WillTwain
WillTwain's JournalPres. Obama Unleashes Pro-TPP Media Blitz Reminiscent of His "Raise The Minimum Wage" Campaign
Sarcasm
While on MSNBC's Hardball, surrounded by small business free-traders, president Obama's hour-long infomercial tried to sell the TPP. I loved the follow-up interview was with Harold (I drive a Beemer not a ) Ford.
Amazingly, he brought up other policies he is "pushing," like minimum wage and affordable college. Somehow, I missed the blitzkrieg for minimum wage, affordable college and single-payer.
His recent attention to free college looks like a shiny object to play with lefties.
Cynical? Yes.
Hillary, TPP: The Grand Scheme
The neo-liberals hope to fast-track and pass the TPP while team mate Hillary dodges the issue. In due time, they will pass the power baton from Barack to Hillary. Though, before she gains power, the bill will have become law, she will be safe to speak out against the TPP.
If she blasts the Trans Pacific Partnership now, it throws a wrench in everything - politicians will be forced to follow her lead, voters will line up with her and the TPP will be in trouble. If she supports the trade agreement, she loses much of her base.
Half the reason the TPP is being fast-tracked at this moment is to get this off the table for Hillary's presidential run in 2016. Hillary has the lead in this game and is trying to run out the clock. She will ditch saying anything substantive until the game is over and will avoid this issue like its a Chipotle surveillance camera.
Even After TPP, Some Stand By Their man
"You'll have bad times, and he'll have good times
Doin' things that you don't understand"
Sometimes it's hard to be a woman
Giving all your love to just one man
You'll have bad times, and he'll have good times
Doin' things that you don't understand
But if you love him, you'll forgive him
Even though he's hard to understand
And if you love him, oh be proud of him
'Cause after all he's just a man.
Stand by your man, give him two arms to cling to
And something warm to come to
When nights are cold and lonely.
Stand by your man, and show the world you love him
Keep giving all the love you can.
Stand by your man.
Stand by your man, and show the world you love him
Keep giving all the love you can.
Stand by your man.
Obama Levels Cheap Shot At Unions - Again
Oops, he did it again.
Fielding a question about TPP today, the President could not resist taking a pot shot at unions. in describing the opposition coming from within his party, he said wryly regarding unions, they are always against trade.
What a cheap shot. Unions are not against trade, they are against unfair trade. The president knows better than to demean union's sentiments on trade. These guys are experts on the economy and understand trade and its effects better than anybody. He would never talk to any other group in the party with such disdain. They have an interest like every other group in the Democratic party.
It would be like saying, women, well they just always complain about equal pay. And some folks, well they just always complain about racism or bigotry. He is calling out labor as complainers when they are concerned about American jobs being lost. Hello, they are called LABOR for a reason. Their sole purpose is American jobs.
Who should we trust on the TPP, the guys with their livelihoods at stake or the guy speaking for Paul Ryan and big business?
http://wegoted.com/shows/hillary-clinton-breaks-silence-on-tpp/
Wall Street’s Hillary Problem: She Is Becoming A Thorn In Their Side
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000371999
The video from CNBC’s Squawk Box segment is one of the first indications of the fight Hillary is engaging with Wall Street. Squawk Box is a morning show on CNBC that basically runs interference for Wall Street - sort of a smarter version of Fox And Friends.
The show is hosted by Joe (The Feudalist) Kernan, a paid shill for the wolves of Wall Street. He is arrogant, bombastic and huge fan of the free markets and a “meritocracy.” I have been watching this guy for 15 years, we have had our battles in fact.
Never have I seen Kernan look so out of sorts. Hillary has been using the language of Elizabeth Warren and the shills are not sure how to handle it. The odds on favorite to win the White House has put the salesmen of the 1 percent back on their heels. Kernan is calling for her to drop the class warfare rhetoric and calls it all crap anyway. He is all smarmy about using language of unity that will bring us all together, no more finger pointing from Hillary about CEO pay. Hillary blind-sided them.
This is still heating up. Certainly, Wall Street is screaming at her people about her populist rhetoric. Will she cave to their pressure? This could get interesting.
Obama's Biggest Flaw
He is too mentally stable.
Great leaders need some level of neurosis. At the very least. a great leader needs to be obsessive compulsive or simply enjoy a good fight. FDR had a chip on his shoulder about the elitists he grew up with. He loved to see them squirm.
Bernie is OCD about the middle-class, Warren is obsessed with economic fairness, Reagan was obsessed with the grandeur of feudalism. George W. Bush was obsessed with crayons and Condoleezza Rice.
Barack is a level headed man of reason. How the hell did we ever fall for that? Obama is one hell of a solid guy and this is not good.
The second flaw he had was his belief that there is good in all men, that both parties were fighting for the common good. This misjudgment led him to squander his first two years in office. Obama is the perfect friend, son, husband and father. This does not always make a great president.
After Hillary Announcement: AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Still Looking At All Candidates
Following Hillary Clinton's announcement, big labor issued a statement saying they are still looking at all the options and need to hear more from Hillary. Although they praise Hillary, they are far from endorsing her.
Labor is playing it smart this time. The only thing that can get in her way from gaining the White House is labor endorsing someone like Bernie Sanders. If labor pulls their money and vast election machine from democrats, she will be in trouble. Labor is using its leverage for the first time in many years.
The following is from the AFL-CIO site:
Secretary Clinton has a long and distinguished career in public service, and has been an inspiration for tens of millions of women in America and around the globe.
We hope her candidacy will contribute to the critical debate in our country over how to raise wages.
We applaud Secretary Clinton’s decision to begin her campaign by going directly to voters and listening to them first. We urge all presidential candidates, in both parties, to follow her lead. We believe she, and they, will hear an urgent need to raise wages in America, and an equally urgent need to reject corporate-driven agendas that produce everything from tax breaks for the wealthy to destructive trade agreements.
Working people want to hear Secretary Clinton's ideas on how to create a Raising Wages America. We look forward to a long and vibrant national discussion with all presidential candidates, about how to solve the problems of income inequality and improve the lives of every working person in our great country.
Ironic: Reaganomics Believer Marco Rubio Indirectly Praises FDR And Socialism In Announcement Speech
Marco Rubio's announcement speech clearly proclaimed his father's love of Franklin Delano Roosevelt not Ronald Reagan.
In Marco's speech, he repeated his often told story of his parents, seeking a better life for the family, and their move to the land of opportunity - Socialist America.
In 1956, the Rubios arrived in what was rapidly becoming a utopian paradise. College was often free, minimum wage was a living wage, health care was paid for in full by employers thanks to a 34% unionization rate, art and science were flourishing due to government investment in nature and beauty, Eisenhower signed legislation to build out a national infrastructure which employed millions with high paying union jobs. Life was good - even for Cuban immigrants.
The right-wingers timed it perfectly. They would use then abuse the socialist system that gave them the opportunity to be safe and secure, so they could eventually stab liberals in the back.
What a beautiful all-American story.
Hillary Rollout Flips The Bird To Unions - More Of The Same Can Be expected For Rich Vs. Rest
If Hillary's initial ad is any indication of where her interests are, the death spiral the middle-class is in will continue.
She presented a comprehensive list of every group within the Democratic party. She hit them all, even our pets, but absent was big labor. Not a single tip of the hat to unions was in the ad. The only group that can break Wall Street and the Walmarting of America were excluded from her platform. A group that has been loyal to Democrats to a fault appears to be no longer included in the future of the Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) party.
This is a dire indication of how serious Hillary is about tackling the biggest challenge of our time - wealth inequality. If she does not clear up this "oversight" fast, proceed with caution.
The following is a DU piece posted a few weeks back. It looks more accurate today than ever:
Hillary could be the final nail in the middle-class coffin.
Her plan: She is testing her popularity with women and minorities. If she feels social issues can get her elected, she will ignore labor other than some patronizing blather. She is testing her support now, if she calculates it is strong enough and feels she can win without labor, unions will be deftly brushed aside. If this works out for her, she can win the election and not make promises to the economic-minded left - dooming the middle-class.
What many need to realize is the Republicans and New Democrats (Third Way) have the same economic goal in mind - recreate the U.S. with a tiny middle-class. Social issues are decoys used to fight for and decide who gains the White House. This explains why social issues are moving forward while labor issues are going backward.
The bottom line is Paul Ryan (Milton Friedman disciple) is pushing devastating policy for the working classes. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, advancing policy for the democrats is Larry Summers. There is very little daylight between these two multi-nationalists. They both view the middle-class as an inefficient relic from a bygone past with huge legacy issues. They aim to correct this "problem" by slashing wages, Social Security, Medicare, etc. What about infrastructure spending? Hell no, that would assume the U.S. has a future. They view a strong middle-class as a major mistake, an historic aberration that needs to be returned to its rightful place. Remember, neo-liberals and neo-cons believe in Thomas Friedman's the flat earth philosophy - we must level the global playing field. In other words, Americans make too much money. That said, we have not hit bottom, yet.
In ten years the cake will be baked. Members of the “extreme left” will gain no satisfaction in saying, “We told you so.”
Yo Hillary: I have a plan for you that will guarantee your address from 2016-2024.
Everybody hates taxes. People vote on that single issue. How about cutting federal taxes on the 99 percent by 50 percent (25-50 percent may be fine). The reduction in revenue can be rescued by raising taxes on the 1 percent and corporate America. The rich in America pay the lowest tax rates of all advanced countries.
This can be easily implemented at tax time. Whatever your taxes are determined to be, you simply divide it by two. Add one simple line on the tax forms and it is complete - nothing complicated. This will help the working class the most as most of the poor pay no federal taxes already - another benefit in selling the idea.
Nearly everybody gets a raise, the rich get a haircut and you breeze into the White House. With a single move you can begin to close the wealth gap and attract millions of voters, guaranteeing your place in history.
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