Fiscal Cliff Talks Will Likely Target Medicare, Social Security, Programs For The Poor

There should be tax HIKES on corporatio­ns and the rich. There should be massive cuts to the military. Banks should be threatened with nationaliz­ation unless they begin lending to small businesses­. There have been more than 3.5 million home foreclosur­es but there are 11 million more in the pipeline — There must be principal write-down­s.

Democratic politician­s should be beating this drum and pushing the People’sBudget instead of working off of a set of corporate lobbyists’ plans. It reduces the deficit by $5.1 trillion and it beats Obama’s AND Republican­s’ plans.

As Krugman has said, the Progressiv­es’ budget:

“balances the budget through higher taxes and defense cuts, plus some tougher bargaining by Medicare (and a public option to reduce the costs of the Affordable Care Act). The proposed tax hikes would fall on higher incomes, raising the cap on payroll taxes (takes care of SocialSecurity’s solvency forever)..­. and unlike the Ryan plan, it actually makes sense.”

But Obama telegraphs that he's "not wedded" to vetoing cuts to Medicare and Social Security, taking solutions that work for the People off the table. Obama kneecaps and handicaps the Democratic voters who put him and Democrats into power. By taking the People's position off the table before entering talks, he sets the stage for squeezing the rest of the dimes from the poor and middle classes. What began with part 2 of Bush’s MedicareReformAct of 2003 (high-pric­ed junk health insurance that has no cost controls), continues with more *AFTA treaties (outsourci­ng more Americans’ jobs) and “payroll tax ‘holidays’­” that lead to the end of SocialSecurity.  

We need single payer, Medicare for all, and we need it now!:

The five largest commercial and investor-owned health insurers — UnitedHealth Group, WellPoint, Aetna, Cigna and Humana — posted a massive cumulative profit of $3.64 billion in the third quarter of the 2012 fiscal year. 

This past quarter's results were up 18.6 percent compared with the third quarter of FY 2011 as four out of the "big five" insurers posted gains. UnitedHealth Group, the largest health insurer in the United States in both revenues and enrollment, led the pack with $1.56 billion in third-quarter profits — or roughly 43 percent of the total.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Democratic House Candidates Received More Votes Than Republicans

I was speaking, however, pragmatically. In 2016, as now, there will only be two choices.

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

Already you're trying to quash momentum and cast the mandate of this election as support for the status quo of Blue Doggery?  

Just 2 weeks ago, ObamaZombies were urging Democratic voters to go with Obama now, and after the election would be the time to get a real Democrat, a real 99%er, as the candidate.  

If not 2016, when?  
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Democratic House Candidates Received More Votes Than Republicans

Obama's Second Term Goal: Cut Social Security:
If Obama's behavior on the issue of Social Security and his willingness to offer up cuts to Social Security as part of a deficit deal left any doubt about his personal intentions for the program, the debate a few weeks ago should put those doubts to bed. One of the most telling moments regarding what Obama’s second term would be like was his answer to the question on entitlements. From CNN debate transcript:

21:39:56: LEHRER: All right? All right. This is segment three, the economy. Entitlements. First — first answer goes to you, two minutes, Mr. President. Do you see a major difference between the two of you on Social Security?

21:40:15: OBAMA: You know, I suspect that, on Social Security, we’ve got a somewhat similar position. Social Security is structurally sound. It’s going to have to be tweaked the way it was by Ronald Reagan and Speaker — Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neill. But it is — the basic structure is sound.

This could have been a moment for Obama to try a sharp contrast with Romney and make a powerful appeal to swing voters. Obama could have made a simple and popular promise to protect the program from cuts. He could have said something like, “I consider Social Security benefits to already be incredibly modest. I promise to protect them as they are for all current future Americans. A small increase in revenue will be enough to make the trust fund stable for another 75 years.”

Obama didn’t do this. Obama actively choose to pass up this chance to score political points in the middle of a contested election. Instead, Obama decided to use a vague term like “tweaked” to give himself maximum flexibility in the future. The reason a candidate does this is because they want to do something and they don’t want campaign statements getting in the way.

If Obama wasn’t planning to cut Social Security as part of “tweaking” it in a grand bargain, he would have promised not to do so.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Democratic House Candidates Received More Votes Than Republicans

After the 2010 midterms, do you recall what Obama said that election's mandate was?  "More of the same", "more bipartisanship", more caving to Republicans, watering down legislation to satisfy conservatives.  It was in that lame duck session that Obama prevented Bush's tax cuts for the rich from expiring, and set Social Security up for failure with the payroll tax holiday (which was to be temporary, but it's been extended once already).

Do you know what Obama said he'd do if re-elected to a second term?:

Explaining this spring how he would manage to enact his agenda in a second term, Obama was still looking forward to sitting down and cutting deals. This time, he said, Republicans would be nicer because he’s not running for re-election.

Obama's either corrupt or he's the very definition of 'insanity', "doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different outcome".  Or his supporters are.
 
Whether it's Obama Watering Down Regulations More Than Bush, Study Shows, or making Americans more enemies by stepping up drone attacks on sovereign nations, or instituting Simpson-Bowles as he's expected to do, or pushing the job-outsourcing Trans-Pacific free trade treaty through like he did with the S. Korea and Colombia and Panama treaties, how is any of that good for us or any different than what Romney would do?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Democratic House Candidates Received More Votes Than Republicans

Obama did everything he could to discourage Democratic voter turnout in 2010.  From flip-flopp­ing and breaking campaign promises and pushing through Republican­-like legislatio­n to Obama's broadcasti­ng in the weeks before the 2010 midterms that he was going to continue to "work in a bipartisan manner" with Republican­s,  no matter what the outcome of the elections.  Whether Democrats gained seats or lost control of the 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 and 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 and 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, and so the strategy of just saying no to everything and sitting on the sidelines and 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 and work with me in a serious way.”

Dick Durbin says Obama’s post-elect­ion agenda “will have to be limited and 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?  That was the effect.  Discouragi­ng and suppressin­g Democratic vote turnout in the midterms (from Obama's flip-flopp­ing on just about every pledge and continuing Bush-Chene­y policies and putting Republican­-like legislatio­n through Congress) was predictabl­e, and had been predicted.

And why would Obama do that if not to set up some sort of rationale for moving to the right, some reason for continuing to cave to Republican­s?

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.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Democratic House Candidates Received More Votes Than Republicans

But yes, I'm well aware of the menace of the ConservaDems and you can add Stenny Hoyer, and Ed Rendell to the list. Third Way and No Labels are social liberals/fiscal conservatives, which is basically Libertarian (as in I don't care what you do in your bedroom, but all govt spending/taxing must be eliminated) serving the corporations' debt agenda. I'm with you there - I'd put Bernie Sanders in the White House if at all possible.

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

You'll get no argument from me about Steny Hoyer and Ed Rendel.  FWIW, you're the first person that I've encountered here who recognizes Ed Rendell for what he is.  Most on HP judge politicians with their gut, and seem to think that a glad-handing 'man of the people'-type of persona must be a populist.   

As far as Bernie Sanders goes, his rhetoric is on target, but if he were in the White House, I daresay he'd be as much of a disappointment as Obama has been.  Bernie's voting record doesn't always match the rhetorical flourish.

This goes to the original point that I was trying to make about Obama and the Democrats in Congress.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Democratic House Candidates Received More Votes Than Republicans

Many on the left like Hillary. 

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

Those on the left who like Hillary think she's a lefty.  We have as many ignorants on the left as the right has (ordinary conservatives had Tea-baggers).  I can't tell you how many times I've heard Hillary supporters criticize Obama's neoliberal governance, forgetting that Hillary ran to the right of Obama.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...