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Food for Thought
The Strategy / Plan
Chess v Checkers?
Verdict: Chess; but one dimensional.
Proof: Tuesday’s press conference when OB flat out says “There will be no double dip recession” & “economy will be better in 2 years”. OB has obviously sided with those on his economic team who believe we are in a cyclical recession and not the advisors who say our problem is systemic.
Notes: I, like many others, are in the systemic camp and rate the probability of double dip recession, or worse, as high. OB acts as if this could never happen, and his plan/strategy completely ignores the possibility.
Negotiation Skills
Poor Execution or Arrogance?
Verdict: Arrogance - that Plan/Strategy is spot on.
Proof: None, but just can’t believe an agreement was negotiated before discussions with party and if necessary floating point of GOP holding hostages to public.
Notes: Comments in Tuesdays press conference like the “Republican’s won’t budge” & “their dug in” were just too amateurish. Isn’t there an art to calling somebody out? What downside would there have been to floating the two positions out into the public domain if needed and using the President’s bully pulpit power as leverage?
WikiLeaks must be heard!!!
http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2010/12/08/leaks-and-leakers/
Founding father would proud.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/from_jefferson_to_assange_20101207/
With so much outrage for WikiLeaks Julian Assange must be right!!!
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/12/07/wikileaks/index.html
@leighmf, thank you for the great comment! That is one reason why I have called our nation, The United States of Mortal Sin. We have lunatics running our asylums in Washingon, D.C.
Julian Assange will be tried in the United States of Mortal Sin as a terrorist under some 1917 law. More freedom of speech is outlawed in our hell-hole and rat-hole country.
Revolt! It's time for good people to stand up, if there are any. My DC sources say DC culture has become a literal hotbed of orgies and immorality. They are Babylon, whores of the earth. Off with their heads.
OBAMA CONTINUES TO HOSE AVERAGE AMERICANS.
The Rule of the Intellectual Acquisitors!!! (Larry Summers for example making an appearance yesterday) This dishonest social class marks the last stage of the Acquisitor Rule -igniting the flame of social revolution in the people.
We cannot "compromise" with corruption and destruction of the middle and working class people! We demand Economic Democracy NOT Crimes Against Humanity style tax cuts to the wealthy and overclass!!!
The ball is in your court Congress - make us proud this holiday season and Reject this, this - compromising, of the American people!
Mr. Hartman I usually agree with you, I don't like all these tax cuts but Randi Rhodes is right this is a good TEMPORARY fix please listen to her.
Thank you Thom for your program I listen almost everyday and I support your sponsors. I have phoned them and even written them letters to tell them how much I enjoy your program. I think I have lost ALL HOPE ! thank you for keeping some in your glass half full.
It's time to REVOLT fellow progressives IF NOT NOW WHEN ??!!! My anger is not geared just at Obama but I submit to you that it is the Rahm Emanuels of the party who think they can take the base for granted. Saying "don't worry about the base they have no where to go" . Time after time, compromising the principles, breaking promises ! We must REVOLT by NOT VOTING FOR OBAMA and allowing them to savor the sweet fruit of their defeat . We must show them that the Base is the heart and soul of the party. It will be difficult but it is a sacrifice we must endure to flush out the cancer that plagues the Democratic Party. Clearly Obama cares much less for the Dems because single handed he has absolutely destroyed the party. He has done it by breaking this promise and by doing exactly what said he was NOT going to do. Well Mr. President we are progressives and we have a longer memory than most americans good luck in 2012 !! The republicans know this and that is why they shy away from going up against the crazies like Rush , Shawn and Bill. REVOLT FILIBUSTER DO WHAT EVER YOU MUST SEN B. SANDERS AND SHOW THEM THAT WE ARE A FORCE A STRONG FORCE THAT WILL NOT BE SILENCED.
It is time for a revolt.
This is the beginning of the end of Social Security if this bill is passed. Obama is doing the same thing Clinton did, Compromising for short term benefits that will destroy the Middle Class in the long run. Clinton compromised and gave them Fee Trade which single handily has taken down the Middle Class in this country. Now the Right Wing have their sites set on Social Security. They want to under fund it so it goes broke, and will then try to move it to the gangsters on Wall Street so they can steal it. Join the Revolt here: http://www.middleclassamericanparty.com/
Wouldn't Chinese Checkers be more appropriate?
It is time. If not now when. Of the many things we need to fix from the past 30 year slide of the middle class and commenserate rise of the wealthy and ruling class, the largest problem to address is the direction of wage imbalance. For, from that problem comes control of political power, access to medical services, freedom of family, job, and lifestyle decisions, quality of education of our children, and so on.
The wealthiest will use their extra $100,000 to buy more lobbying and correspondingly bigger tax advantages whereas the $50,000/year earner will use their extra $4,000 to pay the mortgage and save their house for another month. The wealthiest will get two more years to strenthen their stranglehold on the systems that send them larger proportions of money from the ever shrinking middleclass taxpayers.
Enough. Draw this line in the sand and fight for it, even if it means defeat and the debate escalates to rock band decibal levels. Do we really need to lead the world in excessive ratio of CEO to average worker salaries? That's the best we can do? Let's have a damn fight about how much CEO's and Hedge Fund Managers need to make before the rest of us can get a job paying enough to own a moderate home, feed and educate a family and live out old age in some ease. I for one welcome that debate...that fight.
He should have let the tax cuts expire. The unemployed benefits would back fire into their faces very quickly given the President and Democratic members get in front of the media and say, "Republicans are blocking unemployment benefits..." and then tell the Republicans we want a tax cut for the middle class starting at $250k. If they don't like it, let the unemployed get even more pissed and other the $250k bill again. Then, maybe just maybe, offer a tax cut up to $500k, but no higher!
Obama is worried about people. We get it. We all understood when we voted for Obama, that the Bush tax cuts were going to expire and that he'd try and keep the tax cuts for the under $250k, but it wasn't a promise. We knew and I expected, for the tax cuts to expire. The country simply can't afford the Bush tax cuts, the Obama stimulis tax cuts and now these tax cuts. He thinks he's selling us a win by adding $1 TRILLION to the debt in 2 years! So guess what? EVERYTHING will have to be cut, cut,cut to the bone. And that includes education Mr. President, who thinks in his speech that talking about having a strong educated people is the way to big for the future, well it is, but it won't happen because of cuts.
Fox News has already started gearing up to blame Obama for balloning the debt. So come 2012, he's going to be blamed for the debt by the Tea Partiers and Republicans. And the Republicans didn't give up nothing. They've played smart through this so far. They have a plan and it will blow up in Obama's face, why? Because he fails to fight and call their bluff. If you give in to bullies, you'll never win. But stand up for what's right, and maybe you get respect.
I am a 99er and before losing job was middle class. I was willing to give any advantage I might have to stop the 2% and their GOP gophers from getting away with robbery again.The more I read of the compromise President Obama made, the more inclined I am to agree with him. He got more than I first thought with giving less than I first thought. I owe him an apology and will wait to see if he was correct.
wrong topic BlueDogProud, go clean your gun
playing chess as a closet Republican
the highest priority is
letting the tax rates adjust to normal rates
who cares what the pigman says
Why say BushTax CUTS?
The only topic to discuss it putting the tax code to the NORMAL rate. The trick is to distract us from the topic.
It is really like my wife shopping at the Nordstrom sale and labeling it as savings. Are we all this easily manipulated?
No Bush Tax Increase on average folks + stop ever-extending unemployment compensation. Hungry angry people simply have to find means without free money to keep them quelled. Use common sense, this is prolonging the pain. With the 60's tax rate business would be forced to reinvset in American and employees would be NEEDED. See, this all trickles down.
Brilliant Triangulation above! You could have worked in the Clinton Administration. You have my vote for best daily post.
Very simply: It is time for a revolt. I would urge the congress and senate to vote it down, and then let the Republicans deal with the mess. Their wealthy members are going to be pissed as will that part of the base from 'the other end'. They'll be scrambling.
However, it's painfully obvious that the GOP narrative will then be that President Obama couldn't even seal the deal with his own party. I guess that's the president's problem because he hasn't shown very effective leadership and needs to develop a backbone - as does Harry Reid.
We have been past the time for revolt since I was born! With a two-party system what is there to revolt against? If you're mad at Dems you vote R? You can challenge the Pres. in the primary but he went hard right after winning the last primary. There is no way to hold electeds accountable in our system.
We need to fundamentaly change the electoral system, but it seems that we need the current politicians to do that. Lots of work to do!