This statement needs to be retired

[ProSense]

I understand how Congress works. I know the benefits of bipartisanship. I understand compromise.

But this statement:

"We’re not going to get everything we want."

...needs to be fucking retired, or at the very least, stop hiding behind it to justify appeasing lunatics.

It is being used to justify nonsensical shit. Congress is supposed to work for the good of the people.

The people fucking object to the current political bullshit attempts to inflict pain on them to appease a bunch of whiny rich assholes.



Bipartisanship is not an excuse for abandoning common sense, and compromise is not about meeting crazy half way.

[gollygee]

1. What would they cave on if they'd just won the election?

That's the question.

[GObamaGO]

27. The GOP would not cave on anything.

If they won the election, they would ramrod through all the legislation they want.

[closeupready]

2. Amen. They should be talking about expanding social security and medicare,

raising revenues for them. K&R

[Scuba]

3. +1,000

[daleanime]

4. I could not agree more....

[el_bryanto]

5. You are right, but also wrong

You are talking about the sort of congress we should have; instead we have at least half the house working on half baked social darwinism mixed with apocolyptic religious nonsense (I am religious myself, but focusing on the end of the world as a justification for selfish nonsense is not ideal).

The truth is that the people in the states that sent those bastards to congress should vote in new people. They shouldn't want such crazy asshole policies. Unfortunately, they do. And so while we should be talking about expanding medicare and social security, restitching the safety net, unemployment insurance, strengthening unions, protecting the little guy and so on and so forth, it appears that half the country doesn't want that. They want the opposite. And as long as we share the country with them, we will end up having to negotiate with them.

Which means we won't get everything we want.

Bryant

[AgingAmerican]

8. All Obama has to do is let the tax cuts expire

We have had what the losing side wants shoved down our throats since 2001. It's our turn. If we refuse to negotiate, they will cave. They have been holding a gun to America's head every since Obama was elected. "Give us what we want or we kill the hostage".

THEY LOST! Screw em.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Thank you.

[Fumesucker]

7. What percentage of billionaires do you think agree with your graphic above?

Because those are the people to whom the politicians actually listen.

[arjazz]

9. 84 (EIGHTY-FOUR) PER CENT!!!

[progressoid]

10. What the hell?

Why do I find myself wanting to rec Prosense threads? Mostly for the righteous outrage.

But, while I agree with the sentiment, I'm so used to not getting what I want, my expectations are rather low lately.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. Republicans are cementing their position as the Party people hate....

I say,...let them.

[sabrina 1]

12. Actually it was the Republicans who turned the offer that included cutting SS.

So it could turn out that they will use that to position themselves as the Party of the People.

All the Democrats have to do to stop that is to remove the Chained CPI or anything else that has to do with SS which has zero to do with the deficit, off the table.

Then let the Bush Tax expire and make the wealthy finally starting 'sharing the sacrifice'.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. I'm sick of hearing about "The Bush Tax Cuts" anyway....

....the damn media acts like it was his greatest legacy.

Let's ignore lying us into a war for fun and profit, ignore a "Clear Skies" initiative that made the skies dirtier, ignore a "Healthy Forest" initiative that cuts down forests. Ignore promoting torture not as a crime but a "Policy choice".

Let's all remember him with our GREED.

[plethoro]

18. Did you mean "turned down" the offer....? If you

did, then yes I agree. And this is really important, like a hidden text thingy.

[Chemisse]

13. Why not? The Republicans got everything they wanted in Obama's first term.

[pscot]

14. And yet, I can hear the President's voice saying these very words.

[FlyByNight]

16. Hear, hear!

Compromise is all well and good when the other side is acting in good faith. However, when the fuck have the Rs EVER acted in good faith, about ANYTHING lately?

Will someone please remind President Obama that he WON the goddamned election?

[valerief]

17. + a gazillion trillion times

[coldbeer]

19. Good job Prosense!

"We’re not going to get everything we want."

...needs to be fucking retired,

I'm so embarassed .... I was buying it! (not thinking well)

Your comment will be forever with me! THANKS.

[libdem4life]

20. Agreed but the Republicans out-foxed us in 2010 with their energy and foaming at the mouth Tea Party

and it will be years before we can correct the shameless gerrymandering they did...because Democrats stayed home. The shine had worn off. Somehow the Rs got their imperfect message out successfully and tromped us.

However bruised our political egos, 2014 is the year to pull out all of the stops...NO MATTER WHAT. This is not to re-elect Obama. It is to give him a real mandate...he doesn't have a political veto-proof mandate in the Senate numbers, current filibuster rules and Blue Dogs aside. We need to work hard to give him/us a fighting chance in the House.

It is true, that he needs more help from the party so as to depend less on bipartisanship...which he now pretty much has to do as per the numbers. His background was a Community Organizer...way different than the Republican and some Democratic attack dogs we're used to. We were all drawn, just like the kids we've seen in photos. He just doesn't do "slice and dice" that well.

I also do not doubt that his ethnic race has added to the roadblocks put up not only by the Republicans, but the DC Beltway...the Bureaucracy. As poor Karl Rove so vividly showed us on FOX, they were bumfuzzled and disoriented...and had lied even to themselves.

The Tea Party is grousing, as well, and the far right WILL turn on their moderates...and stay home. They don't do "hold your nose" as well as the Dems. That being said, this is absolutely the worst time to go moaning that we didn't get this or that...everyone here already knows that. And I agree with most that is said unfortunately, but cannot allow myself the luxury of victimhood.

Now is the time to pull the party back to the left...that's what the TP did to us...a hard right turn...Obama is not entirely to blame. They got their wackos elected. ESO.

If we spent at least equal time spreading around the names and states and potential 2014 pickups or incumbents in close races...focus on them...Every DUer should know which races, which states, etc. and start now. I think that perhaps why they won...they got in lockstep...they believed deep down.

I ask myself...as the gun debate now finally has a bully pulpit...and I'll bet it will end up at the Supreme Courts. Imagine this just this nightmare.

The strength and commitment and midterm results of the Democratic party will determine how far left Obama can go with his nomination candidate.

"In its first five years, the Roberts court issued conservative decisions 58 percent of the time. And in the term ending a year ago, the rate rose to 65 percent, the highest number in any year since at least 1953.

Asked if the replacement of Chief Justice Rehnquist by Chief Justice Roberts had moved the court to the right, he did not hesitate. “Oh, yes,” Justice Stevens said.".


There's an old sports phrase that goes like this, when not mortally injured, "Just play through the pain."


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/us/25roberts.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[Liberal1975]

21. 84

That's the number that should really tell us something.

Benefits will be cut and both sides will blame the other when it comes time to confront their base.

The fact that 84 percent of the population supports Social Security SO strongly should let everyone in America know (and I mean everyone) once and for all that our politicians don't work for us.

They govern for themselves and for the Corporations that fund them. If a number like 84 percent can have so little impact on this opera of bullshit called the "Fiscal Cliff" then what other conclusion is there?

If our elected politicians can wipe their ass so nonchalantly with what basically amounts to a unanimous opinion among the people, then WTF?

As a country we can't agree on what the color of the sky is but we all agree that we don't want our Social Security cut.

Does this miraculous unanimity among the electorate produce some kind of self reflection from our millionaire politicians and pundits?

But of course not! Politicians have to make the "hard" decisions, and pundits need to discuss the need for these "hard" decisions.

What about Us, the American people?

Well we are just here to pay for the bill and clean up after the party, a party we were never invited to. You know, like good little peasents. Awesome.

[ProSense]

22. Yup, it's huge.

Welcome to DU.

This is not a case of an uninformed citizenry making a bad call based on disinformation. It happens.

The facts are out there. Everyone knows that Social Security is not a deficit driver. Americans know that seniors are struggling. They know we pay into it and it's a guaranteed benefit that shouldn't be subject to political whim. Based on the facts, Americans have said: Leave Social Security alone.

And stop trying to sell pain.

<...>

The current effort has the spirit of using statistics for political ends, for example by refusing to have BLS produce a full elderly CPI so we would actually know the inflation rate experienced by the elderly. There also has been some discussion of leaving some programs, such as Supplemental Security Income, tied to the current CPI so as not to hurt a seriously disadvantaged population.

Congress can decide the benefit formula for these programs as it chooses. The honest way to cut benefits is for Congress to explicitly vote to cut benefits, not to try to hide a cut behind a statistical manipulation. This is the sort of behavior that encourages public contempt for politicians and the political process.

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/thoughts-on-the-chained-cpi-social-security-and-the-budget

[Liberal1975]

25. Thanks

For the welcome.

I wonder what else would poll at 84 percent, apple pie? The American flag? Ice Cream? The Constitution?

Social Security works. TeaBaggers have grandparents and parents too. Social Security is a part of all our lives. It's decimation affects all of us personally.

We don't even need to talk about how immoral it is for a society to throw old people under the bus as some sort of generic principle (even though obviously it is immoral and no one should want to live in a country like that)

We can all pick up the phone and call a relative or a friend who depends on this program to live. The fact that this program can even be brought to the table despite that level of support is really disheartening.

If politicians aren't afraid to mess with Social Security then nothing the middle class depends on is safe, from either side.
I don't know what other conclusion we can reach.

[Autumn]

23. Sneaking in to give this post a rec

WOW

[indepat]

24. Dems have consistently been meeting crazy well more than half way for more

than three decades and the appalling results thereby are ubiquitous as a stark reminder. Government either promotes the general welfare or sells out to the specific welfare of special interests.

[patrice]

26. Who wants to "appease a bunch of whiny rich assholes"? Do we need permission to speculate

about possible deals?

[donheld]

28. So I gather you no longer follow Obama blindly?

[ProSense]

29. Obviously, you are full of yourself.

Don't confuse you agreeing with me as something about me that changed. My opinions make sense.

In fact, it's likely you just realized it.

It really was idiotic to yell kill the bill on health care reform, and what it lacks doesn't make it bad. It simply means it didn't go far enough.

Krugman on defending health care reform versus chained CPI
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022037724

[msanthrope]

30. She, and the rest of us never did. We know that this fight means we get off our asses and start

calling Congress. Congress. Not just complaining on an Internet Board.

Our President is ONE branch of government. It's time to make the other 2 work for us.