Obama is taking the entire party on his skinny shoulders

[impik]

It's him against the GOP and their billions and billions of dollars. The rally today in Philadelphia made it very clear: He hardly mentioned the actual candidates names. He told these 18,500 people to go out and vote for HIM. And frankly, that is our only chance. And i'm going to do whatever i can to help this super courageous man.

[derby378]

1. ???

You are joking, right?

[babylonsister]

4. I think this is a pretty accurate characterization. Everyone

blames everything on Obama; now he's trying to fix it for the midterms. For Dems.

[txlibdem]

11. He's trying to fix it alright

Now that his administration has alienated the Democratic base to such an extent that the Republicons will probably take over the House he starts talking. After he, himself, made insulting comments about the Liberals and Progressives that worked tirelessly to put him in office, now he starts talking.

He's trying to fix it alright. For himself, and his next election in 2012. Just think, if we have a Rethug House and a Rethug Senate in 2012 we'll surely re-elect Obama for a second term as President, right? Think again.

Well, my good friend President Obama is going to have a little surprise during the primaries in 2012. Liberals and Progressives will be energized (even MORE than we were in 2008) and we won't be on Obama's side this time!

[babylonsister]

12. I'm part of the base, and I'm not alienated. Get over yourself and

just imagine, a President who actually does stuff! I know that might be a new concept to some...and if you think he's been at all ineffective, read this. I think YOU might have a little surprise.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=433&topic_id=459671

[cheapdate]

13. Appointing nobel prize winning physicist Dr. Steven Chu

to be the U.S. Secretary of Energy was deeply satisfying for a science nerd like myself. And when Obama picked Frances Beinecke, the President of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to serve on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Commission, I practically danced for joy.

[babylonsister]

14. Welcome to DU, cheapdate,

I'm glad you're happy, and I think this man is trying to do the very best he can under a lot of stress. :thumbsup:

[Mimosa]

48. His stress? Give me a break.

At over age 55 my partner and I will have to drop health insurance we cannot afford. And we're not poor enough for Medicaid. The economy is sucking and it' hard to get work.

I'm scared and worried.

I'm sooo happy so many are sooo secure.

[pnorman]

20. Thanks for that list! I'm glad that somebody here is keeping score!

(Of the "Non-professional Left")

[Mefistofeles]

23. Biden told "the base" to stop whining

actual words: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/27/joe-biden-stop-whining-democratic-base_n_741160.html

[babylonsister]

30. I know. So what? nt

[txlibdem]

31. I wish I could be as oblivious to the facts as you are

That's not a dig or an insult at all. I guess you and I could be walking through the forest and you'd focus on the pretty bark of the nearest tree and how the park ranger recently swept the leaves off the trail while I would have no choice but to focus on the fact that the trail is taking us directly toward a raging forest fire. I'm sorry I can't join you on your appreciation of the pretty bark and the neatness of the trail that is leading us toward imminent disaster. I honestly wish that God had not given me the ability to see both the trees AND the forest. After all, ignorance is bliss.

Looking at your list it sure seems impressive, until you actually look into the substance of the items on that list.

Order the Closing of Guantanamo - it's not closed. What happened? Nothing changed. A corollary item is giving a fair trial to those being held there. This, too, has not happened.

Financial Reform - none of the abusive practices have been outlawed, banksters took home up to $100 Million of our tax dollars in bonuses, the Fed has guaranteed the banks loans for up to $12 TRILLION at next to zero percent interest and the banks are investing that overseas and in gov't bonds that return a small profit to them but when you are talking about trillions who cares. Nothing has changed. Banks are not lending. Banks are dragging their feet on refinancing bad mortgages. The bank CEOs are swimming in profits and big bonuses. How's that working for you, though?

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - The Stimulus Plan - it's a great piece of legislation but it has not done what it claimed. For instance, according to the recovery.gov site, Arizona received almost $2 Billion and created 11,400 jobs. That's not a very good return on investment, $175,000 per job. The tax cuts for the middle class were nice, though. I just think we could have gotten a lot more done with the money spent. It goes to effectiveness of legislating not checking off line items on a list. I'm disappointed but not angry based on the stimulus money. Its focus was on throwing money at businesses and projects and hoping that jobs would come out of it. It should have been focused on actually stimulating the economy by helping the middle class, the engine of the economy. One of the many excuses for businesses not hiring is that the consumers are NOT spending. So why didn't they focus the stimulus funds toward direct monthly payments to the unemployed in each state (broken down by county perhaps). Those consumers will spend the money and the economy will be jump started. The Pres. obviously believes with all his heart in TRICKLE DOWN, which has been proven time and time again not to work. He should be thinking of how to best utilize TRICKLE UP.

Credit Card Reform - does not limit or restrict the outrageous interest rates they can charge, they just have to give you 60 days notice that they're about to screw you.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - HCR, the Health Care Reform bill, aka the Insurance Company Giveaway Bill. Are you sure you want to put this on the list of things you're happy about? Nothing in the bill to limit costs. Nothing in the bill to make doctors or hospitals list medical costs so you might be able to shop around. Nothing in the bill to stop the millions of bankruptcies caused by medical bills. Obama threw Single Payer out the window before the debate even began - he should have kept it on the table and used it as a bargaining chip to get to the Public Option. Public Option is not in the bill. No teeth to stop or limit outrageous insurance company premium increases. Mandating all Americans get coverage when there are no controls on the costs of said coverage nor on the medical services received. And the benefits to the American people do not kick in until 2014, conveniently after the 2012 elections (that wasn't planned to bolster his re-election prospects at all, right?).

I could go on but I'm tired of doing your thinking for you. Use your head for more than a hat rack and we perhaps can debate the specifics.

[NavyMom]

34. THIS is the whinig Biden is talking about, stop your half cup empty crap

you will see how far with President Obama we've actually come in 2 short years. You will NEVER be happy with this president or anyone else since you want ALL or NOTHING, look up the word "compromise" next time before you began the next "whining" fest.

Btw, while you are "going on" doing the thinking for us think about this, you cannot build ANYTHING without a foundation, these so called short comings you listed are only the foundation and it can now be strengthened. If you are tired of being a builder stop trying to weaken the ones still working as we have seen what happens when you build without a foundation, the last eight years ring any bells for ya?

[txlibdem]

37. No specifics, just call people a "whiner"

Nice. Please don't take the time to look into the supposed "foundation" you tout. You understand the meaning of the word "foundation" don't you? It is the solid and firm base upon which you can build a secure structure. If the foundation is a swiss cheese of loopholes and giveaways that undermine the very thing you're trying to build then you have no foundation suitable for building upon at all.

Compromise is only compromise when you are dealing with rational and reasonable opponents. Are you on record as claiming that the Rethugs and TeaPukes are rational and reasonable? If you are then I'd suggest you start your research on DU and work from there. Compromising all your values with an opponent who never compromises anything means you lose. Compromise has to come from both sides or it is just capitulation at best and suicide at worst.

And if you think that Pres. Obama is going to relive the fight for health care you are seriously deluded. If you think he's going to change his trickle down policies in a sudden 180 turn and suddenly start working FOR the middle class you are entitled to your opinion (but again you are deluded).

The last 8 years weren't an example of building without a foundation. They were an example of wholesale demolition of everything that America has stood for over the past 200 years. They were an example of faith-based government, the faith that the rich and corporations would somehow do the "right thing" if they were left to do whatever they like. This false religion destroyed our nation. Now, here you are proposing a different type of faith-based government based on President Obama suddenly reversing everything he has done to date and suddenly enacting the single payer universal healthcare that he lied about supporting during the runup to his campaign and doing the same reversals with all of his pro-corporate, anti-worker, anti-teacher, anti-union, anti-you and anti-me policies.

Please live in your fantasy universe where betrayal is "building a foundation" if you like it better there. I prefer to stay in the (sometimes not so pretty) reality of the world we actually live in.

I have a plan to bring about actual change - dump Obama in the 2012 primaries and bring in a true Democrat. What's your plan?

[damonm]

39. "No specifics", you say. Looked in a mirror lately?

And your "plan to bring about actual change" is wonderful - if you want Rethugs in the White House in 2013 and beyond.
If you actually think for one nanosecond your "plan" can actually accomplish anything beyond putting this country back in Rethug hands, you're even more delusional than the average teabagger. And you claim you're staying in the "reality of the world we actually live in". Please.

What would be your idea of a "True Democrat"? Howard Dean, whose 2004 healthcare reform proposal was MORE conservative than what we have now? Dennis Kucinich, who never got more than 5% of the votes in any primary he's been in? Or somebody even LESS electable.

The Senate is the problem, NOT Obama. The House has passed a LOT of progressive legislation that has been killed dead in the Senate for lack of 60 progressive votes to kill a filibuster. You ndidn't get single-payer? Blame the Senate. No Public Option? Senate again? Watering down finance reform? Guess what.

Get out of YOUR fantasy world and start working your ass off to get progressives in the Senate, and THEN you can whine about Obama.

[txlibdem]

40. Getting Progressives in the Senate... that IS my plan

I've posted it elsewhere. You can do a google search, right?

I propose that we pull every penny away from the Blue Dogs/conservadems and put all those funds (plus as much as we can possibly get) into taking away seats from the Rethugs elsewhere, putting a True Democrat into those seats. I don't care if we have 60 seats in the Senate as long as we have a clear majority and true Democrats who will vote FOR the President's policies and not against them - plus a Senate leader with a backbone who will make the Rethugs go through with their filibusters instead of caving like a wimp at the mere hint of a possibility of a filibuster.

Having a "D" next to Blanche Lincoln's or Ben Nelson's name in the Senate hasn't helped us or Obama one bit. Get rid of the fakers and get real Democrats in there. That is reality.

And when President Obama's sucking up to Corporate America continues to blow up in his face we will see just how much support he has in 2012. I'm done with being stabbed in the back, as are the 40 million Americans on food stamps, as are the 10% to 20% of us who are unemployed or under-employed, as are the young people who came out in droves to support Obama in '08 but are now facing the highest unemployment in the nation while Obama plays golf and attends luncheons.

I'm glad that life under Obama has handed you roses and coffee cake. That's just not what most of his supporters have experienced.

[girl gone mad]

43. There was no whining in that post.

Just cold, hard truth.

[impik]

16. Heeee. "Liberals and Progressives" are going to primary Obama?

Now that would be hilarious. Especially since Obama has 85% approval rating among "Liberals and Progressives". But hey, maybe Jane Hamster can run against him.

Your "good friend President Obama" will do very well without the professional left and 1000 people on on the Internet who actually believe that they are the base.

[tavalon]

18. I'm a liberal and progressive (actually the same thing)

And I have things I'm furious at this administration for and things I'm pleased about. Unless, Obama steps down, I have no desire to primary him. That would be stupid.

[txlibdem]

33. Incorrect.

He now has 78% approval among "Liberals and Progressives," not 85%. But let's not quibble over a few percent here or there. 78% aint bad after all the back stabbing, dissing, and "F" you's the administration has hurled at Liberals and Progressives.

Now tell me how were those polls conducted? What were the questions asked? If you asked me if I approve of Republican policies or President Obama's policies I'd say Obama in a heartbeat. If you asked me if I approve of the change Obama has brought versus the CHANGE he promised during his campaign, I'd disapprove of him in light of his actions.

I just happen to believe that the approval numbers are more a "lesser of two evils" vote in Obama's favor and against the nut jobs on the Repuke side. And we have an election coming up. Right now we must all focus on stopping the psychotic right wingers from gaining control of either the House (as most polls say they might) or the Senate. We must give the next Democratic President a workable majority. There is no other option in 2010.

You can snark all you want but it's not 2012 yet. Let's just see what happens. You have my permission to PM me your snark after the 2012 primaries. Till then, it's all up in the air as far as I can see.

[HughMoran]

51. "You can snark all you want"

:rofl:

[HughMoran]

50. .

:rofl:

[JTFrog]

24. Who cares? Render yourself irrelevant if you must.

Almost 90% of Liberals and Progressives ARE on your good friend President Obama's side.

[Fruittree]

25. Speak for yourself...

This liberal/progressive is neither insulted nor looking for another candidate. Would you have preferred he spend the last 2 years talking (ie campaigning) or doing his job as he has?

[Scuba]

27. Wrong.

[FirstTimeVoterAt37]

32. I'm shaking my head very sadly right now

Unreal. Just... unreal.

[Whisp]

38. you've exaggerated your importance long enough

I don't care as many others here would agree. We don't care, don't vote, who gives a fuck do what you like

[rury]

47. You and a few easily distracted airheads

will be against Obama in 2012.
The overwhelming majority of progressives and liberals will be right in his corner!
Grow up and get over yourself!!!!

[impik]

10. Dude, without Obama, this lame party who couldn't even vote

for ending the Bush tax cuts for millionaires and couldn't break any serious filibuster in two years - would lose 80 House and 55 Senate seats. You can tell yourself that it's not so, but you'll be lying.

[Clio the Leo]

2. the party? ....... THE WORLD

Prior to the start of their working dinner with President Barack Obama, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, check their watches to see if it is officially sunset, in the Blue Room of the White House, Sept. 1, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

[gateley]

3. At first glance I thought that was Kissinger standing there with his back to us! nt

[xchrom]

5. Oh brother. Nt

[mahina]

6. K and R

true, thank you.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. Others in the party should help him out

[Enrique]

36. they have been helping him out

think of all the progressives who voted for a health reform bill which was completely unacceptable to them.

[peace13]

8. Well I remember when * took the world on his own shoulders and carried our great nation.....

Oh, right, just kidding. Nobody expected a thing out of the pResident in chief and that is exactly what we got. Suddenly Obama is supposed to clean up a cluster *uck and solve all of our problems. I'm sticking with the guy. When you wash away the hype and MSM debris he seems to be genuine.

[flamingdem]

9. Skinny shoulders but he's tough we've got his back (some of us!) nt

[handmade34]

15. rec

the last Democratic administration added 22 million jobs and gave us the biggest budget surplus ever... then comes a Republican and we're wiped out...

This Democratic administration will bring us back if we hold their feet to the fire and support them...

I am.

[Number23]

17. Rec'd

[angee_is_mad]

19. THANK YOU

K&R!

[cherokeeprogressive]

21. Your post made me get my absentee ballot out. I read every word on both sides of the ballot and

couldn't find his name ANYWHERE. Vote for Him? In the mid-term elections? I'm glad he's not on the ballot. I fear that if he was, he would be robbed of the four years we elected him for.

[Hekate]

22. KnR. He works incredibly hard, and he deserves our support. He's got mine.

:thumbsup:

If you want to hold anyone's feet to the fire, try the GOP Senators, they who kill the bills that Nancy Pelosi sends to them from the House.

Hekate

[jonnyblitz]

26. jesus fucking christ.

:crazy: :puke:

[rug]

28. And he can skateboard!

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Enrique]

35. alerted for smearing the democratic party n/t

[opihimoimoi]

41. The Mega Buck$ GOP are doing all in its power to Tear Obama and the Dems DOWN

GOPers just love to denigrate others to make themselves look better..

Bully trouble makers do this all the time....most families have one or two bullies....THINK OF WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE A BULLY AS YOUR BOSS

We should be laughing, singing, dancing, having a good time...the GOPers are stifling our FUN LEVEL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EophGrfSLzA

[superduperfarleft]

42. :tear:

[girl gone mad]

44. He needs to work his skinny ass off..

since he's the reason so many Democrats are in serious trouble right now.

[deaniac21]

45. I wonder just how far down he can pull the party with those

skinny shoulders?

[Phx_Dem]

46. True. Yet Mark Halprin thinks Obama is losing the political war.

Really? After all he has accomplished? And even considering the Dems are gaining in election polls.

Halprin is a tool as evidenced by the story in Rolling Stone:

"Less than halfway through his first term, Obama has compiled a remarkable track record. As president, he has rewritten America's social contract to make health care accessible for all citizens. He has brought 100,000 troops home from war and forged a once-unthinkable consensus around the endgame for the Bush administration's $3 trillion blunder in Iraq. He has secured sweeping financial reforms that elevate the rights of consumers over Wall Street bankers and give regulators powerful new tools to prevent another collapse. And most important of all, he has achieved all of this while moving boldly to ward off another Great Depression and put the country back on a halting path to recovery.

Along the way, Obama delivered record tax cuts to the middle class and slashed nearly $200 billion in corporate welfare — reinvesting that money to make college more accessible and Medicare more solvent. He single-handedly prevented the collapse of the Big Three automakers — saving more than 1 million jobs — and brought Big Tobacco, at last, under the yoke of federal regulation. Even in the face of congressional intransigence on climate change, he has fought to constrain carbon pollution by executive fiat and to invest $200 billion in clean energy — an initiative bigger than John F. Kennedy's moonshot and one that's on track to double America's capacity to generate renewable energy by the end of Obama's first term.

On the social front, he has improved pay parity for women and hate-crime protections for gays and lesbians. He has brought a measure of sanity to the drug war, reducing the sentencing disparity for crack cocaine while granting states wide latitude to experiment with marijuana laws. And he has installed two young, female justices on the Supreme Court, creating what Brinkley calls "an Obama imprint on the court for generations."

What's even more impressive about Obama's accomplishments, historians say, is the fractious political coalition he had to marshal to victory. "He didn't have the majority that LBJ had," says Goodwin. Indeed, Johnson could count on 68 Democratic senators to pass Medicare, Medicaid and the Voting Rights Act. For his part, Franklin Roosevelt had the backing of 69 Senate Democrats when he passed Social Security in 1935. At its zenith, Obama's governing coalition in the Senate comprised 57 Democrats, a socialist, a Republican turncoat — and Joe Lieberman."

<SNIP>

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/220013?RS_show_page=0

[donna123]

49. I want to scream in frustration

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? It has only been two years and it's as if everyone has amnesia or they are so gullible that they are willing to vote against their own self-interest. With the repubs in charge, this country took a SWIFT turn downhill and THIS is what some of the idiots/charlatans/hate filled people want to return to? All they say is cut taxes, cut taxes, cut the deficit, but continue funding wars with money we don't have. Is idiot math the only thing people who vote for repubs understand? 2+2=6 It is really and truly unbelievable. Are these teabaggers or whatever they call themselves, are THESE the people that led this country to prosperity? I think not. Whenever you look at the places that flourish, they are the places that are progressive. I live in upstate NY, unfortunately, where that freak Paladino is from and he is emblematic of what is wrong with this area, why it is an economically depressed area, why people are leaving in DROVES. I have never seen so many closet gay men who are married and have children and are homophobic as I have here. People who are from here are so parochial, so narrow minded, and have such low standards and do not realize how low their standards are, and it is scary how many of them have Paladino signs up. Not everyone from here is like that of course, but it's this pervasive state of mind. These teabaggers would turn this country into a reflection of upstate NY, economically depressed, culturally bereft. I have encountered more than one person around here who think they are competent to do a job when they are so obviously incompetent. It's quite frightening. It reminds me of the mindset of Palin and other teabaggers, like O'Donnell, who think they are qualified to do something that they are not qualified to do, that they are not remotely qualified to do. The confident idiot syndrome. It is scary and it is scarier if people are apathetic and do not vote to counter the burning hatred/anger of the teaparty because I know the majority in this country do not support teapartiers but they will win if people do not do anything to counter them.

[Tumbulu]

52. I love him and DO NOT want a repub takeover

so, I hope that the dems just vote. I'll help with my local gotv .