To Escape Chaos, A Terrible Deal
The Diminished President
Our Unbalanced Democracy
The President Surrenders
The Diminished President
Our Unbalanced Democracy
The President Surrenders
Obama doesn't have balls. Somehow he lets the Republicans not only dodge the bullet every time but they even come out looking good. How do they come out unscathed:
They stay on message no matter what happens.
When are Democrats going to learn to wordsmith down to a coherent one line/one paragraph message and stick to it? This isn't rocket science. It is the dumbed-down American way. Do you think Americans even know what the debt ceiling is? It is now more important to them than jobs, and worse, it is in everyone's vocabulary because Republicans 'stayed on message'.
We Democrats need a new candidate. Actually we need a new party but that is another post. If Dems don't find one, I am going to become a Republican for a while (again) so I can mess with the Tea Party during the primary. If all the independents and Democrats become Republicans for the primary - we could control them.
By the way, all you repugnant Republican trolls, you aren't welcome in this post's comment section.
31 comments:
Obama never came up with his own debt ceiling plan. The Republicans know that the group that comes up with the plan, sets the agenda.
Obama is not a bad guy. He is just wishy washy and doesn't want to commit to a plan. If he changes that thinking and begins setting the agenda, he will do just fine in 2012.
When the economy was in a downward spiral, what did Obama do - work on Health Care! I'm taking this back to the beginning of what I think was his end, and will probably come up during the campaign. That's where he totally lost me; probably forever.
But, in answer to your question I have two answers: No and/or I hope not.
I don't like all this deficit spending and do not agree with his version of economics. They are a mess and will cost us way in to the future.
No, I'm not an Rep I'm a registered Independent and will not go with either party because they both stink.
My Tea Party comments are for a later date, but they are certainly more scathing than this one.
I get Eye's frustration with Obama getting little in the debt deal. But...and this is important...what option did he have? No president has been jacked up this way before because no other president faced an opposition party quite as crazy, insane, and amoral (sacrifice for the less affluent, but the party continues for the wealthy) as the current Republican Party. Give us what we want or we blow up the country!
The solution to this problem is for progressives to learn from the despicable Tea Party, mobilize, and win...and for God's sake, not to give up the fight!
I think that what's keeping Obama up at night is not the prospect of default (very remote due to international currency dynamics), but rather the fact that the economy is slowing down ahead of the election, thus seriously complicating his re-election prospects. He's an egoist who doesn't care much for the American public and their priorities, along with the people who worked to elect him in the first place.
I'm an independent voter who is very disgusted with Obama and how he has pretty much been a continutation of GWB.
But considering what the GOP and the so called Tea Party movement offers. I jus don't see how I would not vote for Obama.
Our frustration...have you seen the New York Times?
I have a problem with Independents: just pick a party! You need to participate in the primaries, I don't care which party you pick. Just vote on the primary!! Independents can help get better candidates on the tickets of both parties.
The President should have risen to the occasion and showed leadership. He’s done it before.
He chose differently this time.
He panicked seniors that social security checks might not go out in August.
He instilled fear in Americans that higher interest rates for homes, car, and student loans were forthcoming.
Did he rise to the occasion as leader of the free world with steadfast calm and assuredness for American and world markets ?
No, he sadly chose the easy street of governing, causing fear and division to then finally acquiesce to a rigid well focused political opposition.
It was his choice, his doing, his own undoing.
You cannot govern from fear. FDR taught us that.
Yes, Americans know what the debt ceiling is.
Public servants cannot govern from a false sense of superiority either.
My dear Genius, as in most instances, I fully agree with you. I'm freaking out at the lack of "orchids" Obama has shown, but I think that the constant attacks he has suffered snce he was elected have taken their toll. As much as I don't think he can win in the next election, I believe that the Republicans can lose again. It will all depend on the tenor of the debates, and if Obama is truly that intelligent, he can take advantage of every situation he has been forced to endure, and let's not forget that he has fulfilled part of his campaign promises. I believe that there's a possibility the Democratic Party will nominate another candidate. In full agreement with you, I am an Independent, but I will join a party to be part of the nominating process.
The President should have busted out the 14:4 thing, explained that some in Congress would use this as political drama and put it in perspective.
Then he should have said, the sooner we fix debt, the sooner we can talk about cutting the budget. He could have used the press to get this across. He didn't. He needs to lead.
Obama's problem is not messaging but gambling. When he agreed to let the Congress blow out the deficit through the stimulus package, he bet his Presidency that Paul Krugman and his Keynesian obsession would be right.
Instead, Krugman tosses Obama under the bus in today's NYT: "...Republicans will surely be emboldened by the way Mr. Obama keeps folding in the face of their threats." You see, Krugman has bet his own legacy on stimulus, which failed, and is now in full CYA mode.
(If increasing government spending led to economic nirvana, every President since George Washington would have done it.)
For the Republicans, this deal is a minor victory in a fight that ultimately doesn't matter. Government debt will continue to plague our country and this deal does not come close to addressing the problem.
We must sadly admit that it is Democrats that long ago gambled on and invested far too much in the inexperienced community organizer instead of Hillary Clinton.
Lofty ideals on the campaign trail don't cut it in the White House. You must govern. By any measure, you cannot lead without well grounded convictions.
Ah, yes. I can always count on the erudite economists commenting on this blog about how Keynesian economics dragged the economy down.
How convenient it is to ignore the holy "private sector" gambling and fabrication of "economy" from fictional derivatives as the balloon that floated a shell of an economy (anemic as it was) through the Bush years.
http://swampland.time.com/2011/07/27/still-true-today-frequently-forgotten-facts-of-the-debt-debate/
Um, he's a moderate and he's proving it.
I voted for him because he held promise to be what he espoused on the campaign trail, in spite of my concern that his record and positions were far to the right of my progressive / liberal views.
I'm disheartened, but I can't be overly shocked that he's governed as a moderate.
In the end, the Rebubs will nominate someone who will have to run to the right of facts and reason and I'll vote for Obama again, but I won't contribute time or money like I did last time because he hasn't earned any of either from me.
I don't have anything to add, I'm just kinda surprised that GoD is a Democrat.
.
Rick? Really? I took one of the surveys on your blog and came out left of you.
Obama is showing his key weaknesses - unpreparedness and hubris. He never had a tough legislative fight in the Illinois legislature and he never had any legislative accomplishments there or the US Senate. Consequently, he never acquired the skills to confront powerful conservatives or push through a liberal agenda. Success in campaigns was quick and easy enough, which lead him to assume his ideas were always right and he would always win. Somebody should have warned him that governing is a lot harder than campaigning.
Hillary would have neutered the Tea Party by now. This is what happens when progressives vote with their hearts instead of their heads.
No. Obama cannot recover by 2012. He will implode.
I think the economy might implode. Talk about tipping points. Can we actually say that we have ever been in quite this place before? No. Sure, we have been on the rails, but the Global economy looks a lot different than it did once upon a time. It kind of creeps me out. I am intimidated by the China-thing too.
GoD: The vilification of public servants and unions is usually the Right's territory and it's just interesting to see how often it is coming up here.
And whenever I start getting disappointed with Obama, I think of the choices and I'm able to regroup. Harsh public criticism of him serves no purpose than to push the ignorant further right to a possible "solution."
,
I like unions, I pick on them for one reason: They back candidates that are bad for the community...candidates like Natacha Seijas. I go to all the public meetings. The Unions are so entwined with the bad politics and supporting the bad candidates in Miami it makes me sick. Unions have to evaluate the whole candidate. The 'what can they do for us attitude' hurts the rest of us not in the unions...I wish they would stay out of our local politics. Seems like you pick on John Rivera quite a lot, how would you like him in your face?
As for Obama, I will still vote for him, and so will many of the disappointed columnists who wrote those NY Times columns I cited in my post.
I can't avert my eyes from the dead bird.
The republicans can't help but give a good "tell." You guys would suck at poker.
Anon above: OHB? Only repubs still throw around the Hussein thing.
And the Anon offering the electoral map stats: inexperienced community organizer. Seriously?
only repubs think working with the grassroots is a smear.
Thanks for ferreting out trolls I missed!!
I think I've mentioned Rivera once. I really don't know much about him.
Conservatives are on a tear right now trying to downsize government by cutting salaries, getting rid of people and eliminating agencies. Vilifying public servants and turning the public against them is their work and hopefully they will pay dearly for it at the polls in the future.
We don't need to help them.
.
Yes you did write about Rivera once...as you called him "the Effing asshole," it was on Random Pixels where they also highlighted his escapades...thought it was your blog. I get your point Rick. I do. But if I just blindly support everything my party does or look the other way and keep silent when they do something I hate, then aren't I acting just like the Republican whacko's I hate?
Well, I think there's a middle ground somewhere between "blindly supporting" Democrats and acting very Republican.
Look, there needs to be reform. Waste needs to be identified and cut. But lets go about it in a very measured and balanced way, never losing track of the fact that the Republican Party is not our friend. Their talking points are not ours. And the positions that we take should never be confused with theirs.
.
I appreciate this exchange. Thanks Rick.
Likewise.
.
It's all just fodder for the masses.
The corporate jet depreciation schedule Obama made so much hay with: extended from 5-7 years in the stimulus package- a bill written exclusively by Democrats and passed with not one single vote by a Republican.
Did you know that the top 5% of earners in this country account for 25% of all income yet pay 45% of all income taxes? If we want to talk about people paying their fair share (as the president continues to insist), maybe they should have their accountability reduced from 45% to 25%.
Why not get the IRS off their ass and go after the 49% of Americans that pay no income tax at all?
David, your comment is too far out there. Within a short while you will classified as a troll, and your comment will be deleted.
Post a Comment