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In 2008, the majority of Oregon voters were swept up in the spirit of hope and change that was candidate Obama's signature slogan. It was, among other things, Obama's campaign promises that earned him the White House. But candidates often struggle to keep their promises after being elected. President Obama has faced criticism from within his own party on issues like health care, Guantanamo Bay and now a tax cut deal he struck with Senate Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans for another two years in exchange for extending unemployment benefits; a compromise still being negotiated in Congress.
Referencing his support for Obama's tax cut deal last week, Sen. John Kerry, D-MA said Monday:
This isn't the choice we should have to make, but it is the choice we do have to make, and governing is always about choices.
But not all Democrats in Congress share Kerry's opinion. Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio last week announced that he opposes the deal. DeFazio stated:
Compromise requires give and take, but once, again, the middle class gave and the millionaires took.
How do you think President Obama differs from Candidate Obama? Has the president fulfilled your expectations? When it comes to your elected officials, where do you draw the line between compromising and caving?
GUESTS:
- Peter DeFazio: Democratic U.S. Congressman representing Oregon's 4th district
- Trent Lutz: Executive director of the Democratic Party of Oregon
- Greg Leo: Communications director of the Oregon Republican Party
- Kurt Schrader: Democratic U.S.Congressman for Oregon's 5th District
- Jim Moore: Political analyst and professor at Pacific University
Tagged as: obama · popularity
Photo credit: Pete Souza
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The problem of winning an election is one question: Now What?
Governance requires compromise, prioritizing, sacrificing values and re-neging on promises. Campaigning is a whole different animal-- promises, kissing babies and sunshine.
Obama had to make necessary compromises. And thanks to W had inherited one of the worst financial holes since FDR and the Great Depression. He had NO money for new initiatives or programs. And was destined to make painful choices, much of which will come to pass in the future.
His greatest problem is winning the 2008 Election. Only Lincoln, FDR and LBJ had it harder.
During the most dire crisis of the 20th Century, Americans bucked up and said "Failure is NOT an Option."
Now failure has its roots in your father generation and if you are lucky, success will be seen in your grandson's generation...if at all. Global Warming, National Debt, War on Terrorism, Oil Addiction, Establishing Mass Transit Infrastructure, Middle East Peace, Obesity Epidemic, Space Exploration, etc...
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The good thing about Hitler and World War II is that it resolved in a decade without lasting resentment and revenge attacks. The 8 years was enough for a two term president to see through from beginning to end, theoretically. Similarly the Great Depression took about a decade to resolve. Also the Vietnam War(Major actions). And the Korean War. The Apollo Program to the Moon took nine years. The Interstate Highway system was built largely within two decades.
We will probably leave Afganistan and Iraq when your unborn grandchild graduates from college--bar some disaster. And our islamic foes do believe in generational revenge attacks that may seed bombs decades afterwards.
With generational problems like Global Warming and War on Terrorism, Oil Addiction Middle East Peace and the Great Recession of 2008, perhaps the presidency should do what prior Americans did in the 1930s. Allow a competent incumbent to stay not just two terms, not three, but four terms like FDR.
Now we are confronted with Generational Problems. It is a challenge to find things that can be reliably 'fixed' in a single 4 year presidential term. And even fewer problems can be solved in a half term of the past two years.
There are things we can change. And things that we cannot. Wisdom is knowing the difference.
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Jacob
Who do you think is a compitant, May I say we had to pass stimulouse which put us greater in debt to keep us from getting a unemployment rate of 8% last I checked it is now 9.8%.
Using posisies that have been proven over history to fail. Bush spent to much but if he spent to much and got us in the whole how is trippling the spending which is what the curent president has done going to fix things?
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These are times to risk being a one term president for all of the right reasons instead of for all of the wrong reasons.
Obama has failed to deliver on most of his promises:
Torturers are protected instead of pursued
Big banks are consolidated instead of broken up
Reckless risks are rewarded instead of punished.
Corrupt practices like earmarks have been tolerated instead of ended.
Healthcare reform is structured to benefit insurance companies instead of patients.
Two Bush wars are being pursued instead of ended.
Transparency and freedom of information has been eroded instead of supported.
This man is a self-made loser.
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It is my opinion that Obama is likely to be a one term president because he seems adverse to risk taking. Take Health care for instance, I completely agree with you that he sold out to the health insurance companies. At the same time, the Republicans are infuriated with what he has done, and his base is alienated, but for different reasons. If he had gone with single payer, or at least a government option, his based would have been appeased and the Republicans would still be upset, but he was never going to win them over anyway. To me, he just seems to look to buy everyone off instead of working towards solutions.
That said, he may still be a 2 term president if the Republicans insist on nominating someone like Palin.
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The Big Banks have been getting bigger throughout the last 20 to 25 years. Just visit Wikipedia (yes, an imperfect resource) and look up some of the current banking firms and see what other banking firms they assimilated. Bank of America for example, has assimilated Bank One, Seattle First National Bank (SeaFirst), and Countrywide, just to name a few of its absorbees.
The Standard Oil breakup of 1911 has largely reversed itself, as many of the companies that were created from that breakup have since rejoined together.
So, when you think about it paul, not all of this has happened on President Obama's watch -- indeed, much of it happened during the preceding 20 years, 12 of which were Republican (Bush, Sr. & Bush, Jr.) administrations, and 8 of which was the Clinton administration.
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I, too, am disappointed with the disparity between President Obama and Candidate Obama, and his failure to deliver on any substantive change. I have tried to remind myself that Ted Kennedy, one of Obama's greatest mentors and allies, is now gone, and you can almost draw a line from the time that Ted Kennedy passed away to the time that Obama began faltering and floundering on every issue (which was very early in his Presidency). Without Ted Kennedy, I think Obama has had to search out another mentor for guidance and direction, and unfortunately, he has apparently chosen Bill Clinton. Everything - from Rahm Emmanuel as Obama's starter Chief of Staff to having Larry Summers in his Cabinet as a financial advisor - screams this is Bill Clinton's Administration all over again. This is not what I voted for when I voted for President Obama. President Obama, please find your inner Ted Kennedy - AND FAST!!!
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Am I disappointed? You bet! ...But not with Obama. Believe it or not, I still get a little inward glow when I say the words: "President Obama".
First, I am disappointed with all the Republican legislators who are obviously more interested in seeing this intelligent, rational, charismatic, hopeful president fail rather than even attempting to address the needs of the American people.
Second, I am disappointed with the media who--in the best case scenario--zoom in on every negative aspect of the president's uphill battle and give little coverage to positive accomplishments. In the worst case, the right wing press misleads the public and spreads utter lies in their crusade against Obama.
Third, I am really disappointed in all the American people who (egged-on by the media and social networking) think the problems created in the previous decade can all be solved by just waving a magic wand over the heads of lawmakers who refuse to vote for anything that smacks of the "audacity of hope". I guess our citizens think this is a TV sitcom where every problem is solved in less than an hour. It looks like the folks paying for the commercials get to decide who the bad guys are...and we believe them!
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Obama had a substantial Democratic majority but still couldn't pass meaningful financial reform, blocked lawsuits by mis-identified, completely innocent individuals who were kidnapped (extraordinary rendition) and tortured, blocked prosecution of Bush's torturers, failed to break up the banks that are "too big to fail" when 97% of the public favored doing so, blocked any consideration of single payer healthcare reform, agreed to re-up the awful subsidy of corn farmers for gasahol, wasted money on Cash for Clunkers instead of getting down to building infrastructure for bikes and pedestrians, failed to close Guantanamo, failed to end either of Bush's disastrous wars, etc. etc.
How, with a huge majority has Obama managed to just look weak. Every sign of more of the same instead of the promised "change" can't be pinned on the Republicans.
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It seems to me that Barack Obama was very talented at campaigning. And extremely good at making speeches before large, admiring audiences.
That was enough to get him elected. Governing well requires other skills, and Obama has not so far displayed similarly high levels of them.
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You are correct, I think his speech at the 2004 convention did make him the "annointed one" for many democratic insiders. Hopefully there will be some consideration in the future for a little more substance.
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I always had a feeling this would happen. Obama won the election and now the people are growing disconcerted over the sluggishness of progress. The winner of the 2008 election, irregardless of party or platform, was going be immediately met with one of the most vitriolic and partisan governments we have known in quite some time. The issues facing this country have been decades in the making yet two years into this administration it is being criticised for not doing enough. The effects of the financial meltdown will take years to reverse yet the hemorraging has been slowed.
It is naive to assume that any president would be able or willing to achieve all their campaign promises. It is naive to assume that one President would be able to reverse years of entrenched business interests and corale all members of The Senate and The House. My realistic expecation for this administration has been for it to be slightly left of center and so far that is what we have gotten. Any expectations of massive change in this country are completely unrealistic.
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The central theme of the Obama campaign? Yep, that's it, Change!
So the public is to be blamed for a lack of change? I don't think we were the ones who made that our cental theme.
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The public is to be blamed for harboring unrealistic expectations.
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Well it seems we all gave him rope and he hung all of us out to dry. Granted the media has not highlighted the positive things Obama has done that said he himself gets on the bully pulpit and tells us "well it's complicated" then goes into policy wonk mode and drones for minutes on end carefully crafting his words so as to completely confound and confuse all present. I understand this is a tough time to find a job and the economy is in the toilet. But, don't stand there and tell me about it while capitulating to the minority partys demands for their rich patronage. This is not to say the dems. don't have their rich patronage as well they do. Pull a quarter out of your pocket if you are lucky enough to have one look at it label one side D and the other side R. Regardless of how you look at it it's the same coin. The ultimate answer lies with us "we the people" has never meant more than this day and every day after that allows politicians to decide what is best for us. Don't you yourself know what is best for you? Take back your power and use it for god sakes. This last election cycle I voted for just issues and will continue to do so for some time to come as I am tired of any politician just glad handing it by making promises they do not ever intend to keep
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Politically I am far left of the President. Every day I receive emails from MoveOn.org, a group that I generally agree with. Usually the emails are about atrocities that Republicans have committed. Recently they have been targeting the President.
I dream of an America with universal health care, excellent education for all and a Peace Corps larger than its military.
However, the President governs ALL Americans. His job is to compromise. And I think he's doing a damn good job at that.
As of now Obama proudly has my vote and my support.
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I worked hard to become an Obama delegate in Klickitat County. However, at the time I was telling the other delegates the best we could expect from the guy is Empire Lite, something similar to the reform emperors in the declining years of the Roman Empire. Well, that's what we're getting. Until we Americans are willing to give up our empire, yeah right, that will only happen when it is torn from us by the forces of history, I think, then Empire Lite is the best we're going to get.
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We have always seen that politicians can never accomplish all that they want, and so it is easy to say that the sucessful candidate isn't fulfilling their campaign promises.
The old saying "says easy, does hard" applies to politics along with many other things in life.
I have of course been disapointed with some of the results over the last two years, but alas you can't really blame the lack of progress and accomplishment on the President. The senate has stagnated and denied any progress in an attempt to do anything possible to portray Obama as a failure.
I am frustrated at how it appears that Obama has become a pushover and has acquieced on so many of his principles.
I don't think that he will see a second term, but I feel that the lack of progress has to do more with republican partisanship than his failure to pursue his campaign promises.
I find is deplorable that they did not take advantage of their majorities and just push forward the progress that we the people had asked for. Instead they attempted to please the republicans as the republicans did everything and anything to hinder progress.
The problem I see in today's politics is that the two party system is outdated and leaves too many people without representation that reflects their ideals.
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Well, there's no guarantee in our constitution of a two party system. The problem is that us Americans love our dichotomies. With us or against us! Us or them! Democrat vs Republican!
We know the problem, we just don't know how to solve it, because the problem is us. The issue goes deeper than needing a change in some political rule, its fundamental to our culture.
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Mr. Obama has completely lost my support. He has abandonned the base who elected him. Democrats did not lose House seats to Republicans because they weren't compromising enough; they lost because they compromised too much. There is compromise, and then there is bending over backwards to try and cater to what are essentially abusers. Mr. Obama is like a battered wife--he keeps coming back hoping he will satisfy those who have been beating on him for years. I have been frustrated by health care, consumer protection, and Wall Street reform, but this latest choice to keep the tax cuts for the rich is the last straw. Mr. Obama's top economic advisers are the same ones who got us in this mess.
Change? I think not. More like business as usual, and I'm done with him. I will never give another penny to the national Democratic party.
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Exactly, the Democrats had a majority yet they bent over backwards to get a small percentage of republicans to feel happy. For what??!?
So they could say that they had "bi-partisan support."
Then there are things that have been done such:
-Senate Bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act Which gives more power to large corporations such as Monsanto at the expense of the small farmers.
- Obama Appoints Michael Taylor, ex Monsanto vice president for public policy as the new FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods. Great this is the guy who made it so that GMO doesn't need to be labeled, made it so we allow BGH in our milk production.
He has pandered to the large corporations and this has lost him credibility.
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Thank you Congressman Peter DeFazio, you are the only one that seems to get it. Once again Democrats snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! Democrats have the chance to say no to more deficit spending and welfare for the rich but instead they are trading $40 billion in unemployment benefits for $700 billion in tax breaks, both unfunded. Democrats couldn’t see an opportunity to win the day if it bit them on the behind!
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Every Democrat who is unhappy with the fact that President Obama is now forced to make compromises should have thought of this when they didn't vote Democratic (or didn't vote at all ! ) in the midterm elections. We have let the President down not the other way around. This president is one of the best hopes we have ever had to turn our country around, to improve our relationship with the rest of the world and to bring more equality and dignity to all Americans. I ,for one, am praying for 4 more years so that Obama can have at least the same amount of time and resources to fix what the last president destroyed.
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One reason why the Roman Empire fell apart was because the groups responsible for its collapse (the rich and the military) had such a stranglehold on politics that it was impossible to make any corrections.
Are we there yet?
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We're there and we've been there for a decade.
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Yes, the plutocracy has already won.
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I hate to burst your little bubble but most civilizations that have failed though out history because of economic calaps more than famin natural disasters and anything else you want to add combined.
The rich know how to make money, and if they were really interested in stimulouse why didnt they do military spending. it has been proven over time most recently WWII that buying say a tank made in your country does basically twice the good ecinomically as does paving a road or buying a tv especially since you cant get a tv made here anymore
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Apparently Frankj doesn't read any better than he spells. I said ONE of the reasons for Rome's collapse was the stranglehold that the rich had on the political process. Other causes were imperial overstretch and ruined farmland. North Africa was once the Roman breadbasket, but look at it now.
The "stranglehold" reason adds to the others. It means that other problems could not be fixed because the people responsible controlled the politics.
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In order of the questions:
There is no difference between the candidate who had done nothing of any substance except campaign and the president who has done nothing, other then he campaigned. Then again anyone that looked hard at the candidate knew this is what was going to happen. Oh well, I didn’t vote for him OR that old white guy.
The current president has proven to be exactly what I predicted him to be in 2007 when I called the election and started looking for a good candidate to write in.
I do not believe in partisanship, thus there can be working relationships and give and take to gain the result and it is by results that effectiveness should be measured, certainly NOT how well he toed the party line.
I find it hilarious that the democrats are so locked in their myopic partisanship that the can not see the huge tactical advantage that their figurehead has given them for the next election cycle. Continue with the republican’s policy and beat them to death with it starting in a bout a year, when the economy still hasn’t recovered.This president might even be good in his second term; sort of like on the job training! However, if he should somehow learn the actual job and start doing and accomplishing as the president of ALL of the United States, his party will vilify him for doing what is right, rather then what the democratic party would do.
The concept of “No Labels” is long overdue!Have a great day!
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If Obama didn't work fast now, when the Republicans come into control of the House, unemployment wouldn't be extended and unfunded tax breaks would be universal. As for jobs creation, when business owners see productivity go up as it has, why would they want to hire more workers? Capitalists would rather have a smaller work force to increase their profits. Unemployment continues high due to their greed, not because of Obama policies.
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I just heard someone speaking about the "old Obama" as "radicalized" and in favor of "confiscatory taxation." What planet does that person live on??? Obama campaigned as a moderate and has been governing center right. I would say that this tax cut deal is a capitualtion to the hard right, so I am hoping that Obama does not move to a hard right presidency as Clinton did.
The corporate media (including NPR) has moved the center of our political discourse so far to the right that Reagan would be considered a liberal if he were alive today, and the healthcare law is painted as practically communist when it's essentially the same bill proposed by Republicans in 1993 and passed by Romney in Massachusetts some years later. The progressive healthcare bill would have been single payer, and that was taken off the table before discussions even began.
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Ayup!
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Before the election I remember that the program Frontline ran 2 seperate programs. One covered John McCain's background from birth to the present day and the other covered Obama. I clearly remember them speaking of Obama's time at Harvard when he won leadership of the Harvard Law Review. Many of the liberal sect was overjoyed because they thought he would do their bidding. Instead, he algned himself more w/ the conservatives and attempted to achieve common ground, even to the point of ignoring issues the left thought were crucial and necessary.
Based on that I am not surprised by the way he approached the presidency.
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The president had dealt with what he was given fairly well.
What everyone must realize is that the Republican party only wants to get him out of office. Everything is political to them. Everything they do is about this one goal.
The president's problem is he wants to act like an adult (compromise, etc.) and do what's best for the country. They don't.
I've never believed he was some great savior. I always saw him as a pragmatist. I still have hope for him.
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I think Obama is incredibly brilliant and he is working the extremes against each other in an impossible situation trying to salvage something of our nation. He was a constitutional law professor before he went into politics. He knows full well all the ways our government falls short of American law. He knows how the system works---better than you and me put together. And a few more. And here's where my conjecturing begins. I believe that Obama realizes that our nation has been hijacked by business, that multinational corporations have more influence on our laws and procedures than the people do. The people have abdicated their vote by being uninformed and apathetic. I believe that Obama cares about the people more than any party platform, and more than he cares about his image. In spite of our overall slackness. He sees the utter disaster that impends, and he is trying to work inside a corrupt system to help it implode enough that the people have a chance.
A word about the impending disaster. My parents were the last American generation to be richer than their parents. Their time represented the peak of wealth in the American general population. We are going to have to find our new normal, and where that ends up depends dramatically on how we choose to disassemble what we have.... The new American standard of living depends on what happens now. And it took more than one president or one generation to create it. It is the perfect storm leading toward the end of an empire, and a crisis of resource availability versus population planetwide. Obama can't fix it. Things will never again be what they were. But the way Americans think, or the way the media thinks, that's his job.
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The Tea Party Republicans voted the Republican Robbers back into control of the US House. And now the Robbers have demanded more "Tribute" from The People.
It is absolutely nuts!
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Yes Tom, where are all the citizens that were so concerned about President Obama running up the deficit now? Apparently it’s ok to add to the deficit if it’s for a good cause like tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.
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Yes the wealthy already spend as much as they want to for whatever they desire.
So they just save a tax cut and buy more stocks and bonds, completely avoiding helping the economy at all, in fact they do the opposite of help the economy, their money goes to buy up and consolidate small companies into giant corporations that fire management and workers for business "efficiencies" to grow profits and stocks.
It is nationally financially nuts!
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Feeling hostage to eastern seaboard politics, indeed we in Oregon are "leaders"..from mail in elections, to early "green" issues. After spending 3 years in Vancouver BC, what has become most apparent is the gap between the wealthy and working class is not so extreme as in the USA. And while when returning many have said Portland is the best for liberal politics, the truth is how we are hostage to federal politics. Our identity needs to be regional.
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I think you are correct which is why the founding fathers pushed for local and stategovernment to be the driving force so we would all have greater control and could keep a better eye on all the people in both parties that have brought us to this mess.
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I think its sad the way everyone has jumped ship on President Obama. Does nobody else remember that Obama was elected to be a uniter, someone who promised to do things coherently than Bush and listen to the American people? Congress abandoned him on health care and didn't have the courage to pass tax cuts with their own reelections on the line, and now its all Obama's fault? I'm terribly disappointed in congress, dems and republicans alike, and am still proud to have a president I find to be thoughtful, intelligent and pragmatic. How naive are we here? He is one man with a mean feat at hand and getting hit from all sides. As a person who has been unemployed for two years I am grateful he did what was necessary to protect unemployment benefits so that myself and so many others like me can make ends meet.
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Obama was eleced to be a uniter? I must have missed that, the tax bill is the first thing he attempted to do with bi-partisan support. I think he has as much credibility saying he is a uniter as Bush did when he campaigned as being a "uniter, not a devider".
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The republican representative states how their "tea-party" and their party will be held to their promises?!
Yet here they have been denying the extension of unemployment without an accompanying funding source.
However they have agreed to an extension of the unemployment ALONG with an accompanying debt addition through tax break spending.
This is so hypocritical, and is typical for politicians but especially the right. Also the republican stating that the stimulus didn't create jobs is incorrect I have personally witnessed many jobs that were created by ARRA stimulus.
The problem with the two party system is that they both have a captive revenue source, so of course they don't want to change that. They say they need majorities but if there were more parties it wouldn't be such a civil war of right versus left so votes on bills could be done by party members based on their values rather than just toeing the line.
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what about the organized and petty intransigence of the republicans, eh??
what about the growing power of the willfully ignorant and uninformed?
What about small minds wearing big suits?
I'm disappointed that the opposition is disloyal to all but their private dreams.
I'm disappointed in them!
I don't think a leader of a democracy should have to stoop to tricks to keep a base - if this is necessary, it says more about the base than the leader or candidate.
I also don't think a democracy will work when the whims of the ignorant uninformed hold sway over the attempts of the more enlightened.
Make way for the stupid-ocracy! Long live the very common! No one with an IQ over 70 need apply!
We can reproduce our way out of this mess.
VOTE FOR MORE BEER
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I assume you put yourself in the group of being enlightened and not the ignorant?
Well two things as a human none of us know best about everything so while you may know a lot about something you do not know enoguh about everything. And in those situation it is probably people in those ignorant masses that do know soemthing.
You sound a little like a dictator who does a lot of nice thing and then when you go too far you murder the masses because of cause they are just stupid.
The only thing I can argee with you on is more beer. PLease do not ever run for office
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"VOTE FOR MORE BEER"
Now that I can support :-)
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What a good fun rant, lolo!
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@ frankj
after reading your response(s):
you are a seriously confused individual - when you discover spell check, you might be able to fool a few into thinking you have some depth, but when you discover what grammar is about, you might be able to think more clearly, and you won’t have to try to fool anyone, nor will you want to -
if you don’t care about the sense of those things, then the horses and dogs might still be happy with you, if you don’t kick at them and you just appreciate each other’s warmth.
I suppose the more intelligent might do best by stepping back and letting fools run off the cliff all on their own - if only the asses, I mean masses, i meant masses, wouldn’t try to take everyone with them
I understand the antsy-ness silly people feel about those who can out-think them, but is it too bad greater empathy has a better chance with greater intelligence? Or are yOu just lucky??
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Leo is right, the republican party has been given a mandate and an imperative by the tea party: Finish handing over the country to corporations or else. That's why the Koch corporation formed the tea party.
The idea that Barack Obama is moving toward the "center" is patently ridiculous when a windbag like Leo is happy with his shift. The republican party has done nothing but get more and more conservative over the past 30 years. That's why Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon look positively warm and fuzzy compared to the current crop of Tea Party elects.
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The republicans have become more cinservative? that is interesting I have actually heared several democratic stratagists say that if JFK were to run for office today he not only could not run as a democrat because they have gone so far left and in fact would be considered too conservative to be elected as a republicn so I think it is the left that has moved.
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I support President Obama even though I want specific changes that have not yet occurred. However,change is a process and I feel that the leadership that the President is demonstrating reflects the requirement that true change embodies collaboration and fundamental structure reform. His campaign was to inspire people to engage in difficult long-term reform (change) to take America forward within a global economy.
I believe that people say they want change but then are unwilling to sacrifice and engage collaboratively to resolve the tough issues and assumptions. The President is standing for the ultimate change of a more representative and collaborative political system. I believe that he is operating just as he said he would as a leader who tells the truth and accepts responsibility, and promotes for the broadest public good.
I would vote for him again. Just a reminder that it was a Repulican controlled Congress that created this unprecedented deficit. And by the way why didn't Democrats in the Senate stand strong behind him and the House and help send the truth about the long-term nature of change that is required to strengthen America into the future.
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Perhaps the rush to the left and right in the time since Clinton has made Americans unsatisfied either on the left or right. Frankly, when the right and left are mad with current politics then it's working best for the majority of Americans who lie closer to center.
The wealthy should be taxed more considering that almost all the wealth is concentrated there. However, blanket statements about the rich are not accurate, nor beneficial to the argument as to why the wealthiest should pay their weight in taxes.
I believe this tax deal is the first step of a re-election campaign. Obama has pushed through great change the first couple years, now it's time to temper the agenda. While the left may cry, Obama being seen as a moderate to the right would benefit his re-election bid. Keep your eyes on the prize- 2012.
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There is no "left" in the US, there is only the center and the far right. Well, OK, I'll concede Sen Bernie Sanders of Vermont who calls himself a "socialist".
So there is one person who actually calls himself a "leftist" in the US, gee that's real scary isn't it?
Bhwaa, ha ha ha!
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President Obama was elected not in spite of the color of his skin, but because of it. The same people who superficially elected him are now complaining about his performance. That is what happens when you elect someone for the wrong prevailing reasons---you don’t know what you are getting. In some ways I find myself supporting Mr. Obama because in many ways he is the victim in all this. I never overwhelming supported Mr. Obama in the beginning because he seemed underwhelming and trendy. In some ways people got lucky with his performance, because it probably could have been much worse. You get what you vote for, and if you vote with the wrong reasons, you don’t have a right to expect much.
But, Mr. Obama is clearly under-performing, he utterly squandered real health-care reform and now we have one court that rightfully doesn’t agree with the legislation. He has done little for gays. I don’t know who he has really done anything for? What is Mr. Obama in the end, he has been turned into a mascot, for sad, pathetic people who needed one. -
A recent poll showed that only 26% of Americans thought the tax cuts should continue for everyone. That's an impressively low number. So I ask, does that not represent the American people that the Republicans keep talking about who gave them a mandate?
Nearly every economist has said that these tax cuts won't create any jobs. And they've been in place for 10 years.
Worse than the Republicans being out of touch, it seems like the entire Congress is. How many of them are truly able to imagine the lives of the have nots when they make legislation? Few, I imagine.
When it comes to healthcare for example, every member of Congress has a platinum healthcare plan for life. And these people are making policy on whether someone with a sick child can get even basic health coverage? It's frightening.
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And that government provided healthcare is single payer and owned by the government, AKA "Socialism". If socialism is good enough for the Congress why is it not good enough for The People?
Same with the US Military, it is also socialist.
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I think Obama is doing as great a job as he can with so many working to undermine him rather than work with him to achieve COLLECTIVE solutions/strategies.
It's Republicans and Democrats that are NOT doing their job. Republicans are hell bent on making sure he's not re-elected; Democrats are hell bent on discrediting Republicans. BOTH parties need to stop acting like kids not getting their way and begin doing what we need them to do: UNITE and SUCCEED!
There's a great saying: "If divided we stand, united we'll fall!". Republicans and Democrats are NOT looking for COLLECTIVE solutions, rather, they're bolstering their own ideas to enhance themselves.
I would be able to support congress and senate actions if they truly worked for collective solutions, rather than "either - or".
Kudos to John Kitzhaber for setting the stage for collective solutions!
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Well, I voted for the Progressive Candidate Dennis Kucinich so I did not expect much from the slightly right of center Obama.
The Democrats are still the centrists and it is the Conservatives who have taken the Republican Party to the extreme far right.
And I think that the Democratic leadership need to be held to account for a large share of the blame for not getting things done for the American People, too often caving in to the Corporate Statist Conservative Republicans.
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I wish we'd been given the opportunity to Elect Progressive Candidate Dennis Kucinich.
Now there is a candidate that would make a good president, a true supporter of America.
However I do not know that he wouldn't have faced a similar "I'm taking my ball and going home" from the republigoons.
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Regarding current public opinion, I am still amazed by the huge defection of the voters who elected Barack Obama: Did they really think the economy could be turned around in less than two years? This man is doing his capable and liberal best in the face of entrenched business and wealth systems that are NOT in the best interest of the common person. He needs time and support, not recriminations and unrealistic expectations.
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Obama was naive when he was elected. His biggest shortcoming has been a failure to realize that politics is a bloodsport for the core Republican party - you win or you loose, you are with us or against us. Republicans recognize no center.
I am disappointed in President Obama's ability to advance his agenda but I would still vote for him over any Republican I can think of.
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Despite my disappointment with a lack of significant financial reform and a very watered down health care reform, I was a huge supporter of President Obama because I felt that we, as Americans, expected far too much of him and had unrealistic expectations of what he could accomplish in such a short time.
However, this tax cut deal is an utter betrayal of those who put him in office and those middle-class Americans he always says he's fighting for. It's not just the bad deal he made with Republicans that angers me, but giving them a pass on their hypocrisy, since the first thing they do post-midterm elections is pass tax cuts for the rich that won't create jobs and only adds to our debt. He failed to hold them accountable for their campaign rhetoric and in the process, undermined his fellow Democrats who needed his support to help move this country forward.
Thank goodness for our congressional representatives. At least they have some courage and conviction.
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Diana is absolutely right. Republicans would have no qualms about letting unemployment support lapse and to increase tax breaks for the very wealthy. We saw them do this during the Bush reign..why would things be any different now? President Obama has no choice but to compromise to assure some changes for the better.
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I am disappointed with this Tax Break for The Wealthy including the payroll tax deal reached via the so called OBAMA COMPROMISE. I've heard Peter DeFazio's explanation a hundred times or more, yet it goes no where when fifteen million are unemployed. About once a month I hear how the gap between the wealthy in the poor continues to widen, yet Republicans and Democrats pretend a concerned posture while they look the other way. What we now have is a short term payoff solution in order to support a wealthy class that cannot live without a tax break or perhaps in the future, not paying any taxes at all. When you have to bring in millionaires like Bill (I feel your pain) Clinton, David Axelrod, Mitch (no) Mc Connell including President Obama promoting this type of legislation then I know American politics is a rigged process. Come 21012, for the first time in my voting life, I will not vote, besides, my vote does not count. What I see is a continuation of Bush-Cheney politics which is short change (in money) for America. The Obama legislation compromise is going to create 30 year mortgage paying jobs now, in two years, or for the next fifteen years or more. This country is run by the best greedy educated people who play a different game than you and I. I am disappointed!
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The debt that the Republicans have put this nation into has essentially put the American People and our Children into decades of the new form of "Indentured Servitude", paying interest and principle to the Bankers and other owners of US Bonds, including China.
That was not the dream of the Founders of the US, now was it?
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The problem with Obama caving on extending the tax break for the wealthy isn't necessarily so much that he gave in to it, but that it felt like there was no fight at all.
The Republicans just went "oh you don't want to do what we say?" and Obama just dropped his cards and said "Ok whatever you want!"
We want to see some fight! Be tough! Sure in the end you might end up having to compromise to get what you want, but I didn't see any fight at all. The Republicans are just going to keep doing it with every issue.
Obama claims its not about 'moral victory' its about 'getting things done', but he's going to just keep getting walked all over if he just lies down any time the Republicans insinuate they might hold up something he wants done, and he's not going to get what he wants done.
It is *so sad* how the Democrats have wasted their majority. They had both the executive and the legislative, (and you could debate the judicial though it claims independence), and now we're acting like its all over because the Republicans won majority in one half of one third of the government. Its not! Toughen up jeez!
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I think Obama is a "Kinder/Gentler Corporatist" and that his campaign prmosies were the lies he told to get elected. This is his true side showing and everything he has done has been inline with the kinder way of doing what was/is accepted as republican corporate behavior.
His economic team reflects this. His Health Care Legislation reflects this, with the forcing of citizens to purchase Private Insurance coverage under penalty of IRS inforced penalties.
His closest advisory Emanuel is a very strong supporter of Israel and holds dual citizenship there.
Obama had much support from people like George Lakoff to help form his campaign message. Democrats wanted a win over Bush so bad they would believe anything.
His grandmother was a very early woman Bank Executive, he went to select schools. His father was a Kenian Bureaucrat after he had worked for Oil Corporations. There is much more to support the kinder but gentler Corporate
This will be Obama's Smoot-Hawley bill as remembered in history.
btw look at what he did not do - with his support of the war effort all along - he did not investigate ANY look at the torture and terror issues Bush did.......none of them!
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I voted for Obama. That being said deficit trumps desire. These tax credits were supposed to be temporary and cannot be sustained in this economic climate. I am a homeowner and my husband is on unemployment and 4 years from retirement and Social security, but I am willing to forego tax credits and unemployment to tackle this deficit that will otherwise destroy this country. We will be owned by China, our children will be servants instead of leaders and our legacy will be one of greed and short-sighted stop gaps. I do not put unemployment or tax credits into my budget because I am not going to assume that someone wants to subsidize me and I do not really agree that subsidies work well. While I believe it is better to keep the middle class credits, it is not worth the deficit increase if they are attached to the rest of the compromise.
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I like your recognition of the deficit issue. Unfortunately, I don't think many of our legislative leaders in DC have the stomach for addressing it yet. Eventually, maybe, but I don't think we are quite there yet. The recent deficit committee wasn't exactly warmly received.
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You are absolutely correct Soggy. Why cant we find some people with some guts who care more abou tthis country than care abour their party.
Isnt that really it? Arent politicians suposed to care about this country and doing what is best for it and arent the names really jsut to be a generalization of what they think not their primary concern?
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I love my congressman Schrader!! His views are 100% in line with most of his constituents here in the 5th District!
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Especially true if you discount the over 48% of the voters in his district that didn't vote for him.
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A voice I find to be both credible and reliable on matters pertaining to the behavoir and effectiveness of Congress is American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Norman Ornstein. Ornstein's views on the performance of Congress over the past decade can be summed up succintly by comparing 2 works of his, one published in 2008 the other, an OpEd, published in January this year.
The first is a book analyzing the effectiveness of the GOP's run controlling the House & Senate. The book is titled, "The Broken Branch". In it, Ornstein and his colleague, Tom Mann, excotiate the GOP for the manner in which it ran the Congress within the walls of the Capitol and in the field among the districts and fund-raising.
http://tinyurl.com/2e7y6xt
Conversely, Ornstein's OpEd lauds the civility, effectiveness and responsiveness of the current Democratic Party led House & Senate.
http://tinyurl.com/ybp4kh3
As your guest said, at about 9:50a, Congress passed more legislation on to the President for his signature than any Congress in decades. Furthermore, the House passed nearly 200 additional bills which effectively died in the Senate - due in large part to the minority's unwavering use of obstructionist filibusters to quash legislation that had received more than 50 votes (a majority) in the Senate.
In closing, allow me to point-out that Mr Ornstein's employer, the American Enterprise Institute, is among the most conservative and high-profile policy think tanks influencing Washington's political classes.
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I am disgusted with the whole mess! There is not a single person who came from modest means sitting on Capitol Hill, representing the concerns of the middle class. I am sick of Career Politicians (Do you HEAR me, JOHN McCAIN?) sitting there saying that they will do things like vote for the repeal of DADT when the Joint Chiefs tell him it is a good idea to repeal, but then REPEATEDLY MOVES THE DAMN GOAL POSTS!
I would really appreciate it if anyone who is serving in Congress or The Senate or our State legislature who really does give a damn would call me and tell me how he or she is actually trying to help the middle class and the uncounted unemployed (not just the ones who are still drawing unemployment)!
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dont forget Nacy Plosi is a hell of a lot richer than McCain
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Sorry, frankj, your comments carry no credibility since you don't seem to be able to spell even the simplest of names, such as
"Nancy Pelosi."
Do everybody a favour and learn to spell so that your remarks do not look like random keystrokes.
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Obama was a good campaigner and organizer. I think he was caught by surprise that the president isn't as powerful as people believe. There are many interests (rich and powerful) that pull the president's strings.
The populace is naive to blame Obama for our woes. He inherited about four decades of previous bad governance. The Republicans seek to thwart Obama at every turn. The Democrats are fractious with little apparent leadership. The populace expects quick and easy solutions to complex and ingrained problems. All these components contribute to unmet expectations and failure.
We, the majority, allow the rich to become richer. By our action and inaction we allow the current system to deteriorate. Too many Americans don't vote, especially Democrats. That's not Obama's fault. Obama did not create this "race toward the bottom". Obama, lacking true leadership capability, continues to compromise with the overly conservative and short sighted.
But I'm still happy Obama is president. He was a far better choice than McCain and Palin. Obama's heart is good, he is intelligent and compassionate, he's making mistakes, but welcome to the challenge of governing the most challenging country on the planet.
Obama will be a one term president because the populace is too angry to understand they are shooting themselves in the foot with bad decisions. Good luck and prayers for America to rise out of this mess.
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You are correct when you say that it is our own fault for or lack of understanding the complexities of the issues and letting them get out of control for the last 40 or so years.
But is that because of conservativism? were we not all most all a lot more conservative for the the first 150 years and were we not much better off and did we not grow at a steady pase for the most part?
Dont tell me yeah but are you saying we should go back to having slaves. No of vourse not. but slaver wasnt a conservative thing.
It seems to me that most of these systemic isues come about from big Federal government. The founding fathers did not want no government they wanted local governemnt to be stronger so we could alll keep a better eye on it and avoid these kinds of issues.
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I like the local government focus also, but the only way that happens now is for our current model to implode. I just can't see supporting that. Consider where are revenue goes, for me personally, probably 4X the amount of money I pay to the state, goes to the Federal government. That situation would have to flip for a local government model to work. I don't see how we get there from where we are now.
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No, Frankj.
I shouldn't have used the word "conservatism" which has a specific meaning today. My choice of "conservative" was poor.
By "conservative" I mean lacking true imagination. Doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting things to keep working the same way or better. I'm talking about entrenched behavior that has created what appears to be a better world, but has crushed so many people and the environment on its path to so-called success.
We're confronted with catastrophic social, fiscal and environmental collapse because we felt we could do anything we wanted without consequences.
When I say "conservatism" I'm suggesting arrogant, simplistic, selfish behavior that benefits a handful. We've always needed a more holistic, disciplined and harmonious approach. That approach requires insight, education and sacrifice which we are loath to do now. We've become lazy riding the coattails of our predecessors.
Conservatism as it has been practiced in America has produced a mono culture. Mono cultures are subject to myriad diseases and dysfunction. We have produced one type of success at the expense of other alternatives.
We have compromised spiritual and intellectual development for material success. We've allowed many to suffer during a climb to success that has not been beneficial for many. Today we suffer blowback from the unintended consequences of partial success.
How do so many in America think they're middle class when they're actually poor? Many falsely believe they can attain the American Dream when they're being crushed by relentless oppressors. We then blame Obama, Big Gov'ment or some other convenient target for our woe. We drank the Kool-aid charismatic "leaders" offered us and we've been poisoned.
Our American way of life demands that we submit and behave. We are not free as I define the word. We can't go anywhere or say anything we want without repurcussions. We submit to authority rather than think and cooperate to make a better world.
We compete (fight for scraps) rather than cooperate (distribute resources equitably.) Please show me all the new jobs that have been created from the tax breaks given to the rich over the last decade. Need I say more?
Big government is but a metaphor for our problems. Examine deeply the behavior of Wall Street executives, millionaire politicians, influential lobbyists, and the rotation of leadership talent from government into the private sector and back into government.
Our system is built to benefit the few on the backs and at the expense of the many. There is no doubt in my mind about that.
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I did not vote for president Obama but when he was relected I was happy it was not Hillary so I was looking forward to what he might do.
I realy hate to say it but she may have been better or atleased not made me want to blow my head off.
It is proven that 80-90% of people find work within a month of their unemployment running out. seems rather coinsidental doesnt it. it isnt that people do not look they hold out for what they think is the best they can get. rather than taking what they can. So 99 week and now what 150 weeks of unemployment is rediculouse.
Stimulouse that did exactly what history predicted it would do, next to nothing. Oh wait no it got us deeper in debt.
I am tired of people saying tax the rich who the hell gave you the rite to take someone elses money? I am a maintenance guy I make $30,000 a year I can barely afford my house but I dont expect other people to pay may way. I may pay little in taxes but i will keep working and when I make more I will pay more in taxes and I will donate more than I do now to charaty as well. If I ever become rich I will be because I have worked hard and earned it. Like most other people inluding my parents who imigrated here for the opertunities this counry provided before there were so many regulation and government control.
I recently read an artical that said is someone tried to start Microsoft today it would be nearly imposible because of all the regulation. How is that going to help any of us?
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i distrust everything you write - one can't think that clearly if one cannot remember how to spell, nor remember to re-read for sense - I'm not such a prig about perfect spelling et c, but your errors are gross and indicative of an extreme mental laziness and sloppiness
furthermore- you have let yourself be mesmerized by a certain brand of talking head, and then you let loose with the words of others without the vaguest inkling of meaning or consequence- you have aligned yourself for no discernible reason other than to be a part of your crowd.
for 1 thing:
you don't understand the liberal/conservative divide, period. You are a parrot. for another, you have no idea of historic trends, nor their context. Hence, your predictive abilities are seriously flawed.
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Actually I my hought generally are my one and I have come to them mostly from studying history and their context. I am sure I am not correct about everything but you failed to correct anything I said which means either you cant or you or dont know what you are talking about.
Generally I like to information from as many oposing sources as I can and figure it out for my self.
As for my mispellings I one am at work and can not spend forever proofreading and two probably would only find half of them anyway since I struggle to write because of a learning disability.
Oh wait does that mean my opinion is not vallid or like another post I commented on further up the paig you must consider yourslef superior to those who dont pass standardized testing and therefore we must all be stupid? Maybe I should be placed in an asylum some where since I dont meat your standards? or maybe just a re-education camp?
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YES, only if it could be truly humane, to all your questions in the final paragraph.
there is no reason why those who cannot think clearly should be telling others what to do, when everything which comes out of their mouth is questionable.
On the other hand, perhaps you might have a pleasant singing voice. Try that. Or something else.
now go back to work, you are paid to be there, not paid to be listening to the radio and spending your employer's time on something which you clearly need to spend even more time on. Are you on break between 9-10 a.m. or what?
p.s., really, if one can't proofread, it indicates one might not be so able to revisit the consequences of their thoughts either. So, do yourself a favor, force yourself to proofread, and learn, not so much the rules of grammar, but the reasoning behind them - and for Santa's sake - spelling is NOT ALL THAT DIFFICULT - you're not even using words that big.
One more thing - gigo - garbage in,garbage out - have some care about what you read - if, for example, Glen Beck is heavy lifting for you and you find yourself agreeing to way too much, or even to way too little, consider, for example, R.L. Stevenson instead - even Winnie the Pooh, for example, might be comforting -and that, in many cases, is all that matters. Others are thinking for you now, and you are doing none of your own heavy lifting. It is doubtful this has a whit to do with a ‘learning disability’.
One really cannot have an opinion without giving quite a lot of deep thought to quite a bit. That means a lot of re-thinking, and this is essentially the same as re-reading, picking out the mistakes, and so forth ...
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chuckyeager75 said:
That's why the Koch corporation formed the tea party.The Tea Party is an authentic grassroots phenomenon kicked off by Rick Santelli's rant in February of 2009. To those who claim it's "astroturf" or fake or whatever, I can only quote one of my favorite political philosphers, Bob Dylan:
You’ve been with the professors
And they’ve all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have
Discussed lepers and crooks
You’ve been through all of
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books
You’re very well read
It’s well knownBut something is happening here
And you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones? -
I keep hearing people blame Obama for the economy and job situation. I just heard earlier while listening to 91.5 a man saying "the corporations are doing great but the jobs still aren't there." Has everybody forgotten about sweat shops? Corporations are doing great because they've left us behind, manufacture goods elsewhere, then sell them back to those of us who can still afford them. Meanwhile they are destroying the economy in order to put their competition out of business. The world is headed in an ugly direction and it's as if nobody can see the obvious problem. Bring the jobs home and we'll all have jobs again, the cost of goods will increase and thus so will pay, that means more money to be taxed and put to use... it's the only way to stop this. And if it's not stopped it will get far worse. The people need democracy.
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I am disappointed, but I will vote for Obama again. I believe he is a thoughful person, as in thinker, and in comparison to the other choice, he is the best we can hope for. I am completely disgusted with what the Republicans are doing and have done, sent this country into a depression. Tax breaks for the top 2% is unconscionable. Extension of unemployment insurance should not be held hostage when so many are out of work. Surely Obama could make a better deal?
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Penny From Eugene & lolo, you might want to go to a dictionary and study some of the meanings of the word 'pedant'.
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and you might be interested to learn about the term 'nitwit'
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THANKS! I needed that. lol Sometime this form of communication can seem a little detached.
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I do want to register that I value the comments of frankj as well as yours and lolos',(or is that lolo's?) hmmmm....
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There seems to be no connection with spelling and grammar to intelligence. [Read about Albert Einstein.] This is especially true when the language is not phonetic. Just like our school system, our language, (with its' many rules that have exceptions), short circuits a logical brain and favors those with an indiscriminate memory who might also have a weakness in visualizing logical relationships. It gives them great cover along with the illusion of superiority.
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there is at least somewhat more than a seemingly profound connection between the development of grammar and (development of) intelligence.
Read a history of our species, of which A.E. or any other exception was only one part.
visualizing/organizing relationships logically IS what grammar is. and this is why elementary school used to be called 'grammar school'. I am not all that much about finding value in the past which we should retreat to, though.
Quite a few exceptions do have something to contribute, but also quite a few don't.
I'm trying to be even-handed here.
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lolo, I agree mostly. My only reservation comes from seeing diverse people, that I have gleaned bits of truth from, discount each other as not worthy of contribution.
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Comments are now closed.
In 2008 with Obamamania, wise heads knew the Rock Star Charisma could not be sustained. It would burn too bright and then dim. It is impossible to be 100% angry or 100% enthusiatic for the long term.
Like long term relationships, moderate constant emotions are more sustainable for decades--not days or weeks of a fling. Now we are bound by a 4 year possibly 8 year bond. The same strategies that work for a sucessful marriage would work for a successful president.
If we want to be Greener, we should work on conserving our emotions as well as our energy. Sustainable is more than just Greenishness.