Nice, soft ball question. But as we found out with Sarah Palin there aren’t any.
–updated– Speaking of Sarah, it really does look as if Donald Trump’s media blitz and poll explosion has team Sarah concerned. David Weigel did screen captures of the tweet blizzard of Mansour on Palin’s Saturday speech. Palin came out of hiding after her “blood libel” embarrassment to try to gain some ground back, but mostly because Donald Trump is getting in the way of her busting on to the presidential scene and having the stage to herself.
Anyway… about Trump, MSNBC’s Savannah Guthrie asked Mr. Trump if there was a right to privacy in the constitution. He thought and then said, “I guess there is.”
When Ms. Guthrie went on to ask him how this squares with his “pro life” position it’s clear that Donald Trump not only didn’t get the correlation between privacy and Roe v. Wade, but that it never crossed his mind.
“Well, that’s a pretty strange way of getting to pro-life. I mean, it’s a very unique way of asking about pro-life. What does that have to do with privacy? How are you equating pro-life with privacy?” – MSNBC
If you want to go down Donald’s rabbit hole, he does have a point. What does privacy have to do with “pro-life”? Out of the mouths of the billionaire, because I’d say being “pro-life” isn’t about privacy at all, it’s about believing freedom is just for men.
It’s also ironic that believing in a right to privacy is the conservative position to have, which likely won’t make progressives and liberals comfortable, but keeping the government out of our personal decisions is actually a conservative viewpoint.
Donald Trump has one way out of it and it’s to admit he made a stupid mistake. If he tries to paste over this in any way it will be worse than his initial answer. But it sure should send an alarm through his system about how much basic political information he doesn’t know.
…or more likely that he simply hasn’t learned how not to walk into political buzz saws with the correct talking point to reach your own constituency. Though if Donald was really serious he’d understand that Independents believe in a woman’s right to privacy. It’s basic civil rights stuff for any enlightened human.
After the interview, Obama pointed out that he doesn’t like an interviewer challenging his comments. “Let me finish my answers the next time we do an interview, all right?” he said. – WFAA.com – News 8, Texas
There is nothing more infuriating than being interviewed and not being allowed to finish your answers before you’re interrupted. No doubt for a president it’s even more annoying. The other side of this is that powerful political figures, particularly presidents, will filibuster if reporters don’t stay on them. It looks like a lot of people picking gnat crap out of pepper, but I’ll let you be the final judge.
Mediaite goes with the big headline: Barack Obama Chides Local Reporter For His Interruptive And Combative Interview.
Politico’s Mike Allen perfectly sets up the point of the presidential interviews:
The White House sees these interviews as a way to cut through Beltway chatter and give the president an opportunity to talk to Americans about his vision for the country, in a venue that’s familiar to them. Obama’s communicators choose stations from different regions of the country, with a particular emphasis on stations that have content-sharing relationships with other stations in the region For example, today’s interview with WFAA in Dallas will also be seen by viewers in Austin, San Antonio and Houston. With the reporters invited to come see the president, the interview becomes more of an “event” and is heavily promoted as a White House interview.
These interviews also illustrate the tools an incumbent president has for accruing political benefits at the same time he’s doing his job. Colorado and North Carolina will be crucial swing states in 2012, Obama’s team is looking at Texas as a way to expand its map in 2012, and Indiana was a real coup as a red-state pickup for Obama in 2012. Obama has sat for several of these local-interview clusters lately: On March 15, he talked education reform with stations in New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia. On March 18, he previewed his Latin America trip with stations in North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania. All five of those states will get heavy attention from both parties in the 2012 election – and are getting early presidential love now.
I’m not seeing the “testiness” or a problem with the reporter’s supposed “interruptive” style.
There is a clear attempt by Pres. Obama to let the visiting reporter know who he’s dealing with, which doesn’t really bother me at all.
Pres. Obama is a charming guy and there’s no reason he couldn’t have said what he said using the same words with a lighter touch, maybe even smile. But this isn’t the 2008 Obama. He is grayer and “dinged up,” as he recently said himself, so some of that wear is going to show, which is what I think we’re seeing in this interview.
UPDATE: Barack Obama hasn’t gotten this type of treatment. Hope they have their seat belts on at the White House. If Republicans and the Right are jumping off the line this quickly now they’re going to be absolutely exhausted by October 2012. Screen capture via Politico, with a helpful headline “Nobody Interrupts POTUS.”
When Republicans and GOP-leaners were asked who they would vote for in a primary or caucus, only former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney registered in double digits, with 16 percent. More than double that number expressed no opinion and an additional 12 percent volunteered “none” or “no one.” Businessman Donald Trump (8 percent), former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (6 percent) and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (5 percent) were the only other names volunteered by more than 2 percent of respondents. – WashingtonPost/ABC Poll
More importantly, last week’s speech was on a topic — the deficit/debt — that most Americans don’t find as important as the economy/jobs. And in the Post/ABC poll, Obama took a hit with independents, with 55% of them disapproving of his job.
Independents got what they wanted in the polls last November, which wasn’t sending a message they wanted Republicans, but they wanted anything other than what was going on at the time. I believe this feeling continues to grow among everyone interested in politics. It’s why there was a place for Donald Trump to rise in the first place, no matter where he ends up. The economic situation is brutal, which was always going to hit Pres. Obama, especially once he adopted Republican ideas that never work, but in an era of declining political party loyalty it makes him even more exposed.
The trends continue to reveal people have lost their loyalty to political party. This is the most volatile element for Pres. Obama, because it wipes out the traditional “lesser of two evils” reaction voters have had at the polls going back to at least the 1980s. Many voters now see all establishment politicians as part of the problem and no longer a “lesser of two evils.”
It’s also why Obama’s speech, which was laid out as Dem. versus GOP fell flat, even as most Democrats, progressives and even Paul Krugman applauded. Since Obama has basically adopted much of the Republican economic message, hailing bipartisanship along the way, to suddenly couch his views as a battle of them versus us not only sounds false, but part of the problem that people perceive got us in this mess. But since Barack Obama refuses to set out his own polices and run on them this is the Democratic hand, which is weak played like this.
As Donald Trump has proven, blunt talk in troubled times goes a long way when everyone else is floating never ending babble. As George W. Bush should have taught everyone, the American people will follow anyone who sounds sure of himself and believes in his own purpose. Bush beat Democrats twice by being wrong and strong, but weak and right is never a winner; when you’re weak and wrong it’s even worse.
Lawrence O’Donnell went after Trump’s 25% tariff on Chinese goods last night, though I never believed that marker was anything but to get people’s attention. However, Mr. O’Donnell is wrong about the general message, because in what Trump is saying there is a grain of Reaganism from someone who is believable on finance. Trump’s chosen what Reagan did in ’80 to go after Jimmy Carter. The talking point that America isn’t respected and is a laughing stock, with other nations disrespecting us. Everyone senses that America is slipping from greatness, with the S&P downgrade, whether you buy it or not, a powerful symbol, which doesn’t require truth to have an impact, because it bolsters how people are feeling.
It’s clear that Republicans have finally awaken from their 2012 stupor, driven solely by the fact that Donald Trump’s popularity scares the crap out of them. We saw the same thing with Sarah Palin, but Trump has a lot more gravitas on the issues he’s picking than Sarah Palin, who simply isn’t as good on camera, because she can’t stay on message and answer questions from anyone, anywhere, any time. Why she’s given so much latitude on her media paranoia from her fans is beyond me; but then that’s the era we’re in.
“Then there is Trump,” he continued. “Trump is Al Sharpton of the Republican Party – provocateur and clown, unserious. I think he’s going to harm the party if he runs for the same reason Sharpton harmed the Democrats. I can now see all the mail coming in – address it to me, not to Bret. He is not responsibility — which means in the debate he will be up there I think he will run, not just a trial run. He’ll be up in the debate, and like Sharpton he will monopolize discussion and draw it away on issues that are irrelevant like Obama’s birth and that can only hurt the party.” – Daily Caller
If Donald Trump is the “Al Sharpton of the Republican Party” what does that make the Tea Party candidates like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann? Once again the Republican establishment is being challenged, but this time it’s from the big business wing of their own contingent.
As for the Democrats, Pres. Obama has muddled his message and the marketing of it so badly that nobody believes anything he’s saying at this point. He should be glad Republicans are running amok right now, but nobody in camp Obama should get too cocky. Out of chaos usually comes resolution.
“I think it’s a very bad thing for Cantor to have done,” Trump said, “because I’ll tell you, people love this issue especially in the Republican Party. And there’s something to what we’re saying.” – Donald Trump
This is going to make the Tea Party Right and the 38% birther crowd that reportedly won’t vote for any candidate unless he or she believes in birtherism royally frustrated. Their gal betrayed them.
“As a former Secretary of State (sic), I do not support designating one person as the gatekeeper to the ballot for a candidate, which could lead to arbitrary or politically-motivated decisions,” Brewer wrote in her veto message to House Speaker Kirk Adams.
“In addition, I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for President (sic) of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth to submit their “early baptismal or circumcision certificates” among other records to the Arizona Secretary of State. This is a bridge too far,” Brewer wrote.
You’re guess is as good as mine why she brought up baptismal and circumcision.
Brewer also nixed guns in schools, citing that the bill didn’t define the “public right of way.”
Why can’t Republicans just say these ideas are crazy, because of the lack of merits? The so-called birther bill is about delegitimizing Pres. Obama, instead of taking him on through the issues. As for guns in school, the people who came up with that one are nuts, with a special side of crazy for the NRA, who is always somewhere in the picture.
Ross Douthat struck another blow against fact-based arguments when he told readers that the median family of four has an income of $94,900. Douthat warned that if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire in 24 years the median family would be paying a marginal tax rate of 39 percent on their labor income.
If Douthat wanted to base this argument in reality then he would have had to start with a median income for a family of four of $75,700. This is what the Census Bureau reports. Douthat overstated the median income for a family of four by more than 25 percent. But hey, it’s for a good cause, he wants to keep taxes low.
This is news? Evidently the Republicans never heard of Alice Palmer.
Taking on the very obvious first, Republicans are whining because Pres. Obama supposedly gave a “mean-spirited partisanship, gross misrepresentations of fact, and sophistry of the lowest sort concerning Republicans’ alleged desire to hurt old people, the poor and mentally challenged children.” That he did it with Rep. Paul Ryan sitting in the front row was just too much for them to take.
This from a crew who believe that weaning seniors off a guaranteed benefit and putting them on an unequal voucher program is good policy for people who don’t have adequate means to help themselves. That the environment is expendable, who think freedom is just for men and that women’s wombs should be wards of the state (especially if you’re a poor woman), who want to keep expanding the Pentagon while bombing countries that haven’t attacked us, who think separate and unequal justice for people suspected of crimes is good enough, and that blue collar, waitresses, truckers and people in hard labor jobs should have to wait to retire, while the rich are protected from high taxes and corporations get breaks because they’re more important than government programs that offer services for people, including building infrastructure, repairing buildings and roads, but also making things that will make us more competitive, including high speech rail across this country.
Obama then spent Thursday evening regaling an audience of Democratic donors with what he thought were off-the-record insider jabs about his recent budget negotiations with House Republicans, including this cheap shot at Ryan: “When Paul Ryan says his priority is to make sure he’s just being America’s accountant, that he’s being responsible, I mean this is the same guy that voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the Bush tax cuts that were unpaid for, voted for the prescription drug bill that cost as much as my health care bill — but wasn’t paid for. So it’s not on the level.” The reality is that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars under President Bush were regularly funded by Congress, claiming tax cuts must be “paid for” is a hoary piece of Democratic class-warfare demagoguery, and the prescription drug plan Ryan supported cost half as much as the Democratic alternative then on the table. Such fact-free commentary is to be expected from blind partisans, but not the president of the United States.
We need a lot more demagoguery, put on top of rhetoric that starts a real class war, because working people are getting screwed by both political parties, neither of whom represent the working class anymore. It’s long overdue that politicians start a rhetorical war against the “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%,” to quote Stiglitz, because the super rich are doing just fine, as are the corporations like GE and others who don’t pay taxes in a country where a little corporate patriotism is due.
The other hilarious point about the Examiners Obama’s a Meanie editorial is that these nitwits seem not to recognize another campaign speech when they see it. I’m sorry to bring up Barack Obama’s record, because I know how the media at large gets annoyed when someone reminds people, but Obama is one of the toughest, hard boiled and ruthless campaigners around. There is nothing he won’t do or say in pursuit of the presidency.
Where were these people during the primaries of 2008?
But pretending like Republicans and the Right aren’t scurrilous election mode vipers is really too much. People laugh at the birther issue, but there really isn’t anything more dangerous or reprehensible than trying to delegitimize a sitting president. This is a regular pattern with Republicans, because they tried to do the same thing with William Jefferson Clinton. The difference being that Clinton came in after Reagan, with Republicans and much of the Washington elite incensed about the Hicks from the Sticks usurping the conservative king’s domain, while Barack Obama came in with the people at his feet, the press on his side and the world waiting for Mr. Hope to deliver “fundamental change.”
Besides, as we’ve learned in Pres. Obama’s first term, it’s not like he’s going to deliver on anything he says as Candidate Obama.
So Republicans, relax, be happy. There’s never been an election where you didn’t give as good as you got. I’m sure 2012 won’t be any different.
Real estate mogul Donald Trump touted his net worth as a selling point over likely presidential contender and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. “I’m a much bigger business man and have (a) much, much bigger net worth. I mean, my net worth is many, many, many times Mitt Romney,” Trump said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I built a very big net worth and I’d like to put that ability … to work for this country.” – Trump: I’m ‘much bigger’ than Romney
Watching the Right come unglued as their circus primaries unwind is the most fun I’ve had watching politics in a very long time. Seeing Sean Hannity’s face fall when Mr. Trump criticized Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget on Thursday was a priceless moment on Fox TV. Now that Donald Trump is “leading” in a meaningless poll of mostly unannounced candidates, the Tea Party peanut gallery is chiming in with something developing that could, though there is still no movement yet, but could help nudge Sarah Palin into the 2012 presidential race. If Trump would run as an Independent then, well, no matter who wins the Republican primary, we might actually have an interesting election, especially now that Sarah Palin’s sounding like a candidate again.
First the establishment came for Sarah, now they’re after Donald Trump. Over a week ago I wrote he’s the the un-Obama. Rich Lowry picks up that thread, as the Republican Right begin they’re onslaught to take Trump down a notch, because the entire Republican field is making the GOP look like a collection of seriously wacky nitwits.
Trump wants to be the anti-Obama. Obama is too soft; Trump is tough. Obama knows nothing about business; Trump is God’s gift to American capitalism. Obama is painfully thoughtful in his affect; Trump is brash. They share much more important qualities in common, though. Like the Obama of 2008, Trump is an arrogant celebrity with a talent for branding who knows much less than he thinks and vastly overestimates his ability to fix the country’s problems. We’ve been here before. Give me humble. Give me boring. Give me wonky. Give me anything but another celebrity apprentice.
Yesterday Andrew Breitbart tweeted a couple of missives in support of Palin:
My goal is to intro David Mamet & other prominent @SarahPalinUSA supporters to Palins. In Hollywood there are tons.
I’m still waiting for the wrong position @SarahPalinUSA has taken. Or idea she misstated. They hate her because she is right.
Sean Hannity’s mini-me, Mark Levin, squealed like a man worried about things getting away from his fellow wingnut warrior, going on about Trump’s “record” as a private citizen. It seems the Tea Party crowd is all for citizen activists unless it’s an independent person finding fault with someone who deserves it. For one that would be George W. Bush, which Donald Trump is on record as saying was the worst president ever. Like many Americans, in fact the majority as it eventually turned out, Trump also was furious about being lied to over Iraq.
Mr. Trump told Rush Limbaugh yesterday (audio) that he might be surprised about what he decides. The tone in Mr. Trump’s voice was mischievous enough to tease he’s closer to running than not. Again, I’m still not convinced, though his interviews this week sound far more aggressive than he has earlier, no doubt bolstered by the polls.
But the Tea Party freaking out over Donald Trump catching fire means something is shifting. The establishment elite had to eventually speak up, so that was a given.
What the wingnut crew doesn’t seem to understand is that Breitbart and the mini-me Levin tape, as well as the CNN tape with Blitzer, only makes Donald Trump more attractive to conservative Independents who will no way vote for Obama or Mitt Romney.
Donald Trump’s best bet has always been as an Independent, with a trial Republican balloon the way to get there. However, therein lies the conundrum. There’s really no path to winning as an Independent, which means his pledge of only running if he can win is put to the test by the backlash going on right now by the Tea Party who are balking that Trump could take the Republican nomination, which is up for grabs.
On the sidelines sits Sarah Palin. I’m guessing with Trump’s rise, but also Michele Bachmann taking some energy out of Iowa, Palin’s receiving a lot of fan mail and encouragement from Tea Party people to please consider running in 2012. It’s also her only real shot, as politics doesn’t wait for anyone. Her fans yelping… The Tea Party needs you, Sarah! Michele Bachmann can’t win and we can’t let Trump use our movement! Run, Sarah, run! This is the chant she’s been waiting for, the push she’ll need to move, because she can’t disappoint the people.
Or maybe this whole thing will end with Mitt Romney winning the nomination, but I just don’t see how he makes it through the primaries. Does the Republican establishment still have that kind of power? We’ll soon see.
On this day in history, April 17, 1961, approximately 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro
Here are some links on this lovely Spring morning:
~The WSJ has an unusually good piece about the dangerous brinkmanship going on between Saudi Arabia and Iran. While Iran is certainly going to take advantage of unrest in the region, it’s also clear that every tin-pot dictatorship is trying to blame their people’s justified, long-overdue demands for democracy and economic opportunity as being the result of outside meddling, whether from the U.S., Iran, Israel etc. If every there was a time fundamentally re-thinking our strategy in the Middle East and doing something about our dangerous addiction to the region’s oil, it’s now.
~In a sea of depressing news, here is a good story- Japanese animal lovers band together and risk radiation exposure to save stranded dogs in the evacuation zone by the disabled nuclear plant.
~Speaking of Libya, it was a bloody day in Misrata on Saturday and the Liban Rebels are growing frustrated with NATO for not doing more to stop Gadhafi’s attacks. This problem was entirely foreseeable- to think all we had to do was institute a no-fly zone and then let the untrained, poorly-armed Rebels fight Gadhafi was naive. It was obvious early on that if we went in to help we’d have to be doing all the heavy lifting until Gadhafi’s forces were destroyed.
~Whael Ghonim, the Egyptian Google executive that started the Facebook page that helped give voice to the Egyptian Revolution, blasted Western elites and others for propping up Mubarak for so long. Irony alert- he was speaking at a panel at the International Monetary Fund (ie. to elites).
~Donald Trump has a friend in Fox News’ Sean Hannity, who is more than willing to spread the birther conspiracies and “Obama is a secret Muslim” nonsense. However, if Trump ever decides to get off the crazy train and start talking about serious issues like currency manipulation and trade imbalances with respect to China, he’ll find his new-found friend will jump on the next passing wingnut ship without ever looking back.
~When are we going to have an honest, in-depth national debate about Afghanistan? The administration is already trying to sell us on the idea that things are “improving but fragile”- in other words, we can’t possibly leave anytime soon! They are also preemptively warning that they expect much more violence. Well, they are right on that front. When is the media going to start to confront Gates, Obama, Clinton with the reality that Karzai, who likely stole the election, is playing both sides while lining his pockets and international bank accounts with U.S. taxpayer money?
~Speaking of Afghanistan, the administration must be pleased with this Washington Post piece which appeared late last night- “In Afghanistan’s south, signs of progress in three districts signal a shift.” Who are the main sources for this potted plant story? General Petraeus and “other military officials.”
~Ok, while we are arguing about federal funding of planned parenthood and NPR, Congress approved $205 million in aid (in addition to the billions already set aside) on Friday for an Israeli missile defense system. I’m a little confused as to why this was done right now when Congress has already approved a record-setting amount of aid for Israel not just for this year or next, but for the next 10 years. And I’m not just picking on Israel here- the same goes for other countries- Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan etc. At a time when Americans are being asked to sacrifice in a HUGE way, we need to re-think some of our foreign aid – I don’t advocate totally slashing the foreign aid budget because it’s an important aspect of our diplomacy and there are both humanitarian and strategic reasons for it. Nor do I advocate totally gutting aid to Israel. It’s nice that Israel has a nationalized health care system and a growing economy while here in the U.S. the GOP thinks federal money spent on health care is evil socialism. I think that at time when Congress is taking a machete to the budget and claiming every dollar spent has to be offset, I think it’s fair to demand that everyone sacrifice at least a little bit. Nothing should be exempted from the debate.
~Down with Tyranny has a spot-on post about how the GOP plan for education is to turn it into yet another corporate profit-mill. But first they have to destroy the teacher’s unions.
~In case you missed it, Dana Milbank had a self-serving piece in the WaPo where he bemoans Obama being “rudderless” without Pelosi watching his political left flank. This from the guy who has spent two years mocking the liberal base and warning that Obama should move to the center (ie. the right).
“When the history of the Tea Party is written, what you accomplished here will not be forgotten. And the 2012 election begins here,” she affirmed. To drive the point home, Palin recalled the Green Bay Packers’ 2011 Super Bowl win, saying, “What better place to call out the liberal left and let them know, Mr. President, game on!”Politico
It was short and stinging, with the woman of 2010 letting everyone know that she’s still around.
Andrew Breitbart was Palin’s opening act, introducing her in a speech that defended the Tea Party against racism charges, talked about civility, then told the labor activists to “Go to hell. Go to hell. Go to hell.” This is very typical of Mr. Breitbart, whom I have had several back and forths with on Twitter. One of his first instincts when exchanging tweets was to go after my hair.
Immediately after Palin took the stage she started by teeing off on Speaker John Boehner’s budget deal, then kept on going but not for long. This was a quick rhetorical bomb to let everyone know that Donald Trump won’t be representing the Tea Party any time soon.
“Then after some politics as usual and accounting gimmicks we found out — ya know that $38 billion? We’re actually borrowing that $38 billion,” Palin said. “That is not courage, that is capitulation.”
The former Alaska governor also painted President Barack Obama as unserious about cutting government spending. “Our president isn’t leading, he’s punting on this debt crisis,” Palin said. “Win the future? The only future he wants to win is his reelection.”
Does this sound like someone getting ready to run for office or what?
“A pension is a promise that must be kept,” she added. “Scott Walker understands this. He understands that states must be solvent to keep their promises. He’s not trying to hurt union members. Hey folks, he’s trying to save your jobs.”
A pension is a promise… Sarah Palin, your sensible union representative, who can keep unions alive, at least that’s the message she’s trying to float.
But Palin wasn’t alone. AP reports “hundreds” of labor activists greeted the Tea Party rally in Wisconsin with, “Hey-hey, ho-ho, Scott Walker has got to go!” and “Recall Walker!”
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Sarah Palin out revving up Tea Party activists and looking like a leader of them. Shaking off her “blood-libel” gaffe after Tucson, she’s been on Fox, but had a pretty low profile, no doubt hoping everyone will forget and I betcha they have.
Something happened when Donald Trump started sucking all the oxygen in his direction, coming in first in two polls, with Sarah losing altitude. As I wrote yesterday, it’s just possible Trump is pulling her in, perhaps sooner or maybe she saw her chance slipping and it woke her up.
Republicans seem to finally sense Trumps just might mean business (see Karl Rove’s statement) and with his immediate connection with people shown through poll numbers against other unannounced candidates, it proves he just might cause other wannabes a problem, including Sarah Palin.
None of this is good for the GOP establishment or Mitt Romney, who may be the competent conservative, but crazy is what’s selling right now.
Nobody expected Donald Trump to connect. Nobody was taking him seriously. Palin has that in common with Trump, because no one takes her seriously either.
Texan4Hillary offers his perspective as a movement progressive activist.
Robin Hood in Reverse. Senator Sanders lets the D.C. elite know that at least one member of the Congress gets it.
The Progressive Caucus, smarting from it’s mistakes on healthcare negotiations, this time is confronting Obama and the GOP head on. They have crafted their own budget, The People’s Budget, and have submitted it as legislation to be considered by the House. They held a press conference the same day Obama did his deficit speech and are promising to be very aggressive with their plan in the weeks ahead.
Rep. Grijalva was on Democracy Now April 14 on the progressives’ budget. Love how he calls it “what the Democratic budget should be.”:
Their plan is that the most Americans want, plus it would put us into surpluses in 2021. How?
It starts with undoing the Bush tax code and then enacts real change:
• Allow the Bush-era tax cuts to expire at the end of 2012, but extend marriage relief, credits, and incentives for children, families, and education • Immediately rescind the upper-income tax cuts in December’s tax deal • Index the AMT for inflation for a decade (the AMT patch is fully paid for) • Schakowsky millionaire tax rates proposal (adding 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, and 49% top rates) • Tax all capital gains and qualified dividends as ordinary income • Progressive estate tax (Sanders’ estate tax, repeal of Kyl-Lincoln) • Limit the rate at which itemized deductions can reduce tax liability to 28%for high earners • Replace the tax exclusion for interest on state and local bonds with a subsidy for the issuer
Corporate Tax Reform • Tax U.S. corporate foreign income as it is earned • Eliminate corporate welfare for oil, gas, and coal companies • Enact a financial crisis responsibility fee • Financial speculation tax (derivatives, foreign exchange) • Reinstate Superfund taxes
Health Care • Enact a public option • Negotiate Rx payments with pharmaceutical companies • CMS program integrity and other Medicare and Medicaid savings in the president’s budget • Prevent a cut in Medicare physician payments for a decade (maintain doc fix)
Social Security • Raise the taxable maximum on the employee side to 90% of earnings and eliminate the taxable maximum on the employer side • Increase benefits based on higher contributions on the employee side
Defense Savings • End overseas contingency operations emergency supplementals starting in Fiscal Year 2013, providing $170 billion in FY2012 to fund redeployment, while saving more than $1.8 trillion from current law spending levels over ten years. • Reduce baseline defense spending by reducing strategic capabilities, conventional forces, procurement, and R&D programs
Comprehensive Jobs Program • Invest $1.45 trillion in job creation, education, clean energy and broadband infrastructure, housing, and R&D • Infrastructure bank • Surface transportation reauthorization bill ($213 billion)
The entire budget is posted here and well worth the read. Progressives have interjected their own budget into the fight and the more it can be publicized the better. We have the Ryan budget, the Obama budget and the Progressive budget. And it is high time!
In Washington this weekend 10,000 grassroots enviromental reforming youth leaders descend for their annual convention and lobby days. This is our future for the progressive clean energy cause. Al Gore, Van Jones and others spoke to them Friday night. They will go to the Hill and press Obama and the leaders there to act on energy reforms.
What they are about:
As they come to D.C. many of these young people express disallusionment with Obama but a will to push him and create a movement to ensure change happens:
…while they supported Obama during the 2008 presidential elections, they are still waiting for him to live up to promises he made on the campaign trail.
“I traveled to over six states for President Obama during the 2008 election,” said Courtney Hight, former Obama campaign staffer and co-director of the Energy Action Coalition, the organization that is mobilizing this year’s Power Shift conference. “I want the president that I campaigned for to show up. It’s time for the leader of the free world to stand up to big polluters and protect the public health of the American people.”
…”We like Barack Obama; we like that guy,” said Hight. “It’s just more frustrating than anything … We also know that it can’t just be him,” she added, “which is why we’re so focused on movement building.”
The biennial conference has a history of pushing Democratic leadership to embrace bolder environmental policies. Speaking at Power Shift in 2007, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) was shouted down before 6,000 fervent climate activists. “We want more! We want more!” they chanted. The young conference-goers demanded more drastic carbon-dioxide-emissions reductions. “80 by 2050! 80 by 2050!”
Gore spoke to them , calling the green fight akin to the fights of the 1960s for civil rights:
Gore said the Civil Rights movement was fueled by youth questioning their parents about legal discrimination, and he drew a link to climate change.
“When they could not answer that moral question coming straight from the conscience of young people, that is when the laws began to change,” Gore said. “You need to ask, ‘tell me again why its al right to put 90 million tons of global warming pollution into the atmosphere every 24 hours, 20 percent of it will still be there in 20,000 years.’”
“You need to ask that question and other related questions. Don’t they see the evidence, don’t they hear what the scientists are saying, do they actually believe this lying from the large carbon polluters, that the scientists are making this up?” Gore added….
“It’s not all right. And it’s not all right to borrow all of the money from China to buy the oil from Saudi Arabia-dominated global oil markets, and then burn it in ways that destroy our future. We need to change every bit of that,” Gore added, while stating that low-carbon technologies bring jobs with them.
Gore steered clear of criticizing the White House directly … But he noted that, “We have not yet done enough. Our leaders have not yet done enough. Our country has not yet done enough. The world has not yet done enough,” before adding “we can solve this.”
Read about all the events they have going on, see pics of their meetings and more here .
Students are protesting around America to save their teachers and get an education. A impressive one was done in Texas at Katy (Houston suburb). These kids are mad as hell and won’t forget what the Right is doing to them:
Hundreds of students in the Katy school district walked out of class Thursday to protest teacher layoffs caused by a feared $50 million budget shortfall.
The two largest gatherings were outside Morton Ranch and Cinco Ranch high schools, but students from other campuses also rallied around the roughly 350 Katy Independent School District employees notified this week that their positions were being eliminated.
At the corner of Cinco Ranch and Commercial Center boulevards, about 100 students carried posters that read “Save our Teachers” and “Honk for Teachers.”
“They’re firing a lot of the good teachers when they don’t need to,” said Casey Burson, a 15-year-old sophomore at Seven Lakes High….
The protests were so intense the head of Katy ISD met the students and even Governor Perry made comments:
Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday, however, that walking out of class isn’t the right response from students.
“There are better ways to send your message than walking out of the classroom,” he said. “The fact of the matter is, I feel quite confident that the Texas Legislature will fund our schools appropriately. At the end of the day, being in the classroom is a lot more important to them than protesting, particularly during school hours. If they want to come here on Saturdays and Sundays or after school, have at it.” …
Katy Superintendent Alton Frailey met Thursday morning with a small group of students at Morton Ranch High School to address their concerns, Stanford said.
The 350 Katy educators who are losing their jobs at the end of the school year were notified in person this week.
“We felt it was better to meet with them rather than give them a letter,” Stanford said. “Some were very emotional, and they had the option to go home if they wanted to and let the substitutes take over.”
Students’ reaction to the news, he added, “is a testament to how much our kids care. They love their teachers and they’ve got great relationships.”
Stanford said none of the students will face discipline.
Gio Smith, a Cinco Ranch freshman, wasn’t worried.
“If there is punishment,” the 15-year-old said, “it was worth it.”…
Here is some great video of the protests from CBS Houston affiliate KHOU and YouTube vids made by students.
Congressman Kucinich lays down progressive economics for Obama in this Real News interview this week. I enjoyed it because he challenges Obama so directly on the issues from the Left. He urges Obama be challenged on “his corporatist agenda” and says Obama is much closer to the Republicans than the Democrats.
Proud Gay Termite by TX Stonewall Democrat Erin Moore
Neither lack of proof, nor proof to the contrary, will stop some on the Right from making claims about the alleged powerful-homosexual-special-rights-activists-seeking-to-destroy-the-fabric-of-our-society agenda. So no surprise “social issues” are taking their Rightful place in the 2012 election cycle, including the Anti-Gay Agenda (AGA).
Recently I mentioned Bexar County, Texas, Democratic Party Chair Dan Ramos, who has received much attention for his description of the Stonewall Democrats, and LGBTs in general. It included gays are like “white termites who have infiltrated the party much like termites infiltrate your house.”
According to the Dallas Voice, the State Democratic Executive Committee “unanimously approved a resolution … censuring Dan Ramos and calling for him to resign.” At a meeting of the SDEC, “many … wore rainbow triangles depicting a wood-eating termite in solidarity with the Stonewall Democrats.” Credit to SDEC member and Texas Stonewall Democratic representative Erin Moore for the design of the Proud Gay Termite.
Ramos’ extreme language is not that unusual. While the more zealous voices are not representative of many on the conservative side, they are persistent. And their influence is still a factor – many Republican Electeds still make the case against DADT repeal, even more argue that DOMA is needed, and with the reintroduction of ENDA (which is highly unlikely to move forward), “special rights” language is inevitable.
A recent conference (at Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va.), “The Awakening,” provides another example of the Anti-Gay Agenda. Ramos and his termite label have nothing on these people. From Sofia Resnick, The American Independent:
The first step for Christian conservatives to win the war against the gay movement is to rebrand the terms, said a few panelists at this weekend’s The Awakening conference … .
‘Gay’ is a left-wing socio-political construct designed to create grounds for fundamental rights [based on] whimsical capricious desires,’ said Ryan Sorba, chairman of the Young Conservatives of California. ‘Gay identity does not exist.’
Sorba offers some alternatives to the whimsical “gay” identity: “Same-sex attraction.” A kinder, gentler version. “Same-sex intercourse.” It’s all about the “gay sex,” of course. “Sodomy.” Introducing religious-y language. “Unnatural vice.” This seems something of a let-down, but it does make me wonder what the “natural” vices include. And if those are okay.
Later, someone suggests that the homosexuals should be referred to as “anti-Christian.” I’m a bit surprised that “anti-American” wasn’t mentioned, but then, given the mindset here, good Christian = good American.
Republicans are losing the “war” waged by the “homosexual lobby,” Sorba said. “Our movement decided to abandon the real issue of homosexual behavior,” and focus on “the word marriage.” As Resnick summarizes, “For the panelists, the biggest ‘gay threat’ is not just over Christian ideology but over national security.”
Matt Barber, the panel’s moderator and a dean at Liberty University … made a case that promoting gays in the military presents a national threat because most gay military men will be more focused on their attraction to other men than on their military duties, saying it comes down to the soldier who ‘has your back or the one who wants to rub it.’
Revealing just how up to date he is, Barber also “brought up the argument that the high rate of HIV and AIDS in the gay community presents a health risk when it comes to battlefield transfusions.” Not to be outdone, Robert Knight, executive director for the American Civil Rights Union said, “Homosexuality is the greatest threat to the criminalization of Christianity.”
Panelist Greg Quinlan, president of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays, identifies another indication of the power of the back-rubbing gay termite: “The homosexual lobby is shamelessly hijacking this bullying issue,” inserting “a sexual anarchist agenda into public schools under the guise of bullying.” I told you Ramos has nothing on these people. LGBTs have an inordinate amount of power. So the less powerful kids screaming “Fag!” and “Dyke!” are only protecting themselves.
At one point, “Barber called same-sex orientation ‘hedonism repackaged,’” and regarding the “T” in LGBT, delivered this not clever comment: “It’s the emperor wears no clothes meets George Orwell. Why stop at transgender identity? Why not species identity – someone wants to get in touch with their inner horse.”
I’m still trying to work out same-sex orientation as “hedonism repackaged.” All I can come up with is that the powerful homosexuals even managed to subvert the real meaning of “hedonism.”
Another familiar argument from Sorba: “A civil right that conflicts with natural right is no right at all. The [homosexual] behavior is immoral. It divides you from truth … . If you don’t have truth, you have nothing but fake.”
Interestingly, when an audience member asked, “‘What are going to be the rights of we homophobes?’, explaining her use of the word ‘homophobe’ was sarcastic,” the panel members said, “they just have to wait for the homosexuals to ‘self-destruct.’” That seems rather wimpy. Or maybe it’s a way of preserving the “issue” for future AGA relevancy.
Panel member Cynthia Dunbar, assistant law professor at Liberty University, managed a little “love the sinner, hate the sin” language. “We have to reach out to those trapped in a lifestyle that ultimately leads to death.” But she made it clear she gets the dangers of homosexual power. “There are a lot of gay staffers in Congress. They work all hours and they don’t have family lives, but they do have veto power.” No family life for the fakers, but they compensate with veto power.
As Campaign 2012 ramps up, Anti-Gay Agenda believers, beware the powerful hedonistic whimsical capricious homosexual termites who are eating away at the traditional fabric of society. And a termite empowered by his or her inner horse … now that’s radically powerful. But be of good cheer: the forces of the AGA have your backs. Whether you let them rub it is, of course, is up to you. Just remember, the Rainbow Caped Termites are watching.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, is greeted by a South Korean government official Ahn Young-jip upon her arrival at Seoul military airport in Seongnam, South Korea, Saturday, April 16, 2011. (Photo: AP)
So I guess you’ve heard about the “Huntsman love letters“ that were leaked to the Daily Caller by now. Full text of Huntsman’s letters to Obama and Bill Clinton here. I haven’t checked out all the heads exploding on rightwinger blogs, and judging from the headlines piling up on memeorandum alone, I have no interest in doing so. As usual, the right wants to marginalize the one GOPer who I would consider voting for in 2012, which figures. What’s struck me more than anything else about these not-shocking-at-all letters is that Huntsman’s praise of Obama is exceedingly generic while his praise of Bill and Hillary Clinton is full of specifics and gives a sense of how completely engaged they both are in public service.
In other not-surprising news, Obama was caught on a mic at a fundraiser taking jabs at Paul Ryan and the GOP and now poor witto Republicans are complaining that their fee-fees have been hurt. Hard to feel sorry for them when they’re always so quick to criticize everyone else in the world for playing the victim. Anyhow, I caught a few seconds of Rove commenting on the Obama fundraiser comments as I was flipping through channels on Friday night–after he got done with his obligatory hagiography of Paul Ryan, Rove said Obama is probably just jealous of the attention Paul Ryan is getting. I had to laugh at that part.
What I want to know is after the Bittergate and Naftagate episodes from 2008, why is anyone surprised by anything Obama says to different audiences anyway? He’s a Nowhere Man trying to raise money from Democratic donors while chasing after right-leaning Independent voters. So publicly Obama hailed Ryan’s proposal as a serious one, and privately he told his donors that Ryan’s proposal is “not on the level.” All of it is just words to Obama.
First Lady of the World meets the First Lady of Television…See here. Eleanor and Lucy. My two favorites together. To quote from Carl Anthony’s post:
Within a decade of this meeting, both women would be accused of being Communists, the former for her social activism, the latter for once registering with the party to please her old grandpappy who did belong. In truth, neither of them was Red. Not one hair.
First Lady of the United States meets First Lady of American Cinema…Part 1 and Part 2. There are three pictures of Jackie O and Liz meeting (the only known photos), as well as a wonderful essay by Carl Anthony which reads like the True Hollywood Story of First Ladies, only better. Here’s an excerpt from Part 2:
The death of Onassis on March 15, 1975 and the divorce from Burton in June 26, 1974 (although Liz gave it a second try from October 10, 1975 to July and separated on February 23, 1976, finally divorcing five months later) began a process that helped the real Jackie and Liz to begin defining their lives on their own terms, regardless of the public narrative defined by what the former once called “the little cartoon that runs beneath one’s real life.” Treating them as proprietary commodities, the tabloids felt free to print the most outrageous claims to make their Liz-Jackie storylines sell, but strangely refrained from treading into sensitive areas of the real women’s lives which they themselves had used to craft the public images they wished to convey – and didn’t want contradicted.
The imagination correctly conjures 1974 with maternal pleasantness and welcoming comfort, tied up in a daisy yellow ribbon of straight talk as “The Year of Bettys.”
On February 18, 1974, spiffy Betty Furness began looking out for housewives as not just theToday Show’s consumer advocate but for NBC’s evening news as well, her smoky voice ratting out manufacturers of household goods for high costs and poor quality. On September 14, 1974, after five guest appearances a year before, veteran actress Betty White joined the television sitcom cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, appearing as the character Sue Ann Nivens, who hosted a show called “The Happy Homemaker,” dishing out frank-and-beans-on-a-budget as easily as sex advice.
And on August 9, 1974 Betty Ford became a White House wife, at ease before the press whether dispensing chicken hash recipes as evidence of her inflation-fighting meals, making the case for women’s reproductive rights, or pondering whether her kids might have tried pot or how they’d handle pre-marital sex like the nation’s Den Mother chatting over a backyard fence. On the face of it, she was traditional, her Episcopal faith a rock in times of difficulty, her love of husband unabashed and demonstrated in public. The first sign this was a First Lady like no other has been attributed to a reporter asking the startling question of how often she slept with the President and Mrs. Ford shrugging, “As often as possible.”
Because it’s Friday and a little sanity is called for amidst the Democratic Party’s cratering to Republican economic models. It should make people understand why many progressive and Democratic activists and lawmakers have had it with Pres. Obama. Rank and file Democrats still support him, but then they don’t have the job of trying to legislate Democratic principles while the President saddles up to Republican economic models, except in campaign speeches.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, warned that the $38 billion in promised cutbacks would hurt the most vulnerable Americans. “We don’t have enough time to talk about the ways it violates our values,” he told The Daily Beast.
There is no more visible symbol of Democratic disgruntlement than the woman who was perhaps the president’s closest ally when she wielded the speaker’s gavel. When Nancy Pelosi voted against the budget measure Thursday, she did little to hide her anger with the White House over the fact that Obama, for the first time, had left her out of the negotiations on a major deal. Instead, he chose to work directly with Boehner and Reid to hammer out the compromise that each could take back to their caucuses for approval.
[...] “I have been very disappointed in the administration to the point where I’m embarrassed that I endorsed him,” one senior Democratic lawmaker said. “It’s so bad that some of us are thinking, is there some way we can replace him? How do you get rid of this guy?”
“I said, ‘You want to repeal healthcare? Go at it. We’ll have that debate. You’re not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget. You think we’re stupid?’”
“… But [it] creates, I think a problem for them when they want to actually run in a general election where most people feel pretty confident the President was born where he says he was, in Hawaii. He– he doesn’t have horns…we’re not really worrying about conspiracy theories or– or birth certificates…” – Pres. Barack Obama, interviewed by George Stephanopoulos
Donald Trump has blown away Sarah Palin in the unannounced GOP-Tea Party sweepstakes, also putting a hurt on Mitt Romney. On the other side, union leaders join a lot of disgruntled Democratic activists who are discovering Barack Obama only talks sweet when he needs something from them; trouble is he never gives anything back.
“Trump takes the lead” is the headline today on the Public Policy Polling results that show Trump pulling away due to birtherism. So whether it’s luck or serendipity, tonight he’ll be on Sean Hannity’s Fox News Channel show talking about just that subject.
From PPP, but make sure you read the details, because they’re odd as hell for a presidential race.
Only 38% of Republican primary voters say they’re willing to support a candidate for President next year who firmly rejects the birther theory and those folks want Mitt Romney to be their nominee for President next year. With the other 62% of Republicans- 23% of whom say they are only willing to vote for a birther and 39% of whom are not sure- Donald Trump is cleaning up. And as a result Trump’s ridden the controversy about Barack Obama’s place of birth to the highest level of support we’ve found for anyone in our national GOP polling so far in 2011.
Trump’s broken the perpetual gridlock we’ve found at the top of the Republican field, getting 26% to 17% for Mike Huckabee, 15% for Romney, 11% for Newt Gingrich, 8% for Sarah Palin, 5% for Ron Paul, and 4% for Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty.
Meanwhile, Pres. Obama was in Chicago making sure “the campaign is in your hands,” one of his reelection lines. So it looks like the President won’t even take responsibility for earning your vote. Instead he wants to dump this dog in your lap after you gave him a huge win in ’08, with Obama swaggering into office with the press at his feet, the people ready to follow him, while the world watched and waited for greatness or at least Democratic competence. Instead what Democrats got was a man who adopted Republican economics, with a large dose of Bush foreign policy, so that the middle class is being set up for another rout.
“Now, not only are we getting screwed by the Republicans but the Democrats are doing it too,” said one union official, characterizing the mood at a summit of labor leaders who are worried that Democrats seem unlikely to go to the mat for them as an election year approaches.
Voters in 2008 put the country in Barack Obama’s hands and what he’s done with it is deliver Republican outcomes. No one should be impressed, which is why even though rank and file Democrats remain behind him, the people who push for better Democratic policy prescriptions while the rank and file go about their lives are not.
Read it and weep, then remember that Pres. Obama and the Democrats are a big part of this problem today, beyond what the graph illustrates. They’re the ones who not only initially caved on extending the Bush tax cuts, but adopted the Republican economic model of cutting spending and taxes, taking up the Right’s narrative. We should all know the Republicans are hopeless on fiscal and economic matters, because they can’t add.
This diminished tax burden on the wealthiest has contributed to the historically low federal revenue levels we are seeing today, and in turn, to higher deficits. The Congressional Budget Office projects federal revenue in 2011 will total 14.8% of GDP—the lowest level since 1950. At the same time that the tax burden has shifted away from the wealthy, this same top income group has enjoyed massively disproportionate income gains. Between 1992 and 2007, a time in which income for the average household and top one percent grew 13% and 123%, respectively, the income for the top 400 households grew fully 399%. – Taxes on the wealthy have gone down dramatically, Ethan Pollack Rebecca Thiess
The Clinton and Bush years were awfully good for the fat cats.
That Pres. Obama didn’t decide to make the Democratic argument until he was running for reelection and speaks for itself.
But intervention did not prevent genocide, because no such bloodbath was in the offing. To the contrary, by emboldening rebellion, US interference has prolonged Libya’s civil war and the resultant suffering of innocents. – Alan J. Kuperman, the Boston Globe
Here’s a shocker. When you intervene in a country militarily you can often make a bigger mess out of things than if you stayed out, besides not knowing how to get out once you’re in.
That’s the realist foreign policy foundation in a nutshell and it’s just one reason why I knew Libya was going to be a beauty of a blunder for Pres. Obama.
EVIDENCE IS now in that President Barack Obama grossly exaggerated the humanitarian threat to justify military action in Libya. The president claimed that intervention was necessary to prevent a “bloodbath’’ in Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city and last rebel stronghold.
But Human Rights Watch has released data on Misurata, the next-biggest city in Libya and scene of protracted fighting, revealing that Moammar Khadafy is not deliberately massacring civilians but rather narrowly targeting the armed rebels who fight against his government.
There is no doubt of bloodshed in Libya: Images abound of victims killed or wounded in crossfire — each one a tragedy — but that is urban warfare, not genocide.
Our leaders don’t have a clue what they’re doing. It’s the Bush fear playbook coupled with intelligence ignorance, with a whole lot of I Don’t Want To Look Weak So Let’s Bomb the Bastard mixed in.
“…I do worry… I have a lot of respect for Paul Ryan. I do worry that he’s a little bit far out in front… And I will tell you, me, I’m protecting, I don’t care what plan the Republicans put–I’m protecting the seniors. ..” – Donald Trump, with Sean Hannity on Fox News Channel (more below)
Contrary to other reports, Mr. Trump denies he will announce whether he will run for president on the last installment of “The Apprentice.”
The masquerading cub reporters over at World Net Daily blasted the “exclusive” that he would do just that, but Trump batted it down when speaking with Fred Dicker, whom you might remember when Carl Paladino threatened to “take you out, buddy.”
You just gotta love New York politics.
Fred Dicker got some juice copy and a terrific interview with Trump, who is making the pre-party to the un-announcement a lot of fun, though I sure hope he stays around for a debate or two. I’d love to see him come waltzing into the Reagan Library for a GOP debate.
As I’ve said before, it’s clear that Donald Trump can dish it out, but I’m just not convinced he’ll want to be on the receiving end of private detectives, media and all hell breaking loose as everyone starts picking through his business, his finances and his personal life. I just don’t see that happening.
–updated– On the other hand, I watched Sean Hannity’s interview with Donald Trump tonight. It was his most fascinating to date, especially on China, one of his signature issues, which he segued into the jobs angle. Trump also addressed the scrutiny issue a bit saying, “If I run I will have to disclose my finances and my finances are phenomenal, much better than anyone knows. …I actually look forward to that.”
But Mr. Trump actually had Sean Hannity sputtering until he had to completely shut up when the question of Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget came up. It was classic politician, but delivered in a matter of fact manner that revealed he’s not only unafraid of conservative blowhard gasbaggery on the budget, but he’s got his eye on the people who can make his candidacy a serious shot, should he decide to get in. He even said “the numbers aren’t as bad as you’re thinking,” talking about the deficit.
“…I do worry… I have a lot of respect for Paul Ryan. I do worry that he’s a little bit far out in front, because the Democrats are going to take that Medicare word, that little called Medicare, which to a lot of people means senior citizens, and they’re going to take that word and they’re going to say senior-senior-senior… And the Republicans have to be careful not to fall into a Democratic trap. … And I will tell you, me, I’m protecting, I don’t care what plan the Republicans put–I’m protecting the seniors. The seniors are in a certain way the heart of this country. I’m protecting the seniors. … I think the Republicans are too far out ahead. … This debate is supposed to be led by our President. You have to be very careful that the Republicans don’t go too far out in front. Because they’re going to lose a big election coming in 2012 if that happens.”
At this point Sean Hannity’s head exploded, because Mr. Trump is exactly correct and everything he was saying stood against the Fox man’s talking points. It was a beautiful thing just to see that and is one reason Donald Trump’s media blitz is so delicious to watch. He just doesn’t give a flying fig what these cartoon conservatives think or whether they like him or not.
When Hannity asked if Trump would deal with entitlements he put the Republicans in their place, with an answer that was pitch perfect. Well, almost.
“I always said the worst president was Jimmy Carter. Guess what? Jimmy Carter goes to second place. Barack Obama has been the worst president ever. In the history of this country, Barack Obama is number one.” – Donald Trump
Oh, and he wants to “increase the military” budget. Non-starter. He also gave Reagan credit for the hostage crisis return, completely ignoring history and that it was the late Warren Christopher. Tune in to Hannity tomorrow for the birther edition.
The show’s host, Fred Dicker — who is also the New York Post’s state editor, read a recent poll showing Obama’s sky-high support among African-Americans.
Trump said the numbers were troubling and pointed to Hillary Clinton as proof that he probably won’t get the kind of support among African-Americans that he deserves.
“I tell it like it is,” Trump said. “[Y]ou’ll hear a political reporter go on and say it had nothing to do with race. But how come she had such a tiny piece of the vote? And you know, it’s a very sad thing.
“I have a great relationship with the blacks. I’ve always had a great relationship with the blacks. But unfortunately, it seems that, you know, the numbers you cite are very, very frightening numbers.”
Dicker said, somewhat rhetorically, that votes should always be based on merit, not on race.
“If that were the case, why did Hillary Clinton do so poorly?” Turmp [sic] asked.
“The blacks” sounds as clueless as when you hear someone say “the gays.”
As you also might expect, there’s plenty of birther stuff in the interview too, with the Dicker-Trump interview audio supplied by the Observer.
Howard Fineman, a political veteran, in his most seriously impressed voice, said on MSNBC yesterday that when he was at the White House everyone was in a “feisty, almost angry mood.”
Last night on her show, Rachel Maddow said that Pres. Obama’s speech was “perhaps an unexpectedly satisfying speech.” That it was “less Rotary and more roundhouse.”
I did this in 2007 and 2008, are you telling me I’m going to have to do this again? Because he didn’t fool me the first time and he’s not going to do it now either.
Sweet Jesus, people, he campaigned on the public option.
But he spoke “remarkably infrequently,” according to Sam Stein, about it, just like he’s spoken “remarkably infrequently” about the things he said today. What happened on the public option is now part of his record.
Candidate Obama also had a record from the Illinois Senate; he now has a record as President of the United States. Do I have to draw you a picture?
Look, I’m not in the least interested in helping elect Republicans or Tea Party candidates or Independent presidential candidates, so believe me I want Pres. Obama to get his act together. The Republican Right is in enough of an uproar that I’d like to be able to give the guy high fives. But my job is to analyze and dissect this stuff the best I can, no matter how the truth comes down, so you don’t get bamboozled. Again.
Yesterday he was Candidate Obama in campaign mode. Has everyone forgotten what he was like during the ’08 primary season? Do people really believe he’s lost the talent to deliver a campaign speech? The man is the great communicator, circa 21st century. He wraps people around his finger for a living. His specialty is Democrats.
Pres. Obama is not the guy he was when he first ran for president. The guy is visibly tired. His energy level is grounded, not up. His swagger is muted so that his former persona looks like it’s been permanently grounded. The job has taken it’s toll. He’s been so humbled he even gave Pres. Bill Clinton credit during his speech yesterday, with the whole tone of the speech and the phraseology sounding a lot less speechifying, with a focus on crisp, short lines delivered pointedly and passionately similar to what was William Jefferson Clinton’s great talent. The words are being delivered differently now, but surely you can recall how Candidate Obama took it to Republicans in 2008, after first taking it to Hillary, cutting all opponents in his way to the bone.
Same thing, different energy, new campaign.
Looking around at the reviews it’s obvious Democrats, progressives and liberals are so desperate to see proof of political life from Pres. Obama they’ll grasp at anything, any moment, even a campaign speech delivered from Candidate Obama, circa reelection 2012, about issues he hasn’t spoken about since the last time he auditioned for the job.
“For my friends and colleagues, this is a factual statement — current law already prevents federal money from paying for abortions,” she said, referring to the Hyde Amendment, the perpetual rider that’s been in place since 1976. “This has been the law of the land for over 30 years.”
Gillibrand seems to have gotten a little more aggressive over the past few months, emboldened maybe by having been elected to the upper chamber, but more likely just stirred up by the Republican House, which has made a particular point of going after women’s issues.
Update: I should probably say, I could live with this as an end result. If this becomes the left pole, and the center is halfway between this and Ryan, then no — better to pursue the zero option of just doing nothing and letting the Bush tax cuts as a whole expire. – Paul Krugman
If Obama hadn’t given into Republican economic policy in the first place the speech would never have been necessary. But it was, because propping up the GOP notion that tax and spending cuts are the answers is chipping away at Pres. Obama’s legitimacy as Democratic Party leader.
According to a senior administration official I heard today, the “debt fail safe trigger” is about weaving “confidence” into the system while also ensuring “enforcement” to send the message that action will take place no matter what circumstances occur.
[...] Obama doesn’t realize how many millions of Americans consider themselves vulnerable today, even with jobs and a home for now. In Philadelphia when one man dared to ask about the rising price of gas for his commute, the president suggested he trade-in for a new car. This from the green president who took a 17-vehicle motorcade of limos and SUVs to admire clean cars last month. Not even one symbolic electric job.
The result of such disconnection is that last week there was no-nada-zip talk about his investing. The parade had moved on without its presidential drum major.
Every word of Washington’s political discussion was about cuts in the budget, exactly and only what Republicans wanted to debate. In a town where all-powerful presidents have set the political agenda, the speaker from Ohio, who gets mocked for his emotions and tan, was driving the discussions with well-mannered aplomb.
Hence, again the perceived need for another Obama speech today.
After buying into Bush tax cuts Obama decides tax cuts for the wealthy are now bad. So, he was for tax cuts before he was against them.
The numbers comprising our debt and deficit are terrifying because people believe they’re terrifying, but also because our politicians’ reactions to them make us feel helpless. Because the heart-stopping reality is that no one seems to understand that none of what’s being talked about matters if we don’t do something about our trade policy, investment (think jobs) and education.
Currently all we’ve got is hyper-ventilating politicians on both sides angling for 2012.
Tea Partiers are talking about ending the American way of life. While Donald Trump talks on China and U.S. trade, but negates it all through birtherism baloney; and Mitt Romney gets credit for saying the word jobs, even if he looks like a Viagra ad doing it; meanwhile, Tim Pawlenty runs around squealing notice me.
Jon Stewart solves the problem in less time than it took Obama’s handlers to dress the stage today.
Capitalism Out of the Closet **UPDATED** Would we be any worse off with Stephen Colbert as president? I doubt it. Politifact has watched the video [...]
Not Disappointed in Pres. Obama **Postscript added** President Obama is now neck and neck with a generic Republican challenger in the latest Real Clear Politics [...]
Fan Politics Despite rising public concern about the federal budget deficit, Americans favor keeping Social Security and Medicare benefits as they are [...]
