According to AP “Obama Steps Up His Campaign Against Wall Street Banks”.
It seems like the first part of President Obama retooling his efforts is to reach out to the people and reign in the institutions people are rightfully directing their anger towards.
President Barack Obama stepped up his campaign against Wall Street on Thursday with a far-reaching proposal for tougher regulation of the biggest banks.
“We have to get this done,” Obama said at the White House. “If these folks want a fight, it’s a fight I’m ready to have.”
It was a stern, populist lecture from the president to Wall Street for what he perceives as its abandonment of Main Street. Obama said the government should have the power to limit the size and complexity of large financial institutions as well as their ability to make high-risk trades.
He said it wasn’t appropriate that banks have been able to run these trading operations with the protections afforded to regular banking services.
“We have to enact commonsense reforms that will protect American taxpayers and the American economy from future crises,” Obama said. “For, while the financial system is far stronger today than it was one year ago, it’s still operating under the same rules that led to its near-collapse.”
I understand people’s anger but it’s all reaction from people that want pay back and only care about punishment. These changes will be cheered on by the Huffy crowd and many progressives but it never really was my issue. I think allot of it is grandstanding and there will be little change in the long run that positively affects people’s lives. I would much rather have HCR which looks like it’s not happening. Sorry but the system rarely repeats the exact same mistakes again the underlying reason for the banking crisis has been corrected by the banks themselves last year when they stopped making loans to people that could not pay them back. Sure there were contributing mitigating factors that made the collapse worse like derivatives trading and a bloated housing market but even if the trading was based on predominantly safe loans and the unsustainable loans were not granted to artificially increase real estate values the financial crisis would have been much less intense.
I also do not see how this is going to help out main street save for making some people feel better. The economy is out of governments control in most aspects. No matter what FDR did it took WWII to really end the Great Depression. Sure we can have another stimulus like the last 2 stimulus’s we had the previous two years but if big business keeps on laying off people it really does not matter. People need to wake up and understand that big business is in the final phase of creating the kind of work environment that only favors them. They have Americans so afraid of being fired, especially when they are going to lose benefits like healthcare insurance, that they will work harder for less. Conservatives in big business will continue to reap more profits but they will not be hiring until at least after the midterms so they can help their party get back into power again. That’s the real conspiracy American workers should know.
Sure it’s good political move for our short term thinking country but it could be another set up for failure with the bought and paid for Congress anyway who will take the teeth out of any legislation he proposes. Obama be should responding to the people more but in a way to show how the future needs long term fixes like healthcare reform. These short term populist efforts will do little to make the future better so the reactionaries win out again in round one.
UPDATE Wall Street does not seem to like this new populist president.
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 210 points after dropping 122 on Wednesday. The index has seen four straight triple-digit moves and the latest slide erased the Dow’s gains for 2010. Bond prices rose as the stock market became more volatile.
Yeah again it will make people feel better but I still don’t see how this helps main street.
I don’t blame President Obama for the failure of healthcare. I blame the liberal, progressive movement, that refused to move. We all knew that HCR was going to be an uphill battle and we sat. We sat, blogged, signed petitions and waited on congress. Where was the pressure ? When did we take to the streets in mass organized, fired -up ? We sat, watched and derided the “silly teabaggers” as they grew stronger in getting what they wanted. Never mind that they were ignorant to what socialized medicine actually was or that they were being used by their own party, they fought and are winning. We still sit in all our intelligence, knowing that we deserve better, yet we are losing the battle. I still think it’s a battle, because the war isn’t over. I, too am one that sat and waited so I like the rest bear the burden of not DEMANDING that change MUST come. My problem is how do we effect change ? We in the middle class can no longer sit and watch all that we have worked so hard for erode, because of a handful of people. We have fought since the inception of this county from the American Revolution, Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, Equality in the workplace, to Children’s Rights. So there is a way we just have to find it and I think we are smart enough to do that, but are we hungry enough to do it?
Again, it is much harder to change things than to get them done.
It was no trick to get a bunch of racists and assorted reactionaries to call themselves teabaggers (especially with a 24/7 cable channel in place to proselytize for the effort), but to herd all the cats called “liberals” into a united and concerted effort is vastly more difficult.
Add the inertia inherent in the concept of a Senate that grants the same representation to Podunk states as to states that would be significant nations if they were in Europe, leavened with the filibuster, and you have a recipe for perfect gridlock.
Welcome and very well said. I agree with what you are saying. Progressives spent so much time over analyzing, criticizing, outraged and finally obstructing that we forgot to advocate and focus on the prize. I don’t blame anyone who continued to keep the process going. I still see progressives making the mistake of over reaching. We still don’t understand more than ever compromise is needed. Every great domestic program like Social Security was a compromise.
Spurred on by the neo-con RW and the likes of F*ck News, Lush Rumballs, Insane Hannity, the Queen Bee, Caribou Barbie, McCult Bachman, the rest of the “loonies” (credit Bob Schiefer), and lest we forget, our non-journalist journalists who wouldn’t know how to cover a real story unless it were tabloid headlines, appealed to anyone unable to think on his own, doesn’t discuss Lindsey Lohan’s nipples, Michael Jackson’s death, Octo-Mom, anything Survivor, anything, and I mean anything requiring involvement or commitment.
GOP-Sheeple — The New Republican Base!
Welcome to The Planet, darleneslee!
There are many factors, what you point out is huge.
Out of everything though, here are the two factors that seem most pivotal to me.
1. Pres. Obama did not introduce a bill, specifics a wish list or give any substantive list of provisions for a health care bill to Congress. This left it to become a murky mess with no strategy for passage. He didn’t become a passionate advocate nor use his popularity or power as president since he thought it best to stand back and let The Congress work alone to carry the ball.
We all can understand the strategy, not to repeat Hillary’s debacle, but it was too simplistically opposite. “If Hillary had trouble because she was too involved, let’s not get involved at all and then there won’t be trouble.”
This allowed the Teabaggers, the Insurance companies and the GOP to define HCR as killing Granny, Death Panels, Socialism, Government between you and your doctor, being forced to give up your current insurance and doctors.
In the vacuum Pres. Obama allowed to be created, all the garbage was poured in.
As you describe, not just Dems but Pres. Obama too dismissed the insanity of the charges and Teabaggers, that people were smarter than to believe such obvious bullshit.
He and we were wrong. Never underestimate the stupidity of the masses.
2. Joe Lieberman and The Blue Dogs
Nothing would have changed them from corrupting HCR. Nothing. They are bought and paid for by the Insurance industry for the most part.
The truth from the beginning, from Obama’s inauguration day, is that HCR could never pass the Senate with 60 votes unless it was a gift to the insurance industry.
End of story.
No amount of protests, letters or phone calls would ever have changed that.
So, why didn’t Harry Reid know this? What kind of idiot is he, to be in the Senate as long as he’s been, to know all of these people so well, to be leader of the Senate…and not know that these guys were the tools of industry and bitterness they were?
Why didn’t he manage this in a way that compensated for that, a safer smarter plan to put through the basic reforms on one track and the financial aspects on another headed for reconciliation?
That would have been smart. But that’s not Reid’s style.
So, yes, we Dems and our President were overconfident. However, I don’t think there is one thing we could have done differently that would have changed this outcome.
It was in our leaders’ hands, they made up their minds and never changed course…and here we are, rammed into an iceberg.
No matter how you slice it a compromised bill helps millions of Americans. No bill helps no one.
The war is as much with the purists as it is with the powers that be is all I’m saying.
I still can’t figure out how anyone thinks we can get a more progressive bill with the current situation.
Many times I’ve argued about project funding with my supervisors that had the mentality that if a project was not going well that they should underfund it or take resources away to light a fire under the project manager. I use to say ether fund the project or kill it because how do you expect the project manager to accomplish more with less? That’s exactly what progressives are asking Obama and Reid to do. We took resources away from you and we expect more. It makes no logical sense at all.
Don’t show me the goal right now show me a viable path to the goal. The same went for the single payer only people. Just give me one path where single payer is feasible and I’m in 100%. I never got an answer save for people saying it was the best system. Sure we agree with principle but that does not answer my question of how to get it done. I always think of the “put the bell on the cat” fable. Before every project we did a “proof of concept” study first so we could determine A. if the project was feasible at all and B. what are the limitations we can expect from this effort so that’s why I look at the whole process so differently than most.
I haven’t given up on HCR yet. Call me an optimist. It ain’t over ’til it’s over.
I certainly hope that you are right.
Not that I have any fondness for the bill that we are likely to get at this juncture.
For me it was all about lowering costs. We are paying on the order of 30% more than the other industrialized democracies, per citizen, and failing to cover all our citizens, which all the others do.
In point of fact, about 1/3rd of what we spend nationally is for stuff that we just don’t need. Tests, procedures and medications that we just don’t need.
It may be a blessing that this bill dies.
cosign, e’cat.
Once again, we are on the same page.
Whether or not the bought and payed for members of Congress sign on to the President’s plan of more regulation and transparency for the banks, he has done what the people have wanted and expected him to do.
Definitely a big step in the right direction, one glove off, one more to go.
The reason scaled back insurance reforms will not work is because if Congress does make insurances companies cover people with no mandates people will game the system and wait until they are sick to buy healthcare insurance. This will just make premiums more unfordable.
If there are mandates because premiums are so high low income people would need help paying for premiums with subsidies which would require new taxes that you would never get a Republic to support.
The problem is the healthcare situation in this country is so broken that with ever positive thing they do there is a pain associated with it.
Americans will never accept and pain especially in an election year because it would take an adult mentality to understand you can’t have something for nothing. The Republicans are great at offering something for nothing like Medicare Part B. Dems mistake was trying to pay for healthcare.
I guess the next huge bubble to collapse is the healthcare bubble that will become so expensive no one can afford it and Medicare and Medicaid will bankrupt the country.
Quark, I sure do agree with just about all you say, except the statement of Republicans giving us something for nothing. I would have to say that the partisan Republicans in 2003 gave us Nothing for Something in the form of the unfunded Medicare Part D. It is the something that cost 1.2 trillion dollars of unfunded money straight from the deficit. When the R’s passed this in the middle of night in November 2003, they lied about the cost, and did not reveal the true numbers until after Bush signed it in December. Medicare D spawned the Medicare budget draining vampire called Medicare Advantage.
I am still hopeful that President Obama will announce that he will endorse HR676, single payer, and use the bully pulpit to get the message to Congress.
I know that this is a lofty dream, but I always did have a great imagination.
http://pnhp.org
Maybe we should start a movement to help Americans.
Maybe we should ask the rich and the elite, especially in Hollywood, which is more liberal than not, to work for Americans.
Any ideas how to do that?
Hollywood is moving right as well all they care about is cutting taxes too.
Funny, you should mention that. That erstwhile voice of the Progressive Left, Bill Maher – you know, the one who launches diatribes against corporatism, whilst working for a corporation, the Progressive who supports the death penalty, favours racial profiling and doesn’t want the government administering his healthcare, posted this Tweet today: (something to this effect) Dinner @ Elaine’s NYC. Great birthday. I am rich in friends. Also money.
I fucking ASK you! Elaine’s is arguably the most expensive restaurant in NYC, where the menu is unpriced. (If you have to ask what something costs, you can’t afford it). He charges up to 100 smackers for his stand-up, people have complained on his FB page about not being able to afford the prices, he’s cognizant of the fact that unemployment is 10%, and he posts this shit?!
I mean, this is a REAL ‘Let them eat cake’ moment. ‘Here I am, on my birthday, treating people who love me because I’m famous. I’ve got money. Fuck you.’
Yet people STILL hail him as an arbitre of common sense. Honest to Pete, people are letting douchebags like Bill THINK for us. Oh yes, Mr Don’t-Eat-Meat will have a hard time justifying that to the health crowd – eating at Elaine’s.
I am fast becoming a former fan of Bill’s. He lost all integrity for me with that remark.
Exactly Bill Maher is in no way progressive. All he ever cared about was his own interests. He could give a crap about people without healthcare like most of them.
If progressives in the House really wanted healthcare they could pass the Senate Bill and work on changes later. But again they have their healthcare benefits.
I’ve never liked Maher and laughed when some called his sense of humour satire. It’s not, it’s barroom humour, he just loves to try to makes others look foolish, so he can feel good about himself. The Brits are far more accomplished in the art of satire, it’s in their blood.
Now that is true. There is a difference between snark and satire.
A huge intellectual difference K.
I have never watched Jon Stewart much. Living in the UK, we get the current shows one day later; but I watched his Monday and Tuesday shows and was very impressed. He nailed exactly what the problem was with the Coakley campaign (the Dems and a poor candidate) and ripped them a new one; he later had a black commentator/comedian on who admonished the so-called supporters of Obama as being just as bad as the Rush dittoes for honestly believing that Obama was THE ‘magic negro.’ Stewart knows exactly whom to target for criticism and isn’t afraid to do so, backing it up with fact. Bill just plays to the pits and blames Obama.
I honestly used to really like Bill and when he rises to the occasion, he can be very good and perceptive; but he’s got lazy of late. I truly think he’s got some major MAJOR psychological problems, which have something to do with his early adolescence. Not only does he act and act out (and increasingly so) like a snotty 13 year-old, if you watch his interviews etc, he goes all loopy-funny whenever anyone mentions anything that happened when he was thirteen or being thirteen. Bill gets nervous and jumpy.
I saw his stand-up when I was in the US at the Avery Fisher Hall in NYC in November. I actually met him briefly and spoke. He was nice enough, but he is TINY. There is no way he is 5’8″ as he claims. I’m 5’4″ and he was easily my height. And his colouring is totally awful. He must lather himself in pancake, because this guy had absolutely no colour whatsoever in his face – absolutely pasty colourless. I am not exaggerating, a corpse has more colour. Whatever he’s eating or not eating, he’s totally got pernicious anemia. And up close, Bill looks OLD. I think that’s part of what’s bothering him, maybe.
I agree Kalima, Snarky is not sarcasm to me. Snark is a personal low dig.It’s cheap. I like good sarcasm and the Brits are the best. (next to my Dad)
Another thing that I find irritating about him, is the way he laughs or should I say snickers at his own snark, very high schoolish if you ask me. Some people just never grow up it seems. He reminds me of the big school bully who used to beat me up, one thing they both have in common is their weakness.
Maher is just like Bush with the same smirk.
For me, one word has always summed up Bill Maher for me: Snarky.
Now that you’ve educated me about his unbridled wealth lust and hypocritical posturing, (ON A GLOBAL SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE NO LESS!) I have concluded my relationship with this…pig. There were times as I watched his show that I thought he had no idea what to say and when he HAD a contribution, he NEVER got the delivery quite right. Maybe that’s his style, yet I thought it smacked of amateurishness….and weak.
I watched Religulous and thought that there was SO much more that could have been done with the concept. But it made Conservatives angry so I supported it.
Hollywood IS moving more towards the center and it only figures now that entertainers are bringing in tens of millions of dollars for mediocre performances at best. Even actors today aren’t rushing to be stars and starlets because they yearn with a fire to act as magnificently as the talent of olde, no…I’m afraid every day in the industry is now simply an American Idol or Survivor audition and whomever can out-game the next sad sack wins….money…wins lots and lots of money…
I will end with this pearl of lost wisdom and one of the most misquoted lines of text ever that bears broadcasting on its very own cable channel 24/7….
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”
Money don’t kill people…the LOVE of money kills people…just look at America.
Yup he’s from the snark capital of the world, NJ. I should know I’m from there as well. When I moved down South I found out people always took me seriously when I was being sarcastic so I had to change my snarky ways.
Maher is a stand up comic. The truth about many stand up comics is they are clever but angry people.
The stand up circuit has that affect on many.
I know someone who knew Maher in the early days, they were pals. After Maher got the series, Politically Incorrect, he was, shall we say, not as pleasant a person.
Maher’s adolescent obsessions with pot and Playboy models, his continued (but now hidden) friendship with Ann Coulter, his support of the Iraq War, his attacks on vaccines, on and on, he is not a Progressive and this Twitter from him only further exposes him as a fraud when it comes to really caring about the values he beats his chest about on his show.
And a p.s., Maher has a reputation for stealing material. I can recall jokes made in comments at HuffPo appearing later on Maher’s show, Real Time.
His relationship with Coulter had always troubled me.
That his personality changed after getting a big show on cable should not surprise you. You know better than many of the pressure that anyone in that position must be under.
On the other hand, look at Conan, who I once worked with, as a model of grace under fire. Well done to him, demanding a substantial severance package for his people.
He’s sort of a Dennis Miller lite, don’t you think? And he’s grey. Maybe he should try a little meat……
Marion and Alpha – I had to smile because I once got Dennis Miller and Bill Maher mixed up. I always thought Maher was a pretentious nobody with values that seemed to me anything BUT progressive. I am so happy that you confirm my impressions!
I have the worst cold and sinus infection I’ve EVER had, and this is the only thing (other than finally getting antibiotics) that made me feel better today. Thanks!
Lady: Warm compresses (like the Bed Buddy) help, too. So does a big steaming bowl of water w/ some eucalyptus oil in it; drape a towel over your head and breathe.
To help (I have bad allergies which go easily into the sinus thingy), I do the essential oils (using eucalyptus) in water in an aromatherapy jar at least once a week. Seems to help. (Knocks on head, which is hard as wood)
Take it easy. Sleep is my recipe for all that ails me.
I think you don’t like Maher. I could be wrong about that.
He is successful. Back when I was flush, I ate in restaurants and ordered drinks. Felt good. I did not flog myself over all the people who did not have the same wallet that I had.
If the man is paying a good bit in taxes and giving to charity, I don’t really think that I have a problem with how much he spends on dinner.
Now, I would be happy if he was paying more in taxes than he currently is, but we need to critique BushCo and the Rethugs for that one, yes?
Bill Maher is an entertainer. It is when he spouts things like his support for the Iraq war that I have a problem. He was touting how the first Democratic elections in Iraq were such a success. I went a bit nuts. He was bragging about the huge turnout. But, he failed to mention, or was ignorant of the fact, that if each citizen did not show officials a purple finger after voting, they would not get their food allotment for their family next month. It is his “half stories” that seem to do more harm than good. He was helping to “catapult the propaganda” I also have little understanding of his relationship with M/ANN Coulter. No Thanks.
Jon Stewart is an entertainer, too. But the difference between them is: Stewart (and his cast) does their homework – does real research – before they write their scripts! And they also have some core values to work from, too.
Same goes for Colbert, as well (so calm down, Colbert fans – I like them both!)
I agree! I am always impressed with the Daily Show and their research team. They rarely disappoint. That’s why they win the awards. I’m also glad that younger people watch Stewart/Colbert. They are listening, and it’s great.
Anyone who posts a tweet like that is trying desperately to be thought of as a big shot.
Kinda pathetic.
Today’s tweet was even worse. Talking about some restaurant he went to last night, which was just like ‘Hollywood during the Depression’ and likened himself to Fred Astaire coming down the stairs.
I know Bill’s always been a bit of a dickhead – that was part of his charm; but putting out shit like this on a global social networking site, read by fans who are barely making ends meet, doesn’t exactly enhance his image as a ‘voice of common sense for the people.’ Talk about dissonance!
I’d really love to see him cop a massive load of karma this year. He’s overdue a fall from grace.
Cool, Bill, my birthday is today! We must be so much alike with our birthdays being so close and all. I have been sarcastic now and then and I like a good conversation.
Afraid I will have to miss going out for a birthday dinner though, Elaine’s or any place. See, I can’t afford it. I am, however, going to make some blueberry muffins and have a bowel of soup that I made yesterday. If you get a chance, stop by, please, and have a muffin.
Your Birthday Soulmate,
Bito
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, B’ITO!
Wish I could be there to share a muffin with you!
That’s better than dinner and a movie! Thanks k’es.
You should come to Vox Pop tonight and let us all serenade you!
(Now just watch me get called in to work…there goes the off-key alto…)
Anyway, hope the day is full of good things for you!
Happy Birthday bito!
Hope your day has been better than Maher’s, oh by the way, you’re nothing like that egotistical little twit.
And those of you who wonder why Maher acts like he does, just look how small his hands are….just saying.
To be frank and realistic, does anyone here believe that the corporately owned Congress that sabotaged HCR is somehow going to pass harsh regulations over the corporations that finance their re-elections?
I think javaz was onto something a while back with her post about Progressives and Teabaggers having some common interests.
How can we steer our country back from the abyss of permanent corporate fascism it’s speeding towards? If we can’t do it through elections, where are we left to turn?
That’s when the corporate pacifying of Americans through entertainment looks like a far-sighted agenda.
Americans should have been rallying across the nation in front of big banks all last year but most just flipped to another channel or played with their Wii or iPod.
Is there enough activism left in American society to fight against a final corporate coup?
That’s the disconnect I see here as well. Obama pushed HCR and was rebuffed by a corporate owned congress now even more corporate owned with Brown.
Why does anyone think anything he proposes will be passed in congress now?
Teabaggers are anti-government anything and just want low taxes, for corporations as well and supposedly balancing the budget how does that relate to lessening power corporations have?
I’m just saying that the theme of politicians ignoring the interests of the people is universal.
Otherwise, no, Progressives have little else in common with Teabaggers.
And…if elections prove that they have no affect on changing this, we may all need to get a group discount at the TorchesAndPitchforks.com
TorchesAndPitchforks.com is currently parked free at GoDaddy. We can pick it up for a measley $1.99.
Just checked, it’s parked there free but owned by someone else. Darn!
Hi Adlib
What is Torches and Pitchforks? I remember Colbert doing a sketch on it, but not sure what it is.
It’s a metaphor for people actively protesting something, goes back a long time, referring to the days that farmers and such would grab their pitchforks and light torches (before flashlights) and go out in the evening to protest their treatment (or sometimes the treatment of others).
Would be a fun site name for organizing protests but we can do the same here but more updated.
I’ll bring the spear guns and KQuark will provide the lasers.
Torches and pitchforks were actually part of several French revolutions in the absence of other weapons. Sabotage came from the act of throwing wooden sabots (shoes) into the machinery to stop it since machines were taking craft jobs. The image of “pitchforks, torches, to the gates” was then imported into the story of Frankenstein as townsfolk moved against him and the monster he created with what they had at hand. It’s a time honored tradition of making revolution with what you have.
I know what you are saying and if teabaggers cared about lessening corporate influence I could see it differently but it’s all about anti-Washington when Dems are in charge for them. When Repubs raise deficits and corporations have even more influence they don’t care one bit.
AdLib– that is what I’ve been thinking for a while now. And do even a significant number (forget a majority) of citizens even know about the SCOTUS ruling? We are narcotized and it is almost too perfect to have been planned, but it probably was. Bread and circuses is hardly a new concept. We are uneducated and apathetic, getting the government we deserve in the end. I will fight on, but with decreasing optimism. And the only hope is enough outrage to convince representatives to amend the constitution, but if we weren’t outraged already, I can’t imagine anything will change.
Cher, this was a one-two punch to the gut, I’m feeling a bit knocked back on my heels too.
But when this has happened in the past, we’ve regrouped and refocused ourselves.
Fortunately, we have many colleagues here at The Planet to work with and a more activist approach this year to help us step up and confront what’s happening.
We confronted far worse under Bush, we can confront this.
Cher – the only hope I can see comes from the millions for whom the ‘bread and circuses’ means only the circuses. Increasingly there is no bread.
No health care, no basic supports, no deployment of ARRA funds into real jobs (billions are left unspent – why?) How long will people accept their repression?
Perhaps it will be only when basic cable becomes too expensive, and the WWF smack downs and “reality” shows can no longer be seen?
I am scared for my nation.
1. The Teabaggers aren’t just ‘knives and pitchforks’ rubes in from the country. They’re financed and organised by some of the biggest corporate entities in the land. The people might be real, but they’re being used and abused.
2. Loved your comment about pacifying Americans through entertainment. In Europe, that’s called the ‘Berlusconi Plan.’ He OWNS the media in Italy. Literally OWNS it – being the major shareholder in all the state-owned television and radio media, as well as owning 7 of the daily newspapers. Talk about controlling information!
The Italians are fed a daily diet of reality shows, pithy gameshows, stripping housewives and costume drama (general tripe) to keep them entertained, whilst Berlusconi treats the country like his private fiefdom. Looks like it’s happening in the States.
Marion, you are right on target.
Just playing around a bit, I am aware that a consortium of corporations and Republicans posing as Freedomworks has financed and organized them.
It’s all about one thing, undermining Obama’s agenda.
I just was remarking on how I have just gotten my pitchfork out of storage and the word “revolution” has been moved from the archives in my mind onto the coffee table.
Unfortunately, Italy has a history of fascist governments and there can be little argument that Berlusconi has been their fascist leader for some time.
The situation there, as you aptly describe, would be the equivalent of having a President Rupert Murdoch…after Fox absorbed CNN and (MS)NBC.
We’re heading right down that path.
The revolution won’t be televised, it will be preempted by the reality show, “Breast Implanting With The Stars”.
You have the pitchforks? cool – I have the torches. To the gates!
We are laboring under the legacy of Reagan that the “enemy” is government. People will hate corporations, especially banks, but will keep the status quo rather than take a risk that democracy really means US.
Given the Supremes’ ruling today, this will get worse. Now only Barney Frank who does not give a damn, will probably have the chuzpah to stand up to them. On the other hand, if we show up with said pitchforks and torches, maybe we CAN make a difference? And, frankly, this may well be some place where we do have to reach out to the tea bag people – a lot of them are dupes, not evil, and might well move the better way if they were approached well.
Or not…
Here’s an oxmoron: Murdoch has fought long and hard to be able to establish Sky in Italy, and – until recently – Berlusconi put the mockers on it. But last year, he was allowed to establish Sky News & entertainment in Italy and they now have Sky Italia.
Here’s the rub: People are FLOCKING to Sky as a liberal news source, totally in opposition to the hardline RAI news generated by Berlusconi. I have friends in Forli, who are leftist Communists. They always used to watch RAI 3 news, which is a soft left version ‘allowed’ by Berlusconi. For them, Murdoch is a saviour. He’s tapped into the fact that Italy needs a liberal news voice and he’s it; and in the UK Sky News really IS fair and balanced.
RIP HCR.
I can’t even bring myself to write a whole new post on this issue. My elation on Christmas Eve when I thought things would really change after the Senate vote has evaporated into utter despair thinking I’m going to have to wait another 15 years for healthcare to come up again. Well at least I get “horrible government run” Medicare in 18 years if our current system does not get me first. Rush Limbaugh has won and me and the uninsured who need coverage have lost.
More indications that any big HCR is dead. I still support the president because he’s one of the few people in the process that fought to get healthcare done but I’m now seeing his presidency as a total failure from my standpoint. I just can’t express how disappointed I am with everyone that fought against the process and I don’t care if they lean right or left or are in the middle.
Everything for a successful Obama presidency was predicated on HCR passing. He even told us as such that this will probably make him a one term president. Success is only built on previous success and the failure to get HCR passed will doom any other substantial initiatives like a real renewable energy initiative, education reform or even ending things like DADT or DOMA repeal.
The Americans have spoken they don’t want any change they just want smoke blown up their collective butts. Maybe we can bring back Ronnie Reagan’s ghost. I already see the progressives making the appeal for the PO which never had and never will have the votes to pass. Sure Americans love the PO as an academic exorcise but they don’t want to pay for it. They have learned nothing about the political environment and Americans. All Americans care about is no new taxes and no new government. You know the stuff Brown and the GOP are selling.
Enjoy your new found populist president for what it’s worth in 2012 I’ll be looking for the best candidate who can get it done on healthcare. For the record I think no one else could have brought the process this far. But a lose is a lose and I will hold people accountable. Nothing will really change to make this country better in a sustainable way. We will just slog along bubble after bubble if we are lucky at least on the growth side of the bubbles life is better.
See my post below to you, KQ.
I’m just as lost and frustrated as you, but I’m a half-glass full kind of person, an irritating Pollyanna, that places hope into a higher power and believes in positive thinking.
And when I say that I place my hope into a higher power, I mean what Cher said in another post, in that we are all God.
Things suck, but we all have the ultimate control in our “little” world.
I choose to look at the positive and choose to hope for a better future.
No matter how bad things get, I choose to find a bright side.
What else can a person do?
You can choose to give up and be depressed, but what good does that do you?
I choose to be happy, no matter how bad things get in life, I choose to find that little ray of hope and enjoy that first cup of coffee in the morning, and choose to take pleasure in seeing it rain, or choose to see the beauty of a flower.
You have the most beautiful woman in the world at your side and she’s with you all the way for the long term.
Take joy in that, and ignore all the bullshit for things that none of us can change.
Rejoice that you are not in Haiti or Darfur, but you are in the United States of America, and you are in your own home with a woman that you love and a woman that loves you.
I wish I could say it better.
Take a time out from the politics and be grateful that you have what you have, no matter how flawed it might be.
You are a very special person, we all can see it.
Watch a comedy or like we did today, watch a Hercules Poirot.
Try to focus on your life at the moment, and do not worry overly much about the things that you cannot change.
Does that make any sense?
Give yourself a break for a day and savor the life that you do have.
I greatly appreciate your sentiments. I’m a very positive person or I would not be here now but I see the real world with open eyes as well going through all I’ve been through.
I had expected major HCR to pass and that expectation is gone. The fact that we were so close makes it even worse. I’d rather be pleasantly surprised at this point rather than literally putting my blood, sweat and tears into a process where people that have insurance like those in MA don’t give a shit about people like me.
It’s an every man for themselves country and I know that. I just have to retool my thinking that we can actually see some progress in this country. The biggest problem I have is with people who blocked progress for people like me when many people like myself who have skin in the game would have been greatly helped. The progressive kill the bill people are the one’s I’m angry with the most for that reason.
KQ– my husband came home early to check on me and i told him of the ruling by SCOTUS. He said almost exactly what you did.
I hate to join the pity express but I see things as they are. That’s why my concerns yesterday were not with what the president had to say. I knew going into the MA election what it meant for things like HCR.
All this is going to teach Democrats is to play it safe and just do what popular at the moment for the people. It’s all about image and the appearance of doing something now. HCR is hard because it takes a long time and since most people are covered it’s not popular in that sense.
The only people I see happy are delusional people like Aryanna who has healthcare and never really cared about that issue in a real sense. What Obama does with the banks was never a progressive issue besides fixing the system. Banks are never going to be “progressive”. Aryanna won, Rush won and the teabaggers won. We have to accept that.
K, I just heard Rep Clyburn speaking, and it doesn’t sound to me like they’re giving up on HCR. There’s too much at stake — and I don’t mean politically. I mean economically and on a humanitarian basis. There are children who are being denied health care. I don’t think congress is going to let that continue.
I know you’re disappointed. And I know you’re angry. I’m angry, too — at the very same people you’re angry at. I just think we can hold out a little hope. Just going by what I’m hearing legislators say.
But I understand you’d rather be pleasantly surprised. So I’m going to hold out for that.
You know me I’ll bounce back I always do but I think it’s important for everyone to know what the death of HCR means for the country, the president and myself.
I know Obama is one of the few in my corner on this but I also know how nasty this nation is to it’s citizens. If they let it go 60 years why not 15 more. The sad part is those words came from a so-called progressive.
I understand and agree with what you are saying, but disagree with one thing.
And this is going to be very hard for me to verbalize, but Americans, even those in Massachusetts have a heart.
Look at the response to Haiti.
The thing that’s really bad and sad in this country, is that there are people struggling and people who are sick, people who are hungry, people who are dying, and people who live on the streets, yet they do not get the attention like the people in foreign lands when catastrophe happens.
Maybe that’s what we should do, is hold a telethon to help Americans.
I wonder how would a person do that?
I’ll not only write politicians, but write Al Franken, because I believe Senator Franken gets it.
We as Americans open our wallets to the world when there is a crisis, while ignoring Americans in crisis.
We, and by we, I mean Americans, there are far too many of us suffering, yet no one holds a telethon for Americans, and no one tries to rally funds to help Americans.
I’ve wondered that many times javaz,
just the amount of $ spent in a weekend for movies at the box office could start solving a lot of our problems. They’ll help other countries but not their own? Would it mean they’d have to look within?….???
Everything seems so out of balance, the spin from the media has America so dizzy we can hardly do anything more than vomit right about now.
I think Americans are so generous because people are generous by nature, and we are no better or worse. But also because we hold tightly to the myth that we are the richest nation– that no one goes hungry here, that we’re #1! It’s a matter of false pride as much as humility here.
javaz,
Spot on. I was just thinking about this the other day, the Katrina survivors in particular. I wonder how those folks feel seeing this outpouring of assistance to a foreign country, yet they are still suffering, infrastructure needs rebuilding or repair, people living in poverty, and it’s been five years! It’s not rocket science, but somehow our government always screws around with the people at home.
Reading about the earthquake, people without food, clothes, water, shelter — it’s not just Haiti — it’s everywhere.
Everywhere is all inclusive, meaning this country is part of Everywhere.
So, just as an overworked volunteer must learn to say “No” once in awhile, so does our government. “Sorry folks, not this time. we need to tend to our own for awhile.”
Just think of the possibilities — jeeze — what a concept. 😯
There needs to be a telethon for Americans. There needs to be one to help pay for HCR. I watched the millions being donated to Haiti and from many who don’t have much to give.
I could not help but think about this country and what we need here right now.
This country is truly turning into the have’s and have nots.
I am suffering from political burnout right now.
Hang in there, we’re here and we hear you!
I hear you Pashma the separation between the two Americans grows every day.
Javaz, that was so wonderful! And you are right of course. But, not to disagree, there is a time for every purpose under heaven– and now, it seems like a time to mourn. Not to keep on mourning, believe me– you are so wise!– but to put in in the perspective you have given us.
Cher, I cannot thank you enough for your words.
Time is short, and our time on earth is short.
All this bullshit with politics.
I’ve been there and done that, and in fact I did that for 8 long years under Bush.
I’ve learned with the death of our daughter and then most recently, the death of my brother – the meaning of life.
The meaning of life is to enjoy every single day and every single minute of every day.
I can’t get angry anymore over politics, but I do get it, in that I am not sick and without health care.
And I thank God or whoever for that, but I also know that I could become sick tomorrow, or that I could lose my husband at any moment.
And trust me, that thought scares the absolute hell out of me and I’m not so sure that I could find that ray of hope if that were to happen.
But realizing that possibility makes me appreciate him even more.
Life is hard, but life has it’s pleasures, as long as you can ignore politics and focus on what it is we do have.
A warm bed in our own home, clean running water, and electricity so that we can blog!
I can’t worry about tomorrow, because it would take away from today.
I do know what you are saying and have even received help to pay for my hospital bills. It’s crazy because individuals have heart especially in crisis but when it comes to setting up things like access to healthcare Americans care only about themselves. Americans lose their heart the moment taxes are mentioned.
It’s also hard to see the heart in a country that allows this:
Study Links 45,000 Deaths Per Year To Lack Of Health Insurance
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/17/study-links-45000-deaths_n_290852.html
I appreciate everything I do have in life. I even appreciate I can go to the hospital and get care when I wait until I’m deathly ill like last time but at what cost. I’ve already drained my 401k twice and if they go after my townhome for hospital bills all I can do is declare bankruptcy.
Thanks for the positive reminder! I spent my time watching Sherlock Holmes, Poirot is one of my all time favorites, I’m a total mystery freak! Maybe I better get to the library and check some out. I may need a marathon of trivia watching to calm myself!!
Lively up yourself is one of my favorite Bob Marley quotes and this one that I think you posted further down the page. I’m definitely adding it to my favorite quote folder
Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can
No we are the biggest mystery fans ever. In fact we listen to Sherlock Holmes radio shows and old time radio mysteries many times when we go to sleep at night and in the morning on Live365.
Don’t forget “Jonathan Creek”, “Inspector Morse”, “Inspector Lewis” and “Midsummer Mysteries”.
K, have you ever watched “Rosemary and Thyme” a British series about two landscape gardeners who are amateur sleuths, who solve murders around the various homes and gardens they are working on?
I used to love that and John Thaw in “Inspector Morse.” All that came to an end when we bought a digital TV last February and I found out that I had lost more than 10 of my regular cable channels and would have to pay for each one separately if I wanted to watch any of them.
I’m at a loss without them but refuse to be bamboozled by cable companies trying to steal more money from my pocket.
I missed that one.
“Inspector Lewis” with Inspector Morse’s sidekick is better than I thought is would be. John Thaw was phenomenal but Kevin Whately does a great job. I love that the show takes place in Cambridge with all the old English charm.
Shhhh… but I usually end up downloading them and burning them.
Ahem…Oxford, not Cambridge!
😳 I always get them confused as a bloody Yankee.
My favorite is Foyle’s War. Also don’t forget Cadfael. I’m a complete English mystery addict.
That’s right I almost forgot about “Foyle’s War” and “Cadfael”. I love the historical aspect of those series so much and I love watching Derek Jacobi and Michael Kitchen act.
“George Gently” is good too with Martin Shaw.
Don’t forget “Lord Peter Whimsey”, “Miss Marple” with Geraldine McEwan or Joan Hickson.
“Lovejoy” was just OK and I was never a big fan of “A Touch of Frost” or “Cracker” though.
A fun mystery series is “New Tricks” with a great cast.
Never heard of George Gently or New Tricks. Will check them out. I’ve seen all the others too many times. For some reason they are like comfort food to me. I wouldn’t want to speculate why MURDER mysteries are comforting!
All I can say KQ is …I feel ya!
” All Americans care about is no new taxes and no new government. ”
This was always an oxymoron to me in arguments with so-called Progressives bleating on about the public option or single-payer. Living in the UK, I know a bit about healthcare insurance controlled by the government. Those on HuffPo who are bleating the loudest for the PO or single-payer, are also wailing about taxes being raised under their perceived ineffectual plan that Congress was about to pass.
News flash: If you get universal health coverage, your taxes will go up. No shit, Sherlocks, how the hell do you think this is paid for. I’ve been called allsorts for that – Obamabot, liar etc. But it’s true. Europeans pay exhorbitantly high taxes compared to Americans. Americans’ median tax is 28%; in Europe it’s between 36-44%; and incomes are significantly lower too. Yet I had someone snarkily point out to me today how ‘lucky’ I was to live in England, because things were going to get worse in the States. Typical ignorant assumption. If they only KNEW …
Marion,
I hear the angst in your post. And you are correct about the Progressive’s brain ‘sharts’ regarding taxes and full on Single Payer HC.
During the election here, I heard SO many people state that they’d be just fine with paying more in taxes if that meant universal HC would be borne out. Well, that faded. However, what seems to tickle my WTF bone is the straight up, rock solid fact that our taxes ALWAYS GO UP with every Administration! Oh and ask anyone that isn’t batshit crazy if our Tax System isn’t as whack (is this urban street term still relevant in the Negro community? Mr. Reid is curious) as our HC industry! So, go figure.
I have yet to uncover, report on or smell signs of ANY Federal program, organization, committee, watch-dog group, think tank, research project, quorum, fellowship group on C Street, military endeavor or any gathering of more than one-half of one living human being in our government that is not currently corrupt and basically evil on some, many or most levels.
Let me ask this: How does a people cleanse itself of all of this evil? I would love to start a committee to research this….
I wish I could answer your question.
I think both chambers actually did a fine job figuring it how to pay for it. One way taxed the people that were getting all the tax breaks and the other way taxed the healthcare insurance premiums that were driving up costs. That with the cutbacks in Medicare and Medicaid that are inevitable anyway was a great way to pay for it.
Dems should have just been like the fiscally responsible GOP and just not even try to pay for it I guess.
The new mantra against mandates is maddening. While I understand that forcing you to pay for private insurance is a hard pill to swallow the concept of mandates is pretty simple. Everyone pays into a system to spread risks so people benefit what comes out without paying premiums they can’t afford. They say healthcare is a right thinking it’s free when it’s a right yes but also a shared responsibility. Whether you pay more taxes or premiums you are paying for other people’s care.
The point is it’s pure conservative logic that they want to be able to game the system and you are on your own.
To paraphrase Joseph Stieglitz this morning on NPR about bank profits: They go to the feds discount window and practically get no interest money and lend it out at 30% interest on credit cards….. How hard is that to make a profit?
Like shooting ducks in a barrel, b’ito!
(As you may have gathered I’m on-call. Good to see you.)
How do you get so much research done online and listen to NPR, too? You multi-tasker, you! I’m envious.
I don’t think it will help Main Street, KQ – at least, not in the short term. In the long term, it is essential to separate the investing (gambling) activities from commercial/retail banking. Is this what the Glass/Steagel Act was all about? In Canada we had what was called the 4 pillars of finance: Banks, Insurance, Trust/Credit Unions and Brokerage. About the time Glass/Steagel was repealed (or shortly thereafter) our Banks started making noises to tumble those pillars down – and they succeeded; they now have insurance companies, they bought out brokerage houses and trust companies. The one thing they were NOT allowed to do was to reduce their Capital ratio – although there had been a lot of rumbling to loosen up the banking requirements for that; those rumblings stopped very abruptly when the whole rotten house of cards collapsed! Anything the American government can do to limit both the risks that can be taken and the exposure to the national economy in the future is a good thing – even if it doesn’t help Main Street or create jobs, jobs, jobs right now.
OT – I’m so sad that HCR looks to be dying before it was born. Folks just don’t seem to be able to get it through their heads that your private health care system is sucking money and jobs right out of your economy – to say nothing of the personal hell people like you will go through if HCR dies.
All the fixes do nothing but sustain the financial system we have.
Investing in the future to create a sustainable economy is over after the HCR defeat.
The general trends of losing manufacturing job, having a dumber and dumber electorate and stagnant wages will not change.
I can’t argue with your statement KQ – although I do so hate to hear to pessimism in your ‘voice’.
Globalism has a lot to answer for in terms of sustainable economies and job creation (unless one accepts the thesis of competing with labour that earns 50 cents a day if they’re lucky).
Chin up as my Mum used to say!
I agree and again the way we are handling globalization is upside down. The way industrialize Europe handed it is much better. Just worry about steady sustained growth instead of just maximizing short term profits. And when a crisis did come along most of Europe, especially the people did not have their lives as negatively affected as Americans did because they have a viable safety net. While American companies cut more jobs and outsource more jobs the spiral continues. They just don’t seem to have a clue the people they are firing are their own customers too.
Watch for news either this year or next – those social safety nets have been creaking for years (I can only speak with any authority on what is happening in Canada). We (Canada) have balanced our government budgets for years and were actually beginning to pay down our debt to foreign nations. The stupid conservative government came in and, true to form, started giving tax breaks to everybody and their mother. Along comes this ‘recession’ and we’re now in the hole for billions – and the talk has already started about cutting back, pulling in our belts and balancing the budget. Hells bells – the last time we did that our health system got royally screwed – there is no more fat in the system! And thanks to NAFTA (it’s as unpopular up here as it is down there) the minute a private company is allowed to be part of the health care system, the gates are opened and can never be shut again.
Sorry – this seems to be my day for ranting – this is the third one for me today.
Anyway – the social safety nets in Europe and Canada ARE in danger even if they’re kind of coping right now.
I’m a big hockey fan and I see those Canadian government commercials up there on Canadian TV about people getting their tax cuts. It does give the impression if conservatives stay in power you guys are in the same boat. Yes they’ve had to make adjustments to the safety nets in Europe as well because the 800 lb gorillas in the room are developing countries that take the manufacturing jobs for us all, especially Mexico, India and China.
But still the price tag for a GM car made in the US compared to a GM care made in Canada is about $3000-4000US more because of healthcare costs.
OH!
That was one of my New Year’s resolutions, was to get back into hockey!!!
I’m from Detroit and a huge Redwings fan, but when moving to the desert of Arizona, come on.
Yeah, we have the Coyotes, and I think they were in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but Detroit beat them!!!
I’ll always be a Redwing fan, and sadly, even though I root for the Cards, I’m still a Lion’s fan!
LMAO
Being from NJ I’m a big Devils fan and support the local Atlanta team as well. One of the few pleasures I grant myself is getting center ice so I can watch hockey.
800 lb gorilla 🙂 . Do you know what frosts me – those cars made in Canada, costing 3-4 grand less than those made in the US, still cost us up here a considerable amount more than the same car sold in the States. Do you think, somehow, somebody somewhere is getting the shaft. But I do agree that, economically, those countries with socialized medicine are far more competitive than the US – except of course those countries with slave wages!
They probably game the system on both sides.
In the US they take advantage of the cheaper manufacturing costs to export making more profit than US plants. In Canada they raise prices because they send so much volume to the US.
I remember when a paper mill near Houston TX closed down and they said it was because of energy cost, specifically electricity. But I said electricity should be cheap as hell because their ports receiver and refine all the fuels power plants use. Still they had some of the highest electricity costs in the country.
“Anyway
I really should follow the news from the UK more closely; I was born and raised there and my sister and brother still live there. Every time I speak to my sis and she talks politics I can’t follow her for more than 5 minutes! She cannot stand Brown – but she’s a Thatcherite (I love her in spite of this defect 🙂 )so that’s not surprising. So many Conservatives pay lip service to ‘our wonderful public health system’ and then go on to savagely gut it in the name of so-called streamlining and efficiency (govspeak for finding the money somewhere to give yet another tax break – grrrr).
Whatever the critics say about the NHS, it still works for most people, warts and all.
The Tories will trash the economy even further, that is all they are any good at. Most of the people who will vote for them are either too young to remember their balls ups of before or have short memories.
To me it looks like the president is using the bully pulpit to prepare Americans for what comes next and to reassure an increasing disaffected public that he is actually on our side.
We really won’t know what this means until we get a look at whatever legislation is drafted by congress.
I’m not giving up on health care yet. Everything I read suggests that congress is going to get this done one way or another.
Dems got a one-two punch this week. If this doesn’t get them of their a$$es, nothing will.
nellie says:
Yikes!
Don’t give up hope, KQ!
There will be HCR, and unfortunately, it will be a smaller reform, but people without insurance will be helped and I truly believe that people with pre-existing conditions – that the insurance companies will not be able to deny coverage.
I sort of disagree with the blame-game in the way things played out regarding HCR.
I think the public is much more aware now of the greedy insurance companies and the stories about people who are dropped when they get sick or cannot purchase insurance due to pre-existing conditions.
And everyone’s angry about the cost of medicines and that we cannot go to Canada for cheaper drugs.
I never realized until the HCR debate about the greed of insurance companies and that it was as dark and bad as it is.
People are not only angry with the banks and corporations, but they are angry with the health insurance companies, too.
And people are very angry with our elected officials, and not so much Obama, but Congress.
And that is who we should be royally pissed off at.
I cannot explain my opinion correctly, but I think the entire HCR debate helped this nation.
Even the pared down bill will be a beginning.
People are waking up, KQ, and even the teabaggers are angry with the GOP.
Have a little faith and never give up hope.
Change takes time, but we are on the road to change because people are finally waking up and realizing that it’s both parties screwing us all.
It’s hard to have hope with HCR at this point. The Senate Bill was about the minimum that would really help me. The prospect of buying insurance at market rates with limited if any subsidies leaves me in the lurch still. The Democrats should have gotten it done when they had the votes and there are too many people to blame to mention right now.
All the populist stuff is a bunch of crap that really won’t help people in the long run. Banks are never going to be bastions of progressive causes. There were always just a necessary evil and this really changes nothing but Huffy’s profits.
Wait a bit longer to see what passes before giving up hope, okay?
I have to believe that even our elected officials didn’t know how badly so many Americans struggle without health care.
Hopefully, this was a wake-up for them, too.
Gosh, that all sounded so trite, didn’t it?
I know from reading your health issues and b’itos that you cannot wait.
I wish so much that there was a way that I could help you both.
I just don’t know what to do.
I hate this entire thing.
The brother closest to me in age is gay and his partner is in the same boat.
His partner has Type 1 diabetes and it would take too long to explain all of his health issues, but he at least is on Medicare now, instead of Medicaid.
He’s younger than I am, but somehow he got on Medicare and finally collects disability.
He needs a kidney transplant, and right now, he is doing dialysis, plus he’s nearly blind and his organs are shutting down and it’s all so horribly sad.
And even though the state they live does not recognize gay marriage or partners, when it comes to the IRS and disability and whatever else, they include my brother’s meager income as though they were a married couple.
We are all so screwed, but I try not to admit that too often.
Can a Prez get a second “First 100 Days”?
Get ready for First 100 Days Part Deux…
100 2.0