Comments by "" (@A86) on "Obama Caving in to Wall Street Again" video.

  1. That's true. I blame people who will vote for any old Harry Reid-like Democrat as long as they have a (D) next their name as much as I blame Republicans for our problems. The reason Congress is so unbalanced and fucked up is because the Republicans usually vote for far-right ideologues and obstructionists and many Democrats vote for any old corporate/center-right turd the DNC coughs up.
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  2. The will of the people is with him. Polls consistently show 58-70% of Americans support the public option. "If Obama gets to aggressive, you'll hear the claims of socialism" They've been saying that for more than a year. Nothing he does is ever going to stop making the Right say that. Seriously dude, fuck them. Get it out of your mind that there is anything we can do to make them stop blocking. If keeps this pussyfoot game they'll still block him and call hm a commie anyway.
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  3. I understand about the insurance lobbies but that's no excuse not to fight. Imagine if someone had the "It's too hard, there's nothing I can do" mentality about life. People like that don't get far (and hence why the Democrats haven't had a two-termer before Clinton since FDR). Imagine if the US had that mindset during the Revolutionary War. If you fight for something even if you don't succeed you can blame Congress and then that gets voters out to change Congress.
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  4. That's true. It's easier to fight to defend the status quo than to fight for change into territory we haven't been in yet. I guess it's the old saying about a dog returning to its vomit. But part of the problem is that some liberals and progressives were under the impression that once Obama got their job was over and everything was going to be Easy Street from then on in. Just let Obama take care of all of our problems. That's exactly why the Republicans had dominated so far.
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  5. "Progressives did not work for Obama to have the country being run by a Bush Lite" Thank you. I'm sick of some progressives making excuses for Democratic duds. This is why there have been no progressives in the White House is several generations. Progressives keep lining up behind corporate liberals who ultimately govern as Republican-lite and progressive will make excuses for them to the grave. Right-wingers don't do this. We need real change. Not Obama groupies who excuse whatever he does.
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  6. Yep, I'm already prepping mine and the list grew last week when they listed the Democrats in the House opposed to the public option. ;) I hope there will be a public option. If not I hope Obama vetoes any bill without it. I hope he will at least try to save face that way in such a situation.
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  7. When was this? Obama had no problem calling Kanye West a "jackass". The worst I've heard him say to Republicans is "Now to my friends on the right side of the aisle I disagree."
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  8. I don't quite understand your tactic because those people you're talking about are not going to sign any bill that has a public option it no matter what. It's not like there's anything Obama can do to win them over. I don't see what there is for him to be delicate about.
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  9. I understand but that's not an excuse to say you're not going to fight for the public option. Even if you don't get something you can at least say you fought for it to the end. Then Congress will be to blame for you not succeeding. This helpless "Oh poor me. What can I do?" mentality is the reason why since LBJ Republicans have dominated elections and why Clinton was the only Democrat to be elected twice in 60 years. Progressives giving up is why they never win anything.
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  10. He's put people to his left "on blast" (they say that where I'm from too, lol) on blast before. He doesn't seem to be very hesitant about letting progressives down. The far right, Wall Street and the military-industrial complex are the people he seems beholden to please and appease at all costs, even if it means nothing to them in the end. We need to fight but this would be significantly easier if he would stand up and use his bully pulpit. I don't see where he's fighting anymore.
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  11. @beeshor1 I agree. I can't put this all on Obama. Progressives sat on the couch with their thumbs up their asses all summer while the teabaggers were out shouting at their elected officials. Though I disagree with their positions at least they will get up and shout in public for what they believe in. Like Bill Maher said "While the teabaggers shouted in townhalls progressives stayed at him and shouted at the TV."
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  12. Agreeing to sign ANY bill, even if it doesn't have the public option in it, is going way too far. That's going beyond being delicate. And it's political suicide for Obama. Republicans and Blue Dogs will block you no matter what so what there's to pussyfoot around about? Screw it. Demand what you supposedly "prefer" and if it isn't included blame Congress. Then progressive voters can take it out on Congress in 2010.
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  13. He did fight but he stopped in September. Please list what exactly he's done since early September to publicly push for the public option. Please list what anti-reform Democrats he's called out or leaned on since then. I'll wait.
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  14. He hasn't completely thrown in the towel but he himself announced (can't get more clear than that) that he will not fight for the public option. Meaning if it's not in the bill he's still sign the bill anyway. We do have to apply pressure to the progressives Dems but sadly they are still outnumbered by the Blue Dogs and Republicans. Another problem is that if Obama and Biden were learning more heavily on the Blue Dogs and singling them out voters might actively push them more.
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  15. "Obama could not have won without Progressives working for him" Precisely. And that's what Obama banks on. He counts on no matter how many progressive reforms he backs out on that the progressive base will always support him no matter what because the only other choice is voting for an (R) anyway (at least in the minds of Democrats on the Hill). What he doesn't get, or doesn't seem to, is that if he fails there are more progressive people to choose from. We don't have to settle.
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  16. He said he would prefer it but he won't lobby or fight for it. If you WANT something but WON'T PUSH for it it's worthless. All of us want something but what good is it if we do nothing to make our desires come true? Bush certainly used his bully pulpit to push for what he preferred. As did the previous Bush, as did Reagan, as did Nixon, etc. Do Democrats? No. They put their hands in their pockets and kick rocks and feel sorry for themselves at the first Republican "No".
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  17. I admire the hope of you guys who are willing to ride or die for Obama till the end but I think you shouldn't be surprised if he lets you down. All signs are pointing to that the public option will either be killed in the Senate or watered down further and Obama doesn't care. He just want to go down in the history books for another "First" in his Admin. Same with this Wall Street issue. A lot of progressives are starting to look at Howard Dean or Kucinich as possible runners in '12.
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  18. Indeed. Anyone even moderately familiar with politics can see that American politics have steadily ran to the right since the early 60s. In the 60s Bill Clinton would have been considered a Goldwater Republican. Barack Obama has gone even further to the right and many liberal voters keep making excuses for him every time he backs out of relatively progressive campaign promise he made.
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  19. I'm done with Obama. I honestly tried but he's shown that he's far more beholden to corporate America than to his progressive constituents who put him in office. I pretty much gave up on him when he announced that he won't fight for the public option. Last night a Democrat Congressperson confirmed that Obama will just sign ANY reform bill that comes to his desk EVEN IF IT DOESN'T HAVE THE PUBLIC OPTION. All he cares about is being the first president to have some kind of reform in decades.
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  20. That's the thing - there is no finessing with them. They're completely owned subsidiaries of the insurance industry. Count them out. They're done. They are going to block the public option no matter what. The only choice of progressives now is to just vote them out this time next year. The reality is that the public option will probably die no matter what Obama does. If that's the case might as well just fight for it so you can blame Congress for it dying instead of you taking the blame.
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  21. It's not that he's not accomplishing them fast enough he has publicly stated that he doesn't believe in gay marriage. Well, I have to admit at least he announced ahead of time he wasn't particularly progressive on that issue. But he did run a campaign promising a lot of progressive reform but since he's been in office he's backed out of most of it. He shouldn't have run on such a platform if he wasn't going to do it. That's typical politician BS.
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  22. *stayed at home, I meant.
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  23. I have to say I admire your optimism. Maybe I'm just really jaded and cynical but your eternal optimism is encouraging. I'll continue to fight but at this point I'm bracing for the public option to be dropped. I'm mostly making a list of who we need to focus on voting out next year. My last hope for Obama is for him to either veto any bill that doesn't have the public option. He could at least do that. If he doesn't that's the last straw, and should be for progressives.
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