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To hell with today's line in right-wing media that Obama is shifting way to the left. The line in any respectable media should be about the Republican Party's extreme shift to the right being facilitated by the enormous power of big money.......so far to the right it falls under the definition of Fascism. Case in point being extreme right wing Tea Party House Rep. from Corning New York, Tom Reed's sponsorship of a Social Security procedural rule which was promptly passed by fellow House Teapublicans. This rule virtually guarantees devastating cuts for some of our most vulnerable citizens.
I'm a little shocked that Obama didn't take advantage and communicate this Republican action to the American public last night. The Democrats need to take this ball and run like hell with it. What a great chance to expose the Billionaire Party's continued descent into darkness.
In addition every poll indicates a very large majority of citizens favor lifting the Social Security payroll cap.......but that would be too much like a functional Democracy.
President Obama has been blocked at every turn by big business and the politicians that support them, the Republican Party has been at the heart of holding us hostage and will continue to do so unless we make our voice heard loud and clear. Obama wasted the first two yrs of his first term trying to negotiate with terrorists AKA the GOP and corporations they have more power and influence that I have seen in my lifetime. We do not live under a dictatorship where one man alone can make huge changes. Every President needs the cooperation of the Senate and Congress to pass legislation and authorize funds to rebuild our infrastructure and any other major spending bill. I agree with most of what he spoke about but am totally against the TPP, we need to demand to see what's in it after all it will affect all of us. I don't even think POTUS has even had the time to read the whole deal himself (how in the world could he) and is being advised by the wrong side.
If Status Quobama had led this country against Wall Street there would be a DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY in BOTH HOUSES!
But you could tell from his "Transition" team that the FIX WAS IN!
It still is!
Hey Thom! I think this is just a head fake by Status Quobama to get the TPP passed with a bargaining chip or two. Maybe he'll throw in keystone and for a grand bargain reduce SS with the Chained price index. What the heck he's got a legacy to worry about getting his kids on the Koch Bros ARK and I REALLY THINK he believes they'll be let on board. Why would he be selling us out unless he had a good reason? Why would he be insuring the furthur erosion of our country to the status of Mexico unless he had a good reason. Right? Does he really think they'll get on board?
It was a dud as expected. He's dropped the ball way to many times. Personally, I hope he spends the next two years playing golf and leaves us alone.
A little to late. This should have been his policies six years ago
whos the new kid with the globe
are the billionaires on board yet
I have to agree with Uncle Geo at #27 & #28. I'm also active in the Dem. Party, so that I can have some effect instead of complaining about being powerless.
I admit that my effect is tiny. The money required to run and win keeps good people out. I'm convinced we need a big push to get enough good people in office all at once to get the money out. Democrats (voters and party officials) need to spend the next 3 elections getting the Senate to 2/3 liberal. Conserve resources on the House and wait until the Senate is within reach before pushing on that. But always invest in state, county and municipal elections--that's the farm team.
Prof Richard Wolff often touts the obvious successes of Franklin Roosevelt but he does hold out some criticism for his failure to take steps to make permanent changes to our system of government that would prevent a future replay of the economic disaster that we came to label as the Great Depression ! Roosevelt's death in 1945 opened the flood gates for those economic interests who had great wealth and the motivation to retain control of that great wealth by buying unrestricted access to the levers of power in Washington. Post WWII America held all the cards as our manufacturing base and infrastructure were the only ones completely untouched by the ravages of war. Yet, political forces were rallied that began a vicious attack on growing Communist and Socialist organizations whose right to free speech was protected by the Constitution. Labor Unions who had risen to power in the 1930s to represent a growing chorus of oppressed workers in this country were immediately assailed by the Taft Hartley Act of 1947 that severely limited the rights of working class Americans and that act remains in place today. The 91% tax levied on the wealthy to pay for the New Deal, the restoration of America from the effects of the Great Depression, and the funding required to fight WWII came back to the wealthy Capitalist manufacturers and bankers ten times over in the early fifties when America was the only fully functioning economy on the planet ! What did we do with that enormous advantage, we started a forty year long Cold War against Russia, one of our allies in WWII. The Capitalist paranoia over the potential loss of their total control over the economy of the entire planet has kept us at war ever since, and this has continued at the risk of our potential economic peril even though Communist Russia ceased to exist twenty three years ago. It appears that even the rich have bogey men that they cannot deal !
Joni Ernst's bread bag story sounds like its supposed to be about poverty, but since it's just about preserving your shoes it actually has no connection. Clearly every family wanted to do the same thing, whatever it really was.
Let me tell you about poverty and shoes.
When I'm doing well, I stock up on things, mostly food. But currently, I'm deep in debt and am putting off buying new shoes. I would have bought some in October, and even that was a wait; I was putting up with a pair of sneakers that started to fall apart within a month of buying them and are now unfit for wearing in wet weather. So for winter, I've switched to my spare pair, which are a semi-business style and seem to be holding together despite being from the same store and the same manufacturer. I wouldn't normally wear this pair because the tops aren't as high and my socks can get a little wet above the shoes.
For contrast, there is a socialist rebuttal of the State of the Union: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/20/kshama-sawant-socialist-state-of-the-union_n_6511176.html
Obama's SOTU speech was pointless, but because of Republicans; he'd run into just as much opposition if the Democrats were in control. America is an oligrarcy. We lost our democratic republic while we were busy watching so-called "reality" TV or playing video games while the corporate powers-that-be sought to divide us into a many opposing camps as possible.
There was a time when government had enough money to do it's job, but they let it go. Their fault! That money is still there for the taking but no one will take the initiative to get it back. The money is not gone. It's just been diverted. Instead, they're trying to justify a bailout funded by the poor and the elderly. As usual, they take the path of least resistance.
delster, good point. Conservatives "conserve" , maintain what is there so it works, understand there is a cost to keeping what you have in working order, not to be wasteful, to know what you have now has to be preserved, to ensure what you have now will be there for the next generations.
That costs money, often tax money, and thems that profit from the results are obliged to pay for it. It "makes sense" that the people that benefit the most ought to pay more. Yeah, the owner of the concern that earns a bigger income ought to bear the burden for the road, or the school, or post office, or the utility that enables them to live at a higher standard of living. As well, if something is needed in the community that isn't directly covered by "taxes", thems that have more, ought to contribute more. It is said that in some nations, the better off understand that and call it noblesse oblige, or the obligation of the nobility. There is no nobility in the States, but the idea is the same.
interesting, too, how the most otherwise "egregious" captains of industry at the turn of the twentieth century, Rockefeller, "tithed" his income, and and then some. Rockefeller's alter ego, lived on ten percent of his income leaving the rest to philanthropy. Henry Ford I, as well as his grandson, "the deuce", Henry Ford II, also weren't so bad. A cursive reading of the bio of Herbert Hoover, one of the most unappreciated presidents, tells that he was the beneficiary of one of the first scholarships offered by Stanford Univesity, founded by another philantropist, Leland Stanford. Hoover believied in Voluntarism, that people would understand the needs, and each one gave according to their ability to "give" for the sake of the Welfare of society.
Yeah, conservatives in those days supported public education, public roads, public libraries, anything that promoted the Commons. Somehow today that ethic has been replaces with "Greed". We see the results--when is the next bridge going to fall, and who is going to get the blame, the neo-Conservatives that called for lower taxes, or big government that wasted dwindling tax dollars on subsidies to neo-Conservatives to help them get through their day.
All we can do most of the time is pray. Then again, if we speak up . . . something might be done.
This is just a face of dirty politics. When money is superior than the capability and ability of the individual then how it will confirm that country's future is secure in his hands. The politicians bought by money will only be like the puppet of those billionaires. They will do work for the profit of those persons not for the common citizens.
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As long as we have politicians who support corporate America over We the People not much will get done just look at the last few years, we have been held hostage for too long. It won't matter who becomes POTUS in the next election if we still have businessman disguised as politicians making decsions for us and our planet.
The Dems are abysmal at messaging. It may decidedly be that they follow the Latin quote in post #1 above. The Republicans have beat us over the head with the phrase "job creation" for years. Let's use the term "buyer creation" since the buying conduct of the 99% is what actually creates jobs. Our primary focus should be on reversing the decline of the nation's majority of families which will in turn build our economy. We've shoveled $ to the wealthy long enough. It didn't work because they didn't use the money to create jobs. Can we finally learn from the bad results we have already had for over thirty years of voodoo economics?
I think it's important to point out that our so called conservatives today are cut from a different bolt of material. Russell Kirk, a critical conservative thinker who established the 10 points of conservatism and was author of the The Conservative Mind I believe would have been appaulled by the current crop who call themselves conservative. Some have referred to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity as NEO LIBERAL CAPITALIIST which is what Kirk would have referred to someone who had no respect for moral order, tradition, and was corrupted by the influence of wealth and power. Unfortunatley I think this describes our government on both sides both Republicans and Democrats.
Hate to be a broken record, but as I posted a while back, nothing much will change until we push hard for a constitutional amendment making it the law of the land that ONLY public funds can be used for the public vote? NO outside money allowed. With all funding coming from a small obligatory yearly tax chipped in by all citizens, each candidate would receive the same amount of money and time on public radio and television, effectively leveling the playing field. In one fell swoop, that would take care of the problem of corrupting big money flowing into our election system.
Until that happens, as Thom commented, we'll keep getting "the best leaders money can buy"----who of course won't represent us regular citizens.
Alvord Al
Gator girl, you can buy a used LEAF or Volt for as little as $12K. That's affordable for millions of people. If you drive further than the range of the EV, then the Volt is the car for you. All of your daily driving is on renewable electricity, and you only use gas when you need to go long distance.
As for chargers, there are thousands being installed all over the country. If you don't have them where you live, become and activist and get them installed in your community. My city of Santa Monica has installed dozens of free chargers so people can get free renewable energy while they shop, see a movie, or eat in a restaurant. The city gets the tax revenue, the consumer gets free energy, and the only loser is the oil company.
WARNING!! The Presidents plan is going to cripple the middle class. The tax loophole that he wants to abolish concerning living Trusts will only save $320 Billion over 10 years. That is less than 1/3 of our military budget for one year. Yet it will cost the recipients of Trusts in this country an average of 25% of their inheritance. Since the inheritance of Billionaires usually take the form of real estate, businesses, or Swiss bank accounts this law will have no effect on them whatsoever. It will only affect law abiding US middle class citizens. Shame on the Democratic party for entertaining this abomination!
http://www.npr.org/2015/01/19/378289335/white-house-rolls-out-tax-proposals-before-state-of-the-union-address
First, PaulScott, I think you are deluded that we could do much to have changed much - or can do so now.
Purchasing an energy newewal auto is fine for those who can afford it - most can't plus the return on your investment will take so long that it is a joke. If you were to purchase electric, they are so sadly lacking in distance on a single charge - not to mention the lack of charging stations - that you'd also have to have - or rent - another vehicle for any trip over 100 miles - and that's IF what they quote as the mileage is even close. Where we live it is 8 miles each way to the charging station so that is 16 of the 100 before we even start. Tesla about 5 months ago put in 8 free charging stations which, I understand, are useable for all electric vehicles but they are almost 14 miles each way from us.
We did purchase a newer auto which does get fairly good mileage but we do occasionally make trips far over the distnce of an electric auto - and the 0thers are too expensive. Plus our age means that we are not going to live long enough to realize the savings from either the hybrid or the electric vehicle.
I will not be watching for several reasons. Number 1 is that anything President Obama says tonight he should have said and been trying to do 6 years ago. And, 2nd, because this is a "legacy speech" and that angers me to no end. The GOP will not care one way or the other and will continue to do as they have for the past 6 years - along with some people who falsely call themselves Democrats - and block any and everything. I do not care to hear how much more we have been sold out and I am sure that in the coming days we will be bombarded ad nauseum and thus, no need to upset myself tonight. I will be in my bedroom with my music and AtheistTV to watch.
I voted for President Obama both times - especially since the opposition was not even a possibility. But, the fact that he just didn't "get it" shortly after the election, MCDonald and Boner told him that they were not going to allow him to get anyting done. Yes, I know their names are not accurately spelled but that's who they are to me.
At that point in time President Obama should have taken the tact that he was going to ignore them and do what he is now trying to do with a bit of limited success. Imagine how much more he could have done in the 1st 2 years if he had not continually caved to that F _* # KIing GOP!!
Have fun, peeps, listening to the fairy tales and legacy building however much time is spent on that speech tonight.
I keep reading these pleas from Thom and others to "change things", but little action results. Because of Citizen's United, the corporatists will have a lock on our political system, but much of the money they get comes from those people who refuse to vote with their money. American's transfer over a trillion dollars every year from their collective bank accounts to the oil, coal and NG industries to provide dirty energy for their cars, homes and businesses.
It's now quite easy, and affordable, to switch your energy to renewable electricity and your cars to electric. When you do both of those things, you eliminate over 90% of the pollution for which you are responsible, and you stop giving them your money. The money you save by using clean, renewable energy is yours to spend on local goods and services generating thousands of good jobs in your community instead of sending it out of state to those corporatists.
You can then donate a portion of your savings to politicians who support your positions. When enough people do this, things will change. We will not succeed if our side continues to fund our enemies.