Cenk: The Political Line Has Moved so Far Right Reagan Couldn't Run as a Republican
Cenk Uygur filling in for Dylan Ratigan again this week more or less rehashed his op-ed from The Huffington Post, Who is More Conservative: Ronald Reagan or Barack Obama? As he noted in his column, Ronald Reagan:
-Gave Amnesty to Illegal Immigrants
-Negotiated with Terrorists (Traded Arms for Hostages with Iran)
-Raised Taxes
-Negotiated with the "Evil Empire" without Pre-conditions
-Made a Decision to "Cut and Run" From Lebanon After Our Troops Were Attacked
Cenk wrapped up his post this way.
The bottom line is that, no matter what the reason, Obama seems to be in some important ways significantly to the right of Reagan on the political spectrum. If Reagan ordered the execution of US citizens abroad, he might have been impeached. If Obama tried to give undocumented immigrants blanket amnesty the way Reagan did, he might be impeached.
I don't think Obama is a hard right-winger. It's just that the political establishment in this country has moved so far to the right (though not the public, according to polls on specific issues) that as a natural politician when he goes to appease them, he is solidly center-right on the spectrum.
And the political line has moved so far that if Reagan tried to run as a Republican now he would be the laughing stock of the party. Rush Limbaugh would tear him to shreds and Bill Kristol would say he is Neville Chamberlain. He would be run out of town as a tax-raising, amnesty giving, terrorist negotiating, cut and run no-good lib who hates the troops.
And anyone who claims otherwise is being absurd. As Reagan once said, "Facts are stubborn things."
He's right, things have shifted so far to the right that Ronald Reagan would be run out of town with today's Republican Party, not that it will stop them from practically raising his dead corpse as their great conservative icon while campaigning. Steve Benen has more here on the right's changing perceptions of Reagan as well.
she gave a wonderful speech at a college which basically referred to the coarsening of society and our immunity to what is being done in our name to people all over the world and to our own here in America.
Some stuff you can't make up!
Our society is doomed if we don't make some real changes and get together with an emotional strength to deal with these very real problems. Citizens, Journalists, Muckrakers, Investigators, Whistleblowers, etc.
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Saw this on a conservative board and had to post it.
It makes a statement on todays conservative thinking, and how the truth can be found in a typo or two.
I have said it before and I will say it again. Glenn Beck is possibly the new Messiah. There is little difference between watching him write on his chalk board and watching Moses chisel out the five commandments.
Glenn Beck is a Mormon, and as we all know Moronism is the true faith of America. Hopefully one days we will all become Joseph Smith following morons and the Rebublicans will take their true place and lead this country forever.
A parody of sorts.5 commandments?
Thou shall keep beer at 38 degrees always.
Thou shall save all good seeds that thou comes across.
Thou shall always keep lots of ice for cocktails (especially during summer).
Thou shall always keep a well stocked bar.
Thou shall never take advantage of a woman. Never. Unless she wants you too.:)
What is your conceptual, continuity?
The one who empties it has to buy the next bottle of Vaseline.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
That was the real point of the story.
Didn't Obama himself wax poetic about Raygun during the 08 campaign?
CTHULHU 2012 "Why vote for a lesser evil?"
Vote Democrat all the way down the line on the ballot this November.
Do NOT stay home.
Do NOT decline to vote.
Do NOT vote in any way that increases the chance of a Republican winning anywhere.
Do NOT think doing otherwise will "teach a lesson" to anyone in politics. The fact that the Repugs are looking at a distinct possibility of owning 3/4 of the governement (House, Senate, Judiciary) this November after what they've done to America over the past 10 years argues against ANY "lessons being learned" by anyone in U.S. politics ever.
If the morning of November 3rd sees John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Dick Morris, Laura Ingraham, and the Koch Brothers laughing their asses off in victory it won't have been Obama's fault. Or Pelosi's. Or Reid's.
It will be OUR fault.
.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
We elected Bill Clinton and a Democratic Congress in 1992.
Republicans got their way.
We re-elected Clinton in 1996.
Republicans got their way.
We elected a Democratic Congress in 2006.
Republicans got their way.
We elected a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress in 2008.
Republicans still got their way.
After 18 years, the Democrats aren't fooling anyone anymore. We know they work for the GOP, and there is absolutely no reason to vote for these liars over Republicans - none whatsoever.
Well, not really.
Clinton and the Dems passed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, cutting taxes for the middle and lower income earners, raising taxes on the top 2%, requiring reductions in the deficit. Not one Republican't voted for it.
Apparently enough "Democrats" stayed home and didn't vote in '94 to allow the Repugs to take control of both Houses of Congress. Clinton fought and won every subsequent budget battle against the Repugs. They not only did NOT "work together", but Gingrich shut down Congress in protest to Clinton NOT working with the Repug Congress at one point. Clinton won that one, too.
"Democrats" didn't come out in enough numbers to vote in 2006 to create a Dem Congress with more than 49 seats in a Senate with 49 Repugs who proceeded to enforce the 60 Senate cloture rule so much the Dem Congress of the next two years was known as "The Do Nothing" Congress. In today's political environment with the kind of Repugs we've got today, 49 Dems in the Senate is NOT enough to get good legislation passed.
In fact, 57 Dems in the Senate with two of them ready to drop dead any minute (and they did) is not enough to get past that 60 Senate vote obstruction to get good legislation passed. And that's what "Democrats" gave Obama and the Dems in Congress in 2008.
Seems to me the disappointments you've been experiencing over the years has not been due to an inability of the Dems in Congress to deliver on THEIR votes....it has been due to the inability to deliver to the Dems the number of Congresspersons needed to get past the expert Repug obstructionism with OUR votes.
If we'd been looking at a huge Dem majority in the House and 68 Dems in the Senate since '95 like LBJ had or something, then I would agree with you that the Dems are no different than the Repugs, the Repugs always win, whatever.
But that isn't what we or the Dems have had since '95. Instead, we've had 10-15 too few Dems in the Senate along with a comfortable majority in the House AND a Dem in the White House to get the best kind of legislation passed.
The More Democrats in Congress... the Less shit we have to eat... Hey waitasecond... that doesn't quite work.
~albabe (The Writer/Artist Formally Known As Al Gordon)
http://www.comicon.com/gordon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gordon
with a side of blaming the victim.
I take that is the DLC electoral value proposition for the foreseeable future?
I am not in the mood for blackmail, I think I'll try another restaurant... where they actually value my business.
CTHULHU 2012 "Why vote for a lesser evil?"
He just couldn't see it. He couldn't see how Reagan would not fit into the current version of the GOp.
It's actually kinda funny. Until you think about it.
Yeah, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves if we allow them to gain the majority. I know some folks here want that to happen. All I have to say to that is, you ain't seen nuthin yet. If you think the GOp has been acting crazy during the Boosh admin , if you think they've been going outta bounds with their rhetoric lately, just wait.Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
If voters show up we win or at least don't lose too many seats. It's as simple as that. Just gotta drag people out to the polls. That's all.
and hoped someone would link to it. Thanks Heather.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Cenk is a douche bag. He wrote some morality killing BS article on Dkos the other day and is officially on my shit list.
Everyone needs to know that Cenk used to call himself a Republican. I don't know what he pretends to be now a days. Whatever he figures will get him the most attention I guess. IMHO, once a Repuke always a Repuke. You can't just walk away from that moronic mindset.
that he did not cheer for Obama loud enough, or that he took the name of Reagan in vain.
CTHULHU 2012 "Why vote for a lesser evil?"
This whole "your just an Obamabot" schtick is getting old and boring. All it says is that you don't get it and never will
I prefer Spamelope...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I think we know who the real douche bag is. Who cares what he used to be? Christ almighty. We're going to start kicking people out of the Democratic Party because of former party affiliations? Are we going to have purity tests like the Teabaggers too? We need more outspoken voices on the Left like Cenk. He's a bit abrasive at times, but he's doing a great job of sticking up for the liberal cause.
Hold that thought, now go read this Dkos article and then try tell me "he's doing a great job of sticking up for the liberal cause"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/9/3/898682...
not the article itself. A person with your same opinion pissed that someone is telling the pres to man the fuck up, and kick fake bipartisanship to the curb. Called it "talking down" to the president. He's president, not king. All pissed, like you, that Cenk is a former republic party member. How not relevant.
you ARE 12.
me-oww!
about being on YOUR shit list. What are you? 12?
me-oww!
People can change. I'll bet you've been called intelligent.
I have...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Kos was a disingenuous Intellectually dishonest little turd when he went after Dennis the K for not voting for the Health Care BS Bill.
Dennis signed a statement saying he wouldn't vote for it without a Public Option... and Kos pissed all over him for his keeping to his promise... then, of course, Obama and the rest of the Neo Dems strong-armed Dennis into voting for it anyway.
~albabe (The Writer/Artist Formally Known As Al Gordon)
http://www.comicon.com/gordon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gordon
Ronald Reagan signed the last Social Security reform act. He accounted for the baby boomer bubble, raised employer and employee Social Security taxes by $165 billion, brought federal employees into the system, and taxed Social Security benefits for the wealthy.
Would someone with a national soapbox PLEASE add some historical perspective to today's radical right-wing agenda? The new normal is INSANE.
We should change the Constitution and write a new amendment that Cenk must serve 8 years as President.
Put down the crack pipe and step away from the computer
The Flip Side Of The Coin: Ronald Reagan would be welcomed into todays democratic party with open arms.
"Hey, Ed...can I ride the pony again?"
I don't think Obama is a hard right-winger.
Wait a minute. First you say that Obama's positions are to the right of Reagan, then you say he isn't a right-winger. So Reagan was left-wing?
You can't have your cake and eat it, too. Either Obama is more right-wing than Reagan, who was and is the GOP Poster Boy, or he isn't. Make up your mind.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
Which was that despite the Republican party's continued worship of the ghost of Ronnie Reagan, they actually are far to the right of Reagan's views, and in fact have completed tossed those views out the window.
The right-wingers today misrepresent Reagan at every opportunity. He was never the kind of hard-right neo-con that they would like people to believe.
Seven years, or (3255 days), of the Lebanese holding Americans hostage, with none of that Day 1, Day 2,
Day 3 nonsense from the media...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Richard Nixon would be too far to the left to run for office today - EVEN AS A DEMOCRAT:
- implemented federal controls on prices and wages to contain inflation.
- imposed a 10% import surcharge to stimulate domestic production.
- attempted to replace welfare with a guaranteed annual income for all citizens
- proposed a form of public single-payer health insurance, which Ted Kennedy later regretted not adopting.
- significantly expanded government in many areas, including the environment (Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, foundation of the EPA), workplace safety (OSHA), education and social services.
- supported and implemented affirmative action throughout government and in private industry.
- reformed the federal government's relationship with Native Americans.
- completed desegregation of US public schools, a task that had languished since Brown vs. Board of Education.
- spent more on social programs than defence - during the Vietnam war.
- re-established diplomatic relations with Communist China and ended trade restrictions.
The only thing about Nixon that would gather Republican approval today would be his total lack of ethics and his preferred choices in political tactics.
I DON'T think there was a 50% top marginal tax rate under Reagan - didn't he drop it from 70% to 35% and then Clinton raised it to 39.6?
Then Chimpy dropped it back down to 35%.
Reagan cut the top marginal tax rate from 70% to 50%, which is a 28% reduction in the top rate. At the same time he cut the first (bottom) marginal tax rate from 14% to 12%, which is only a 14% reduction in the first marginal tax rate. A 28% reduction being twice as deep as a 14% reduction, that means Reagan cut the top marginal tax rate by a much larger percentage than he cut the first marginal tax rate. Those would be Supply-Side tax cuts.
That is quite the opposite of what JFK did. This notion that JFK would be a "Reaganite" is total bullsh*t. JFK cut the first (bottom) tax rate by a much greater percentage than the top tax rate. Those would be Demand-Side tax cuts. LBJ cut the first (bottom) rate even further. Which accounts for the extraordinary economic expansion we saw in the 1960s.
Later in Reagan's presidency he cut the first marginal tax rate to 11% for a short period of time. HOWEVER, by the time he left office that had been increased to 15% while the top rate continued to be cut to 28%.
What Reagan had to do was raise the first (bottom) marginal tax rate in order to make up for the shortfall in revenue caused by the top marginal tax rate cuts he made. In other words, Reagan raised taxes on the lowest income earners in order to pay for the huge tax cuts he gave to the top 2%. Nice guy. Now, in that way, he is absolutely perfect for the modern Republican Party.
Top and Bottom (first) Marginal Tax Bracket History:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_th...
Didn't JFK cut out a large percentage of the Tax Loop Holes too? So Corporations and the Wealthy ended up paying more. A very good thing.
~albabe (The Writer/Artist Formally Known As Al Gordon)
http://www.comicon.com/gordon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gordon
Emanuel is the major player which has moved the democratic party to the right,,, NOT center.
The democratic party is pushing the right wing Republicans in the a... because Emanuel is moving them that fast.
http://www.counterpunch.org/walsh10242006.html
Emanuel's War Plan for Democrats ( along with being Pro War these democrats are Pro corporation as Nelson and others Emanuel has helped)
Emanuel, had worked hard to guarantee that Democratic candidates in key toss-up House races were pro-war. In this he was largely successful, because of the money he commands and the celebrity politicians who reliably respond to his call, ensuring that 20 of the 22 Democratic candidates in these districts are pro-war. So the fix is in for the coming elections.
*****
Emanuel calls democrats f--in stupid. ( and of course when Emanuel makes this statement he is talking about the progressive democrats and defending the right of center centrist and blue dog and republicans.
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care...
**************
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/mad...
Word is out via The Hill. Kaine is better than Dean was. He stays win or not.
Tue Aug 17th 2010,
How about them apples? This of course is a puff piece, but it is the kind that a fellow named Rahm is famous for getting out to the public. Why it is out at this time, I don't know. I tel you why Emanuel has descontent for the progressives and the White House it pulling he words about this.
None
Wasnt Reagans real quote "facts are stupid things"?
This just shows that conservatards are not above changing even their own history for their own political gain. Never trust them when the topic is history, or politics, or morality, or civilization, or religion.....oh hell, dont trust them period.
When angry, count four, when very angry, swear.
-Mark Twain-
Yes, that's how much of a REACTIONARY Glenn Beck is, even if he doesn't know it.
You all know how devoid of honesty and integrity Glenn Beck is, but what about your friends and their friends?
Please, share this URL:
www.sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com
Thanks
"The antidote to bad speech is more speech." ~~J.S. Mill
radically left to even run as a mainstream Democrat. We have a choice today between the extreme right and the really extreme right. this country is just about toast.
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