The true Republican agenda...Obama must fail!

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Forums > All Posts > The true Republican agenda...Obama must fail!

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2011-06-27 07:34 AM

Schmidt
Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 1058

We've discussed this topic before in many postings. The Republicans want Obama to fail...they want the economy to limp along...they oppose any jobs bills or bills that help small businesses. They want high unemployment. They oppose anything that might make Obama look good. Their number 1 goal is to make Obama a one term president...the country be damned.

Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast has a good article: The GOP versus Democracy that addresses this point.

Tomasky asserts: "It’s about time the Democrats started saying openly what has been clear for months or even years now—that as long as economic recovery would work to the political benefit of Barack Obama, the Republicans have been, are, and will be in favor of sabotaging the economy."

"There’s nothing vague about it. It’s crystal clear. We can’t do these things because of the extreme nature of the Republican Party and the right-wing noise machine that enforces such rigid ideological purity. Period and end of story."

Actually, the GOP collective is now disfunctional. It cannot compromise on raising taxes for the rich. They have boxed themselves in a corner and will be happy to take the country down, rather than raise the debt ceiling at the expense of raising taxes for millionaires.

However, the one area in which they are not disfunctional is their massive propaganda machine...from Fox News to Rush Limbaugh to right wing talk radio and Christian talk radio. They manipulate the media with lies and misinformation...and the public listens...and doubts Obama.

If Obama is a one term President it is not because of his earnest sincere attempts to help middle class Americans. It's because the Republicans have selfishly put party first and manipulated public opinion into thinking otherwise. They have insisted on party purity...an obedient collective that knows how to use "fear" to their advantage, and is void of critical thinking or bipartisanship. It is UnAmerican.

My views...as usual open to debate...

2011-06-28 04:38 PM

CARLITOS BAM-BAM
Dallas, TX
Posts: 897

Well Schmidt.....I agree with everything in your post; but I would add something that is not in it.

Obama is a New Democrat/liberal-centrist. He taught at the University of Chicago....which is known for its neoliberal economics department. He's as close to being a Rockefeller Republican as any Democrat can be.
And his administration has overseen one of the largest wealth transfers from poor to the rich that this nation has ever seen.

Leninist fatalism (a belief that things must get worst before they get any better) is obviously producing electoral leakage from the progressive-left.
Another presidential election holding-action is a very hard sell to those who simply have already had more than they can take of the politics of more bullshit. The shit just keeps getting shoved down their mouths, and they simply refuse to swallow more.
Lately, we've seen an all-out counterattack by pro-Obama democrats in the wake of the growing harrassment by those in the Chris Hedges camp. Everywhere you look to read now there's ralling cries for Democrat unity (I've written a few of them in the past myself).
But lately, I can't help but feel that we're just going through the motions, and that we are already doomed. I'll do my duty, yes, and cast a vote for Obama, maybe campaign a little for him; but deep down, I know that the Big Darkness has taken the hope out of me.

"The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences."
— Winston S. Churchill

Greed is destroying this country and much of the damage will be permanent. We are nearing the Edge. And there's all but little over a month before the shit could hit the fan. America the Beautiful no more, now only the cold and the depraved.

I stand in debt to those in better spirits, like yourself, who keep up the good fight in swing states in 2012.

2011-06-28 11:00 PM

Schmidt
Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 1058

Thanks Kaboom. For those that might have missed it, Rachel Maddow addressed my concerns in her June 27th segment. She points out how legislation that at one time was favored or sponsored by Republicans became just the opposite once Obama says he was for it...and Republicans can turn on a dime against something they were once for. Rachel provides example after example of the anti-Obama agenda. Her show is worth watching...preaching to the choir for me.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#43556754

You are right about the "Chris Hedges camp." I've been an advocate for Chris Hedges and have bought and read a few of his books. But what Hedges and many on the left don't fully appreciate is that many of Obama's campaign promises that have not been fulfilled are not a result of Obama going back on his "promises," but rather dealing with the new reality that Republicans have an alternative agenda that is not pro-American but rather anti-Obama. When their stated No. 1 priority is to make Obama a one term president, everything else makes sense. Nothing matters to them except that goal. That's why they have used the filibuster as no other Senate has done in history. Not only that, but also all the other arcane Senate rules they use to block anything Obama wants.

Now we are revisiting the Dream Act. Many on the left have criticized Obama for not getting the Dream Act approved. But they totally ignore how back in Septemebr 2010 Senate Republicans blocked the Dream Act with the filibuster...56-43 with 60 votes needed to approve. The Republican minority was again successful. And the left dutifully blames Obama for not fulfilling a "campaign promise?" Sheesh!

I believe that Obama has true liberal beliefs...but even more he is a pragmatist that can count the votes. Should he be doing even more behind the scenes to twist arms for a compromise on issues? Perhaps. But it seems that even a compromise that he reaches is now viewed as a defeat by the left if he makes any concessions at all...it's viewed as a weakness instead of leadership. The mainstream media in turn is knocking Obama for being "too compromising." Well it depends on what cards you are holding.

Without "compromise,"...that dirty word that liberals hate, we would be left with an impasse...a north going Zax against a south going Zax to borrow from Dr. Seuss. Sometimes we should go back and relearn childhood lessons.

2011-06-29 08:43 PM

paul T.
Colchester, VT
Posts: 31

Come on people...let's be real...Didn't the Democrats do the smae thing to BUSH when he was president...the straight truth is that neither party wants the other party to succeed....The Dems for 8 years did all they could to have Bush fail...and NOW you complain when the Repubs do the same thing...How many Dems railed against the Surge in Iraq, yet when Obama did his Surge in Afghanistan they were all for it...LIFE IS ALL POLITICAL...Both parties wish to sabatoge the other...the problem for you all is that when the Dems do it then it is okay... but when the Repubs do it then it is wrong....tell me what did the Dems do to improve the economy under Bush...the economy is worse...and you can't blame Bush because Obama has had three years and nothing has improved....our Deficits are higher and larger....even Obama said that there were no "shovel ready Jobs"...so get off the high horse...you want to improve the economy...it's the same thing as running a home...YOU CANNOTSPEND MONEY YOU DON'T HAVE...every bankruptcy Lawyer/advisor will tell you this...you cannot borrow money continually and improve your life...the BILLS HAVE FINALLY COME DUE FROM OUR POLITICAIANS IN BOTH PARTIES...NOW WE TRUELY HAVE TO TIGHTEN THE BELT...IT WILL BE ROUGH BUT WE WILL BE STRONGER FOR IT...
My wife and I were on the brink 5 years ago...$200K mortgage,...$50K indebt...and I was only making $35K a year...
WE HAD TO CUT EVERYTHING FOR US AND OUR 4 KIDS...NO extras, no vacations, grew some of our own food...coupon shopping galore...if we didn't have the money then we didn't get it...
Today, yes we still have a large mortgage, but it is manageable now...more important...WE OWE NOTHING TO ANYONE...we pay cash for everything...no credit cards...it was hard, but now worth it...going on ourfirst vacation in 5 years PIF to Disney for 10 days...
I know I got off track a bit, BUT THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO AS A COUNTRY, IT IS WHAT WE NEED OUR POLITICIANS TO DO NOW for ourcountry...we cannot be everythingfor everyone...don't even get on me about raising taxes...that is a job killer...think about it this way...If delivery food pizza goes up, then you buy less pizza less frequently...when gas prices go up, you drive less trips....when taxes go up, prices go up and people buy less...companies make less and let go workers...do you see the trend...
WECANNOT TAX OURSELF OUT OF THIS MESS...
LAST POINT,
there are roughly 1 million people who make over $250K a year....let's say for the sake of argument that you can get $1 million from each of them in taxes ( not possible, but just for the math) $1 million times 1 million people equals $1 trillion....If we currently have deficits over $1.5 trillion.....less $1 trillion from new taxes....still leaves a deficit of $500 billion dollars....CAN ANYONE SEE THE MATH...so don't go railing against the Repubs for doing what the Dems did to Bush...the real enemy is both parties...at least the repubs are trying to stop the deficits from growing....remember, Obama is talking about saving $500 billion over the next 10 years...even if he does...our deficitswill still go up over $14 trillion ($14,000,000,000,000)

2011-06-30 12:01 AM

CARLITOS BAM-BAM
Dallas, TX
Posts: 897

Well paul t., I tend to agree with you on a basic point: there's partisanship on both sides of the aisle that is very bad for country.

But I am one of those people who opposed the surge in Iraq and supported the surge in Afghanistan. And I can tell you, good sir, there's not an ounce of partisanship influencing my strategic thinking. The Politics ends at Waters Edge. I call it like I see it.

You have got to remember that the surge occurred in the middle of the Status of Forces Agreement debate, and like many liberal internationalists, I thought the Bush Administration was pushing things too far, making it impossible for the Iraqi government to forge a consensus. When Bush finally relented on time-tables for withdrawal, the Iraqi government was able to bring the Al-Sadr people into the fold, and to get the Militia to lay down their arms. Meanwhile, the "Sunni Awakening Movement" drew down the Sunni resistance. President Obama's candidacy gave the Iraqis reason to hold-out for a deal they could actually sell to their people, forcing Bush into compromising on time-tables.

So when the Iraq Surge reached its peak in Dec 2007, US forces faced a drastically altered landscape, where Mutqutada al Sadr's militia was off the streets, and the Sunnis were being paid to lay down their arms.
Meanwhile, we broke the back of the Army by pushing deployments further (even while troop suicides rose to an all-time high) and pulled resources out of Afghanistan while the Taliban were counterattacking. We let the whole Afghan war go to shit for nothing.

I supported the surge, because I supported the Patreus-McChrystal nation-building consensus. McChrystal turned out to be a George McClellan. With his dismissal, Patreus ramped things up a bit, and our troops delivered marvelous battlefield gains. Kandahar and Helmund provinces were reclaimed. And the Afghans actually started taking the lead. Our servicemen and women have saved this nation from a mega-disaster. They deserve more from us.

2011-06-30 05:14 AM

GSlackeaux
BATON ROUGE, LA
Posts: 1

It is now clear that corporate employee layoffs and lack of company expansion were devised for the precise purpose of damaging the national workforce and economy - so as to ruin the democrat image and President Obama's reelection chances. If it harms the country, so be it - if it advances the "good" of the Republican cause. Unemployment has been deliberately created.
     Many of us recall the startling figures last year, showing that corporate profits were at their highest percentages in 60 years.   Thus it is now clear that what we are seeing is the Republican/ corporates' purposeful betrayal of the American people for political gain.
      One of Reagan's maxims was "never criticize a fellow Republican." The new corollary is "never give a Democrat an even break." It's the current version of "all's fair in love and war." Republicans clearly believe that no amount of lying, betrayal and sabotoge should be avoided in the evil goal of defeating the democrats..
    Yes, it IS a conspiracy.   Has there ever been a more insidious betrayal of the American people?

2011-06-30 04:15 PM

CARLITOS BAM-BAM
Dallas, TX
Posts: 897

It is quite convienent for Republicans that the collapse of the entire global financial system turned out to be the October Surprise of the 2008 Campaign. If it is any more than concidental, it is surely one hell of a way to throw in the towel and to live to fight another day.

The rebranding of the Republican Party started with the House Republican revolt on TARP, which was quelled by the Republican moderates who would soon be out of office. After the election, this anti-TARP conservative WAVE movement converged with the Ron Paul movement and Palin supporters to form the radical tea parties (Nov 2008-Nov 2010 --aka "The Big Storm").
With the Republican tea party gaining control of the House and State governments in the 2010 midterms, we began a new period of "The Big Darkness."
And the sky has been falling since on everything from the recovery to the environment and civil liberties. America the Beautiful? No more. Now, only the cold and depraved.

Everything is fucked up. Get Ready for Worse.

We need to raise taxes on the rich, cut taxes on the poor and middle class, and increase government expenditures on the most vulnerable.
And for goddsakes, we need to spend more on education, and more on child-welfare.

Unemployment and education is the problem. Not government's ability to spend. The future depends upon robotics not surpluses.
And we need a goddamn national energy policy. It's simply absurd that we still don't have a national grid, or a smart grid for delivering green energy.

It's enough to make me want to pack up and move south of the border to live with the Zapatista Rebels! Viva EZLN! You are the last and best hope for mankind!

This is for the "People of the Sun"- RAGE

2011-07-17 02:10 PM

2b4me
Centennial, CO
Posts: 1

So you think I'm a racist? Just because I don't agree with your ideologies? I'm Asian and I don't think that BHO has done very much in the way of policies? But have perfected his golf game.

2011-07-17 05:09 PM

Schmidt
Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 1058

2b4me...I don't know what you're talking about. No one here said anything about racism...unless you're referring to Glenn Beck in another forum post. Or you have us confused with another website.

And as far as Obama accomplishments go, this website has an impressive list here: http://www.democratichub.com/obama-administration-accomplishments.aspx

Those accomplishments are for 2009 and 2010. Now I'll be the first to admit that 2011 hasn't been a good year for legislation as the House Republican majority is not interested in job creation, but rather getting on with their social issues like defunding Planned Parenthood or worrying about the debt ceiling when they never worried about it before.

The Nancy Pelosi House was the most successful in history. The John Boehner House will go down in history as having accomplished the least.

And golf? If that's all you know about what Obama has accomplished, you must be drinking the Rupert Murdoch kool-aid on Fox News. Obama has probably found that that's the only way to get Boehner's attention since he spends so much time on the golf course...beautiful tan to prove it.

2011-07-17 05:12 PM

CARLITOS BAM-BAM
Dallas, TX
Posts: 897

What?
Where did this come from?

Disagreeing with Obama's policies does not make one a racist. Waving around monkey dolls with rope tied around their neck, as a form of protest, or making derogatory comments about Obama's "blackness," or using racial epithets towards the President.....I consider that racist.

And there is no question that there is a widening association between far-right White Supremacist organizations and the modern Republican Party (part of the Dark Irony of our History: Lincoln's party taken over by Southerners).

I may not like Obama's economic policies, but the Republicans offer far worse. And even with Obama's perpetuation of Bush era national security state expansion, I vote for Democrats for the sake of Civil Liberties alone. I'm white but my neices and nephews are half-hispanic. Laws like Arizona's SB 1070/HR 2162 are an attack on my family. They're a perversion of law....too expensive to implement even if they are constitutional.

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