Displaying 19,291 To 19,320 Of 19,504 Comments What the president and congress have accomplished so far To compliment your list (and dovetail with it since some of the items you list are here too), here is a list from PoliFact of campaign promises documented as already kept by Pres. Obama: No. 15: Create a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners At that site you can also see the status of most other campaign promises Pres. Obama made. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/ Compared to George “America Should Not Be In The Business of Nation Building” and “I’m going to return decency and honor to the White House” Bush, I’d say Pres. Obama is doing pretty damn good so far. He’s made a strategic mistake by staying so far detached from the Health Care bill and putting bipartisanship ahead of principle but I think he gets it now. If he delivers the knockout speech he needs to on Health Care and gets it passed with a strong public option, Dems will be re-energized about Obama again, his ratings will climb and we can finally focus on all the other important issues that have taken a backseat until Health Care reform is passed. » Posted By AdLib On September 6, 2009 @ 11:17 am Lulu, thanks so much for this reminder of who we were and how we felt when we were working and hoping for Obama to become our next president. Whatever our criticisms, it is important to have perspective, to remember life in George Bush’s America. Would there be ANY possibility for Health Care Reform under Bush? Or tax credits and spending targeted towards reducing our dependency on oil and retaining and building up jobs? Can any of us seriously imagine what hell we would be living in right now under an anti-stimulus, anti-health care reform, pro-wealthy President McCain (or President Palin)? It seems clear that Pres. Obama miscalculated. He thought there was some sanity in the GOP and that his generosity and respect could overcome their lockstep opposition and their attempts to undermine his policies and presidency. He was mistaken and I think he is finally accepting that. I expect his speech to Congress to be his JFK-Moon speech. This is the most important issue of his presidency and its effect will echo throughout American history…as long as he stands strong for the key protections for Americans and insists on a public plan. Otherwise, a mediocre, compromised bill will likely be more harmful to him and the Dems than losing on a bill that is trying to do what needs to be done. We still do have hope. Change can indeed still happen with health care, let’s not call the game before its come to the end. Hang in there fellow Progressives, I think it will happen now because it must happen now. » Posted By AdLib On September 5, 2009 @ 3:11 pm You hit the bulls-eye, VegasBabe! My contention is that the Civil War never truly ended, it just became a Cold Civil War. When Reconstruction failed, it was in fact an acknowledgment that the war wasn’t really over, it just wouldn’t be fought on a battlefield. Rampant racism and wild eyed fear and hatred continues to come from the same white people who used immigration as a way of hating Latinos and minorities and Welfare and Affirmative Action as a reason for hating black people (and other minorities). Racism remains entrenched in especially the rural and southern areas of this nation. It is what under-educated people who feel somewhat helpless to live the life they had wanted can veer towards. They may be ignorant, they may make a lower than average income, they may lead an unsatisfying and unrealized life…but at least they’re white and that makes them better than others. And a black man rubbing in their faces that he can be president while these poor, ignorant white people are barely muddling through life…it takes away the one delusion they clung to along with their guns and bibles. That being white and a Christian made them superior (though wonder what Christ would have said about hating the meek). Obama’s presidency tells them that they are NOT superior to black people just because they’re white…that some black people may be superior to them because they overcame difficult childhoods and became successful and powerful…even President of the United States. Now what are these frustrated, ignorant, hateful, white people if being white doesn’t make them superior? What are they now that they have to face being judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin? They are losers who now feel inferior due to a damaged delusion. So they boil with blind rage at “the government” and the black president who have forced them to look honestly in the mirror. Their numbers are dwindling as the new generations come up and their older generations die out. There will always be the ignorant and the prejudiced but they will not be a majority in this country or decide elections ever again. » Posted By AdLib On September 5, 2009 @ 10:38 pm Out of those three, the one that terrifies the GOP and corporations the most? Education reform. The more informed and educated the voter, the more moderate to liberal they are. Statistics have shown that white people with just a high school education or less are more likely to vote Republican. And against their own interests. Educate those people and how does a “they want to kill your granny” campaign ever convince people not to support paying less for quality health care? Or getting it if they can’t afford it? » Posted By AdLib On September 5, 2009 @ 10:19 pm The whole Christian thing for Republicans is now such a transparent political ploy. The Southern Strategy began with Nixon and that required feigning devout Christian beliefs to reel in the suckers. Now it has backfired, the “suckers” own such a big stake in the GOP that they now dictate a lot to the GOP. Yet, we’ve seen how the most religious on the right are repeatedly exposed for being corrupt and violating their alleged beliefs. Making the deal they did with Right Wing Christians to secure voting blocks in the south was in fact a deal with the devil. The GOP is so extreme that no matter how weak the Dems are for some time, the GOP will have a very hard time winning national elections with the extremists their primaries will produce. » Posted By AdLib On September 5, 2009 @ 10:15 pm Cheers LuluMay and back at ya! My understanding as to why Bush kept reading “My Pet Goat” instead of leaping into action when 9/11 hit is that he was completely bewildered and kept arguing with an aide, “Is this really MY pet goat? I didn’t know I had one. Why doesn’t anyone tell me these things?” Republican outrage only comes in one flavor and it’s an artificial flavor. » Posted By AdLib On September 5, 2009 @ 1:20 pm Hillary Rodham Clinton as SOS: The Good, The Bad and The Bluto Hey Suzy! » Posted By AdLib On September 4, 2009 @ 2:53 am Sharonh, nice to see you around! Guess I don’t really need to tell you not to be shy about expressing yourself around here…heh! » Posted By AdLib On September 4, 2009 @ 2:42 am VegasBabe, this site is indeed intended to be a place where we can all honestly express our own POVs without a second thought, I’m very pleased you see it that way and I guarantee you and everyone else here, that’s the way it’s going to stay. » Posted By AdLib On September 4, 2009 @ 2:40 am As you point out, there is an important difference between endorsing prejudice and recognizing that prejudice exists more acutely in some cultures. In Asian and Arab/Persian cultures, women are often viewed as second class citizens. Recognizing that is of course not condoning it. As offensive as we find it, I too think wack leaders like Kim Jong Il are more likely to see meeting with a powerful woman as difficult. So, I agree, considering the bullshit prejudice of some out there in the world, a man as SoS could have an easier time than a woman being effective. Still, we can’t allow others’ prejudices dictate how we make decisions. We just need to be realistic about the way some parts of the world really are even if it goes against what we know to be true when it comes to equality. » Posted By AdLib On September 4, 2009 @ 1:45 am KQ, thanks as always for your honest and fearless POV! I don’t agree completely in this case, I think the problems in the military and their behavior are endemic. We can all agree that Hillary hasn’t done anything to encourage such behavior. It is instead consistent with the abuses in Iraq within the military, of course including Abu Ghraib. It is an ugly part of the current military culture which still hasn’t changed substantially since Bush left office. You have religious dogma merged with our military training them that non-Christians are inferior, there is a lot of chauvinism and even rapes of female soldiers that goes unspoken. The military has bred the troops to be who they are. Yes, strict oversight by the SOS’ office could help to limit such behavior but we need a huge reform in the way the military operates. There are many soldiers who are compassionate, principled human beings and would never participate in such things. Still, far too many are led or allowed to walk down this nasty path and that needs to come to an end. BTW, I am not a huge Hillary fan. She, Bill and the rest of the DLC are happy to be just a small step away from most Republican views, remember Bill Clinton’s phrase “triangulation” to describe how he co-opted Republican issues from them? I felt that Hillary and Bill really crossed the line during the primary period. However, when they came together to support Obama at the Convention and they campaigned for him, I put aside my resentment as they had about Obama. I do think John Kerry would have made a stronger SoS, he is more of a diplomat. However, as you say, much of the team she has brought in appear to be making positive impacts. Again, this behavior in Afghanistan is reflective of the Bush years, a huge ocean liner takes a long time to turn around, it’s going to take time to correct course on how our military has been brought along. I hope this incident impresses on Hillary and Obama the importance of reforming the military. » Posted By AdLib On September 4, 2009 @ 1:34 am All Wired Up and Nowhere To Go I’ve watched “The Corporation” several times, including times I showed it to friends. As I mentioned in a comment above, there is money to be made off of catering to progressives and a corporation need not share their sensibilities to exploit them. GE is essentially a war criminal as a “person”. Yet, they have no loyalties greater than quarterly profit reports so they are happy to be prostitutes and tell us how wonderful we are as long as we leave the money on the night stand. » Posted By AdLib On September 4, 2009 @ 2:21 am I honestly can’t remember watching the network evening news but I know I did. I watched Dan Rather on CBS for years and often looked forward to 6:30pm to get the day’s top stories. That seems like another life ago. I remember watching Nightline early on too. I still watch 60 minutes though the puff pieces seem to be getting more plentiful. I also remember as nostalgia watching CNN for the news. Then migrating eventually to MSNBC. Even so, on a daily basis, surfing the web how I get my news now. The MSM has disqualified their legitimacy. The truth is out there. We’re Moulder and Scully now and our job each morning is to wake up and seek it out. » Posted By AdLib On September 4, 2009 @ 2:17 am Excellent comment! Now that the “WMD” MSM has failed us, we now have no choice but to be personally responsible for seeking the truth now. Just as we take personal responsibility for our daily lives, we have incorporated American Democracy as part of our daily lives too. It’s a shift in mindsets but really for the best. Americans needed in the past to look to the press to protect our democracy. Thanks to the internet, we no longer need to…which is a good thing because they are all, in one way or another, corporate tools, not tools of democracy. » Posted By AdLib On September 4, 2009 @ 2:10 am I wrote a few articles a while back exposing the hedge fund takeover of HuffPo and my perspective on the site just being about “clicks and dicks”…meaning, all that matters at HuffPo now is whipping up anger with misleading headlines and articles to get people clicking and visiting the site and keeping hostile trolls (some who seem on salary) to upset progressive bloggers so they will spend a lot of time on the site sparring with them. IMO, HuffPo is all about money now, how much can they generate for their hedge fund owners. They no longer are a genuine progressive site, they are a corporate business that wants to make money off of progressives, a big difference. I see no loyalty to progressive principles in their exploitative headlines nor their censorship and manipulation of bloggers. Still, there are people there, as there are at other blogs, that I like and it is worth occasional visits to see and chat with them. But as a site that has given such an anxious embrace of corporate sensibilities (kinda like Arianna flipping overnight from right wing ideologue to liberal crusader…almost like a mere opportunist…nah!), HuffPo now needs to be taken for the inauthentic site it is but tidbits here and there may still be worthwhile. I rarely go there but by doing so and being able to reconnect with friends like you (and invite them to come to a non-corporate, truly progressive site, he said modestly), it has its uses too. That’s just it, when it comes to HuffPo, I occasionally use it, I don’t allow it to use me. » Posted By AdLib On September 4, 2009 @ 2:03 am Obama to Joint Session of Congress Sept 9 Very true, bipartisanship is an admirable goal but it is not possible at this point in our nation’s history, things are too polarized and the Republican party is now the party of racists, fringe wackos and haters in general. You don’t get to reason through compromising with hatred, “Okay, we’ll hate and negatively impact poor people and Latinos a little, are you satisfied now?” Nope. You ram progress past those trying to prevent it and let them try to catch up down the line as they did for 30 years after FDR. » Posted By AdLib On September 3, 2009 @ 2:25 pm It’s officially Nellie Day on The Planet. Drinks are on her! » Posted By AdLib On September 3, 2009 @ 2:17 pm Absolutely. He needs to wrest the issue away from the loons and own it as Kennedy owned going to the moon. » Posted By AdLib On September 3, 2009 @ 10:40 am Nellie, great to see you! IMO, Pres. Obama’s main misstep has been pursuing bipartisanship as his priority over the best policy plans. It was admirable for him to try with the stimulus, he made substantial compromises that in the end hurt the stimulus and Americans in order to bring Repubs on board and didn’t get one Repub vote. Not to mention that he was dissed by all Repubs even those who got their compromises in the bill and received billions from the stimulus in their districts and states. Add to that the Repubs open admission that their goal is to make Obama and his policies fail, to “break” him. I think he should have politely changed course to do the best work for the people without regard for the destructive perspective of the Republicans. There is a strategy that by simply moving forward and in essence taking the Repubs’ power away, they may compromise to have a say and join in governing. It doesn’t seem to be working to negotiate with them when they are included in the process and believe they have power. So, I remain optimistic, that when he speaks to Congress he brings the fire of social justice and morality into this debate. I’m hoping he drives home that this is life and death to many and how many need to needlessly die over the next several years because of partisan politics or folding to the insurance industry. He needs to bring it big time and I am hoping he does. » Posted By AdLib On September 3, 2009 @ 9:56 am You can’t eat a whole pizza in one bite. With the Public Option in place, Single Payer will naturally take root. Try to bite off more than the skittish American public can chew and no change will happen….and we’re going hungry. » Posted By AdLib On September 2, 2009 @ 11:01 pm I don’t agree, he doesn’t need to push single payer, just a public option. Evolution will take care of turning Public Option into Single Payer. I don’t think a majority cares much about him demonstrating bipartisanship anymore. We get it, the Repubs have openly said they wan from him to fail and just want to block anything he supports to weaken him. Time for some Presidential sized balls, tell the nation that this needs to be done as a moral imperitive and a key to rescuing our nation from eternal 2nd class status in the world. Be tough Mr. Prez and we the people will do the rest. » Posted By AdLib On September 2, 2009 @ 10:52 pm Excellent analysis! There is a theme that runs through all of the items you mentioned and it is the dynamic between a passive and generally content-to-be-ignorant public and a deceitful government and its officials. Power does not want democracy, it sees an informed public and democracy as “a necessary evil”. They do whatever they can to subvert it and yet, in understandable spin, turn around and beat their chests about how much they love America and believe in what it stands for. America is the land of opportunity to them, the opportunity to take advantage of others that is. » Posted By AdLib On September 3, 2009 @ 2:32 pm Agreed on passing HC reform! ASAP and let it be all Dems because when it takes its place beside SS and Medicare, the Repubs will be in the wilderness for 30-40 years. As for the Repubs coming up with a competent candidate…er…why break precedent now? » Posted By AdLib On September 1, 2009 @ 11:23 pm The Republican “fears” are well founded in one respect, once the public option is created…and if the Dems want to keep Congress and the presidency it better be…there will be a gradual slide of the public towards favoring it, once they’re comfortable with it and see it doesn’t turn them into Communist Russians. Single payer needs to be gradual because of all the terror the Repubs inspire. I do think things in this country would get worse if we put a single payer system in any other way than gradually. But we must gravitate to it to survive economically in the world community. The only drag is that it means the jerks who oppose it will have children with full sets of teeth, making them harder to tell apart from rational people. » Posted By AdLib On September 1, 2009 @ 11:09 pm This story came out today too…again, as Rome burns… Senate Delays Climate Change Bill The Senate debate on climate change will be delayed until later this fall, given that two key players have said they will not even introduce their bill until late September. Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) said they would not introduce their legislation next week as they had planned. They attributed the delay to last week » Posted By AdLib On August 31, 2009 @ 7:54 pm Cheney Says Torture Investigation “Offends The Hell Out Of Me” My mouth is watering, as are my eyes. » Posted By AdLib On September 3, 2009 @ 12:08 am Static Cling Peaches. I think we’ve just invented a new alternative to the lint brush. And you can eat it when you’re done! Think of the fiber in each bite. » Posted By AdLib On September 2, 2009 @ 11:45 pm I was referring to my peaches. » Posted By AdLib On September 2, 2009 @ 11:32 pm Stop me before I cling again! » Posted By AdLib On September 2, 2009 @ 11:13 pm Aha! That was a bloggist thing to say. I’m going off to desperately cling to myself. » Posted By AdLib On September 2, 2009 @ 10:28 pmComments Posted By AdLib
No. 33: Establish a credit card bill of rights
No. 36: Expand loan programs for small businesses
No. 40: Extend and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch
No. 58: Expand eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
No. 76: Expand funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
No. 77: Increase funding to expand community based prevention programs
No. 88: Sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
No. 125: Direct military leaders to end war in Iraq
No. 134: Send two additional brigades to Afghanistan
No. 174: Give a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administration
No. 222: Grant Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
No. 224: Restore funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
No. 225: Establish an Energy Partnership for the Americas
No. 239: Release presidential records
No. 241: Require new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
No. 278: Remove more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires
No. 290: Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
No. 307: Create a White House Office on Urban Policy
No. 327: Support increased funding for the NEA
No. 332: Add another Space Shuttle flight
No. 334: Use the private sector to improve spaceflight
No. 345: Enhance earth mapping
No. 346: Appoint an assistant to the president for science and technology policy
No. 356: Establish special crime programs for the New Orleans area
No. 359: Rebuild schools in New Orleans
No. 371: Fund a major expansion of AmeriCorps
No. 391: Appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer
No. 411: Work to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
No. 421: Appoint an American Indian policy adviser
No. 427: Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees
No. 452: Weatherize 1 million homes per year
No. 458: Invest in all types of alternative energy
No. 459: Enact tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
No. 480: Support high-speed rail
No. 483: Invest in public transportation
No. 498: Provide grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
No. 503: Appoint at least one Republican to the cabinet
No. 507: Extend unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
No. 513: Reverse restrictions on stem cell research
By Emily Pierce
Roll Call Staff
Aug. 31, 2009, 5:18 p.m.
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