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madfloridian

(88,117 posts)
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 12:22 AM Apr 2014

As the year progresses, we will be expected to watch what we say. A repost of JK Galbraith....

with some very important words for Democrats of all shapes and sizes before that time comes. There are some important things in the article that still will have a bearing on the elections in the fall.

Galbraith has words for the Democrats.

Yes, he is critical of President Obama, but he is fair and intelligent about it. He is not one whose words are to be taken lightly.

In economic policy it was said earlier we have a lack of narrative. Recently, Gregory King asked why the people didn't know that the Republican Party is uniformly and massively opposed to job programs, to state and local assistance, and to every legislative measure that might aid and promote economic recovery from the worst crisis and recession in modern times. Why is that that they didn't know? Could it have anything to do with the fact that the White House didn't tell them?

....The president deprived himself of any chance to develop a narrative from the beginning by surrounding himself with holdover appointments from the Bush and even the Clinton administrations: Secretary Geithner, Chairman Bernanke, and, since we're here at Harvard, I'll call him by his highest title, President Summers. These men have no commitment to the base, no commitment to the Democratic Party as a whole, no particular commitment to Barack Obama, and none to the broad objective of national economic recovery that can be detected from their actions.

With this team the President also chose to cover up economic crime. Not only has the greatest wave of financial fraud in our history gone largely uninvestigated and unpunished, the government and this administration with its stress tests (which were fakes), its relaxation of accounting standards which permitted banks to hold toxic assets on their books at far higher prices than any investor would pay, with its failure to make criminal referrals where these were clearly warranted, with its continuation in office -- sometimes in acting capacities -- of some of the leading non-regulators of the earlier era, has continued an ongoing active complicity in financial fraud. And the perpetrators, of course, prospered as never before: reporting profits that they would not have been able to report under honest accounting standards and converting tax payer support into bonuses; while at the same time cutting back savagely on loans to businesses and individuals, and ramping up foreclosures, much of that accomplished with forged documents and perjured affidavits.

Could the President and his administration have done something? Yes, they could have. Where was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation? Why did they choose not to implement the law -- the Prompt Corrective Action law -- which requires the federal government to take into receivership financial institutions when there is a significant risk of large taxpayer losses to the insurance fund? Where were the FBI and the Department of Justice? Did the President do anything? No. Is he doing anything now? No. Why not? The most likely answer is that he did not want to. My understanding, in fact, is that there was one meeting where this issue was raised, and the President stated that his economic team had assured him they had the situation under control.


For several years now we have been judged not by what we say but by loyalty to party leaders.

And we lost in 2010 to a group of uninformed people who actually stood up and spoke out loudly for their beliefs, confused and wrongheaded though those beliefs might be.

....The changes to the social safety nets for seniors, the sneaky ways to turn public schools over to management companies who get taxpayer money, the denigration of public school teachers....these things that the right wing and conservative Democrats have wanted for ages are finally coming to pass right now.

I am not supposed to be upset, and if I do speak out I am considered disloyal to the party.

What is going on now is going to tear our party apart like nothing else has ever before. You say you don't see that in the media? Of course you don't. But the discontent is there lurking, and it is growing.


I have paid a price here in my reputation for being critical of the education policies of this administration. Several others have as well. Some don't bother to post about it any more. I think I will continue, but cautiously as the elections near. That's a shame because teachers are being stripped of union rights, dignity, and their careers.....because of bipartisan policy.

Galbraith added one more paragraph that really struck a chord with me.

This isn't a parlor game. The outcome isn't destined to be alright. It will not necessarily end in progress whatever happens. What we do, how we proceed, and how we effectively resist what is plainly about to happen, matters very greatly for the future of our country, of our children, and of another generation to come. We need to lose our fear, our hesitation, and our unwillingness to face the facts. If we thereby lose some of our hopes, let's remember the dictum of William of Orange that "it is not necessary to hope in order to persevere."


This administration has done some good things. I never post about the ACA because I think it's a beginning of what could get better. To even compare President Obama to what is now available in the extremist GOP is laughable.

But this is about more than just Obama. As a retired teacher I notice mostly things that affect teachers, seniors, the needy, and add to that women's rights. Firm stands should have been taken from the start, not thrown in at the last minute to make liberals feel better.


24 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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As the year progresses, we will be expected to watch what we say. A repost of JK Galbraith.... (Original Post) madfloridian Apr 2014 OP
solidarity on policy. nt grasswire Apr 2014 #1
Do you mean we should agree... madfloridian Apr 2014 #2
absolutely not grasswire Apr 2014 #3
Then amen to that. We should expect that. madfloridian Apr 2014 #4
So are all of the 9 billion obama care signer-upers too lazy to vote? lonestarnot Apr 2014 #5
I think you just missed the whole point. madfloridian Apr 2014 #8
Snark doesn't work so well... ljm2002 Apr 2014 #13
That's more than the world pop. FiveGoodMen Apr 2014 #23
When it comes to this place... generous ammounts of egg shells nadinbrzezinski Apr 2014 #6
So far, I haven't had a problem. JDPriestly Apr 2014 #11
Eggshells.... madfloridian Apr 2014 #12
I know what you're talking about, Nadine, and there's a lot of shit LuvNewcastle Apr 2014 #14
Not enough to post real analysts nadinbrzezinski Apr 2014 #16
"But this is about more than just Obama." djean111 Apr 2014 #7
Excellent Post.. 2banon Apr 2014 #9
K&R. I wish we could require every DUer who claims to be a Democrat to read Galbraith's JDPriestly Apr 2014 #10
Sometimes it seems.... madfloridian Apr 2014 #18
This author did not, even once, mention Obama's warm dreamy eyes or sizzling playful grin... Demo_Chris Apr 2014 #15
K&R woo me with science Apr 2014 #17
"Don't follow leaders, watch the parking meters" hobbit709 Apr 2014 #19
K&R polichick Apr 2014 #20
DURec leftstreet Apr 2014 #21
K&R G_j Apr 2014 #22
du rec. xchrom Apr 2014 #24

grasswire

(50,130 posts)
3. absolutely not
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 12:55 AM
Apr 2014

I mean we should expect policy that honors true Democratic values and principles, and stand together in those demands.

madfloridian

(88,117 posts)
4. Then amen to that. We should expect that.
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 01:00 AM
Apr 2014


Thanks for the response. Gets pretty discouraging to post here sometimes.

madfloridian

(88,117 posts)
8. I think you just missed the whole point.
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 01:38 AM
Apr 2014

I never used the word "lazy" nor did I imply it. What you said has nothing to do with what I posted.

Did you even read the paragraph I posted about ACA? No?

 

nadinbrzezinski

(154,021 posts)
6. When it comes to this place... generous ammounts of egg shells
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 01:27 AM
Apr 2014

but have done that for a while now. In fact, now I mostly avoid posting what I think here. or any serious analysis of any shit.

madfloridian

(88,117 posts)
12. Eggshells....
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 03:26 AM
Apr 2014

We should not have to feel that way if we are advocating traditional Democratic policies. It's a shame.

LuvNewcastle

(16,820 posts)
14. I know what you're talking about, Nadine, and there's a lot of shit
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 04:36 AM
Apr 2014

that I don't say, either. I still enjoy the site, however, so it's all right. I hope you enjoy your experience here enough so that you stick around, too.

 

nadinbrzezinski

(154,021 posts)
16. Not enough to post real analysts
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 11:38 AM
Apr 2014

But that is what my blog is about. I can keep the real bad actors out of there, IP bans are wonderful. And yes, they have done that. We call that cyberstalking.

JDPriestly

(57,936 posts)
10. K&R. I wish we could require every DUer who claims to be a Democrat to read Galbraith's
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 03:11 AM
Apr 2014

article. It really lays the choices we face as Democrats out in plain language.

Obama let us down because he appointed political hacks to the most important positions in his cabinet and refused to even investigate much less deal with the mistakes of his predecessors, especially George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and William Clinton.

Every great president we have had, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR and maybe Carter strongly set a fresh course and corrected past wrongs with strength.

Washington dealt with the tradition of monarchy.

Jefferson put an end to Adams' desire to suppress speech and the freedoms set forth in the First Amendment.

Lincoln ended slavery.

Teddy Roosevelt busted the trusts that were devastating our economy.

FDR began a struggle for social and economic justice that continues today.

Carter set an example of facing the threat of global warming.

Obama has achieved the beginning of a system that may provide universal healthcare, but he has ignored a myriad of problems. The NSA has overstepped and violated our human rights and the Bill of Rights. Wall Street is still being allowed to run amok, and their serious crimes have not been investigated much less punished. The response to climate change is insufficient.

There are many, many problems.

madfloridian

(88,117 posts)
18. Sometimes it seems....
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 02:14 PM
Apr 2014

like the easy path has been taken. A path that seems to reconcile differences with the Republicans rather than take an opposing stance.

 

Demo_Chris

(6,234 posts)
15. This author did not, even once, mention Obama's warm dreamy eyes or sizzling playful grin...
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 05:55 AM
Apr 2014

Great thread.

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