Punch a Hippy
I think Democrats are wise to punch hippies. I grew up as a wannabe hippy and I volunteer.
Oddly a lefty blogger is convinced that what the Democratic party needs is a Tea Party of the left, but it can’t have one, because of the MSM and hippy baching progressive bloggers.
My jaw drops after the jump.
Here I admit that I am aiming for the maximum possible number of enraged comments.
If you can’t punch the hippy you want, punch the hippy puncher you’re with.
Also the Eagle flies with the dove
then eats it.
Have you looked at polls including the word “tea party” lately ? They are less popular than atheists (such as myself).
Consider the argument that the Tea Party has helped conservatism, that MSM hostility makes it impossible for leftists to do the same, and that progressive bloggers are making a strategic mistake by joining in the hippy punching.
The argument made by progressive hippy punchers is that extremists alienate most people, and that pulling a party away from the center dooms it to electoral losses (so policy moves the other way).
The claim, then, is that the tea partiers will be very bad for Republicans, because most US adults will disapprove of the Tea Partiers, disapprove of Republicans for bowing to the will of the tea partiers, and, in the end have an unfavorable view of the Republican party.
This isn’t, at the moment, a prediction. It is a description of the data. The fraction of US adults with an unfavorable view of the Republican party is the highest ever measured. The tea party rats last among 24 groups (including atheists).
I don’t think there could possibly be more evidence that progressive hippy bashers are right. Many of the most enthusiastic hippy bashers were leftists who expected huge victories in 70-72. One can over learn the lesson of 1972 but those who forget history do sometimes repeat it.
Now my praise of hippy punchers is not criticism of hippies. The punchers need someone to punch. The “professional left” is so useful that if did not exist, Obama would have to invent it. Also he clearly feels a psychological as well as political need to oppose extremists on both sides. If all leftists were reasonable, then he would feel the need to reject reasonable leftism.
But just because we insult each other doesn’t mean that we aren’t symbiotic. We just have to choose whether to be hippies or hippy punchers (I alternate which would be a problem if anyone were paying attention).
Recognizing that the teabaggers are unpopular, they did manage to elect a host of GOP members to the House in 2010 and are having a huge impact on the field of GOP contenders for the White House. As a result Obama has continued his center right approach because except for Romney, the GOP has been unable to point to anyone who can appeal to the center. From a liberal standpoint this is a disaster. Without a counterweight to the teabaggers on the left, everyone left of center right is essentially disenfranchised. I am thinking of supporting Romney just in hopes that it forces Obama left. I will not be able to support Obama in 2012 and the last time that happened we got 12 years of uninterrupoted Republicans in the White House. As far as I am concerned, Obama has damaged the Democratic brand for a generation and if the GOP manages to win both houses of Congress and the White House in 2012 and the economy improves, the Democratic party may never recover.
SP500 Reversal…
http://astrofibo.blogspot.com/2011/08/astro-august-2011.html
yea left, way out there, public option, unions for labor, useful gov jobs in severe downturns, free cardboard boxes and catfood for the elderly…..the u.s. doesn’t know what the left is. The threat of a real left gave us the Reason that governed for domestic success in the 50’s and 60’s.
yea left, way out there, public option, unions for labor, useful gov jobs in severe downturns, free cardboard boxes and catfood for the elderly…..the u.s. doesn’t know what the left is. The threat of a real left gave us the Reason that governed for domestic success in the 50’s and 60’s.
yea left, way out there, public option, unions for labor, useful gov jobs in severe downturns, free cardboard boxes and catfood for the elderly…..the u.s. doesn’t know what the left is. The threat of a real left gave us the Reason that governed for domestic success in the 50’s and 60’s.
I think an invented left is better than a real one.
The real one makes too much sense. Straw men are easier targets.
No, the progressive left does not need a tea party with bumper sticker slogans, emotional ideology and alienating name-calling
But it does need a echo chamber to get items like the progressive budget proposal into the debate, most americans would consider the specific points totally acceptable if their actually had a chance to see the points explained
If the MSM would be pushed to give just half the time the Ryan plan has received, the political concept of the center would move a bit more back to where it used to be
Jim,
If only… ! I doubt it’s that “simple.” “Sudden” introduction to progressive alternatives in the national discussion would result in cognitive dissonance. People tend to be suspicious of a “sudden” sensible idea, and you know how the Republicans would use that. (“Fantasy” or “confiscation”?)
“most americans would consider the specific points totally acceptable if their actually had a chance to see the points explained”
Most Americans wouldn’t sit still for an explanation of the Ryan plan, much less of the People’s Budget. They listen to the reaction, not the plan. The reaction to Ryan’s plan was quick to point out its attack on Medicare, so the plan was not embraced. Little mention was made of the rest of the damage it would do – which leaves it viable if the Medicare part could be massaged into something “acceptable.” That’s the real danger because the tide of rhetoric now says “where’s the plan”?
The populace is deeply conditioned by at least 30 years of increasingly sophisticated mind-bending. Anything that doesn’t fit what they’ve been conditioned to hear creates cognitive dissonance. Look what happened after 9/11. Big rush to the comfort and security of the familiar. I’m not sure there’s any way to overcome that in the near term.
Linda, point taken
The progressive budget never was considered because it is a “progressive” budget, it should be called the radical center budget
A true leftist budget would include nationalization of the banks, and private medical insurance companies, etc.
Today no one knows what real socialism means so the ends up attached to things that are really not close, even though I hope the next coming financial crisis would cause the banks to be nationalized, yeah, in my dreams.
Terry,
“if the GOP manages to win both houses of Congress and the White House in 2012 and the economy improves, the Democratic party may never recover.”
I had not considered this… that the economy could improve under those conditions. I suppose if they returned to form, they might spend like they never allowed Obama to do – if the Teapub wing would go along. Certainly another war would be stimulative. After all, “WWII is what ended the Depression.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a potential outcome that wasn’t ugly?
I’m a bit confused by your post, Robert. Hey, I voted for McGovern. What does that make me?
(For one thing, it makes me someone who has been perpetually frustrated for all these years.)
Should I love the one I’m with? (actually, the one we’ve got)
“Also he clearly feels a psychological as well as political need to oppose extremists on both sides.”
I agree with that, so does that mean my emails, phone calls, and public posts should embrace [non-violet] “extremes”? (The fact is, it’s happening anyway.)
Linda, That is sort of my point. If Obama can not do the things that would help put people back to work which would in turn drive down the deficit and improve the actuarial soundness of the entitlement programs because of GOP obstructionism, than I am willing to hold my nose and take my chances with someone like Romney who I think at least understands economics–Bachmann, Perry and Paul not so much. Democrats controlled the federal government for 20 years after Hoover and the GOP held the White House for 12 years after Carter. There is no doubt that Obama was dealt a really tough hand by Dumbya or that the GOP has set out to have him fail from day one. Well it worked–he has plainly not been up to the task and it is not because he has been listening to the hippies. I wonder if he has any clue how much it knocks off aggregate demand every time he puts social security on the chopping block and every consumer over 50 decides that they can not afford to go out to dinner because they may have less money availble in their old age. I wonder if he realizes that kids are getting less help from their parents for further education every time he scares the parents about their retirement income. I honestly belive that if he had just said “No” to McConnell last December that there would have been no threatened government shutdown, no threatened default and that unemployment benefits would have gotten extended by the GOP by the end of February. I concede that we would not have gotten the traety with Russia ratified. I can tell you that I would never hire him as a lawyer and I will never again vote for him to lead the country.
“Have you looked at polls including the word “tea party” lately ? They are less popular than atheists (such as myself). “
Maybe I missed it, but I did not see a link to the actual poll questions and responses. Instead I got a story about what they think they asked and what they think the answers mean.
BTW, among the groups rated, how did the hippies fare? 😉 I would have thought that they would do OK, since they all have read “The Secret”. 😉
Robert,
The reason that you Libs don’t have someone to “punch” is that your leader, Obama, so dominates all comers in the extreme and easy-to-ridicule category.
So Libs have to triangulate against him. You already see this happening here. He will probably get the hook before the next election.
Calling Obama extreme is simply silly. The thing that characterizes Obama’s policies over and above everthing else is timidity.
Sammy,
Just look at the comments in this thread. They are the extreme and are in complete denial of that fact. Look at Linda’s comment:
“if they returned to form, they might spend like they never allowed Obama to do”
In Obama’s first two years, he had Carte Blanche over spending, and he chose Stimulus, ObamaCare, Financial Reform and to grow the size of government. No one stopped him! It didn’t work, made debt the issue, and killed the economy, and now they want to someone to blame.
They should be blaming themselves! That is exactly what this site and the Left in general advocated from the beginning!
Consider this:
“Certainly another war would be stimulative. After all, ‘WWII is what ended the Depression.'”
Putting the Snark aside….Obama started another War, and he ramped up in Afghanistan. Something the Military warned against in the very beginning of the War. Do they point the finger at Obama…Hell No…It’s Pathetic!
This one just cracks me up:
“the progressive budget proposal into the debate, most americans would consider the specific points totally acceptable if their actually had a chance to see the points explained.”
It’s as if he really believes that there is a conspiracy to hide the Progressive Budget. Get Real! The Progressive Caucus would never let that come out into the Main Stream because it exposes their hand and shows how radical they are……hence the reason they dangle it in front of the noses of their base for political purposes, but prevent any public or media debates on it.
Check this out:
“Sudden introduction to progressive alternatives in the national discussion would result in cognitive dissonance.”
Oh that’s just Rich! I guess we are all too stupid to understand what best for us? The arrogance is mindblowing!
You may have to help me swallow this one:
“even though I hope the next coming financial crisis would cause the banks to be nationalized,”
This guy in the same paragraph says, “A true leftist budget would include nationalization of the banks,” then goes on to actually advocate the same thing. That’s right before he refered to it as a “Centerist” Budget? This is truely Bazarro World!
Let’s refer to that Progressive Caucus’ Budget that apparently if people don’t subscribe to they will experience Cognative Dissonance:
1.) Full Pull out of Afghansistan and Iraq
2.) Cut Defense Spending
3.) Single Payer Health Care
4.) $1.5 Trillion in new government spending
5.) Raise Taxes across the board, except the lower individual brackets
First it takes a leap of faith to believe this would work, especially since they won’t let the CBO score it, and it is a poke in the eye of the American People for them to be told that this so-called plan is the centerist position, and if you don’t like it or get it, then you are suffering from Cognative Dissonance!
Linda
very easy for the economy to improve after a “republican” victory. all the banks have to do is start lending again.
Terry
I agree with you. But the soundness of Social Security does not depend on the economy. Even a permanent recession, while it might eventually force a cut in benefits, that cut would be in line with general living standards, ad mean nothing more than that we would be getting by, young and old, as if it were 1950, say. not what we want, but not “unsound.”
But there is no need to cut those benefits until we actually reach that sad situation, and i don’t think there is any reason to believe we ever will. Social Security is still “sound” until 2036 or so with no changes at all, though an increase in the payroll tax of, say, a dollar a week per year would ease the hysteria about The Looming Death of the Trust Fund… you know, the day that Social Security will run out of those worthless iou’s.
Jim
unless you are planning to buy a few dozen newspapers and tv stations you are not going to see a leftish echochamber. the bad guys know what they are doing and they have us surrounded.
what is tragic is that the left itself doesn’t know anymore what works and what is just sound bites.
most of the left today thinks that SocialSecurity really does need to be fixed, they think it is welfare, and they want to fix it by taxing the rich. All of which will help the Bad Guys kill it.
Linda
thanks. i hadn’t realized MG’s big push for a “plan” was part of an orchestrated attack on O, but I did see some evidence of that today.
Jim
maybe i’m just one of those brainwashed by 30 years etc… but i don’t think socializing the banks, or the insurance companies, is necessary. the banks need some honest regulation, and maybe a little competition from a government bank. and the insurance companies could be forced to deal with the government the way highway construction companies have to deal with it.
Darren,
See? They are “punching” Skippy, just like I said.
Hey fellas. That electronic image of O’s birth cerificate, you know the one that no one can get their actual hands on? It’s most likely a forgery. Easy, peasy, nice and easy.
testing
Sammy,
The USAF recently discharged a birther, maybe they are hoping “skippy” won’t cut their fraud waste and abuse…………………
The 70% that sensibility demands.
Field Marshal Darrin,
The Afghan surge was the new CIA director’s idea, you know who, a 4 star general who was out of line with the war profiteers, trying his revision of the Vietnam thing.
The rest of your post is not worth touching.
Ron Paul and some sane tea baggers know that the war profiteers need cut by 70%.
The rest.
Posh, boy, posh.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/04/18/112386/poll-best-way-to-fight-deficits.html
http://www.public-consultation.org/studies/budgetcomparisons_mar11.html
Actually the polls do support the points brought up in the progressive budget proposal
But you won’t bother reading these, will you?
Found this site today, never heard of it before but it brings up subjects that all but the trolls would like
http://newprioritiesnetwork.org/
keep chewing that gum sammy.
I haven’t read the comments. I just counted them. I am pleased. If anyone up there in the thread said that I am an idiot, I have to inform him or her that it only encourages me.
well I sure didn’t say anything about love. My point (if any) was that a debate, even a fierce debate, between the left and the Democratic party establishment can be useful to the Democratic party establishment. It shows that they aren’t the left, and people in the USA like hippy punching.
I was too young to vote, but I supported McGovern. I still think he would have made an excellent President. I think a large part of his problem is that there were real hippies then and he didn’t punch us.
As I said, I can be a leftist or a hippy puncher without being dishonest. I alternate. To be effective, I would have to choose which side of our side I am on. Also I would have to do some work and stuff.
Yeah I know. Sorry about the fact that I only have a link to a discussion (I hate those). There are polls including “tea party”
here http://www.pollingreport.com/politics.htm
and search for tea.
One on Aug 4-7 Gallup registered voters “…would you, personally, be more likely to vote for a candidate for Congress who was supported by the Tea Party movement, …”
More Likely 23%
Less Likely 42 %
For comparison in another poll 33% say they would be less likely to vote for a candiate who “is homosexual” 25% less likely if “has been an elected offical in Washington for many years” 24% less likely if “has smoked marijuana in the past”.
Think of that. Partying with tea* is better than being supported by the tea party.
*kids that’s McGovern era slang for marijuana
Was that directed at me Jim ? I sure know that the public supports higher taxes on rich people. It is just about the only specific proposal that would reduce the deficit with majority support. I have been noting that fact on blogs for as long as I have blogged.
I also know that the only relatively specific budget cuts with close to plurality support are to the military budget (aside from cutting foreign aid by 10 times the current budget and cutting welfare while increasing “assistance for the poor”).
My concern is about proposing new stimulus spending. I don’t think that is politically wise. Tax cuts for the non rich sure (payroll tax holiday plus bring back the Obama making work pay tax credit which cut taxes for 95% of working families). Increase taxes on the rich sure. Infrastructing. I don’t think so (we will see as he will propose it along with extending the payroll tax holiday).
Open to reductions in social security and Medicare nooooooo waaaaay. That’s political poison and Obama should know that by now. The Democrats were shellacked in large part because they didn’t keep their government hands off the Medicare budget.
OK now I read them.
Come on people stop sniping at each other. I want attention.
coberly, I shake my head every time someone pushes for an extension of the “payroll tax holiday.” What, for instance, is Robert Reich thinking? I will continue to see that as a first nail in the coffin, and I won’t forget who proposed it.
Or the delay of eligibility for Medicare by two years. I think that one was the last straw for me.
Terry, I realized the other day how much my gauge of what’s affordable has changed in the past couple of years. Initially, and primarily, because of the drop in the stock market, interest rates, real estate values and the need to help out my daughter. More recently because of indications that any changes to SS will be immediate with no “grandfathering,” no exemption for those over 55 or even those already receiving benefits. It seems inconceivable, but we live in a world of the inconceivable.
And yes, coberly, I know that nothing of the sort is necessary. I simply cannot trust that those who can change it know – or care.
Well, Robert, you did bring in the eagle and the dove… “and if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with” is the next line. But then, I won’t argue the point. And you’re right about the eagle.
McGovern was my first vote. Even though Nixon succeeded in putting off any real reckoning, it seemed obvious to me what he was up to. Contrary to what Sammy and Darren might think, I’m neither a lifelong hippie nor a lifelong leftist. I have very much wanted my country to live up to its ideals (about which I’m sure they’d disagree with me).
I come from a Republican family. 2004 was the first year my now 93 year old mother ever voted for a Democrat for President. In 2009, she changed her registration from Republican to “Decline to State.” She said, “I didn’t leave the Republican Party. They left me.” And that’s about where I am, when it comes to the Democrats now.
At this point, if punching me would help Obama to move toward old-time Democratic Party values and actually get something accomplished, he’s welcome to do so. (On the other hand, if it’s just for show, I strenuously object.)
I suspect Jim was referring to Sammy and/or Darren.
As for myself, I’d like to see the tax brackets “modernized” (as GW used to say) or “reformed” and “strengthened” (as Obama likes to put it). Why should someone who has $1M annual income pay taxes at the same rate as someone who makes $500M? We need more brackets at the top.
I object to the payroll tax holiday because of the impact it has on the public perception of SS. You’ve mentioned the public attitude about “welfare”… turning payroll taxes into a variable attacks the nature of SS as social insurance. If I set that aside, then it seems to me that truly small businesses (not all LLCs) should get the same cut on the employer side as employees get. I’m all for Making Work Pay.
And I’d like to see Obama present a slide show of bridges, highways, dams, levees, water mains, sewer lines, power lines, etc., in urgent need of repair, in Republican districts. Show the school bus on the bridge, the neighborhood in the path of broken dams/levees, who gets hurt if they fail – and propose that it’s time to rebuild America by putting people who have the skills back to work, along with some young apprentices. It’s better than paying UI while letting those skills sit idle.
I have always been a hippy, even in uniform.
The beard came after retiring…………………….
Robert, Hippydom is relative. As a self-proclaimed “hippy” but still in MS, I had issues. My main obsession was civil rights and I enjoyed the “hate” I received from family and neighbors. Rebellion loves attention, I suppose. Being a MS-Hippy, as I call it today, was appealing. And, then it became dangerous so zip to the west coast. Then I was among “real” hippies, right? Well, not so much. Most were just looking hippy, trying drugs, and personal things like that but not issues. Yes there were Viet Vets against the war going to toss metals over the WH walls. Scary, pathetic creatures with mental problems and high alcoholism. My issue, civil rights, wasn’t so urgent as in MS. So my issues died as I had to feed and shelter myself. Maybe my experience was atypical but it drove me back to college. (Down South I had been kicked out of U-MS.) Bottomline, the MS-Hippy was not considered abnormal or radical in the non-MS environment where so much of what was radical came with so much dysfunction and issues existed only in small pockets of the “hippies”.
This is how I see the “left” today. They don’t have one issue to rally behind. Those that had issues in the past don’t know what to do with those dusty passions. The simple issues are confused with the complexity of living life. Without a self-definition, the left has become defined by other people. (Tree huggers, ACORN, dependent welfare bums, etc.) Even war protesters on the left today don’t actually protest but tea partiers do. Who gets their view out in public today? Today’s left is what? Cap and trade? Global warming? Anti-war? Anti-abortion? …. What??? Status quo??? Any rallying cry seems to be, not issues, but rather a deep seeded feeling that the radical right is dangerously destructive for this country. Are deep seeded feelings actionable and isn’t this one shared by more than just Hippies? How do you rally behind a deep seeded feeling?
The result is simply what none of us want to face. The left will not bother to be engaged in the next election and no matter what polls show, the tea party will get a “mandate” from the few that actually vote. The young people, if they show up, are facing different immediate problems and are not so full of issues, at least not simple ones and this changes the Obama miracle.
(I think the hippies you are looking for were NE hippies who were more of the elite rebellious children. They morphed to the yuppies, I think.)
linda r
to the extent that they are thinking at all… and that’s granting them more than they deserve
“the left” is fixated on a welfare mind set. nothing that can’t be helped by taxing the rich more and taxing the “poor” less, or providing them welfare in some form.
this perpetuates the insane politics and prevents any honest solution to the growing poverty of the working class.
i shake my head when i realize i much i sound like “formerly anonymous.” trust me, the secret’s in the sauce.
SS is a good model for how to “help the poor” without welfare.
and Medicare, which should be insurance on the model of SS, has been turned into welfare… and that’s why they can raise the age of eligibility… because it’s welfare, you see, and not an insurance policy you paid for.
Robert
sure, tax the rich. but don’t say “tax the rich.” even the people who tell pollsters they favor tax the rich will get queasey when it comes time to vote and the rich have been filling their little heads with “socialism” and “jobs killing taxes”
besides, it is a mental illness to call for taxing the other guy while telling yourself that you don’t make enough to afford a tax increase.
the payroll tax holiday is a trojan horse. but we have had that discussion.
anna
hippies morphed to yuppies
yes, i think so. hippies was all about being a teen ager and wanting freeeedom. just like the libertarians today. we were lucky because we had the Beatles to give us some style.
And it was easy to be against the war. no need for any thought there.
but after we became yuppies we understood the need for higher pay and lower taxes. and all the economics and stuff… well other than higher taxes for the rich and lower taxes for me… it’s all too hard to actually think about.
I am pretty well off and I am done helping my kids with their education–although I am still paying off the mortgage I took out on paid for home to do so–Coberly and I disagree on whether education is a luxury or an investment with me on the investment side–but everytime they suggest that I will be getting a smaller social security benefit, I start looking at how I can save more and spend less. The payroll tax holiday is a good example. Not only was it a dumb idea, I and I am guessing a lot of older Americans who are looking forward to retiring simply banked the savings through payroll deposit in my 401K.
coberly – “Linda thanks. i hadn’t realized MG’s big push for a “plan” was part of an orchestrated attack on O, but I did see some evidence of that today.“
You really are crazy. No question.
I posted my first of two FUBARs on Saturday and then deleted it when a new Open Thread hit the main page. I posted the second FUBAR on Sunday at 11:16:31 AM. I posted my second part post, Stop Screwing Around. The future of the United States of America is at stake. , on Sunday at 12:41:29 PM.
There was nothing in the news media on Saturday or Sunday regarding what I stated other than the news article quote from the LATimes that I cited in FUBAR. The news media, Republicans, and Democrats didn’t start questioning everything until President Obama’s bus tour kicked off on Monday. And I never mentioned anything about the President’s vacation which is now in progress.
It was obvious that President Obama was going to come under fire after a few of the press exchanges with the White House press secretary that occurred during the previous two weeks. I had already cited one exchange on Angry Bear.
I whacked the Obama Administration and the Republican presidential candidates in my FUBAR post. I took shots at many groups of people in the seond post, Stop Screwing Around. The future of the United States of America is at stake.
The bottom line is simple: We’re in trouble as evidenced by the stock markets. More than that, it only a few drive-bys of seeing hundreds of individuals applying for specific jobs or attending job fairs. Atlanta is a prime example as are other locations around the nation. It’s enough to make one sick. Really sick.
Orchestrated plan? Seconds and minutes matter in the news media. They were days late to the party. The handwriting was on the wall. And it’s been evident since Monday including Democrats raising hell about the lack of jobs.
Maybe some politicos and/or media types read Angry Bear over the weekend. Or not. Whatever.
My posts are here: http://www.angrybearblog.com/2011/08/open-thread-august-14-2011.html
I’m going to repost on this thread so […]
FUBAR
The LATimes reports, “The White House has been eager to pivot from the months-long debate over the nation’s debt and deficits to a focus on jobs and the economy.”
Uh, huh. Right.
One would think (hope) that an administration “eager to pivot” would have a plan of action. No such plan exists within the White House at this time. Obama and his inner circle are struggling to determine what their plan should be. They are not ready to promote or recommend anything. All Jello, that gutless crowd.
Uh, huh. Great.
This is the inexperienced back lot gang that can’t chew gum and walk at the same time. They don’t plan ahead. They have no idea what that means. And their concept of time management is a joke.
Meanwhile, the 5,010 people running for the Republican nomination are dealing with a news media corps that has no idea how to focus questions on real economic issues…the meat. No matter, the Republicans don’t have a viable action plan, either.
So, here we are stuck up to the axle in the muck for another one and a half years. Waiting for the wrecker.
And don’t expect that wrecker boom to work when it gets here. No chance in hell that we will be that lucky.
Maybe we should have told them to send us two wreckers.
Smoke ’em if you got ’em. It’s going to be a long wait.
Posted 5 days ago, 11:16:31 AM
Reposted:
Anna Lee,
There is no excuse for President Obama to not have his final economic recovery plan on the table. None. This guy wants to be re-elected to the presidency and he doesn’t have his economic recovery plan sorted out? What the hell?
Why should the American voting public support a sitting U.S. President or opposing candidate for the presidency if they don’t have comprehensive written plans of action to save the nation during its economic crisis? If you don’t give the voters something to sink their teeth into, then you can’t expect them to raise hell with their members of Congress who are opposed to supporting such imaginary plans. There are many ways to straighten up the backs of members of Congress. The absence of a comprehensive economic recovery plan isn’t one of them.
Obama is a puppy. He isn’t a leader. He is a walking, talking debate artist. He does not understand the role of the presidency of the United States of America. He doesn’t understand much of anything about leadership, whether that be stand alone or team building. He is a hopeless failure as a result. Yet, he might be re-elected and we will be stuck with him until 2017. The nation can’t survive that.
I can’t say much more about most of the Republican candidates for the presidency. They’re a group of second rate puppies who can’t get it together and lay out comprehensive plans. Their websites don’t offer detailed comprehensive economy recovery plans. The candidates only offer bullet points and brief narratives that almost anyone could write. What a joke.
Meanwhile, the Republicans in Congress are doing their level best to make Obama look bad (as if he needed any help). There is no doubt that they will try to delay major initiatives for resolving the economic mess until after the 2012 elections. Well, screw them, too. Vote the bastards out of office. And the Congressional Democrats are about as lousy. Vote them out, too.
There must a handful of millionaires and billionaires who can see the nation is in real trouble. Some of them need to get on their jets, fly to wherever the smart people live, sit down with them, and lay out the scale of the problem. Pay them to do the situational analysis and identify a full range of solutions. Pay them to get on television and lay out a real plan of action. Lean on the damn politicians. Embarrass the hell out of them if necessary. Be prepared to spend $1 billion to make this happen.
We are not going to get this nation back on track without such serious efforts. We need not fool ourselves otherwise. It’s time to separate the men and women from the boys and girls, and get on with it.
Lead. Follow. Or get the hell out of the way.
Posted 5 days ago, 2:28:27 PM
Reposted:
It is an unacceptable situation when the President of the United States of America and his economic team can’t or won’t release a written comprehensive economic recovery plan as their last major act on the economic crisis during the president’s first term. Citizens should be raising hell as President Obama launches his re-election bus tour tomorrow.
It is also an unacceptable situation that the U.S. Congress has not put forth a comprehensive economic recovery plan supported by draft or final legislation. A failure to act when the Congress resumes its session in September is the equivalent of abdicating their collective responsibilities to the nation regarding the ongoing economic crisis.
Failures by American government, industry, and academic leaders and staffers to proposed comprehensive economic development plans during the next year and a half should be remembered by citizens. The seriousness of America’s economic problem is not being demonstrated by the leaders and staffers of government, industry, and academia. None want to take or share ownership of the problem. Very few are willing to step up and address the problem with the level of seriousness that it deserves.
The economics blogs will continue to whine and promote their normal political ideologies, but none are likely to embrace the economic problem and take it head on, providing a comprehensive A to Z economic recovery plan. The same story applies to the talking head economists. No real leaders in these crowds.
How odd it is that in a nation of over 300 million citizens, no government, industry, and academic leaders want to own or share ownership of the economic crisis. None have ever provided comprehensive A to Z economic recovery plans.
It is as though the economic and employment crises are problems that are to kicked around in everyone’s spare time instead of applying 24/7 well coordinated efforts for resolution of the problems. There must not be any profit in resolving the economic and employment crises.
The economic crisis lives on while government, industry, and academic leaders and staffers are screwing around.
Posted 5 days ago, 7:41:03 PM
Reposted:
Imagine losing another year and a half. That’s the disgusting aspect to America’s recovery efforts. Yes, we may see small proposals from the Administration at some point and limited action by the Congress.
The government, industry, and academia leadership need to conduct a top to bottom coordinated analysis of what needs to be accomplished in order to put the United States on a sucessful path. The lack of a comprehensive approach burns the clock.
The weakness of our nation’s leaders is unacceptable. We have wasted almost four years that could have been used to streamline the supporting elements of the U.S. economy.
Everything is moving too slowly. It should be no surprise that we are losing ground. There is no sense of urgency to restructure and reinforce the best elements of the U.S. economy, change U.S. trade policy, and everything else that needs to accomplished.
Losing another year and a half may be the least of our problems now that I think about it. This may be the new “accepted” benchmark for future measurement and success.
Posted 4 days ago, 12:29:14 AM
Reposted:
Check this out:
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Calls For Boycott On Campaign Contributions
Full text of Schultz’s email:
August 15, 2011
Dear Fellow Concerned Americans:
Our country is better than this.
Over the last few weeks and months, our national elected officials from both parties have failed to lead. They have chosen to put partisan and ideological purity over the well-being of the people. They have undermined the full faith and credit of the United States. They have stirred up fears about our economic prospects without doing anything to truly address those fears. They have spent a resource even more precious than the dollar: our collective confidence in each other, in the future, and in our ability to solve problems together.
As leaders in business, we have watched all this unfold, first with frustration and then with dismay. Like so many of our employees and customers, we are gravely concerned about the current situation. Today, with both humility and urgency, we propose to do something about it.
First, we aim to push our elected leaders to face the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges with civility, honesty, and a willingness to sacrifice their own re-election. This means not kicking the can anymore. It means reaching a deal on debt, revenue, and spending long before the deadline arrives this fall. It means considering all options, from entitlement programs to taxes.
This is what so many common-sense Americans want. That is why we today pledge to withhold any further campaign contributions to the President and all members of Congress until a fair, bipartisan deal is reached that sets our nation on stronger long-term fiscal footing. And we invite leaders of businesses – indeed, all concerned Americans – to join us in this pledge.
We also believe in leading by positive example. And we believe that while the long-term fiscal challenge is serious, even more painful to millions of Americans today is the immediate crisis of jobs. Tens of millions are unemployed and underemployed. Right now our economy is frozen in a cycle of fear and uncertainty. Companies are afraid to hire. Consumers are afraid to spend. Banks are afraid to lend. Record levels of cash are piling up in corporate treasuries, idling. That cash is not being used to expand operations, train new workers, underwrite new ventures, or spark innovation.
The only way to break this cycle of fear is to break it. The only way to get the country’s economic circulatory system flowing again is to start pumping lifeblood through it. That is why we today issue a second pledge. Our companies are going to hire. We are going to accelerate growth, employment, and investment in jobs.
We do this because we want to set in motion an upward spiral of confidence. We are not waiting for government to create an incentive program or a stimulus. We are not waiting for economic indicators to tell us it’s safe to act. We are hiring more people now. We invite leaders of businesses across the country to join us in this pledge as well – and to bring their stakeholders into the effort. Confidence is contagious. The best thing we can do now is to spread it.
This is a time for citizenship, not partisanship. It is a time for action. We don’t pretend that our two pledges are quick fixes. We just believe that in this moment of great uncertainty, the government needs discipline, the people need jobs – and leaders need to lead.
Our country is better than this. Let’s get things moving now.
Respectfully,
Howard Schultz
Posted 4 days ago, 9:33:43 PM
Ilsm,
Fine…pull out of Aghanistan & Iraq…that still doesn’t solve the problem. You can not create a growth economy by cutting Defense. Cutting defense can be part of a plan, it is only one little piece of the puzzle.
The issue is, The Progressive Budget calls for across the board tax increases. That includes Fuel, Corporate, Capital Gains, Upper Individual Brackets, etc..etc. No serious person believes that this is a strategy for sucess when trying the grow the economy, fix the trade issue, and solve unemployment.
Everyone here is pretending that Obama isn’t your guy….it BS!
The Left fell over themselves to worship this guy, and he has pursued every avenue his base wanted him to pursue. The Democrats have grinded to a hault because of a failure in policy, failure of ideas, and failure to convince the American Poeple that the agenda of the Left is healthy for America.
The conclusion of all this is that the Left in general are the minority attempting to control the majority which is extreme in the eyes of the Majority…..That’s the point!
Those are the key posts on the issue of leadership and the nation’s pitiful situation that I made on an Open Thread on Sunday and Monday.
I would be proud to have Howard Schultz as a good friend. He nailed it.
Linda R. – “I shake my head every time someone pushes for an extension of the “payroll tax holiday.” What, for instance, is Robert Reich thinking? I will continue to see that as a first nail in the coffin, and I won’t forget who proposed it.
Or the delay of eligibility for Medicare by two years. I think that one was the last straw for me.”
Exactly right. Same for pushing up the SSA OASDI eligibility age. These people are crazy or they’ve never done a hard day’s labor over the age of 40. I have never seen such insanity in my life.
Terry, my daughter, now a 33 year old single mother of 3, got her degree (with honors) the same week that Lehman Bros. fell. She was late going to college. She paid for it by working half-time and with scholarships, grants and, to a much lesser extent, loans. It took 7 months for her to find a permanent full-time position at about 25% less in pay than she might have expected a year earlier. The market crash wasn’t the only thing draining our savings during that time. She’s had a couple of decent raises, and she negotiated employer paid health insurance after a year, but supporting 3 kids on what she makes is a struggle. With the employment situation as it is, she’s pretty much stuck where she is until hiring picks up. For us, that 2% was already spent – and her rent is going up 6% due to water rates.
Her generation will need SS even more than today’s retirees do. Not because of the debt burden the Republicans wring their hands about, but because of the long-term effects of this lousy economy, and the cuts and deferred maintenance the Republicans are pushing. “Our children and grandchildren” are here NOW, and failure to educate them well, keep them healthy, and get our economy going again NOW will have serious long-term impacts on their future earnings which will in turn impact the nation’s fiscal health and general stability. I’d say we’re at a turning point, but I’m afraid that’s too optimistic – unless Obama stops gravitating to the “center,” which keeps moving Right in our government but not so much in our homes.
“The only way to break this cycle of fear is to break it. The only way to get the country’s economic circulatory system flowing again is to start pumping lifeblood through it. That is why we today issue a second pledge. Our companies are going to hire. We are going to accelerate growth, employment, and investment in jobs.”
Excellent. Everyone who has the means, public and private, would do well to do the same.
Anna, I have a close friend (California born and raised) who was a real …. what? At the time, before I knew her, she would have said hippie, but as you pointed out, the label quickly came to mean something else. Pre-hippie days, she began with civil rights and anti-nukes and was immediately anti-Vietnam war. She demonstrated and took part in other actions. Even before “hippie” times had gone, she came to dislike being labeled, but she did vote Democratic and actively encouraged others to do the same.
She married, raised children (constantly battling school administrations), ran a household, and focused her time on the needs of extended family.
Once that was done, she opted out of mainstream life, made connections internationally, became a communist, and moved away from the U.S. (undocumented). She’s back now, temporarily at least, broken-hearted at what she sees here. Floyd, above, is right that Left in the U.S. and Left in the rest of the world are very different things.
She and I see things differently, but that broken-heartedness, we share. Being at the leading edge of the baby-boomers, maybe becoming yuppies was never an option for us, but I like to think we simply knew better.
Not meaning to sound self-righteous here. Having had our children by the late 70s, struggled through that inflation and “malaise” and then the early 80s recession, we had a different perspective from those who came of age 10 years later. She hated yuppiedom from the beginning. I was too busy with the life I already had.
MG,
It started (or maybe reached talking point status) with John Boehner’s rant in the House (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYwVemtMz2E), continued as a Republican sound bite ever since, and as of yesterday, Boehner was tweeting/snarking that Obama should put a plan in writing and drop it in the mail.
I can honestly say that I understand and share your frustration with the lack of action. On the other hand, given “progress” to date, I can’t see why Obama would want to call Congress back to DC. I agree it’s better that they be “home” listening to their constituents and getting a look at what’s happening outside the Beltway. It’s not like calling them back would produce speedy or effective action, is it?
From my point of view, Obama’s determination to hover above the fray with a general set of values, none very specific, often contradictory, occasionally expressing frustration with Congress, is a nightmare. Business? Some hide behind piles of cash, whining about “uncertainty” and demanding austerity (spending cuts for everyone else and tax cuts for themselves), while others call for something more progressive… while hiding behind the same size piles. And the Press? Useful explanations of background, economic concepts, etc., take too long and aren’t entertaining. As for the people? Those who want more than soundbites and slogans can go elsewhere, but what of those who either don’t have access or find it all too challenging? It doesn’t keep them from joining in the gripe sessions, picking up on the slogans of whichever point of view is most represented at the time.
I’m sorry to say this to you, but while we all would like to see a genuine attempt to fix what’s wrong (could we agree on what’s wrong?), and to restore stability and reasonable growth (do we agree on what’s reasonable?), I simply don’t see that happening. The problem is bigger and deeper than the economy.
Linda R.,
I agree that we are unlikely to see serious efforts to correct all of the problems facing the federal government and nation as a whiole. But the Congress and Administration have to move forward on key issues. Citizens are becoming fed up with everything as noted during this past week. It extends beyond political loyalties.
I am a deficit hawk so I’m pleased that they are addressing the projected medium-term and long-term federal budgets’ deficits. I may not agree with their deficit reduction decisions but the issue is on the table. That’s fine, but it’s not the only key issue on the table. Their collective attention must return to employment issues the nation is facing.
President Obama created the opening that resulted in the latest rounds of attack. Moreover, he foolishly pushed most of the blame off on the Republicans and the economy he inherited (code for blaming Bush II). None of that is helpful other than playing to his political base. It doesn’t help him secure any legislation in the Congress. Senator Reid can’t do it by hiimself, as he is a weak leader as well as evidenced by concerns expressed this year by Democratic Senator. The Senate’s budget passage performance is a joke at this point.
I never thought that Obama should have recalled the Congress. They needed a break after the debt ceiling fight just to clear the air. And the President needed a vacation. So, those aren’t my issues.
The President and his staff failed to pull together their latest economic recovery plan over the last few months while the debt ceiling fight was occurring. The President should have had that plan off the printing press prior to August 2nd in preparation of releasing it before the Congressional vacation. The news reporters across the nation would have had a talking point at countless Congressional town hall meetings as would have the voters. It’s a major blunder.
The Congressional Republicans need an updated plan of action as well. Now, they have been provided with some lead time to crank their latest ideas if they intend to update their approach to the economic recovery. And so on.
Obama can’t complain about a Republican plan when he doesn’t have a new one in place. Right now, the news media, the Republicans and everyone else is in a holding pattern until some time in early September. That’s just to see the President’s plan.
I am not satisfied with any of the leadership in Washington. I am not satisfied with the corporate leadership which appears to be sitting on its hands (mostly) or is awaiting the election outcome. And I’ve already stated all that.
I will be disappointed if the normal Washington fighting kicks off once again in September. That’s not the answer. It’s time for the leaders to step up to the plate and stop acting like wild-eyed teenagers and college students who think they know everything but have never been responsible for much of anything in their lives.
Hey, I can hope. That’s all that is left after 4 years of subpar performance.
I know as do others that it is time to write off Washington as a source of real leadership. Communities, Counties, and States are going to have to fill the leadership void and simply ignore Washington as much as possible. We are now living in Italy as far as the government is concerned. If it implodes, so be it. I expect that we will get used to it after a […]
Robert Waldmann: “There are polls including “tea party”
here http://www.pollingreport.com/politics.htm
and search for tea.”
Thanks, Robert. 🙂
Well he says the right things and then does not fight for them. I am sorry about your daughter’s employment situation–I have a 29 year old daughter who has a couple of degrees, is a very hard worker and struggles too–but where would they be without the education? There is the human cost to our daughters and your grandchildren, but there is also as you point out a cost to our country. I saw a report this last week that one in five children are living in poverty. How many of those children will end up as productive, taxpaying citizens? Some to be sure, but many will fill our prisons, be dependent on government services throughout their lives and have children who will repeat the cycle. At the same time the wealthiest people in this country are waging a war on public education, claim that bought and paid for social security must be cut back because “we can not afford it” and enjoy the lowest tax rates since we started with income taxes. And a DEMOCRAT goes along with it in the spirit of compromise. Greed and selfishness are human traits which in people other than the rich are amielorated by empathy.I fear our current president has little empathy, but if he or any of the politicians in Washington would just care about the country a little, they would see that the only thing which can not be sustained is a political/economic system where all of the wealth is held by a handful of the population. If the hippies do not mount an effective counterweight to the teabaggers , we are doomed.