Mort Zuckerman: Obama Is Barely Treading Water

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http://politics.usnews.com/opinion/mzuckerman/articles/2010/07/02/mort-zuckerman-obama-is-barely-treading-water.html

"Republicans are benefiting not because they have a credible or popular program—they don't—but because they are not Democrats. In a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, nearly two thirds of those who favor Republican control of Congress say they are motivated primarily by opposition to Obama and Democratic policy. Disapproval of Congress is so widespread, a recent Gallup poll suggests, that by a margin of almost two to one, Americans would rather vote for a candidate with no experience than for an incumbent. Throw the bums out is the mood. How could this have happened so quickly?" (Mort Zuckerman)

I agree with Zuckerman, the Republicans are not winning, the democrats are losing. In my short time here at DU I have stated several times my opinion on this: WE NEED A PLAN!

Immigration: Let EVERYONE IN who can prove they can support themselves AND seal the border with the troops brought home from Afghanistan. This grows the economy, solves the housing crisis and protects us from criminal infiltrators.

Health: Medicare for everyone paid for by the tax on all employer benefits but we do it American style, that is, we do not limit the health care people want to buy separately. In addition we limit torts and other economic drags to medical care. This puts out the safety net, reduces costs and still allows for personal freedom.

Environment: End pie in the sky dreams of solar and wind and use what has proven to really work, nuclear. Nuclear is cost competitive now with coal and with only a little help we can switch AND BRING COSTS DOWN! Legal protection for nuclear combined with a $5 increase in tax at the pump (over time) will actually replace coal and encourage alternatives to petroleum. Cap and Trade is nothing but a power grab and everyone knows it. No one is fooled and it has not worked in places that it has been tried. Cap and Trade however is an excellent system for politicians to hand out favors (carbon credits)...

Education: Sorry to say this folks but the conservatives have this one right, vouchers. I have just put two children though schools and I am sorry to report that the teachers that I have met are very low quality. Some could barely speak english. The good teachers were more interested in getting ahead in the school system than in teaching. Vouchers work. The current system has failed. (I know that if I get any replies at all to this message I am going to get called names for this one but as a father and a citizen I care about education and we are NOT getting out money's worth).

Social Security: raise the retirement age, means test distribution, increase tax paying young immigrants, change society to allow those who can work, work.

Forget my ideas. What are your ideas? This is important because without a coherent plan that people can latch on to and understand, we democrats are not looking good.

So, what theme? what ideas? what plan? do you want the democrats to stand for in November 2010?

[OHdem10]

1. I am not being disresptectful to poster.--very good post.

Until the Democrats act like a political party--ie, stand for
something, have members on TV just as much Republicans do,
and for goodness sake push back against the Republicans,
it no longer matters what any plan is.

They left all airways open 24/7 for example during HCR.
The GOP had all the time in the world to smear and
attempt to destroy HCR, with very little or no push back
from Democrats. If nothing but lies are on Television
the people will therefore believe the lies.

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5. Frame the Message

Thank you for your reply OH Dem 10.

You are absolutely right, democrats must frame the message. People must see and hear a coherant strategy with a stated goal.

For instance, Obama started off by telling the public that HCR purpose was to save money (remember?), then he went on to say it was to save us all from losing our health care, then he went on to explain that expanding coverage would make it possible to cover pre-existing conditions... On and on and on. That was NOT a nice clear message with a clear strategy.

Here is a clear message: The USA is going to extend Medicare to everyone. This will not be cheap and will require us to charge taxes on all employer paid benefits. However, aside from the humane aspect of making sure that all americans get the needed medical care, it will end the disadvantage of american businesses who must pay for health care while their overseas competitors do not. Finally, because the vast majority of healthcare will be paid for by the government, we will limit torts to control costs.

[zipplewrath]

2. I'm afraid you can't really support your assertions

Vouchers have a very mixed result. The devil is definitely in the details, and ultimately they result in certain students getting "pushed aside".

Nuclear is a very complicated issue, and the other technologies are hardly "pie in the sky".

Social security merely needs to add a tax on capital gains and other high level compensation.

My ideas? Old as the hills. Strong labor laws. Strong civil rights. Less dependence upon military in our foreign policy.

And a public option woulda been nice.

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6. Less Dependence On Military

Thank you Zipplewrath for your reply.

Thank you also for sharing your ideas. I especially liked the one about less dependence on the military.

Nuclear has problems like anything else, but its biggest problem is the waste. Why was Yucca Mountain closed???

[zipplewrath]

9. Waste ain't the biggest problem

Not by a long shot. And what most folks don't realize is that it would be very hard to have a power structure that was more than probably about 40% of the generation. You can't throttle nuclear very well and you need something like coal/wind/hydroelectric/gas to allow you to throttle the amount of power quickly. I'm not completely "anti-nuclear". I just think there isn't a real good plan right now for integrating it into a generation system.

[cowman]

14. Why was Yucca closed?

Because Harry Reid was kowtowing to the citizens of Las Vegas and Clark County when the waste site isn't even in Clark County, it's in Nye County and when Reid managed to defund it, Nye County lost $10 billion a year from the Feds and god knows how many good paying jobs. I live in Nye County and we sure could have used that money for our emergency services and infrastructure. That is one of the reasons Reid is so unpopular here in Nv. that, and the HCR bill that many here see as ramming it down our throats.

[LargeGreenSpider]

3. How does nuclear work in a car-based transportation system?

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4. Nuclear Cars

Thank you for your reply Large Green Spider,

I did not mean to imply that nuclear would replace oil in cars, I meant nuclear would replace coal in electric generation. I feel that this would not raise the cost of electricity, it would lower the cost. Lower electric costs is good for the economy. The cap and trade idea is not only full of holes and political perks, it also raises electric costs.

For transportation, if there is a very large ($5.00) tax at the pump then people will switch to alternatives such as natural gas, battery and mass transit. My idea there is to raise the pump tax by 10 cents per month over 4 years.

[depakid]

7. OMG- dumbass Zuckerman AND a fool who follows him!

Let's just just give it up now and go get a subscription to US News and World distort (do they even sell that anywhere anymore?).

[Mr. Mustard]

8. Oh Man,

how about we:

Cut the military budget.
Medicare for all and continue to create incentives for health and results.
Bake more pies, and use more solar, more wind. Pollution has got to stop and nuclear creates deadly waste that lasts for 20,000 years. Hey lets make more of it, and dump it where?
Stop tax incentives for out sourcing jobs.
Stop corporate welfare.
Strengthen Social Security.....Do not raise the retirement age.......70 yrs old? then what is the point of it.
Guarantee education to anyone who wants it.
Strong labor laws.
Get out of Iraq and Afghanistan.


But most importantly:

We need to change the subject to:

Campaign finance reform
Term limits on all politicians.

Until we do that, ain't nothing going to change, until enough of us are homeless and starving. I don't want to wait that long.

The Senate is broken, fix it, or eliminate it.

It is time we change the narrative and start talking about the freaking Senate and paid for politicians on both sides of the aisle.

[RedRoses323]

10. Excellent!!

:toast:

[nightrain]

11. yep. there you go....

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12. Whew! Now there you go.

Thanks for your reply Mr. Mustard. Hey, I see that you have even fewer posts than me. From one newbe to another, welcome to DU.

[grasswire]

13. voting for a candidate with no experience is what gave us Obama

Sadly.

Someone with little track record can be projected as any kind of wonder worker. A blank slate allows voters to project their mere wishes on him -- wishes that will not likely come true.

Where's the beef? Let's see it.

[cowman]

15. I suspect that it

will be a loooooooong time before America elects another senator or house member again as president