YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Creigh Deeds reinacts Little Bighorn in Virgina

Vicious. But fair.

His reputation for “winning a Democratic majority” rests on his ability as a self-promoter to take credit for victories that happened in spite of him.

It sounds like Rahm has a future ahead of him in Hollywood.

Since the Democrats won in both federal races and Corzine had four years to be roundly despised by the NJ electorate, not likely.

Also, Markos linked to a bit of analysis which showed that Deeds didn’t want to appeal to the Obama coalition. He was not even comfortable campaigning in Northern VA. David Plouffe will want to get those people out even if Rahm has no clue how to appeal to them.

Yes, Rahm is screwing the pooch. But it’s not just Rahm. It’s the DNC as well under Tim Kaine. They’ve reverted to a top-down push-only structure which ignores and undermines party development.

Amazing that in just one year they’ve managed to forget the bottom-up structure which put them in office. One has to wonder how very stupid or corrupt they can be to forget.

Thanks Jane. Bullseye, as per usual.

What I see as widespread electoral defeats in 2010 (unless those in charge wake up), will teach Democrats a nice lesson, stand and deliver true Progressive legislation or go to hell.

nyceve, this morning, in her Big Orange diary

One has to wonder how very arrogant, stupid or corrupt they can be to forget

mornin’, fixed it for ya :D

BUT, Let’s not mistake this for THE problem. Obama hired him, just as he hired Larry Summers & Timothy Geithner & refuses to listen to Paul Volker & Joe Stiglitz.

LOL! Best. Headline. Ever.

Don’t hold back Jane, how do you really feel? ; )

Per exit polls Corzine wins those for whom the economy was the most important issue at 58% and Christie wins those for whom property taxes was the most important issue. Those concerned about the economy don’t seem to think that Corzine’s past experience at GS would hurt him.

Nice, Jane.

Finally someone brings Rahm into the light with nothing but his panties on.

OBAMA is.

He is not doing this intentionally far be it for me to defend him but he is Proud and does not see his own mistakes.

Exactly. And now we have to give Obama a reason to fire him acquiesce to his desire to spend more time with his family ; )

Rahm doesn’t think about Democratic turnout. His reputation for “winning a Democratic majority” rests on his ability as a self-promoter to take credit for victories that happened in spite of him.

The truth hurts, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, who’s being hurt by this truth about the miracle worker that Rahm Emanuel isn’t?

I’m also trying to figure out wtf the DCCC was thinking by nominating Bill Owens: “Excuse me, but Bill Owens (NY-23) isn’t a Democrat and the DCCC deserves all the blame for promoting him.”

Those concerned about the economy don’t seem to think that Corzine’s past experience at GS would hurt him.

that would seem to indicate that these economy concerned voters might also approve of Obama’s choice of cabinet and advisors, all GS. Odd that.

But of course what little MSM I’ve heard this morning seems to be ignoring the obvious and focusing solely on conservative spin. I had about five minutes in the car listening to NPR and of course they somehow come away from yesterday with the idea that Democrats need to become even more conservative.

If NPR did weather, I’m sure they’d claim that if it’s raining, it’s a sure sign of drought.

Am I wrong to think for years now that those for whom taxes are the main issue all the time are a less well informed sector of the electorate? Cause lots of folks who wail about taxes don’t realize they’re not even in the high tax (relatively) category. Amazing that meme still has traction with repubs and voters.

Confrontation much like when we confronted Bush will only cause him to dig in his heals. We need another lever to move this rock just what does he want? Can we give it to him? Make common cause with him on something we both want and turn him?
I admit I’m drawing a blank.

Rahm has done everything he can to make sure that rethugs stay in power so that Isreal continues to get what it wants.

Rahm was a concentration camp gaurd for the IDF in the first gulf war…apparently risking your life for israel is ok, the US is only good for milking money and power out of.

Rahm’s biggest Wall St donors and bundlers will applaud and reward Rahm for driving 2010 elections toward Republicans.

Watch this guy become Speaker of the House with a 12% national approval rating.

This diary by Norbrook at the GOS was a flashback to 2005.

Bogus stats. Voters had only two choices, so the poll results indicate only what they thought would be less bad, probably.

He deserves it. Too bad he’s where he is.
Have tried in 2 threads to thank you for your answer on school consolidation. Got tied up on the phone. Did your side win? Hope so.

But is this a good thing? Don’t we want people to see how crap the Democrats are?

Well, that was predictable. I believe I typed it several times last night.

On the things could always be worse side, what if Rahm achieved his goal and was Speaker?

OT and I fail to see the Snark if any

It was very predictable, but even though I knew it was coming, I’m still somehow shocked at the depths of the idiocracy.

Time to dump Rahm and Kaine. Bring back Dean for DNC. Who would be best COS?

“what if Rahm achieved his goal and was Speaker?”

Israel would officially become our 4th and superceding branch of government.

yes, yes, and hell yes! rahm has been the biggest mistake president obama has made. rahm has one eye and one eye only on keeping democrats in power; do anything, water down, thread the needle and yet, last night’s results show one thing, as markos from the daily kos says it better:

There will be much number-crunching tomorrow, but preliminary numbers (at least in Virginia) show that GOP turnout remained the same as last year, but Democratic turnout collapsed. This is a base problem, and this is what Democrats better take from tonight:

1. If you abandon Democratic principles in a bid for unnecessary “bipartisanship”, you will lose votes.

2. If you water down reform in favor of Blue Dogs and their corporate benefactors, you will lose votes.

3. If you forget why you were elected — health care, financial services, energy policy and immigration reform — you will lose votes.

exit polls in both new jersey and virginia reflected people’s #1 concern is jobs and unemployment; yet, the democrats passed president obama’s economic recovery bill with monies taken out for job creation and states in favor of tax cuts.

rahm is the wrong man for the mood of the country. democrats were elected to do certain things; and if not done, regardless of their next primary, they will lose!

left you something at the bottom of the Marta thread

Was that an ad? Sounds like one.
It is an ad – just found it one the prior thread.

Who would be best COS?

hey, I know this whipsmart blonde . . .

This morning, after listening to the cable cud chewers and reading various blogs across the political spectrum, I have concluded that confirmation bias, our tendency to reaffirm our beliefs rather than to contradict them, is alive and well.

The problem is history isn’t a reliable guide to the future. The reason for this is that the most important events can’t be predicted.

A very good discussion of this can be found in Nassim Taleb’s excellent book, “The Black Swan.”

You know, the Ds are in a self-reinforcing downward spiral. Clinton turned the govt back into a wholly owned subsidiary of corp U.S. (domestic & foreign policy) and appeared to do quite well, setting the pattern for those who rose to the top during that period. All kinds of excuses were made for the Ds subsequent failures, none of which involved not paying attention to what the voters wanted. Then Ds came to power again, only because the Rs were so bad, but Ds interpreted it as owing to their corp-stooge strategy. Now that a few conservatives have won, including NY-23, they again do not question their corp-stooge strategy, but rather think they should redouble their efforts.

Meanwhile, the Rs shift the poltical choice farther and father to the right, with the Ds just a couple of steps behind.

Yeah, Democratic strategists learning anything from electoral defeat? Not likely.

Jane you were great on Rachel’s show last night! I admire the balance you find between your cool quick wit, and the thoughtful well-researched informative answers you provide. I sometimes try to pretend I’m a casual watcher as opposed to a daily FDL junkie and imagine you and Marcy bring in many new readers with each appearance.

And I am always extremely curious about what conversations you and Rachel might have offscreen. There was that tantalizing last sentence about the “opposition” noticing what you say on her show! Was she referencing something particular?

I’m also curious about your response to the snippet of Al Gore’s interview she showed. Do you think he’s got some inside info? Could it be reconciliation?

Thanks for confirmation bias. A much more efficient way of saying what I was trying to get across in my comment under yours.

Well, voters had three choices but decided they had two. The figure is 58% Corzine and 36% Christie, so there is probably 6% for Daggett in there. I can’t find the text of the poll.

Nate points out on CNN.com that Corzine also wins health care and Christie corruption, so “less bad” on national issues and “less bad” on local issues have something of a divide.

I recall Rahm jumping on TV to take credit for Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy when we all knew he had fought it tooth and nail. He was a dickweed then and he’s a dickweed now. With all the “1-year-ago” reminiscences going on, I remember thinking when Rahm was selected by Obama that perhaps at least he’ll be a dickweed on our behalf.

Despite what the apologentsia like to insist though, he continues to fight against what the left-of-the-left (i.e., 70%+ of the country) want.

It’s time for Rahm to leave due to that tried and true, age old Washington DC reason, to spend more time with his family.

strategists appear be useless. big bucks for nothing.

Hey Jane: You really don’t have to sugar-coat it for us.

Great stuff, as usual.

Screwing the pouch is exactly correct.

Maybe Dems need some negative reinforcement, though it goes against my internal makeup.

Maybe we need to start a movement called something like “Stayin Home 2010″

or “Sittin Out 2010″

Maybe this will scare the shit out of them and we’ll see some real HCR NOW, not in 2013.

awesome. simply wonderful.

I LOVE seeing douchenozzles like Rahm get smacked around by people who know better.

remember that Seinfeld episode where george costanza achieved success by doing the opposite of what his instincts told him to do? Rahm (and obama and the DNC) need to watch that. repeatedly.

My bet is that the lesson the dems take away from this is “we should run more conservative candidates.” you can see THAT brainstorm coming a mile away. they never learn, and they won’t now.

Exactly. Rahm is the kind of insulated, isolated, self-contained, rigid, arrogant, pompass ass who *always* prevents meaningful change.

Peel back the layers: Behind his rhetoric, Obama is a conservative Dem

We must either turn Rahm or Remove him. Rahm was very much involved in getting NAFTA passed the Tea Baggers hate that because it brought in immigrants.
Rahm hates immigrants. But remember Obama saying something about changing NAFTA? Maybe we push there and make Common Cause with the Tea Baggers.
The European Union insists that future members bring their economies up to a certain level of economic stability and accord with their laws. Their new members have been fairing better than Mexico.
We push for higher wages in Mexico labor and environmental laws and there will be less immigrants.
By doing so we set the Tea Baggers against their Corporate Masters and turn them. We set up penalties for out sourcing jobs something that would be a very easy sell in this economy and especially for the Tea Baggers.
All we need to do is enforce American laws about food and product safety on imports.
No more poison cat food from China.

Democrats aren’t honoring their campaign pledges and enacting real change. And they are running really bad candidates. All this makes their defeats yesterday so inexplicable. With a program like theirs how could anything go wrong.

Silverlining in NJ would be if Christie gets indicted. In any case, folks there will end up hating him as much as Corzine, if he lasts.

♪♫♪♫ Best election timeline evah! ♪♫♪♫

Kos’ observation yesterday about who went to the polls in VA was very telling. No difference year on year for Republicans, but Democrats stayed home. I wonder why?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/4/800316/-Tonights-big-lesson

Seems like an ad the Mod I guess went out for coffee. I’m surprised it slipped through.

He should persuade his buddies Geithner and Summers to take an early retirement right along with him. I mean..their families must need them, too, right?

Buncha Criminals.

Yes, thanks for asking. we won on school consolidation, that will carry on.

The no on 1 loss is a sad one, but this piece cheered me up some. The nuts just kicked the can down the road. It’s still our road, our can. When they get too old to kick it, we win by default.

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/

No More Queer Fear – the motto of the next gen.

Based upon what you know now, how are you sizing up 2010?

I have concluded that confirmation bias, our tendency to reaffirm our beliefs rather than to contradict them, is alive and well.

Yes exactly what I wanted to say:)

Geithner never worked for GS in his life. Geithner is a protege of Bob Rubin who was at Citigroup. This ties in with eCAHNomics’s comment because voters as much as policymakers can share the delusion that because Clinton economic times were relatively good you forget the ideology of the people who supervised those economic times which is not adequate for now.

I want Howard Dean back as party chair so we can get some progressives in. Remind me why he left?

Someone in Harpers mag once called for a national strike for prog causes on election day in 06 i think and i thought it was a great idea. We should have a national strike for single payer, get the dems some backbone in em.. I an’t imagine why the idea of national strike hasn’t cause on in US. It’s so powerful. Don’t folks get that?

Got that diary up re the Democrat that Bill Owens isn’t and the stupidity of the DCCC for having nominated him.

Thanks for the help earlier!

We’ve been thinking alike… just yesterday I was trying to cheer up a friend by telling her that it doesn’t matter if Christie wins because he may yet wind up in prison ; ) I know, I’m just a cock-eyed optimist ; )

Gibbs?

Those campaign promises as so quaint, kinda like the the Geneva Conventions.

ha! was just reading the loathsome Barbara Comstock won her race for VA House of Delegates – by 1 freakin’ percentage point – in a tilting blue district

heckuva, oh never mind

no, that won’t work. the democrats don’t learn. they never do.

it’s kind of fucked up, but both parties have become anachronisms. the republicans clearly don’t fit their base anymore. due to my involvement in bluegrass and appalachian music, some of my friends are -sigh- teabaggers, and they don’t like the GOP at all. recent comments I’ve seen include “So there’s hope for my home state of New Jersey yet. Republicans should make no big celebration. You are a big part of what needs to be fixed in this country. (sigh).”

at the same time, the Democrats don’t really fit THEIR base anymore. I mean, WTF, how hard is it to pass a fucking health care refrom you’ve been promising for 50 fucking years?

there is something really wrong when the two parties that run the country don’t represent the people who vote for them.

*grinds teeth, spits*

I want Howard Dean back as party chair so we can get some progressives in. Remind me why he left?

Obama won and Rahm doesn’t like him.

Geithner never worked for GS in his life

Well, OK, if you exclude his indirect employment when he was head of the NY FRB.

It was interesting to listen to some of the standard gasbags like David Gergen draw lessons from the election outcomes last night. Apparently there were no national lessons, parties always do worse in the next election after a big win, Team Obama should not read too much into this, etc.

It was a truly wonderful combination of missing the point and drawing the most inapposite conclusions possible.

Following Tiny Dancer’s logic will lead to madness. Teabaggers have already declared war on the Republican Party, determined to move it even further to the right. By Rahm’s logic Dems should follow along, becoming more conservative in attempt to I guess capture the Republican left wing.

Overton window in action.

Rove’s contention was that there are no independents, you just need to keep sharpening the division until everyone has to take sides. The question is (as always) which side are you on?

Time to push the Tea Baggers and make Corporations their enemy at the expense of Rahm too. Immigration Raids on big Corporations would get us Tea Baggers. However to help Hispanics we insist the workers go home with all their stuff and six months pay at the Corporations expense.
Given the unemployment numbers I think we can find people to pick crops. I want the GOP and Rahm to argue we can’t punish Corporations for taking away American jobs and giving them to immigrants!

No, it looks like property taxes are a real issue because there are too many governmental units and property tax is too much of the funding. This is because Matt Bai said so so take with grain of salt.

Is that really the reason? Because if that is true, my loathing for Rahm just increased exponentially.

Obama is a conservative Dem

I think opportunist says it better – if for a pico second this crowd thought there was cash and incumbency protection involved, he’d be marrying LGBT couples in the Rose Garden

Thanks for that, found it myself as well today. He’s interesting, smart and wise. A long hard road.

I like this… Stayin home 2010. That is probably the only thing that will work, but it will need to be blown up on all the blogs. It could be like the “contract with America”. There are a lot of things we could put on the wish list.

Yes, I was about to write that. As part of my campaign to promote “In Fed We Trust”, David Wessel wrote about this arrangement that it was the sort of crony capitalism that we would look down on in another country.

if only the Dems could hire the Repubs
to push the agenda of ”Yes We Can” and ”Audacity of Hope”
some how, Bush got everything he wanted
now the Dems and their leadership act like they are incompetent.

CA-10 has been flushed down the MSM memory hole.
Nothing to see here, move along.

rahm doesn’t like Obama! you nailed it. People marry for the same reasons.

weird.

I believe so. The thinking is that the President becomes the defacto head of his party, so he gets to decide who heads the DNC. I’m pretty sure Team Obama asked Dean to depart so they could put their guy in. It’s working fabulously so far, eh?

Rahm has the reverse Midas touch: everything he promotes turns to sh*t.

Dean was pushed out by Obama and friends after Obama got the nomination and won the election.

Definitely need Howard Dean back asap!

Hi Kitty, I wondered the same thing, someone told we great Americans are special, we’re not Euopeans, we don’t do national stikes, it’s just not part of our cultural.

What a damn shame.

The deal is that, just as in 1994, the end result will be blamed on Democrats not being conservative enough.

You’ve hit the nail on the head there. I live in Indiana and there are a LOT of conservatives here who are mad at Democrats and Republicans alike. There are many issues with which I would disagree with these people, but there are also quite a few issues where we have some common ground.

Though they end up being pawns of the corporatocracy, these people despise big business as much as we do. If Democrats didn’t come across as such whores to corporate America, it would do one of two things.

a) Many of these conservatives would start to see Democrats as the lesser evil even if these conservatives are uncomfortable with things like abortion and gay marriage.

b) At the very least, they won’t be quite as energized to support Republicans.

Either one of those things is a win for progressives. But the trick is to get our elected Democrats to stop turning tricks on Wall Street.

I’ve always heard that Rahm hates Dean. I guess he is jealous of how popular Dean is and that all the power wasn’t in his (Rahm’s) hands. He actually wants to have all the positions in the party but I believe he has over-reached in his present situation.

LOL : ) Grammar has never been my strong suit : )

So just in case others read what I wrote rather than what I meant…

Rahm doesn’t like Dean.

I would prefer not to speculate on the relationship between R & O ; )

On health care, Dems are close to passing the most regressive tax in history – larger than the payroll tax. That’s the effect of forcing individuals to pay up to 11% of their income for a possibly worthless insurance product instead of passing universal health care using the progressive tax system. At a time when wages are declining, insurance premiums should also be declining. The Democrat’s mandate, combined with taxpayer support, will prevent that. It’s not the government’s job to support an industry’s profit margin, but that’s what the bills in congress will do. Kill the health care bills now. As more and more people drop their health insurance, we can eventually get real reform. If current bills pass, Republicans will re-take Congress. They’ll keep the mandate, but eliminate the subsidy, forcing more people into poverty.

Mexico has money, oil, etc can absorb their workers into their economy they just need to do what we should be doing a HUGE job stimulus plan that raises wages for their workers.
Henry Ford had a great idea pay the workers enough so they could buy his product. America’s greater wealth in relation to other countries has been based on this I think we need to push that Meme. I want Mexico to be forced to accept that Meme.
I am Mexican but I hate the Mexican government.

Yup, and so has Kalamazoo and Washington state and Houston (which is poised to get its first openly gay mayor).

That’s why I’m glad that Jane mentioned it:

2009: John Garamendi defies beltway conventional wisdom that Democrat in CA-10 had to be conservative like Ellen Tausher to hold the seat, says he’ll vote against any bill that doesn’t have a public option (or has triggers), scores decisive win

thanks for that fix.

ARROGANT when not stupid or corrupt or some mix of all the above.

And yeah, I want Howard Dean back as DNC chair. IMMEDIATELY.

I look at 2010 more in terms of the economy. I think it will be a very bumpy year. The unknown is if Obama and Congress pass some kind of pre-election stimulus, although it probably won’t be called a stimulus. Otherwise many of the traditionally Republican areas that went for the Democrats last time could revert. It could be a repeat of what we saw last night. Conservatives turn out. Democrats and independents stay home.

Obama won and Rahm doesn’t like [Howard Dean].

Is that the reason Dean got pushed out? I always thought that it was because he refused to take sides in the primary fight and the resulting fiasco.

Full of shit = Scatalogical liar

Rahm also hates the left for being absolutely correct in opposing the war. He wants to punish us for his own monomaniacal stupidity.

Hi mapsguy, StayinHome2010 works if negative reinforcement works.

And also you have to counter the “purity troll” criticism. But of course, we’re not at all purity trolls, we’re pragmatic Progressives. And if we can’t reason with the Dems, if we can’t make them understand that a 2010 electoral landslide runs right through Progressive HCR, then maybe we need to some StayinHome2010.

ok, but the thing is, the KIND of taxes pols are talking about are never made clear. The wealthy tend to be more concrned with both property taxes and profit taxes, while the uhem less well off don’t own homes or own them in cheaper neighborhoods and pay no income tax.

Of course this varies from region to region etc. But I see the problem as a lack of clarity in the discussion when the KIND of taxes are not made clear. It makes me nuts.

There never seems to be a real discussion of the issues. Even here in Maine, there’s a decent PBS talk show, Mainwatch, and even that didn’t ask the fundamental questions, like “UM, can you tell us exactly HOW gay marriage would undermine traditinal marriage?”

No one ever seems to question the real premise of anything in american anymore. Reminds me of the old felix unger ASSUME thing.

I shuddered when BHO choose Rahm but hoped that Rahm might work for the voters for a change. Well, benefit of the doubt is now all done, and the really, really stick a fork in it moment came with the Enron stuff this week. Really ticked off about that coming from CA where I was personally ripped off by Enron, and watering that down just means the same old could happen again on a different day (and almost definitely will).

Thanks heaps, Rahm: now go away somewhere and don’t come back.

Agree also that Kaine is a disaster and wish that Dean could come back and do the great job he did. Just goes to show (as if we all didn’t know) who is really in charge here: our corporate master overlords.

Do I regret voting (and working my tail off) for BHO? No, it would certainly be worse under Pres Palin (well, that’s what she & her loyal voters thought); make no mistake about it. We are always marginally – but only marginally – better with Dem POTUS and more Dem Congress.

But yeah: thanks very much to Bubba who pushed and pushed and pushed to the right, and gee whiz: what thanks did he get but to be blackmailed by the right anyway?? And then everything got pushed ever further to right, and so with Rahm in there now, where we will be in another 5 or 10 years?? Will we in left blogistan be pining away for today’s wingnuts because the future wingnuts will be even worse??

And yes, I refused to even turn on NPR today because I already know what they will be saying: crowing (nay, rejoicing) that BHO got “spanked” royally by the outcomes in VA & NJ (which were pretty much called for Republicans before the General Election last year) and crickets about NY-23, CA-10, etc. Sigh: same as it ever was.

Wish I could feel more positive, but there’s not much to hang my hat on these days.

Tip of the hat to prior commenter (too lazy to look up the name, sorry) re voter outrage about taxes. I agree: it seems that *most* of the voters who are so enraged about taxes are in brackets that never would be affected by increases (and the reverse is also true: when there are tax cuts enacted by their Repuke overlords, these fools & dupes never benefit from them bc the cuts only benefit the uber-rich). It’s annoying that Dems would kow-tow to this feckless rabble, but in reality, Dems are just kow-towing to the real power behind the throne, which are the corporations and the fat-cat CEOs. They just use the bamboozeled & brainwashed wingnuts as window dressing.

how’s ’bout a ‘virtual’ national strike ?

often wondered what would happen if a couple million of us (say, half the MoveOn membership) dropped our Party Affiliation and jointly notified the DNC of same through a single vehicle

now woo us, bitchez

That’s a devastating timeline. How can we make sure this gets circulated and attached to Rahm? It’s time to do what we can to get him out of his power pulpit. He’s doing more damage to the Dems than the Republicans are. Thanks, Jane.

The U.S. does just about everything that the U.S. would consider criminal if it were done by another country. For example, the U.S. is probably the biggest government sponsor of terrorism.

Midass Touch

Has it ever occurred to anyone [it will never occur to Rahm] that perhaps the reason Democrats keeping losing is that theyrace too far to the right?

Look at the reaction and support Grayson gets for speaking out and speaking the truth.

The public is just so tired of the “same old, same old,” or “same w[h]ine, different bottle.”

As I was mulling the dismal results last night, it occurred to me that Obama has been NOWHERE – not on tv, not campaigning. Well, out doing dinners for a select, rich few, but not leading our country at a time that we need it.

Americans can’t afford to skip a day of work. A day of work is a buck for food and health insurance. Sucks.

Well said, onitgoes! Let’s not forget Clinton’s role in this mess as one of the early architects of our financial disaster. (And don’t get me started on DOMA.)

If the Dems read yesterday as evidence they need to move to the right, then we won’t need a massive campaign, I think Democrats will stay home in 2010 all by themselves.

Israel and America are, I believe, neck and neck.

It’s kinda weird, but I heard the repubs are making a constitutional challenge to the mandate. I’ve been writing to my lawyer pals for months asking them “how is this mandate NOT unconstitutional?” Can’t believe it’s the repubs who agree with me.

Single payer was always the only answer. Gotta say Feinstein surprised me with her speechifying on the history of health ins the other day. I sent it to my local paper and asked them to print it.

Maybe if the repubs DO challenge the mandate in court, people will realize single payer is the only route.

And Rahm is exactly in the position he is in because Obama put him there. And Obama keeps him there…

I would concur with your assessment. It’s gonna be tough sledding trying to sell a second “stimulus”, I’m afraid. Never mind that, given the timidity, misdirection and outright stupidity of the first package, it was a foregone conclusion that such would be necessary.

That sounds more promising than an actual work stoppage.

I think folks will be too scared to switch parties, like in 04. things are much worse now. It’ll be the economy still and repubs have no solutions but obstruction.

Nice to ‘see’ you Hugh. I’ve been ‘away’ metaphorically.

The Mexican oil industry is in decline. I could look it up but it is seriously off its peak.

What’s the Enron news? I missed it.

1993: Rahm is the architect of NAFTA

2007: Rahm demands Democratic candidates “inoculate themselves against expected GOP attacks by moving to the right on immigration.” Says Hispanics “don’t vote, ignore ‘em.”
2008: Hispanics provide Obama’s margin of victory in Florida, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado.

If we push Obama on NAFTA which in this economy would be easy we get the Tea Baggers and we put the focus on Rahm. We also put Rahm back in the news in a way that makes Hispanic Voters angry.
Obama’s political team will have to choose between fighting Us, Hispanic voters, and the Tea Baggers or at the very least keeping Rahm out of the spotlight. Maybe they might even fire him going into the next election Obama’s political team can’t afford to lose Florida, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado.

I don’t know for sure (if someone else does I hope they chime in here), but I thought that a lot of Dem insiders (including Rahm) hated Dean’s 50 state strategy. I suspect that Rahm and his buddies were envious of Dean’s success and as Jane notes above if there is something Rahm works at assiduously it is to put himself in a position to claim credit for someone else’s success. Just my opinion though, it’s worth what you paid for it ; )

Not voting would be very difficult for me to do…it’s just not in my constitution. Dropping party affiliation? Already done. If the rest of you all did it at the same time? Hmmmmmm.

Yes. Of course, it’s hard to tell where Israel stops and the U.S. begins.

Maybe we need to start a movement called something like “Stayin Home 2010″

I continue to wear my “I voted for change in November 2008, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt,” receiving many positive comments. [In DC, not on Maui. Haven't tried it there yet.]

I think there is some pressure at the grass roots.

County Democratic Parties in Indiana held special referendum’s in support of the Public Option and sent those results to Bayh and our House Reps. This occurred about the same time as Bayh suddenly backtracked on joining Lieberman.

This is going to be a tooth and nail fight, but I think there is some momentum down here in the trenches on the progressive side. Maybe we can still take this party back.

Obama fiddled while Rahm burned…

you might enjoy Anna Quindlen’s rejoinder to the purity troll criticism:

If the American people want the president to be more like the Barack Obama they elected, maybe they should start acting more like the voters who elected him, who forcibly and undeniably moved the political establishment to where it didn’t want to go.

(h/t Marta Evry)

Yes…. something like that. We need that in 2010. something powerful. it wouldn’t be hard to organize.

and could be mucho potent.

Has it ever occurred to anyone [it will never occur to Rahm] that perhaps the reason Democrats keeping losing is that theyrace too far to the right?

Look at the reaction and support Grayson gets for speaking out and speaking the truth

It has occurred to us and Grayson guys like him are the future of the party. We are the energy and ideas:)

Already a registered independent.

Can only refer you to the ghandhi philosphy again. You must be willing to sacrifice big time

Turning Democrats into Republicans – the favorite Beltway pastime – simply means Democratic voters won’t vote for them. Guess what happens. Republicans win, because they are what their voters want.

Wake up and smell the breadlines, Dems. Rahm is not the way forward. He’s a collaborator. Defend yourselves and the principles you used to stand for. Represent, zealously advocate for and defend the interests of your voters. They represent a majority of Americans, they represent what all Americans, barring the top 1% need in these desperate times. It’s the right thing to do and it will get you elected this time and the next.

Dems, stop shooting yourselves in the foot by hoping that corporate dollars won’t abandon you in a heartbeat the first whiff of a GOP victory anywhere they smell. Their interests are antagonistic to your voters. No matter how much you advertise with their dollars, it won’t bring in the votes, any more than those little blue pills will give you something you don’t already have. Vote Democratic, be a Democrat, or have the courage to walk to the other side of the aisle.

Has it ever occurred to anyone [it will never occur to Rahm] that perhaps the reason Democrats keeping losing is that theyrace too far to the right?

It’s occurred to me. And I don’t think the DCCC under Chris Van Hollen is any better. Excuse me, but Bill Owens (NY-23) isn’t a Democrat and the DCCC deserves all the blame for promoting him.

The Nebraska democratic party also endorsed the PO but Nelson like Liarman believe the people “don’t understand”

That Meme is perfect!

I was just going to post on Kos a note about Rahm. He is going to be the death of the Democratic party. If it wasn’t for Howard Dean and the 50 state strategy we would have lost in 2008 and Rahm hated Dean and the strategy. But we all see that a 50 state strategy of real grassroots effort is the only thing that will result in a win (versus putting $$ in just a few states). Rahm will feel like he has to prove that his strategy is better in 2010 and we will lose. I hate that Obama chose him to be in the white house and it is dangerous for our party that he has so much power now with something to prove. You can bet he won’t be sitting on the sidelines and letting Tim Kaine run things and I don’t believe that Kaine will be as strong a leader as Dean. I wish we had something more positive to look forward to.

I think folks will be too scared to switch parties, like in 04.

I don’t think it is a question of switching parties, more like which groups bother to come out to vote. In general in midterm elections, overall turnout is down so who can mobilize their base does best. Compare the Republican base to the Democratic one.

“Lessons Learned in VA, CA and NJ: Is Rahm Emanuel Orchestrating 2010 Democratic Massacre?”

Short answer: yes, but Rahm doesn’t care. He has his own agenda: profiting Rahm. And our wonderful President is either complicit or too dumb to see what’s going on. The latter hardly seems worth considering, therefore, like the one before him, Obama is deeply corrupted. -goes to the Nader website to volunteer-

How could the Obama peope have embraced Dean’s 50 state strategy? Obama never could have won the nomination had he not followed instead a highly undemocratic delegate-grab strategy.

Jane, for a while I thought Rahm was an effective back-room arm-twister who was pressed into the role of bad cop, and I thought you had a personal grudge against him. Now I realize I was wrong on both counts and you were right all along. Rahm has a clear history of contributing to important Democratic losses he then refuses to take responsibility for, instead bragging endlessly about much less important token victories. He fundamentally misunderstands American politics if he thinks he can get enough Democratic lawmakers to vote for triggers or that the Democratic base wouldn’t respond by sitting out election day in droves. Rahm Emanuel is the single greatest threat to a successful Obama presidency.

OT: CIA convicted in absentia in Italian court.

Well said.

Dems sitting there on the corner of capitol st with a tin cup waiting for their corporate benefactors to drop them a dime has to end.

if they’d literally only stand up.

Wow. Can I copy this, or beg a crosspost, in toto? This is precisely what I’ve been looking for, in a tight, concise, and devastating format. Absolutely perfect. Shout it from the rooftops.

Given Rahm’s penchant for inflating the myth of Rahm, I believe we can turn him into Don Regan. Let’s start building the storyline that Rahm thinks he’s prime minister, and maybe Obama will eventually have to put him in his place, which will hopefully be far away from 1600 Pennsylvania.

Or do a mass switch from democrats to independents.

yes, my guy. i voted for the man who told the truth. that was my only criterion last nov. no buyer’s remorse here. call me a fool, but i know i’m not.

nice to see someone thinking that way too.

We’re thinking alike!

Thats a super idea! Great names too.

Yes, but in some states (like mine) you cna’t vote in primaries if youre IND. I suppose we could switch after primaries.

I am surprised in this discussion at this separating of Rahm from Obama. They are joined at the hip. Obama chose Rahm for the reasons we detest him. Obama never meant to work with progressives, but Rahm was the perfect conduit to work with the Blue Dogs, and that is what we have seen happen.

But y’know, I’m pissed at that whole “now make me” meme [Obama recalling FDR's purported quote].

For Christ’s sake, we elected the son-of-a-bitch. We worked hard. We donated. We phoned. We e-mailed. We wrote letters. We bugged our friends.

Obama is the fucking President, and he ought to take some responsibility and do something, rather than hiding behind this “make me” bull shit.

Corzine lost because he’s been a god awful governor plain and simple. As NJ resident I can speak from experience. He wasn’t very good at being a Senator either.

Doesn’t like it means anything though since Berlusconi isn’t going to anything.

cheeky!

May not have been exactly clear: the news is not specifically about Enron, itself, but see the above list created by Hamsher:

2009: On behalf of banks, Rahm helps Democrats water down post-Enron investor protections in Sarbanes-Oxley

I am bitter bc Enron was a horrid debacle for us serfs out here in CA, as well as serfs in TX. So watering down protections just sets us up for more of the same. Thanks for nothing, Rahm! My blood just boiled when I read about it earlier this week. A lot of people suffered from that, not that Rahm cares. Didn’t affect him in the slightest.

And the post script on Enron was that W just laughed and thumbed his nose at Dems who attempted to redress the situation at the time (whilst W pocketed my hard earned cash). Where was Rahm then? Probably turning his head to look the other way. Sucks.

Maybe we need to start a movement called something like “Stayin Home 2010″

or “Sittin Out 2010″

NO! Never, Never throw away your vote. That is what Rahm The Destroyer engineered in 1994. You can see that Rahm and his corporatist cabal are trying to repeat that neo-con strategy. ALWAYS VOTE!. There are always local races that are too important to be given away.

If one of Rahm’s candidates are on your ballot, write in another candidate. Write your own name. Or even vote for the other corporatist candidate. But always vote and always demand a paper ballot. In fact we need to DEMAND that the DNC start a campaign against the crooked corporate voting machines that Rahm The Destroyer helped put in. No contributions to the DNC until they Rahm is kicked out of any position where he can do harm.

Rahm is working for someone. It isn’t us, that much is beyond the obvious. Is he a republican? Perhaps. He acts like one by defying the majority in the nation so he can do….? What would cause the new democratic majority to cave in to every republican demand, and go out of their way to water down bills and programs that don’t need any republican support at all?
We voted for a stooge it seems, because he is allowing the national nightmare to compound itself day after day into a deficit of brains, a lack of principle, and a whole lotta lies.

Get rid of him Mr. President. He is going to cost you the next election. But then, you already lost that didn’t you? You know it. Now tell us why?

What Hugh said. Rahm is just Obama without the cape, but with the glasses, a grey flannel suit and a reporter’s badge stuck in his fedora. They are two sides of the same coin.

Here is the big message from the election–2008 will never repeat itself. Turnout here was much less than in 2008. It will be less again in 2010 and also in 2012. 2008 was a once in a lifetime event. Re-electing a known quantity will not be anywhere near as exciting at electing Obama for the first time, so even when Obama is on the ballet, turnout will be down.

It can’t be recreated and that needs to be planned on. Dem turnout will not be close to what it was in 2008 come 2010.

True, there will be no enforcement, but it does limit their travels. At the end of the article it points out that one of the scumbags is in hiding.

They do represent the people who vote for them. They represent the “corporate persons” who vote for them with their campaign contributions and sundry other little legal bribes, such as giving their spouses multi-million dollar jobs or employing their kids who would be otherwise unemployable.

The mistake is in thinking that we, the real humans referred to in the constitution, have any relevance to the people in congress at all. Until there is meaningful election finance reform, until every friggin dime of corporate money is removed from our electoral process this will continue and I guarantee you we can stop reading blogs and come back in fifty years (I plan on being dead by then, but you get the picture) and the complaints will be the same: How come the politicians aren’t listening to what I want? Didn’t my $200 campaign contribution mean anything to them?

Thanks for the explanation.

Well, it looks like we don’t have to organize to “sit out.” We are already doing it.

It would be better if we could actually plan some kind of targets for this activity instead of ceding the whole game by default.

Cut nose to spite face is really not a good idea.

Perzactly.

Bull’s-eye, Hugh.

Good point. It would have to be totally organized. Maybe just the organization would scare the shit out of ‘em.

random thoughts -

what always stops me is I never hear any of the smart kids like Jane broach it – tells me there’s a giant catch or price to be paid.

Independents are now the Holy Grail of U.S. Electoral politics – and I wonder how we’d distinguish ourselves from the rest

but we need to do something to put the wood to the Mule, and our significant refusal to give to DCCC, DSCC, & DNC apparently hasn’t cut it with these klowns to date

Wavy Gravy

Part of the reason for choosing Rahm may have been to draw (progressive) fire away from the CIC, providing implausible deniability. Absurd for anyone to think they are not politically and philosophically compatible though. If they were not, Rahm would have been out on his ass by now.

We need to DEMAND that the DNC start a campaign against the crooked corporate voting machines that Rahm The Destroyer helped put in.

Amen to that. Have you seen the latest “Donor Strike for Public Option” petition? Here: http://www.democrats.com/donor-strike-for-public-option

That works for me.

yafkm ! – lol

Probably in hiding on some beach sipping pina coladas

The Enron reference is the the third from the last in the timeline in the post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/03/obama-administration-help_n_344042.html

It has to do with giving companies with a market cap of less than $75 million a permanent exemption from auditing provisions under Sarbanes-Oxley.

yes. a very good kernel of an idea – doing it in blocs, hmmmmm

For it to have any effect, All of Left Blogistan would have to do it on the same day. Say, the day they pass a shitty health care bill with mandates…

LOL. Nobody for COS.

Hear, hear!

I’m really really tired of that particular statement (“make me do it”). We elected him to fulfill his campaign promises. So get crackin’ PBO, we gave you the job, now do it!

Can you imagine an ordinary employee immediately after being hired standing in front of his boss saying, “make me do my job”? It’s a completely untenable position and by rights the employer should can the guy.

Yet we allow politicians to make this demand as if it is a reasonable. It’s outrageous.

You’e right on Hugh. Did you ever read that piece in Harpers by i thin ken silverstein about Obama being a DLCer?

Let’s see an Interpol arrest warrant go out for convicted felons fleeing jail in the EU. None of these guys ought to be dumb enough to be traveling on his own passport, but facial recognition software being what it is, they might still get spotted. The conviction might be enough to block access to any EU-based bank accounts, credit cards, etc. As Shrub and Obama would admit, the first thing you do to stop international terrorists and criminals is to stop their flow of funds.

Obama desperately clinging to Bush-era excesses demonstrates that the US cannot or refuses to bring its war criminals to justice. That creates a necessary predicate for other states to assert universal jurisdiction. As the perfume of Obama the Nobel Laureate fades into the odor of Obama, son of Shrub, a few states may be willing to tweak the aging lion’s tale.

it could be done via the Interwebs – say a single site with a big unveil on a specific day

that’s what i think. just getting wind of such an organized threat might…

Turnout, I mean lack of it, is key. We are getting our asses handed to us with grassroots fury over the bailout, for one thing. If we don’t have some good reasons to motivate the turnout, we are toast. By “we” I mean any hope of progress.

I think we should use this post to target some truth on Rahm. Jane should be re-spinning/explaining this on Rachel and anywhere for a few days. Get it stirred up.

Oui, how about a letter, email campaign, petitions, to Obama to sack Rahm.??

I’m really really tired of that particular statement (”make me do it”).

reminds me of those wacky scapegoat gremlins from The Family Circus*: “Not Me” (who watches while the children try to shift blame for a misdeed by saying, “Not me”), “Ida Know” , “Nobody”, “O. Yeah!”, and “Just B. Cause”

___

*lamest comic ever

The evidence is so damning. So much for hope and change.

One of your best, Jane.

Did you ever read that piece in Harpers by i thin ken silverstein about Obama being a DLCer?

No, but it wouldn’t surprise me. We have seen a complete inversion in our perceptions of Obama. As a candidate, there were all kinds of things like backing the TARP, the FISA Amendments Act, his position on healthcare, his bellicosity toward Iran, Reverend Wright, having Ruben as his economics adviser, these were portrayed as tactical and tangential to him. Well, it turns out these are his core. It was his progressivism that was tangential and tactical.

None of these guys ought to be dumb enough to be traveling on his own passport

some of them (contractors?) were 1st String Dumbasses, who were ‘caught’ by tracking transmissions from their cell phone batteries

I would think that Berlusconi would have to make that happen but he seems to be more interested in his sex life and keeping his own ass out of jail.

poissonally i didn’t vote fer the guy.

Yeah, it was charming once, but then it goes straight to tiresome.

I get the idea, that public pressure is needed to create the political room to maneuver, but that isn’t what’s happening here. They have got the room, they just prefer that it be nicely appointed with only the finest furnishings money from lobbyists can buy.

I don’t know why PBO has RE for his COS. But he is not going to drop him if there is not something more public, like Jane’s Excellent Timeline (JET to keep with the initial thingy) to “make him do it.”

We have to show RE for the loser he is. Otherwise, no hope of getting him gone. Jane has showed us the way. If she can get this out via TV, I think it will help to get the ball rolling. RE surely has his fans in the neo-con world. It is JET that will push this agenda, not much else, IMO.

SO what’s the plan? Awaiting orders Commander Jane.

Great thought! Fooking make me teach those kids.

We are getting our asses handed to us with grassroots fury over the bailout, for one thing.

bang! that’s what I was alluding to above with ‘catch’ or price to be paid – big picture stuff that a newbie like me doesnt see right away

you are now an official member of the cbl Inside Baseball club :D

Huh, you’re the first person here (other than me) that’s brought this up too. I’ve brought it up repeatedly. I can’t see any way possible that it’s consitutional. I’ve asked for some to explain how it can be, and the explanations are less than clear IMO. I’d bet my money on it being ruled unconstitutional. And I’m not a damned repuke either.

The penultimate issue is campaign finance reform, without it we’ll be fighting and often loosing unnecessary battles.

Without Corporate money in Politics we would likely have some form of Social Democracy on some hybrid European model. Healthcare reform would have been attended to long time ago, and this present Recession/Depression (still waiting for the other shoe to drop…) would have been far less likely.

We really need to organize around this core Issue !

punaise, phred, mauimom, et al.,

sara robinson says it’s actually “get out of my way.” see second part of this comment for the transcript.

Thank you for that. Yeah, I thought this was unconstitutional the minute i first heard about being forced to BUY a product. I mean, i get that if you want the privilege of steering a deadly weapon on the public roads, you must be insured, there is inherent danger there. And if you want the state to issue you a marriage license, you must have a blood test.

But this is nothing more than the govt saying “if you want to exist here, you must buy this product, despite your health status or personal habits and responsbility.” That is boolsheet, particularly when the money goes right into the pockets of the assholes who are already ripping us off and preventing singel payer system. Can you imagine what this will be like when employers decide to pay fines instead of isnuring their employees? Maybe then it’ll be pitchforks in the street time.

baffling

You are dead one.

campaign finance reform is the core issue on which everything else hinges. Take the money out of politics and what’s left?

policy

Here’s the thing. Even if the bailout kept us from death’s door (not that we are not still there), the fact is that the economy is really very terrible, as Biden says, especially if you are laid off and/or can’t find a job. I don’t know what kind of jobs will come back soon/ever or next year.

I don’t know if a miracle from Goddess could even get us jobs at the scale that is needed. Suppose the Dems manage to pass something that will pass for decent health care reform? The thing will not be enacted before 2010. They are not going to get much credit for whatever happens.

What do we run ON? More promises? Come on.

Obama got elected because a LOT of people who had not voted recently or EVAH got out and pulled the lever “for change.”

There is no change. There is still hope, maybe, but it is not coming fast. The electric bill and the credit card bills with all the new charges, are coming along with the dunning phone calls.

Even a miracle will not change this.

So we need to take a good hard look at the reality and figure out a strategy that will motivate “our” kinds of voters. Because “mad voters” will not work for us.

meant Dead On
sorry

hadn’t seen it and boy is it perfect. thx

Do people get that the health care reform bill won’t take effect til 2019 even if it passes?

that TEN years away

Although the mandate is counter intuitive, I would not bet against the Roberts Court ruling in favor of Corporate Profiteering.

From your keyboard to Obamas ears. Everytime the DEMS try to be GOP lite, they loose. The people are left of center in this country right now and every DEM that refuses to see this is either stupid or benefits from intentional blindness.

Thanks for that link selise.

It is abundantly clear that there is no love lost between the WH and the lefty activists that got all of its inhabitants their jobs. Betcha they come crawling back for the next election cycle though…

and that would be a final nail in our collective coffin

Thanks for that.

We first have to get people into Congress with the will to force campaign reform. We’re certainly not gonna get anywhere with what we’ve got now. We’ve got to get progressives elected to local offices in order for them to be elected to national offices. We’re having to struggle against 50 years of corporate entrenchment. It won’t happen overnight.

It is my opinion that it should not be mandated but if a person who has refused to buy it should not be denied care but then not have the ability to discharge the debt in bancruptcy.

no problem – “on a long enough timeline the survival rate for everyone drops to zero”

yeah, i think “get out of my way.” captures what i think i see happening pretty well. don’t make a big deal of here though, as i’m trying not to be too inflammatory, if you get my drift. for example, marty has a wonderful, hopeful post and i would feel like a heal posting it there.

Well, being forced to buy insurance, the longer away that is, fine with me. All I am saying is that the economic dread/dire straits (punaise, are you with me?) is here every day, people are suffering now and will continue to suffer.

That is a motivator, and we will be blamed. We need to really get something going to get people to understand that Rs are not their friends. Not that the Ds are either. But any D will be vulnerable, and there are more that we need to keep than totally dump.

Plus, in those two examples you gave, no one is FORCED to do those things. You’re not forced to purchase car insurance. You can choose to not own a car and use public trans, walk, bike, etc. Here, what are going to do, choose not be alive???

And for those that want to defend it as constitutional, I’ll ask again, if it’s consitutional, then does that mean that if the beef industry successfully lobbied Congress and the President and a law was passed mandating every individual purchase a minimum of 50lbs of beef per year, then that too would be constitutional??? I don’t see how, and believe if it were, all sorts of industries would’ve been trying it all these long years.

What? I thought it was 2013, which is way too late.

I of course, have no answer, but you sure as hell are asking the right question. thx

they come crawling back for the next election cycle though

I wouldn’t put any money on that. Now that they’re incumbents their corporate masters are gonna make sure they stay there. Once a corrupt politician always a corrupt politician.

As long as we’re talking about opinions, it is my opinion that every American should be able to treat any and all illnesses and injuries without suffering econominically. Single payer or VA style. *g*

And the mandate is one more BIG way that the “bailout” problem will stretch over to yet one more thing the Dems will favor that will make people mad. WE are mad about these things. It is BIG FUEL for a house/senate cleaning next year. We are going to have our asses in our own hands.

Considering the present and near future financial conditions of 85% of Americans, the CFR could be accomplished in far less time than one would otherwise think. However long it takes thou, it is sine qua non to the health of any aspiring democracy.

regardless of how the supreme court eventually rules (i’d guess their going to have to for MA, whatever happens on the national scene), i think there will be a lot of people who feel as you do and think the law is very very wrong.

combine that with the injustice of all the bankster bailouts and i don’t see how the deecee dems are doing anything other than fanning the flames of citizen outrage at gov.

cart before horse there.

single payer is the only thing that makes sense once you start picking all other options apart.

I’m all for compromise, but this congress isn’t about compromise. It’s always the choice of the lesser evil. When that’s the case, you have to hold the line on what you know is right. The great advances in social justice were not compromises, they were principled positions people were willing to go to jail and die for.

that’s what it comes down to.

I very much liked Marta’s pragmatism – vs self styled pragmatists who simply want us all to stfu and quit harshing their Hopey-Changey mellow.

dont worry too much about being too inflammatory – or did you not see Jane’s comment about you last night ? :D

as jane says, healthcare is a human right.

I’m with you guy. Nothing will move me on this one.

You’re right, without reform our “representative democracy” will be a memory.

i did not see it. but now you have me curious…. back later…

Hear, hear.

Why are the democrats as good as silent on this most obvious rallying point?

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/11/trouble-ahead-can-the-right-seize-the-banking-reform-issue-in-2010.html

I got their Hopey-Changey mellow…

I thought he was an Israeli operative and a traitor to the United States from the start.

Somehow it is going to have to be paid for whether it is taxes or buying a policy. If credits are provided for the poor then that is a compromise I would be willing to make for a while.

I may not be here often, but i love knowing you’re all here when i can be. thanks.

Not to mention that mandates are really bad policy in general. They are just a way for the govt to escape its responsibilities.

Destroying the evidence for the Enron trial was another one of their reasons for doing 9/11.

oui, encore, oui

mandates a way for govt to escape its responsibilities. Question the premise folks. always.

The premise extant in the debates over all choices outside singel payer is that the govt,is not responsible for seeing that its citizens have access to affordable health care.

these ees boolsheet. And here’s the rub, even if we had a single payer system, med school is too expensive. So you gotta solve the shortage of general pract. as well. People specialize cause they make more money supposedly to pay off med school debt, but then? I don’t see them all going into non profit work after that.

so the entire system needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and we need a president with the balls to sell that to the people and make them demand it.

that’s a tall order. But as i recall, someone’s who ran has been saying that for years…

go on, stone me…

They don’t need our money, but they need our boots on the ground to GOTV. They’ll come crawling, just you wait and see…

Today, we have only one party—Republican. It is evident that Rahm Emanuel is a closet Republican (probably even conservative when you consider his passion for Netanyahu and the Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestine; and, his passion for Geithner, Summers, Goldman Sachs, and all the money-lenders).

It is looking more and more as though Obama is proving to be one of things:

1. A naif who is being led by the nose by the slime that is Rahm and money; or
2. A closet Republican a la Rahm.

Not such great choices, but they appear to be the only ones available. Obama knew who and what Rahm was for a long time. So, number 2 looks more likely when you consider Obama’s own record as a Chicago Pol and Senator. We can’t say Obama’s a W-style retard. So, if we want to be charitable, we can choose number 1—Obama the naïf. I, however, cannot bring myself to go the #1 route when it is becoming more and more obvious that the choice is #2—Barack Obama, our Closet Republican President. I guess it’s fitting since Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and Obama sees himself as the latter day Lincoln; ergo, Barack Lincoln Obama, Republican.

thanks! that was very sweet. no clubbing though! not ever! *g*

I saw that comment, it was great! Selise has really earned her stripes here and it was a treat to see Jane’s tip o’ the hat to her : )

The whole purpose of medical insurance mandates for the Ds is to avoid an outright tax increase to support the program. Which means, as has been pointed out above, that the hidden tax increase is highly regressive.

good point. … not that i needed more reasons not to like the policy, but i hadn’t thought of that one before. thanks.

He will put that right up there with legalizing pot – not.

i don’t know. one of the really really tough things, imo, is that some (most?) of the labor union leaders are pretty tied in to the party. in some ways i sympathize with that, but in other ways i wonder if they are not putting party loyalty before the rank and file they are supposed to represent?

i guess what i’m saying is that i think it will depend on what the unions do re boots on the ground for gotv efforts and similar.

Doing things in an indirect, hidden way has all kinds of consequences, most of which are negative. Think of it as domestic policy blowback.

That’s a post.

I know how to motivate them.

I cut out my horoscope one day in intermediate school when it said, “you will be an inspiring person to be around today.” That was many, many years ago but practice does have an effect. Striving towards anything will get you closer to it.

Obama’s team took credit for the energy generated by the pro-pot legalization crowd, the germ of our new third party. I bet taking credit like that was Rahm’s idea.

CA-10 has been flushed down the MSM memory hole.

Precisely – in a District with a substantial Democratic registration advantage a conservative Democrat (Tauscher) who had a hard time winning in her last campaign against a conservative Republican leaves a vacant seat.

A liberal Democrat (Garamendi) who runs against another Conservative Democrat to fill that seat wins by over 15%.

In NY-23 the extremist tea-party candidate is trounced by a pro-PO Democrat in a District that’s gone Republican every elecrtion since the civil war.

Still we’ll hear from Rahm that the Democrats “must move right”????

When they did that (in Virginia) they got trounced…no progressives came out to vote.

I’d be perfect for that, so I tried to run for office. I thought I was going to be killed.

Not funny, not kidding. They are playing for keeps.

It would be interesting to do some polling of first-time voters from 2008. What motivated them, what will bring them out again?

then does that mean that if the beef industry successfully lobbied Congress and the President and a law was passed mandating every individual purchase a minimum of 50lbs of beef per year, then that too would be constitutional???

Yes, that is what they mean. They are arguing that they own us.

I’m chuffed : ) Thanks Jane : )

Tauscher left it under a cloud – ME.

I complained to her about the illegal spying I was under and Congress voted to OK it.

I agree that labor determines the extent of boots on the ground, but I’m not sure that I agree that labor leaders always roll over for Dems (see 1994 in Jane’s timeline at the top of the post). Either way, whether labor leaders roll or not, Dems still have to go through the motions of sucking up to the left to GOTV. So I’m still confident that there will be a certain amount of crawling that will ensue in January…

Maybe we need to start a movement called something like “Stayin Home 2010″

or “Sittin Out 2010″

NO! Never, Never throw away your vote. That is what Rahm The Destroyer engineered in 1994. You can see that Rahm and his corporatist cabal are trying to repeat that neo-con strategy. ALWAYS VOTE!. There are always local races that are too important to be given away.

If one of Rahm’s candidates are on your ballot, write in another candidate. Write your own name. Or even vote for the other corporatist candidate.

I would suggest writing in either Rahm or Jane in these cases – the message would be clear

I think labor leaders do always roll over for the Dems. I’ve got the latest copy of UFCW mag in front of me and it’s talking about how “We’ve GOT to elect Creigh Deeds” governor of Virginia. Why? This is the same Deeds that said he would opt-out of a public option this same labor union professes is so important.

I think what happened in 1994 wasn’t that the leaders weren’t there, it was that the rank and file members knew the score from NAFTA and weren’t as enthusiastic. I’m sure some leaders were openly critical, but by and large, the labor leaders are pretty tied to the party itself.

I know. I’ve been campaign treasurer for a grassroots candidate for the House twice and I’ll well aware of the dynamics. I won’t do treasurer again, too much time involved, but I’ll sure work for somebody who reflects our values.

Jane is a jenius! Bravo!

Fair enough. I’ll defer to your expertise here. But if you are correct about the leadership, that still leaves the problem of the rank and file working to GOTV. At some point, someone is going to have to make nice to us lefties, both labor and non-labor, and I look forward to that day. In fact, I’m even willing to listen to the Dixie Chicks long enough to learn their song Not Ready to Make Nice just for that occasion ; )

I asked the same question over at Emptywheel’s place, long time back, because a lot of lawyers hang out there. Seemed like an obvious question to me too. There were some responses- I’ll see if I can find the thread. I think it one one of the Max Tax pieces Marcy did.

Woot- I just got this email, tho I’d heard it more directly-

Ned Lamont says:
I wanted you to be one of the first to know that, this afternoon, I will be filing papers to establish a committee to explore a potential candidacy for Governor of Connecticut.

I’m not so sure that I buy into the “they did 9/11″ meme, but they used 9/11 to get away with a lot of skullduggery, and that IS for sure.

But here’s another conspiracy theory to which I subscribe: Ken Lay is alive, well, living & laffing it up somewhere like, hmmm, Paraguay.

I will never truly believe that fuck died just in the convenient nick of time. They were just about to put his feet to the fire in the trial of the century, and oh, whoops a daisy, he’s dead. Case closed. And there’s some convenient legal hoo-hah that precludes them from following through on anything, including reparations from his many, many, many off-shore accounts.

Puh-leeeze: pull the other one.

So put that one in yer pipe and see how she smokes up (chuckle).

then again, I could be wrong. who knows?

Yes, good idea to poll a representative sample of first-time voters, esp amongst minorities and the young. Don’t think Rahm’s all that interested, do you? Or Kaine, either. Calling Dr. Dean?

From my own perspective and unscientifically gathered evidence (i.e., talking to people I know), a lot of younger voters really hoped and believed BHO would BE a real change, and same goes for most minorities. Many minorities don’t think that voting will make any difference for them. Years of oppression and outright endorsed racism leads them to an inescapable conclusion. Many AA’s were excited to vote for BHO bc he was partially AA, bc he had dark skin, etc, but they also hoped and dreamed it would MATTER in the real sense for them and their families.

Now: maybe not so much. And then it’s back to apathy-ville.

The youngsters keep wishing and hoping the oldsters would die off soon (and we might, given that we’re all living under the Republican Health Care system, as described by Grayson). However, I say to them: don’t hold your breath, kiddies. Even if the olds all die tomorrow, your generation’s turn will come. Sad to say, I guarantee that a similar percentage of Gen Y or Millenials or Gen Z or whatever will be just as conservative as Boomers & the so-called “Greatest” Generation. Twas ever thus.

Plus, it’s my observation that Gen X is more conservative than any other generation, and there’s the rub. And many are already wingnuts; wingnuts are not all old; in fact, most wingnuts are younger than we’d like to believe.

will [] try to re-define a populist, conservative attack by asserting that the White House has been captured by Wall Street.

And they will be right. They are getting winning ideas like that from listening to me. I want to start a new party and although I keep talking to the left, the right keeps hearing me.

And yet, strangely, it’s that Grayson guy who is the problem–not all these Republicans running around with “D” after their names:

“House Democratic leaders publicly frown on his behavior and have urged him to tone it down, saying he contributes to an atmosphere of incivility”

Part of their problem is there is no other viable choice.

You don’t have to do polling, you can ask me. It was the result of my religious freedom political action project.

No doubt Rahm pressured Pelosi to drop state single-payer (Kucinich amendment).

What else could explain such a slap in the face of progressives?

You’re absolutely right that the insurance mandate is a built-in poison pill. This isn’t rocket science, if the IRS is enforcing a legal requirement to pay money… its a tax. However, the only forms taxation that are constitutional are indirect taxes (i.e. taxes related to an event such a sales transaction or, amusingly, death) and direct taxes authorized by the 16th Amendment (on “income, from whatever source derived”).

The Medicare FICA contributions are taxes income (they cover the universal Part A hospital insurance, the Part B outpatient coverage is voluntary, no senior is mandated to pay premiums unless they choose to). If Social Security FICA taxes was uncapped, and the overage allocated to Medicare, that’s an additional $200 billion in (constitutionally raised) tax revenue. If unearned (i.e. investment) income was subject to the FICA rates and investors paid only the 7.65% individual rate it’d raise another $180 billion, that sum doubles if the full 15.3% (individual plus employer rate) were applied. If that’s still not enough money then (per Laurence Seidman’s old “Health Card” proposal) make the deductible and copayment rates progressive by tying them to reported income.
http://www.udel.edu/PR/UpDate/94/8/5.html

Even conservatives who argue the constitutional issue recognize how easily Congress could avoid this impending trainwreck:

Of course, these constitutional impediments can be avoided if Congress is willing to raise corporate and/or income taxes enough to fund fully a new national health system..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082103033.html

dear pointus:

The Democratic Party has been slapping progressives recreationally for more than 20 years – that is what they do!

what could explain anyone being surprised about it anymore?

Mr. Obama, fire this Rahm Emmanuel.

And if you overlook the six degrees of separation thingie because before Clinton named him Treasury Secretary in 1995, Rubin was co-chairman of Goldman’s Executive Committee. He didn’t go to work for Citigroup until AFTER he’d helped derail Glass-Steagall and get the WTO going.

Even that would be ok for some. My read is he’s as amoral, narcissistic & shortsighted as Chauncey & Billy C. The horror is the timing, the country really needed what he was selling!