LiveBlog for Monday, July 25, 2011

It’s actually a great and useful piece of info. I’m satisfied that you simply shared this helpful tidbit with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.

http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2011/08/paul-krugman...

Some perspective.

Welp...there we have it.......more corporate influence that grants the special interests and the billionaires more, at a time when their profits are huge (thanks to globalization of the world economy, no need for them to pay any taxes, federal subsidies, and the buying out of our elected politicians) and the continuation of the demise of the poor, middle class (whats left of it) and seniors.... By the way, we are like the only Developed (or should I say undeveloped ) nation on the earth that does not mandate paid time off, maternity leave, or weekly time off. Land of the worker slaves if you ask me. Where has that "home of the free and the brave" gone to??

I get back to sometimes things need to get worse before they get better.
The Middle 10% uninformed, and the Teatards will see the error of their ways, someday.

Entitlements is what this war is all about in Washington. The only thing between keeping Medicare the way it is and losing it to a voucher program (that does not even cover costs of your private insurance) is Barack Obama, the moderate democrat who ran as a moderate and governs as a moderate. There are very few true liberals in Congress and none of them will ever be president. If you don't vote at all in 2012, or don't vote for Obama, you are voicing an end to entitlement programs and seniors will be dying at a much younger age in the future. Do the wealthy right wingers care if middle class people die young? Rush will be there to jerk the nose-ring of the not-wealthy Republicans to keep supporting the GOP and they will stupidly follow--a trait some of you here on this forum mistake for being smarter than Democrats.

#43 I get why Obama didn't use the 14th Amendment. My problem with this Administration is the poor foresight and poor negotiation practice.
Examples: 1. Healthcare Reform should have started at Medicare For All. 2. INCREASING tax rates on the wealthy to 40% rather than just waiting for their gift from Dubya to go away. 3. Seeing this debt ceiling fiasco coming a long way off and maintaining it as a clean bill.
Obama is either complicit or doesn't know what the hell he's doing.

Bye, gang!

8-O I'm Calista and frankly, you're right.

Always with the shoving down our throats!

Bye all.

#59 WeNotMe

I know that the left wants love and attention. But he is the President of the ENTIRE USA. And the middle does count. Keep your eye on the prize, we need a 2nd term with a REAL and wide margin in BOTH the house and senate and then we can get the change we envision. Otherwise, it's still just a dream because there are other actors, this is a democracy and the republicans have more money, power, and influence than Dems.

#65 Klassie, Yes, Mr. Cantor has to balance his portfolio with that wildly successful hedge fund bet that the economy's gonna tank.

#59 WeNotMe, I totally agree.

This isn't whiny sniping against Obama, it's legitimate thoughtful criticism by people who actually care about improving things, including the White House's policy and decisions.

Jim funny :-D

BREAKING:Eric Cantor investing in assholes and eye sockets.

#43 – I do not think it’s a matter of being complicit or inept. First off, I’m not saying that the White House came out of this with a pass grade. What the GOP got out of this deal was to some extent criminal. However, I think you could not foresee that the GOP would drive the economy to the cliff and actually push it off the cliff if necessary to suit their purpose. One could foresee robust debates, but not the willful sabotaging of the economy. This has NEVER happened before, so to claim that it could be easily foreseen is Monday-Morning quarterbacking.
The President has to take blame, but so too the Democrats in the Senate and the House, particularly last year this time when they should have gone for the elimination of the Bush tax cuts, when they had the majority. But they didn’t because of the upcoming elections and they were bluedogging it.

I think that using the 14th amendment may have been an option, but only as a last resort. It has never been used before, and with these rabid Tea Partiers, they were going to impeach or attempt to impeach and cause further distractions.

Plenty of blame to go around. But that does not mean Progressives should give up and abandon ship. The future of generation could be harmed if we sit back and let the GOP Tea Party select the next Supreme Court Justices. We can’t give in. That’s what THEY want.

I wish Steph didn't cut people off like that.

59. Busted!

Doesn't help when Milquetoast Harry's got your back.

#56 Penelope2

Agree. It's amazing, the criticism presupposes that the President is King, bills do not originate in the house, the US has a free and open press, and Americans are an informed electorate.

Again, I ask, if were were in the midst of impeachment hearings with no chance of discussing jobs, what would whiny liberals and the right wing propagandists say then?

#56 Really? Why would I waste my time if I was a "right wing type" on a forum that had all of 60 posts?
MANY Liberals are pretty pissed at Obama.
Obama, by going after the Middle 10%, may lose the Left 15%.

56. I can smell them :mrgreen:

Obama is futher right than Eisenhower.
I think things need to get worse before they get better.
Ready for an "American Spring"?
Mass unrest may be the answer.

Right wing propaganda types love to come on these forums to complain about Obama, pretending to be liberals. I see several of you are here.

Gabby! You go, girl!

I was a huge Obama fan. Worked for him. But from the very beginning he has rolled over for the repugs. I just can't do it anymore. He has finally started driving the nails into the coffin that is the USA and the fascist corporations have won. Stephanie, get a grip! There is nothing more important today than the economy. Obama has sold us down the river. The small gains he has made are absolutely nothing compared to what the repugs have won. Obama is simply spineless. Not to mention he is the only winner in the debt deal. He gets to run in the 2012 election with the debt ceiling over his empty head. Sigh....

Two trillion over ten years is no debt deal at all. Ending the wars alone would save $4 trillion. The tea party did not win a victory here other than drawing attention to themselves. Tea party demands of cap and balance, 4-6 trillion in reductions and ending medicare, social security and medicaid did not happen. Obama ended up with a moderate agreement and since he ran as a moderate, he did fine considering he has right wing media and a partisan Supreme Court on his back. Obama ran as a moderate and he governs as a moderate. The number of true liberals in the House and Senate is extremely small and none of them will ever get to the White House in my lifetime. If liberals are smart, and they are smarter than knuckle dragging conservatives, they will continue to support Obama in 2012 or experience the true horror of the twisted, right wing mind controlling power.

#48 It goes back to the old saying "Republicans fear their base, Democrats hate theirs".
You have to look no further than Rahm Emanuel to see proof.

Seems to help to keep posts short, 1-2 sentences, and keep cursor clicked in text box when I hit submit. Is the liveblog software suggesting I am longwinded....?

It still blanks out name and e-mail and fails to post half the time.

#46 Klassie, :lol:

#48 cont'd

So, incompetent or delusional? Probably a little of both, but darn it, they are OUR incompetent, delusional pols, and we are going to vote for them, and call them, and write them, and drag them out of the ditch onto the right path again, and stick a pretty pink bow and a maraschino cherry right on top. Are y'all with me?! :twisted:

#43 WeNotMe, Agreed. I started to doubt the whole chess-not-checkers meme last December when Obama gave up too much and got too little in the tax cuts "deal". I could understanding spinning it as a good deal for Dems, but I began to believe the White House really believed it was a good deal and the progressive left base were a bunch of ingrates for not agreeing.

Carlos could probably record his own jingle... Yo quiero!

Hal's eating haggis off a hooker right now

#37: Absolutely. I think ultra-rich evil-doers ride a luxury hearse to the ultimate secret gated community, codenamed "Heaven". ("Where you CAN take it with you!")

42. seems to happen when 2 posters hit at same time

#35 and #39 My problem is that Obama and his smart people should have seen many of these faux crises coming and could have headed them off.
Which leads me to two conclusions: Either they're complicit or inept.

#40 Klassie, More chomping of posts. Tried logging out, cleaning out cookies and relogging in, to no avail.

I embrace being boogity boogity cheese.

36. Me too.Liveblog is on fumes.

#35 WetBlanket2 I agree...

Okay Let's Play-out the Fake Macho Boy Scenario:

What would whiny liberals say had we defaulted, suffered a drop in our credit rating, and were in the midst of a impeachment hearings? "Well, at least we stood up to them?" Really?

Not so much. They would be whining about how Obama should have cut a deal.

Re: the teaparty willingness to hurt the credit rating

The teaparty has been co-opted by wealthy manipulators. You think they're crazy to risk an interest rate hike? They are lenders.

Compromise - pay higher taxes, interest rates stay low.
Threaten default - higher return on the money THEY loan to the government to make up for the taxes they aren't paying. It's the laziest income generator they have. The only risk is that their wallets will burst. It's like telling a toddler that if they won't eat their carrots, we'll have to give them candy. Peas indeed.

33. he'll probably go to Aspen to "die" ala Ken Lay

Anybody else getting their posts eaten by the liveblog this morning?

I've gotten every flavor - duplicate comment, posting too fast, appears to post but doesn't show up. :-(

In some ways I think that Conservatives are smarter than Progressives. Conservatives vote with their hearts and their minds. They see the end game. Too often Progressives vote on emotion, and disregard the entire picture. We can only win this battle within the framework that we’re offered.
So go ahead. Make your point and don’t vote. When we didn’t vote for Gore, we got 8 years of Dubya that sent this country into a downward moral and economic spiral. Go ahead. Make your point and not vote. With this rabid Tea Party movement hijacking the GOP, a new GOP President will make Bush look like Clinton.
If you look at the Tea Party for example, the crazies out there make their voices heard. They will not settle for anything less than what their crazed minds want. The hit the road, beat the paths, you feel them, you hear them. Progressives sit behind their workstations and whine. If we want change, we’ve got to act. Don’t tell me you marched in the 60s. We’re talking about NOW. Do something, and stop acting like spoilt brats by taking your ball and going home.

#31 Which Dems? Only the ones on the take from the financial services industry.
Many have wanted to increase spending on infrastructure and job creating projects.
This is a shitty time for cutting programs that have jobs attached to them.

Morning all...

#28: The man who attacked Rupert Murdoch with a pie has been sentenced to six weeks. Which is more jail time than Murdoch will ever see.

#22 Jesse, Agreed on all counts. We really need to put down our smart phones and take a page from Martin Luther King and vote with our feet in the streets.

But I'd rather do that, which will require a huge social upheaval and undertaking, with a DINO in the White House than a Republican. See last 8 years under Bush, Jr.

#13 WeNotMe

The Dems have stated publicly our need to reduce our debt. The problem is how and where to cut.

Cantor reminds me of Sonny Drysdale

Please publish the links to Talking Points and People's View articles you read. They were "right on," in my opinion and I'd like to share them with friends on Facebook. Thanks.

it's also to take the focus off Rupert Murdoch