I think the problem is that he (or they) aren’t listening to the people.

How come no questions about Afghanistan? Silly me, I should know that the money used for war isn’t available for jobs, healthcare, etc. Gotta keep the elites rolling in dough.

Ray McGovern at Common Dreams.

What do “the people” know about such technical things as balancing the budget and cutting taxes? Everybody who is anybody (that is, the HAVES) knows that the only way to grow the economy is to cut taxes so the HAVES can have more and can hire more of those lazy, good-for-nothing HAVE NOTs to work for them! /s

And Obama doesn’t listen to us “little people” because he already knows everything, and besides the economyisgrowingjustfineifyoudontbelievemejustlookatwallstreet!

Hi, BT, love the photo!

but Blue Texan, from their perspective, they are running on popular measures – HCR !, FinReg !, Shovel Ready ! Ending Combat !

these were all to be as ‘effective’ as NAFTA was ‘harmless’

I know, I’ll be over here

What you’re missing is first — rich people, whose money outweighs the importance and influence of poor and middle class people have no incentive to want federal spending to create jobs. They love the fact they can offer salaries and hourly rates which are down 20% or more from a few years ago — and they pocket the difference.

Second, they want the Bush tax cuts to be extended because it means tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on their bottom line. So they are calling their friends in Congress and in the White House and promising donations in exchange for those tax cuts.

Thirdly, 95% of the people currently serving in Congress or at the top levels of the Executive branch are wealthy.

Do the math.

Am I missing something?

Only the fact that when you are after votes, it’s smart to do popular things and when you’re after money, it’s smart to do things that are popular among the rich. I’m not sure you can combine the two although both parties seem to have abandoned pretense of the former in favor of embracing the latter. Besides, those fat lobbying gigs await the losers.

Another stimulus? That’s from the lady math. And did Rahm or Axelrod think of this first? Well there you go, it’s just not good policy for the Left Wing of the Republican Party to campaign on. And the Professional Left are losers, booyah!

BT: your “problem” is that you are being logical. Logic doesn’t apply in this equation. OR the “logic” that applies is: what is “good” for the wealthy elites? F*uck the “small” people.

As Becca @6 says, the current state of affairs is just fine with the 3% because salaries have never been lower. Slaves, er, citizens are willing to work for a pittance with no benefits. Happy days are here again.

It all depends on which side of the bread you better. Times have never been better for the 3%. And that’s who pays the politicians. Get with the program, my friend. /s

Hey White House: Four Words:

In Fra Struc Ture.

Learn it. Know it. Live it.

Who wants to work on a road crew, raise your hands.
The simple fact is that the US government has had a consistent policy to export jobs for years, and has involved the various government departments – State, Defense, Labor, and Commerce — in outsourcing American jobs and screwing American workers, so as to increase corporate profits and corporate financing of politicians.
This systemic problem can’t be cured with throwing money at the poor slobs who have been made unemployed by these ongoing, systemic and wrong government policies.

Me too! It must be nap time!

Team Obama and the DNC did not listen to the clear majority on public option – they chose to listen to the rich and corporate.

Why would then not listen to the rich and corporate on the Bush tax cuts?

thanks Blue

I doubt you’re missing anything Big Blue. But if you were I’d say it’s the reality that even if you’re on the right side of a just cause you still have to sell it like a used Taurus. Think “MSM as eBay”

the marketplace of ideas is about marketing, not free markets.

The “bad” guys win because they get what they pay for. The “good” guys get their asses kicked in messaging because they are aarogant and believe people are suckers for the truth. sadly- the new good guys wouldn’t know the truth if it was sent to them in a really fun and out-of-the-box media kit.

isn’t running on popular measures smart?

No. If elected you might have to deliver, and that would piss off your paymasters.

Well … when you say let the Bush tax cuts expire do you mean for everyone or only the wealthy? I don’t think you can pick and choose. If they expire for the wealthy, then they expire for the middle and lower classes as well. I think you have to have a vote for anything else. Got the 60 votes you need to break the filibuster or do you have something else to give – like a cut in SS?

And spending to help the unemployed. Same thing. Got the votes?

They’re listening to their GOoPer hearts and minds, not to anyone with a shred of sanity and a connection to the real world. (Which, at this point, means they’re ignoring at least two-thirds of the voters.)

I’d tell them ‘lead, follow, get out of the way, or be run over by the oncoming train of reality’.

Senate tried to pass a budget resolution allowing for a reconciliation vote on tax cuts.

House doesn’t appear to have a FY2011 budget resolution. WTF?

My thought is to let them ALL expire. That way no votes,
no deals are necessary (Bush tax cuts).However,I would
like to see a table of the impact this will have on
lower and middle class families based on their income
and number of dependents.This table should be widely
distributed to the media.
Another “table” that would be good is one that has
all groups (CATO institute,Hudson etc),which identifies
their orientation and who funds them.Individuals should
also be included (Pete Peterson,Koch Brothers,etc).
This too should be widely distributed. Then members
of the semi-informed public can “google” this table
and quickly judge for themselves just what kind of
propoganda they will hear. A quick flick of the channel
changer then reduces the propaganda value.
Finally,I heard someone the other night on TV say
all we need is to pay service people more. Caregivers
for example should be paid based on their importance.
While this argument has a point,these positions don’t
generally require a high degree of education,so that
it would be easy enough to simply have more “illegals”
take the positions.What we need is to both pay service
people more AND create more technological jobs needing
at least a college education. Incidentally,I think the
fine for employers who hire “illegals” should equal
the difference between what they paid them,and what
they would have paid a U.S. worker (plus extra).
That would remove the incentive to hire them.

They should let them all expire, then, as Atrios suggested, cut taxes for the lower and middle classes and rename them “The Obama tax cuts.”

Table published in San Jose Mercury News.

It’s demos Nov to loose and they just might do that unless o’s people can scare people into voting for them.

If the dems let them all expire it will be another defeat. They will be seen as weak again. They are in a clear pickel. The only path they have is reconciliation, if that can be used. I don’t know the answer to that. Failing that they will extend the tax cuts. Only option open to them unless they make a deal about SS. (I hope not.)

Do you think they have the votes?

Yes.

They don’t need the votes to let them expire. No vote taken equals they expire.

Then, if the R’s want to block the idea for a new tax cut for the lower and middle classes, let them. Election in November, remember.

There is NO CIRCUMSTANCE WHATSOEVER that the Democrats “have” to accept the extension of the tax cuts for the wealthy. If they do, then it will be because the DEMOCRATS wanted them. And you can blame the Republicans till the end of time, but talking about not having the votes, the Republicans don’t have the votes to pass anything.

If they let them expire, then they have to pass another set of taxes. That will need the 60 votes, no? And now they will have a lame duck session. I doubt there is time.

You are right. they do not have to do anything. But if the tax cuts expire that means an increase in taxes for a lot of people. That is not very popular do you think?

They are playing chess but the game IS checkers, and they are too obtuse to figure that out.

PS It will take a small miracle to pull the dems bacon from the fire at this late date by blaming the repugs. But if there is a strategy here, I’m all for it.

No, the smart thing to do is let ALL the Bush tax cuts expire, while introducing Obama tax cuts for the middle class. But the package can be teased out, as clueless Democrats seem intent on doing, so that the middle class tax cuts remaining are still branded with Bush’s name.

Idiots.

What he said.

It means that the top 1 percent might each have to give up a week of vacation in the Cayman Islands or wherever. Whiich isn’t going to hurt them at all. Remember that the marginal tax rate would be going back only to what it was under Clinton, not what it really needs to be to fix anything.

Should be posted on this site (Upper right hand
corner) and kept there.

I don’t think that would be a defeat. We need the
revenue. This should make SS proposed cuts less likely.
Also,it reduces the deficit.So,Obama comes out before
the election and says-(1)no extension of Bush tax cuts
(2) this reduces the deficit and I will not support
cuts to Social Security. Should be some pluses there.
Incidentally,did you see the headline that Wall Street
was thinking of paying bonuses early to avoid paying
taxes in 2011 ?
It’s a question of how much removal of the Bush
tax cuts would hurt the poor and middle class.
(This table should also be posted on FDL’s home page). (In response to bluedott2@24)

Gee, like “a tax on thee, to spend on me” is a novel theme.
Considering that 47% of the nation doesn’t pay income taxes, it’s little wonder the numbers came in that way.

Personally I think you have to go back to Clinton rates for everybody. If not, you’ll get demagogued for class warfare. You can’t credibly call it deficit reduction, because the most you can raise is 2% of this years deficit.

I’m not sure who Team Obama and the DNC is listening to, but if they listen to the American people, maybe their prospects wouldn’t look so bleak in November.

They are listening to conservatives and labeling all others as “extremist left-wing radicals.” Even though the middle understands that there is a place for sane government and sane capitalism in this country.

I say Progressives should vote for Democrats in November, but then begin a concerted, organized movement to get sitting Progressive Democrats office-holders to move to a new third party that reflects the real concerns of the middle class in this country. The Republicans have fallen out of the sane tree and are drowning in the sea of crazy. It won’t be long before that party is dead as a door-nail.

PROGRESSIVES! CARPE DIEM! Now is the time to seize on this opportunity and start a new party! Let the Democrats represent the status quo!

We need a party that isn’t afraid to: protect social security, reform campaign finance, stand up to the ever-enlarging Pentagon, stand up for human dignity and human rights, stand up against corporations to protect our savings, jobs, health, safety and the environment! A party that understands that the middle class is under assault and the answers do not always lie with multi-national corporations and Wall Street! That understands that there is a REAL threat to the future of the world’s environment! That the answers to our real world problems should be answered with Reason and Science. That the American ideal is to respect those who do not share our beliefs — not demonize them! And that religion is a private matter for the individual, not a basis for government.

We need a new party NOW!

I don’t think we have this one figured out yet. If we let them expire, then you have to be very sure you can pass middle class tax cuts, I have not heard anything that says this can be done with the votes we have now.

What do you think this is; a representative democracy?! Oh, wait …