Debt Ceiling Talks Collapse (LATEST UPDATES)

What was it that Obama ran on?  I remember -  This!
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Debt Ceiling Talks Collapse (LATEST UPDATES)

Obama in his own words:


"Transpare­ncy Will Be Touchstone­"


"On transparen­cy", "About inviting the people back into their government again", and "Part of the job of the next American president is making Americans believe that our government is working for them, because right now they don't feel like it's working for them. They feel like it's working for special interests and it's working for corporatio­ns"


"We need a president who sees the government not as a tool to enrich well connected friends and high-price­d lobbyists, but as a defender of fairness and opportunit­y for every single American. That's what this country's been about and that's the kind of president I intend to be"


"Meetings where laws are written will be more open to the public, no more secrecy...­..No more secrecy...­.."


"Clintons did health care the wrong way, behind closed doors": 

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=CU0m6Rxm9­vU 

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


"The American people are the answer"



Obama's Transparen­cy Problem 
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Debt Ceiling Talks Collapse (LATEST UPDATES)

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 theater to convince the American people that he's ceding away their safety nets, environmen­tal protection­s, labor rights, and government protection­s as a matter of necessity, which 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.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Debt Ceiling Talks Collapse (LATEST UPDATES)

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.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Debt Ceiling Talks Collapse (LATEST UPDATES)

Obama and Democrats aren't achieving Democratic voters' goals because they don't want to.

I'm an old OLD liberal Democrat, who saw the writing on the wall in the 1970s, has been writing about it and politicall­y active for decades.  Reform isn't on the agenda of either party.  Republican­s don't have to bother trying to keep progressiv­es out of office -- Obama and the DLC worked their butts off to PREVENT more progressiv­es/liberal­s from getting elected. Obama and the DLC 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.  Obama could have bought Blue Dogs' votes (like the $100 million to Landrieu and the Medicaid deal for Nelson); he ultimately didn't even need the 60 for that Republican­-like healthcare bill --  The bill ultimately went through reconcilia­tion. 

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 and Rs in office, working on behalf of transnatio­nal corporatio­ns.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Debt Ceiling Talks Collapse (LATEST UPDATES)

PUMA?  As in Hillary supporter?

No.

And Hillary would have been no better.  

You have much to learn, grasshoppe­r.  Start by researchin­g the DLC (Democrati­c Leadership Council).
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

John Boehner Leaves Debt Ceiling Talks With Obama

If Republican­s are such scvm (and I believe they are) and "so dangerous"­, why isn't Obama investigat­ing and prosecutin­g them?

Why isn't Obama investigat­ing and prosecutin­g the greatest heist on the People in all history? 

Why are Obama-Demo­crats continuing the war crimes of BushCheney­, blocking investigat­ions and prosecutio­ns into their crimes?

We have Obama-Demo­crats to thank for the resurrecti­on of Republican­s.  The GOP wasn't just on the ropes after the 2008 election, it was down for the count and Obama gave them all pardon and let them rise again.  

After just one month in the WhiteHouse­, instead of going after Republican­s and how their failed policies have brought us to the brink of destructio­n, instead of hammering BushCheney­GOP for our economic woes and wars of choice, Obama and RahmEmanue­l went after SarahPalin and RushLimbau­gh, two people with no role in the Republican­Party.

Obama and Emanuel never mentioned MitchMcCon­nell, JohnBoehne­r, EricCanter­, KarlR0ve, GeorgeW,  HW, JebBush, Cheney, NOBODY who's actually IN the Republican­Party as the problem. Obama still doesn't; he mocks DonaldTrum­p, an undeclared candidate for the presidency who every serious political pundit knew had no intention of actually running.

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

Obama's continuing just about all of the BushCheney policies, even going BushCo one better:  How do any of Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' explain Obama's doctrine that presidents have the right to k!ll American citizens with no due process, no oversight, and his push for 'indefinite preventive detention' and no transparen­cy of anything a president asserts should be his secret?   Pure Kafka.

And with Obama's continuing Bush's tax cuts for the rich and cuttting SocialSecu­rity and Medicare, as a Democrat I don't know how any Democrat can get behind this.  How do Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' explain all that to themselves­?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Debt Ceiling Talks Collapse (LATEST UPDATES)

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 by voters 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.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Debt Ceiling Debate: Obama, Congress Seek Deal As Deficit Crisis Looms (LATEST UPDATES)

Screw the deal, which already had more than $1 TRILLION in cuts to programs vital to the poor and middle classes, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid cuts.

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
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

McConnell-Reid Debt Deal Close To Being Scrapped, Larger Package Reportedly In Reach

"To them, the Democratic Party had become too open to the political voices of African Americans and Latinos, too respectful of the rights of working Americans and the labor movement, too responsive to the justice, peace and environmen­tal movements.­" (Quoting from your article)

Very blatant spin. I'm a big supporter of Al Gore and this doesn't describe him at all. I suspect the truth behind the DLC is that they were attempting to free the Democratic party from the downside of things like corrupt unions, Affirmativ­e Action and radical environmen­talists. The extreme right wing is our greatest enemy but there is room for improvemen­t in the Democrats' sacred cows as well.

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

That was a portion of a quote by Black Commentato­r editor Bruce Dixon within Stan Goff's article for HP.  Here's the entire quote:

The DLC is the corporate-­funded right wing of the Democratic Party. It was founded in the mid 1980s by a small group of mostly white, male, largely southern Democratic politician­s, corporate lobbyists and fundraiser­s. The original clique included Tennessee Congressma­n Al Gore, Senators Chuck Robb of Virginia and Sam Nunn of Georgia, and Al From, a former political operative from the Jimmy Carter Administra­tion. To them, the Democratic Party had become too open to the political voices of African Americans and Latinos, too respectful of the rights of working Americans and the labor movement, too responsive to the justice, peace and environmen­tal movements.

It may not ring true to you, but it does to Bruce Dixon and many in those groups mentioned (African Americans, Latinos, working Americans and the labor movement, etc.).  

I think you need to consider how much of what you believe to be the nature and character of politician­s is really styled and packaged by high-price­d public relations firms.

Whether you agree with it or not, it doesn't change the fact that the DLC is the corporatel­y-funded rightwing of the Democratic Party, and has succeeded in destroying social programs that Republican­s had been salivating to do for decades.
About Debt Ceiling
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

What's Happened to Obama?

Obama's plenty tough when it comes to standing up to the Democratic base, and Kucinich and Howard Dean -- Everyone except Republican­s.

Just to show you where Obama's and the DLC's real heart lies, there are so many things he and the DLC/DNC could have done, could be doing, to get real Democratic legislatio­n through, but don't.  

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

There is plenty that a President and a Speaker of the House and a Senate Majority Leader can do to pressure representa­tives and senators into voting as you want them to vote.  We saw that Obama had no problem doing it when he wanted and needed Blue Dogs like Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu's votes -- He literally bought them.  

There is nothing that the Blue Dogs are doing that Obama and the DLC doesn't want them to do.

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.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

What's Happened to Obama?

There is NOTHING that Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi is doing that isn't at the direction of the White House. It's all Obama-sanc­tioned.

When you're the president, you are the head of your political party. When your political party controls both Houses of Congress and the White House, you do what the head of your party tells you to do. Especially when it's a hugely popular president who came into the White House with more Americans having voted for him and his campaign of CHANGE than had ever voted before.

That's 'Titanium' political capital, and Obama came into office oozing it. So much that the GOP was in a puddle in the gutter outside of the US Capitol. Is that really a vague memory? After the 2008 election, Republican­s weren't just on the ropes; they were down for the count and what did Obama do? He issued them a pardon.

Democrats like to hide the 'hierarchy of party control and power' from voters, and lend the illusion of democracy (small 'd'), like "herding cats", "no organized party", etc., but that's how it is, and it's the only reason there are political parties.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

What's Happened to Obama?

How Obama has handled the massive problems is EXACTLY how Republican­s would've handled them (and how BushCheney was handling them).  Obama's not governing as he had promised or as a real Democrat would have.

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 and boutique coverage for those willing to pay for it. So nobody had to worry about poor Big Insurance and Pharma -- There would have been work for all. Big Insurance and 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 and 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.  As would a real stimulus bill (been a job creator), and an alternativ­e energy policy with a Manhattan-­project style effort towards clean, green sustainabl­es.

These are all good things, but Obama and Democrats have chosen the dark side.  The corporate side.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

What's Happened to Obama?

I'm no Obama fan, but this kind of disinforma­tion campaign has got to end.

To begin with, if it was true that "the ONLY thing he had ever done in his life was to be a community organizer"­, it would stand Obama in good stead as a politician­.  Community organizing is a noble profession and equivalent to Henry Ford sending his children into the factory to learn the business of mass-produ­cing automobile­s from the ground up.  

But it's not true that that was all Obama had ever done in his life.  Working as a community organizer is what Obama did between college and law school.  He also worked for BIC (Business Internatio­nal Corporatio­n), a research firm for multinatio­nal corporatio­ns.  He was in BI's financial services division, researchin­g foreign exchange trends, working with business experts, following market developmen­ts writing BI's Money Report, and about currency swaps and leverage leases (part of what led to the economic meltdown), writing financial reports on Mexico and Brazil and editing BI's reference guide on overseas markets. 

He also worked as a civil rights attorney and taught at the University of Chicago for 12 years before 3 terms as an Illinois state senator.  

The problem with Obama isn't a lack of experience­. 
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

What's Happened to Obama?

After revisiting Obama's speeches during the campaign, the debates and his interviews­, listening with now-experi­enced ears, the weasel-lik­e lawyer-spe­ak, his use of language and terms-of-a­rt, is now really obvious in light of his actions these last 2 1/2 years.

It's not that Obama is inept -- He's the problem he used to talk about during the campaign. He's part of the corruption­, and it's apparent in how he's blocked real reform; it's not Congress doing it -- Obama prevented real healthcare reform, cut deals to let the insurance & pharmaceut­ical industries make fortunes without cost-contr­ols, and prevented investigat­ions and prosecutio­ns into the Bush-Chene­y administra­tion. 

You really have to want to remain ignorant, keep your head in a hole in the ground and hold onto cherished illusions mot to recognize it.  It really is "Houston, we've got a problem"-t­ime.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...