Democrats to Obama: Hurry up and fix the economy

[Beacool]

Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-North Dakota, says there are big concerns over talk about a second stimulus package.


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Some Democrats are increasingly concerned about President Obama's $787 billion financial fix for the ailing economy, and are demanding greater transparency on further spending.

With the White House seemingly comparing the nation's economy to a house on fire, some congressional Democrats are asking, where's the fire truck?

One New Hampshire congresswoman said as much to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Capitol Hill recently.

"I said, hurry, please hurry, because people are waiting and they are hurting, and they need the help now," Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-New Hampshire, said.

She's one of a growing number of nervous Democrats on edge or at odds with some of the Obama's administration's plans on the economy. Some are taking aim at the president's budget proposals that would curb popular tax deductions for wealthier Americans.

"I don't think ultimately the criticism is surprising. That certainly happens and is all part of the process," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

As a nod to moderate concerns, Obama took steps to make his budget more transparent. He included items former President George W. Bush passed separately in recent years to obscure the true operating cost of the government, such as the money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an annual multibillion-dollar fix of the fees Medicare pays physicians and Alternative Minimum Tax relief for the middle class.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/11/nervous.dems/index.html

[ProSense]

1. "Some are taking aim at...proposals that would curb popular tax deductions for wealthier Americans"

"Popular tax deductions"?

Nice of the to sneak that ridiculous point in there.

[Beacool]

2. Well, they ARE popular..........

with wealthy Americans.

:7

[vaberella]

3. Fuck them....this won't change in two weeks. It took eight years to destroy the economy.

It's going to take a while to fix it. Where were they crying that Bush was flushing the economy in the toilet? Now they all want to be on tv talking shit.

[Median Democrat]

4. Typical Mainstream Media Bullshit - Where Is The Journalism?

Is the article serious? Obama has been President less than 60 days, and the article suggests that Democrats are getting impatient and demanding a quick fix? Perhaps some happy talk about how everything is solved? Oddly, the so-called "moderate Democrats" get most of the airplay, while the realistic Democrats who have some real understanding on the scope of the problems, and the realistic pace of a recovery are not discussed.

Here is Cenk discussing some of the problems in current media, which is happy to blame the Obama administration, but avoids questioning the folks who caused this mess:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/the-real-problem-with-cnb_b_173761.html

/snip

I have a close friend who works at a business news station -- and here is the worst kept secret in show business -- it's all about the access. If you piss off the CEOs or the companies, you're going to get a call from your boss. You have jeopardized our relationship with them!

That is very thinly disguised code words for -- don't ever say anything negative about a company we cover otherwise your job is in the trouble. The message is clear -- go along to get along. This isn't journalism. It's public relations by another name.

CNBC never did any exposés about the enormous risks these financial companies took. They never exposed the insanity of the derivatives market. And they never told their audience that the executives of these companies have been robbing their shareholders blind. Because they didn't see that as their job. They saw their job as doing whatever it took to keep Wall Street happy and playing ball with them.

They were part of the broken system. There was no journalism going on at CNBC. That is what our underlying complaint is. That is what CNBC continues to miss to this day as they try to defend themselves by saying their words were taken out of context. The problem was the context!

Will they straighten ship and start doing real investigative journalism uncovering the abuses of Wall Street now that they have been called out. I doubt it. That's not how they're structured. They don't view the average guy in their audience or the American public overall as their main constituency. They view Wall Street as their constituency. So, they will continue to serve them.

/snip

[GreenTea]

5. As many progressive say, $787 billion it's really not enough, it's true...

Fuck, the republicans bitched and got cuts to the original stimulus amount and for obvious reason, they want it to fail...the banks alone are getting a couple trillion in bailouts before it's all through,

Bush gutted and left huge gaps for everyone and everything that wasn't a republican organization and/or a corporation....$787 billion is peanuts and should be considered just a start.

[ncteechur]

6. Reply: FU, you bunch of pussynecks.

[Beacool]

7. Hey, don't be shy.

Tell them want you think........

:7

[Louis-Emmanuel]

8. Congressmen should shut their mouths and be patients. It will take months

Probably a couple of years for the stimulus to affect the economy in a positive way. This is not the right time to pressure Obama with unrealistic, impatient goals. Congresspeople are only thinking about their re-election in 2012. Greedy.

[firedupdem]

9. They can get over it. Hell, if anything could happen any faster it would

be in President Obama's best interest that it happen more quickly. There is no quick fix to any of this mess. Even my unemployed self understands that!