Catfood commission co-chair Erskine Bowles says Obama administration didn't listen enough to GOP

[Fumesucker]

http://www.salon.com/news/federal_deficit/index.html?story=/tech/htww/2010/11/12/debt_panel_chair_criticizes_white_house

Erskine Bowles, the ostensibly Democratic co-chair of Obama's debt reduction panel, says the White House hasn't been listening to Republicans enough.

From the Wall Street Journal:

The Democratic co-chairman of a deficit-reduction panel convened by the White House said that the blueprint he unveiled Wednesday was the product of lengthy discussions with Republicans, and he appeared to question past efforts by the administration to engage with the GOP on fiscal matters.

"I told people in the White House I had spent more time listening to people in the opposition party than they had done as a whole group," said Erskine Bowles, in an interview the day after he and Republican co-chairman Alan K. Simpson released a proposal for deep spending cuts and broad tax changes touching almost every aspect of the federal budget.

There are many reasons to criticize Obama, but not paying enough attention to Republican concerns isn't one of them. The White House has gone to great lengths s to accommodate Republicans. That's why about 40 percent of the stimulus consisted of tax cuts. That's a big reason why the public option was never even on the table for health care reform. That's why the debt commission was formed in the first place!

In response to Obama's overtures, Republicans in both the House and Senate decided that their best political option was to oppose everything. Obama would probably be a lot better off politically if he'd taken the same unequivocal stance towards the GOP from day one.

[leftstreet]

1. Three cheers for Bipartisanship!

K&R

[OHdem10]

2. He is saying do what the Republicans want. Can anyone understand

why I have less and less faith in DLC types.

Perhaps I am totally ignorant. I thought the Democrats
won the election. How about just once the opposition
listen to the winner. When the GOP had announced thay
were not going to do anything to support Obama and
had their Noise Machines smearing him 24/7, it makes
it kinda hard Mr Bowles. DLC seem to believe we must
must be subservient to GOP no matter what they do or
how they act.

[tularetom]

3. WTF is an Erskine Bowles?

Never trust anybody with a last name for a first name.

There's something amiss a few branches lower on the family tree.

[Individualist]

4. A DLC asshole that Obama selected to co-chair the Catfood Commission.

[glitch]

18. And a guy who gets paid $350,000 a year to attend a few Goldman Sachs board meetings. nt

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

5. It's a new product brought to you by the makers of Summer's Eve. nt

[glitch]

20. !

:spray:

[Ignis]

42. "Mom, do you Bowles?"

[struggle4progress]

29. Erskine Bowles is a former Clinton administration official that the beltway gang pushed for Senator

from NC twice

He's a nice enough guy, with loyalties to the financial class, and he probably knows his banking rather well

He got thoroughly smashed as a Senate candidate here both times, no doubt partly because most folk weren't going to vote for "Erskine" (Dole knew what she was doing when she sneered urrrrrskin during a debate), and partly because he may have rather little political insight: the most memorable commercials from his first Senate campaign were along the lines of "Remember! Erskine Bowles!" with 1950s footage of people rolling their bowling balls down the lanes towards the pins

[mzteris]

33. Welll that and he kept wearing

"his wife's glasses" - as the story went.

Looked like a complete nerd. Of course he WAS a complete NERD. . .

[struggle4progress]

50. As a funny-looking nerd myself, I tend not to mock the appearance or nerdiness of others

[mzteris]

52. I think the world needs more nerds!

they're generally the smartest people in the room.

[mzteris]

30. He's a numbers wonk. His sole focus is numbers.

Blinders to everything but the NUMBERS. . .

[Bolo Boffin]

6. Oh, no. Is he getting enough oxygen?

It looks like the political equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome.

[Blasphemer]

7. Oy.... nt

[Radical Activist]

8. The public option was killed by conservative Senate Democrats

and Lieberman.

We can't scapegoat Republicans who all voted against the bill.
We can't scapegoat Obama, who spent months fighting for the PO until it became obvious it wouldn't pass.
We have to blame those responsible, which are Senators like Lieberman, Nelson and Lincoln.

The false narrative doesn't promote an understanding of what's really going on or what we need to do about it.

[Fumesucker]

11. All I'm doing is pointing out what Democrat Erskine Bowles said..

I'm not responsible for the contents of the message.

[Autumn]

15. Of course it didn't help that Obama

traded off the PO early on and strung us along till the truth came out.

"We can't scapegoat Obama, who spent months fighting for the PO until it became obvious it wouldn't pass." That's kind of a false narrative in itself.

[Radical Activist]

17. I don't easily accept conspiracy theories

like that one.

[Autumn]

24. Hardly a conspiracy, well maybe in your mind.

Sorry the truth was let out of the bag on that one. I know it's just too radical for some minds to accept.

[Radical Activist]

40. A lot of conjecture about what might have happened

and guesswork about Obama's evil intentions isn't "the truth." Nothing was let out of the bag. I know some people on this board are eager to believe any wild claim as long as it reaffirms their attitude about Obama. I'm not as gullible.

[Autumn]

51. Nice spin. But it's the truth

the White House traded away the public option in July of 2009 to the hospitals in exchange for 155 billion over 10 years. You say you are not gullible, well neither am I. Just keep your eyes closed to the facts and spin. Look it up.

[The Magistrate]

9. Forgive My Use Of The Vernacular, Sir, But: Fuck Erskin Bowles, Hell, Fuck Him Twice!

[Autumn]

31. Running up hill.

backwards.:thumbsup:

[ncrainbowgrrl]

58. Here here, Sir

Erskine Bowls? Errksine Boowles... Erskine Bowls... Erskion...,,,Oh, those commercials.

[Jim Lane]

60. To maximize your use of the vernacular, you should have added "and the horse he rode in on"

Of course, the trouble is that, in this case, that horse has the initials BHO....

[ncrainbowgrrl]

66. But please don't send him back to NC?

thank you.

-a concerned citizen

[Tatiana]

10. Says the guy that's pulling a $350,000 salary from Goldman Sachs?

Like we should listen to anything this corporate whore has to say.

[glitch]

23. I should have read through the thread before posting. Like minds anyway, :) nt

[Tatiana]

37. The point cannot be repeated enough!

:toast:

[spanone]

12. who needs republicans with democrats like him?

[Fumesucker]

13. According to E Bowles Obama needs Republican input..

Clearly the president has been lacking in bipartisanship if even Democrats are scolding his administration for not reaching out across the aisle..

[Radical Activist]

14. That's fine.

These false narratives get passed around so much that they aren't even questioned after a while. I think it's important that we understand what really happened and not spread a fantasy version of why we lost the PO. Those false assumptions lead to other false narratives, like the idea that Obama gave a lot to Republicans. He actually gave them very little and passed progressive legislation.

[Fumesucker]

16. What does my OP have to do with the Public Option?

This is about the Catfood commission and deficit reduction (ostensibly anyway).

[Radical Activist]

21. It makes an argument based on false assumptions.

From your OP:

"The White House has gone to great lengths s to accommodate Republicans. That's why about 40 percent of the stimulus consisted of tax cuts. That's a big reason why the public option was never even on the table for health care reform."

No, Obama did not go to great lengths to accommodate Republicans. The PO was on the table because it was in Obama's plan and he was forced to take it out by conservative Democrats. That's what happened in the real world and that's very different than the BS spin in the OP.

[Fumesucker]

26. I think your spin on the PO is more BS than that in my OP..

I'm going to post what I want to post, if you don't like it then alert and we'll let the mods settle it, to the best of my knowledge I've broken no DU rules with this OP.

[Autumn]

28. Off topic, but dont you think

a mind is a terrible thing to waste? I always loved that commercial. It was really good.

[Fumesucker]

34. Yeah, that commercial certainly had an impact, it was very memorable.. n/t

[Radical Activist]

41. Is it really necessary to start throwing insults just because you have no point to make?

[Radical Activist]

39. Wow. If someone posts a false statement then I can respond.

I don't know what your point is about rules and mods. Spin is posted here every day so I'm sure you have nothing to worry about.

It appears that you didn't even know what was in the story you posted, since you didn't know how my comment related to the OP. If you can refute anything I wrote then have at it.

[Ignis]

43. "spin?"

Accusing other DUers of "spinning" is bad, m'kay?

Ref: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8966075#8966793

[Radical Activist]

44. Oh. You don't like my opinion.

So you're gaming the refs again. Why not respond with a credible argument?

[Ignis]

46. Nah, just "helping" you follow the rules, as you've done so often for others.

xoxo :loveya:

[Radical Activist]

45. And the spin was in an article published at salon

not something by a DUer. So even your attempt to tattle is misguided.

[Ignis]

47. "tattle?" Oh lawdy lawdy. I didn't even Alert on your post.

I've learned that it's a wasted effort, and life is short. :hi:

But if you meant "spin in the article," why did you say "spin in the OP?" :shrug:

[ProudDad]

57. The REAL problem is that Obama made sure that

he made the deal with Big PhRMA and the insurance mafia, probably before the echoes of his inauguration had died down...

He and his DLC buddies made SURE that the only option that could actually have controlled costs and provided Universal Care, that is, any form of Single-Payer or Improved and Enhanced Medicare for All, that were supported by the majority of the USAmerican public AND the medical community, were left COMPLETELY off the table...

In other words, his starting negotiating position (arrived at in order to hold up his part of the bargain with the devil) was the republican position of 1996...

Way to Go, Obama!!!

[Name removed]

55. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hobbit709]

19. Erskine Bowles can do nasty things to himself.

[laughingliberal]

67. +1000 nt

[hatrack]

22. But wait! You're forgetting the power of the Far Center!! Even Erskine Bowles can't withstand it!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Fumesucker]

27. I sit chastened...

How could I forget the main pole of the big tent, the Far Center..

:evilgrin:

[somone]

25. Elitist DINO asshole

He's not rich enough?

[alsame]

32. The DLC likes 'bipartisanship' and then embraces the

GOP ideas.

WASHINGTON -- In response to reports that President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is on the verge of releasing a plan to reduce the federal deficit, DLC chair Harold Ford, Jr. released the following statement:

"American disgust with politics is driven by the fact that, unlike families who have to make tough choices about their own budgets, Washington seems unable to live within its means. The Fiscal Commission has forced Democrats and Republicans to sit down across a table and hash out their differences. In the near term, we need to embrace tax cuts that spur business investment, stimulate job creation, and lift wages for the middle class. But the Commission's recommendations -- cutting spending and reforming the tax code -- get to the meat of our long-term challenge: lowering our national debt. This is the dose of fiscal sanity we need."

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=85&subid=108&contentid=255207

[charlie]

35. The DLC is a GOP tribute band

Lousy players doing lousy covers of lousy songs, shouting "R U ready to RAWK!!" at drunk Rotarians with no apparent irony.

[alsame]

36. LOL. Good analogy. nt

[laughingliberal]

54. +1000

"The last thing this country needs is two Republican Parties." - Ted Kennedy

[w4rma]

38. Can we please purge these DLCers? None of them need to be given platoforms for their BS. (nt)

[ellie]

48. Fuck him

[tnlefty]

49. !

:puke: Really just :puke:

[laughingliberal]

53. Fuck! nm

[ibegurpard]

56. and yet here, on this very board, i'm being asked to believe

that there are actually Democrats on this commission
:rofl:

[Lord Magus]

59. Memo to Erskine: If you've spent more time talking to Repugs than the whole Obama administration...

...that's not a sign of a problem with them. It's a sign of a problem with you. It's a sign that you're a Republican, even if you don't realize it.

[Enthusiast]

64. Plus one! nt

[mmonk]

61. And you want to know why people are leaving the Democratic Party?

The twisted logic of DLC Democrats.

[eridani]

62. Someone ought to give him and 12 other members of that useless commission

--napalm enemas.

[Enthusiast]

63. In word and deed Erskine Bowles

is indistinguishable from a Republican. The Commission was stacked in favor of the thieves to start with.

[Kltpzyxm]

65. Erskine Bowles

Hail to the Thief

[WCGreen]

68. Please tell me when was it the GWB once listened to anything the Dems said

EVER!!!

[Chan790]

69. Dear Erskine Bowles:

Your credibility with the Democratic base is shot, you secretly-republican scoundrel. Likewise, you seemingly don't even have the votes to get your shit-brained plan past your own commission and it's expected arrival in Congress will be DOA as nobody wants to go on record as supporting your plan.

On the bright side, there's a can of Fancy Feast in the cupboard for you, we got rancid tuna-flavor because we know its' your favorite & if you want to work until age 69, we're not going to stop you...I hear there is an opening powdering Alan Simpson's ass for him and telling him what a smart boy he is. You'd make a great handservant to decrepit evil.