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Ardent15 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 09:48 PM
Original message
Obama can't be a progressive President, it seems
Obama the candidate seemed like an authentic, if pragmatic, progressive.

Obama the President seems to be more like Bill Clinton. "Let's be centrist and bipartisan even though I have a Democratic majority and the Republicans aren't gonna support me if they have guns to their heads."

I guess once elected, the reality of being President of the United States tends to moderate you, but still...LBJ was more progressive as a President than as a Congressman or Senator, and George W. Bush was more conservative than he campaigned.

It seems like Obama can't be a progressive and a President at the same time. Shame.
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Horse with no Name Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 09:50 PM
Response to Original message
1. He never claimed to be a progressive or a liberal
in fact, he avoided the terms like the plague.
The problem is that there is a large contingency that projected their agendas onto him and are now disappointed that he isn't living up to it.
To be honest, I voted for him but nothing he has done has surprised me nor has it varied from what he REALLY said.
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AuntPatsy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:32 PM
Response to Reply #1
24. there you go...sharing 'facts' with the false outrage...fer shame..
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inna Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:52 PM
Response to Reply #24
31. what are you even talking about, AP?
:shrug:
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Skittles Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 09:50 PM
Response to Original message
2. not all of us were fooled
some of us really paid attention
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Ardent15 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 09:52 PM
Response to Reply #2
3. Yeah, I guess I was fooled.
Guilty as charged.
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Horse with no Name Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 09:52 PM
Response to Reply #2
4. +1
Nail meet head.
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ProSense Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:00 PM
Response to Reply #2
9. No, I don't believe some people did, and they're still not paying attention. n/t
Edited on Tue Oct-06-09 10:01 PM by ProSense
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:08 PM
Response to Reply #9
14. Amazing but true..n/t
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AuntPatsy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:33 PM
Response to Reply #14
25. 1+
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:07 PM
Response to Reply #2
13. Sounds like you're fooled right
now.
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SammyWinstonJack Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-08-09 11:57 AM
Response to Reply #2
46. +1
:thumbsup:
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timeforpeace Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 09:52 PM
Response to Original message
5. Being progressive means we are never wrong. Or fooled. Or honest with
ourselves.
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subcomhd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 09:54 PM
Response to Original message
6. The man is a left-of-center technocrat (an unusually charismatic one)
and that my friends is a BIG ASS improvement. It ain't the second coming of jeebus, but it is good.
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Ardent15 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 09:55 PM
Response to Reply #6
7. Yeha, I guess that's a real imporvement. nt
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inna Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 11:21 PM
Response to Reply #6
38. his policies are right-of-center.
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subcomhd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-08-09 11:51 AM
Response to Reply #38
42. wrong. Joe Lieberman is right of center - obama is left of center
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ProSense Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 09:57 PM
Response to Original message
8. "Obama the President seems to be more like Bill Clinton." Hogwash.
Obama's Presidency is running solidly to the left of Clinton on every issue.

From lobbyists to transparency, and every issue in between.

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subcomhd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:07 PM
Response to Reply #8
12. absolutely true. I think BC was a very good Pres. but Obama is to his Left
on virtually everything.
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:10 PM
Response to Reply #12
15. And, why some people don't get that or
won't get that is the question?
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subcomhd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:18 PM
Response to Reply #15
20. Some are members of different parties (Green) so never supported dems at all.
others all usefull fools for the capitalist robber barrons who run the likes of the wsws. they don't understand they are being used by corporatists bent on destroying unions.
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AuntPatsy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:35 PM
Response to Reply #20
26. makes sense
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subcomhd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:41 PM
Response to Reply #26
27. I think I do
The Obama bashers we find, stragely on DEMOCRATICunderground fall into several categories are a disperate lot.
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HiFructosePronSyrup Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:43 PM
Response to Reply #27
28. They're making a coordinated effort tonight.
PUMAs showing up that haven't been here in weeks.
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subcomhd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:50 PM
Response to Reply #28
29. Oh but the PUMA thing is a perfect freeper sockpupptet.
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HiFructosePronSyrup Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:52 PM
Response to Reply #29
30. Yup.
Exactly
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inna Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:58 PM
Response to Reply #12
32. provide one example of Obama being to Clinton's left -

please?
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subcomhd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 11:09 PM
Response to Reply #32
35. Just one? OK
backing the DEA off of Cali/legal pot farm busts.





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inna Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 11:14 PM
Response to Reply #35
36. how about some substantive, actual *policies*?
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subcomhd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-08-09 02:43 PM
Response to Reply #36
51. keep moving that goal poast - would you like to see the great big birthing book too?
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Luminous Animal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:03 PM
Response to Original message
10. Define progressive.
It seems to me that people starting calling themselves progressive when Limbaugh & Gingrich managed to turn "liberal" into a dirty word.

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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:07 PM
Response to Original message
11. "What your President has accomplished"..as of July 20, 2009
PO also just gave a Mission Statement Address to the UN that has a vision of a peaceful world..and the UN just approved a Resolution to rid the world of nukes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33001551/ns/world_news-unit... /

I'd say he has a bit of Progress here.

Political Tiger (1000+ posts) Mon Jul-20-09 06:36 PM
Original message

"What your President has accomplished just 6 months into his first term"
Signed executive orders to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year, ban torture and end the CIA’s secret overseas prisons and define treatment of Detainees.

Reversed restrictions on stem cell research.

Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Reducing discrimination based on gender, age, religion, or race.

Signed an executive order reversing the ban that prohibits funding to international family planning groups that provide abortions. Gag rule revoked (Mexico City policy).

Creates the White House Council on Women and Girls "to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families."

Signed a Presidental Memorandum extending federal benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers and announced support for the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009.

Reverses U.S. position on LGBT Issues at the UN: At the "Durban Review Conference," U.S. supports language condemning “all forms of discrimination and all other human rights violations based on sexual orientation.”

Signed executive order requiring federal contractors to offer jobs to current workers when contracts change.

Reversed a Bush order requiring federal contractors to post notice that workers can limit financial support of unions serving as their exclusive bargaining representatives.

Signed executive order preventing federal contractors from being reimbursed for expenses meant to influence workers deciding whether to form a union and engage in collective bargaining.

Created a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners.

Expanded eligibility for the refinancing portion of the Making Home Affordable plan to help Americans struggling with distressed mortgages refinance at lower interest rates, even if they owe up to 25 percent more than their homes are now worth.

Established a credit card "bill of rights".

Expanded loan programs for small businesses.

Extended and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch.

Expanded eligibility for State Children's Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP).

Expanded funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners.

Created a new White House task force on the problems of middle-class Americans, and installed Vice President Joe Biden as its chairman.

Appoints Vice President Joe Biden to Oversee Stimulus Plan Payouts.

Granted a reprieve to Liberian immigrants facing imminent expulsion.

Directed military leaders to end war in Iraq.

Allowing Caskets to be photographed when the return from Iraq with family approval.

Released nine previously secret internal Justice Department memos and opinions defining the legal limits of government power in combating terrorism.

On Arab TV Network, Obama Urges Dialogue.

Gave a speech in Cairo engaging the Muslim and Arab world.

Bars independent contractors from conducting interrogations of terror suspects.

Granted Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba.

Ordered the release of nearly a quarter of a million pages of records from the Reagan White House that were kept from the public during a lengthy review by President George W. Bush.

Restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program.

Released presidential records.

Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.

Pushed for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors.

Invites gay families to the Easter Egg Roll as part of the Obama administration's outreach to diverse communities.

Created a White House Office on Urban Policy.

Increased funding for the NEA.

Appointed an assistant to the president for science and technology policy.

Funded a major expansion of AmeriCorps.

Banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees.

Investment in all types of alternative energy.

Enacted tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars.

Support for high-speed rail.

Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes.

Extended unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits.

Created the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers to help auto industry workers transition to new manufacturing opportunities, including jobs in alternative energy.

Stopped raids on medical marijuana dispensers.

Nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic to ever serve on the Supreme Court.

Appointed more than 60 openly LGBT persons to positions in the executive branch.

Issues Presidential Proclamation for Pride, proclaiming June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.

Signed a mercury reduction pact with 140 other nations.

Signed the Weapons System Acquisition Reform Act to curb wasteful spending by the Pentagon. Intended to price contracts and budgets lower; may potentially save billions of dollars in defense.

Signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, which serves to protect two million acres of land and creates a new system of land conservation for the Bureau of Land Management.

Phase out government payments to crop producers making more than $500,000 a year and eliminates subsidies for cotton storage to help trim the U.S. budget deficit.

Cut funding for a proposed U.S. nuclear storage facility at Yucca Mountain.

Restored Endangered Species Act Provision requiring U.S. agencies consult with independent federal experts to determine if their actions might harm threatened and endangered species.

Orders The Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration "to protect and restore the health, heritage, natural resources, and social and economic value of the Nation's largest estuarine ecosystem and the natural sustainability of its watershed."

Signed the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act designating two million additional acres of public wilderness areas the highest level of government protection from logging and other forms of commercial use and development.

Signed the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act which will expedite the search for cures and treatments for millions of Americans living with paralysis caused by spinal cord injury, stroke, MS, Parkinson's and many other diseases and disorders.

Established The Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record, a new system for updating medical records of servicemen and women both during and after their military careers.

Established the White House Office of Health Reform

Created new and stronger safety standards to safeguard the country's food supply.

and

Got his daughters a new puppy!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php

Here's Political Fact on Obama's scorecard..

<snip>

The Obameter Scorecard
Promise Kept
47 Compromise
12 Promise Broken
7 Stalled
12 In the Works
112 No Action
325 PolitiFact has compiled more than 500 promises that Barack Obama made during the campaign and is tracking their progress on our Obameter.


We rate their status as No Action, In the Works or Stalled. Once we find action is completed, we rate them Promise Kept, Compromise or Promise Broken.

The report card at right provides an up-to-the-minute tally of all the promises.

Other ways to browse the Obameter

All promises
PolitiFact's Top 25 Promises
By Subject
Economy
Energy
Military

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/



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subcomhd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:12 PM
Response to Reply #11
17. stopped DEA raids in states where Med MJ is legal
you may have that already.,
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:15 PM
Response to Reply #17
19. That was good one,
wasn't it! :fistbump: And, yes, it's in there:)
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subcomhd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:20 PM
Response to Reply #19
21. cha-you rock nt
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Luminous Animal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:29 PM
Response to Reply #17
22. No he hasn't the DEA just participated in a raid a month ago
in San Diego.
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Luminous Animal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:30 PM
Response to Reply #22
23. Actually, I believe that was the DEA participating in several raids a month ago...
in San Diego.
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 11:03 PM
Response to Reply #23
33. Yes, I just googled that..fucking
San Diego. I'm writing the White House right now about that.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
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Luminous Animal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 11:15 PM
Response to Reply #33
37. The Feds partipated in these Los Angeles raids in August, as well...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/dea-fbi-irs-raids-two-westside-pot-dispensaries-shoots-a-dog.html

"The Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Torrance Police Department and Culver City Police Department took part in the raids."
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 11:21 PM
Response to Reply #37
39. Thanks..you'd think they'd have better use
of their funds than to raid a Medical Marijuana patients.

Since it's legal in California.
http://www.my420clinic.com/id5.html
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Stinky The Clown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 11:34 PM
Response to Reply #11
40. You forget his deciding about whether to send 20,000 or 60,000 PFDGs to Afghanistan ....
PFDG = Potential Future Dead Guys: aka "troops"

Which do YOU favor .... 20K or 60K?

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subcomhd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-08-09 11:59 AM
Response to Reply #40
47. Just like he said he would when you voted for him. nt
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spanone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:10 PM
Response to Original message
16. Obama never ran as a progressive.
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 10:12 PM
Response to Reply #16
18. And, yet he's making more Progress
than we've had in a long time.

But, instead of acknowledging that..some people would rather ignore it and start scaping the bottom of the barrel for complaints.
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JanMichael Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-06-09 11:08 PM
Response to Reply #16
34. Correct. That's why I didn't vote him in the primaries.
Of course then I was forced due to a lack of real choice in this system to vote for him (and crazy Joe) against a cranky old conservative shithead and a lunatic in a mini-skirt.

What a great system...
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Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-07-09 12:08 AM
Response to Original message
41. It's "triangulation" (aka: pandering to the right) all over again.
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Echo In Light Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-08-09 11:55 AM
Response to Original message
43. This just in!!! ... Politicians LIE. The real problem isn't them, but the public who keeps buying it
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GirlAfire Donating Member (391 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-08-09 11:55 AM
Response to Reply #43
44. Ding, Ding, Ding! n/t
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scheming daemons Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-08-09 11:55 AM
Response to Reply #43
45. Except that he didn't lie.... he's governing exactly as he said he would


Pay attention next time.
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Echo In Light Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-08-09 12:41 PM
Response to Reply #45
48. Precisely why I didn't cast my vote for him, fanboy
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scheming daemons Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-08-09 12:58 PM
Response to Reply #48
49. So don't post about him "lying" during the campaign....

Can't have it both ways...
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Echo In Light Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-08-09 01:17 PM
Response to Reply #49
50. The obvious is lost on you
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