Ed Schultz: Right Now Mr. President Your Base Thinks You're Nothing But a Sellout
Ed Schultz pretty well lays it in the line with what a whole lot of the progressive community thinks about President Obama right now. Katrina Vanden Heuvel from The Nation weighs in on how "angry, infuriated and heartbroken" the base is and that they need to stand up if they don't want things to be very ugly in 2010. As Ed notes, the President needs to quit listening to Rahm Emanuel and the insurance lobby and start paying attention to those that got him elected.
Transcript via Lexis Nexis.
ED SCHULTZ: Good evening, Americans. And welcome to THE ED SHOW from New York.
Mr. President, pull that chair up in front of the fireplace here. What you say we sit down and have a little talk here tonight? What do you think, huh?
The base is restless. They are wandering in the wilderness, Mr. President. They are looking for your GPS coordinates.
They want to know, where are you? They think we can do a heck of a lot better. Liberals and progressives think that they`re not being treated properly.
Right now, Mr. President, your base thinks you`re nothing but a sellout, a corporate sellout, out that. I know it`s tough audio, but I`m your buddy Ed. I`ve got to tell you this. I don`t think anybody else is.
You aren`t listening to the very people who put you in office, Mr. President. This isn`t about your legacy. It`s about the people in America who need health care now.
Mr. President, I don`t know if you`ve noticed or not, but you have carved out the most important elements of reform. The only people who like this current bill right now, Mr. President, is the insurance industry. They get a bunch of new customers.
Here is what Wendell Potter, a friend of mine, told me on the program last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WENDELL POTTER: The Senate bill is full of loopholes, and the insurance industry knows that. In fact, they`ve made sure that they are in there.
One in particular will allow employers to charge certain workers thousands of dollars more just based on health factors. And it can be obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol.
The insurance industry will be able to write the rules. They are not being set in the legislation as currently written.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Mr. President, don`t leave the room. We`ve got some more talking to do. You can`t make it?
Apparently none of that matters. You see, at the White House, not long ago, the president told liberal Democrats to suck it up and listen to Joe Lieberman`s version on health care.
Now, here`s what gets me. The guy standing behind Obama is the biggest taker from big pharma and the insurance industry. Our old buddy, Max Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee, is taking $3.4 million from the health industry over the last six years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That`s an average of $1,500 a day to Baucus from big health care.
Now, the travesty continues. Last night, 30 Democrats voted against an amendment that would help you and me, the consumers -- the drug importation bill.
It would let consumers buy prescription drugs from overseas at a fraction of the price that we pay right now. But you see, voting for it would have really endangered the deal that the White House cut with big pharma.
Mr. Personality, Rahm Emanuel, he must have gotten a hell of a deal. So, the Democrats got together and they killed it. So much for change we can believe in.
I have to ask the question tonight to our listening audience, if you`re a liberal, tell me -- send me an e-mail at Ed@EdSchultzShow.com
Why do you support President Obama after the way he`s been coming down on all of this? Does he deserve your support at this point? Rahm Emanuel is nothing but a turncoat. They are not listening to the base at all.
The Republicans -- I know this is heresy, but they do deserve credit. See, they know how to close ranks, and nobody does it better than them. It`s kind of like they still have the Tom DeLay effect. The Democrats are always looking for a hero.
Now, Howard Dean finally did it today. The Democrats just don`t know how to get tough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN: You know, if we are Republicans, we would ram this thing through the way we want them to. They wouldn`t have hesitated to do that. And we`re not tough enough. The Democrats aren`t tough enough. We don`t have to be mean like the Republicans can be, but we have to be a lot tougher if we`re going to get anything done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: OK. So we`ve got this list of progressives who are starting to line up. Let`s see -- we`ve got Howard Dean, we`ve got Arianna Huffington. We`ve got Markos Moulitsas of "The Daily Kos." We`re going to have a very interesting guest here in just a moment.
Is this the change that we all talked about, a gift to the insurance industry? Change is not back-door deals with big pharma and sticking it to the consumers. Change is not Joe Lieberman calling the shots on health care reform.
Mr. President, before you leave the room, listen to your buddy, Big Eddie. Your base is leaving you, and you need to listen to your base, because we`re the ones that put you in office.
Joe Lieberman didn`t put you in office. None of the Republicans put you there. In fact, they are still trying to defeat you at the water`s edge. They won`t give up.
Folks, get your cell phones out tonight. I want to know what you think on this.
Do you think the White House has sold out to big pharma? Text "A" for yes and "B" for no to 622639. We`ll bring you the results later on in the show.
Joining me now is Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of "The Nation," tonight.
Katrina, nice to have you with us.
KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: Thank you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: The base, is it in trouble with President Obama? I`m listening to those and the progressive talkers. The blogosphere is wild. This is a new set of dynamics for the president. We`ve got some poll numbers coming up in a few minutes.
How do you see it at this hour?
VANDEN HEUVEL: Well, I think the base -- I mean, the people who put Obama in office, angry, infuriated, heartbroken. This is not the change that we voted for.
I think Representative Anthony Weiner put it well just the other day. The compromises are all going in one direction. And so people who work very hard, not just the base, a majority of Americans who support a public option or a Medicare expansion, are looking at a White House which has emboldened the conserva-dems, people like Joe Lieberman, who not only worked for McCain, but is now holding hostage a bill that would really serve millions of Americans.
Instead, we`re getting this watered-down, diluted plan, and I think it`s not too late. I think progressives can stand and fight.
There is another day. Congress has two houses. It`s going to go to the House, which has some spine, and we need to give it spine moving forward, because, otherwise, it`s going to be very ugly in terms of 2010, and very ugly in terms of what emerges as a bonanza for the insurance companies.
SCHULTZ: Well, it`s just not the base and it`s just not the progressive media that`s out there. It`s members of Congress. John Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee...
VANDEN HEUVEL: Absolutely.
SCHULTZ: He says this: "The president keeps listening to Rahm Emanuel. The insurance lobby is taking over."
Here`s Dave Obey, who is the chairman of House Appropriations. "The White House has been useless."
It`s ridiculous. And the Obama administration is sitting on the sidelines. That`s nonsense.
What do you make of this?
VANDEN HEUVEL: Well, I mean, you have in the House people like Obey and Conyers. You have a Progressive Caucus, 83 strong, which stood firm, tall, with spine to counter these Blue Dogs who don`t represent much but the insurance companies. And the Progressive Caucus will need to do some work moving forward.
So, you`re going to head in -- Steny Hoyer, majority leader, said today you`re looking at January. You`re going to need to meld the Senate bill with a House bill that is a lot better, including, obviously, a public option or Medicare expansion, but better on affordability, better on any trust exemption for these insurance companies.
So, I think there is work to be done. And in this period, progressives and citizens who don`t want to be held hostage by the insurance companies moving forward need to do some hard work and tell this White House that, yes, we`re not naive. Compromise in politics is inevitable, but you want compromise that opens opportunities and takes into account those who have worked so hard for something, and not something that forecloses opportunity and is an insurance bonanza.
SCHULTZ: Katrina, good to have you on tonight.
VANDEN HEUVEL: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Thanks so much. Always the truth coming from you and "The Nation."
We don't think Obama is a sellout, we KNOW he is a sellout. The sick thing is there is nothing he has gotten in return for rolling over and letting the repigs take turns on him. Maybe he is getting something on the back end of this deal, but we certainly aren't getting anything as citizens who voted this guy into office.
There is 0% chance anyone I know will be voting for the do nothing prez.
Same here. Even the lifetime uber liberals with the balding pony tails and beards who were rejoicing last November, have now told me how totally digusted they are with this guy.
Yes, I think Sarah Palin or any other psychotic republican would beat this repuke-lite. I knew we were screwed two days after the election when he pushed out good-guy Howard Dean - who was responsible for getting the democrats back in control after 12 years, and replaced him with all the 1990's corporate fascist repuke-lite Clinton flunkies. The same Clinton corporate flunkies who lost the democratic majority coalition that FDR had established for 60 years!
Most people I know voted for this guy because they didn't want anymore Clinton corporate suck-ups. So this dumb-ass goes out and hires all of them, and dumps the progressives who overwhelmingly got him elected by running a liberal platform.
I really really loathe Rahmabama. Not because he is a lying sack of shit sell-out; but because he took a once in a lifetime oportunity we the people had to right this country, and instead lead us to the corporate slaughter houses. The dirty SOB!
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
For the life of me I couldn't understand why (almost) all the decisions coming from Obama's DOJ sounded like Bush's DOJ .. until I heard that outside a few key appointments Obama had retained the entire Bush DOJ.
Of course they're not gonna prosecute Bush era crimes! Of course they're going to defend Bush in all criminal and civil litigation in process!
It was Thom Hartmann interviewing Dan Siegelman where I learned this, that Obama had not demanded the resignation of the entire DOJ (which is standard procedure!) when he took office.
And then there's the Bush holdovers in the military, and in Treasury, the Fed, etc.
And it would be one thing if Obama was telling all these players to play new tunes, but what I see is Obama asking each of them what they need to get back to business as usual.
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
The three of you sum up a lot of what I've been feeling for some time now. I didn't think I could feel more disgusted then when the US invaded Iraq. But then when Bush was re-elected and I was more disgusted. Then when the Dems elected in '06 screwed us in '07 I was more disgusted still. And now.... well all I can say is that there's hell to pay for what's been and being done.
I feel the same way.
atcha.
.
C O R P U B L I C R A T S !
.
Starve the WAR Beast...
... Save the World.
I knew he didn't have the political will to fix the economy before the election and said so. Health care is really no surprise either. Yet the republicans still say he's a socialist, hmmmmm they seem to be getting what they want, does that mean they are really socialists too?
Goodnight, Frau Blücher
Thom Hartmann: Obama Campaigned as Progressive Really Conservadem Corpacrat Tragic Realization
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
is a rare individual in our vacuous culture, his radio show is top-notch on a daily basis.
I had my misgivings about Obama but I never in a million years thought it would turn out like this: more war, no change in DOJ, sucking up to Wall Street, and now less progressive on health care than 90% of the Democrats.
I'm disgusted at him, absolutely disgusted.
Progessive Party time, can it get an act together in two years?
...but I am losing faith. I've tried to give him the benifit of the doubt. I've tried to say...."wait till it's finished". But I am just about to toss in the towel on this man. I'm beginning to feel like I've been sold a bad bill of goods for the last time. I'm hoping something great happens in the next few weeks...but I'm just about finished with supporting my government. Is this what we get? Is this "all there is"?
I'm waiting on the edge of my seat. If President Obama doesn't start proving that he is FOR the people...I give up. I'm not young enough to overcome more of the same. I won't see someone worthy of my trust again in my lifetime. THAT would truly be sad. I'm waiting....but not for long.
I don't think he's a conservative. I don't think he's a conservative in any shape manner or form. I do think he's a moderate centrist Democrat. Now, How do we define that? That's a very hard thing to do.
What,with all the crap that's happened in the last 17-20 years or so.
Is he far enough to the left? Not for most here.
I used to consider myself a moderate Dem. Just left of off center.
I find myself farther to the left nowadays. But I still wouldn't consider myself on the far left.
I suppose it's just my own way of checks and balances. Balancing myself around my surroundings. The last goofball who was Prez and his cronies did a number on the country. They pulled the right so far right that it pulled the left to the right a little bit.
I'm not happy with this either. Very disappointed in fact.
But I remind myself that we aren't privy to all the information.
And all of us react to bits and pieces of info that keeps changing everyday.
The bottom line is we can't judge this man until his first term is over. I'm sure we'll hear all about this and that and how crooked he is or she is or who ever is.
I'm not happy with the way this has turned out..So Far.
Look what they did to Carter. And look how he is viewed now.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
and more to do with his post-office work, so I would be careful about hoping that history will do the same again. I don't mean this as a rag on Carter as we'd be in much better shape energy-wise if we had continued down the path he started us on, but time hasn't really changed the perception that Carter was a pretty ineffectual administrator and that that lack of skill did him in. The national great esteem for Carter is for Carter as a man and statesman and not as our 39th president. It's not history that have elevated his profile, it's what he's done with his golden years.
What Carter did back then is the reason we're living in this "Hell on Earth" today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96jFtzVa80A
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
So how do we get Howard Dean to run against Obama for the nomination in 2012?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I'm ready if he wants to run. There's only a tiny handful of people involved with politics at this point that I'm willing to endorse. My short list is Dean, Kucinich, Sanders, Franken, and if I should add anybody else, feel free to educate me.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
Chastity Bono?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I did forget Grayson though.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
But i have to be honest in saying I don't trust Grayson yet. I'm afraid he may be another Obama in waiting. I know how the wealthy come by their wealth and it's not looking out for the little guy. At least you short list above I know those guys came by what they have honestly.
Due to a gender reassignment operation, its Chaz Bono now.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/chaz-bono-gender-re...
Look at him on single payer:
Single Payer for Dommies by Bernie Sanders
CSPAN:
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/12/16/...
Go Bernie
Mr. President, if there was ever a time to reveal your 3D chess checkmate move, it's now.
We've gotten 1 centrist Supreme Court justice, and that's it. Time for some sugar for the regular people.
when you try to please everyone...you wind up pleasing no one.
Bipartisonship with the current crop of repugs, does NOT and never will and never did work.
If Obama has not learned this...then he's history, or will be the lackey of the RW for all of what career he has left.
he didn't know that from the start? A pretension of bi-partisanship seems an aweful convenient cover for neo-con policies.
I have to give him this, though. He's the best Con-Man I've ever seen. He does it with such a flair!
whats going to happen to this,
if, and when Obama goes on a vacation?
the attorneys will come out to play..
while the cats away,
the rats will come out to play.
so he better leave someone personally responsible..with his john doe signed on the dotted lines..if something goes wrong with this bill you will be held personally responsible, for all and absolutely everything that goes wrong in Washington..
In writing...to cover his b-hind.
Or it will become a huge mess.
There is another problem, & that is the media. Now Ed & Katrina are fantastic but they are the exceptions here. The media loves Republicans. It feels that they are perfect & never make mistakes. I saw KO talk recently about how conservatives complain they have no voice in the media. I feel as a liberal that I have no voice in the media. No one listens to liberals, or for that matter, anybody on Main Street USA. The media & politicians love K Street & Wall Street better. I want the Republican opposition insulted & shut down by the Democrats. The media will probably not like it because they feel there should be a freeflow of opinion in society, but in actuality, they just like Republicans better & want to cover their butts. Republicans are the "kewl kidz" & Democrats are the "nerds". Do not be surprised if Sarah Palin or Mike Huckabee or another Republican is elected President in 2012. Everybody loves Republicans. Everybody hates Democrats.
... that won the primaries for him. Many of those who are complaining the loudest now are the same as those who knocked on the most doors.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
that are pissed off.
recruited Obama? Seems to me that none of the well known established Dems wanted to risk their necks to be President. Not when they could get someone else to do their dirty work for them.
named Dennis Kucinich. THAT would have been the smart choice.
the Democratic party is finished. We need a new party of real progressives.
Liberals won't eat poop sandwiches no matter how good politicians make them look. Add cheese and mayo and conserva....
He definitely sold out to Wall Street, and the MIC, but what president hasn't? I do hope the netroots will give rise to a strong challenger in the 2012 elections, I'm done supporting sell outs of any party. Rethugs have no chance after the past 8 years of hell we're still suffering from.
Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity. Albert Einstein
I expected him to maintain the status quo but man, this is ridiculous.
And progressives didn't get him elected. They got him the nomination. It was a no brainer to vote for him over the quitta from Wasilla and Grumpy McGramps. I mean really. You have to have literally had NO brains to vote for the conservatard ticket in 2008. Shit, he even won San Diego 56-44%. That is a statement in and of itself. This is Reagan/Bush country.
"Someday somebody related to some of these sufferers, these victims, these collaterally damaged souls, may try to kill you. And I have to tell you, I think you’ll have it coming." - Christopher Cooper
rightys, lefty's, moderates, liberals, conservative, they are all in cahoots.... no difference.
i hope this country goes bankrupt soon, we deserve the horrors of what is coming....
Sorry, but no, lefties and liberals are not the same!
Bernie Sanders, Al Franken, Whitehouse, Grayson, Kucinich, etc...; there are several good and decent liberal democrats who would, and are trying to do the right things for the people.
Do not put them in the same class with republicans or pigs like Lieberman, Nelson, Lincoln, Baucus, Conrad etc........,
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
something like . . "These people are not who they appear to be."
Might I add:
"Actual results may vary"
"Dramatization"
"Pre-enactment by paid actors"
"Side effects may include headache, nausea, disgust, buyer's remorse, bankruptcy, and a sudden realization that you've been had."
"Trust no one, Mr. Mulder." - Well-Manicured Man
Yeah, Check out Lanny Davis' attacks on Jane Hamsher on the "Ed Show" from tonight and Chris Matthews hate on the left netroots tonight as well. It was astonishing.
Lanny J. Davis was on the Ed Show tonight slurring all the liberals against this healthcare bill. Mr. Lanny Davis attempted to savage Jane Hamsher because she points out the facts about Joe Lieberman and his wife. The real reason why this slimeball Lanny Davis does not like Ms. Hamsher is because she ardently opposed Lieberman against Lamont in 2006.
Mr. Davis is very hostile towards the left whom oppose their neoliberal economic agenda and Mr. Anthony Weiner claims Howard Dean is "wrong" as well.
Taking off from Lanny Davis or vice-versa, Chris Matthews views liberals who criticize Obama as backseaters, ya know those awful netroots types whom only have a vested interest in complaining, and Harold Ford, Jr., agreed with Matthews on this score. Matthews really attacked the netrots tonight in an ugly fashion and tried his best to delegitimize any opposition to Obama's healthcare bill. For Matthews, those on the left, the netroots most specfically, who are criticizing Obama cannot be seen as legitimate people in their criticism, but, back benchers in the netroots who really do not count in the larger equation because they are less likely, according to his thinking, to ever be part of the everyday political process, in Washington.
I bet Chris Matthews could not name 50 Real Leftists if you asked him and this goes for many others in the media who say "left this" and "left that" yet never actually identify precisely whom they are referring to, and they get away with it.
Washington-Inside the Beltway claptrap these days regarding this healthcare sham is the following according to big mouth Chris Matthews:
“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good”
Yeah right. As if the healthcare bill is close to being “perfect” let alone “good.”
Matthews is out of touch but I applaud Ed for bringing out a far better outlook tonight.
Matthews is mad people are entitled to their opinion, it interferes with his village spin.
Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity. Albert Einstein
MATTHEWS: "I don’t consider them Democrats, I consider them netroots, and they’re different. And if I see that they vote in every election or most elections, I’ll be worried. But I’m not sure that they’re regular grown-up Democrats. I think that a lot of those people are troublemakers who love to sit in the backseat and complain. They’re not interested in governing this country. They never ran for office, they’re not interested in working for somebody in public office. They get their giggles from sitting in the backseat and bitching."
My Answer to Mr. Matthews:
Yes, Chris, I am no longer registered as a Democrat nor will I ever run for political office in this very corrupt system of which your Washington insider ilk have poisoned the entire country and continue to do so each and every night as you pollute the air waves.
Chris people can do many things to help their communities besides being an elected official or politico. That is something you fail to understand. You are so shallow Mr. Matthews, yet, you play-act that you are so in touch with the average gal and guy in America when in reality you are not whatsoever.
I can not repeat enough that people give back to society in many ways, shapes and forms. That the political world is just one asepct of American life. And by the way Mr. Matthews you chickened out of running for the U.S. Senate in PA so why don't you shut up already? I am also tired of hearing how many times over you worked for Tip O'Neill as a page....you are mentioned once in passing in one of Tip O'Neill's long biographies. So you were a minor blip working for Tip O'Neill yet to hear you go on and on, you'd think you were his right hand man. NOT!
IS the "netroots!" Tell them to make Matthews apologize.
steve.capus@msnbc.com
phil.griffin@nbcuni.com
I wathched that part of the show. lanny Davis kept slimming hamsher with some episode in which hamsher painted a face in black. I belive that was his racist card to get blacks against Hamsher. he must be living in a cave more hidden than Bin laden's to think that held any water amonst black people and I should know and I love H being of that demographic Hamsher and have made a contribution to the cause to get Lieberman's wife off that breast cancer foundation board because just like the health insurance companies she is not making no input in helping breast cancer patients except taken out money from the organization. money that should be used to help fund research or used in directly helping people with breast cancer. And worst of all the Mr. (defend black people} Lanny Davis was too ashamed to name who was paying him or who he was working for.
He went so far as to deny hsi law patners. I guess jesus Christ forgave peter for denying him so his law patners may also forgive him so long as he continues to do his job of massaging for the insurance and pharmeceutical companies.
Oh this is so loverly
I'm fighting all kinds of health issues
And my phone just rang
I thought it was Cardionet calling to tell me how to set up my new heart monitoring equipment
It was a recording of Kay Baily Hutchinson running for governor
And she's probably agin health care
And had the sheer stupidity and ignorance of the Constitution to send me a form letter during booshco years saying it was her job to represent the president,
I doubt she still believes that.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Barbara Boxer's tweets for campaign contributions any more, so I tweeted back that I wouldn't be donating because my mother can't even buy into Medicare now. I wish I could say it may have shut her up, but she's not an every day tweeter so I'm sure sure'll be back with her hand out for money again.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
Every since Barack Obama has been elected, MSNBC's prime time news commentators have been all over his agenda and political philosophy. You would think they have taken the position they know best. In fact,from the start of any day, until the end of any day, MSNBC will have covered everything they can find to say they know more then this president and they have the special commentators to prove it.
MSNBC needs to step aside and report the news and stop trying to make the news. In the way these commentators flex their mussels, you can't help but feel they have their own power hungry agenda. These agendas are being played out at President Obama's expense.
Joseph
Mussels are clams.
Hey, how about Dean/Franken in 2012?
Does your title mean you agree with me or you just want me to be grammatically correct after being laughed at?
Dean/Franken would be an excellent choice for 2012.
Joseph
That would have been very shellfish of her.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
And the cult of personality.
Every body want's to be the most popular kid in school. Same shit. Different league. I rarely watch tv anymore. I caught the Hamsher/Davis match this afternoon. That was worth watching.
I caught the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" Love those old sci fi's.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
I don't want to be.
The most popular kid in school I mean.
far left loon >.<
Some just want to kick that popular kids ass.
Are you saying you want to be laughed at first, before you'll be grammatically correct? Just wondering.
far left loon >.<
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJhbrnd7bFg
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
http://www.romantic-lyrics.com/pa12.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bhVF5qg4Rg
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
They are supposed to be a counter to FOX and CNN, and WE NEED them to do that. Most of the time, they do. With the exception of the Scarborough Gang and Tweety, they are all fantastic! Obama needs to be held to task when he's wrong, and he has been very wrong on many fronts.
Wall street , the Banking industry , sold out and has done NOTHING to regulate and change their behavior / clamp down on them , just a few sound bites about how outrageous and terrible they are and a big fat no strings attached ( for all practical purposes ) reimbursement for the money they lost and their corruption and insane greed . For the people some unemployment extensions and a few jobs for highway workers . Afghanistan , need not say more . This healthcare deal FOR and by the healthcare Industry and Pharma . Like he said in one of the town halls , he must also protect their interests .Torture , not prosecuting but defending Woo and the rest . The list goes on .You are damned right he has been selling us all out and not just the progressives and further left. Tweety was at it again tonight , the libs and progressives are just cry babies and love to complain and Obama is losing popularity because people think he is too far left . Hello ? WTH ? Absolutely absurd , is he too auditioning for a slot on Fox ? The guy has no integrity at all ,what comes out of his mouth depends on who's butt he's kissing and who he is sucking up to trying to gain points . He gets brave when it's a guest of lesser stature but if it's one of the big boys he sucks up and kisses their butt to the degree that I am embarrassed for him . He didn't get where he is by having integrity that's for sure , how he loves being one of the boys and a member of the club ! 100 % on my do not watch list as of tonight . Sorry , I had to blow some steam here folks ... you senseless cry babies , complainers and trouble makers you !
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
Big Ed doesn't speak for the "Base" - He is an uppity red head.
How dare he presume to offer his opinion as the voice of America.
He can't even speak for his audience.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
How's that ? He sure as hell does speak for his audience . No offense but could not disagree with you more .
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
"We asked our audience tonight, has the White House sold out to big Pharma? Ninety percent of you said yes." (from transcript at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34464800/ns/msnbc... )
I'd say he's speaking for his audience.
"Trust no one, Mr. Mulder." - Well-Manicured Man
What are you sniffing? If Ed does not speak for the base who elected Obama and Dean also does not may be Rush Limbaugh and Bill orally do speak for that base. how delude can some peole be?
And I love him!!!
A query (scroll to 5:40) about Joe Lieberman's role in designing the present Senate bill met with this retort from Axelrod: "He's certainly not writing this bill. But the notion that we would let our personal feelings about one person defeat a bill that would deliver to people who don't have insurance the opportunity to get it at a price they can afford; that would defeat a bill that has patient protections that we fought for for decades, for people who do have insurance; to defeat a bill that will bend the curve on, on this inexorable rise in health-care costs, is insane."
sure it is Axe uh huh.
Thanks for confirming the whole scam for us though in this blurb.
Thinking Dean - Grayson in 2012..........maybe sooner if we can impeach Obama.
He's basically a lame duck President and he hasn't even finished his first term. He was inexperienced for sure, but he surrounded himself with the wrong people. I would have hoped Joe Biden would have pulled him aside and shown him the error of his ways......but evidently not.
Bush was shielded from differing opinions; he surrounded himself with like minded people; yes men. Obama has surrounded himself with dumbasses and doesn't realize it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZkgY8DidoM
That was both scary and hilarious!
That is one of the all time stupidest things I've ever seen here.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Yes, although I am both NRA and ACLU, Pro Choice and Pro capital punishment, I am weary of hearing those in power pissing and moaning about deficit spending for the citizens of the US, versus being OK with it for corporate bailouts, fighting two unnecessary wars.
I had "Hope" for a "Change" to restore this democracy and our rights. I campaigned for, and donated what I could for a President, whom I thought I knew.
President Obama has broken with those of us who elected him. The mandate that propelled him and Kay Hagan to Washington has been pissed away. I trust neither of them now. Nor will I cast another vote for them.
We need leadership, not lessons in kowtowing to the minority party, or an independent who should have had his chairmanship revoked a long time ago.
Yes, President Obama will be one and done.
We need Grayson, Conyers, Etheridge, Dean, Kucinich.
I will vote for a 3rd party candidate or I will stay home. Screw Obummer, I am so pissed I got taken by this SOB.
DO go out and vote for a third party candidate. Apparently many people don't know this but third party NEED the votes in order to be on the ballot the next election. Otherwise they have to go through the routine again of getting the neccessary signitures on a petition in order to get on the ballot. This is one of the big reasons we don't have strong viable third parties in much of the country. Even if they aren't going to win that particular election your vote for them will help our future! PLEASE vote for someone!
I live in Oklahoma and not even the Libertarians have good luck gathering enough signatures to get on the ballot here, never mind the Green Party or anyone else. We often only have the Republican and Democratic candidate for president listed here. I try to do my part by signing petitions for any third party to asks, regardless of their politics or whether I intend to vote for them as I don't think it should be so difficult to get on the ballot here, but some years I never see someone making the attempt.
How can a single radio talking head speak for an entire base of a party? That statement on its face is designed to generate ratings. According to the latest Associated Press-Gfk poll, the president's popularity is holding steady, with 56 percent of those polled approving of the way he's taking care of the country's business. Further, more people said the country is heading in the right direction, 46 percent compared with just 38 percent last month. And the increase is evident among Republicans, Democrats and independents.
Among the base, for which Mr. Ed. presumes to speak, his opinion numbers are in the 70's and 80's. So from where did Mr. Ed. get his perspective? Can you say, bank account?
The AP-GfK Poll was conducted Dec. 10-14 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media and involved landeline and cell phone interviews of 1,001 adults nationwide. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
He babbles about ramming the Climate Change BS down our throats which means more taxes on everything. But when it comes to actually giving something to the American people he is powerless. Fuck him where he breaths.
Mr. Ed does not speak for me or the Democratic Party. He comes from Fox and Friends and was billed as a Democratic strategist. Coming from Fox, that means Republican. He begins every show talking bad about President Obama and ends with his so called phone in poll, which is usually phrased in a way that would hurt Obama's popularity.
As far as the polls go, MSNBC pars up with Wall Street Journal. WSJ is owned by Fox news. How is that for a bias poll? In fact, MSNBC will only highlight polls that show lower numbers for Obama as compared to a current group of polls available. Gallup or any poll pared with Gallup are bias Republican polls.
I have also noticed that Republicans have overstayed their welcome on this site. They some times post in groups, so they can lend the impression public opinion is changing. It is time for the Republicans to leave the site and go home to Limbaugh.
Joseph
has it ever occurred to you the perhaps Obama and his crowd are the Republicans and that Obama is a Republican trojan horse? After all, his policies have been almost all Republican.
He's a populist, and I love him!!!!
Ed's views on health care DO match not only what the Democratic base wants but, more importantly, what the majority of Americans want. How President Obama does in popularity polls has nothing to do with it. People can like Obama without agreeing with his every decision.
What the situation actually boils down to is this: The Republican/corporate propaganda machine controls the message so effectively because they OWN most of the media in this country. The newscasters, political show hosts and their regular guests and panelists run in the same wealthy social circles - they have NO idea what most Americans are going through - so they tend to form a "conventional wisdom" that favors the wealthy (Olbermann/Maddow/Schultz are the few exceptions).
As a result, the message that the public gets bombarded with by the mainstream media is pro-status quo and anti-reform. So when the poll questions ask "Do you favor Obama's (or the Democrats' or Congress's) health care reform plan?", only 30-40 percent of the people polled say yes.
But if the polling questions are phrased without mentioning Obama, the Democrats or Congress and simply ask about specific elements of health care reform, the positive replies are much higher.
To questions such as "Are you in favor of a government-administered health insurance plan (like Medicare) that would compete for customers with private insurers?" or "Do you think the government should guarantee coverage for all?" or "Do you think the government would do a better job of holding down health care costs than private companies?", upwards of 60-70 percent of those polled reply yes.
Ed Schultz knows this. Besides hosting his radio show, he has held several town hall events all around the country, so it's not as if he doesn't get plenty of feedback from the Democratic base. What he's saying isn't an attempt to boost ratings - it's a reflection of what the majority of Americans, who aren't in that top 1 or 2 percent of wealth, want. The majority of Americans DO like President Obama. But they'd like him even more if his plans would consider their needs over what the big money campaign donors from health care industry want.
He obviously don´t want to end like JFK...
For standing up for the right thing to do!
I will repeat what I said before,
I feel betrayed by my President and many in the Democratic Party because this joke of a bill does not offer AFFORDABLE Health Care to millions of Americans.
Viva La Reconciliation !
No matter how far down some of the Democratic Party have sank, I will never, ever, vote for a self serving Republican/Conservative...
I saw this last night and applauded. Then I sent Ed an email telling him why I don't support Obama anymore. He's managed to prove correct my first impression of him - that's he's more about himself and his image and his "legacy" than about the people of this country. Disappointing as hell, and I hope he pulls himself away from the mirror some time soon to prove me wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
During the primaries, I was leery of candidate Obama; I preferred Hillary. But I jumped on the bandwagon; what was the alternative? Vote for 'Old Ass' and 'Dumb Ass'? No thanks.......
I bought into his message of change, and was enamored with his speaking style. But boy........talk about an empty suit. All style and no substance.
The man needs to get off the fence; this stuff of trying to please everyone all the time will be his undoing! In a crisis the worst thing one can do is nothing; and that's exactly what he's doing.
Politics is not for the faint of heart (unfortunately). You have to take a stand and FIGHT for what you believe in. You can't depend on someone else to do your work for you.
I'd like to think Obama would at least throw progressives a bone to shut us up. I haven't even seen him throw a bone.
I'm not a fan of Ed Schultz but I have to say he hit the nail on the head. Obama doesn't seem to care about us, the only 'bone' he has thrown to anyone is the republicans and the insurance industry.
Obama talked about change and he better start walking the walk or he will be out on his ear in 2012 and I fear a republican replacement because if you thought they were bad during the Dubya years just wait for this raving bunch of lunitics to start screwing things up even worse if Obama fails.
I am so sick and tired of white folk turning on the Black man who doesn't do everything the way they want him to do it and on their schedule.
Keep this crap up and you'll look around and you'll have Sarah leading your asses straight into hell.
nothing to do with this and other issues. Obama is plain and simple, deceitful and a con artist. Good try though.
they have hired to keep us in our place. But it won't work on us, because we know the truth.
Obama has lied to us from the start. We just "hoped" he would be better than Bush, but he's not.
It is clear now that the only option we have left will be bloody, lengthy and painful.
Some of the posts here are really appalling. Now because you don't agree with him, some want to IMPEACH Obama? I guess nearly seven years of listening to progressives call for Bush's impeachment have insured that is the thing you call for in a president you find doesn't hold your views. Honestly, that doesn't speak well for you as a group. Rather than get dirty in the fray like the rest of us, it seems you're more than wiling to just take your ball and head home.
I hate to break it to you progressives, especially since I am one of the folks who most displease you -- a left-leaning moderate, but the entire progressive brand is pretty weak across the US. Look at this Gallup Poll. You'll see that while pluralities are more than willing to identify themselves as Conservative or Moderate, people were very resistant to labels like Progressive and Liberal. Heck, barely half or self-identified Liberals/Progressives even apply the label progressive to themselves. So to the person who suggested Kucinich in 2008, that would have by a wide margin giving us McCain/Palin 2009-2012.
Would you have had Obama take the policy preferences of a small minority of Americans and impose them on the nation as a whole? I think GW Bush really warped in many people's minds the purpose of government. It's not, despite what Bush and Rove gave us, all about imposing unpopular views on the country. It's about negotiation and compromise with a view to making the county better. That Obama is something of a return to that is a shock to many people from the far left to the far right.
If you think 2010 and 2012 will be bloodbaths because he angered progressives, just imagine how screwed he'd be if he angered the vast swath of voters. In fact, in that climate, it's not even certain Progressive angst really plays poorly for Obama. Since a pillar of right wing attacks against him is that he's rushing the country in a radical left direction, having the people most identified with the far left grouse about his policies really blunts that criticism.
Others have seriously suggested they are anxious for the day America is bankrupt because they feel America has what's coming to it. That's beyond the pale. I really increasingly feel progressives and evangelical Christians occupy similar places at opposite ends of the political spectrum. Both see the world through a rigid frame that bends available evidence to fit preconceived notions about how the world works. Both are impatient and even contemptuous of people who don't see the world in the same way they do. Both would rather call down vengeance on their detractors than sully their hands with compromise. Both have institutions -- churches on the right, the blogosphere on the left -- that act as echo chambers and fool them into think their voices are more numerous and louder than they really are.
I expect to get flamed for this. And whatever. I get it. I'm a sheep. I'm a Neville Chamberlain-esque appeaser. I'm lukewarm and stand for nothing. But, these thoughts have been in my head for a while and have boiled over this week. If I ever had a glint of curiously or felt drawn to progressive policy, I will no longer.
The public option and Medicare buy-in have both consistently polled quite popular despite a year of attacks.
Yet instead, Obama chose an extremely narrow, though wealthy, band of special interests. The wishes of large majorities fell to truck loads of bribe money.
Yet, somehow the wishes of large majorities are so easily relegated to the lefty fringe by self described centrists. All it takes is the simplistic view that the truth is found by splitting the extremes.
I guess some feel that the wisdom of Solomon is best expressed in actually splitting the baby. I guess the math is easier.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Only one person on this blog said anything about impeachment and that one person does not speak for all progressives. Impeachment is a serious charge and I don't agree with the person posting about it in reference to President Obama.
Excuse me if feel I should hold President Obama to the policies he campaigned on. Call me crazy, but I think accountability is important.
The comparison to evangelical Christians is laughable. If anyone is doing any judging of people and painting with a broad brush, it is you.
up.
Hmm you say he hasn't done anything to deserve it? Really? So continuing war crimes, and not prosecuting them is according to you, "not doing anything illegal?"
I could have SWORN there is a law that says, if your AIDE someone in a FELONY, that you get charged with AIDING AND ABETTING... Which is about the same as committing the crime YOURSELF. So he chose to ignore the war crimes of the previous president. Which means he will inherit those crimes as if he is committed them himself. capiche?
Those who have called for it; are referring to this particular notion. Not that I disagree with it myself, it just wouldn't happen. Hasn't ever happened that way.
Education is that which remains when everything learned in school has been forgotten. - Albert Einstein
WHOA... You're not even CLOSE to centrist or moderate if this is how you interpret the Constitution. Kucinich has a copy of it you know? Most people don't even UNDERSTAND what it actually does for your rights. Let's give a brief example of what you just described shall we?
Let's take a very simple issue, slavery. Uh huh, impose apon the majority of the people the minorities views. WOW, that is hard to wrap my brain around but I am mentally agile enough to explain it in laymens terms you might be able to understand.
The right to have a vote, the right to gather and protest an unjust government enslaving a race of humans inhumanely, the right to redress the government for grievances against YOUR rights. So the way you just said that statement for me, suggests that we should still have slaves? OH I get it, that's why you think the health
insurance giveawaycare reform will be good for the country correct? Wow, you're easier to figure out then I thought.You need to go back to World Civics 101 and retake the class. You need to be more informed of the turn coats and you need to stand up for the constitution not be devoted to some "party". Parties were not allowed when it was ratified in 1776. Washington had quite a bit to say on the subject of divide and conquer of party affiliation. I hope the words I have used aren't too high level for you to find copious amounts of information from them. I was just returning the condescending tone of your post.
Education is that which remains when everything learned in school has been forgotten. - Albert Einstein
to write this crap?
At least Ed's heart is in the right place but he's also part of the problem. A long time radio guy with his own cable show and he's typically uninformed when it comes to health care.
Here he is on 7/1/09 while debating a Republican scammer about waiting lines: (via The Daily Howler) That’s why I got to do a field trip. I got to go find out about all this stuff.
And I agree with Mr. Somerby when he says, "The endlessly dozing “liberal” world has tolerated this sort of thing for decades. We love to call the other side dumb. Perhaps we should look in our mirrors."
that my 80-year-old rock-ribbed REPUG father was right about this guy. Especially in this case when we all wanted so much to believe...sorry, I thought Obama a straight shooter who would not sleep with the enemy. What a cruel joke. Watching them all, spineless (majority)dems, wingnut repukes, black, white, gender, race, wallow in avarice, you poor citizens still bicker about the "other party" when you have been had by every politician, the old boss, same as the new boss. They have sold us out for $IN GOD WE TRUST$-each and every one.
Give them some high-grade, mind-expanding psychedelics and drop them all nude in the DC subway during the snowstorm. What a waste of hung chads, all. Hell cannot be hot enough.
He's not listening to any of us who voted for him. I was never all that head over heels into Obamamania, never thought he would be the reforming saviour of our country - but I had 'hope.' Oh, man, I had so much hope, I just couldn't help myself.
Yet even with sitting on his hands and doing nothing, he's far and away better than Bush, who was a walking disaster that turned everything he touched to shit, and better than President Palin would ever be. We are still better off with a do-nothing President than a screw-everything President. But that's not going to be enough come time for re-election; next time there won't be a 'Anybody But Bush' electorate, no honeymoon hopefuls handing out 'now for godsake earn it' Nobel prizes.
Next time there will be a lot of angry, infuriated, heartbroken voters - not all of them liberals, either; I know quite a few conservatives who helped him into office - who will not forgive Obama if he doesn't start backing up all that fine, flowery rhetoric with some good old-fashioned butt-kicking. And soon.
But... then again... I know Obama isn't listening to me, either...
So, instead of heading towards fascism at 100 mph, BHO has slowed down to 70 mph. I'll try to remember that before the country bursts into flames. O assumes just a slightly less rabid pro-corporate stance than his predecessor. Not the type of milquetoasting we need to get us out of the deep sh*t we're in right now.
I so agree with this, I tried to stay way from obamamainia myself, but I got caught up in it. But I knew it wasn't going to turn out the way everyone was hoping. yeah I was scammed, but I am braver now. I will write Kucinich's name in this time. /nod (it wasn't on our ballots when we voted)
Education is that which remains when everything learned in school has been forgotten. - Albert Einstein
I did harbor a very dim hope during the campaign that once in office Obama would govern to the left of his stated position. I did not expect such abandonment of campaign promises and outright capitulation to the fascists at every turn as we've seen.
The hope was in the allure that he wasn't boosh,
We knew who he wasn't, not necessarily who he was; he was simply too new, like a sports car in a car lot.
Now that has past and we're left with the reality of our choices.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
.
So remind me, do the congress and the senate have a public option for themselves? and if so to what benefit to us?
And if so, how did these arrangements come to be?
and to what benefit to them?
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
If Medicare is OK for over 65 then what about us folks that have much longer to be paying into it and growing the coffers?
The younger you are the the better it is for Medicare! Why do they reject people under 65 then?
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
Maybe all private insurers are now is parasites... Maybe if they really serve no purpose but to bleed us they should be figuratively squashed like bugs, no?
I've been trying to figure out what it is that Joe Lieberman is doing that i find so repugnant... now i think i know.
even if you take pity on parasites, for they know not what they do. You can't say the same about Joe though.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
It's funny, because in recent weeks I've been doing a little reading into the United States Shipping Board, a government department responsible for building ships during World War I. After the war, it was found that there was no paper trail whatever for literally billions of dollars that had just disappeared somewhere into the U.S. shipbuilding industry - and this was an era when the average wage was a few bucks a week.
Incredibly, the USSB somehow survived the scandal, and it staggered on for another couple of decades, trying to create a government-subsidized merchant marine to compete with the British. A number of Congressional inquiries came and went, but a major one in 1936 revealed a huge level of waste and graft in the USSB's dealings over a long period, and the USSB was finally disbanded.
The reason I bring this up is because one of the inquiry's findings was that, where the USSB ran shipping lines directly, there was no waste or graft because all the money was properly audited by government accountants. But where the USSB subsidized private shipping lines, the amount of waste and graft was colossal.
Now fast forward to 2009 and you have a Senate proposing instead of a public health plan, to hand out huge subsidies to citizens to help them pay for compulsory health insurance - in effect, a giant subsidy to private insurance. In the light of the USSB example, what will be the likely result of this approach? Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.
Right on.
The govt should not subsidize any ins co's.
The govt should do it by it's self.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Really....were you all so deluded during the election that you didn't pay any attention to a single word that this man said whilst he was running for president?
Chastise yourselves for misunderstanding Obama but don't you dare castigate or condemn him for doing exactly what he said he would do (and has done) in every circumstance.
Get over your disappointments, accept that you weren't paying attention when he spoke for the 2 YEARS that he ran for president and challenge the man to do better rather than denigrate him for not doing exactly what you want.
You are all weak and you demonstrate it each day by your inability to be constructive. "Oh, I didn't get exactly what I wanted....all is doomed". Stop this BS.
... but seems to be the theme of the day.
Schadenfreude is so last season, though. We all voted for the best that was on offer - Obama won for not being as bad as everyone else. It wasn't much, but that was all that was on offer.
As for being weak and unable to be constructive, other than rub our noses in the fact that this best we had to choose from, as disappointing as it's turning out to be, what exactly are YOU adding to the debate, other than sneering, self-satisfied condemnation?
We have a country screaming in pain and anger and frustration, but with a government that isn't listening. We have a President who isn't listening. And, yes, as someone else has said, hitting a brick wall at 70 miles an hour isn't going to make that big a difference than hitting it at 100 mph. So do tell us, oh wise one, we implore you, give us the benefit of your sage counsel - just what f*ck would YOU do?
Really?
Kucinich was the best that was on offer, but how many wrote him off long before the primary season was half over - before the primaries in their own states, in far too many cases?
So what was our choices after the nominations were over
Obama/Biden or mcgramps/palin.
The problem with judging decision making is A: We only know the results of how we voted, B: We'll never know the results good or bad if we voted differently since the choice went different, and C: Who put the questioner in the position of judging anybody. That's is the logical fallacy of false authority.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
he made during his campaign, including his support for a public option
I remember because healthcare reform was the issue I was most interested in and his saying he supported the public option clinched my vote for him. Tragically, he has done nothing but work to kill the public option once in office.
Typical of so many Obama supporters/surrogates, your argument has no substance and instead is filled with hyperbole and personal attacks on progressives. Just like the Bush crowd.
What's a few parasites? If they cause trouble then the flea collar should kick in. Is there a clause like that in there? Like if they dishonor their contracts the way the Wall street did, can they get away with it?
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
I do not agree and in talking to every single one of my liberal friends and family, they ALL agree that we should pass what we can in this completely dysfunctional congress. We can revisit it in the future to add a public option, which can be done with reconciliation, folks. 51 votes! Get it! So called sniping progressives should stop letting their anger overcome their common sense. There are rules that can be bent in the senate, but we have to pass this to get the restrictions on insurance companies, the rest we can do with reconciliation. Really.
Leave not for tommorrow what you can do today.
So you feel that ever more expensive medications, higher premiums for less coverage, being forced to buy insurance that will be worthless, blah blah blah is, 'better than nothing'? I sure as hell don't. Leave everything just as it is before we pass something that fucks all of us over even more. If the Repukes support it, count on it being very, very, very bad for most of the rest of us.
I believewe voted for a clean slate and new beginning instead we got continuity of old policies and personalities. The health care reform is being run remotely by Tom Daschle who the president believes so much in that he could not see the poop covering his whole visage until the journalists pointed it out to him. What we have now was exactly what Tom Daschle has been pushing. There was a panel discussion that included Daschle and I believe Bennet that I watched on C-SPan and what Daschle was advocating then was no different from the current senate bill. So what is in the bill has been Obamas goal all along so Daschle remotely controled it, Rahm finnessed it and Obama hoped stay out untainted. and Daschle and the presidents political advicer yes thelatter was Daschles chief of staff. End of story. Folks there is nothing confusing here -republcans, blue dog democrats, liberman, or tea party activists non got the senate bill where it is today. The whole plan is from the white house. We were only taken for a ride. I hope you guys enjoyed the ride and if you did not then show it in 2010 and 2012 for I will by riding my sitting room couch on those election days.
The Democrats are not Spineless they are operating in precisely the intended fashion and it has been like this for years. The Democrat power structure ensures Liberal failure by a crafty use of good cop bad cop strategy. Blue Dogs are an insurance policy against a Democrat majority. Lieberman is another play actor in the mix.
It's deeper than any individual. It's all working according to plan.
http://TheFrankFactor.com
Aggressive Progressive and Vertebrate
Funny how the Dems had no trouble ramming through more Wall Street Giveaways - over progressive (and Republican!) objections.
Oh, and who was head cheerleader on that? Why, Obama, of course; the same Wall Street fanny kisser who backed up Bush and Paulson when they came up with the first Giveaway - also fought by progressives and - gasp! - Republicans. Anyone remember Republicans breaking ranks and railing against this Bush policy? Now that was historic! (That didn't tell the Obama fans anything?!)
How did any progressive vote for this corporatist, militarist right-winger?
Must not have been paying attention to his Senate voting record. (Telecom exemptions and retroactive legalization of spying? No-strings war-funding bills?)
Too bad there were so many willing to listen to what ought to have been obvious lies. Instead of a race on the issues - including Obama's voting record - we got an idiotic race to see which 'historic' outcome we would see: the first black president or the first woman. Geez, people, why not the first progressive since FDR?
Obama's base is upset? I don't see why: they've gotten exactly what they voted for, (even if they didn't realize it at the time). I am still ticked off by Obama's base. Look what you've done!
About 3/4ths of the pols in D.C. are in it only for the money and the perks, including the best health care money can buy. Obama has sold us out on so many things, though, e.g. a promise to sign an executive order ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell, lots more. An article in the "New Yorker" by Jeffrey Toobin painted Obama as having some beliefs in common with the conservative majority. I am wearying of his speeches. He talks the talk but does not walk the walk. He will not get this progressive's vote next time around if he stays this course.
"Respect for the rights of others is peace." --Benito Juarez
is one of the nice words I have for bo. CEO,citizens,eyes,open
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