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Nothing like having Joe Lieberman running the country:
Obama Silent On Public Option In Speech To Senators
As President Obama finished his speech to the Democratic caucus in the Capitol’s Mansfield Room on Sunday afternoon, Joe Lieberman made his way over to Harry Reid.The independent who still caucuses with Democrats wanted to point something out to the Majority Leader. Obama didn’t mention the public option, Lieberman said to Reid.
Lieberman was beaming as he left the room. He was happy to retell the story when HuffPost asked him what Obama had said about the public health insurance option, perhaps the most contentious issue still facing Democrats as they negotiate their way toward a final health care reform bill.
“Well, it was interesting to me — of course everybody hears with their own ears — that he didn’t say anything about the public option,” said Lieberman. “In other words, when he outlined how far we’ve come on the bill, he talked about the cost-containment provisions; he talked about the insurance market reforms; and he talked about enabling 30 million more people to get insurance. He said these are historic accomplishments, the most significant social legislation, or whatever you call it, in decades, so don’t lose it.”
And this is better than reconciliation how, exactly?
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Section 1555 of Senate Bill — page 367
Health Insurers Opt Out Provision
SEC. 1555. FREEDOM NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN FEDERAL
8 HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAMS.
9 No individual, company, business, nonprofit entity, or
10 health insurance issuer offering group or individual health
11 insurance coverage shall be required to participate in any
12 Federal health insurance program created under this Act
13 (or any amendments made by this Act), or in any Federal
14 health insurance program expanded by this Act (or any
15 such amendments), and there shall be no penalty or fine
16 imposed upon any such issuer for choosing not to participate in such programs.
News is incrementally positive for healthcare stocks as Senate seems to
have gone full circle back to one of the original “public plan” designs
that would be less negative, and possibly net positive, for industry.
here is an investment company advisory for today….. we, all Americans, are screwed
Specifically, common ground may be found in the Senate on a public plan
modeled after the federal employee health benefit plan (FEHBP). We think
it has potential to succeed in the Senate (in which case we think it’s
likely the House would agree to it). This new plan would allow people
who don’t work for the U.S. government to buy insurance through the plan
offered to government employees. Companies like Aetna, Coventry, Medco,
and WellPoint could have an edge in such a plan because they participate
in that FEHBP plan today. Government-run plans like Medicare and
Medicaid are not offered through the exchange. Republican Senator Snowe
called it a positive development.
So, do we flood the White House with calls? I am ready. I’ll even fax. Jane, this is getting very disrespectful to watch the lack of support on the public option.
It appears as though Lieberman wants US corporations and families to fail financially.
Lieberman is invested in failure. He beams at the thought.
A country can be more easily controlled when rolled by economic failure and has to turn to dependency on wealthy allies. The allies then demand in return that we give allegiance to their policies.
It seems time to ask Lieberman who he serves. Why was he so happy, that a policy receiving huge national support, is lacking in the President’s speech? What is “happy” about that?
The clear answer: it supports the “flow” of power that Lieberman wants in control of US assets.
Well, I just called John Kerry and made very clear how unhappy I have been with his failure to promote real reform and made it clear that unless he becomes more aggressive for progressive values I will work and vote against him. He has been an embarrassment to MA on this issue.
We need the dems to provide a real public option or we need them to loudly blame the failure for reforming health care on conservatives.
Saw Kerry on Charlie Rose the other day. He had the look of someone that had been hung by his ankles and dipped into a vat of wax. HiDef is not a good look for the bufoons and clowns in Congress.
Calling Brown, Vonovich, Liebermann’s office…emailing. Let’s get on the teeter totter with Brown, weigh it down with Liebermann on the other side..get off all at once and send him flying through the air. WThell..what is this hold that Liebermann has? What a fuck
Kerry doesn’t always seem to care what his constituents think.
Well, my 2c, this pretty much nailed it. Now that Obama doesn’t even want to speak the words “public option”, how much capital can we expect him to spend to get one?
It’s a rhetorical question; the answer is: Not very much.
What a leader!
O. to congress:
“I’ll pretty much go along with anything you guys want, instead of getting up in the pulpit and repeatedly pointing to the obscene amounts of money that are made off of sickness and ageing in america, and then putting the spotlight on the jellyfish herd to really do something about it.”
Without a STRONG Public Option and with a mandate to purchase S&I insurance from private insurance companies, this bill is becoming the Goose that laid the Golden Egg for the same companies that need to be reformed.
Senator Joe “Aetna” Lieberman (I-Aetna) is the man standing in the doorway between reform and Golden Egg.
We can’t allow such a corporate shill as Lieberman (I-Aetna) and his corporate owners to win on this.
Call your Senators and tell them we need a Strong Public Option!
We need to put a stake in the heart of the predatory, obsolete, yearly S&I Insurance industry. Let it go the way of the Buggy Whip and Slide Rule industries!
Nothing Intimidates the health insurers like some PUBLIC OPTION competition!
Without a STRONG PUBLIC OPTION, there is NO health care reform!
Honestly, recent bad news got me thinking toward the next steps.
A public option now is still possible!
RECONCILIATION
Still, based on the news this morning about Reid’s latest ankle-reaching bend over at the expense of the people of this country, I now say loudly that one marker for our success must be Reid’s removal from office in 2010.
He must be seen as having paid dearly for his total fucking failure, especially when there were so many great reasons for success in achieving real health care reform this year.
Why the hell was LIEberman even invited there, since he is not a Democrat and his “independence” is about being a wingnut? If his “independence” was more along the line of REAL progressives, such as Bernie Sanders, then yeah, invite him. But he is little different than the “Revolutionairies” we had at the beginning of our country where they pretended to be Americans and then as soon as the real Americans were out of sight, donned the English uniform. Lieberman is a true turncoat he did not deserve to be included, and he is not to be trusted.
Cat In Seattle
What does everyone think about Lieberman?
Wait for it…wait for it…
man, 2010 is gonna be a bloodbath, isn’t it?
Jane,
This kabuki that you predicted in June is coming to pass despite your heroic efforts. I am so frickin mad I could spit.
Give us some hope. I am in despair for the future of this country.
From Reid’s wiki page:
Well Senator Reid, it appears it is up to you. Your son hasn’t a chance of being elected any more than you do if you stiff us now. How do you like being in a position that may force you to help us to keep your phony job?
The president, if you can call it that, has played us like a bad violin. Used us to get him elected so he could import the chicago machine politics to the white house. Except for a few environmental changes to help a little, he has abandoned all other aspects of his reform ticket. He lied to us. He is a puppet to the pentagon anyway, maybe he just found out how much so and we haven’t had a chance for a much longer period.
Get out of DC Jane. We have 3 senators that care about us, and 97 that do not. It is not safe for you there any longer.
I think that part of the problem that leads to the continual erosion of meaningful HCR by Congress is that there is too much inertia on our part in beginning the task at hand. We need no further proof of what is in store for the public in HCR as crafted by Congress. They are bent on protecting private insurers at our expense. Let’s face up to that reality and move on to the next step.
We sholuld make clear that candidates voting for legislation that precludes an alternative not for profit option to private insurers will not be supported by the left, period. Let’s make this known now, we can exercise at least this much leverage that we have.
Let’s begin the search for alternative candidates in earnest now, while working to unseat Reid and the rest. Johnathan Tomasini as we all saw is a great plece to begin and maybe we can draw on other union members such as him and present real alternatives to Dem’s who stand for nothing.
Beginning the process of lining up credible leftist candidates now will generate its own momentum. It is time to make a break with the Democratic party in a real way. It is time to make a clean break.
Let’s also make clear that mandates w/o a PO is illegal and will not be complied with.
It is absurd to prop up private insurers who do nothing more than make payments with our money for medical services they do not provide and to have a monopoly in that role. Drastic action is called for at this point when we are not even allowed to do what we like with our own fucking money but give it away to someone to make a profit by it.
We really should begin the task of seeking an alternate path, the sooner we start the better.
Reconciliation.
Is Ned poised for another go at Lieberman? That is a few years away yet. What are the best chances we have for a run at Nelson and the two Ls? We need to really work on that. At a national level, get someone up and running who we can fund.
I cannot stand it that PBO did not mention one word on public option. I do feel betrayed, that Liarman and the others have done this to us and PBO went along with it.
Kerry is my Senator too . He’s just another of the career pols who will say or do anything they need to to get re-elected.
I’m getting ready to bail on the whole lot of them , seems to me the Dems just don’t have the guts to lead.
2010 may bring a big surprise to many of these so called Democrats
I suspect even supposedly “safe” dems won’t be safe. There will be 0 support from progressives and almost no one has that much support that if we drop out on them they can beat the rethugs.
A little OT, but sadly, a little too on-topic:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/12/07
Chris Hedges has some very poignant criticisms of “us.” His characterizations are a generalization of course, but I suspect most of us can find something in there that sticks.
How do we get a little street cred, rather than ivory tower cred?
Good Morning Jane and Firedogs,
This is what it’s supposed to sound like when the WH wants a bill passed (1:01)
LBJ discussing the politics of MediCare with Wilbur Mills and Party Chair O Brien in June of 64
When the rebpubs are in charge they make sure they deliver for their base. Of course the repubs most important constituants are the corporations and the wealthy. But since the typical republican voter has been brainwashed into supporting economic policies that screw them there is never a conflict between what the repub base wants and what the corporations demand. The repubs always make sure to deliver on red meat issues for their base.
The typical Dem voter on the other hand is not so ready to vote against their self interest and typically oppose policies demanded by the corporation and the very wealthy. You would think that the dems would at least deliver on dem issues that don’t impact the bottom line for the corporations and the rich. But no, they won’t even do that!
I suppose the repubs have an easier time keeping their base happy and compliant. But geeze, the dems don’t even bother trying. They have calculated that the typical dem voter will just instinctivly vote for them because they have a D next to their name.
I think it is finally dawning on people that it doesn’t really matter what progressives do when trying to influence legislation. The dem leadership just ignore us and keep behaving they way they always have.
I find it funny that the current health “reform” initiative is being characterized as a failure. The dem leadership had no intention of reforming health care unless you define reform as increasing corporate profits.
Folks I hate to break it to you but our dem leadership is simply not listening to us. This exercise was a sham intended to fool the voters into believing that something they did would impact us in a positive meaningfull way and also to score political points against the repubs which they assumed protect their power base.
What is the point of primarying people like Harry Reid and then voting for another Dem in the general? Our problems are not the result of the repubs, they are the result of the dems.
I have no intention of voting for another dem ever again. I will still go to the polls and vote but I won’t vote for any candidates who list their party affiliation as republican or democrat.
I sense that the progessives are finally waking up. New media is truly becoming a force that has the capacity to mobilize and affect the voting behavior of millions. Dems will see huge losses in 2010. And when this happens I fully expect the dem leadership to blame it on something other than the behavior of the dem leadership. The dem leadership will remain oblivious to the cause of their demise until they are no longer a viable party and leglislative leadership of this county is no longer in the hands of the Democrats or the republicans.
Until we stop voting for dems nothing will change and eventually this country will devolve into a populice of the very wealthy and the poor.
Obama doesn’t need to mention the public option. Why? Because he lives the public option. Right? As does Joe Lieberman and all the rest of the insurance industry obstructionists in Congress who have their health care benefits paid for by, well, the American public, right?
These men and women should be shamed by Obama. And Michelle and all of Obama’s family, friends and loved ones should be shaming him.
But when you live in a world far removed from Main Street it’s easy enough to rationalize why things are the way they are.
And in this respect, America is a disgrace to all the rest of what we call the civilized world.
Your ‘alternate path’ is a road to GOP domination. As bad as many here think the Democratic party is, it is significantly better than
the GOP on virtually every issue.
Progressives have never had enough political muscle to form a ruling majority. Given the current political landscape, I am dubious this will occur anytime soon, if ever. They have had enough power, at times, rarer than most think, to control the Democratic party. And, since the New Deal,
enough juice to always be at least influential within the Democratric Party.
In terms of national presidential politics Obama is about as far to the left as the political dial will go. If you think you are going to elect a President more to the left than Obama, you haven’t been paying attention.
Fucking Ouch!
Both John Kerry and Charlie Rose are affliated with the Bilderberg Group.
And like a broken record I will advise all of you to google Bilderberg and dig down into the rationale for its existence. Until you grasp how both the Democrats [including many "liberals"] and the Republicans are basically of the same mind when it comes to Wall Street and the global economy you will ever be fooled about how “democracy” works in the halls of both Congress and the White House.
I kind of agree with most of your post, but I would argue the influence of any true “left” ended in the Democratic Party around the time of Reagan and was completely gone by the time Clinton was elected.
But it’s also important to remember that FDR wasn’t exactly a liberal firebrand until circumstances and the political tide pushed him that direction. The progressive/liberal/socialist movement was out there stirring in the heartland for years before things finally came to a head.
We’re stirring again right now, but we need to have the patience and persistence to keep it up. We won’t see immediate victory, but if we do our work, maybe we’ll see a new New Deal in the next 20 years or so. I wish it would happen sooner, but that’s just not dealing with reality.
We will never elect enough “good” politicians to actually effect change, the system is broken. Let me know when we realize this and I’ll be there. I’m not wasting one more second on democrats vrs republicans, I don’t care if the GOP makes it worse, evil and less evil is still evil and that’s are only 2 choices in this system…
although he rightfully takes aim at the
– there is not a single line in that piece informed by the actions of passionate, committed private citizens in this epic battle. sadly the piece says more about Hedges entrenchment in said intelligentsia than it does the state of liberalism today
From CNN Political Ticker:
Poll: Democratic leader in trouble (Dec 4, 2009):
Maybe Reid chose the wrong time to depend on Republican endorsements. Or maybe he’s just the victim of bad political fortunes. Either way, the Democrats had a golden opportunity and Reid has fucked it all up.
We all took whacks at that pinata last week :D
Reluctanly agree with you whilst holding my nose & making a face. Ugh.
I haven’t had any illusions about the Dems for a long, long time. The Overton window keeps getting shifted further to the right, and the pigs inside the Beltway keep feeding at the trough.
We are already well on our way to being a 3rd world country with a tiny ruling elite of uber-rich overlords, a diminishing middle class trying desparately to hold on, and a large impoverished minority beaten into submission. Not far to go at this point, and it will get much worse once the majority of boomers get really old & simply cannot work anymore.
I would love to have a viable third party, but I’m doubtful that will happen in my lifetime. Ralph Nader has been pretty much saying everything that is contained in these comments for years. At the end of the day, though, he was a spoiler for Al Gore in 2000. I have my issues with Gore (esp, ugh, ick: LIEberman as VP – nasty little putz that he is), but I would have vastly preferred Gore to Bush.
It’s worth the effort to primary candidates with progressives; just don’t get your hopes up. I, too, am ticked off with BHO but not much surprised by his actions. After he chose Rahm, I very clearly saw the shape of things to come. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Good post, CB12. :o)
At least, when LBJ was dragging us further into a clusterfuck, he could still twist some arms for a good cause.
As for “call your congressman”? I’m tired of doing that and losing. In fact, I helped hire Obama to call my congressman. I’m tired of trying to pressure him to do the right thing; the thing that he should have been up on his hind legs about, 30 days into his presidency.
Allow me to set up the next Reid pinata:
Witness the end of the public option.
Reid must pay dearly for his total failure of leadership.
Al Gore was the spoiler of that election. Would 5% have voted for Nader if Gore had been anything other than a DLC cardboard cutout?
The problem with the Democrats in 2000 is the same as the problem with the Democrats today. They do not act like Democrats. And there lies the problem.
I agree that Reid must pay, but it is so much more than that. This was the Democrats’ chance this generation to actually do something of substance for the country. It’s not just Reid who needs to go down.
was just over at Senator Sherrod Brown’s website. Thanking him again for his efforts in the Health care reform realm and trying to see if he had anything to say about Liarman’s continued efforts to undermine health care reform. Unable to link to the site
“Democratic Senators Request to be Added to Coburn Public Option Amendment
December 4, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A group of Democratic Senators today requested to be added to an amendment filed by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) which would require that all Members of Congress enroll in the public health insurance option. U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) requested unanimous consent on the Senate floor to be added to the list of cosponsors for Coburn’s amendment which includes Sens. David Vitter (R-LA), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be added as a cosponsor to the Coburn Amendment number 2789, requiring all Members of Congress to enroll in the new public insurance option,” said Brown, who helped write the public option passed in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on the Senate floor. “Seventeen years ago when I first ran for Congress, I promised I’d pay my own health insurance until Congress passed health insurance for everyone. I’ve paid it out of my pocket since then. I look forward with great eagerness to join the public option as soon as it’s available.”
Video footage of Brown’s request can be found HERE.
Bullshit! Gore was not the “spoiler” The Supreme Court judicial coup selected the Bush administration. Plain and simple.
Did Gore make a mistake by just asking for a local recount instead of the whole state. hell yes. should Nader have bailed a few weeks before the election. I believe yes. But Gore won and the radical wrong “states rights” Bush team moved into Florida and manipulated the game. They are for states rights as long as it fits their agenda.
I was able to get into the Supreme Court hearings on Bush Vs Gore. This was flat out a Supreme Court Judicial coup. They stopped the recount…remember
The person who says he cant and the person who says he can are both right, it sounds to me like your the one saying we cant. Obama is governing like a centrist but he didnt campaign as one and he won an overwhelming victory so your he is as left as we can get theory makes no sense. If we had a president who said he believed in Medicare for all and if you wanted to join Medicare you cld and if you didnt want to you had the right to say no the people wld support it. If we had a president that said we cant afford all these wars and money for the military while our country is crumbling a majority of the people wld support that. Your statement suggests that bcz Obama chooses not to govern to the left because the public is forcing him not to, I disagree. This country is ready for revolutionary change and that is what we thought we voted for last year, unfortunately Obama refused to heed the call of the country and decided that the status quo marketed as change is what he was comfortable with.
hmmmm, wellll, you do have a point.
Well, indeed, but the point is believing what BHO said on the campaign trail would happen. It was never gonna happen, and BHO (and the Dems in general) bank on voters continuing to vote for the big “D” based on the fact that most “just will.”
So BHO whipped up the ground swell to get himself elected, and then he just went on being who he really is all along.
The Dems/BHO/pols in general, the lobbyists, the corporations, the super wealthy: they all count on the ultimate submission of the masses. We “progressives” here on FDL and the like can shout all we want, but really, as Dick Cheney would say: SO???
Wasn’t Lieberman Obama’s mentor in the Senate?
Had Al Gore acted like a real Democrat, there would have been no need for a recount because he would have won by a huge margin. The first coup was the DLC taking the Democratic Party from the base. A lot of committed base voters fled the party.
Bush v. Gore was only possible because the D Party abandoned the principles people so desperately want. Same thing happening with the PO. Watch 2010 and see what happens.
I can’t argue with your criticism of Hedges, I think you have a very valid point, although I also think Hedges has a valid point before he makes it all about him.
I also think robbep has a great point above. Obama ran as a liberal and was painted as even more of a liberal by the opposition and he won decisively. I agree America was ready for a liberal, but the timidity of this administration from the outset left Fox News to frame the issues and we’ve lost the window of opportunity.
Yes…which should have said everything one needs to know about O. You get what you vote for.
When will democratic strategists learn that lesson?
Clinton ran to the left of where he really was and won. Gore ran to the right and lost. Obama ran to the left of where he really is and won.
To say that people won’t vote for a genuine liberal is ridiculous. Although if we get too many more of these pseudo-liberals they will ultimately ruin the brand.
Absolutely. I’m just saying that Reid should be the face of this failure, and he must be seen as having paid dearly for it.
There are many things that must be done in addition to taking Reid out, but his loss next year will symbolize all else that we do.
Right now, the PCCC is making Lieberman the face (see Liberal group takes aim at Lieberman at today’s CNN Political Ticker). Right sentiment. But wrong move politically. Leiberman could give a shit less: “Lieberman was beaming as he left the room.” Little dick.
Please take a look at my Progressive Memo: Focus on Winning Elections.
Ron’s older brother lives in Illinois. He is sort of a wingnut. He told Ron that he had watched Obama over the years and knew he was a liar. We put it down to his politics. Turns out he was right.
that was the word
Let’s look at the historical record. Twice in the last half century “genuine” liberals have run for President.
In 1972 it didn’t work out very well. The final score was Nixon-49/ McGovern-1.
In 1984 it didn’t work out very well. The final score was Reagan-49/ Mondale-1.
I am convinced that the American voting public isn’t too interested in electing a “genuine” liberal as President.
The only real difference between the two parties is the Democrats try to pretend to help the people, the Republicans don’t even bother. Dems think all these machinations will keep Toto from pulling away the curtain to reveal who’s really pulling the levers. But Toto has smartened up and 2010 will prove it. Bye, Nancy! Bye, Harry! Not enough people, especially white people and wealthy people are suffering enough to force real change. It may be we need a few more Republican administrations before we get REAL progressive democrats into Congress. Seems counter-intuitive, but look what we have now–Democratic majority and nothing to show for it.
Everyone on the Hill says a Reconciliation healthcare bill is impossible because the Byrd rule lets members strike any provision thats extraneous to the budget (like creating insurance exchanges or limiting pre-existing condition restrictions). But that assumes facts not in evidence. If the goal is providing universal healthcare coverage (that is, ‘healthcare reform’ and NOT ‘health insurance reform’), no one makes the case that a healthcare bill can’t be fashioned in a way that meets the Reconciliation procedural requirements. They can’t make the case, because like the evangelical asked if he believes in baptism by submersion, “believe in it, hell, I’ve seen it done”.
The 1997 Balanced Budget Act, for instance, was passed through reconciliation and created both the State Children’s Health Care Program, known as SCHIP, and the Medicare Advantage program for the elderly.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26835.html
SCHIP was added as Title XXI of the Social Security Act (and Medicare added to the existing Title XVIII), no 4 year delay there— the bill was signed August 5, 1997 and went into effect October 1, 1997. A reconciliation bill could expand eligibility of the existing Medicare program (as Rep. Sam Gibbons proposed in his 1991 “Universal Medicare” bill), or open Tricare Reserve Select to civilian buy-ins (even without the 72% premium subsidy that the Pentagon pays for reservists, it’d cost less than $200 a month per person); or like SCHIP, create a new program with Pete Stark’s “public option on steroids” Americare bill or John Conyer’s HR 676.
The point is, if the bill calls for the government to spend money or tax money, the Senate can go through Reconciliation (heck, we could add the carbon tax while we’re at it). Since the 1997 Balanced Budget Act provides a road map to providing universal coverage without needing to bother with insurance market regulations, Democratic senators are free to choose to go or not go through Reconciliation just as surely as we can choose to support or not support them next time they’re up for reelection.
they already have ruined the brand, irreparably. arguably, Clinton finished it off, and consolidated the (D) Party as a purely corporatist vehicle in national politics, 15 years ago.
Obama is definitely teaching his younger supporters that it is futile to expect Hope-n-Change from the (D)’s.
But, how can one be surprised at the continuing influence of Joe Lieberman, Democratic Vice Presidential candidate of 2000 and Barack Obama’s mentor in the senate?
He’s a made guy, a staunch supporter, ally and loyalist of a certain feisty and influential middle eastern client regime, a reliable tool for the corporations who rent him, he’s exactly who runs the country when Democrats take their turn controlling the Congress and the White House.
There was that bit of kabuki in 2006, but obviously it wasn’t enough to curtail his power and influence very much, or make him a waste of money to his backers.
so, Lieberman gets to flout all of the Democrats ostensible political values (is he missing any?) and they still allow him to retain his clout, lucrative committee chairmanships, and cover up any corruption issues he may have.
so then one could form a political hypothesis, as a means of making predictions to guide strategic actions, you know, positive constructive actions:
hypothesis: the national Democratic Party’s actual political ideology has
practicallynothing to do with its professed beliefs, but instead is devoted increasing its own power and influence, and funneling money to itself and its backers via control of State power.naturally, the actions deriving from this hypothesis will differ from those of someone who believes in voting only for the noble Party of FDR, dormant somewhere in there, yearning to re-emerge.
but so therefore, to squelch my discomfiting hypothesis, where is there some evidence of (D) institutional nobility to support an opposing hypothesis?
scarce on the ground, I suspect, but pick some up and bash the messenger of troubling news with it!
Yes, and that is because around the time of Reagan “the left” had become detached from the mass movements that revolved around civil rights, feminism, gay rights, and the anti war folks. In part, of course, because so much had been accomplished by them out in the streets and in the communities.
That is what is so sorely missing now. While much discussion revolves around [and rightly so] the need to make the Democratic Party a more progressive organization that is only part of the solution. The other part [the far more important part] is figuring out a way to reinvigorate a genuinely mass movement from below. Without that where is the real pressure to change coming from?
pungent writing on this topic today at Counterpunch.
Yeah, but at Joe let Obama light the Christmas tree.
The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com
A pox on you cynics.
Well, maybe you do need to vent your frustrations. Now that you have done so, get back to work.
Wow, I had to do a doubletake…I thought the title was “LIEberman Leads Obama around by the NOOSE”!