Republicans should be Dancing in the Streets
Republicans should be dancing in the streets. So says Democratic Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver after an 11th hour debt-limit deal was struck yesterday between President Obama and Congressional leaders to avoid our nation from defaulting. Unfortunately – once again – the President let right-wings take the American people hostage and then gave in to the hostage-takers. The deal – which still needs to be approved by lawmakers today – extends the debt-limit through the 2012 elections and calls for $1 trillion in spending cuts targeting mostly working families over the next decade – plus an addition $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction through revenue raisers and entitlement reforms to be determined by a six-member “Super Congress” comprised of Democrats and Republicans from both chambers of Congress.
If the Super Congress can’t agree to a deal – then automatically – $750 billion will be cut from both the Pentagon and from Medicare doctor reimbursements. But still – not one single penny from hedge fund managers – subsidized oil corporations – or subsidized corporate jets – will be contributed to deficit reduction. Also not in the deal – no stimulus measures to address the real crisis in America – jobs! In fact – economists estimate that the spending cuts will actually stifle economic growth – making our REAL CRISIS – a lack of jobs – even worse and almost guaranteeing a double-dip recession. There’s nothing balanced about this deal – Republicans essentially got everything they wanted – yet the Tea Party STILL will likely not vote for it. As Paul Krugman noted – the President surrendered. And President Obama will learn the hard way that the truly transformational presidents of the 20th century did not govern by compromise – they instead held their ground.
Once this deal goes through – President Obama will be viewed as even weaker than the Republican caricature of Jimmy Carter – and his presidency ruined.
Comments
Obama is a Wall Street Democrat.
A republican in Democrat's clothing. He is serving his base (Wall Street).
Obama knows that he can count on the liberal vote, regardless of what he does; because the liberals believe that they have no where else to go.
Extortion : The crime of obtaining money or some other thing of value by abuse of ones office or authority.
Democrats vs Republicans, Good Cop vs Bad Cop
Either way, Wall Street Wins!
Barack Obama is raising more money from Wall Street for his re-election campaign than he did in 2008, according to a new study by the Center for Responsive politics.
Thom Hartmann
I think maybe you should read Bill Moyers’ accounts of President Johnson’s many compromises. This man that you represent as “taking names and kicking ass” actually had to compromise plenty to get ANYthing done during his term. Check out Moyers on America especially the last chapter, Looking Back ...
“Critics attacked his notion of consensus, but the president kept insisting to some of us that in politics you cast your stakes wide and haul up a big tent with room for everybody who wants in. The only time I can remember any kind of discussion with him about his political philosophy, he said he was “a little bit left, a ltitle bit right, and a lot of center.” Peter Drucker wrote at the time that President Johnson’s Great Society “represents a first response to some of the new issues, both at home and abroad. But it approaches those largely within the old alignments. It appeals primarily to the old values and it employs mostly the traditional rhetoric. The voice is Jacob’s but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
Regarding the Highway Beautification Act, let’s look at what Bill Moyers wrote ... “Actually, both the president and Mrs. Johnson initially lobbied hard for the Highway Beautification Act, but in the end we compromised almost to the point of capitulation. The legislation passed, but it since has been so weakened by loopholes and lax enforcement that recently the Wall Street Journal said, “It protects the billboards more than it causes their removal.”
Moyers goes on to discuss Johnson’s compromises with Richard Daley when he wanted a community action director for Chicago. Ultimately, he “capitulated”, he compromised with Mayor Daley, who placed one of his own “status-quo” people into the position of the director.
Earlier in the chapter, Moyers noted that, although Johnson had been considered a ‘country liberal” supporting “rural electrification, social security, soil conservation, farm price supports, and federal aid to build power ... Ambition turned him to the right … to win the support of powerful business interests, he supported the Taft-Hartly Act to curb labor.” There are many more examples of Johnson’s playing both sides.
Moyers’ bottom line on Johnson and the “Great Society” is this ... “If Lyndon Johnson were around today, he would badger, poke, parry, and above all listen!”
My bottom line to you Thom is this brainteaser: There is no use in telling more than you know, no, not even if you do not know it.
With love and nuance,
Christeene Hildenbrand
I hope that you have not lost the willingness to fight. Fight we must.
I'm coming down with red, white and blue flu every Friday through August and telling my congress people why I'm home and why I will spend as little as possible that day.
Try it you'll like it.
Thom the president United States cannot trust John Boehner, but a reasonable man has only one avenue, that is an expectation of honesty.
If one gets all mixed up in the negotiations and the back-and-forth between parties, we have missed the point. The Republican Congress is still the John Galt Congress. Their main objective is to stall the economy to stall the agenda of the progressives ,to stop Pres. Obama from being reelected. For every day they drag us into the mud over debt ceiling and entitlements, we are not speaking about jobs and the Republican deadbeat dine and dash legacy.(Joe Walsh!)
Isn't it time we take off our rose colored glasses and quit making excuses for Obama?
The US Dictatorship and its White House Servant ‘President’http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25853
During LBJ's administration he delt with Republicans that had economic policies that would be far left of Obama's administration. Hell Nixon froze wages and prices during his administrationm this during a time when the "Red Scare" was still on the minds of most Americans. I know the Obama administration stalled long enough on the issue of Universal Health Care or Single Payer until they could get the media in line to drive the idea out Americans minds. Obama was scared because he made promises to the health care industry to get just the individual mandate and no meaningful health care reform. He had all the votes and political will of the people and balked because he's a at best a moderate republican with some liberal leaning concerns.
I have given up hope for any thingthat might help the working folk.
Now i just wonder how bad we will get screwed this time.
Thom suggested I usethis means to put in a request for Him and the show to Check out "The Automatic earth"blog.The information they present is alinged with a LOT of what thom talks about..Its a easy google.
Had there been in effect TERM LIMITS with one term only, Obama could have been potentially an inspiring President. As it is, looking foward to that pathetic re-election bid, he has given up inspiration for mediocrity.
"Had there been" is a woulda-coulda concept and pees red in the toilet bowl of aspiration...YET....lest we forget, does this not remind us how important TERM LIMITS are. Let us aspire to create TERM LIMITS and get us closer to what a Democracy can be.
A completely Non-Partisan partyless atmosphere without any parties wouldn't hurt either.
Republicans should be dancing in the streets--however, they may fall in a huge pothole from their lack of infrastructure spending.
Lately in your show, Thom, you've featured the generational theory ("Turning Point.)" I have to disagree with the hypothesis that the crisis of doom will come because the WW 2-ers are gone. That no one will remember. In the boomer generation, I think they are alive and well and live through us. We boomers were not without crisis:
How many many of us lived through union strikes-I haven't forgotten. (Rember when our parents had those manufacturing jobs) My father was a teamster -- in the 50's and 60's my family spent depression-like times when the workers went on strike. But we stuck together-- to fight for basic rights, I remember this and will not forget it. Picket duty gave a man $15.00 a week. The strikes lasted at times for months (once almost a year) and we were almost brought to our knees. Yet the picket line was immovable without give and take. Everyone showed up. Nobody ran or quit or even got other jobs to whimp out. My mother did work when she could to pick up the slack. It was good that she could finally could work in the 50's because in 1948 she had to quit her job at IBM because she "got married." (Say what?)
I knew the meaning of scab, sacrifice, and solidarity-it was served up in conversations in my house. In some cases you were less hungry when the sustinence was ideas and principles.They compel you to listen and not eat. In this wieght-challenged nation, we could sure use some" home thinkin' "
How many of us remember when we wanted new shoes-- there had to be a hole in them.-there were usually 2 pair-one for everything and one for Sunday. Sometimes we just resoled, not to be confused with "reload." Let's narrow down our shoe collection and start thinking of ways to funnel our materialism into some good heel-digging shoes.
I feel my representatives have crossed, moved and run over that picket line with this bullying, manipualtive, no give and all take agreement that we whimped out on. I would also appreicate it if no politician from this point on ever speaks collectively for the "American People" and what they want. I am still part of the generation that remembers and has suffered crises- like Viet Nam and union struggles and women's rights. There was, and is, an enduring pain and tenacity that still endures.
In conclusion, let these metaphosr connect to this day of infamy: picket lines have been replaced by what we call, "the line in the sand." How appropriate. LInes in the sand are so invisible when the tide unexpectedly rushes in. Real "picket lines" were a line that people stood across in force, They were only moved by negotiations with real give and take. And if the taking or giving was not a give and take that one could live with, andif it wasn't for the common good, well you still maintained the line. Even if there was a huge semi- truck coming in your direction. Even if it meant more weeks of doing without, or holes in your shoes. it was immmovable!!!. No excuses.
Remember what triumphs when a few good men do nothing?
We are now shocked that the line is on the edge of the cliff.
Let's stop moving the line!!! Let's push it back. It is not negotiable. If the tea partiers can do it from a basic misunderstood economic and theoretical standpoint, think of what the boomers can do!!!
Let's send our reps some shoes with spurs on the heels. Dig in!!!
To quote Thom quoting another Great Mind, "When given a choice between a Democrate who acts like a Republican, and a real Republican, people will choose the real Republican." That's how Obama's presidency will be viewed.
Another big screw-job by the Republicrats! Are there no Democrats anymore? We need a good challenger: Jennifer Granholm for 2012- we need this gal!
Dare I coin the name "DINO"?
uh, you mean Bad cop vs. Bad cop, right? There are no good cops- here!
Please pass the vaseline!
Read all of this, including the comments:
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2011/08/paul-krugman-is-political-rookie-or-how.html
This analysis is the absolute opposite of everything you all are thinking.
M.L. "LeeB" in Redmond, Washington
President Obama is the Compromiser in Chief. He is an appeaser. This deal makes no sense for the economy and is a total capitulation. Why not spend money on an infrastructure jobs program, get wages up, collect new revenues, let all the Clinton era taxes come back: like magic, no debt problem. Comparing Obama to Carter as far as perception is fair. He is a weak leader with even less for core values than Clinton was. This is very sad.
Obama didn't surrender, Thom. He stuck to the script. He's clearly just another pretender. For the life of me, I don't understand why someone as enlightened, intelligent and experienced as you is so willing to just keep giving the guy one break after another. It's extremely disappointing.
Jennifer is Canadian. But we do need someone else and a new party or somehow need to make democrats care about the Democratic
Wing of the Democratic party.
NO Voters made this possilbe when they gave Congress to Tea Baggers Voters better wake up and take blame for their actions- or lack of logic , critical thinking or reason. This Bagger deal was made under duress- threat of default Therefor I will not blame Obama Thats exactly the GOP Bagger scheme from day one. DeMints vow to bring on Waterloo / Deny Obama a 2nd term / Make Obama fail at any price to US economy. I will not be duped or manipulated by Baggers / GOP dirty games. None of you should. IF we get a GOP President next year This year will look easy Think Reason Read Check facts Get Educated.. on real story of Bagger GOP political schemes to take away all we hold dear.. This IS a real war folks Bagger / GOP V survival of the USA
Since 1980 the republicans have pushed and pushed politics to the right, til now, this budget deal is seen as a centrist compromise, and Obama is considered (to everyone but progressives) as being "left-leaning" who is now "moving to the center" for the election. But with that center nearing the line of the burning Reichstag, we NEED our side to move it back. Politicians who consider themselve progressive or liberal MUST go on the offensive and reframe the debate back to sanity or else all is lost. Why is it considered fact that cutting taxes for the rich creates jobs? Why is deregulation still considered a good thing for the economy? Rove, Norquist and co. own the debate and now that the GOP knows that they have a free hand to do what they wish in government (without fear of penalty or impeachment), fascism isn't just around the corner anymore, it's only a few steps away.
Honestly, Elizabeth Warren is the just about the only one left with any integrity. I know her daughter and son-in-law and believe me, she's the real thing. Hope to god she runs for senate in Mass, and eventually president.
I don't think the President surrendered. I think he is totally on board - as evidenced as early as March 2009 when he told David Brooks of the NY Times that he wanted to cut medicare and social security. As evidenced by all of his actions since his inauguration. I believe he is playing good cop, bad cop. I think he will be remembered as one of the final nails in the coffin of the American experiment. For better or worse. Too bad society didn't follow the hippies, we had it right in almost every way, and the world would be a better place had it listened to us. Anyway, karma, mother nature, prophecy... whatever... the bill is coming due and we will be paying it.
As for elections, I see no reason to assume most of these tea partiers or republicans were fairly elected, or even Obama as you and i once discussed briefly. The republicans wanted to face Kerry rather than Dean, and made that happen. I was always suspicious that during the primaries, I heard no criticism of Obama from the right wing pundits. That should have given pause to any critical thinker. They were after Hillary like bats out of hell, but Obama got pussycat treatment. Did they know something we didn't (other than that he promised to invade Afghanistan and sold out to Exelon in Illinois)?
Miriam from freewheeling Fairfax, CA
Absolutely right on.
I used to admire Obama, but he's just become another politician bowing to the influences of the faux American corporations and Wall street insiders who care more about power and money than they do about the country that made them rich and powerful!
President Obama is a moderate conservative, unwilling or unable to even articulate a responsible position. He uses terms Rush Limbaugh & Frank Luntz initiated to falsely frame issues, continuously missing opportunities to better inform & lead. He is up against ruthless evil that must be called out & stood up to, not empowered by capitulation. What a tragedy for our climate, our economy & our country. What does one tell their kids about taking responsibility when he succumbs to bullying time and time again, never holding the previous administration's or Wall Street's many crimes to proper account? If they are too big to fail they must be broken apart like anti-trust laws expect. I expected change I can believe in, not constant caving in to radical GOP tactics & positions. I am so disappointed I walked the streets on his behalf, mostly for single payer health insurance, & misinformed my neighbors about his intentions. The public is overwhelmingly on my side, President Obama is not.
For what he has just achieved, if Obama had been elected as a Republican he would be revered as another Ronald Reagan. Instead, yes, he will sadly but justifiably be remembered and reviled simply as weak.
Obama is neither weak nor ineffectual. He set out to accomplish a task and did so with aplomb. Aye but what was that task? There's the rub, and here's the explanation:
"... Mr. Obama has come to bury Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, not to save but them. This was clear from the outset of his administration when he appointed his Deficit Reduction Commission, headed by avowed enemies of Social Security Republican Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming, and President Clinton’s Rubinomics chief of staff Erskine Bowles. Mr. Obama’s more recent choice of Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats be delegated by Congress to rewrite the tax code on a bipartisan manner – so that it cannot be challenged – is a ploy to pass a tax “reform” that democratically elected representatives never could be expected to do.
The devil is always in the details. And Wall Street lobbyists always have such details tucked away in their briefcases to put in the hands of their favored congressmen and dedicated senators. And in this case they have the President, who has taken their advice as to whom to appoint as his cabinet to act as factotums to capture the government on their behalf and create “socialism for the rich.”
There is no such thing, of course. When governments are run by the rich, it is called oligarchy. Plato’s dialogues made clear that rather than viewing societies as democracies or oligarchies, it was best to view them in motion. Democracies tended to polarize economically (mainly between creditors and debtors) into oligarchies. These in turn tended to make themselves into hereditary aristocracies. In time, leading families would fight among themselves, and one group (such as Kleisthenes in Athens in 507 BC) would “take the people into his party” and create a democracy. And so the eternal political triangle would go on.
This is what is happening today. Instead of enjoying what the Progressive Era anticipated – an evolution into socialism, with government providing basic infrastructure and other needs on a subsidized basis – we are seeing a lapse back into neo-feudalism. The difference, of course, is that this time around society is not controlled by military grabbers of the land. Finance today achieves what military force did in times past. Instead of being tied to the land as under feudalism, families today may live wherever they want – as long as they take on a lifetime of debt to pay the mortgage on whatever home they buy.
And instead of society paying land rent and tribute to conquerors, we pay the bankers. Just as access to the land was a precondition for families to feed themselves under feudalism, one needs access to credit, to water, medical care, pensions or Social Security and other basic needs today – and must pay interest, fees and monopoly rent to the neo-feudal oligarchy that is now making its deft move from the United States to Ireland and Greece.
The U.S. Government has spent $13 trillion in financial bailouts since Lehman Bros. failed in September 2008. But Mr. Obama warns that thirty years from now, the Social Security fund may run a $1 trillion deficit. It is to ward it off that he urges dismantling the plans for such payments now.
It seems that the $13 trillion used up all the money the government really has. The banks and Wall Street firms have taken the money and run. There is not enough to pay for Social Security, Medicare or other social spending that the Blue Dog Democrats and Republicans now plan to cut.
Not right away. The plan will be to “paper over” the current crisis by delegating the plans to a “Deficit Reduction Commission #2,” appointed from Congressional members.
Finally, we have “Change we can believe in.” ..."
(To read more ...)
http://michael-hudson.com/2011/07/debt-ceiling-for-progressive-repealing/
I agree. I am a fiscal conservative and social moderate that believed Obama would use his communications skills and large backing to make the HARD decisions and get us out of the mess that the congress, both houses, both parties, the last 4 presidents, the activist judiciary have brought upon us. And really, we have seen the enemy and he is us! See Americans Elect 2012 This is where I am going.....The money hungry/power hungry extremeist on the right and left should be FIRED!!!! What a bunch of sorry ass___les!
It's time to get really concerned. I have been a strong supporter of Obama but Obama simply lacks the ability to lead. He seems to have a problem with accepting that the Republicans are his enemy and have stated their number one objective to destroy his presidency. Obama wants to act like the adult in the room at all times. What people want to see is someone who is willing to hit some Republicans in the mouth. The news media is incapable of holding Republicans accountable and are a major contributor to the lack of understanding of what is factual. This is part of the problem in why the Republicans often win the messaging battle. The other is that this country is full of dumb people which account for this country going backwards 40 years to a period of racial divide. They are easily lead to false premises and simply appear unable to comprehend the degree to which Republicans, as instructed by Corporate America, want to change our way of life. I'm sure there are a few Republicans who wonder how they got to the point they have sold their souls to the rich and powerful and understand there is no retreat. Corporate America has no interest in what is in the best interests of America. They can't seem to make enough money to make themselves content. They do not care if they ruin our land, air, and water, worsen the health of fellow citizens, put our economy of constant jeopardy of collapse, take away the dignity of a chance for a reasonable way of life, force our children to have to care for their parents when they retire or lose their employment, ratio health care under a profit motive, etc. Try and name anything the Republicans have ever done for the average citizen. If you are not a racist, make over $500,000., think the Civil War should be fought again, believe God had chosen you to deliver the message only white people with your religion are worthy in the eyes of God, believe the civil rights laws should be abolished, think that Aayan Rand should be worshipped more than God, dumb enough to believe that what is good for Corporate America is good for America, believe that everything bad is due to unions, or believe no one has the right to tell you what to do but you have the right to tell others they can't have an abortion you should realize that the only way to win this war is to get involved and vote the Democrats into office. If you don't think we are in a war youe kidding yourself. The only people who can protect our way of life is you and me. Otherwise you will come to understand you may never have another job, your children will have little chance for success, you will need to rely on your children to support you when you get old, your life span will shorten due pollution of land, air , and water, if your children get sick you will need to beg for help for them. We have a bad habit of not acting until something happens in our backyard. It will too late then.
I'm so disappointed right now, I honestly find the words to describe how I feel fully.
To be honest, I would have preferred to go through a default, where the Bush tax breaks would have been invalidated to help the US govt recover. Yes, taxes would have gone up for a poor person like me, but it would have also gone up mandatorily for everyone else. Once the money from the Bush tax breaks would begin coming in, Obama would have had the revenue to cover the normal govt spending and also have enough left over to pay back the deficit.
Yes, the downgrade would have hurt the country overall, but please remember, what are the deficit and Bush tax breaks doing to America right now?
Unless I'm wrong in my assumption!! Would someone more knowledable please help me see if I'm wrong?
U.S. Debt: How did we get here?
http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/07/29/n_vause_debt.cnnmoney/
I ain't voting for this republican again.
Actually, your taxes WOULDN'T have gone up. that';s just something they say to scare you so that the rich can keep everything they've stolen from US...and now steal more.
I figure America ended July 31, 2011.
C'mon, people! Click on the link!!
Or are y'all really enjoying this Pity Party way too much to give it up for a different perspective?!
Here you go . . . Another chance:
Read all of this, including the comments:
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2011/08/paul-krugman-is-political-rookie-or-how.html
This analysis is the absolute opposite of everything you all are thinking.
M.L. "LeeB" in Redmond, Washington
When you have a "successful" two term former POTUS endorsing the 14th amendment option, I think it is wise to follow that advice. My belief in him aside, it is the president's footing in future negotiations with the GOP that has been decimated. He has proven once and for all that he will cave to threats and demands every time, regardless of the consequences, and has the most severe case of tunnel vision I have ever seen. His narrow minded belief that the mythical non-partisan Independent voter will appear in a flash of light in his greatest hour of need and lift him back into the oval office on high in 2012 is a dangerous delusion. I don't have the will or desire to defend this latest debacle, and as the economy crumbles even further into the abyss, I dread to think of the end of the year when this "Super Congress" has to decide what next to cut (all the while ignoring the will of the American people and refusing to tax the rich). Mark my words, when the time comes the TP will band together and block the recommendations from this panel in lock step, activating the so called "triggers" and gouging the social safety net by trillions.
Term limits making a president one-term? That is silly. Many presidents get more done in their 2nd term.Voters are the ones who determine term limits. As for Congress, much of the hoohah over this came from brand new conservatives who always checked first with ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Commission), a group funded by the Kochs and other billionaires and corporations, who draft "model" laws for the conservatives use.
Oh, and they also make sure they are in line with Grover Norquist.
I think we're in for a very rough time for the next , , , how many years? I doubt that I'll be alive to see it change.
He will be viewed as a president with unlimited potential but also as one who does not understand economics.
I took your advice and followed the link. Thanks for posting. I was feeling pretty beat up by the process, and I thank you for calling us on the pity party. If these are the facts of the deal, then I'm okay with it. Obama has never been comfortable with taking credit for accomplishment. I believe he may ascribe to the notion "There is no limit to what you can accomplish, if you have no need to take credit for it."
That being said, I understand all the sentiments expressed here today, and want to thank you all, and of course Thom, for your company today.
If Gabby Giffords can keep fighting, well I guess I can too.
The smartest guy in school just had his lunch money stolen by the class idiots again, and these clowns are handing it all right over to the Kochs!
How silly for economists to warn us that you can't cut your way out of a recession, where did they ever get that idea?
Fox as well as the rest of the right wing mass media, will go down in history as playing a major role in the economic devastation the most vulnerable among us are all about to face.
For the life of me I still can't figure out what the teabaggers think they are gaining from enriching the already rich while at the same time all but guaranteeing economic collapse for many of those who voted them in. What the hell is their heads?..... I know dumb question!
I saw a lot of long lines at banks today....hummm!!! It's just beginning, I'm afraid.
I agree , sadly, but Thom is right on, as usual. Obama should be labeled the " Caver ", I am beginning to think that Obama has another agenda here, one that is linked to the Big Money. I don't think there are anymore honest politicians anymore, they all know what side their bread is buttered on and that is MONEY. It takes millions to run a campaign and even with all the sweet words that we all love to hear, in real life, it takes that Big Money to keep a campaign healthy, wealthy and wise. Lovely speeches and cute slogans keep the base happy. I think one of the main problems here is that the Liberals and Progressives injected their dreams into the Obama figure and projected their ideology onto Obama. We all expected some pie in the sky outcomes, like an total withdrawal of troops, closing Gitmo, creating jobs,balancing the budget,etc. Trouble is, Obama was not this super hero we all projected and expected. He just happen to be a smart, well spoken man of color. Not some caped crusader. I know, as one the baby boomers who lived thru the Vietnam frustrations and outrages of Nixon,etal,and set our sites on the Man Of Change. But I think we were hoodwinked and suckered in by the media and the smart marketing folks who knew just how to push our buttons. It sure did work. I am sorry to say that WE can no longer trust what we see or hear in the future. TRUST NO ONE.
Saw the new movie Cowboys and Aliens today...at first it looks like the aliens are so overwhelmingly powerful that the cowboys don't have a chance....but then, of course, through all kinds of ridiculous and improbable stunts the cowboys win. Gee, I hope I didn't give it away to anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet!
I wonder if they will now have a sequel....Cowboys and Republicans where the evil Republicans with seeming overwhelming odds (all the gold and political power) will be reduced to a burning cinder. And if anyone else has seen the movie...take note of the jihadist moment in the movie and ask yourself how you felt about someone like that, fighting for their cause, fighting against a technologically superior, evil, and occupying bully, who was willing to sacrifice their lives to oppose that force.
I know...I watch too many movies...!
But it might be a good idea if masses of people march on Washington with placards of pictures of guillotines on them. Might send a message worth thinking about. If the French can do it...so can we. We have to send the message that the masses will not stand for being screwed by the rich and their puppet politicians. Just like the French king and many aristocrats who wouldn't pay their fair share of taxes we have our own aristocrats who refuse to do so as well. The people will take only so much before they explode into a rage that the aristocrats won't be able to hold back. The aristocrats are counting on the masses being too lazy or afraid to defend themselves against the greedy aristocratic criminals who have gamed the system and committed war crimes and economic crimes against the people.
Of course, anyone who is not a millionaire or billionaire who thinks they are Republicans are just being useful idiots for the millionaires and billionaires. Many of these people are business persons who will also be badly hurt by Republican policies because their policies will make it so that no one has any money to spend on their goods. It will be a naturally occurring boycott. They are just shooting themselves in the foot by their right-wing selfish attitudes.
Thanks for that article, DRichards!
Here's a quote from it that I think was quite notable:
"Obama is but a figurehead of an unelected government in the US. This unelected power of corporate elites – commercial, financial, military – governs with the same core policies regardless of who is sitting in the White House. Whether these policies are on social, economic or foreign matters, the elected president must obey the direction ordained by the unelected elite. That kind of untrammeled power structure conforms more closely in practice to dictatorship, not democracy.
As Michael Hudson and Ellen Brown reveal in their analyses of the US budget debacle, Obama is pathetically doing the bidding of Wall Street – much like an errand boy [1] [2]. "
Brown writes: “The debt crisis was created, not by a social safety net bought and paid for by the taxpayers, but by a banking system taken over by Wall Street gamblers. The gamblers lost their bets and were bailed out at the expense of the taxpayers; and if anyone should be held to account, it is these gamblers.
“The debt ceiling crisis is a manufactured one, engineered to extort concessions that will lock the middle class in debt peonage for decades to come. Congress is empowered by the Constitution to issue the money it needs to pay its debts.”
Obama’s servile toeing of Wall Street’s line is not the behavior of a free leader boldly defending the interests of the people and the greater good. Rather, his behavior is that of one doing what he is told to do – and doing it with grateful deference. "
I'm sorry Emelle, but it is way past established that Obama has not done us progressive liberals any favors and has readily bargained away any leverage we may have had ...repeatedly. There are a lot of pretend liberals and pretend liberal organizations who are trying to trick us into supporting their views...which ultimately will stab us in the back. Obama has done nothing but acted like a Republican so in my book he is one. Obama was the pretend Democrat and it took actions (or inactions) on his part to eventually show the world just who he is. He is every much a puppet for Wall Street and the banksters as any Republican. Even think about touching the social programs and he's out...in my book. I won't vote for him again.
Hmmmmmmm . . . .
Palindromedary, your response sounds a whole lot like somebody who didn't click the link or read it all the way to the end, including the comments.
You wouldn't really try to make a case without reviewing more of the evidence, now, would you??
M.L. "LeeB" in Redmond, Washington
JoelShapiro: I'd certainly vote for Elizabeth Warren for President...not many people around that has her integrity and smarts. But, unfortunately, she might be smart enough not to run for President...knowing how corrupt the system is and what she'd be up against. But she would sure be a world of difference from a Michele Bachmann! Michele Bachmann would be disastrous...even more so than Bush or Obama. I don't know if any really smart person with real integrity would lower themselves to follow in the footsteps of such clowns. But that's the thing...the system has devolved into putting the useful idiot bumpkin into office that will have their strings being pulled by their ruling elite puppet masters. The Presidency is just for show...just a distraction..just another player in the bad cop..good cop machinations that results in the ruling elite getting just what they want.
Fantastic article, yjoseph!!! Michael Hudson, the economist, knows what it's all about...
"Of course the government will have enough money to pay the monthly Social Security checks. The Social Security administration has its own savings – in Treasury bills. I realize that lawyers (such as Mr. Obama and indeed most American presidents) rarely understand economics. But this is a legal issue. Mr. Obama certainly must know that Social Security is solvent, with liquid securities to pay for many decades to come. Yet Mr. Obama has put Social Security at the very top of his hit list!
The most reasonable explanation for his empty threat is that he is trying to panic the elderly into hoping that somehow the budget deal he seems to have up his sleeve can save them. The reality, of course, is that they are being led to economic slaughter. (And not a word of correction reminding the President of financial reality from Rubinomics Treasury Secretary Geithner, neoliberal Fed Chairman Bernanke or anyone else in the Wall Street Democrat administration, formerly known as the Democratic Leadership Council.)
It is a con. "
Well I am through with the Democratic Party. This charade was just like the last charade that ensured the Bush tax cuts, which was just like the last charade that ensured customers to the health insurance industry, and blew up our dreams of a functioning health care system.
I just sent letters to President Obama, Senator Baucus, and Senator Tester demanding that they remove me from their fundraising lists. I refuse to support a party that has gone so far astray from its base.
I voted for the very first time in 1974, and have never voted for a Republican, I have also never missed an election, and not voted. In my opinion, the only way to make the party listen is to defect en-masse, in a very vocal manner. Even though they were probably in on the voting machine scandals, the Democratic party still needs people to go to the polls, and our refusing to do so is the best way I can think of to get their attention.
Not one red cent to the Democratic party until they cave in to the demands of the People. I say fry the bastards if they continue to hold onto the "rails" of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
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
With His Holiness The Dalai Lama, at His home in Dharamsala, India (Synthesis Dialogues - made into a movie narrated by Harrison Ford)
I'm afraid that this is true. I, for one, have lost any "hope" that the Obama administration will be willing to fight for anything. This was a really big one and he cried Uncle when he should have dug his heels in and yelled enough.
When your opponents cease taking you seriously, you've taken away any firepower from your supporters. I think it is time to find a candidate to run against our president in a primary. The only problem is that I don't see any democrats that have the strength and will power to do anything differently.