True or False - If We Fight for 2010, We increase our chances of Winning!

[FrenchieCat]

Poll question: True or False - If We Fight for 2010, We increase our chances of Winning!

As a liberal invested in making sure that this country progresses in the right direction,
hell yeah I'm gonna fight, cause hell naw, I don't want to lose....
Otherwise, my ideals become simply an intellectual exercise
about much to do about absolutely nothing.

which considering all that has been accomplished to date,
even very little credit is given, we should be much more optimistic,
and we actually should be fired up and ready to go,
if we were "fair" about what has been accomplished,
understanding that we have more of a mighty task still ahead!

Those not willing to fight, or waiting for someone else to fight your battles for you,
I say that it's a shame to be all too willing to hand back this government to the Repubs,
simply to make their point that all is not exactly as wanted, and therefore we should all pay a price.

Those who don't know what you are fighting for exactly, i.e., what is the point?
I'll provide some context in order to put much of it in perspective.


To be clear, Pres. Obama had one overarching priority to accomplish in his first 12 months more than any other, and that was to insure that we would not be falling into an economic abyss that would be impossible to ever get out of as nation. That's why he was elected above all else, and why after the September 15th crash his poll numbers went up, and basically never came down to election day.

Well, he has been effective on this to a great degree, even if he didn't perform instant miracles.....and with all of our debates, discussions and arguments on the best way out of this mess, He is leading us out ...and although it will continue to take patience, and it is certainly not everyone that is in a place better than when Obama first took office, still, the wheels are moving a positive agenda in most aspects (and there are many)......slowly, but more important, surely. And please know, he's got 3 years to go, regardless of anything else.

Let's work hard to safeguard what certainly "could be" instead of holding ransom the future,
based on what we believe we should already have.
None of it was supposed to be easy, and as we all can see, it won't be.

Still.....





Economy in U.S. Grew at 5.7% Pace, Most in Six Years
Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The economy in the U.S. expanded in the fourth quarter at the fastest pace in six years as factories cranked up assembly lines and companies increased investment in equipment and software.

The 5.7 percent increase in gross domestic product, which exceeded the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, marked the best performance since the third quarter of 2003, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Efforts to rebuild depleted inventories contributed 3.4 percentage points to GDP, the most in two decades.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=acQASpga4OhM&pos=1

U.S. Retail Sales Rose 0.5% in January
WASHINGTON—U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in January, posting a broad-based increase in a sign of promise for the economy at the start of the first quarter.

Retail sales last month increased 0.5%, the Commerce Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a 0.3% increase.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703525704575060922363790634.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Blue-Collar Jobs in Demand for 2010

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-blue_collar_jobs_in_demand_for_2010-1099

Volcker Op-Ed: Look out, big banks. Change is coming

Paul Volcker, chairman of the president’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, contributes an important op-ed to today's NY Times. And the message to big banks is clear: Your "too-big-to-fail" ass has been saved for the last time: ......
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/opinion/31volcker.html?pagewanted=1

Volcker Speaks on the Volcker Rule

February 12, 2010, 5:55 am In a video interview with The Financial Times, Paul A. Volcker, former head of the Federal Reserve, explained his thinking behind the package of reforms that includes the Volcker Rule, which would ban banks from engaging in proprietary trading.

“What is addressed in these proposals is what banks can do,” he told the newspaper, “and what non banks can do.” He noted that banks have deposit insurance and access to the Federal Reserve.
“Proprietary trading in all its forms was an important part of the crisis,” Mr. Volcker said. The term refers to trading in securities, options and bonds that a bank does on its own account, with its own funds and for its own profit, as opposed to risks it takes for clients.
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/volcker-speaks-on-the-volcker-rule/

"...Love him or hate him, or anything in between, recognition of the overall effect of the broad points of Obama's emergency economic policies --- quickly passed at an historic moment of looming disaster --- is due. At least along with any honest appraisal of those policies."
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7679

and well, the Barack Obama Admin and Dems in Congress did some other Hopey-Changey things as well.


One down, two more to come

.....because even with the wrench thrown in by Republican Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts, this Democratic Congress is on a path to become one of the most productive since the Great Society 89th Congress in 1965-66, and Obama already has the most legislative success of any modern president -- and that includes Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson. The deep dysfunction of our politics may have produced public disdain, but it has also delivered record accomplishment.

There were also massive investments in green technologies, clean water and a smart grid for electricity, while the $70 billion or more in energy and environmental programs was perhaps the most ambitious advancement in these areas in modern times. As a bonus, more than $7 billion was allotted to expand broadband and wireless Internet access, a step toward the goal of universal access.

Any Congress that passed all these items separately would be considered enormously productive. Instead, this Congress did it in one bill.

Lawmakers then added to their record by expanding children's health insurance and providing stiff oversight of the TARP funds allocated by the previous Congress.

Other accomplishments included a law to allow the FDA to regulate tobacco, the largest land conservation law in nearly two decades, a credit card holders' bill of rights and defense procurement reform.

The House, of course, did much more, including approving a historic cap-and-trade bill and sweeping financial regulatory changes. And both chambers passed their versions of a health-care overhaul. Financial regulation is working its way through the Senate, and even in this political environment it is on track for enactment in the first half of this year. It is likely that the package of job-creation programs the president showcased on Wednesday, most of which got through the House last year, will be signed into law early on as well.

Most of this has been accomplished without any support from Republicans in either the House or the Senate -- an especially striking fact, since many of the initiatives of the New Deal and the Great Society, including Social Security and Medicare, attracted significant backing from the minority Republicans.
snip
Democratic ideologies stretch from the left-wing views of Bernie Sanders in the Senate and Maxine Waters in the House to the conservative approach of Ben Nelson in the Senate and Bobby Bright in the House, with every variation in between. Finding 219 votes for climate-change legislation in the House was nothing short of astonishing; getting all 60 Senate Democrats to support any version of major health-care reform, an equal feat.
snip
specific new policies -- such as energy conservation and protection for public lands -- enjoy solid and broad public support. But many voters discount them simply because they were passed or proposed by unpopular lawmakers. In Massachusetts, people who enthusiastically support their state's health-care system were hostile to the very similar plan passed by Congress. Why? Because it was a product of Congress.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012902516.html

Obama proposes federal climate change agency
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration proposed a new climate change agency yesterday to provide Americans with predictions on how global warming will affect everything from drought to sea levels.

The initiative, modeled loosely on the 140-year-old National Weather Service, would provide forecasts to farmers, regional water managers, and business operators affected by changing climate conditions. It is being proposed as skeptics have become increasingly effective in attacking the credibility of global warming forecasts.

The agency would be part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors climate and conducts research. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration also directs similar operations.

“We currently respond to millions of annual requests for climate information, and we expect those requests to grow exponentially,’’ said Jane Lubchenco, NOAA administrator, adding that with recent scientific advances, “the models will continue to improve, and we will be able to provide more and more information.’’
(snip)
The agency launched a web portal yesterday at www.climate.gov to provide a single entry point for access to climate information, products, and services.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/02/09/obama_proposes_federal_climate_change_agency/

Obama ends Bush-era farm policy
The Obama administration on Thursday gave more job protections to temporary farm workers from both the United States and other countries, ending a Bush-era rule that critics said paid foreigners too cheaply to allow Americans to compete.
"This new rule will make it possible for all workers who are working hard on American soil to receive fair pay while at the same time expand opportunities for U.S. workers," Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said in a news release.
http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0210/labor_aims_for_fair_pay_4e8e13d8-0e35-46a3-920c-5d87cbaa8712.html

here is one extremely consequential area where Obama has done just about everything a liberal could ask for -- but done it so quietly that almost no one, including most liberals, has noticed. Obama's three Republican predecessors were all committed to weakening or even destroying the country's regulatory apparatus: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the other agencies that are supposed to protect workers and consumers by regulating business practices.

Now Obama is seeking to rebuild these battered institutions. In doing so, he isn't simply improving the effectiveness of various government offices or making scattered progress on a few issues; he is resuscitating an entire philosophy of government with roots in the Progressive era of the early twentieth century. Taken as a whole, Obama's revival of these agencies is arguably the most significant accomplishment of his first year in office. <...>
<more>
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com /

Presented two Budgets that, considering the state of our economy are more Progressive than any budget in 2 decades!

Specifically addressing FDR’s mistake in reducing spending in 1937, Orszag indicated the Administration will not make drastic cuts that will threaten the fragile recovery. The path to deficit reduction is based on reversing the fiscal policies of the last 8 years including allowing the Bush tax cuts for those earning over $250,000 to expire, ending the fossil fuel subsidies, ending the Iraq & Afghanistan wars, implementing the Fiscal Commision, and instituting the 3 year freeze. In addition, Orszag said strict adherence to PayGo will prevent irresponsible spending as it did in the 90s. This is also the thinking behind the freeze in that departments will have the ability to raise spending provided they find reductions to pay for it. These tactics are expected to reduce the deficit to 3.9% of GDP by 2015, just above the accepted target of 3% of GDP. Even so, in order to set the country on solid ground for the long term, Orszag acknowledged the need to reform health care in order to reduce the costs of Medicaid and Medicare. Health care has the potential of consuming over 10% of GDP by 2050, which is not sustainable.
http://obama-mamas.com/blog/?p=1162

Tell the truth, and we'll kick GOP ass in 2010. Repeat their lies, and well you know that it says more about you than it does about anything else.......yep, IMFO!

The Inconvenient Truth: A Record of Accomplishment the AP Neglected

Some of you may have seen the analysis piece run by the AP today assessing the President's first year in office. Unfortunately, the AP seems to have adopted the GOP's talking points rather than looking at the facts. Most notably, the analysis utterly ignores both the breadth and depth of the President's accomplishments. Despite inheriting an economy that was in the deepest recession in generations and a foreign policy that left our standing in the world in tatters and the nation less secure, the President has had one of the most successful first years in recent history. As a result of his leadership, and largely without Republican support we have:

-Passed and implemented a Recovery Act that as multiple reports have verified not only saved the economy from the brink but also funded up to 2 million American jobs.

-Provided tax cuts for 95 percent of working families.

-Rebuilt an economy that is growing for the first time in over a year.

-Cut job losses from almost 800,000 a month to 20,000 a month.

-Made the largest investment in green technology in history.

-Made the largest investment in education in history.

-Lifted the ban on stem cell research and restored science to its rightful place.

-Raised fuel standards after years of stagnation and objection.

-Ended predatory credit card practices.

-Made equal pay for equal work more than a platitude with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

-Expanded health coverage to 4 million more low income American children with the expansion of SCHIP.

-Expanded benefits for loving couples that work at the State Department.

-Lifted the discriminatory, inhumane and unwise ban on immigration of those with HIV/AIDS.

-Started a process to end the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy to allow patriotic Americans to serve and be true to themselves while we fight two wars.

-Begun to responsibly wind down the war in Iraq.

-Implemented a new way forward in Afghanistan in the face of withering criticism from the right and the left.

-Enhanced American security by repairing our alliances and by restoring the rule of law and our standing in the world.

-Successfully managed the outbreak of the H1N1 epidemic.

-Prohibited lobbyists from serving on important boards and commissions.

-Banned federal lobbyists and political action committees from contributing to the DNC.

-Enhanced transparency by making all visitors who enter the White House and the names of those with whom they met publicly available.

And there is more change on the horizon because of the President's efforts this year:

-We've helped pass bills in Congress that will make college loans more affordable and create a cap and trade system that will make this generation a steward of the environment for generations to come.

-For the first time in over 100 years of trying, both Houses of Congress have passed comprehensive health reform bills.

Yes, there are things that still need to be done and change left to be made. But there has been great progress this year. But while we know that the press is likely to tell a particular story that fits a preferred narrative, the facts in this case tell a very different story.
http://www.democrats.org/a/2010/02/the_inconvenien.php

Report Card on Civil Liberties

Obama pledged to reject the Bush administration's fast-and-loose adherence to constitutional rights. How is he doing?

During his inauguration speech, President Barack Obama declared, "As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." These were words many Americans who voted for Obama longed to hear -- an acknowledgement that American security could not be purchased by shredding the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.

Interrogation
On Jan. 22, 2009, two days after having taken office, Obama issued an executive order instructing all agents of the U.S. government to follow interrogation procedures outlined in the Army Field Manual, which bans the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques." The executive order states plainly that individuals in U.S. custody shall "in all circumstances be treated humanely and shall not be subjected to violence to life and person (including murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture), nor to outrages upon personal dignity (including humiliating and degrading treatment)."

This is a marked change from the Bush administration's guidelines, which held that the "executive branch's constitutional authority to protect the nation from attack" trumped all legal and treaty obligations governing how detainees should be treated. The Bush administration's definition of torture "was so narrow as to allow almost anything," according to Ken Gude, an expert on human rights and international law at the Center for American Progress.

"This is the one area where I think we've seen the most change. There will be no gray areas; we've got a pretty clear standard," Gude says. By instructing adherence to the Field Manual, the administration has signaled "there will be no attempt to redefine language to allow things that people would generally consider torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment."

Verdict: Change we can believe in.

Rendition
The same executive order that banned "enhanced interrogation" techniques also ordered the CIA to close the infamous "black sites" where detainees were interrogated and held without trial. It also prohibited the transfer of individuals to other countries to face torture, or transfers with the "purpose or effect" of undermining the United States' obligation to "ensure the humane treatment of individuals in its custody or control."

On April 9, CIA Director Leon Panetta issued a memo to Congress confirming that the black sites had in fact been closed but that the CIA retains the authority to detain individuals solely "on a short-term transitory basis." Gude explains that there is a difference between "extraordinary rendition," the process by which detainees were rendered to CIA "black sites" or to other third countries where they would likely be tortured, and "rendition," which is the transfer of detainees outside the normal extradition process. The purpose of extraordinary rendition, Gude says, is to keep suspects outside of the justice system, while the purpose of rendition is to transfer them into a country where they can be tried for their alleged crimes.

"The Obama administration has ceased the process of extraordinary rendition, but rendition exists as an option," Gude says, adding that it is not necessarily a bad thing. "There are times when it's not feasible for governments to follow the traditional extradition process, simply because cooperation between the United States and another government is not always possible."

On the other hand, the American Civil Liberties Union's Jonathan Hafetz who has acted as counsel in several cases involving terrorism detainees, cautions that even the CIA's limited detention authority may still lead to problems. "The suggestion that the CIA has authority to conduct extrajudicial handovers to foreign governments is ambiguous and troubling, as is the statement that the CIA can still conduct 'transitory' detentions."


Verdict: Change for the better, but questions remain.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=report_card_on_civil_liberties


And the fact that this government has been more transparent than any others,
Obama administration wins high marks for ‘transparency’
According to the report authored by Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters and U.S. PIRG, "The cumulative effect of the administration's actions has been to adopt the strongest and most comprehensive lobbying, ethics and transparency rules and policies ever established by an administration to govern its own activities."
http://www.peoplesworld.org/obama-administration-wins-high-marks-for-transparency/


and has reformed procurement policies via the defense Department,

Obama backs defense procurement overhaul
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/04/obama_backs_def.html

Military procurement reform sweeps through Senate
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/07/military.procurement/index.html

Obama signs weapons procurement reform
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/22/Obama-signs-weapons-procurement-reform/UPI-75731243011243/


while raising the salaries of our Armed Forces,

Congress approves 3.4 percent pay raise for military
http://blog.al.com/live/2009/10/congress_approves_34_percent_p.html

and passing a GI bill of Rights:
New GI Bill sending veterans to school this fall
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-07-31-gi-bill_N.htm?obref=obinsite


while giving 95% of Americans a tax cut, the biggest tax cut for middle class Americans
ever passed......
BIGGEST. TAX CUT. EVER.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_02/016948.php

Leaving Iraq

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2010/01/05/Leaving-Iraq-Logistics-move-staggering/UPI-25521262732688/

Afghanistan, shift in priorities

"For the first time the focus is less on killing Taliban and more on sparing Afghan civilians" NYT story about the new Afghanistan strategy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/world/asia/13kabul.html?WT.mc_id=fb_nyt1331&WT.mc_ev=click



"DADT....
"This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are," Obama said. "It's the right thing to do." When the president made the remark, cameras showed Defense Secretary Robert Gates standing and applauding, along with many Democratic lawmakers.

Marc Ambinder reports today that the president's directive wasn't just rhetoric -- the administration is already moving forward with a plan to implement the new policy.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

The Senate Armed Services Committee, for the first time in 17 years, convened a hearing today on whether the U.S. military should allow Americans to wear a uniform, regardless of their sexual orientation. It went pretty well, though there are some lingering concerns about implementing a change in policy.

The nation's top two Defense officials called on Tuesday for an end to the 16-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" law, a major step toward allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the United States military for the first time in its history.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

Gay military rights advocate Lt. Dan Choi Back on Active Duty

"Gay military rights advocate Lt. Dan Choi has been reportedly called back into active duty. Photographer Jeff Sheng, who recently turned his lens on active gay and lesbian service members, confirmed the news in a blog posting on Bilerico.com.



Choi was to appear at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change conference but could not attend due to his being called to serve."
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/02/09/Dan_Choi_Back_in_Active_Duty/

Lt. Choi: Other Openly Gay Soldiers Are Being Called Back To Service During Time Of War
Lt. Dan Choi — the DADT advocate who was discharged from the military after he came out as gay on The Rachel Maddow Show — appeared on CNN’s The Situation Room yesterday to discuss his recent call back to training with the National Guard. “Essentially, my commander says, we’re going to war and we need all of the capable soldiers that we could get to train with us,” Choi explained.

Choi said he knew other gay soldiers who were in the process of being discharged but “had been told by their commanders” to come back for the time being. “I know of some of them that are out there. And there’s a lot of people that are in their units that I — I think they realize, look, we’re in a time of war, we’ve got to have everybody that we can.”
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=178920&mesg_id=178920

---------------



If the midterm elections in November turn out to be more like 1994, when Democrats got hammered, than 1982, when Republicans suffered a less costly blow, the GOP will probably be emboldened to double down on its opposition to everything, trying to bring the Obama presidency to its knees on the way to 2012. That would mean real gridlock in the face of a serious crisis. Given the precarious coalitions in our otherwise dysfunctional politics, we could go quickly from one of the most productive Congresses in our lifetimes to the most obstructionist.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012902516.html

[Mz Pip]

1. I'm in for the long haul

As pissed as I am at the Blue Dogs I can only hope that someone can twist their arms and not so gently remind them what things were like when the Republicans were in charge. Do they really want to go back to that?

Do they really want Obama to be a one term President? What a disaster that would be.

Do they really want a Republican nominating more Scalias?

I think some of these folks have some pretty selective memory.

:hi:

Mz Pip

[Forkboy]

2. Look at all those hearts!

No more calling others the "Kool Kids" from now on...apparently you're them! ;)

[Top Cat]

3. All the way!!!!! K&R

[old mark]

4. Oc course! Publicans count on the fact that some Democrats won't vote

for some silly reason that I can't comprehend. I mean a lousy Democratic Senator is still a Democratic Senator...if you don't vote for him (her) you are enabling the REALLY lousy gop to gain a seat, which does no one anuy good at all. The Publicans are not going to have a moment of revelation an suddonly decide to do good things---at least they never have in my lifetime. At least even the lousy Democrats usually do something right once in a while. It may not seem like muchof a difference, but it is enough for now.

Please don't be stupid or foolish enough to allow the GOP to win even more.

I am still convinced the GOP will lose in this next election, but I want a little help - there are only so many times I can vote myself....
Rec.

mark

[Phx_Dem]

5. Unrecs? Really?

K&R

[PBS Poll-435]

6. I K&R'd. No change

:eyes:

[HughMoran]

11. There are an awful lot of Republicans here who need to be banned

Not sure why Skinner puts up with this shit. I've told him how people not only unred people they "don't like", but that any good news about the administration is inevitably unrecced to death. Some people here need an ass kicking IMO.

[AllentownJake]

7. Going to make volunteer calls at 1 for petitions

However, from what I've been hearing from my friend, these calls aren't going as well as she'd like.

:shrug:

I'm going to be doing what I can, but I'm not going to stick my head in the sand of the reality of the mess congress and the White House has made of the political opportunities given to them this year.

At the end of the day, I can go to the office and make the calls, but 8,000,000 people have lost there job in the past year and 4,000,000 homes were foreclosed on, and we've looked remarkably out of touch on the issue as we debated ourselves over Health Insurance which is higher on the Maslow's Hierarchy than a job and shelter.

That HCR debate has to end by the end of March one way or another, and the only thing we should be talking about for the next 9 months is how we are going to get Americans back into housing and work.

Those two charts mean nothing till the numbers going down on the first one, go up in a proportion that they went down.

[LatteLibertine]

8. I'll be supporting

President Obama for the entirety of his term, then I will evaluate if further support is warranted. I know he can't get it done by himself. Putting the man in office then helping to take away his political force by reducing public support via heavy criticism is asinine. That's not to suggest we shouldn't promote what we wish in a positive fashion.

The same goes for the other Democrats. If I want them to take a stance on a particular issue I should help build public support for said issue then direct that voice at them. That same voice may be directed at Democrats who may oppose agendas I approve of to influence. Again, never in a negative fashion by tearing them down, name calling or suggesting they aren't pure or "real" Democrats. Many politicians are not going to move on an issue if they don't perceive strong public support for it.

If the Republicans return to power I know what I'll get. I'm uncertain what results will come from standing with President Obama and other Democrats. Will some Democrats need to be replaced? Likely, and I won't be doing things that enable that replacement to be Republican.

I recognize the party has plenty of flaws and some corrupt sorts too. I want to manage those folks as best we may and if they prove completely unresponsive, replace them with other Democrats.

We need to be mindful of where these people live and who they represent. A Democrat in a mostly conservative area can not be perceived to be like a "San Francisco liberal". In the end, I'll take a Blue Dog over a Republican any day. While difficult they are far more manageable than a Republican who's goal is merely to see Democrats fail by any means necessary.

So I'm definitely aligned with supporting most Democrats regardless of qualifiers like; progressive, liberal or conservative. I prefer the first two and I don't expect that sort to thrive in a conservative district.

Yes, I will be pushing hard for 2010 Democratic candidate success.

[FrenchieCat]

9. That's sounds rational to me!

:thumbsup:

[OhioBlue]

10. Outstanding job of bringing everything together!

Thank you so much for your contributions to this forum. I tried to recommend - but the time had passed to allow recommendations. I am so sad that this has been unrecommended - it should absolutely be on the front page.

[AlinPA]

12. Great post, Frenchie. Thanks for the all the work.

[MissMarple]

13. I truely don't understand why someone would vote "false".

Honestly :shrug: