“The president was not going to walk away from all these workers”

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Hi guys,

PBO is finishing his Europe trip today, so VP Joe Biden is guest starring in this Weekly Address, and doing a terrific job. What a brilliant choice this man was.

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Couple of good things to read:

Turning FEMA Around: Has Obama saved the once-maligned federal agency?

Pssst. Health Care Reform Is Moving Forward

You hear a lot about state officials trying to fight the Affordable Care Act, whether by challenging it in the federal courts or refusing to implement its provisions. But plenty of states officials are enthusiastic about the law. And perhaps none are moving as quickly, or effectively, to follow through on the law as Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.

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OFA is well on the move:
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And I really like photo:
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149 thoughts on ““The president was not going to walk away from all these workers””

  2. Yes you are – congratulations!!!

    Thank you BWD for another excellent Saturday mishmash. I’m looking forward to our President’s safe return home.

  3. That last photo is gorgeous!

    Great mishmash, as usual, BWD :D. I agree about VP Biden — he’s the best.

    This trip has been a smashing success by my President — he truly represents us so well. Now to get home, see Michelle and the girls, rest up, and keep leading the country. Will be nice to see him touch down safe and sound this evening.

    Have a great day everyone!

  5. I am a Marylander in love with my effective, forward thinking and innovative Governor O’Malley! We are blessed to have a leader who is about the future of our great state and not taking us backwards. ***cough*** Virginia ***cough***

  6. O’Malley is one of the few dems –beside Joe–who I could support in 2016.

    I agree VP Biden was a brilliant choice; he is outstanding.

    Regarding that last pic of PBO, what a good-looking man.

  7. Yes: thank you BWD for everything you do for us here, and everybody enjoy the memorial day safe.
    Mr president have have done a great job represinting us AMERICANS overseas,so comeback
    safe Sir.

  8. I don’t want to ever hear anyone speculate whether Joe Biden should or will be on the ticket in 2012. I absolutely adore him.

  9. Good morning everyone! What a great mishmash BWD. We are so fortunate to have this man be our VP and so loyal to our great President. I am so glad POTUS is coming home today. He needs his family. I know how tired he is. And then tomorrow he will be comforting those in Missouri. I send many prayers for our POTUS. He is doing so much. Thank goodness he knows that government does work if you hire people who know what they are doing. FEMA is doing wonders.

    Have a great day everyone!

  11. Another heartfelt thank you BWD for your blog and sharing the good news of this hard working, brilliant United States President.

    VP Biden’s radio address with all the detail about the auto industry’s amazing recovery was wonderful. So many retirees still listen to the Saturday morning radio address and will be able to see this as a clear sign that President Obama works for the American people and not for Washington politicians.

  12. Have a Happy, Blessed Memorial Day all you good neighbors to the south. Thank BWD for this steady service. I am always excited when that notification of a new post arrives. Thank you.

  13. I just read about him because I remembered someone mentioned him as a possible Dem Pres. candidate for ’16. I liked what I learned, very impressive.

  16. That third picture from the bottom is just …well…let’s say from a “shallow” perspective, is very very very very very comforting. Quite a statesmanly hunk PBO is!!

  18. Good Saturday morning, everyone! I watched “We The People” last night on HBO about the election of this incredible man.If you haven’t seen it and have HBO, I strongly suggest you watch.It follows him on the campaign trail all the way up to his winning the Presidency.I was taken back to my time working so hard to get him elected, just like so many of us did,and the powerful emotions I felt when the hard work actually played out the way we all hoped it would.There is a part in there when he is told of his Grandmother’s death when he was in NC…and he gave a speech to thousands, and tears were streaming down his face as he spoke.Raw, powerful stuff. I cried.
    I get angry when I see this man work so hard,for all the right reasons,and have to put up with hearing petty bullshit from others.Really? And he just keeps pressing on…love him.He really is too good for us.

  19. I would SO love Moneygall to continue to benefit from the visit of our great POTUS and FLOTUS. What a wonderful community!

  20. Martin O’Malley, Deval Patrick out of Massachusetts, Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper (my personal favorite), Kaine and Warner out of Virginia, Gov. Schweitzer of Montana, Cuomo – that’s seven Democratic Governors/former govs that would be solid 2016 candidates.

  21. I’m with you! Does he take a BAD picture?? Haven’t seen one yet.

  22. Ha ha ha , I love that line BWD. One of your best ever LOL.

    Thank you a million, a million times for your unrelentless work. BWD, You are the kind of person Barack Obama is talking about when he says “If one voice can change a room…”

  23. I’ve had my One-on-One and have signed up for our local Strategy Session in early July. Looking forward to joining in and working hard for our President’s election once again.

    What a tour de force this last week has been. BRAVO, Mr. President.

  25. I love it when they show his niece, Maya, and show her a picture of Obama. They say, “who is that?”

    And Maya says, “Uncle Rocky. Uncle Rocky has big ears!” And laughs.

  26. Good morning everyone, and good wishes to all Americans on site for a meaningful Memorial Day ‘weekend’ with family and friends!

    Special wishes to you, BWD, ‘in memory’ of your outstanding work keeping the President’s accomplishments front and centre! Your efforts are much appreciated.

  27. GOOD Morning, Ametia! Isn’t it great to be alive during this presidency? Enjoy your day, wherever you are. 🙂

  28. Bwd my son was telling me about this great idea he has for the Aids fight. Have you heard anything about. The repubs wants to reduce foreing aid and it will effect Africa fight which is showing great progress Cnn had something on it where the president is trying to give the drugs free and have americans pay which i think is a good idea. Because we have the means to get the funding in the US compared to Africa.

  29. YEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! THE PRESIDENT COMES HOME TODAY! I LOVE VP JOE…BEFORE SENATOR OBAMA CAME ALONG…I WANTED JOE TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT! I AM SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE RECEIVED A TWO FOR ONE PACKAGE DEAL IN THE BIG HOUSE!PBO DID THE RIGHT THING FOR OUR ECONOMIC WHEEL WHEN HE DEALT WITH THE AUTO BUSINESS…I WATCHED THE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS IN POLAND THIS MORNING…NOW…WE THE ‘O’ KIDS ARE PULLING OUT THE BIG HOOK! TIME TO COME HOME MR. PRESIDENT! YOUR GIRLS MISS YOU AND WE MISS YOU! I’M OFF AND RUNNIN’…MY BROTHER FLYS IN ON MON…HE EATS ALOT…OFF TO THE STORE! BLESSINGS ALL!

  30. Apparently the money President Obama put in for stem cell research and science has a lot to do with the new drug. Its stop the spread but it does not cure it. They had a before and after pictures of some people effected and its was heartwarming to see their progress. Now its on the chopping block for funding by the repubs

  34. I will vouch for MD Gov Martin O’Malley and his Lt Gov Anthony Brown. They are pushing hard on health care reform. O’Malley has also turned into an excellent messaging machine – I think he’s head of Dem Gov’s assoc.

    Will also vouch for OFA being on the move – our local efforts are seeing all kinds of people signing on. Wish I had time to write more but I’m painting my fence.

  36. Wasn’t fighting AIDS in Africa one of President Bush’s legacy projects? Maybe see if he wants to get involved in the squabbles over funding or if he has a charity that could fund it or something.

  39. The Maryland Governor has really been stellar in his staunch defense and implementation of everything the President has put out there to help the people. Really impressive.

  41. Yes,his sister is Maya…her daughter is the one that said that…can’t remember her name. She was adorable.

  42. I used to have that show o m DVR and used to watch it occasionally – then I moved and changed cable companies… I love the part with the young man who is so overcome with emotion after the Barack Obama is declared the winner, and he goes off by himself to talk to his mom on the phone, and he just weeps while she’s giving him words of pride and encouragement. So lovely. And I love the part with Gibbs at then-Candidate Obama’s acceptance of the nomination, and Gibbs is just wiping away uncontrollable tears.

    They must all be so proud that their bets on this amazing man were really good ones. And especially proud this week.

  43. Thanks for the link – This snippet most stood out to me:

    To be sure, it also doesn’t hurt that McHenry appears in many ways the perfect stooge for banking interests. Among his top campaign contributors in 2010 were Wells Fargo, Bank of America and the American Bankers Association. This is not surprising when you consider his district, once blue-collar backcountry, is now becoming a bedroom community for banking-centric Charlotte. Carolyn Mabry, a 48-year-old dancer, writer, and fire performer from Raleigh, took it upon herself to repeatedly repost McHenry’s donor record on his Facebook wall. “We need to spread THESE truths far and wide!” she wrote. Stan Ford, who works at an oil and gas company in Houston, decided to do the same, explaining to me that he blames these Wall Street special interests for the recession that has hit his family members. While he’s no liberal, Ford still believes Warren is the best person to run the CFPB: “Wall Street and Big Banks are terrified of her, which means she is on the right track.”

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    If Progressive groups had any sense, they’d make this into an ad campaign. Make Warren famous and McHenry infamous. This is like Barton apologizing to BP. McHenry’s three biggest donors are all big banks, and here he is trying to demean and bully a woman who’s fighting against big banks for us little guys.

    I guess it’s easier to attack the President demanding a recess appointment that would be limited to a year and easily blocked by GOP, rather than pressuring seven GOP Senators to vote for cloture.

  45. Good article – thanks for linking. I liked ths funny section about messages left for McHenry regarding his rudeness to Elizabeth Warren:

    “The insults ranged from the political—“Hiding behind your Republican Agenda is not good enough”—to the petty: “You’re ugly and your mama dresses you funny.””

  46. After all, why mess with a winning ticket! The President and Vice President like and respect one another. Like other qualities in both of them, this is so obvious. Joe Biden is the poster boy for the middle class!

  48. The funny thing is that the President is more of a poster boy for the middle class on paper. He had the real working class background, used scholarships to make his way through college, comes from a broken home, paid off debts, etc. The VP actually came from a more well to do family when he was growing up, but they fell on hard times. Both of them care about the working class deeply.

    I was infuriated with that strange woman, Maureen O’Dowd, who made it her mission to get in front of as many cameras as possible in Ireland, and repeat the nonsense that the President doesn’t know how to connect with working people, and believes they are bitter and clinging to their guns, etc. Even after she saw him interacting with the people, she perpetuated that nonsense. And she’s supposed to be a liberal…

  49. I am so not the canvassing/phonebanking type. But the photo of the volunteer gave me an idea. Will contact the local OFA and learn whether there are other tasks I can help with. (I’ve done data entry for candidate campaigns)

  50. I wouldn’t be surprised, Sabreen60 – he’s usually at least ten steps ahead of everyone else, especially his blinded adversaries.

  53. Great idea! I think I’ll do the same. I too am not the door-to-door or phonebanking type.

  55. Thanks for posting this. I saw that shameful and disgusting display of bad behaviour by McHenry. The Repugs do not want her in because she would make the consumer protection agency work for everyday americans which the Repugs and their corporate henchment do not want. I just heard so many people complaining about how expensive higher education and student loans are and how so many people go into debt to get a degree. They said the schools are arbitrarily raising their tuitions and making students get loans. This gentleman called in from northern CA and said as a financial aid officer of the school they DO NOT encourage loans. They use pell grants, student working part time and other means. He said between 2001 – 2005 most students graduated with no debt (notice this is the Bush years). He said the Dept of Education yelled at him for not pushing more student loans and he pushed right back. He said to this day that school is NOT using student loans to finance students educations. He said other schools could easily do it too but there’s too much money the would miss out on. What a shame. As Suzy Orman says, People before money. The greedy institutions are Money before people.

  57. Agreed.Fascinating documentary on all counts.Was good for me to look back at that now and recapture that feeling, that time,all over again.I have surely made my share of mistakes in my life, but working hard for this man, was not one of them.One of the better decisions I have ever made!I didn’t think pride could be this big.

  58. I hope everyone take sometime and give thanks to our wonderful soldiers past and present. To anyone who served, is serving or has/had a family member serve their country…Thank you and Thank them. A prayer goes out to our President on a fine job he does for us 24/7..even in his sleep, he is doing so much for our country. And thank you BWD for all that you do, keeping our President’s accomplishments front and center and all those that post hear. Thank you and have a wonder weekend.

  61. It does seem as if the House Dems are on message. And Sen. Reid’s statement yesterday about not playing GOP games in holding raising the debt ceiling hostage to Medicare cuts indicates that Senate Dems are on message as well. The GOP really is a cornered animal, lashing out blindly; but cornered animals eventually succumb.

  62. It’s just a relief to hear that we have a bullpen for 2016. I was beginning to wonder if any of the Dems even wanted to run in ’16.

  63. Why would anyone speculate. The President and Vice-President have both spoken openly about how Obama asked Biden last year to be his running mate. These two men trust and respect each other to the nth degree.

  64. Amen. After giving birth, my best achievement in life was all the volunteer work I did to help elect this amazing man who so generously gives of his time and energy and heart to help every American, even the ones who hate him.

  65. I wonder how this will all play out. Only time will tell I guess. But anything that puts pressure on Israel to start negotiating is fine by me.

  67. Only if Hamas is smart enough not to start launching rockets and Egypt does search every thing and every body crossing the border to keep any weapons out.

    Hamas doing nothing is winning the PR war, with tremendous pressure being put on the Israeli’s from the international community. I don’t think there is anything Bibi wouldn’t like more than for Hamas to do something stupid.

  69. hi my fellow like minded i hope you guys have heard of the latest news, border crossing to gaza has been open as promised, there is a proverb in Africa that goes like this ” half word you do say to a wise son/daughter or a friend and when it gets to his his /her stomach it becomes whole” do you guys remember what prompted president obama to want to push peace talk again urgently in the first place, well here is your answer

  70. Here’s to hoping that pragmatism trumps ideology vis a vis Hamas.

  71. Can’t stand that woman. There is this ongoing lie that being a constant critic means you are objective. This woman has personal issues.

  72. I’ve conducted about a dozen one-on-ones so far and have to say, even the people who are shy about digging in now are all on board and ready to go next year.

    We have some work to win some people back who supported the President. Oddly a great many of them withdrew their support the *moment* he was elected. Some pulled away the minute the President did something they didn’t like, or didn’t do something they wanted. I did have one guy admit that he wasn’t willing to work to re-elect the President, but when push came to shove, he’d change his mind and get on board. I’m beginning to think that saying they don’t support the President right now is just their way of saying they don’t want to volunteer. A lot of people just don’t know how to say no graciously.

    These people want to be wooed back…like jilted lovers. Should be interesting.

  73. This might sound very petty but the strategy video on YouTube has many more dislikes than likes. Might that be discouraging for potential supporters? Maybe people would like to head over there and even things out a bit? Or am I just being silly/paranoid?

  76. Yeah, so where is he now? Even Bush Sr. had done PSA’s with Clinton on the topic of AIDS. Couldn’t baby Bush do some self-rehab of his image by championing a cause like AIDS?

  78. I don’t think the 2016 hopefuls will start presenting themselves until President Obama’s second term. I am hoping that President Obama will aid in developing new leaders so there isn’t a leadership vacuum like Bush left.

    There will be some Senators looking as well, but coming out of the Senate into the White House is rare. They might be better served as VP possibilities.

    It’s too bad Alex Sink was beat by Scott in Florida as she would have been another player I think. We should look to do the same to Mike Pence in Indiana in 2012, and defeat Christie if he runs for re-election in NJ.

  80. yeah, I tried to purchase the bread from the company’s site but looks like they haven’t set up for overseas sales. I have a DHL account so shipping would not have been a prob. 😦

  81. On the last campaign, I started out canvassing in 110 degree heat in July here in Arizona. I also have done phonebanking. Of the two, I prefer canvassing. However, I have also done data entry and there is tons of that to do. They are directly tied into democratic voting rolls, so when phonebankers reach callers, they log in answers to the questions posed. That stuff has to get entered by someone. I hope you do get involved. It is extremely rewarding.

  82. If he didn’t I’m sure it will figure into his plans somehow. The Egyptians may have seen what was happening with Obama and bibi and quickly made that decision. Who knows?

  84. yep. the world is moving too fast and all these right wingers (from all over the world) are putt putt puttin’ along as if the world is going to wait.

  85. Well, they did refi reconciliate with Fatah. Now, if they would only recognize Israel….

    These things aren’t going happen overnight. I am glad that President Obama and Vice President Biden are the ones in office right now rather than John McCain and Sarah Palin. Can you imagine them trying to navigate through these precarious situations

  86. link please? even though I probably “liked” it already. I always “like” positive potus obama yt clips. 😀

  89. I wouldn’t worry too much. They’ll be back when they see the alternative.

  91. Just click on the YouTube icon on the bottom right of the embedded video. It should open in a new window. This is how I usually watch videos so I can read sites at the same time.

  92. How are either of you at having people over to your homes? The big push this summer is going to be house parties. Also, registering voters at public events is fairly easy. Food is a much overlooked priority. Having food for meetings and house-parties and for volunteers, especially people in the Summer Volunteer program…always needed.

  93. That Congressman is good at messaging. I hope he brings that clarity of focus to the national campaign the same way he did in NY-26. Keep Repugs sleepless and sweaty…

  95. Good morning everyone. I posted a comment earlier but it seems to have gotten lost. I didn’t have any links. I tried to repost and I got a message that it was a duplication. Not sure what happened.

    Oh well, just wanted to say what a great mishmash and how much I love VP Joe!!

    Can’t wait for the President to get home. He needs to see his family. Know he won’t get to spend much time with them before he is off to Missouri.

    Have a great day everyone.

  96. I’m disgusted that Harper forced the G8 to soften the language of the communique and take out the reference to the 1967 borders. Typical right wing behavior. What do they think that will achieve – if you don’t say it, then it won’t be true? How childish.

  97. He was good on Rachel the other night, when asked about Hoyer’s unfortunate comments about Medicare being on the table, and he quickly talked about reforms such as negotiating prescription prices. He’s on the ball! And with Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, VP and President, plus First Lady Obama – that’s a good start. We need more, though. And Dems need to get very tight on messaging.

  99. That’s just a brilliant example of total message discipline. Thank you for that. Now I can rest easy that the Democrats Support Medicare message is going to be supported from the top down.

  100. I don’t understand that. How big is the Jewish vote in Canada? By the way, Cameron, Merkel and Sarkozy belong to Conservative parties as well, not sure about the others.

  102. Thanks for all the great stuff you share with us, BWD. I love Joe. Got a kick out of all the hard edits to the video. He must require a lot of takes to get something right.

    The article about FEMA was enlightening and sobering. There is still a lot of work to be done to make that agency function the way it should to be ready to manage a major disaster. I sent the link to whitehouse.gov and asked them to look into the morale problem at FEMA and to put some effort into preparing for the kinds of decision making issues addressed in that article.

    We can’t afford for anyone at FEMA to grow complacent.

  103. Let your OFA people know then. Good for you. I don’t have the host gene, but do okay with some of the other things.

  105. I have to say that the article pointed to in the twitter feed about the GOP destroying the economy set off a couple internal alarms for me. It would seem I have an internal trip wire for articles that ooze cynicism. That article is over-the-top cynical. There might be some kernels of truth in it, but the delivery system spoils the message. Plus the whole doom and gloom thing isn’t helpful.

  106. Water and food is huge. The volunteers “march on their bellies” Keeping everyone hydrated and fed is key to getting every one focused on the work. People who don’t feel comfortable phone banking (I don’t like to do this) Canvassing (I love the one on one in person)can provide food and water which is so welcome.

  108. We have a neo-con here in Canada who is more pro-Right Wing Likud than even BiBi. He is always always on the wrong side of things. He even tried to undermine the Obama campaign to help mcCain–on the Free Trade thing…

    He has 40% support but they nature of the system here, this gives him a majority to do whatever he pleases. More people here are center-left.

  109. If I’m not mistaken, Harper belongs to the religious right in Canada. Need I say more ?

  110. 😆 😆 😆 I actually waited a while to see if a word or two would appear. 😆 😆

  111. And he just got a majority Government, so he’s safe for four years and the other opposition parties are in shambles.

  112. Harper did that? (I will restrain myself from saying how I really feel about that man.)No, don’t give me the details, Theo. This is more than enough info for me to go hang my head in shame. And he was given 4 more years to really show his mettle!!! Sigh!

  117. Well, the NDP made huge gains, so much so that it’s now the official Opposition. Perhaps if there’s an NDP-Liberal alliance for the next elections the center-left can overturn Harper.

  118. Thank you for the excellent ideas. I’m fine with house parties, food and registering voters!

    When I worked for Lamont many years back, I was the oldest (read: best employed volunteer) and was happy to pay for the refreshments. They called me “the food lady,” LOL.

    Thanks, everyone!

  120. NDP gains are largely fake. Sure they made a splash in Quebec, but they had kids elected who ran as a lark and got elected others who never stepped foot in their new riding ect. Liberal Party are not going to have a leader for 18 months to let the dust settle from the rubble that one was the strong party.

  124. Not to take anything away from Maryland, but Vermont has already signed single-payer legislation (last week). That’s pretty quick. 🙂

  125. So, the president sent an envoy ro north Korea to talk about getting an American out if there prison.

    Well, it worked, they released an American and nobody in the msm even picked that up.

    I remember early on when the president sent bill Clinton to get lisa lings sisters out of a north korean prison and that also worked!

    These little accomplishments are noteworthy, bc they did not happen under previous administrations!

  126. No, they are not fake. The NDP is the real Left in Canada; do not trush it. It represents most of mainstream Canadian values and it the party that gave Canada Healthcare, pensions, student loans…and genuinely wants to address the environment. I know the NDP because I am a member.

    But, I hope we can avoid turning this forum into Canadian politics…(I am guilty of doing so, I will stop there).

  128. This is great news. I was just wondering the other day if Gov. Richardson was still working with North Korea.

    If Bush had pulled this off, they would have interrupted programming to crow about it.

  130. Maybe this four years will be enough rope for him to end the farce once and for all.

  132. We were traveling last week and ran into many Servicemen and Women at the airports. What wonderful moments of camaraderie with them when we wished them congrats on a job well done (Osama mission on everybody’s minds) and thanks for all their service.

  133. Gail, I totally agree with you. What is really amazing is the fact that Democratic Presidents, in my adult life time, have always selected the best VP’s. Hubert Humphrey (LBJ), Walter Mondale (Jimmy Carter), Al Gore (Bill Clinton), and now Joe Biden (Baraka Obama). Compare that to the Republicans: Spiro Agnew (Nixon), Dan Quayle (G H W. Bush), and Dick Cheney (G.W. Bush).

  134. “This woman has personal issues.”

    gobrooklyn, I think you may be on to something here about Maureen Dowd. What is really funny about these pundits is that, for the most part, they just talking to each other in their limited circle of so called MSM news journalists.

    Surely, the people of Ireland were able to judge Baraka Obama for themselves. Just as the 68 million Americans did on Nov. 4, 2008.

  135. That was brutal! I kept thinking my server was slow and waited and waited before I finally realized it wasn’t my slow computer.

  136. That’s ok by me, Peter M. I confess to great ignorance of Canadian politics and I want to learn. Like Mexico which I know more about, your are an important neighbor so I am happy you share and educate me here.

  137. Yes it is rewarding. Just send me out to canvass. I don’t care how hot it gets. I love talking to people personally, anytime, anywhere.

  138. FORUS50, The baby Quayle Repub Rep from AZ did a townhall here a week or so ago and 200+ of his probably elder voters ate him for breakfast on Medicare. He’s probably toast!

  139. Thanks, JoJo. I’ll pass that on. We have two serving Marines, thankfully both now Stateside, whole and healthy. Myself and my family appreciate your kind words.

  140. Pardon me, but didn’t I often read on gos that Rahm was the arch-enemy of the gay and lesbian community:

    “Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will attend a June 2 event celebrating the civil unions of 30 gay and lesbian couples.
    “Our state’s first civil union ceremonies will mark a day of celebration and an historic milestone on the road to full marriage equality for LGBT Illinoisans,” Emanuel said. “I look forward to attending this joyful event.”

    http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=8495&MediaType=1&Category=26

  141. I saw an article on BBC. Admittedly, it’s not American mainstream media.

  142. Actually, if they do pick it up, they’d probably criticize the President for ‘appeasing’ the North Koreans.

  143. Half of what they say over there is either a spin or a sheer lie. They made Rahm the father-of-all-evil, when he really was a great CoS who did everything the President asked him to.

  144. Aquagranny,
    lol too funny baby quayle! And if it was breakfast he probably already is toast!!

  145. How well I know. I probably should have put a “big wink” after that to make it clear I was being snarky. I have great admiration for that man and can’t wait to see how he shakes up my old home town.

  146. I email’d this to Israel:

    HOW THE HOUSE GOP CAN SURVIVE PAUL RYAN

    “… It’s pretty hard to deny at this point that the Ryan budget has been a political debacle for Republicans, though of course many of them will deny it. The question is what to do about it. The Wall Street Journal editorial page, naturally, urges them to boldly march forward:

    [H]aving committed themselves, Republicans will appear (and will be) feckless if they abandon reform only weeks after voting for it. Trying to change entitlements can be agony, but it is fatal to try and fail. The voters will conclude the critics were right.
    I think this advice is… sound, actually. Republicans never should have voted on a budget that cuts taxes for the rich while phasing out Medicare and replacing it with progressively less adequate coupons for private health insurance. But now that they’re stuck with the vote, they would probably do well to defend it as best as they can. If Republicans start abandoning their budget, then it will be defined as a radical plan that even Reps. X, Y and Z can’t stomach. The lack of defenders will make it even less popular.

    On the other hand, this isn’t a good position for Republicans to be in. It’s a terrible position. And THE ONE WAY THAT I CAN THINK OF IS TO CUT A GRAND DEFICIT BARGAIN WITH [PRESIDENT] OBAMA.

    IF OBAMA AND THE REPUBLICANS MAKE A BUDGET DEAL, THAT IS SOMETHING THE HOUSE GOP CAN USE TO GET PAST THE RYAN BUDGET. Then they can paint it as a conversation-starter — we forced Obama to come to the table! — rather than a blueprint for future action. IF THEY CUT A DEAL, THEN THEY CAN SAY THE DEBT CRISIS HAS BEEN ADDRESSED, AND THE RADICAL MEASURES THEY VOTED FOR (in order to call people’s attention to the problem, of course — they didn’t want to do that stuff) ARE NO LONGER NEEDED.

    Obviously, A BIG WINNER OUT OF A DEAL LIKE THAT WOULD BE OBAMA HIMSELF, who could take a major issue off the table and demonstrate his ability to work in a bipartisan fashion, and solidify himself amongst affluent independents. THERE WOULD, HOWEVER, BE A COUPLE HUGE LOSERS. One is the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE, who could still run on the economy but would face a steeper climb. The other, bigger loser is HOUSE DEMOCRATS, who would forfeit what might be their only chance for a long time to take back the House.

    I would note that the potential winners here have the power to make the deal happen, while the losers are largely watching from the sidelines. I STRONGLY SUSPECT OBAMA WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A DEAL LIKE THIS, BUT I DON’T THINK THE HOUSE GOP HAS IT IN THEM. BUT IF THEY WANT TO REDUCE THEIR EXPOSURE TO THE RISK OF LOSING THEIR MAJORITY, THAT’S THE BEST PATH I CAN SEE FOR THEM.”

    http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/88862/how-the-house-gop-can-survive-paul-ryan

    Really?

    The TeaPublicans, in neither Chamber (House/Senate) nor at the local/state-level, don’t deserve to win any aspect of the Presidential Election 2012…

    They’re evil, apathetic RADICALS/EXTREMISTS!!!

    Is this writer, a Republican…Grrr?!

    YES.WE.CAN…DO. (Much)More, Together!
    YES.WE.CAN…Move America Forward & Win The Future!
    YES.WE.CAN, Again Make History…Obama/Biden 2012!

    FIRED UP & READY TO GO! 😉

  148. BWD – Very short list on “exciting things about Pawlenty”. Couldn’t think of thing to add. hahaha

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