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Joe the Plumber, February 2009.
I mean, I cut cable when I realize that I’m not making enough money to cover my bills, I use coupons. Shouldn’t we expect the government to cut some programs?
Today’s New York Times.
The freeze that Mr. Obama will propose for the fiscal years 2011 through 2013 actually means a cut in real terms, since the affected spending would not keep pace with inflation.
Sigh.
I really have no idea what Obama is thinking. Leaving the economic analysis to my betters, he is validating decades of right-wing complaints about “wasteful spending”, that “big government” is really the problem, that defense spending is sacrosanct while programs for the stray animals are expendable, and most recently, that government spending somehow caused the Great Recession — all in an era in which Americans brought Democrats to power to do more, not less.
Do they think this will appease Republicans? Hell no. Do they think this will win teabagger votes? Please. This is truly a policy without a constituency.
It’s unforgivable.
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Stupefying Gimmickry
“It’s unforgivable.”
Looks like somebody is growing up:)
When he decides to extend the Bush tax cuts to “jump-start” the economy we’ll know the administration has really jumped the shark.
Suddenly going galt doesn’t look so bad. Fuck this shit, I’m off to Costa Rica.
As Atrios notes, the one thing that can be said for it is that it’s pure gimmick and has little real effect. So the only real effect is to say to the extreme right that they were right.
Right that Roosevelt caused the Great Depression, that spending during a depression/huge recession is wrong, that every economist in the mainstream at all is wrong who says that cutting spending during a huge downturn is suicide and that only getting the economy going, really going, including jobs, will be enough to lift us out of the doldrums.
My friends in the UK should be happy to hear that they’re not alone, it’s like having Tony Fucking Blair in office again.
So here we are, all bent over.
This is truly a policy without a constituency.
It’s unforgivable.
Ain’t it the truth.
Jimmy Carter must be delighted. He always got the label of the Democrat’s worst President of our lifetime. Obama is now stealing the limelight from him.
Careful now, BT. Keep this up and you may start to doubt the wisdom of his health care reform bill too.
The difference is that Carter didn’t really deserve the title.
the system is broken. even if americans elect the first african-american president and turn congress over to one political party nothing will change.
the federal government continues on one path and is not affected by elections.
BT:
Tell it to people like BooMan. It makes me wonder if he’s part of the veal pen.
In the immortal words of John Mitchell, “Don’t judge us by what we say, but by what we do.”
This may be nothing more than a feint to the “independents” (a polite word for apolitical fools) dressed up as deficit-porn.
OTOH it may do some real damage. Too soon to tell.
I am over at live chat with the Washington Post and Eugene Robinson and he won’t answer my question, “why won’t the president commit to a true populist agenda?” Such as:
Get out of Iraq immediately. Reverse dumb decision on Afghanistan escalation and get out. (Remember Mr. President, you don’t like dumb wars).
Expand health care coverage to 40 million people using reconciliation:
Expanding Medicaid to everyone below 215% of the FPL, and expanding SCHIP coverage to all uninsured children, should give roughly 30 million more Americans insurance for a cost of just under $800 billion.
The Medicaid expansion could be structured to also work as a de facto extreme catastrophic insurance policy for people over 215% FPL. This would effectively put an end to medical bankruptcy in this country.
Early Medicare buy-in could be added for people without insurance who are between 47-65.
Expanding Medicaid, Medicare, and SCHIP are all doable under reconciliation.
Tax the rich to pay for it all.
Create monumental Infrastructure Bank for large job creation and investing in future productivity. Have the infrastructure professionals make all of the decisions and not pork-barrel politicians.
The United States Senate is an inane, corrupt and dysfunctional institution that no longer serves the interests of the American people. Bypass it on energy. Use the full powers of the EPA to mandate change!
Fire Summers, Geithner and Rhambo. Replace Bernanke. Put Elizabeth Warren in charge of new Consumer Protection Agency.
The bottom line is that the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government in this country are bought and paid for by corporate interests. And that includes The Washington Post. People don’t remember but the Washington Post was a big proponent of the Iraq War – feeding the military industrial complex.
Someone grab the pitchforks – it may be time to take it to the streets!
That you are wondering should be enough to answer the question right there.
Jeff Feldman’s preview/prediction is worth reading.
I had a vision the other night of Barry waiving his finger at us Reagan-Style telling all us middle class slobs that “We are the problem”
Talk about disconnect…
Are we sure that this isn’t just another Grand Symbolic Gesture or is Obama actually gonna do what he says, for a change.
In what reading of history did this administration find that a spending freeze in the middle of a severe economic downturn is a good idea?
Fucking retards. Oh, sorry, my inner Rahm just slipped out.
[Modnote; please find another term; it was offensive when Rahm said it, it's offensive here]
Was it that long ago that we last heard from Joe the GOP Plant?
Voters did not bring democrats to power to get government to do more, they brought them to power as a repudiation of W. It is a center-right country. Pretending otherwise is not going to change matters.
And again – ‘teabaggers’… what is your all’s fascination, bordering on obsession, with scrotums?
Time for Troll Bingo!
Has it been a year since Joe “YOU LIE!” Wilson? Time flies.
You forgot the link.
Thanks, I’ve been trying to track that down.
Sorry mods and all. Will clean it up.
Democrats are for the many, con$ervatives and
Repugnantcans are for the few.
Democrats are a group of people with many ideas,
Republicans are a group of people with one idea. SMGVTCUTAX.
Of the one-finger variety directed at ‘We the People’…! ;-)
Rahm Emanuel. I could carve a better man from a banana.
Obama has made it pretty clear that he has no intention of angering the corporations. What I fail to understand though is his apparent inability to see the obvious. Regardless of what Republican policies he chooses to adopt they will keep saying NO. There is nothing he can do short of resigning that will appease the Republicans. I don’t understand how someone who was advertised as extremely intelligent is unable to see this. I just don’t get it.
Obama is turning out to be an extremely poor politician. He refuses to fight for anything that matters to Democrats. The Democratic leadership is not much better. All they seem to care about is retaining their own power. They have no interest in risking it for the good of those who voted for them. Bush was a disaster for this country but he never backed down nor did he bother trying to appease the Dems.
The Dems don’t seem to understand the average American. Americans respond to and generally support strong consistent leaders who don’t back down in the face of opposition. Americans typically hold weak leaders who are easily defeated in low regard. I don’t think the Dems as a whole get this last point.
Why else elect Democrats? Does anyone think that Dems are the party of less government?
What better way to repudiate Bush than going Left, the Public Option polls better than Obamacare, Voters want jobs our problem is that Obama is acting like the third term of George Bush.
The freeze? It’s politics. It’s a bright shiny object to deflect attention from Heath Care.
It’s to get the DFHs focused elsewhere.
The White House’s expectation is we can only focus on one things at a time. An this is true for the male dominated media with ADHD.
It’s not so true for women. Women can actually handle many more than one thought at a time.
FDR did a huge job stimulus and then fought WW 2 and it worked our economy was never better. Obama claims he can’t get get anything done.
Bush was a disaster for this country but he never backed down nor did he bother trying to appease the Dems.” It seems Obama is just following through on BV$H’s policies doesn’t it? Obama is taking care of the base ( of the Goper party as best he can. Pathetic. 1 termer
and it would have a longer shelf life
Speaking of jobs.
I think something like 7M people lost their jobs last year. The administration says they created/saved 1-2.5M. That’s a net loss of 4.5-6M jobs. Close to a half-million this month. Add to those numbers those who are no longer drawing unemployment and those who have quit looking for work. Does anybody reasonably believe we can create approx 10M jobs in the next few years?
I notice Obama never mentions the working class, only the middle class.
Bush didn’t back down because Bush was a puppet, not because he was standing on any principles.
Scanning through the AM on my way to work today I learned that Shout Radio has already picked this up as a gimmick. Yesterday’s attempt to walk it back just caused the righties to squeal with glee:
“Sure he says it’s a freeze, but look what he left out! and now they’re saying that maybe it won’t even be an actual freeze! Not only are they inept, they’re liars as well!”
Obama could guarantee that the sun will shine every morning and the right would accuse him of hating the night and causing sunburns and droughts. There is nothing that can be done to work with these people. It’s pointless to even try.
So instead you piss off and betray your friends and allies and give your opponents something to pummel you with.
Way to go, Team O.
It is really difficult to get rid of the smell of skunk Bush.
Won’t work this time. Keep throwin’ dishes up, Obama, we can balance ‘em all.
In the past year and a half I’ve gone from thinking Obama was a bright guy with good, if unrealistic intentions to thinking he was a bright guy with good intentions but politically inept, to thinking he was a bright guy with BAD intentions, finally reaching the conclusion that not only does he have bad intentions, he’s not very bright…
Agreed we need FDR work programs now.
This is an attempt at an end run around the lobbyists. Because Senators and Representatives have routinely included money at the behest of their lobbyist supporters and this isn’t going to change (especially in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on corporate campaign donations) Obama came up with this method to roll back all these lobbyist-inspired projects while still allowing the Congresspeople to throw up their hands and say, “I put your project in — Obama took it out”.
I think it was a good try. Because obviously, most of our Congresspeople are hopelessly sold out to the corporations.
My understanding is that both President Obama and Mr. Emmanuel pride themselves on being pragmatists and, as such, not limited by any ideology. I believe a person’s ideology is based on a set of principles. If you have no ideology, you have no principles. Someone said, “A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.” Looks like that’s what we have in the White House these days.
Conservative policies: N/A
This administration is devolving into satire.
Agreed.
Exactly my thinking as well!
I like the theory still some people confuse making money at any cost with having Principles but having fake Principles does not make you Principled so your theory still would apply.
I think Rahm’s fake Principle is he thinks he is smart and tough.
Is this a teaparty blog?
I think you have really added something in our attempts to understand Rahm.
If ObamaRahma isn’t stupid – which this move makes them look dumb, inept, incompetent & just plain ridiculous – then they must be waiting for and/or getting some huge corporate payola. That’s the only thing that makes any kind of sense logically. I’m at the point, though, where in the world of politics, logic no longer seems to have a seat at the table.
Whatever: last week, as ticked off w/Rahmbama as I was, I felt that they still had a teensy chance to turn things around and was willing to watch for that. At this stage, I throw in the towel. All bets are off. This is beyond stupid and craven and goes off into some other universe of weird rip-off breathtakingly dumping on your constituents that is… ack.
I just read a rightwing forward with some fanatical nutjob crowing, simply crowing, about this latest “move” of BHO’s, and stating flat out that Democrats should “insist that BHO resign immediately.” So: there you have it. Even though BHO is pretty much DOING exactly what conservatives have been bitching & moaning about since before day one of his admin, they are STILL calling for BHO’s head on a platter.
Don’t. Get. It. but. no. longer. care.
We are all effed.
In my personal experience with sociopaths, they are really good at fooling people about who they really are and if you stand up to them, as the MA voters and progressives have, you will pay. It is looking more and more like Obama is a sociopath and that is why he is so befuddling to so many people.
Wouldn’t it be nice to hear the President enunciate his principles and then follow through with action consistent with them? We would hardly know how to act. It would be even better, of course, if those principles had some relation to his campaign rhetoric.
Krugman wrote…
That would be nice it would also be cool if we had a President who acted in logical fashion and increased spending during a recession.
hey Calvin,
La Hamsher lays it out in her comment here
and then lays them out here
Unforgivable is the least of worst of words I can think of for this policy. The Reaganization/Plumberization of this administration has to have zillions of voters scratching their heads and wondering if their votes got sent to Pluto and somehow this guy ended up in the White House.
Joe the Plumber has nothing on Obama the Destroya… It’s been a nice republic, too bad we couldn’t keep it. Welcome to The Corporate Republic of America, thanks to BHO the Speechious…
I saw that Obama’s Political Strategy Guys and his Economic team both didn’t realize the impact cutting spending would have? Just how blind and isolated from reality are they?
If you want things to stay the same, things must change.(quote from 16th Century)
Everybody’s February vacation. When the President’s 2011 budget comes out in February, take a tour of it. Not the summaries. Down in the weeds of what is is the spreadsheets. There are some amazing agencies and commissions that you have never heard of. There are little-known programs in the Commerce, Transportation, Interior, and Housing and Urban Development departments that are essentially corporate gimme services. Touring the forests and jungles of the budget are like discovering new and exotic species of graft. Since Obama is going down this road, it would be helpful for progressives to compile their own hit lists of items to cut or cancel. Watching which members of Congress are the patrons of which programs might be very instructive for the future.
It’s probably his only option so long as he is in the thrall of his masters. That’s what it seems to me to be, along with a healthy dose of a sociopathic outlook.
And he quoted who during the campaign? FDR?
They like to call themselves Centrists, – sounds middle of the road American apple pie reasonable like.
Where is Lakoff? Where is the coordinated action to beat back the Capitalist Raiders of decency.
Please, let’s come up with a perfectly descriptive tag/name for the the Third Way cohort whose interests are clearly not the American working peublic.
They are living in the bubble left by the previous occupant of the White House, he-who-may-not-be-named. Said bubble creates feelings of affection towards Heebert Hoover and Ronuld Raygun, and makes the occupant more warlike…
Won’t be long until, instead of calling them Conservadems, we simply call them HooverDems.
Wonderful idea.
That’s a good one!
I am referring to 60
The fact they had no idea the reaction they would get scares me I wonder what else they are missing.
There are two O’s in Hoover. Maybe O is trying to outdo Hoover.
Wallmart requires their suppliers to reduce the cost of products by 5% per year and reduce packaging. This should be applied to Pentagon expenditures
This crossed my mind the other night. After this healthcare debacle, I can now see Obama extending the Bush tax cuts. Makes me sick to my stomach.
OT – Bernanke only needs 50 votes to be nominated again? 60 to prevent filibuster, but only 50 after that. Obama is proving time and time again that he will do everything and anything to get done what he WANTS done.
how come one of the celeb’s who backed Obama does’nt call him out for the TOOL he is?
I think a lot of folks have already forgotten that the individual mandate started out as a Republican approach to health care, and candidate Obama was against it. Now President Obama is pushing the individual mandate and the GOP is trying to stop him. Politics makes no sense.
Obama’s just cutting the fat so he can give us more meat.
Want a list?
1) The Taliban are today’s Viet Cong, and the Phoenix program isn’t going to work when it failed once four-plus decades ago, and no amount of wishful thinking is going to change that.
1a) Iraq will not get better, you can’t fix it with guns.
2) The economy is the biggest and most visible #FAIL out there. It once belonged to he-who-must-not-be-named, but now it’s yours. Own it and don’t fuck it up.
3) Defense spending is not the answer to success for everything.
4) Israel is a mature player that can take care of itself. We don’t have to keep giving the Islamic world an excuse to hate us. And the Rapture might happen with or without your support… Rick Warren and John Hagee will never love you.
5) The Constitution is not advisory in nature.
Add more as you see fit.
Alan Greyson for President in 2012
We are being subjected to a rolling coup, and although FDL has finally embraced the distasteful reality of where Obama’s loyalties reside, the chatter has become inanely self congratulatory and hopelessly inert. Oh yeah, Le Roi est nu – big fucking deal, what are you doing about it. What’s the strategy?
We all have the information that tells us we are being ripped off, a financial oligarchy is antithetical to democracy, yet we abide – we yap a lot, -ok.
“Traditionally, running deficits is supposed to help pull economies out of recession. But today, spending money on public services is deemed “bad,” because it may be “inflationary” – that is, threatening to raise wages. Talk of cutting deficits thus is class-war talk – on behalf of the FIRE* sector.”
“It seems absurd for politicians to worry that running a deficit from health care or Social Security can cause serious economic problems, after having given away $13 trillion to Wall Street and a blank check to the Pentagon.”
“There are two economies – and the extractive FIRE* sector dominates the “real” economy
When listening to the State of the Union speech, one should ask just which economy Obama means when he talks about recovery. Most wage earners and taxpayers will think of the “real” economy of production and consumption. But Obama believes that this “Economy #1” is dependent on that of Wall Street. His major campaign contributors and “wealth creators” in the FIRE sector – Economy #2, wrapped around the “real” Economy #1.
Economy #2 is the “balance sheet” economy of property and debt. The wealthiest 10 per cent lend out their savings to become debts owed by the bottom 90 per cent. A rising share of gains are made in extractive ways, by charging rent and interest, by financial speculation (“capital gains”), and by shifting taxes off itself onto the “real” Economy #1.”
*
”GDP is rising mainly for the FIRE sector – finance, insurance and real estate – not the “real economy.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/hudson01262010.html
Obama and his DLC handlers are trying to merge some faux conservative sizzle into their game. Obama as a political brand is becoming more trashed daily. Who among Democrats up for re-election would want him to campaign for them, come to their districts or States to speechify, or even be seen to directly support his policies or him?
The Repugs will be putting every video clip of Obama they can obtain into campaign ads, trying to associate House and Senate Dems running for re-election with Obama in Election 2010. Bet on it.
I used to ask myself how Orahma thought he was going to get re-elected without the progressive vote. Now I know he’s already resigned himself to being a corporate shill and will rake in his “reward” money after he’s chased out of the people’s house.
It’s going to get real bad.
Yeah, cuz there’s just SO much meat in DoD and Homeland Security and so much awful fat in those discretionary programs in the rest of the Federal budget.
I like Alan Grayson, most likely most progressives do, but they also had Big knee jerk feelings for Obama.
Your bumper sticker statement is too reminiscent of a large part of the reason behind the Obama fiasco.
Shepherd Farley creating a ‘corrected’ Obama poster would do it, I think.
Profile of the Sociopath
This website summarizes some of the common features of descriptions of the behavior of sociopaths. http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html
* Glibness and Superficial Charm
* Manipulative and Conning
* Grandiose Sense of Self
* Pathological Lying
* Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
* Shallow Emotions
* Incapacity for Love
* Need for Stimulation
* Callousness/Lack of Empathy
* Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
* Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency
* Irresponsibility/Unreliability
* Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
* Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
* Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility
Other Related Qualities:
1. Contemptuous of those who seek to understand them
2. Does not perceive that anything is wrong with them
3. Authoritarian
4. Secretive
5. Paranoid
6. Only rarely in difficulty with the law, but seeks out situations where their tyrannical behavior will be tolerated, condoned, or admired
7. Conventional appearance
8. Goal of enslavement of their victim(s)
9. Exercises despotic control over every aspect of the victim’s life
10. Has an emotional need to justify their crimes and therefore needs their victim’s affirmation (respect, gratitude and love)
11. Ultimate goal is the creation of a willing victim
12. Incapable of real human attachment to another
13. Unable to feel remorse or guilt
14. Extreme narcissism and grandiose
15. May state readily that their goal is to rule the world
That’s a good idea.
*snort/guffaw*
i quit posting there after last week. it’s a joke.
It is unforgivable. In the end, it’s all about Barack Obama and not much about working people.
Sorry I’ve been away for so long. I was out west helping clients set up private foundations (aka the gift that keeps on giving).
We are spending ourselves into third world country status and even Obama recognizes that. There is so much waste in goverment you could cut it by 50% and never notice. But the saving would be real.
The average government employee works less than 14 hours of the 40 hours he actually puts in.
We’ve got to give credit to Obama this time….oh, and Rahm too.
Unfortunately President Obama has done the one thing he could not do he has caused his supporters to feel betrayed. The difference between Republicans supporters and Democratic supporters is the repubs will stay in there and blame dems wherein the dems will never forget and wil demand a change of guard. The president has failed because no one will trust and believe in him anymore. He will never get the votes on the right and he is rapidly diminishing his support on left.
Yeah, there’s plenty of fat. Farm subsidies and NASA – why should liberals give a fuck about that shit?
I couldn’t agree with you more that the massive cuts that we need should come out of defense. But not as part of this spending freeze. #1, we need massive cuts from defense, to be gotten from some new form of the base closing comission, not some tiny cuts in a spending freeze. #2, defense cuts are politically risky, better to do that in a few years while our troops are leaving Iraq and it looks better.
hear, hear – both are ‘fucking retards’ and we should credit them with that!
[Mod Note: Using the "R" word was offensive when Rahm used it and is still offensive when used by others. Please desist in the future]
Obama decided to privatize some portions of NASA. Only in the minds of Americans do middlemen save America money.
epu’ed and re-written
I used to enjoy the way the BMT and FDL had completely different but also valid perspectives on HCR, war, the economy, etc.
But I can’t deal with the magical thinking anymore, so last week was my last post there. I drop by sometimes to see what’s going on, but it’s not a place i take seriously anymore.
Since most of the farm subsidies go to the BigAgra corporate farms, I can agree.
But isn’t it in the genetic make-up for exploration such as NASA? And what other areas of non DoD/”Homeland” Security discretionary spending do you want to see frozen and/or cut?
Jane/FDL should perhaps start campaigning against the Department of Offense’s spending. If we want to keep entitlements, this golden calf has got to be gored.
They will insist on cuts, – so let’s fight for the right ones.
Upper income taxes back to Reagan levels.
Charge Wall Street traders on speculative trades 0.4%.
Reduce America’s global ‘Lilly pad’ footprint.
Cut DOD 20%
etc.
Exactly. The only way to cut BigAgra out is to say “it’s nothing personal, just a spending freeze.”
For more on why I think this spending freeze is great, please read this diary I just posted.
Limit subsidies to small Family Farms by expressly denying them to BigAgra.
I have an older brother ironically named Barry with all these traits. He’s a drunk and drug user as well. He’s enabled by many its a disease.
Making it all even worse, Mr. Freeze was one of the quintessential Arnold Schwarzenegger roles, and one of the worst performances in the history of American cinema to boot.
And we’re seeing one of the worst performances in the history of American politics.
Andy Stern of the SEIU said that the fiscal meltdown was not a result of some natural phenomenon but rather an arson and those responsible for lighting the match need to be held accountable.
Well, the freeze aint putting out the fire.
How about freezing those offshore tax loopholes? Freeze the fat cats on those corporate welfare tax dodges.Start thawing out some frozen assets :
BTW,check out what’s defrosting in the backroom:
January 16,2010
WASHINGTON — Tobacco-industry lawyers met secretly with Solicitor General Elena Kagan in an effort to avoid the government’s last-ditch attempt to extract billions from companies that illegally concealed the dangers of cigarette smoking, the Associated Press has learned.
Four cigarette makers that control nearly 90 percent of U.S. retail cigarette sales have until Feb. 19 to persuade the government not to go to the Supreme Court and ask the justices to step into a landmark 10-year-old racketeering lawsuit.
On behalf of the industry, Washington lawyers Michael Carvin and Miguel Estrada made their pitch against seeking Supreme Court review in a mid-December meeting at the Justice Department with Kagan, according to two Washington lawyers outside the government who are familiar with the meeting in her office.
Justice department lawyers discussed the possibility of seeking billions of dollars from the industry as part of a possible negotiated settlement of the suit, according to one of the private lawyers who learned about this second meeting from participants.The department, the industry or both could request that the Supreme Court take the case, while at the same time asking that the case be delayed while the two sides try to work out a deal.
NOTE: This was published just the week before the Supreme Court ruling that corporations have free speech. Anyone want to wager this won’t go the the SCOTUS/
And wouldn’t it be ironic if big Tobacco money would help underwrite the cost of health reform??
Source: Big Tobacco tries to avert trial | Columbus Dispatch PoliticsJan 17, 2010 … Source: Big Tobacco tries to avert trial … 19 to persuade the government not to go to the Supreme Court and ask the justices to step into …
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/…/Tobacco_case_0117.ART_ART_01-17-10_A3_1PGAU9L.html?...
Shameful.
I guess that Coakley loss sure made those Democrats wake up and see what was what…
Political harikiri. They deserve to lose big in 2010/12. Let’s just hope Republicans don’t have enough of a majority to slam through legislation. But then again, I’m sure whatever Democrats are left will just capitulate to them anyway…
Pai’a girl: welcome to the Lake. I follow you over at the Huff Po.
This guy is a looser,i’m wondering how in the hell my vote and donations
went out to this guy.
Michael Moore has had it with Dems.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/26/michael_moore_on_haiti_the_supreme
does Cornell West count ???
The Obama presidency is over. I think people are starting to intuit that fact but it is very difficult to get one’s mind around it. The ramifications of this premature lame duckery are enormous. Not that we exactly know what they are yet. But they are huge. There is a power vacuum in this country now, caused by the failure of Obama and his administration. Who or what will fill that vacuum?
I shudder to think.