Obama the neoliberal? and other "hidden" inconvenient truths about his record

[Progress And Change]

I saw Obama supporters explain away his support for George Bush's so-called tort reform and tried to find stuff on it. While doing that I discovered a few more inconvenient truths that you will never hear about it. Obama is not my favorite candidate yet even I was unaware of several things in his record pointed to in this article.

Never mind, for example, that Obama was recently hailed as a "Hamiltonian" believer in "limited government" and "free trade" by Republican New York Times columnist David Brooks, who praises Obama for having "a mentality formed by globalization, not the SDS" Or that he had to be shamed off the "New Democrat Directory" of the corporate-right Democratic Leadership Council by the popular left black Internet magazine Black Commentator . . .

Never mind that Obama has lent his support to the aptly named Hamilton Project, formed by corporate-neo-liberal Citigroup chair Robert Rubin and "other Wall Street Democrats" to counter populist rebellion against corporatist tendencies within the Democratic Party. . . Or that he lent his politically influential and financially rewarding assistance to neoconservative pro-war Senator Joe Lieberman's ("D"-CT) struggle against the Democratic antiwar insurgent Ned Lamont. Or that Obama has supported other "mainstream Democrats" fighting antiwar progressives in primary races . . . Or that he criticized efforts to enact filibuster proceedings against reactionary Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

Never mind that Obama "dismissively" referred - in a "tone laced with contempt" - to the late progressive and populist U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone as "something of a gadfly." . . . Or that "he posted a long article on the liberal blog Daily Kos criticizing attacks against lawmakers who voted for right-wing Supreme Court nominee John Roberts." Or that he opposed an amendment to the Bankruptcy Act that would have capped credit card interest rates at 30 percent. Or that he told Time magazine's Joe Klein last year that he'd never given any thought to Al Gore's widely discussed proposal to link a "carbon tax" on fossil fuels to targeted tax relief for the nation's millions of working poor . . .

Never mind that Obama voted for a business-friendly "tort reform" bill that rolls back working peoples' ability to obtain reasonable redress and compensation from misbehaving corporations. . .

http://prorev.com/2007/05/few-things-to-forget-about-when.htm

[BeyondGeography]

1. Who's your candidate again?

[goldcanyonaz]

2. Does Oprah know this?

[Gloria]

21. You mean the Oprah who gave us Dr. Phil and gushed over GWB

when he campaigned on her show???? That Oprah??? The one who runs a non-union show?

[goldcanyonaz]

24. Yeah, the DIET Oprah.

[hedgehog]

3. Maybe he thought interest rates ought to be capped lower?

Can't tell with no context and no source.

[Progress And Change]

10. what we can look at is the roll call. look at who voted FOR capping interest rates...

Grouped By Vote Position YEAs ---24
Akaka (D-HI)
Bayh (D-IN)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Clinton (D-NY)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Pryor (D-AR)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)

NAYs ---74
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Durbin (D-IL)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Roberts (R-KS)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
Wyden (D-OR)


http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00020

[hedgehog]

14. Capping rates at 30%. Like I said, without knowing the history

of the bill and all the amendments, maybe a vote against capping rates at 30% left the door open to cap rates at 15%.

[Progress And Change]

17. maybe it is in his book. anyone have a copy of it?

The roll call is disturbing. He voted with every Republican. He could have voted with progressives and then introduced another amendment for a lower rate, if that was his real position and not just double talk.

[cuke]

32. Well, I know the history

and it proves that there was no hope of capping rates below 30%

[peacebird]

4. Thank goodness that there's always Edwards!

[robbedvoter]

20. But only if you ignore his record

[Progress And Change]

22. Edwards has a higher AFL-CIO and SEIU rating than both Clinton and Obama (and Dodd)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3815138

Apparently that is a meme based on the same nonsense that "holds" that Clinton is far more right-wing than Obama when in reality they are basically identical in terms of their voting records. If anyone is more liberal it is Clinton, not Obama.

[robbedvoter]

30. By "record" - I mean his votes as a senator, not his political maneuvering during

campaigns. Record - is an account of something someone DOES, not smoke and mirrors. Just being a shorter time in the senate than Clinton & Dodd is not a good measuring stick. he just had less time to vote with Bush, that's all.

[Progress And Change]

31. those ratings are based on senate votes

not internet memes but voting records. ;)

[bunnies]

5. you cant stand Obama.

I get it. :eyes:

[polichick]

6. I said this earlier today but it fits better here, where his record is in question...

imo the drafting of Obama by the people was an opportunity missed.

It's a great idea for ordinary Americans to handpick someone to represent them, who will serve as their spokesperson ~ but in this case the country made Obama a star with no strings attached, without a PEOPLE'S PLATFORM that he's responsible for implementing.

[NYCGirl]

7. Paul Street from zmag again? We've seen this one before. NT

[Happyhippychick]

12. Zoinks!

Never mind that Obama "dismissively" referred - in a "tone laced with contempt" - to the late progressive and populist U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone as "something of a gadfly."

I think that sentence set a new world record for number of quotes in a complete clause.

I "wonder" what part of this is the author's "interpretation" and what part is Obama's actual "words". And really...does it "matter"?

[cuke]

33. More attacks on the messenger. No defense of Obama's rightwing positions

[BenDavid]

8. One of the things one has not seen with all this hype about

Obama and Huckabee, is the media scrutiny of Huckabee. No looking into Obama's real record of his time in Illionois goverment. Maybe the press will do their job and not give us another run around like they did bush in 2000. Is the press so smitten with Oprah that she is going to tell them Obama is the one without any fact checking?

Hell, I thought Oprah was quoting lines from Morpheous from the Matrix trilogy telling folks, "that he is the one".....

[Progress And Change]

13. and obama has been on the scene for three years. huck has been around for 3 weeks

The media quickly got to work on Huckabee but has yet to scrutinize Obama's real record. Are you surprised, though? We know who the MSM and Republicans want us to nominate...

[Tellurian]

26. Agreed, when I heard that.. I thought she was rounding the bend..

and over the edge..Oprah fell short of calling Obama the messiah... just short!

[tammywammy]

9. Capped interest rates at 30%

He thought it should cap much lower.

And really, we get it, we all get it, you don't like Obama. May I please suggest instead of starting all this "hit" threads on Obama, you start some positive ones for your candidate.

[Progress And Change]

11. link? so that is why he voted with every republican on that amendment?

He could have voted for it and then offered another amendment if he truly believed the cap should be lower...

[Tellurian]

25. The accepted definition of a "Hit Piece" is an article that is patently false..

Is Obama's Voting record a no-no here?

Are asking questions and asking you to defend your candidate, if in fact, you declare something a "hit" piece/thread, the way other supporters do when they declare an article false and misleading, too much to expect from you?

[tammywammy]

27. No, posting facts is perfectly fine

I was referring to the other multiple threads started by Progress and Change in the last two days over the Oprah and Obama deal.

I'm suggesting he may do better if he posted positive threads on his candidate of choice.

[Tellurian]

29. If you think Hit Pieces are being posted... then debunk them..

Inquiring minds like the Truth..

[Progress And Change]

28. we hear a lot about "Hope"© and hype but little about obama's record. why?

Maybe there is a reason they want to keep a lid on discussion of his record? the msm did not even mention his "present" votes until Hillary called him on it a couple of weeks ago.

[IndianaGreen]

15. But the Democratic establishment is controlled by neoliberals

From the DLC, to the Progressive Policy Institute, they all are neoliberals. Their greatest champion was the Clintons. They pushed for NAFTA, CAFTA, and the Peru Trade deal.

Ironic that the Clintonistas are accusing Obama of the very things that the Clintons have been guilty of, to a far greater degree.

[Progress And Change]

16. what does clinton have to do with obama's record?

[DeanDem10]

18. There has been far too much celebrity worship and not enough

In the media, there has been far too much celebrity worship and not enough not enough thoughtful examination of the candidates real differences. There are substantial diffs between the three frontrunners, but the so-called debates (which have actually worked against voters really knowing what they need to know)have gone off-track and side-tracked.

Information such as you post here should be more fully discussed all around.

[xchrom]

19. recommend -- please combine this link with links that krugman

wrote about NObama.

mcklurkin was enough for me -- but it's been interesting to read the other stuff.

[Progress And Change]

23. anyone interested in candidate records should see this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3815138

[Laurab]

34. WOW 5 anti-Obama posts by you - all on the Greatest page

and I didn't even go down the whole page...I'm impressed. It's going to make me lean toward your candidate for sure...:sarcasm:

[Forkboy]

35. Could you be a little more obvious?

:shrug: