Daily Topics - Wednesday August 3rd, 2011
By shawnt56
The Big Picture "On Air" Questions or Comments for Thom?
Hour One: Revealed...The Tea Party take over you didn't know about!
Hour Two: The debt deal and the economy...what's next? Professor Richard Wolff
Hour Three: "Taking Our Country Back - Wisconsin Recall" - State Rep Fred Clark (D-WI, 14th District)
Comments
#2
Thanks, Alberto, but I meant that Thom should clarify it on the air.
#3
Thom, I just listened to your discussion yesterday over the hostage bill passed AND enabled by may democrats that call themselves progressive. Near the end of the discussion, I was shocked (..I tell you, shocked) to hear you , of all people, say you would have voted YEA if you were the deciding vote.
It is this uncritical support of Obama that has enabled him to IGNORE and even dis progressives knowing full well that you / they will do as told. If you, in this hypothetical, had voted NAY, then you would have given the president a chance to actually show leadership. Thanks to the dems in congress, we'll never know what the pres might have done, but it couldn't have been worse than what happened.
Thom, I respect your knowlwdge and your point of view most of the time, but IMO, here you have it wrong.
If he won't to do the right thing because he is afraid he will get pushback by the repubs and lose, then he (and we) have already lost. When one operates out of fear, as you know with all the study you have done in psyhology, nothing good will come of it. IMO, this is where this administration is coming from and the fear is of the repubs, not the dems or progressives.
Here are two tests to think about.
1. Would you support his actions if the president was a repub?
2. Would the dems in congress support his policies if the president was a repub?
I believe these are two simple questions to ask yourself BEFORE you provide unconditional support. As we have seen for the last 3 years, he HATES progressives. Actions speak louder than words.
And again - in your 3rd hour, you seem to blame dems, progressives and the left for the low turnout in 2010. You're blaming the victim. You're correct, we worked our asses off to get him elected and a progressive majority in 2006. Then we were screwed by the dem leadership. No impeachment, no investigations, kick Howard Dean, who arguabley was the reason that Obama won in 2008, and let's not forget the gentle support of Mr. Rham.
Come on Thom, get real. The DLC hates the base and made sure we knew it EVERY day. And just yesterday, Obama apointed Chris Lee's personal and political lawyer to be the Federal attourney in Utah for DOJ. Yes, the same Chris Lee who wants to repeal child labor laws. WTF?
When you are in an abusive relationship and your partner betrays you, not once, not twice, but again and again, when do you make the decision that has to be made? Namely to seperate yourself from the abuser, the betrayer?
Just asking, what will it take?
#4
Try this, mathboy: http://www.poool2net.redstate.com/tags/tag/the-concord-project/
or maybe this:
http://www.concordproject.org/
Yes, it's Concord Project
#5
Politburo
Call it the American Politburo, or Budget Politburo
This new "Super Duper Committee" needs a short descriptive name that conveys its power over the constitutional houses of Congress and its power to short-circuit democracy by determining budget policy on its own and not permitting Congress to change it or do anything other than vote up or down. I think it should be called the Politburo.
Politburo
Historically - particularly in Trotskyist communism, the Politburo was an appointed group of party loyalists who decided policy and controlled the legislature. This beast created by the Debt Hostage Crisis is an American Politburo.
#6
The interview with the precinct official was interesting. But hearing him talk about going door to door to get signatures reminds me that the party must be missing the introverts like me. Pushy door-to-door salespeople whose strategy is to leave no room for me to say "no" have made me choose never to open my door unless I'm expecting someone, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that.
I'm on lots of e-mail lists of liberal groups, including the Colo. Dem. Party. But the CDP never asks me to go anywhere to sign a petition to put someone (or a referendum) on the ballot. At the very least, they could sending people door to door and announce that they're doing that, so that the liberal introverts will actually answer the door. It's time to modernize the party. One group here (I can't remember the name, but it's something like Great Education Colorado) actually used their e-mail list to plan and annouce petition signing events, which reduces how much time (and probably money) the organization has to spend on collecting signatures. That is how it should be done.
#7
mathboy, please read my post on member's blog:
http://www.thomhartmann.com/users/alberto-ceras/blog/2011/08/goddamit-get-active
Informative, I believe, for anyone interested in politics.
#8
I don't think many people understand the so-called Super Congress.
Congress has had plenty of joint committees (and still does), and this one is temporary--it's existence ends in November or December this year. Committees are used to generate legislation all the time; that's really their purpose, because it's hard to get 100 or 435 people to argue efficiently enough to create a bill out of whole cloth. The unusual aspects are 1) that the bill creating the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction also streamlines the process of passing the legislation that it's supposed to produce, and 2) that something will happen if the committee doesn't produce a bill by a deadline. So it's not the committee that's super, it's the bill passage process.
#9
Contact Senator Reid and Minority Leader Pelosi to demand that only members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus be appointed to the "National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform". It is our only hope . . .
#10
Yes, President Obama is a wishy-washy, mediocre, right-of-center, pro-corporatist hack. Yes, I have never been a supporter; I would prefer a Democratic President. Yes, I have been vocal HERE about this for years . . .
All that being typed, I believe that we all should read Egberto Willies’ piece entitled, “Let's look in the mirror before blaming Obama for economic hostage crisis” at http://www.coffeepartyusa.com/InDefenseOfObama.
It is our failure that the Congress and Senate are stacked againstAmericaand Americans. Understand I am not saying that President Obama represents defeat through retreat; I am say We the People need to take control.
#11
Joint committees or reconciliation committees normally only work after the normal - democratic - congressional sausage making process has produced two bills - one in each house. This committee short circuits Congress, eliminates deliberation, takes away the ability of elected representatives from representing their constituents. This Politburo goes straight to reconciliation from nothing - before there is any democratic process.
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
From Unequal Protection, 2nd Edition:
"Beneath the success and rise of American enterprise is an untold history that is antithetical to every value Americans hold dear. This is a seminal work, a godsend really, a clear message to every citizen about the need to reform our country, laws, and companies."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"With the ever-growing influence of corporate CEOs and their right-wing allies in all aspects of American life, Hartmann’s work is more relevant than ever. Throughout his career, Hartmann has spoken compellingly about the value of people-centered democracy and the challenges that millions of ordinary Americans face today as a result of a dogma dedicated to putting profit above all else. This collection is a rousing call for Americans to work together and put people first again."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Thom Hartmann channels the best of the American Founders with voice and pen. His deep attachment to a democratic civil society is just the medicine America needs."
Is it Conquered Project or Concord Project?