if obama;s learning curve doesn’t improve and fast, I am going to do my best to make him a one term president

as are most progressives

if obama ran under the agenda he put through he could have easily been the republican nominee

we need a real progressive if we are going to save this country and we cannot afford to support obama for a second term, the democrats better start nurturing a better candidate for next term

They need a big tent for their anvil collection.

as are most progressives

just how do you know that?

Since the post is about republicans I think it’s time to start whining about Franken.

Anybody monitoring scar? Wondering what the reaction was at the house of starbucks wrt the Franken decision.

I don’t know it raven, I just said it

however through my conversations, and granted I have no clue what other parts of the country are thinking but the only people I have contact with who are happy with obama are reagan democrats

but it’s my observation and I am sticking with it, you can have your own observation and stick with that

This just in; Al Franken is still the jr. Senator from MN and Michael Jackson is still dead.

Thanks for the post, Attaturk. I had no idea glenn beck was THAT crazy. Barbie dolls??? W. T. F.???

Perris,
I’m a hard core, dyed in the wool hippie, liberal, veteran, progressive from way back and I am not shopping for a new President.

Good morning pups.

Ok, fine with me. I live in a pretty progressive town and I’m just not convinced everyone is as up-in-arms as “we” are here. That’s just my observation.

He’s been on the incredible heat and moisture seeking Governor so far,

He followed it up by playing with Turtles…sadly John Cornyn was not on the same episode.

Good morning, pups. It’s Dowd and Friedman today. MoDo, in “Rules of the Wronged,” has produced The Practical Guide to Help Spurned Political Wives Survive Old Problems in the Era of New Technology. The Moustache of Wisdom says “Just Do It,” and that for all its flaws, the House energy bill is America’s first comprehensive attempt to mitigate climate change. Now the Senate needs to pass it.

Here they are.

The coffee and tea are ready, I’ve got Thomas’ English muffins with a variety of jams, and the cold drinks are waiting in the fridge for later. Hoover is starting to climb the walls, so I’m going to go and let him out to do whatever it is that keeps him busy all day. It can’t possibly be July already, can it? Have a great day.

Flo and Eddie!

Does the G.O.P. want to be the party of sex scandals and polluters

and thieving bankers and assassin cheerleaders and torturers and illegal wire taps and war mongers and…. well the list goes on and the answer is YES they do want to be and are all the above.

Very good opinion piece in of all things the Wall Street Journal!

http://online.wsj.com/article/…..inion_main

Morning all, Here it is July 1 and still haven’t hit 90 – made it in Denver barely but not here. The rethugs are the party of hate and enemies.
Looks like Sanford is deliberately trying to make Jenny into an enemy.

That’s been my thinking for the last several weeks now. Does a strong progressive challenger loom on the primary horizon? The U.S. is in very dire straights and Obama’s bipartisanship first and last is not any way to redirect the ship of state. Obama seems to exhibit more skills as a negotiator than as a leader. So far he’s no FDR but of course he’s not working with the same Congress. He also has a citizenry that is far less demonstrative.

Just turned it on. He said “I said 2 months ago that Coleman should concede.” Then talked a bit about Sanford. He and Mika have very long faces.

Does a strong progressive challenger loom on the primary horizon?

No. This has been another installment of short answers…

BO is either trying to use some sort of stealth strategy to get the right side to play ball and move the agenda to the left or he was essentially disingenuous with all the change we can believe in mantra.

It’s hard to find progressives who are pleased with what has gone down so far as it seems hardly different from the Bush policies though articulated by someone who speaks English.

However, the republicans are in self destruct mode, for whatever the reason and soon there will be no impediment whatsoever to enact some more progressive policies, except the corporations who are dolling out their “legal” bribes and their agenda is very regressive.

The court is stuck on the right and not much can be done there until there is some serious croaking or retirements.

So it seems that the real problem or reason we can’t move forward is the money that invests the beltway coming from the “private sector”. If that spigot cannot be turned off, it’s likely that our policies won’t be changing because…. it’s not good for business (or so they think). Handouts, no bid contracts, a pork barrel spending of all sorts are much easier than real competition in a fair regulated marketplace.

Close the beltway to for profit lobbbyists.

If the economy continues to slide or even, heaven forbid, take a real nose dive as some are suggesting you can bet some progressive will rise to the surface.

More likely than strong progressives emerging is that repubs will shed that toxic label and call themselves dems. I was disgusted when Specter switched parties. But that is what’s going to happen. Anywhere that the candidate needs the “D” after his name, he’ll go for it despite his ideology. And for some reason, the dems are going to allow it. Like it’s a game and all we need is to have the bigger team.

It’s been my contention that no real transformational change will occur until there is real campaign finance reform. Unfortunately the SCOTUS will be looking at a case in September that has the potential of completing the corporate take over of the U.S..

Chuck Todd’s surprised at how responsible Franken sounded.

First time I’ve seen bipartisanship. Liberals, conservatives & everybody else wishes Sanford would just shut up already.

Todd talking about the health of Kennedy and Byrd and how it impacts the 60 vote majority. The first thing I’d do if I were in charge is pass a law that would allow ailing Senators to vote from home via closed circuit.

Chuck Todd is a horse’s patoot, and it really shows now that he doesn’t have all his flashy video toys to play with, like the ones he had during the election.

Supposedly, some reporters muttered “Too much information”. LOL

Re. Self destruct….NPR had a quite long piece on Sanford, esp. talking about an interview he had given. No conclusion on whether he will resign, but certainly tones that he is ’round the bend. I was alittle surprised at the amount of time on the topic, including his opponents. etc. He is definitely getting his 15 min of fame, maybe more. Good Morning out there….

Chuck Todd has been filling in for tweety this week while he has been at an undisclosed location.

You know it’s bad when reporters are complaining about TMI!

I hope I’m wrong but I don’t think he’ll resign. Just like Vitter and Craig, he’ll stick it out.

Agree wholeheartedly with you and SanderO. The problem is indeed the virtually unstricted free flow of money from corporate America into the halls of Congress. Campaign finance reform is required to stem that, so Congress won’t be dependent on lobbyists for financing their increasingly expensive campaigns.

Are there any potential champions of campaign finance reform in Congress? Can they be persuaded to sponsor the needed legislation?

Sensory overload.

I’ll take it even one step further bluetoe2;

Obama seems to exhibit more skills as a negotiator than as a leader.

and he has been a miserable negotiator at that;

his idea of negotiation is forcing those in his party to reneg on promises and abandon their constituents and principles

I see neither negotiana skills nor leadership

the reason there are no progressive leaders on the horizon is the fact that nobody wants to rock the boat…he is still enjoying at least a democratic honeymoon

I hope that changes and pronto, I do not want him “negotiating” any more, I want progressives standing firm, the blue dogs have no problem standing firm with their republican agenda and there is no reason progressives need to cede ground

off to work

Republicans blocking FEC investigations
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpoi…..hp?ref=fpb

Progressives who are paying attention are very disappointed. I know some liberal/prog types who are just relieved a Dem is in the WH and are a little puzzled by Obama but are giving him more time, even though it is obvious he is a right/center type.

Is there a word to describe someone who doesn’t realize what an ass he’s being? Someone with no self-awareness, with no clue that with every word intended to make things right, he’s making things worse? I think of not only Sanford but Michael Steele as well. Men who pontificate and think to themselves that they’ve been brilliant while everyone who hears them is just shaking their heads. Is there a word to describe these men?

Correct on all counts but then, like all politicians that get to DC, he is bought and paid for. He will only allow as much “change” as his insurance financiers will allow him to support.

s there a word to describe these men?

Gooper

Off to work.

Definitely for me.
Maybe the question of resigning will be moot if he has a breakdown. He sure acts like he is on the edge. Or maybe he is subconsciously sabotaging his career, marriage & life so he can run off to his soul mate

If he continues to “stick it out” (no pun intended) with pressers like yesterday, it is hopefully good for the dem brand…….more and more people seeing what putzs the thugs can be.

Thanks for the linky, mike. At least we know where the problem is.

“Money’s going to be able to play a much larger role than it has in the past.”

Pobre Sanford. Chained to an attractive multi-millionaire heiress, healthy young children, and an exciting and fulfilling job. Pure torture, I tell you. What’s a man to do?

Ah, but puppy love is missing. What a tragedy.

Good morning everyone.

You mispelled moran.

The Rs are bellyaching over Franken on WJ. Heh.

The problem is indeed the virtually unstricted free flow of money from corporate America into the halls of Congress. Campaign finance reform is required to stem that, so Congress won’t be dependent on lobbyists for financing their increasingly expensive campaigns.

http://www.publiccampaign.org

An op ed in the WSJ that for once is worth taking a look at.

http://online.wsj.com/article/…..inion_main

That seems to be a bad link.

Try this
http://online.wsj.com/article/…..inion_main

Since Reagan, the Republican strategy has been lower/no taxes, fewer/no financial economy regulations, privatize government jobs/outsource private jobs, crush organized labor, and win the Cold War/build an American empire. Reagan was the first out of the box with this strategy and it worked well enough for awhile. But there are diminishing returns to this strategy because it creates the classic pyramid with government and ordinary Americans hoping that somehow some wealth trickles down to them. It places corporate interests before the public interest and it is simply a matter of time, in this case 28 years, but the last 8 years were hyper-driven with the repeal of Glass-Steagall and the passage of the commodities future regulation act of 2000, before it implodes and then the bid bad federal government is forced to pick up the pieces while being blamed for not being sufficiently free market, or insufficiently militaristic, or failing to vigorously promote Christian family values, all depending upon which right wing nut is “analyzing” the situation. This is the GOP program in a nutshell.

Barack Obama has a unique opportunity to be another FDR at a time when America needs a new deal to sustain itself. He has not enjoyed a good economy for a reason. The Republican/fiscal conservative agenda has hollowed out and weakened our economy. America cannot continue to be a great economy with a pyramid economy. It has to be changed. That is the reality.

Obama has a choice to deal with reality or ignore it, presumably because it’s just too difficult politically to do so. But those are his only two choices, There isn’t a middle way. Either you bail out the financial economy and say to yourself “mission accomplished,” until the next financial crisis. Or you bail them out, scrap the too big to fail doctrine, and get busy rebuilding the American economy by enacting climate change legislation and single payer universal health care, generous public financing of higher education, and serious systematic reduction of the national debt.

It’s up to Obama to choose the economically progressive path, and to get the necessary votes, and to mete out appropriate punishment for those who fail to vote in support of his initiatives. Let’s hope that Franken gives Obama a boost in the right direction.

“slightly leftist tendencies”–i must be missing something

Let’s stop calling it “the poor oppressed health insurance industry” and start calling it what it is- the poor oppressed health insurance monopoly.