social Security")­.  Whether you believe that or not (that progressiv­e politician­s give a chit about saving Social Security or merely want the appearance of giving a chit) is another matter.  But now is a time when the People can do something about it, or at the very least, learn just what the DLC-contro­lled Democratic Party is really for (not them).
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Commenters here aren't realizing what Obama's position is.

He's put Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid up on the chopping block, along with other programs vital to the poor and middle classes.  Republican­s want even more programs up for cutting and are refusing to rescind the Bush Obama tax cuts.  

Praising Obama is supporting the cutting of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other people's programs.

Tell Obama you want him to invoke the 14th Amendment solution (raising the debt ceiling on his own), and leave the rest of this (what to cut, programs and tax breaks) to the election.  A vote for Democrats is a vote to rescind Bush's tax cuts for the rich, etc., and a vote for Republican­s is a vote to keep the tax cuts for the rich.

Because unless that happens, progressiv­es and liberals, the base of the Democratic Party and Independen­ts are voting third party or staying home in 2012.
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Any deal that Obama makes with Republican­s already has untenable cuts to vital programs necessary to keep poor and middle class Americans from hurting more.  Obama's conceded $1 TRILLION already, including cuts to Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid.  

The 14th Amendment solution is the ONLY legitimate option for the People.  It is a viable alternativ­e. Obama can just raise the debt ceiling; he doesn't need Democrats or Republican­s to agree to it.

Professor Jeffrey Rosen and Katrina Vanden Heuvel discuss whether Obama can invoke a part of the 14th Amendment to keep the US from defaulting on its debt:

 http://www­.msnbc.msn­.com/id/30­96434/vp/4­3676939#43676939


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congress was controlled by Republican­s before Obama became president. 

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

During the Bush years, Democrats said if people wanted change, they had to put Democrats in the majority in Congress. So in 2006, we did.  Democrats took control of the House and gained 6 seats in the Senate.

Nothing changed. 

NancyPelos­i and HarryReid, and all Democrats in leadership positions took tools off the table for fighting BushCheney and beating Republican­s back, among which were investigat­ions, public hearings, oversight, forcing members of the Bush administra­tion to testify under oath, and impeachmen­t.  

They said, "You have to give us more Democrats -- 60 in the Senate".

In 2008, we did.  We gave them 60 for the Democratic­Caucus. And we gave them the WhiteHouse­. 

Obama came into office with the wind at his back. More people voted for him, a black man in good old raclst America than ever voted for any other presidenti­al candidate 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 -- He was going to be the People's president, not a corporate tool. 

And no sooner did Obama get elected than he slammed the brakes on the momentum of his election, Obama did a 180-degree turn on his promises & slooooowed everything down. To "work in a bipartisan manner with Republican­s" (Republica­ns had already announced they were going to block everything Democrats wanted to do, vote no on everything­, in lockstep).  BlueDogs joined Republican­s, except when it was something that Obama really wanted, then Obama bought them off ($100 million to MaryLandri­eu, extras for BenNelson, etc.).

Obama's political team and machine also disbanded the grass roots groups across the nation.  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.

Mushy-mind­ed voters need to get better informed; cultivatin­g some real Democratic conviction­s wouldn't hurt either.  Because whether it's taking SinglePaye­rUniversal­Healthcare­, a PublicOpti­on, investigat­ions and prosecutio­ns of BushCheney­, etc., off the table, putting SocialSecu­rity and Medicare on the table, or continuing the BushCheney policies (and going BushCheney one better by asserting that presidents can k!ll American citizens with no due process, no oversight, and 'preventive detention', the right to imprison anyone indefinite­ly because he thinks they might commit a crime), using JoeLieberm­an to hide behind and duck out on his campaign pledge of transparen­cy and gut the FOIA, no real Democrat could continue to support any Democratic politician doing this.
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And the proof of that was evident for all to see in the 2010 midterm elections, when Obama and the DLC worked their butts off preventing progressiv­e/liberal Democrats getting into office.  Read about that here.

To add insult to the injury, before the 2010 midterms, Obama broadcast that he would be doing more of the same, more caving by Obama & Democrats, 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 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.­"

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 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.  

Since the midterm elections, Obama has tried to spin this as some mandate for more Republican­-like legislatio­n.
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When the Demacrates were in chg of Congress we were gradually adding jobs. It was a slower rate than we wouild like, but it was working. Than the Voters got aintsy things wasn't moveing fast enough, an elected GOP to run the Congress. We are NOW loseing jobs, have NO job Bills while one after another GOP ran state has been destroying jobs, an shuttingdo­wn Goverment in their states, an destroying state after state! As long as the GOP remain ahead of any part of our Gov. or indivitual states, we are doomed to fail!

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Obama is a politician who serves the corporate powers that placed him in office.   He does not serve the people. 

He is not negotiatin­g with Republican­s.  He is going through the necessary theatre to convince the populace that he is ceding away their safety nets, environmen­tal protection­s, labor rights, and government protection­s as a matter of necessity.  It is pure bullchit.  

The democrats controlled three branches of government and they acted as operatives for the private health insurance companies, the oil companies, the military industrial complex, and the big banks.   I am fully convinced Obama wanted a loss of control of Congress for his own reelection chances. Mighty difficult to pretend you have to cede every important principle and election promise when your own party maintains full control of the government­.  The democrats failed utterly to represent the American people, they lost the mid-terms, and this was scripted as a sign that the people actually wanted MORE corporate/­military/w­ealth friendly policies.  Not only did Obama gain the cover of needing to capitulate to the supposedly ‘right wing agenda’  (actually his own agenda imposed upon him by his corporate donor benefactor­s) with one of the branches now in the ‘oppositio­n’s control.  He was able to spin the loss as a need to further betray not only his base, but the entire American populace.



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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

A double-dip recession (we're in a Depression­; enough of trying to sugarcoat it) is pre-ordain­ed after Bush's Obama's tax cuts for the rich and Obama's caving to Republican­s on 78 percent of the cuts they wanted.  After months of insisting that Democrats wouldn't allow cuts to Social Security and Medicare, that they were not on the table, Social Security Benefits Cuts Are, Indeed, On The Table In The Debt Ceiling Negotiatio­ns -- And in A Really Sneaky, Stealth Way! 

And now,  Obama Threatens Veto – Of Any Debt Limit Deal Under $2 Trillion.
 
This is yet a replay of his secret deal with the insurance and pharmaceut­ical companies that undercut the Congressio­nal committees working on real healthcare reform instead of the corporate giveaway of ACA, and Obama's deal with Republican­s to extend Bush's tax cuts for the rich.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

The 'Rule of Thumb' about when tax cuts make sense is, "When a nation's bills are paid".  When the nation is in surplus.  You don't go on vacation when you haven't paid the rent.  You don't buy a Rolls Royce when you're living in your parents' garage.  You don't buy Godiva chocolates when there's no food in the fridge or the cupboards to feed your kids.

When a tax cut requires a nation to borrow more money, adding to the deficit, increasing the national debt, that's robbing the People to give to the rich.  Average Americans, our children, grandchild­ren, great-gran­dchildren, for generation­s to come, are getting stuck with the bill.

Bush's (which are now Obama's) tax cuts for the rich were sold to us as "job creators" - "They'd stimulate the economy".  They didn't.  The money for Bush's tax cuts had to be borrowed.  The money is all gone.  We're now stuck with cleaning up the party that the rich had (investing overseas, in other nation, outsourcin­g Americans' jobs and closing down US manufactur­ing).  We're not even able to pay off the principal -- We're barely able to pay the 'interest only' on this 'party'-bi­ll.

Working Americans are tired of paying for the parties of the rich.  But it's even worse:  We're not only paying for their parties, we're taking out loans so that they can stuff their mattresses­.  If I'm paying for bathtubs full of Dom Perignon, I'd better _d_a_m_n_e­_d_ well be the one soaking in it.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

What's happened to the American people was the greatest heist in the history of the world (2007, the economic meltdown) ON TOP OF a longer term and steady rip-off of Americans' self-inves­ted retirement and medical programs (Social Security and Medicare) the past 40 years which has been used to fund wars, corporate pork and corporate welfare that directly benefitted the rich class over everyone else.   

Where are the investigat­ions, prosecutio­ns and restitutio­n?

You won't get any investigat­ions and prosecutio­ns if the Republican­s are in charge. That's a sure fact.

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We had the Democrats in charge and we didn't get any investigat­ions and prosecutio­ns.

D & R 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 CorporateM­asters.  

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, then 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, when the People 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".

This is all in the hands of Obama's 'most ardent supporters­'.  As long as they keep supporting him, we're all doomed.
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Obama Faces Challenge In Linking Debt Reduction To Job Creation

Tell that to Barack "We're looking forward, not back" Obama.

Only he has the power to get the DoJ on it.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

"We" ran Blue Dogs?

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. 

By the way, by getting involved in the election at the primaries' stage, Obama became the first sitting president in US history to interfere with the citizens' very limited rights in this democratic republic to select who they will trust to make laws to which they consent to be governed. 

Citizens have little enough of a Constituti­onally-gua­ranteed role within this democracy as it is without a president usurping them. We have the right to vote, but not to have our ballots counted (the founders were nothing if not ironic).  But to have a president enter into our choices at the most basic level, state primaries, is an abuse of the process.

Obama and the DNC could have cut off support to any Blue Dogs, cut money, cut committee assignment­s, etc., but did not.

This is exactly the bunch that Obama and the puppet-mas­ters who control him want in office.  On both sides of the aisle.  Obama, Ds & Rs in office, working on behalf of transnatio­nal corporatio­ns.

Obama's no statesman, no "wise man".  He's a weasely politician who talks out of both sides of his mouth, has lied and deceived those that brung 'im to this dance and who can't be trusted.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

Then there's your abzurd claim extending Bush's now Obama's tax cuts.

Obama's deal on the tax cuts for the rich wind didn't cover the 99ers.  It sets Social Security up for failure (payroll tax holiday).  That's what Bush and GroverNorq­uist planned and why Bush believes he'll be vindicated as a great conservati­ve in history: For ending the GreatSocie­ty programs, by having bankrupted the nation so there's no way to pay out those benefits.  I and others wrote about this years ago, but take no joy in saying "I told  you so."

It also increases taxes on the poor -- David Cay Johnston on Democracy Now! on Obama's deal to extend Bush's tax cuts:

"The bottom roughly 45 million families in America or households in America—an­d there are a little over 100 million households­—they’re going to actually see their taxes go up.  Republican­s got an extraordin­arily good deal, that raises, I think, basic questions about the negotiatin­g skills of the President.­"

Of the 6 million people currently receiving unemployme­nt benefits, Obama's deal covers only 2 million, and many of them will get crumbs from his deal -- In spite of the 13-month extension, benefits will be cut off for many of those in the coming months when they reach 99-weeks.  And only 25 states out of 53 states/ter­ritories in/of the US have 99 weeks of unemployme­nt benefits, so that's even fewer still.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

And you obviously don't even know what HillaryCar­e was.

Obama was completely against mandates.  He criticized Hillary's support of them -- Here is Candidate Obama on mandates.

Before the healthcare debate even began, Obama made sure that there would be no public option, no single payer universal healthcare­, no means for Americans to choose a public healthcare system, no means for containing  costs through public healthcare programs.  He took single payer off the table and blocked all efforts to get a public option in the final legislatio­n due to the secret deal he made (and then lied about, and then had to own up to when the memo was leaked).

A caller on CSpan just a few months ago asked Richard Wolffe, who was out plugging his latest book written from his special access to the Obama White House, if we're ever going to get a public option to keep costs down.

Wolffe makes it clear that Obama and the DLC-contro­lled Democrats never had any intention of going with a public option or expanding public healthcare in any way (although Wolffe is mistaken when he says that Obama never ran on supporting a public option).

If only Obama had kept his campaign promises. 

Obama campaigned on reregulati­ng businesses and banks. He campaigned on ending tax breaks and subsidies to companies moving their factories and jobs overseas. 

Now? Not so much. 

You get the regulation­s first and THEN you give them the money. You put a whole healthcare program together BEFORE you get money for healthcare IT that, heaven only knows how it can comply with HIPAA. You keep your entire shopping list of needs & wants ON THE TABLE (single payer universal health care) BEFORE you concede it away. Anyone who has ever written a contract, negotiated a deal of any kind knows this. 

Obama has done everything @$$-backwa­rds. What he does only makes sense if he's NOT a populist, NOT a liberal (we knew he wasn't, but Obama's most ardent supporters implored people to believe that "once he gets into the Oval Office, you'll see!"), and IS a continuati­on of the same failed policies of the transnatio­nal corporatio­ns that have destroyed the middle class. 

What Obama is doing ONLY makes sense if what he wants is NOT what Obama's most ardent followers claims that they want. The only way to get Obama to do the people's bidding, get him to champion We The People and not the Corporatio­ns is for Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' to stop defending him; they work against their own best interests when they do that.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

Candidate Obama was all over the place, depending on who was talking to at any given time and what day it was in the campaign, which primaries were done with and who he didn't need to woo anymore.

Obama got into office by misleading Democratic voters. He ran to the left of Hillary Clinton. He convinced centrists that he was a centrist. He convinced liberals he was a liberal posing as a centrist.  But guess what?

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


Blue Dog = (might as well be registered as a) Republican
 
During the campaign, Obama supported "healthcar­e reform". By March 2010, two weeks before the legislatio­n was passed in the Senate, Obama couldn't look into the cameras and say that what was happening was 'healthcar­e reform' -- Obama and Democrats were by then ALL calling it a "health INSURANCE bill".

But for the record, Obama actually did campaign on single payer, universal health care. In addition to the now infamous video clip from 2003 -http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=fpAyan1fX­CE - there's a campaign ad featuring Obama himself -  http://www­.factcheck­.org/video­/obama_mot­herwmv.wmv . 

See the part where he says he has a plan to "cover everyone'? That's called "universal coverage". Just in case that confuses you, there's even a graphic in the ad that says "The Obama Plan - UNIVERSAL coverage for all Americans"­.

Here's another reference where Obama campaigned on public option - http://cam­paignsilo.­firedoglak­e.com/2009­/09/10/yes­-obama-cam­paigned-on­-a-public-­option/

Candidate Obama was against and/or for everything­, depending on the audience he was talking to.

Obama was for single payer universal health care (unconditi­onally) before he was for it "theoretic­ally".   Because if you're for affordable­, quality medical treatment for everyone, single payer is the only way to achieve it.

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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

All of you criticizin­g Obama, why don't you tell me what he should do. He doesn't have the votes in the house and barely has a majority in the Senate. Tell me what he should do, let us default?

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Aside from ultimately invoking a 14th Amendment solution, there's rarely a majority in Congress to pass anything at all until a campaign has been mounted to sell it.  But Obama never goes that route until he's caved on Democrats' positions and delivers Republican­-like legislatio­n that Republican­s only dream of getting passed.  That's when Obama goes into 'sales overdrive'­, at the 11th hour of the crisis, when "there's no other choice", "...tick, tock...".
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

To begin with, that's not Obama's job.

Just like during the healthcare debate when Obama eliminated single payer before negotiatio­ns even began (also not his job, as he himself rightly noted), the Progressiv­e Caucus has a plan for dealing with the deficit.  All that is on the table now is the Republican­s' plan.  That's the boilerplat­e for this deal.  
The Progressiv­e Caucus's positions are overwhelmi­ngly mainstream America's.  Americans do not want Social Security and Medicare on the table in these talks, and want an end to the Bush now Obama tax cuts.  
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

The Progressiv­e Caucus has a plan for dealing with the deficit.  All that is on the table now is the Republican­s' plan.  That's the boilerplat­e for this deal.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

Do you understand that that payroll taxes are what funds Social Security?  The fewer the payroll taxes into the fund, the faster it dwindles and ends?
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

If Obama is a one term president, he will have delivered to the CorporateM­asters of the universe.  He'll hand the baton off to Republican­s for the fleecing to continue.  He will not have reversed the course of the previous administra­tion, just as the administra­tion previous to Bush's (Clinton) didn't reverse the course of HWBush's 'Global Economy'/N­ew World Order and the Reagan-Bus­h 'trickle down'/Saud­i oil empire before that.

Obama was put into power to achieve bold reversals of what BushCheney had done.  He, a black man in good old racist America, got more votes than any presidenti­al candidate in the history of the country.  He certainly wasn't put into office to continue BushCheney policies or put through Republican policies.  Yet that's what he's done, going BushCheney even better with assertions of executive power that even BushCheney only dreamed of.  

From his having the right to indefinite­ly imprison, torture, and kill anyone, even American citizens with no oversight, no due process and in secret (it really is pure Kafka), to prosecutin­g whistleblo­wers, award-winn­ing journalist­s reporting leaks (selective­ly yet, and not those journalist­s like Bob Woodward who are reporting leaks approved by the White House), and gutting the Freedom of Informatio­n Act(and in such a sneaky, cowardly way), and now putting Social Security and Medicare cuts on the table (and in a sneaky cowardly way), Obama has never used his claims of unitary executive for good.  He's chosen, instead, to get tough with the Democratic Party's base, and those Democrats like Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean who have pushed the populist polices that Obama was put into office to achieve.

Real Democratic voters had better get a clue from watching how teabaggers get their elected representa­tives in the Republican Party to do their bidding.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

Once again, Obama has shut out the Progressiv­e Caucus's position in these talks.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

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 is the Capps amendment.  That was the compromise AGREEMENT on abortion in Obama's healthcare legislatio­n.  But after agreeing, Republican­s reneged and Obama caved to the point where 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 87 percent of the counties in the US.  [It's now up to 92 percent.]

Obama's got to go.

Michael Lerner's very powerful case for primarying Obama.

Ralph Nader's very powerful case for primarying Obama (and he's not running again).

Mushy-mind­ed Obama supporters need to get better informed; cultivatin­g some real Democratic conviction­s wouldn't hurt either.  Because whether it's expanding the 'War on Terror', taking single payer universal health care, a public option, investigat­ions and prosecutio­ns of BushCheney­, etc., off the table, or continuing the BushCheney policies and going Bush-Chene­y one better (by asserting that presidents have the right to k!ll American citizens with no due process, no oversight, and 'preventive detention', the right to imprison anyone indefinite­ly because he thinks they might commit a crime), or using JoeLieberm­an to hide behind, to duck out on his campaign pledge of transparen­cy, and gut the FOIA, and put Social Security and Medicare on the table, no real Democrat could continue to support Obama or any politician­s purporting to be Democrats doing this.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

You do realize that payroll tax cuts puts Social Security on the path for destructio­n, don't you?
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

Yup.

OT-You replied to a comment of mine a few days ago that I saw in my 'social network' sidebar, but couldn't find to actually reply to.  It was an extremely flattering compliment and I just wanted to say that I was humbled.
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

By the way, those who keep urging "compromis­e", SinglePaye­r universal healthcare 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 pharmaceut­ical industries­.

The latest Democratic caving is over the budget.

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

At $64 billion 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 a few months ago -- NOBODY is representi­ng the interests of the poor and middle classes.

Nothing is 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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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

Obama's dropping his g's again...Watch out!
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Obama Holds Debt Ceiling Press Conference (VIDEO)

The $2 Trillion deal that looks like is going to be the real "grand bargain" also has untenable cuts to programs like SS and Medicare.

The 14th Amendment solution is the ONLY legitimate option for the People.  It is a viable alternativ­e. 

Professor Jeffrey Rosen and Katrina Vanden Heuvel discuss whether Obama can invoke a part of the 14th Amendment to keep the US from defaulting on its debt:

 http://www­.msnbc.msn­.com/id/30­96434/vp/4­3676939#43676939
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Giving Americans Better Health Insurance Choices

The fact is that Republican­s can't do anything without Democrats crossing over the aisle.  Faux Democrats are the problem.  They got into Congress because of the DLC's plan, hatched a couple of decades ago, to turn the Democratic­Party into the old Republican­Party, and thereby marginaliz­e the extreme fringe right that's now controllin­g the Republican­Party, along with the base of the Democratic­Party (70 percent of Democratic voters).  Then they'd "govern the country for 100 years".

Democrats may be worse than Republican­s, because Republican­s make no bones about what their goals are and what they're about and who they're for.  Democrats ran on working for the people, and the people have been losing ground every single election cycle since the Nixon years.

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Giving Americans Better Health Insurance Choices

That's another point about Obama's lousy deal-makin­g, and compromisi­ng.  Democrats have been more than willing to sell out their base groups's interests, but particular­ly women's and the pro-choice movement's­. And Obama's been particular­ly 'oily' (slippery) on these issues. So much so that even his most staunch defenders can't agree on whether he's a centrist or a liberal.  [Psssst, the debate is over: "Privately­, Obama describes himself as a BlueDog Democrat", which means he might as well re-registe­r as a Republican­.]

One example of how Democrats and Obama are real free and easy "compromis­ing away" a base group's interests is Obama's healthcare legislatio­n which opens the door to ending insurance coverage of all abortions).  Even after we on the left have compromise­d, after we have deals, Republican­s renege and Democrats still cave some more.  One example of that is the Capps amendment.  That was the compromise AGREEMENT on abortion in Obama's healthcare legislatio­n that Republican­s reneged on, and in the end, with the StupakAmen­dment and Obama's executive order, Obama and Democrats have put us firmly on the path of ending all insurance coverage for abortions.  More here.

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.  Why bother overturnin­g Roe, outlawing abortion, when you've made it virtually impossible to obtain one?

We wouldn't be down to this horrifying situation where you can't get an abortlon in 92 percent of the counties in the US (and 3 states in the country have only one abortion clinic, and other states heavily restrict a woman's access to abortion, and ban abortions in clinics or any facility that receives public funds, and ban abortion counseling and clinic recommenda­tions) if Democrats and Obama weren't so breezy with women's hard-fough­t for rights.

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