David Shuster: "My Hill Sources Are Democratic Lawmakers Briefed... They Are Infuriated."

[Hissyspit]

From Twitter:

Hill sources: Obama has offered Boehner "all spending cuts" now and is will accept "efforts" to rewrite tax code in 2012. Epic cave-in.
web • 7/21/11 2:46 PM

My hill sources are democratic lawmakers briefed on the President's latest offer to Boehner. They are infuriated, to say the least.
web • 7/21/11 2:52 PM

White House Response: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4929878

A White House spokesman called the claims from aides "not credible" -- the result of having a "3rd hand version of the facts."

Dan Pfieffer @pfieffer44 Anyone reporting a $3 trillion deal without revenues is incorrect. POTUS believes we need a balanced approach that includes revenues.
web • 7/21/11 3:21 PM

Shuster Response To Response:

@DavidShuster Dear Dan @pfeiffer44 I know POTUS wants revenues. Is POTUS insisting on revenues in deal RIGHT NOW? Yes or no? That's important.
web • 7/21/11 3:36 P1

@DavidShuster Also Dan, @pfeiffer44 Hill Dems say POTUS offered Boehner pkg with spending cuts now + revenue issues deferred to 2012. R they wrong?
web • 7/21/11 3:38 PM

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. >>>>>

:rofl:

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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

[Tarheel_Dem]

6. Nope. We have this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x716418

:rofl:

[MNBrewer]

18. What's the point of re-electing Obama if he's going to make terrible deals?

:rofl:

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tarheel_Dem]

45. According to the polls, real DEMOCRATS don't think he's making "terrible deals".

:rofl:

edit to add: And, apparently, neither do INDEPENDENTS who actually decide elections. Sorry. :rofl:

[A Simple Game]

61. I'm an INDEPENDENT, is there something funny about that?

Maybe if more liberal and progressive Democrats changed to INDEPENDENT some one would take notice. We need to drive the center to the left. I've got news for you, Democrats aren't going to do that.

The only funny thing lately is voting for a Dem and expecting to get a liberal or a progressive.

You do know that the expect 90% of the people registered to a party to vote for that parties candidates, really makes them want to give you what you ask for doesn't it?

[DainBramaged]

119. There are a few of you who think the rest of us aren't REAL Dems, shame on your bullshit

the pandering applies to both sides. You are offensive.

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

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

[swilton]

62. I concluded that long ago

[Moostache]

120. There is no point.... so vote for me! (Write-In Primary!!!)

I will gladly do EVERYTHING Obama promised to do and then backed off:

- end the wars (all of them)
- repeal the Bush/Obama tax cuts
- implement single-payer healthcare

And for good measure, I would instruct the Attorney General to IMMEDIATELY begin prosecutions of ALL Bush Administration officials who ordered or approved torture....up to and including the Shrub himself.

Additionally, since Obama is Wall Street's whipping boy - but their boy nonetheless, I would also see to it that as soon as the Bush convictions were complete that every single CEO of a Wall Street firm from 2005-2008 was put on trial for everything we can throw at them and I would keep at them until every last one of them was imprisoned.

That's it....one term. Four Years. Five priorities. ALL other US business is on hold until those 5 issues are resolved.

[bread_and_roses]

101. And large majorities say NO CUTS to SS/MA/MC

and do you find cuts that will literally kill people and cause untold suffering and hardship to others funny? I don't.

[spanone]

9. who do you support

[MNBrewer]

11. Whom do I support? In what context?

[Fuzz]

12. The American people.

[chill_wind]

15. WHAT do you support?

[FiveGoodMen]

2. "Epic cave-in"

Not at all.

Planned in advance.

[hifiguy]

17. Indeed.

As only Nixon could go to China, only an ostensibly "Democratic" president could agree to gutting the New Deal and Great Society.

[peace frog]

25. You got it, bunky

[SammyWinstonJack]

20. YUP!

x(

[pa28]

49. He said he wanted cuts. He got them.

On matters of tax and trade he might tell us what we want to hear but at the end of the day he signs the bills. No excuses can change the fact Obama is taking ownership of these disastrous policies.

[mod mom]

90. Just like the public option in HC

[Parker CA]

4. Kick and Rec.

[monmouth]

5. See, the way this works is: Obama agrees to everything Boner wants

including playing golf with Santa Claus, then the repubs say "Noooooo Waaaaaay" and we're all good to go. That's how I understand this performance anyway.. Of course if this isn't the game and I'm wrong, Obama has lost the election. It's quite easy really.

[budkin]

7. Christ I am so tired of this bullshit. Obama is simply spineless.

[dennis4868]

13. I AGREE....

he's spineless....what a terrible deal he agreed to with Boehner....ummm....wait a minute...what deal? Did I miss the announcement of a deal between repubs and Obama? OIC....it's hyperspeculation time here at DU....

[budkin]

21. Everytime news comes out about one of his deals, they deny it, and then it ends up true

[Autumn]

33. Funny how it seems to work that way

very often.

[Solomon]

41. That simply isn't true although you folks have convinced yourselves

of this.

[JoeyT]

77. Yeah, like when everone was all worked up about the president abandoning the public option.

We were repeatedly assured by both the president and his worshipers that there's no WAY he'd abandon the public option. Then the spin, which is the most charitable way I can refer to it continued right up until he openly abandoned the public option.

Or that time we discovered he was going to extend the Bush tax cuts. And everyone got all worked up and we were assured repeatedly by the usual suspects that there was NO WAY that could happen. Then he did it.

And in neither case did the people that were insisting he wasn't going to do it back off or say it made them angry. Instead they just switched gears and started defining "Did exactly what he specifically said he wasn't going to do" as the best possible answer and insisting it was a promise kept.

[CoffeeCat]

81. No kidding. That's what they said about healthcare...

We were told to shut up, and that no final bill had been revealed yet.

However, all of the signs pointed to disaster. The insurance lobby WROTE
the bill. Obama caved and never allowed the public option to be discussed--because
that's what the health insurance CEOs wanted.

We were continually told to stop being so negative.

Then Obama gave his big speech, during which he told Progressives that we wouldn't
be getting everything we wanted and we needed to compromise.

With it appearing very clear that the insurance companies would keep their profit-centric,
sickening healthcare model in place--we were told to wait for the final deal.

Well, here we are--with health-insurance profits soaring 26 percent since Obama's big
deal--and soaring healthcare costs for the rest of us. We're paying more NOW for
health insurance, and today--we dropped the vision portion of our plan because it
is too expensive and pays too little. Many are losing benefits.

BUT PLEASE EVERYONE---JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!!! WAIT FOR THE FINAL DEAL THAT
THREE-DIMENSIONAL, MULTI-LEVEL, CHESS-PLAYER OBAMA IS WORKING ON!!

I'm sure it won't contain cuts in Soc Sec/Medicare/Medicaid and of course the tax
breaks for millionaires will be gone, right????

If anyone tells you to shut up---it's to quell opposition. It's to shut people up
and it's to control opinion and to keep the truth down. Plain and simple!

[frylock]

34. why can't people remain patient and wait till the skullfucking is in full effect?

then they can have an opinion.

[nashville_brook]

47. i know, right? we're so uppity with our need to have thoughts and say things.

[valerief]

115. +1000

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[woo me with science]

69. He is not spineless. This was planned. nt

[readmoreoften]

72. Or complicit.

[Marr]

87. He's no spineless at all-- nor is he stupid.

It takes both chutzpah and smarts to push a right-wing agenda and sell yourself as the "left wing guy" come election time. Quite a piece of multi-dimensional chess. Too bad he only plays against us.

[newfie11]

8. Kick

unfucking believable if this is really true.

[dennis4868]

10. DU = HYPERSPECULATION AT ITS BEST!

[Tarheel_Dem]

14. Anonymous "Hill Sources". Unnamed "Lawmakers". "The Hatcheck Lady". It's too rich.

:rofl:

[dennis4868]

16. and the WH denied it!

[dennis4868]

19. and the WH denied it...

[Hissyspit]

28. John Aravosis: Remember the time the White House said to ignore the rumors that they sold out on the

Remember the time the White House said to ignore the rumors that they sold out on the public option?

[slipslidingaway]

31. White House Says It Cut No Deal With Drug Makers -

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/06/dem-senators-white-house_n_253502.html

"A senior White House aide told Democratic senators Thursday that the administration did not make a deal with the pharmaceutical lobby that would prevent Congress from using the government's clout to negotiate for lower drug prices, according to three Democratic senators who were in the meeting.

The New York Times had reported on Thursday morning that the White House affirmed that a deal barring price negotiations had been struck.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) asked two top White House aides, David Axelrod and deputy White House chief of staff Jim Messina, if the administration had cut such a deal with PhRMA.

"He says there's no deal. I take him at his word," Brown told the Huffington Post..."

[Autumn]

35. oops White House lied

and I think they are lying now.

[slipslidingaway]

39. Sad to say, but no reason to trust the WH. n/t

[Liberalynn]

60. Me too

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

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

[slipslidingaway]

50. One has to wonder and you are probably right that the poster said ...

the same things during the HC debate.

IMHO there were so many reasons to be skeptical of what we might see during the administration.

[ljm2002]

54. David Shuster is not anonymous...

...and he has a track record. I don't think he's making it up.

Anonymous sources are a standard method that reporters use. It's how they keep up with the most current information, by using trusted sources while not revealing who the sources are.

But I'll bet you knew that.

[MessiahRp]

98. And on cue here come the apologists/operatives to save the day.

Except that there's a whole other article right here on DU where Harry Reid states he is pissed about this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4930814

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

“There’s a basic lack of trust with the president.” No kidding?

Rp

[demwing]

106. I'm glad you find this funny

it makes it easier to send you off to the dustbin

[sabrina 1]

32. You mean like the hyperspeculation about how he was

NOT going to fight for a Public Option?

Offshore drilling?

Mandated Insurance? etc. etc.


What a shame that DUers have been so right so many times. I wish they had been wrong.

[jtown1123]

85. Read his USA Today OpEd. It's pretty damn clear what Obama Thinks

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-07-21-obama-debt-ceiling-debate_n.htm

[lark]

107. Don't know why you think that

This looks more like meaningless pablum to me. He's once again talking on both sides of the issue (market confidence, my F*ing ass) so he can totally capitulate and say he had no choice when he's getting what he wanted all along - cuts to SSI to go straight to the most wealthy. F him, I really don't see how I can vote for him, even with SCOTUS in the balance. He'd just capitulate and put a conservative in anyway, so why waste my time and energy when he's a traitor to working people. God, our country is so totally and royally F#ed. I really don't see a way out, or see a way I can stay here once my very elderly mother is no longer with us.

[grahamhgreen]

122. Get a clue.

[jtown1123]

23. They're pissed. They were pissed about the payroll tax holiday and Bush Tax cuts too. They'll cave.

[LaydeeBug]

68. yep. nt

[Angry Dragon]

24. That is the problem with locked doors

no one knows what is going on

I am still waiting for transparency in this administration

[peace frog]

27. Don't hold your breath

or bet the rent. Transparency ain't gonna happen, cap'n.

[swilton]

91. No wonder Julian Assange is such a threat

[Blasphemer]

26. IF this is true, there should not be a single solitary defense of it. Not one.

All Spending Cuts = 100% Republican. Period. The only good thing to come of a deal such as that is finally, once and for all, separating the wheat from the chaff.

[fredamae]

29. I called one of my Senators, Reid and Pelosi

and at this moment No One Has Heard of any "deal"---yet.

[Lasher]

76. Democratic members of Congress are being kept in the dark.

When this comes down, Obama and Boner will announce their deal. Democratic members of Congress will be expected to support the monstrosity, because Obama says so. Sorry, we don't want your input. No changes allowed. Up or down vote. Trust me, it's right for the country. Hurry up, we've only got two days left before we go into default.

At that point it is my hope that Congressional Democrats tell Obama and Boner to go fuck themselves.

[FreakinDJ]

30. Hissyspit has always been a reliable source on DU

Disheartening to see this play out

[nashville_brook]

44. +100000

[democrank]

37. President Obama....

Not a leader, just a get-alonger.

If Obama is progressive, I`m Saxby Chamblis. We`ll have to leave the spine stuff to leaders like Bernie Sanders.

[spanone]

38. gossip

[Hell Hath No Fury]

40. If this is true -

and the final, signed deal is all cuts with the debt ceiling raised, then it is time to find anotheer candidate to support. :mad:

[KoKo]

42. I'm thinking that he's thinking he is fine if he loses the election...

Why else is he acting this way? Constantly deferring to the Repugs. Letting them set the agenda and then he makes speeches or holds pressers talking about "Sacred Cows of both the Right and Left" will have to be compromised. Why is it always the Left that gets sacrificed?

Does he want to be the President to dismantled the New Deal? Ride off into the speaking circuit or job somewhere on Wall Street or head of Think Tank, having his legacy be that?

He's got to be thinking he will do this and then move on. What else could be his motivation?

[Mimosa]

46. Something stinks.

Repeatedly deferring to the Republicans sets them up for a win.

[SugarShack]

63. Someone told me in the beginning, he was put there for one term, for no one would get reelected

After selling out the people who put him into office.

[KoKo]

73. That sounds a little harsh...I'm wondering if he really knew before he won election

what he would do as President. I'm thinking he might have though he wouldn't win...and everything else was sort of "out there" for him? :shrug:

[lark]

109. That's the plan

Let Obama win, take the fall for the bad economy, wreck it further by giving all money to rich and destroy middle class, destroy the Dem party by cutting SSI & Medicare while giving the rich EVER MORE of the working class $$$, then let Repugs win next one. Obama will be very rich and well cared for by Wall St./military/industrial complex.

Trojan horse president, indeed!

[NCarolinawoman]

48. He doesn't mind if the Democratic Party goes the way of the Whigs.

He will be responsible and he doesn't care. He will have left everything in shambles, including the country.

[swilton]

64. If the Democratic Party doesn't battle him on this

they deserve to be history - they already showed their worth when they let the Republicans rebrand themselves 2008-2010. What a squandered mandate over those two years. They only thing they seem to be good at is trying to demonize Republicans. We need to face the truth that both parties are cut from the same cloth. I would make an exception about Kucinich but we'll see if he caves on this deal like he did on health care bill.

[KoKo]

66. I don't even understand why our Dem Party...threw their Left under the Bus...yet RW Applauds Tea

Party and lets them write the Bills and Hold Obama Accountable for not answerin to Grover Norquist's Demeands (funded by his RW Corporate Backers, of course)

After all this time when we Dems Built the Left Wing Political Internet...why is Obama not answering to KOS/MOVE ON.org... PCCC, and other Left Wing Internet Sites that have been active for years?

Why is it that Norquist and RW Funded Lobbyists get Obama to CAVE TO THEM...but all he does is TRASH the DEM LEFT...while Cowering before the Repug Right...that's all Corporate Funded?

:shrug;

[demwing]

108. We have to understand the theater, and the culture behind the theater

the "bi-partisan negotiations" are theater
the "Right vs. Left" meme is theater

The whole fucking concept of two parties is theater

Both parties are in bed with corporate culture, eating their way through our constitution like an acid.

And we think we can cure this by voting for the Blue Corporate Flag instead of the Red Corporate Flag?

All we'll get is a new color of flag, and the same culture that convinces us we are consumers rather than citizens stays in play.

We need a Citizen's answer to this dillema. Not a vote for a new color of Flag, Inc., and not a boycot, which is just another corporate culture response, underscoring our positions as consumers.

We have to eject the very foundation of the corporate culture. We have to change the emphasis from markets to people.

[KoKo]

74. I don't know if he sees it as "everything in shambles" ...the way WE SEE IT...but, that

his agenda and true belief was that his "Change" would be more about going towards the Repugs to get consensus to get rid of "New Deal Regulations and and Policies."

He seems to have been run by Wall Street Donations...and it might be he's "captured" by those people and their views of how Wall Street is more important to Main Street than the American Worker, Consumer and Ordinary folks trying to make a living on whatever they can find these days. :-( I don't think POB understands, really, what folks have been going through here in USA since Reagan...because he didn't live here for some part of that time. He's an "International Kid." His world is something very different in values and aspirations that our world here.....and it's what he's about. Nothing wrong with that...it's just he really CAN'T SEE US...out here........imho... as to what we feel has been done to us since Reagan politically...with our hopes and dreams dashed over and over again by Corporate, Think Tank Interests.. :-(

[slipslidingaway]

52. Who are people going to vote for Bachmann ...

the Dems count on that and can do as they please.

[daa]

121. 1. She won't be the nominee 2. no one here will vote for her 3.

they will stay home just like 2010. Its called the enthusiasm gap and only a few idiots on here are enthused about staying in Iraq, staying in Afghanistan, staying in Guantanamo, no health care reform, gutting social security, and in addition, killing Medicare and Medicaid.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

80. His motivations?

Right here in black and white. "Hamiltonian Democrats" -- Mad Floridian just introduced me to this group and now everything he has done makes perfect sense to me. And he is more far more dangerous than we think. :(

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1540315

[woolldog]

43. I should've supporter Hillary Clinton.

How could I have been so wrong? I don't get it. :argh:

[lumberjack_jeff]

51. I told you so. n/t

[Recursion]

57. Because she would do things differently?

:eyes:

[Mimosa]

58. This is why I didn't support Hillary

I feared she was too cozy with Republicans, including McCain.

[SugarShack]

65. HIllary had her own spy shop in the State Dept. and sullied that around the world for us. Not her.

[eridani]

70. No. However, in retrospect, she would have at least had the common sense

--to realize that Repukes are not and never would be her friends.

[KoKo]

92. Her husband seems to now be good frieds with the Wall Street Crowd and Bushies...so

I don't think she would have been much different, sadly. The choices we had were already determined. It was a toss up that we went with "Hope and Change." We thought he would be different.

[lark]

111. YES, she wouldn't gut SSI

and she wouldn't cut Medicare. She and Bill may not be as anti-war as I'd like, but they do stand up for working people, totally unlike the liar and hypocrite that is now president.

[KoKo]

78. She would have been the same. Some of us are just realizing

what Clinton gave away during MonicaGate. I think it was the excuse. He seems to be doing well now with everyone just loving him..particularly the Bushies. The slate was wiped clean and we paid for a STARR Investigation that put Dems through Hell. But, Bill and Hillary are raking in the money. "Media Deregulation, Glass-Steagall Repeal...and Welfare Reform." All of that from a President and his wife who were hounded by Mellon-Scaife and the RW Think Tanks and Media from the time they moved into the White House.

Amazing how our Dems take the abuse...Repugs fly through. But, the Dems will make it after they leave the WH and have gotten the "Repug Lite or Heavy"..agenda through.

[seabeyond]

88. obama was only slightly left of hillary. slightly. why i voted for him. a bet of chance

he might be dem and stand up. hillary, there was no chance.

[Beacool]

124. Yes, you should have!!!

Next time I hope that people don't fall for pretty speeches, platitudes and semi messianic empty words: The oceans will recede, the planets will align, etc., etc., etc.

Hillary may not be as far left as some here would like her to be, but she would not have allowed the Republicans to attempt to gut SS and Medicare. She got more gumption, and as someone said during the campaign, more testicular fortitude than her opponents. She also had years to develop relationships in Congress and many owed her political favors.

:eyes:

[readmoreoften]

125. She wouldn't been no different. You'd just be less surprised by her DLC actions.

[Change Happens]

55. Those so called Democratic lawmakers can vote against whatever Obama wants, right?

It is that easy...

[Hissyspit]

59. Dan Pfeiffer: @KevDGrussing @DavidShuster @monab2010 There is no offer of a plan with no revenue, lo

@KevDGrussing @DavidShuster @monab2010 There is no offer of a plan with no revenue, lots of misinformed anonymous aides talking
web • 7/21/11 4:59 PM 

David Shuster:

@pfeiffer44 Will POTUS brief after 5:30pm meeting with hill leaders? Briefing by budget director Lew angered dems and raised questions.
web • 7/21/11 5:40 PM 

[Lorien]

67. Hey kids! It's that time again; time to play "where does Obama REALLY stand on the issue?"

What hints will he drop? What mixed signals will he give his staff? Will he confirm or deny anything at all?? Stay tuned to find out! (maybe).

[Hissyspit]

71. Latest:

@KeithOlbermann
Keith Olbermann
On Countdown @DavidShuster reports Budget Director describes Means test, upped eligibility age for Medicare, adjusted COLA for Soc. Sec
9 minutes ago via web
Favorite Retweet Reply

@KeithOlbermann
Keith Olbermann
On Countdown @SenatorSanders says Budget Director did NOT go into that much detail, but of what he's hearing "Sorry Mr. President, no deal."
9 minutes ago via web
Favorite Retweet Reply

@DavidShuster
David Shuster
Apologies for botching the word "specificity" on TV. ugh. Still, dems maintain WH fine with means testing medicare, adjusting SS cola.

[Hissyspit]

75. Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann VIDEO Here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x602267

[deacon]

79. Well, his presidency is on the line and he's put the democrats up a wall. He may be indeed a one

termer. I'll write in Feingold in 2012 if he screws this up.

[jtown1123]

86. Good idea.

[Sportsguy]

110. But We Need Russ

Either as governor or senator (Kohl). . . What to do, what to do . . .

[wiggs]

82. Good. I hope they are outraged and infuriated. Maybe they will

wake up and unite around something...draw a line in the sand....stop moving to the right....be the opposition party to an insane, ideological, doctrinal, corporatist, science-denying, Bush/Bachmann/Palin/Beck-lovin, backwards, narrow, lying RW party.

Maybe this threat to 80 years of social progress is enough to help dems leaders think about what they really are and what they stand for. It hasn't been clear, at all. Maybe they will be able to actually own the issues by action rather than just owning the issues on paper.

Maybe instead of just saying we're against torture, maybe they will start to do something about it.

Instead of just saying the election integrity is important and that voting and registering to vote should be easy and free, they could actually do something about it.

And so on...until you get to the point where--instead of pretending to believe that a middle class is important, that the economy is driven by demand (not rich job creators), that social security is not only moral on an individual basis but protects the security of the larger society, and that medical care shouldn't be distributed solely on the ability to pay but should be provided based on need, and that extreme income inequality is social and economic doom -- our dem leaders will listen to the people instead of lobbyists and CEO friends and do something honorable with this debt issue.

It isn't all on the POTUS...he needs help.

[Hissyspit]

83. Reuters - Aide: Obama failed to placate democrats at White House meeting Thursday night on possible

Reuters: Obama failed to placate democrats at White House meeting Thursday night on possible debt deal: aide

[Marr]

84. Interesting-- that "third hand version of the facts" is exactly the same thing they said about

Obama's extension of the Bush Tax Cuts. Denied right up until zero hour, then approved.

[democracy1st]

89. I've never seen anything like it!

[JEB]

93. Obama playing

checkers during a high stakes game of poker. Even wimpy old Harry Reid is willing to call the Tea Bag bluff.

[polichick]

94. Dem lawmakers and Dem voters shouldn't have to guess where the Dem prez stands...

Obama seems to be on a gigantic ego trip.

[MessiahRp]

95. I don't give a fuck if the apologists don't like it... PRIMARY HIM.

This is an epic example of why we need to forcibly take back our party from the corporatists and Republicans-in-Democratic-clothings we have in the White House now.

SS/Medicare are off the table for Democrats. Any of FDR's New Deal is off the table. Break that and we'll vote your ass out of our party. Plain and simple.

Rp

[caseymoz]

96. Obama: Cave Man?

I guess we'll find out. It's really going to impoverish the country and put the Democratic Party is disarray if he has.

[JDPriestly]

97. Obama does not want a second term.

As he pointed out, he has $5 million, connections in the "real world," and I might add, sang-froid and a gorgeous voice, so why should he worry about the piddly job of president of the United States.

He's got a future without a care in the world in front of him. He's not even going to need Social Security or Medicare. Lucky him. Or so he thinks.

Pride cometh before the fall.

There will be a challenge, and the challenger will win the presidency. The Tea-Baggers are a very small minority.

As for the size of the left, if you get to some of the issues, we are a minority, but on economic issues, the mainstream of the so-called "left" of the Democratic Party is pretty much really in the mainstream of America. Just take it issue by issue and you will discover that.

Most of us are not socialists. We just want fairness. Most of us are not as jealous as we sometimes sound. We just want a modicum of security and opportunities for our children.

We are the mainstream, just a tad more involved, a tad more aware, a tad more vocal. That's the only difference.

The problems for us on the "left" are 1) framing our views so that the rest of America understands that we are with them and 2) getting our voices heard.

People ask, "Why aren't Americans out in the streets demonstrating?"

The answer is: "Because we all know that we are all unhappy. Demonstrations would not inform anyone. Americans are not happy at all with what is going on. And for the most part we all want the same things - less war, more sharing with the poor, better jobs for the capable, less free trade, less illegal immigration (but without danger to illegal immigrants), better education, more opportunities for small businesses, more innovation, less disparity in wealth, less dependence on foreign oil and good relationships with our neighbors in and out of the country."

Those are the things that the vast majority of Americans want. The media tries to divide us, but those are the things we all want. We just use different language to say it.

Only a small minority of Americans want to hog the wealth for themselves. They just happen to have a lot of influence through the media. So that is why we have to stop being so beholden to big media.

[MessiahRp]

100. I guess that works for me, I do not want an Obama second term either

The way he's willing to go to get there is a major point of conflict though. I say it's beyond time to primary him. Fuck the apologists or whining about how the Republicans would win. Generic Republican is the only one who can beat Obama now. The GOP candidates are like kissing your cousin, if she were the most hideous thing ever. People are reluctant to do it. A solid Democrat beating Obama would have an advantage over the GOP candidate that Democrats seem to forget: they're not Republicans and in general the public are tired of the extremist GOP antics.

Primary Obama now.

Rp

[Rockholm]

113. Then he should make his intention known.

Get Hillary in there. Someone who knows how the heck to deal with these a-hole republicans.

[JDPriestly]

127. Hillary? Worse than Obama.

Her ties to the Robert Rubin crowd date way, way back.

No, not Hillary. Please.

[McCamy Taylor]

99. Congress NEVER raises taxes in an election year. If they kick the can to 2012, they

will not do it. I can not believe Obama would consider a "deal" like this. Is he naive?

[libmom74]

123. No he's complicit.

[Faryn Balyncd]

102. They need to do a little more than put on their "infuriated" mask for a day or 2.

[valerief]

116. Absolutely. I want to see them march in a parade, carrying posters that read

"Hands Off Social Security, Mr. President!", "Hands Off Medicare, Mr. President!", and "Hands Off Medicaid, Mr. President!"

[BetsysGhost]

103. oh just face it

this country is FUCKED.

[ThomThom]

104. could be a republicon plan to force the President's hand

He should come out strongly and say there has not been an agreement. Compromise means we get something too. "not credible" is the best they can do?

[avebury]

105. Impeach Obama!

Obama is a total disappointment and fraud. I now feel like his first Presidential run wan nothing more than a fraud. He might as well run for re-election as a Republican. Hell has a better chance of freezing over then Obama has to get my vote again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

[readmoreoften]

126. +1

His Cesar Chavez chanting and Pullman strike references were con-artistry of the highest order. He tapped into the left-wing, democratic aspirations of the entire nation only to put a damper on that energy for the ruling classes.

[Deep13]

112. The problem with out position is that being the good guys means...

...they know we are not willing to shoot our hostages while we know that they are.

[thereismore]

114. Based on O's op-ed, I am convinced that he did not offer this deal. nt

[MasonJar]

117. I suppose Obama thinks we have no place to go. He had better hope

the GOPers put up a right wing wack job like Bachmann or Palin because otherwise I'll stay home. Obama is a weak belt way insider, the opposite of what we on DU expected.

[DeSwiss]

118. Kick. Them. All. Out.

And then http://thevenusproject.com/en/a-new-social-design/resource-based-economy">revamp the system because the one we have won't work anymore.

- My grandfather used to tell me, "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."

K&R