222 thoughts on “Switching mode and mood!”

  2. I’m not half as politically involved as you folks are, but I feel bearable lightness of being today. I’d be happy to celebrate that by donating. I’ll click on the ‘8000’ now.

  5. I can’t donate as I am already doing $50/month to Obama’s re-elect fund. Any extra money (which is not looking likely), is going to go to pro-Obama Dems to help win the House back. Yes we can!!!

  7. One of the things I want to see going forward from the Democrats is more focus on how the Republicans are voting. For too long, the Republicans have been voting against the interests of the American people and getting away with little or no scrutiny from the media.

    Sunlight is the best disinfectant and information is power. I want it to become common place for voters to be asking how did my representative vote on (fill in the blank) issue.

    For starters, here is the breakdown of the roll call votes for raising the debt ceiling.

    HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

    http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll690.xml

    SENATE

    http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/112/senate/1/123?ref=politics

  9. I’ll be giving to Dems running against the teabaggers elected in purple districts. Not sure if I’ll give to the DCCC, but I might since I’ll be using them for research as to who’s running.

  10. I liked the pivot to jobs in the President’s speech today. That is what I have wanted to hear way more of. Now I just need him and the rest of the Democratic leadership to keep that theme up and introduce some sort of comprehensive jobs bill. I know it doesn’t have a chance of getting passed in this Congress but it is time to make that crystal clear.

    I also think that in order to soothe some of the base’s concerns Pelosi, Reid, and the President need to keep the Democratic portion of the supercongress leaning away from the conservadem side of the spectrum. I would put Boxer on the SuperCongress in a heartbeat.

  11. I will donate a small amount. I did send in $50 for his birthday. I so believe in this President. BWD thank you so much for all you are doing for all of us. This place is a lifeline. I want to send the donation in honor of you. Thank you!

  12. I am so glad this drama is over. I’ll be celebrating PBO’s birthday (and my own) this week. I’ll be donating any money I can scrape.

    Struggling college kid so money is scarce.

  13. Jobs is everything. And most important is to show the Republicans as being the liars and hypocrites they are. By coming up with a reasonable jobs bill (I wish it could be a massive stimulus but that won’t fly) and making it a big splash, they put the Republcians in a hard place. They can’t talk about fiscal responsibility anymore, because they walked away from a bigger package this time, and Americans want to see taxes raised on the wealthy.
    But it can’t be something that is just written and voted down in committee. It has to be announced first, with several members of Congress giving a press conference on it.

    The Republicans will be between a rock and a hard place. Vote against it, and they lose all credibility as to being for jobs. Vote for it, and their base goes nuts.

    I think they need to reintroduce the bill taking away some of the tax breaks for companies sending jobs overseas and providing tax breaks for companies that bring back jobs.

    Make a big splash and don’t stop talking about it.

    That way, even if it passes, the Dems will get credit, not the Reps.

  14. Good comments by the Prez. I’m so glad he called out Congress about the FAA nonsense and about jobs, jobs, jobs.

  18. Camussie I take it that you aren’t aware of the jobs bills are are in congress right now – and have been for some time – waiting to be voted on so that PBO can sign them. The President has mentioned these bills several times in the last few months. He has called upon congress to vote on the bills to put people back to work.

    Congress is counting on us harassing and blaming the President (instead of them) to get things done, which is why they aren’t lifting a finger to do a darn thing. So the next time any congress person – democrat or republicans comes on tevee or wherever and tries to blame the President for the bad economy, we the people need to push back on them and ask: “why haven’t you voted on the jobs bills which have been sitting in congress for over six months now?”

  19. Exactly but it has to be more comprehensive than just the tax breaks. Those should be included but it should also be finding some way to move already budgeted monies around to job creating measures. I am not sure if Army Corp of Engineers projects come out of the Pentagon budget but if they do surely there is some way to reappropriate some defense monies in that direction

    What they do, though, it needs to focused on relentlessly. If Republicans want to talk about deficits ignore them and talk about jobs. That goes for us in the vase as well. In town halls representatives and senators need to talk up this plan. On interviews. Everywhere. I know it is a long shot that anything passes but make Republicans eat that

  20. You know what’s funny. I had a friend that is a democrat but voted for Bush in 2000 because the church made her believe that he was the more “Christian” of the two candiates. For some reason people started believing the Republican party held the moral compass. Mind boggling, but true from ny observations. So here’s hoping people will start really looking and sop believing everything someone tells them.

  21. Happy Birthday, CollegeKay. My birthday is on Thursday, too. We Leos have to stick together!

  22. Happy Birthday, CollegeKay. Wonderful to be celebrating at the same time as the President. Lot’s of partying this week. We all need to smile for awhile.

  23. I haven’t been paying much attention to the media as of late but the little I’ve gathered is that it is as usual negative and almost disapointed that Obama didn’t invoke the 14th amendment. I don’t even bother going to the articles as they seem to be the same old formula that are again hidden with an agenda that goes against the best interest of this country.

    As a matter of fact when I watched Mathews I noted something, he was saying that the democrats need to make a deal and that its only natural when one side takes over the house. Once this happens he goes off and bashes the president which made me so angry that I finally snapped and decided that I wont be reading, or watching MSNBC anymore due to this. They just don’t make much sense to me anymore and all of it is sensational crap.

  26. Actually I am very aware of the jobs bills that are waiting a vote in Congress. While those were good starts they were smaller individual measures and not a comprehensive plan. I feel strongly a comprehensive plan needs to put forth. I am pretty sure it will go no where in the Congress but I also think we can hang that around Republicans necks. Show the American people that one party is fighting to get them back to work and one refuses to do anything but protect tax cuts for the wealthy

    I still think that the message from all elected Democrats, not just the President, has not been strong enough on jobs. Yes he and others have mentioned them in a sentence or two during a lot of the interviews, etc during this debt ceiling debate but I don’t think that was as strong as focus on the issue as I would have liked. And again I think that the entire party shares in the blame there.

    The President did a great job exposing Republican intrangience. I just want him and the entire party to take it to the next step and tie that to the Republicans absolute refusal to do anything on jobs

  27. To be fair, I want something a little more than trade deals ratified and patent reform in a jobs bill. The well funded infrastructure bank is great, but it seems like a non-starter because the GOP will block any new spending without cuts and will start the “Obama is looking to spend again”.

    We can’t get into the mindset that there can be no new spending because of the deficit deal – that’s locking in the Obama Administration from ever doing anything big the next 5.5 years. No legacy bills or projects because the GOP will cry “no new spending!”

    This is also why it’s imperative to take back the House. If Dems fail to take back the House it will be four more years of doing nothing from Congress and the GOP is happy in doing nothing for six years – sees it as their big win.

    you are absolutely right that we should call and pester our Reps. Better yet would be showing up at town halls with facts about the blatant GOP obstruction on all jobs bills.

  29. Posted this on end of other thread. Listen to Thom Hartmann from 3:00-6:00 online. He just read couple sections of the bill. Someone, please, explain to me the part about revenue. As he read it and explained it, if there’s added revenue, that’s the ONE part that the House CAN amend it. I’m not doing a good job, but as he explained and I understood, there is no way in H— we will end up getting revenue. Help!!!!!!

  30. Yes, I know I should listen to Randi. Haven’t had a chance to subscribe yet. Wish I could just listen to her online like I can the others. 😦

  31. Is there a tag for the President’s 50th birthday ?

    On the Right Coast of the Atlantic it is not too hard to start bombarding Twitter on the 4th of August at midnight a.m. EST (6:00 CEST).

    I have texts ready – just need a good tag.

  34. We need something more ambitious than the laundry list of minor items that PBO mentions periodically (patent reform, trade deals, FAA reauthorization, etc.). Yes, they are important but at the margins — I would like to see something that is bigger and bolder in scope and scale even if it cannot pass. It’s important to get forward-looking ideas out there and let the Rs shoot them down. It’s part of the groundwork that needs to be laid to re-take the Congress and do bolder things in PBO’s second term.

  37. There is nothing to that effect in the bill regarding the ability of the House to amend revenue-related provisions of the joint committee proposal. Whatever makes it into the joint committee proposal, whether it is spending or revenue-related, goes to the floor for an up or down vote and may not be amended by either the House or the Senate.

  38. Good. More of that please. Next step I feel should be when a bad July jobs reports comes out Friday (and from all indications it will not be good) the President comes out an introduces a comprehensive jobs plan. Then our Congress critters and administration officals focus on that relentlessly.

  39. I don’t always agree with Thom but I expected honesty from him. What you heard is a lie. From Thom Hartmann. Shame on him, big time.

    Sec. 4.02 (and some subsection about revenue)

    ALL the section says is that IF there are revenue increases recommended by the commission, the House must vote first, because — get this — IT CLARIFIES THE CONSTITUTION. All revenue issues must start in the House.

    Thom Hartmann is too smart to not know that he is lying to you. Randi Rhodes is holding her fire but she is pissed that this is what passes for left punditry today.

    The recommendations of the commission are fast-tracked — that’s true. Their recommendations must get an up or down vote, no filibuster, no amendments. His concern over the power of this commission is precisely why I didn’t want this huge a deal made on the debt ceiling hostage-taking. But Thom is making something out of nothing.

  42. Evenin’ All,

    BWD, although I gave last week, and I’ve set up a monthly OFA donation, it’s definitely worth givin’ a little extra, this week…

    HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY, PBHO!

    PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL ATTEND 50TH BIRTHDAY FUNDRAISERS In Chicago, White House Says… http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2011/07/president-obama-will-attend-50th.html

    And, let’s KEEP THE FAITH & HOPE ALIVE! 😀

    YES.WE.CAN…DO.(Much)More, Together!
    YES.WE.CAN, Again…Obama/Biden 2012!
    I’M IN…FIRED UP & GOIN’! 😉

  43. Townhalls are to meet all constituents. I believe there was a Rep in Fla who tried to have a GOP only townhall recently though, but they are completely open to anybody who shows up. I do suspect teabagger Reps will try and rig things, only get questions from known supporters type of deal though.

  44. I completely agree. There was pie in the sky talk at one point of rerouting the Mississippi – that’s the scale of project I want. But anything the President would try will be met with “What are you going to cut to pay for it”. So it needs to be something that really captures the imagination of folks. Maybe this will be saved until 2013 with hopes the Dems can take back the House and hold a majority in the Senate.

    Infrastructure needs to be repaired – so spending money now or later doesn’t effect the debt one cent because it needs to be done. So why not do it now when it would have a great economic stimulus effect? What could the GOP say to block it if there was a big push made for it?

  45. Yeah. Thom Hartmann is too smart to not know he’s lying. randi Rhodes says all the section addresses is that IF revenue increases are in the recommendations, the vote must start in the House. That’s just reiterating what’s in the freaking Constitution.

  46. Has to be a deliberate lie on Hartmann’s part. That is the only revenue specific provision and is simply a repetition of the requirement in the Constitution that revenue-related measures originate in the House. All it says is that if the proposal includes new revenues, then the House acts on the proposal before the Senate. This is practically boilerplate. And if it’s not a lie, then he should not be on the air opining about which he apparently knows nothing.

  47. Randi’s also hammering home that this little charade has already cost us 2 bn in extra interest.

    It’s millions of dollars/day on the FAA reauthorization.

    Yeah — Republicans really hate the deficit. Bastards.

  48. My husband is out right now, listening to Hartmann on the radio. A whole new ledge I’ll have to talk him down. At least I’m completely prepared.

  49. If I were Democrats I would be make the analogy to the interstate highway system created under Eisenhower. Soldiers returning from service overseas. Needed new infrastructure. It all came together to give the United States a time of prosperity in the 1950’s.

    We need some project like that. Preferably around green energy and then dare the Republicans to shoot it down. They probably will just point that out over and over and over and over.

  50. Hang the ‘where are the jobs’ around the republicans’ necks.

    they promised jobs,but they have not introduced a single jobs bill.

  52. exactly – we need the infrastructure for the 21st century and to be bold and ambitious about getting there even if we know the Republicans will object and block (they do that for EVERYTHING). PBO gets all of this as we know from how he packaged the stimulus bill (high-speed rail, improved grid, new energy sources, broadband, etc.). It should be a part of the plan to re-take Congress so, if it can’t be done in the next 17 months, it can be started in Jan 2013.

  53. New news on Rupert Murdoch:

    “LONDON — British police investigating phone hacking on Tuesday arrested a former executive of Rupert Murdoch’s now defunct News of the World, as the protester who attacked the tycoon with a foam pie was jailed.
    A 71-year-old man believed to be ex-News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner was detained at 10:50 am (0950 GMT) at a London police station on suspicion of phone hacking and bribing police [corruption], Scotland Yard said…more

    http://tinyurl.com/3r24v3f

  54. I’ve been saying for a couple of years now that we need an Apollo Program for renewable energy. Whether or not one believes in man-made global warming, the fact is that fossil fuels will run out sooner rather than later. Then what? The country that devises a clean, renewable, and cheap source of energy will dominate the 21st century. You’d think our corporate overlords would exploit research to new avenues of wealth.

  56. Good. Now the old crook is behind bars. I hope the pressure keeps up. Thanks osg.

  57. As TOD said, someone else for the firebaggers to hate. I’m guessing Al Franken is now off of their shortlist to primary PBO.

    “As I have said all along, the consequences of failing to raise the debt ceiling and defaulting on our debt would be disastrous to all Minnesotans. Unfortunately, in a game of chicken, the player most concerned about protecting the full faith and credit of the United States is put in the most difficult position.

    “As a result, the deal that has been struck is not balanced, as I would have preferred. It does achieve the laudable goal of reducing the deficit, but does so with only cuts, even though a significant majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, favor closing loopholes for corporations and tax increases on the wealthiest Americans to make sure everyone is paying their fair share.

    “Nevertheless, I will vote for this package, because defaulting would have grave economic consequences for my Minnesota constituents. The deal does protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. And it will erase some of the uncertainty confronting businesses and the markets.

    “I hope now we can get back to our job, which is to facilitate the growth of our economy and create jobs by investing in innovation, in our infrastructure and workforce, and by making sure our children get a world-class education so they are prepared for a 21st century economy.”

  60. Now MSNBC has a silly “breaking news” bit about the Dow dropping 266 below 12000. I think it’s time we the people started pressuring these Repubs in congress and their lobbyists. They have been seriously let off the hook for their manipulation of the economy and it’s time they shaped up or paid a price. I’m sick and tired of the media pushing these doom and gloom stories hoping to make the President look bad just so that their Republican friends can get back into power.

    WHERE ARE THE JOBS, Mr. Boehner? Why does congress need a one-month vacation three times a year??!?!?!?

  62. Calidad I think this is a bad link. There’s nothing about politics when I click on it.

  63. LL, I can’t understand why it’s taken so long to go after the Murdoch Mafia. This behavior was the modus operandi from the beginning. And yet I keep reading conflicting stories about when the crowd gets hauled into prison, fined, run out of business — never? next week?

    What I’d like to see is the end of Fox News. Gone, vaporized.

    Gad, I hate being so disgustingly old. I want to march on Washington. I want to start a liberal revolution. I want to wrap my cane around Boner’s neck.

    McConnell says the Republicans will fight a debt ceiling raise in 1213 and, I assume, any stimulus to the economy — if that isn’t a cattle prod to vote out every Republican in the House and Senate possible, I don’t know what is. I’m going to follow your lead and research the Republicans, especially of the Tea Party stripe, and donate all I can to a good, solid Democrat to oppose them, and win.

  65. Not yet, LL. I actually think that the FBI and DOJ investigations will be the last straw in bringing them down. In the meantime London is chipping away at him and so is Australia. The stock price keeps falling. At some point soon the shareholders of News Corp and BSkyB have to go into panic mode and do a mass dump. How many million Euro lawsuits can one company take before folding?

  69. Okay. Ron Reagan just said the EXACT thing Thom Hartman did about the difference in how the committee and handle spending cuts and revenue. Where IS the confusion??????? Ron Reagan was furious and asked WHY would you not have the two things treated/handled exactly the same and as he explained it (just like Thom), they are not. Revenue can be filibustered and amended and debated, but the cuts cannot. ?????????????????

  70. Here is the article:

    BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — When three MSNBC hosts forecast the winner of next year’s presidential race, their choice isn’t surprising, considering the network’s liberal tilt.

    But their respective certainty wasn’t uniform when asked that question at an appearance before reporters on Tuesday at a meeting of the Television Critics Association.

    Lawrence O’Donnell, host of “The Last Word,” flatly predicted the re-election of President Barack Obama.

    Rachel Maddow also named Obama, attributing her pick to a thus-far weak Republican field.

    But “Hardball” host Chris Matthews waffled, saying Obama’s fate will rest largely on the economy as well as his GOP rival.

    One easy opponent? Mitt Romney, whom Matthews dismissed as “a mood ring.” And should Obama be running against Michele Bachmann, Matthews said, “He’ll just have a hoot.”

  71. Ignore msnbc. They are part of the corporate propaganda machine arrayed against POTUS. They will never relent until they break him down. The more they depress POTUS’ base, the more they hurt him. Do not give them the pleasure…focus on what is positive and uplifting. What is really happening, not the political spin out there.

  72. OMG. Just heard Fred Thompson doing a commercial for Government Insured Mortgage and how proud he is to be part of them and touting them and give us a call for more information about Government Insured Mortgage. Geez, those Repubs wanted us to default. Wonder how those Government Insured Mortgages would have worked out for folks?????!!!!
    Hypocrites! And even worse, he’s from TN. Can’t “claim” him!

  75. Thanks for list of House and senate votes. I followed up my earlier emails begging votes for the Deficit Deal with a disappointed in your NO vote to my Senator that voted NO. I said this may have been a political vote for you, but it showed me you were willing to let us default for the first time in our history rather than vote for a compromised bill that did not contain all that you wanted. I will write my thank yous for my Rep and other Senator Yes votes next.

  76. I just got this from a friend and it cheered me up:

    Did you know that race car spelled backwards still spells “race car”?

    And that “eat” is the only word that, if you take the first letter and move it to the last, spells its own past tense, “ate”?

    And if you rearrange the letters in “Tea Party Republicans,” and add just a few more letters, it spells: “Shut the fuck up you free-loading, progress-blocking, benefit-grabbing, resource-sucking, violent hypocrites, and deal with the fact that you nearly wrecked the country under Bush and that our president is black, so get over it.”

    Isn’t that interesting?

  77. Thanks Callidad…the link actually worked the second time I clicked on it and I was just about to comment when I saw your post!

    Of course, Tweety has to say “not unless” which is what his boss Howard Fineman tells him to say. Maddow gives a qualified and grudging “yes” in which she damns the President with faint praise. O’Donnell is the only one who says “yes” without any qualifiers.

  78. Maybe we need a list of all of the bills the GOP majority House has put forth since they took over this year. That might show they were not focussed on jobs.

  79. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be Obama vs Perry.

    It will depend on how long Bachmann could stay relevant. I think Pawlenty will get out rather early and throw his support to Romney (hoping that will curry VP favor) but his 3-4% won’t do anything. Bachmann will play kingmaker – And could angle her support for the VP slot.

  80. Exactly Peter!! I don’t know why PBO supporters have not caught on to MSNBC. All of the media is geared for the same outcome. MY GOD PEOPLE WAKE UP!!!

  81. “Dammit I’m Mad” by Demetri Martin

    Dammit I’m mad.
    Evil is a deed as I live.
    God, am I reviled? I rise, my bed on a sun, I melt.
    To be not one man emanating is sad. I piss.
    Alas, it is so late. Who stops to help?
    Man, it is hot. I’m in it. I tell.
    I am not a devil. I level “Mad Dog”.
    Ah, say burning is, as a deified gulp,
    In my halo of a mired rum tin.
    I erase many men. Oh, to be man, a sin.
    Is evil in a clam? In a trap?
    No. It is open. On it I was stuck.
    Rats peed on hope. Elsewhere dips a web.
    Be still if I fill its ebb.
    Ew, a spider… eh?
    We sleep. Oh no!
    Deep, stark cuts saw it in one position.
    Part animal, can I live? Sin is a name.
    Both, one… my names are in it.
    Murder? I’m a fool.
    A hymn I plug, deified as a sign in ruby ash,
    A Goddam level I lived at.
    On mail let it in. I’m it.
    Oh, sit in ample hot spots. Oh wet!
    A loss it is alas (sip). I’d assign it a name.
    Name not one bottle minus an ode by me:
    “Sir, I deliver. I’m a dog”
    Evil is a deed as I live.
    Dammit I’m mad.

  83. My eldest granddaughter will be 9 on Friday. Last year she told me she was a lot like our President Barack Obama. She said they were both half white and half black only his Mom was white and her Dad (my son) is White and her Mom is Black while his Dad was Black. She also informed me they were both born in Hawaii. I wonder if she knew they were born a day apart in the same month? I’ll add that to her list.
    Happy Birthday to you two too. I’d love sharing my birthday with BHO. Glad he can actually celebrate it now that the vote is over and hope he can get some needed rest.

  84. What I have noticed about Thom Hartmann and Rachel Maddow, two people I consider as intelligent is that they can give you lots of good detail and information, but they are both prone to coloring arguments towards their pet ideology with misleading info and their own interpretations.
    Right now I am staying away from MSM except for Randi Rhodes.

  87. LOL….Keith, we PBO supporters are WIDE AWAKE!!!

    I didn’t post this because I was taken by surprise – this is something I’m well aware of. I’m just citing yet another example and why we need to keep pressure on the Repubs.

  89. To me Bachmann in the VP slot is just as scary as Palin was for me in the VP slot.

  94. I had heard that PBO kept the Bush tax cuts out of the deal so they could run out. I wonder if that is why?

  95. My friends, you did not go wrong betting on a skinny Black kid with a funny name. POTUS has taken the GOP to cleaners every time they had negotiations that ended up in a deal, El Rushbo–the RW loud mouth is now going crazy. He is now being reported as not liking the dceal–he has just realized that they were cleaned out and the cuts will not happen. Why not? Deaniac gave us the answer. because they are GOP’s sacred cows–the Pentagon and the heal;thcare insurers,manufacturers, Doctors all–the type that donates to the GOP!!!! This beginning to look and feel good. If El Rushbo is not happy, Boner, McConnell are cooked..lol.

  96. Happy Birthday to all who celebrate close to the President. What an honor. All these birthday celebrations just for all of you!!!! Enjoy!

  97. Prof Obama to Repub: Can you tell me the phrase most frequently used by Republicans?

    Repub: No sir, I can’t.

    Prof Obama: Correct.

  100. This is the new meme, that POTUS is supposedly weak on jobs, ignoring the political realities of the 112th congress. Rather than asking Speaker Boehner where are the jobs, we’re supposed to buy into a narrative about President Obama supposedly having no real response to the jobs crisis. It’s horseshit.

  101. I was wondering what young Master Limbaugh’s reaction was. So, it pisses off the extreme Right and the extreme Left and those of us in the middle are glad that a second Great Depression has been avoided.

  102. My friends, we are witnessing the end of the glee on the Right and the beginning of a fight with their donors. See this excerpt below, I just had to copy it so I could paste here, it is from some of those distasteful blogs where I go to measure the temperature.

    Health care lobbyists spent Monday morning briefing their top executives on details of the agreement, which were posted online shortly after midnight.

    “This is more horrible than the current situation,” Hobson said.“Simply put, the docs would be at the mercy of some kind of budget agreement.”

    The deal provides a path for Obama to get a $2.2 trillion increase in the debt ceiling, enough to kick the politically contentious issue past the 2012 elections and into 2013. There would be an initial $1 trillion in expected savings from discretionary programs, and the legislation empowers the joint committee to target as much as an additional $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction.

    The committee must file its recommendations by Thanksgiving, and Congress is required to vote on them by Dec. 23. If its efforts fail, then across-the-board spending cuts would be triggered in 2013 — hitting Medicare but steering clear of Medicaid and Social Security.

    The timing could hardly be worse for the physician lobby. The late November deadline puts the deficit reduction effort on a collision course with a push by physician groups to reverse the 29 percent Medicare payment cut, which would go into effect absent a congressional fix.

    “The timing is all bad,” Hobson added.

  103. If El Rushbo loud mouth Limbo is loosing it, my job here is complete for this afternoon 🙂 🙂

  104. Peter M, GOP folks are just starting to realize how much PBO, Dems and their leaders played them, could not have happened to a nicer set of tea baggers. Obama2012

  108. “…Sunlight is the best disinfectant and information is power…”

    Ain’t that tha truth…

    Great first step, now, it needs to be implemented by US on a regular basis!

    WE gotta be persistent and patient! 😉 lol

    The same is true of the “corporated-backed” U.S. mainstream media (cable news, national news, et al), which isn’t PBHO’s nor “our friends,” that doesn’t do their job of educatin’ the public, “fabricates” news stories, lies, etc., each and everyday on US and him…Grrr! 😡

    WHATISWORKING’S ‘MEDIA CONTACT INFO’ LIST… http://www.whatisworking.com/2011/01/email-addresses.html

    And, REPETITION IS A GOOD THING…Ask Frank Luntz & Co. and the :evil:, apathetic, elected TeaPUBLICANs!

    So, LET’S ROLL! 🙂

    YES.WE.CAN…DO.(Much)More, Together!

  109. Yes Starm, I couldn’t agree more The thing is a beauty to watch…I am just beside myself. Very soon MSM will go silent–looking for a new meme. POTUS and his team are just the best.

  111. To all the Repugs in congress we say this: You have been collecting your six-figure welfare stipends that you call “salaries” on the backs of hard working Americans. Yet you produce NOTHING of substance while you laze around in tanning booths, golf courses and bars, buying $350 wine. Where are jobs you promised in 2010? You block everything legislatively and are draining the economy while you continue to receive your six-figure welfare payments.

    Go to JAIL. Move directly to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect your six-figure welfare stipends on the backs of hard working Americans.

  114. Oh dear..I didn’teven realize this. Now that you mentioned it I’m back tracking thru the entire poem 🙂

    Forgive me dear Saint Roscoe – I’m SLOW today!!!!

  115. Done! whenever someone trashes our President, I open my wallet. Might be small little dollars, but I do it often. Hope others are doing the same.

  116. I don’t think the people here are saying that. It is the fault of the 112th and even the 111th (specifically the Senate) congresses that we haven’t had more comprehensive jobs legislation. That is the policy reality.

    I think it is also a fair criticism of the Democrats from the President on down to us to say that we haven’t focused enough on jobs in our communications to the mostly non involved public. Jobs are a big concern right now and our leaders and we need to show that they get that and unfortunately our electorate is so uninformed that for that message to get through all of the sturm and drang it needs to be repeated ad naseum in simple terms. Not tied to a bigger debt ceiling debate but as its own initiative.

    It also has to be more than asking the Republicans where are the jobs? We need to show in an easily explained plan where we will get the jobs.

  118. I snorted!! That was SO SOSOSOSOSO funny! You had me there for a minute. Nice to laugh again.

  120. absolutely, africa…I think was a more nervous than she let on…worried about taking a long time to wake from the anesthesia. She is definitely in our thoughts.

  124. OMG I have the same letter re-arrangement for Tea Party Republicans” –wow what are the odds?!? lololol

    2 funny!!

  125. OH! Randi made mention of that today…she said Rush TOTALLY understands that the R’s were PLAYED on this! They got punked by the President, and he knows it….full blown panic attack, I’m sure. Keep poppin’ the oxycontin, Rush…the fact that you guys just figured out that your asses got handed to you, maybe those pills you eat will take the pain away….don’t mess with the skinny kid with the funny name. You will be crushed! Bravo, PBO. Bravo.

  128. You know, looking back, I have just realized the turning point for POTUS. That point was when he identified the trouble-maker–Cantor and smacked him down. After the smack-down, the unflattering media that followed, isolated him from dumb and dumber aka Boehner and McConnell. The next step was to loin the two top Dem leaders and the top GOP leaders–aka Dumb and Dumber. They swallowed the bait, hook ,line and sinker.

    And now as the recriminations begin, Cantor will say I was not in the room when the deal was made. Boehner will be pushed out and Cantor, the most disagreeable of all, will take the leadership and voila!

    With that, Americans will see the new face of the GOP with Cantor as the Tbagger favorite most identified with confrontational style of negotiations saying that if he had been in the room, he would not have allowed this deal—better for the country to default that get such a deal. Which clear-thinking American–Dem, Indie or Repug–other than T-Bagger loonie would vote for that??

    It is a great set up.

  129. africa, my thoughts and prayers goin’ out to HZ…

    No fear, let her have a successful surgery and a speedy ful! recovery!

    :Virtual Hugs:, (((HZ)))!

  132. That’s only if the trigger is tripped and the super congress can’t come to an agreement. I’m thinking the trigger being tripped might not be a terrible thing really. 1.4T in cuts, half to the Pentagon means they’d see $700B in cuts, with the other $700B coming from across the board cuts though with Social Security, Medicaid, Pell Grants, Medicare recipients, Unemployment Insurance and services for the poor walled off. The cuts would be painful, but we’ll never get those cuts in the military budget with a negotiated settlement, and add in the Bush Tax Cuts expiring and worth $9ooB over 10 years and the total deal of 2.3T would be basically 2/3rds cuts to the military and raising taxes on rich.

    If Dems embrace the trigger result we might be able to have the GOP over the barrel for the next set of negotiations.

  133. They have always underestimated this man. Always. They all thought that the doomsday default clock was ticking, that he, being the good man that he is, would give them everything they wanted as we were held hostage by the batshit crazy Boner brigade….he will never let the US default, blah, blah…relying on his goodness, but TOTALLY forgetting to check their backsides where he was coming up the rear, prepared to counter their antics….they only looked at one side of the puzzle(nothing new there)…but totally missed the scorpion sting coming out of no where! Brilliant strategist. hands down kicks ass.

  134. Yes there is. It’s #BO50 That the letters BO and the numbers 5 – 0. Kinda proud of myself for know what you are talking about AND knowing the answer.

    Thanks to Tally, I just started diving into Twitter this past weekend.

  138. What will really send them into a fit is if Dems start embracing the trigger result. $700B cut to Defense spending and end of the Bush Tax Cuts for walled off across the board spending cuts that would be painful, but not debilitating given the wall off.

    2/3rds of the 1.5T deficit cut would be on defense contractors and tax raises on the rich!

  139. K Street which is very GOP friendly is in full panic mode. It is saying that nobody is safe from the Super committee…lol. K Street is hiring lobbyists to lobby the same GOP that is supposed to be pushing for cuts!!!! See this? What a beauty!

    K Street gets ready to lobby super committee

  140. Rep. Lamborn likens Obama to a “tar baby”
    Updated: Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn’s choice of words shows how the fringe right is mainstreaming racist language
    By David Sirota

    Rep. Lamborn likens Obama to a
    Rep. Doug Lamborn

    [UPDATED BELOW]

    “Tar Baby” — from time to time, this ugly racially charged phrase has come up in our political discourse. Most often, the term is applied to a situation or a thing. John McCain, for example, used it to describe divorces. Likewise, Mitt Romney used it to describe the Big Dig. In both instances, the Republican leaders apologized for using such a loaded word — even though they hadn’t used it to describe an actual person.

    The same cannot be said for Representative Doug Lamborn (R-CO), who used the term to describe President Obama in a statewide radio interview on Friday. You can listen to that interview here, which we examined on my KKZN-AM760 radio show this morning. Here’s the key excerpt:

    LAMBORN: Even if some people say “well, the Republicans should have done this, or should have done that,” they will hold the President responsible. Now, I don’t even want to be associated with him, it’s like touching a, a tar baby and you get it…you know you’re stuck and you’re part of the problem and you can’t get away.

    It has been questioned whether the term “tar baby” is always a racist term. In 2006, Ta-Nehisi Coates explored this issue in Time magazine. “Is tar baby a racist term?” he asked. “Like most elements of language, that depends on context. Calling the Big Dig a tar baby is a lot different than calling a person one.” In this case, that context is quite clear.

    This, of course, doesn’t absolve McCain and Romney, who plead ignorance to the term’s racial implications and then promptly apologized. But it is to say that in Lamborn’s case, the ignorance plea would be absurd because he explicitly used the term to describe a black person.

    Tellingly, this openly derogatory epithet comes from not just any old politician. Lamborn is a United States congressman from Colorado Springs — one of the most conservative Tea-Party-loving districts in America. In the hard-core right-wing political circles he runs in, describing a black person as a “tar baby” is probably more than acceptable — it may even be celebrated, especially when aimed at a political opponent like President Obama.

    BUT OF COURSE, THERE’S NO RACISM IN THE GOTP BECAUSE THEY HAVE A FEW “FLIES IN THEIR BUTTERMILK”. SO WHERE’S THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS “NOW”…. DEMANDING FOR LAMBORN’S RESIGNATION THE WAY THEY DEMANDED PBO TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT JOBS IN THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY?

    THE MORE I THINK ABOUT IT, THE MORE I’M REALIZING… THAT PBO MIGHT JUST BE “TOO GOOD” FOR “THIS” COUNTRY

  141. Au contraire – it’s become of the realities of the 112th Congress that PBO needs to be more aggressive and proactive on jobs and infrastructure (I see the two as intertwined). We all know he gets it on things like infrastructure because we follow things closely and know what he included in the stimulus bill but it’s not getting through to the American public and PBO is not building the record against Congress that needs to be built.

  142. Pass the popcorn – It’s going to be the M-I-C vs the Medical Lobby vs Anti-taxers/Norquist!

    If Dems show solidarity to no cuts to SS, Medicare, Medicaid, Education saying they’re walled off in the trigger cuts so they’re fine with the trigger results, than the GOP will have to weigh military cuts or raising taxes to get to the 1.3T necessary to stave off trigger. Because if there is a trigger than all will be blasted – MIC gets a near $700B cut, medicare providers dinged 2% and President Obama will let the Bush Tax Cuts expire – so they’ll all lobby against each other to control who gets cut more.

  143. Ron Reagan was Hardball tonight and repeated the exact same lie, almost verbatim. Even referred to “section 402” as though that would validate his false assertion. These guys don’t even bother to do research.

  144. No. A “tripped trigger” would NOT be bad:) That’s the beauty of it all….PBO and more importantly, the people, win. He totally did a run around the crazy animal house….it really is a thing of beauty….the house is left to stare down the Joint Chiefs on Pentagon cuts…or Grover Norquist. Damn.He’s good.

  148. Imagine that africa…..Leave it to the US press to incorrectly evaluate an outcome. 🙄

  149. Well folks this will only get worse (racist dialogue)as the election season gets closer unless the American people of all stripes, shapes, and colors speak and rise up. Obama/Biden 2012!!

  151. Could someone please post the contact info for that ignoramous from colorado; need to send it to someone.

  154. It is a beauty to behold. Thank you. It is just amazing how eith these pundits are either dumb, stoopid or just lazy!!! how could they still be gloating when the guy ate their lunch???

    Thank you, this blurb is just another gem.

  155. But, but, but, McConnell and Boehner are calling it a clear win for the GOP, and the MSM is helping them to take numerous victory laps!

  156. The result of these negotiations should send a message to all of the whiners: read the fine print before you declare a “winner” or a “loser.” A secondary message should be: protect yourself from propaganda based on emotional appeals that have no basis on facts/truth.

  158. Oh, goody, and if the triggers come into play, the cuts will have the greatest impact on the GOP’s biggest supporters. Maybe Boehner and McConnell might want to think again about those victory laps they’re taking.

  159. http://s2.wp.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif?m=1305259314g

    Several reasons I’ll name 2

    1. We know the media is bias and most pundits/tv host are not journalist however, ultimately everything is money driven in our media culture. So whatever story sells, those are the ones we see over and over i.e. disaster, celebrity gossip, congress folks embarrassing stuff, all kinds of fluff with entertainment value.

    2. MSM is so invested in being the first to report stuff they don’t both to invest in the time to get their stories or commentary verified, and by the time the truth comes out they move on to the next breaking news. We all know the drill by now.

  161. Yes, I agree, Keith. I was thinking about this yesterday after I called Lamborn’s office. As I thought about racism and how it has been the past 2 yrs. and knowing the “crazy season” (campaign) is coming up, I had this thought: I believe it will get so bad that PO will have to do another speech on race and racism in our country.

  162. PBO can take whatever racist BS they throw at him. They’re stupid for pretending that he doesn’t know how they really feel about him, and for thinking that he lacks experience in dealing with it. His mom taught him well. PBO had to grow up taking hits from both blacks and whites, so he can deal with Cornel “he’s not a real black man” West, Doug “he’s like a tar baby” Lamborn, and all of the others.

  165. Ron Reagan is a fool who is just repeating what Thom Hartmann said. It wouldn’t have killed either of them to have gone on-line and actually read the section in question. Just shows you how bad the PL is that they would willing repeat crap that’s designed to make PBO look bad.

  166. Hi canadabarb4obama,

    Here ya go: (This is courtesy of Fred at Chipsticks’ TOD (It’s located on the TOAITR Blogroll.) 😉

    Contact Representative Doug Lamborn

    WASHINGTON OFFICE
    437 Cannon House Office Building
    Washington, DC 20515
    Phone: (202) 225-4422
    Fax: (202) 226-2638

    DISTRICT OFFICES
    1271 Kelly Johnson Blvd. Suite 110
    Colorado Springs, CO 80920
    Phone: (719) 520-0055
    Fax: (719) 520-0840

    415 Main Street
    Buena Vista, CO 81211
    Phone: (719) 520-0055
    Fax: (719) 520-0840
    (no mail delivery)

    http://lamborn.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=3

    YES.WE.CAN…DO.(Much)More, Together!

  167. You said it, Peter. Or, if you must watch them do so as a scientist just trying to figure out their tricks that are designed to damage PBO.

  168. Don’t you think that Boehner will pin it all on McConnell??? I don’t think Boehner was in the room with Joe B (man, I love the guy-the perfect VP).

  169. You would think those idiots on MSNBC and in the PL would know by now — PBO never ever gets bested in any negotiations. The man’s got a track record – he dazzles them with smoke and mirrors and walks off with 80% of the goodies – happens every time.

  170. It’s Defense Spending versus Everything Else –

    The tension between the two heavy hitters centers on the provision of the debt ceiling agreement that triggers
    $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts split evenly between defense and nondefense spending if a joint Congressional committee fails to produce its own plan for
    at least $1.2 trillion in savings by Thanksgiving. For some sectors of the health care industry, especially those that involve Medicare, that “trigger” could be the lesser evil. As a result, those interests might want the committee to fail to reach an agreement.

    Andrew Rosenberg, a Democratic lobbyist who represents pharmaceutical companies and medical device firms, said drug companies may prefer the broad cuts of the trigger, which would be capped at
    2 percent and would hit all players equally, to the committee’s recommendations.

    “They need to figure out how that across-the-board cut would actually be administered … and how that stacks up against the risks that may result from the committee process,” he said. “In either case, providers feel like it’s hunting season and they are the only animal that is in-season.”

    Another health care lobbyist, Stacey Rampy with Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, agreed that across-the-board cuts may be more appealing to certain sectors. “Some of the guys who are really on the chopping block might feel potentially better about that,” she said.

    But lobbyists for the defense industry are already working to avoid the trigger at all costs and are invested in seeing the Congressional panel of 12 members succeed.

    “The 50 percent cut as a trigger would be devastating to the defense community, which means not only a loss of jobs among the major prime contractors but also among the subcontractors they use,” said defense lobbyist Michael Herson, who runs American Defense International. “Couple that with a loss in military capability and military might and a loss of our manufacturing base in the United States.”

    Full Article here – http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_18/panel-may-trigger-lobbying-bonanza-207939-1.html

    And what this article leaves out is Grover Norquist and his anti-tax lobbyists. Because all these monied lobbyists could conclude that raising taxes saves their programs. I wonder if we could see the spending side lobbyists unite and push for tax raises over spending cuts.

  172. He apologized for a “term some find offensive.” A classic non-apology. If only “some find [it] offensive,” just who are those who don’t?

  173. Maddow’s at it again y’all. Misinforming the public, misrepresenting facts, touting the Republicans and belittling the President for passing a deal that she clearly doesn’t understand, and talking about how THIS bill and mutual “job creation” talk from the White House AND Teapublicans are a threat to PBO’s re-election.

    I think Dr. Perry’s exemplary performance on her show last week in her absence has scared her a little. To the point that she’s going overboard…. again…. just to appeal to the whiner, negatively effectual Far left Progressive base… again… by overdramatizing the truth and misrepresenting the facts… AGAIN.

    You know, I tried to give her a 2nd chance after her “President Obama is against what just happened…” emotional misrepresentation. But now, I’m done with her once and for all. She’s definitely not as smart as SHE thinks she is or as her waning popularity suggests. So…. so long Rachel… for good THIS time.

  174. And another thing is the timing of things. The Super Congress bill needs to be delivered by Thanksgiving and Congress has to vote on it by Dec 23rd.

    And since Congress always goes right up to the deadlines they’ll have to announce any cuts the day before Thanksgiving and then all of Congress will have to vote to pass it Christmas Eve eve.

  178. Attending an official Obama 2012 meetup tomorrow. Take that perpetually disappointed Left.

  180. Out West we need the Big Straw, a flood control system to divert water from the Mississippi to the Rio Grande

  181. We all know that PBO can handle the racial slurs — like being called a “tar baby,” “your boy,” or “a dick” all over the public airways. But how long is it going to take for the MSM to stop giving these a$$holes a forum to spew their garbage? How long will it take for us to let them know this is unacceptable and we will no longer tolerate the racists outbursts?

    Yes, the President might be able to just “brush that dirt right off his shoulders,” but WE THE PEOPLE living in the 21st Century shouldn’t be allowing this type of behavior on the part of our elected public officials or from overpaid and overexposed TV & radio pundits. We’ve got to continue to call them out. Let’s get them off the air and out of office. No apologies accepted!

  182. My thoughts exactly tnmtngirl. PBO is certainly in the position to make another speech. I really forsee that happening. It is going to get ugly. After all when is the last time America re-elected a Black President? 😉

  183. Exactly, if Rep Jim Clyburn or Maxine Waters referred to George Bush as a “Honkey” or “Redneck” it would be considered racist and offensive. No one would stand for it.

  184. For someone who just came back from vacation, her mood sure seems sour. As you said, she must be feeling threatened about something.

  185. “…What I’d like to see is the end of Fox News. Gone, vaporized…”

    Hello Joan,

    I’m glad you’re feeling better! :Virtual Hug:

    And, I know what you mean, since Jan 09, Murdoch/Ailes’ Fox “News” has disrespected PBHO and the Office of The Presidency, 24/7, 365 days a year…

    God doesn’t like ugly!

    Slowly but surely, they’re bein’ “takin’ down”…

    @mmfa (Media Matters), @stopbeck, @colorofchange and others are workin’ together to do just that. (Because of what’s happenin’ in UK and Australia, DoJ and FBI are workin’ on them, too. They’re “waitin’ their turn! lol)

    http://dropfox.com/ (Media Matters is located on the TOAITR Blogroll.)

    WE just have to persistent and patient. 😉

    Their day *IS* come!

    So, let’s KEEP THE FAITH & HOPE ALIVE! 🙂

    YES.WE.CAN…DO.(Much)More, Together!

  186. Yes, they could just yawn and tip back in their chairs and say – we love the triggers unless you can sell on something really, really good. Harry Reid — do not name Kent Conrad or Mark Warner to the super committee!!!!!

  187. Could her ratings be down??? I permanently turned her off after she doubled down on her grotesque performance with regard to enactment of the NY same-sex law. . .

  188. OPEN GOVERNMENT TO SOLVE PROBLEMS: MEET CHAMPIONS OF THE OPEN INNOVATION MOVEMENT…

    … LEIGH, WALDO AND DAVID ARE PART OF A GROWING NETWORK OF OPEN INNOVATORS TAPPING INTO (OR CONTRIBUTING TO) GOVERNMENT DATA THAT IS BOTH “HUMAN-FRIENDLY” (YOU CAN FIND WHAT YOU NEED), AND “COMPUTER-FRIENDLY” SO THAT ENTREPRENEURS CAN DEVELOP APPLICATIONS THAT BOTH SOLVE BIG PROBLEMS AND CREATE JOBS IN AN INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE ECONOMY. I’m confident this growing band of app-developing brothers and sisters will help us invent our way to a clean energy economy, achieve a “quantum leap” in learning outcomes, and strengthen America’s manufacturing sector. To support them, I’ve directed technology and innovation leaders across the federal government to learn from these best practices and scale what works.

    This week, THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IS CELEBRATING 18 SUCH OPEN INNOVATORS AS PART OF OUR “CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE” INITIATIVE where you can learn each of their stories and, hopefully, draw inspiration for your own business. When will we celebrate your story?

    Aneesh Chopra is Chief Technology Officer of the United States.

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/08/02/open-government-solve-problems-meet-champions-open-innovation-movement

  189. I didn’t get my reservation in in time for the birthday party here in Knoxville tomorrow night. Guess what? The event is FULL!!!!! How about that? It is at a private home so no idea how many could attend, but that still made me feel good to read it was FULL.

    Also saw in our paper this headline: Tea Party protest in Knoxville fizzles. Story goes that the TP was planning a protest yesterday at 1:00 in front of Alexander’s and Corker’s downtown office. Goes on to say that there was NO ONE who showed up. 🙂

  190. Yes, clearly President Obama is doomed. Doomed. Why doesn’t he just resign now so Dennis Kucinich can run next year?

    Hopefully, once all the hoopla dies down, people will take a deep breath and realize what a (relatively) good deal was just signed into law today. SS, Medicaid, Medicare benefits, and the ACA all intact, real cuts in defense spending, and a “Super Congress” that won’t be allowed to just slash whatever it likes. Not to mention a Republican party in total disarray and a clear look at how pathetic the Tea Party really is. It’s not perfect, of course, but it’s FAR better than I had any reason to hope it’d be. The eleven-dimensional-chess analogies may be a bit much, but the man’s clearly onto to something.

    Sleep in tomorrow, Mr. President. You’ve earned it.

  191. Yeah I’ve cut her loose as well. It is my instinct that she thinks she is at least as smart as President Obama….she is smart I grant you that, but her emotional IQ is far below his so in the final match up…..not even close. My instinct is this is very, very personal for her. And her competiitive nature and her sometimes inability to remain objective (LGBT issues – lead up to DADT repeal) are making a sometimes fool out of her.

    Our President is driving them all insanely crazy, because he refuses to conform to their molds, and they resist that he is Change.

  192. Snoopy, thank you for the beautiful video. I bet our President would appreciate seeing it as well.

  194. I so agree. This has to be pushed back on. I called the Rep’s D.C. office yesterday.
    In light of this none apology, I will call again, first thing tomorrow.

    I think MSNBC will be hearing from as well.

  195. I support the Prez. It just amazes me how issues that are not significant never make it into the history books get blown out of proportion in today’s political climate! (I mean, do you remember reading in history class about the battles over the annual budget between Presidents and congress? —

    “Like yeah man, remember in 1962 when JFK went head to head with Speaker of the House John W. McCormick over taxes and infrastructure spending? Yeah, it was huge. Those are the things people remember a president for….”

    It’s crazy when you really think about it.

  196. Just received the following letter from Jeff Merkeley, senator from Oregon who voted ‘no’ on the debt deal. Wondering what you folks would suggest as the best response:

    Dear ___,

    I’ve got a pretty simple test when I’m considering legislation. Will it help the middle class and small businesses create opportunities and get ahead? It’s a test the debt bill couldn’t pass, which is why I voted no. All policymakers should use that criteria, but the debt plan we voted on today proves that not to be the case.

    After over two years of a devastating recession, and a decade of stagnant wages before that, our number one goal should be creating jobs and making sure our kids have opportunities in the future.

    Instead, this deal will cut off jobs and pile burdens on middle class families who are already paying the price for a decade of bad policy choices.

    Imagine: Americans who may have lost a job, whose mortgage is under water, who can’t afford their kids’ college anymore and have seen prices skyrocket for food and gas are asked to tighten their belts.

    At the same time, the very wealthiest Americans and big, well-connected special interests are 100% insulated from any sacrifice. Their lavish tax breaks and sweetheart deals sprinkled throughout the tax code have been conveniently put off limits for any cuts.
    The conventional wisdom says we have to swallow this deal. But if we give in to these ransom demands and allow the extremists to continue their assault on the building blocks of middle class prosperity in order to protect the wealthy and well-connected, we’ll be facing more ransom demands soon enough.

    I don’t discount the need for tough choices to bring down our unsustainable deficits. But they can’t be only tough choices for those who can least afford the sacrifice, while those in the penthouses and boardrooms continue amassing more and more and more.

    This is a fight about more than how we lower the deficit, it’s a fight for our country’s basic values, and our future. Too many in Washington seem to have forgotten that America’s economic strength is inseparable from the well-being of its middle class. If we continue to sacrifice their prosperity to provide more to the well-off and well-connected, we sacrifice America’s greatness. Let’s not let that happen.

    Jeff

    I was thinking of copying the paragraph from The People’s View that was sent to TPM, which says, “Let me get this straight. The President kept revenues on the table, did not touch the sunset provisions in the Bush tax cuts, ensured that military cuts keep the GOP honest, protected Medicare by adding in only provider cuts in the trigger, made the reduction apparently enough to stave off a debt downgrade, got the debt ceiling raised, wounded Boehner by demonstrating to the world that he is controlled by the Tea Party caucus, took out the requirement that a BBA[Balanced Budget Amendment] be passed and sent to the states and got the extension through 2012? What exactly is wrong with this deal?” (would quote source of course) but would like to add something that would convince him he must support Obama’s re-election.

    Thanks in advance and blessings foe your advice.

  198. Done! It’s 11:15 p.m. EDT, and the market is at $8,100 collected so far.

    We are rocking it for President Obama!

    I hope he at least is able to have a nice birthday. As Vice President Biden might say, “turning 50 is a BFD.”

  200. What a great way to have expressed your thoughts to your NO Senator. While I live in NJ, and both our senators are Democrats (as well as my district’s Representative), I’m going to send something like what you’ve sent to the NO voters in districts around the country because you expressed what I’m feeling about their vote so graciously and reasonably.

  201. Reading your post and wondering if this couldn’t be spun as something other than “Obama is looking to spend again,” because, you’re right — that’s exactly what they would say.

    Perhaps if it were cast as “giving back to the American people,” rather than “spending,” it would resonate better. Now, mind you, I think the GOP would still block it, but….

    More than one party can play the spin game, and the Democrats are actually on the side of the people.

    I’m going to seek out a couple of town halls in my state (my area is represented by ‘Democrats). That is, if Republican representatives in NJ are planning to have town halls this summer. They might just duck out.

  202. One thing I learned from our President, negativity, fear and hate mongering, despair.. never encouraged anyone, never won anyone over, never won a vote nor a moment’s trust. So being positive and optimistic about what we can do together is what motivates me, and can motivate all of us here.

  204. I did too Eclectic11. I should have followed my own instincts and stayed away from Maddow’s show. I did the same thing for Lawrence’s show. He was doing so well, and then he lowered the boom on the President yesterday and it took him two minutes to start in on him tonight. I am done for good this time. No Maddow, no Schultz, no O’Donnell. I will tape Rev. Al since I am at work when he airs, but I will watch nothing else.

  205. PRESIDENT OBAMA’S BIRTHDAY RECEPTIONS – August 3rd!

    July 26, 2011 at 4:58 pm

    As many of you know, President Obama’s 50th Birthday is coming up next Thursday, August 4, 2011. THERE WILL BE OBAMA VICTORY FUND 2012 EVENTS all across the country on Wednesday, August 3rd SO THAT ALL SUPPORTERS WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO CELEBRATE WITH HIM. THE PRESIDENT ONLY TURNS 50 ONCE, so it will be a night to remember! GEN44 YOUNG PROFESSIONAL WILL BE PLAYING A LARGE PART IN MAKING ALL OF THESE EVENTS SUCCESSFUL. We want you to get involved!

    BELOW ARE THE DETAILS FOR THE BIRTHDAY CONCERT IN CHICAGO AND SATELLITE BIRTHDAY PARTY EVENTS IN NEW YORK CITY, BOSTON, DC, TAMPA, AUSTIN, AND LOS ANGELES. Contact us at Gen44@barackobama.com if you are interested in joining a host committee, attending any of the events below or even putting on your own party if one is not being held in your city.

    CHICAGO

    THE SHOWCASE 50TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WILL BE IN CHICAGO – PRESIDENT OBAMA’S HOMETOWN. CHICAGO BIRTHDAY EVENTS INCLUDE A DINNER, PHOTOLINE, and CONCERT WITH OK GO, HERBIE HANCOCK, and JENNIFER HUDSON.

    Wednesday, August 3, 2011 4:00 PM

    SPECIAL GUEST: PRESIDENT OBAMA

    The Aragon Ballroom
    1106 West Lawrence Avenue
    Chicago, Illinois

    NEW YORK CITY

    Wednesday, August 3, 2011 7:00 PM

    SPECIAL GUESTS: GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO ND PATRICK GASPARD (DNC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

    Beekman Beer Garden
    89 South Street
    New York City

    BOSTON

    Wednesday, August 3, 2011 7:00 PM

    SPECIAL GUESTS: ROBERT GIBBS & JEN O’MALLEY DILLION (DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER)

    Towne
    900 Boylston Street
    Boston, Massachusetts

    WASHINGTON, DC

    Wednesday, August 3, 2011 7:00 PM

    SPECIAL GUESTS: CONGRESSWOMAN DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (DNC CHAIR), ALYSSA MASTROMONACO, and NBA STAR ETAN THOMASThomas

    L2
    3315 Cady’s Alley, NW
    Washington, DC

    TAMPA

    Wednesday, August 3, 2011 7:00 PM

    SPECIAL GUESTS: DAVID PLOUFFE and MARLON MARSHALL (DEPUTY FIELD DIRECTOR)

    Mangroves
    208 S. Howard Avenue
    Tampa, FL 33606

    AUSTIN

    Wednesday, August 3, 2011 6:00 PM

    SPECIAL GUESTS: HON. LEE LEFFINGWELL and MITCH STEWART (BATTLEGROUND STATES DIRECTOR)

    Lavaca Street Bar
    405 Lavaca Street
    Austin, TX 78701

    LOS ANGELES

    Wednesday, August 3, 2011 7:30 PM

    SPECIAL GUEST: DAVID AXELROD and Hon. ERIC GARCETTI

    Spot 5750
    5750 Hollywood Blvd.
    Hollywood, CA

    Again, feel free to email Gen44@barackobama.com if you are interested in getting involved with these events.

    http://www.genfortyfour.com/

    YES.WE.CAN…DO.(Much)More, Together!

  208. Your suggested response is good. You might add that you are disappointed with Merkley’s playing of politics, misrepresenting the deal on a matter of such national importance, and letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. This paragraph in his letter seemed extra silly as it is hard to see any connection between the deal and mortgages or college costs (I think the deal actually has extra money for Pell grants):

    “Imagine: Americans who may have lost a job, whose mortgage is under water, who can’t afford their kids’ college anymore and have seen prices skyrocket for food and gas are asked to tighten their belts.”

    It’s as though he expected the budget deal to solve every single societal problem.

  209. Yup – Lawrence had me for a while but when he said in the intro on Monday night that PBO had blinked, I hit the clicker for good on him. He can go head-to-head with Keith Olbermann for the same viewers without my help if he thinks that’s a recipe for success.

  210. I can’t think of anything more forward-looking than patent reforms and trade deals. But then who am I to disagree with anything that is holy grail in these internets. Apparently massive amounts of short term low skilled jobs delivered in a huge deluge is more progressive and socialistic than building a high-tech economy with durable high skill jobs that don’t go away with the whims of economic growth and contraction. See Germany for any examples and forgive me for disagreeing that ‘Jobs,Jobs Jobs’ should be the holy grail of progressive politics to the exclusion of any innovative thinking that includes education, technological competitiveness and high value manufacturing. I suppose we will soon be hearing things like “Hows that Winningy Futury thingee working out for you soon?” if the President’s current efforts do immediately translate into millions of jobs in say 1 month’s time? We seem to always think that we have it all figured out better that the President don’t we?

  212. Boehner is up in 2012. McConnell is not up for reelection…I think. Plus the fact that Boehner needed so many Dems to pass his bill and, had had to abandon his earlier bills in retreat from Tbaggers in his caucus weakened to a point he will be challenged; heck he could even be primaried.

  214. Morning folks, guys this is a must read it explains the budget in even more details

    The devil is in the details
    /
    Democrats are upset that the deal does not include increasing revenues. But that’s not accurate. In fact, it virtually guarantees a revenue increase by the end of 2012. And Boehner knows it.

    Here’s how it works: Part of the deficit reduction estimates used to sell this deal to the Republicans count on Congressional Budget Office estimates. Those estimates set a baseline. All reductions have to come from that baseline and if any additional spending is to be made, offsetting cuts must also be enacted.

    Here’s where it gets interesting. The CBO baseline already assumes that the Bush Era tax cuts will expire at the end of 2012. The spending levels for 2013 include the additional revenue from those cuts expiring. If Republicans want to extend those tax cuts (which are considered spending), they will have to make cuts to the budget to offset every penny. They won’t have the political control needed to do that before the end of 2012, even if the President loses his office and they take control of the Senate, as the cuts expire in 2012, and a new administration and Congress would not be seated until January 2013.

    So, unless Republicans want to try to pass an extension along with offsetting cuts during an election year, those cuts will expire. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already said he will not allow the issue to come to a vote, and the President has vowed he will veto it. So if Republicans want to extend those cuts, they will have to come up with $4T in spending cuts to offset the tax cuts. To make it more difficult still, the deal makes it clear that those cuts must come in a 50/50 ratio between defense and non-defense spending, with Social Security, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, civilian and military retirement off the table. Medicare cuts would only come from the provider side, not the individual.

    Now, take that in for a minute. If Republicans want to extend the tax cuts, they will need to cut an equal amount out of spending, with half of that coming from defense spending. Half. This is in addition to the $350B that are already being cut as part of this deal. To get their tax cuts, Republicans would have to slash another $2T from defense spending. They would have to justify slashing the defense budget for the benefit of the wealthiest Americans. And with all the social programs off the table, where will they find the other $2T?

    The plain fact is, they can’t. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he won’t let it come to a vote, and the President says he would veto any extension. But the key issue is – they don’t need to. In fact, all they have to do is make sure to speak loudly if/when Republicans try to extend any tax cuts, and frame it as cutting the military. It’s a pretty clear cut distinction and attacks the entire ethos of Republicans as deficit hawks and military backers. In the meantime, if the Republicans can’t find the cuts, the cuts expire, and revenue increases.

    //
    Read the rest at
    http://www.editedforclarity.com/2011/08/01/debt-ceiling-deal-the-devil-is-in-the-details/

  215. As people have said patent reform and trade deals are good measures. They also are smaller iniitiatives that don’t translate into a comprehensive program.

    The types of program we have been discussing wouldn’t be about massive amounts of low skilled low paying jobs but something that brought about good manufacturing and engineering jobs so that covers technological competiveness and high value manufacturing as well. Agreed education needs to be tied to the jobs message.

    Also I think it is entirely unfair to imply that people here expect the jobs message that we want EVERY Democrat to have a laser focus on, not just the President, to immediately translate into millions of jobs in one month’s time. I actually expect any program they would introduce won’t make it through this congress. I still think the case needs to be made to the mostly uninvolved American public.

    I also think it is unfair to act like what we have been discussing is some how undermining the President’s intelligence or trying to offer up the “holy grail of these internets.” Being a supporter of the President does not mean never saying hey I think there is room for improvement here. I support PBO completely but I also think there is room for improvement in the Democratic party on its platform and message. That party includes the President.

    I would hate to think that this is site where we can’t say we support the President and what he has done so far and here is where we think there is room for improvement for him and the party. Even he would tell you no man is perfect

  217. And mine is the 17th.. Love my President!! I fear the attempts to surpress votes the most.. we must fight that attempt to disenfranchise many of our voters… that takes a lot of man power to help them get registered properly and get tothe polls. We CAn … Yes We can!!

  219. I know he is a true racist who can parade around like an average person.. but he is trouble. I wish he were off the air. HE also used the term Briar Patch , I think which is also referring to the Tar baby innuendo…, I loved the Uncle Remus stories ) Disney had a cartoon too) when I was a child but never was told it referred to a racist ideology, because my mom always taught me tolerance .. and so did my religion. Buchanan should be chased off the air…
    Al Sharpton is doing a good job on TV, and I really had no way to know who he was except from unfortunate tv.

  220. See, even the PL that is genetically programmed to distrust and Blame POTUS before they do anything, is beginning to recognize just how POTUS pulled a rabbit out of the hat. And, surprise…surprise, ‘they are surprised!’ See below:

    Daniel Markovits:

    In the bigger picture, however, the debt deal represents a substantial success for President Obama and the Democrats. It does indeed impose cuts that will slow the economic recovery and unjustly burden working Americans. But the deal is much nearer an affirmation of the president’s core commitments than a surrender. Moreover, the deal that the president got is much, much less bad, from the progressive point of view, than a coldly rational observer would have predicted. The reason the president beat the odds is simple: The Republicans blinked…
    Given this posture, and given the tea partyers’ apparent commitment to ideological purity over electability, basic negotiation theory predicts that only deals close to the Republican negotiating position — the position embodied in Cut, Cap and Balance — would ever be made. The most that the Republicans should have agreed to is a short-term stop-gap rise in the debt ceiling, insisting on some cuts in social spending now while retaining all of their leverage for demanding deep, structural cuts in a subsequent negotiation in the fall.

    The deal that was struck is dramatically — shockingly — better from the Democrats’ point of view.

    These fools will never learn.

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