Obama to Press Centrist Agenda in His Address

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Obama will outline an agenda for “winning the future” in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, striking a theme of national unity and renewal, as he stresses the need for both government spending in key areas and an attack on the budget deficit.

Mr. Obama previewed the themes in a video e-mailed on Saturday evening to Democratic activists who had helped in his election campaign, mostly liberals. But the video made plain that his speech would be geared more broadly toward the political center, to independent voters and business owners and executives alienated by the expansion of government and the partisan legislative fights of the past two years.

“My number one focus,” he said, “is going to be making sure that we are competitive, and we are creating jobs not just now but well into the future.”

Advisers said the president would describe five “pillars” for ensuring America’s competitiveness and economic growth: innovation, education, infrastructure, deficit reduction and reforming government.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/us/politics/23obama.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

[high density]

1. More outsourcing and more offshoring of jobs, and tax cuts for the rich

Yay, Go America! We are number 1!!! U S A U S A U S A

[defendandprotect]

21. +1 --

[QC]

2. He would have to move sharply left to be in the center at this point. n/t

[Psephos]

13. +10 n/t

[bowens43]

16. I agree completely.

Obama is easily the biggest political disappoint I have had in the 34 years that I have been voting.

[on point]

17. Agreed. That is EXACTLY the problem the media doesn't get!!

[ronnie624]

25. Media companies do indeed get it.

They are owned mostly by corporations that benefit from our government's policies. Everything you see on MSM is designed to manage American perceptions of the world, promote a particular world view and manufacture consent for our government's conduct.

[defendandprotect]

26. +1000% --

[defendandprotect]

22. +1000% --

exactly -- we now have one far right party and one radical right party --

anyone in the center of that is on the right!

[grahamhgreen]

38. +1

[Raine]

61. Yup ... Exactly! nt

[kysrsoze]

3. Oh, so that must mean he's going to take a hard left?

It's the Corporate Sycophant in Chief.

[frebrd]

4. I wasn't this disgusted ....

even when Bush was selected.

:puke:

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. Come to think of it, neither was I.

Mind if I join you? :puke:

[emilyg]

9. Got room for me?

[defendandprotect]

23. +1 --

[PSPS]

5. "deficit reduction"

Advisers said the president would describe five “pillars” for ensuring America’s competitiveness and economic growth: innovation, education, infrastructure, deficit reduction and reforming government.

Sounds like more empty speechifying to me.

I suspect "deficit reduction" means dismantling social programs like social security. "Reforming government" probably means even less regulation of corporations and wall street banksters. The rest is already meaningless since it would involve having to tax the rich, and we can't have any of that.

[primavera]

7. Perhaps he's read the writing on the wall...

... and realized that, having sold out his own party, Dems won't be turning out in droves to support him in the next election, so he'd better recruit the center or else no one will vote for him.

[msongs]

8. we can wait and see. a left turn towards the center would be change we can believe in lol nt

[girl gone mad]

10. That would be an idiotic gamble.

All the Republicans will have to do is run someone who isn't a lunatic and they'll win big.

[humbled_opinion]

43. EXACTLY .....

but there isn't a single Pube that can get the nomination without the Teabaggers support and as soon as you get the teabags in your corner you have effectively gone off the reservation as to anything centrist and therefore are unable to pull the independents.... So to your point the Pukes will nominate a loon and Obama will win in a landslide.

[humbled_opinion]

42. LOL....

His poll numbers are going way up, I think after this SOTU speech he will be at around 55 percent approval.... It doesn't matter what the professional left think about him you will be given a choice between Obama and (####any Repuke).... You will pick Obama even if you do it while holding your nose and he will deliver exactly what the GOP tells him to deliver and we will live with the consequences for another generation....

[primavera]

51. Actually, I'll probably do a write in for Kucinich

At this point, it makes no substantive difference whether Obama wins another term or a Repuke does, so I won't let myself be bullied into voting for him, unless the alternative is someone truly ghastly like Glen Beck.

[corpseratemedia]

11. all those small business owners who didn't go out of business in the last two years..

the magical mystical "center" Wall Street Far Fiscal Right ..intent on destroying "entitlements"

[bread_and_roses]

12. I guess that means he'll ignore what the public wants again

... since the public consistently shows a preference for "un-centrist" policies like taxing the rich and corporations at fair rates, etc etc etc - in other words, "un-centrist" only because the Corporate/Oligarch 1% - and their hanger on wannabees - don't want them policies. Making plain again that the only "votes that count" are in $$.

[alp227]

18. centrism might've worked in '96 but probably not 2012 i guess.

Do you realistically believe that a liberal Obama would survive a Republican House and narrowly Democratic Senate?

[defendandprotect]

24. +1 -

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

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

[bertman]

15. This business owner is sick and tired of President Obama sucking up to

the Chamber of Commerce. It's time to act like Democrats, not Centrists (which really means Republican-lite) and work for the interests of the American workers who are taking a fuck of a beating from Corporations who are making record profits sending their factories overseas. This is pure NAFTA love and it's sucking the lifeblood out of this nation.

Shame on you, Mr. President. We want a DEMOCRAT not a Republican-lite "Centrist".


I really love the part about the whole nation working together to move forward. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Haven't I heard that somewhere before, like for the last two years. You offered your hand to them, President Obama, and they tried to bite it off. Grow a pair, sir.

[Hardrada]

19. Sometimes one is embarrassed to be a member of the same species.

I felt that way with Shrub too. And Reagan.

[Tx4obama]

20. I am really getting sick and tired of ....

I am really getting sick and tired of the Obama aides letting folks know what Obama's speeches are going to be about before he gives them. It gives the talking heads on TV too much time to bash Obama even before he gives the speeches.
I think they shouldn't give any clues beforehand and then we would all sit in front of the TV and listen more carefully and would have the opportunity to be surprised by what he has to say!
Just my opinion ;)

[Hoyt]

27. I too would like to listen to his speech . . . . . before deciding it's more proof of a sellout.

[cstanleytech]

28. I am really getting tired of this beating of a dead horse people

Some of you here (and I apologize in advance) need to grow up and face the reality that the president no matter who he is usually has to work with people of the opposing party to get stuff done.
Now I am not saying I myself am not disappointed with some of the decisions Obama has made or some of the comprises he has made with the republicans and I think he should have stood up to them more on some issues but what I am saying is I have learned that you have to sometimes comprise to get stuff done or nothing will get done if no one will comprise.

edit: Oh and before the with the complaints starts of we shouldnt have voted for him or such I will remind you our choices at the time were limited to him or to a McCain/Palin ticket and as much as some of you like to bash and trash Obama I personally believe still that a McCain/Palin presidency would have been far.....farrrrrrrrr worse so keep that in mind.

[EFerrari]

29. I don't see anyone upset that Obama works with the opposition;

it's more that he does their work for them that earns him criticism.

[ixion]

31. Which is why our government continually moves to the right.

Dem presidents 'work with' the GOP, and then when the GOP is in power they shift the focus to the right under the guise of a 'mandate', etc.

And ever rightward we go. The top 1% thanks you for your support.

[quaker bill]

32. Government moves to the right

because that is who we elect to run it. There never was a left-of-center majority, and hasn't been one since the early 60s. We get what we vote for.

If you want leftward movement, it must become true that any move toward the right causes your poll numbers to fall and your chances to be re-elected decrease. As it is, moves to the center or center right cause poll numbers to rise and assure re-election. We get what we will vote for.

[ixion]

33. "We get who we vote for" is a Red Herring. We 'get' who the top 1% want us to get.

and anyone who doesn't fit that narrowly-defined parameter is summarily removed from the narrative via character assassination (or worse), or by the MSM simply ignoring them. Either way, these populist ideas are removed from the status-quo narrative. Hence, we 'vote' for a consistently corrupt list of people.

[quaker bill]

58. We vote for Dan Webster over Alan Grayson

Your premise is faulty. We actually elect many RW idiots to lots of positions that the 1% could not give a flip about.

[grahamhgreen]

40. No, Obama was NOT ELECTED because he was the right wing candidate - that was McCain/Palin.

[quaker bill]

59. True, but the teahadiists were elected

because they were the angry far right, and many challengers lost to them because they were not angry enough. If you face facts, President Obama was elected because he was the precise opposite of GW Bush. He was a Democrat, not a Republican, he was clearly smart, and Bush wasn't, he was eloquent, and Bush wasn't, he had a vision, and Bush didn't, he was apparently stable, and Bush wasn't.

People misread elections all the time. They think their ideology won. If ideology wins elections, then John Kerry was President in 2004. President Obama projected an image of cool competence and intellect, John McCain projected cluelessness and irritability. Elections are about image, not ideology.

Teahadists have no ideas, but their image of angry revolt appealed. Upon winning, like most politicians they believe their ideas won. This will be their downfall.

This is why I placed bets that Obama would win the nomination and then the general election by 5 to 7 percent, before the Iowa Caucus. It is image. Any other notion is simply confusion.

[cstanleytech]

35. I respectfully disagree

because we do advance its just not as fast as many of us probably want.

[ixion]

50. Despite some token advances, nothing significant has happened since the 60's

And overall, the general 'bent' of government has moved significantly rightward, starting with the so-called 'Regan Democrats' and moving on from there.

[cstanleytech]

53. Advances throughout history take time

for example it took us thousands of years to get to our current technical level and that only really started up in the 18th century then there is the whole issue with how long it took to implement laws abolishing segregation yet slavery in our country had been abolished fully in our nation after the civil war.
Now it would be great if things like DADT being abolished as well as equal rights to gay couples happened faster but things like this do not happen overnight, it takes time for the public to accept them but once they do then we advance on to the next thing to make our nation better for everyone.

[nyy1998]

34. Agreed!

[grahamhgreen]

39. He is working FOR the other party, not WITH them.

[alp227]

49. so i guess he wants the "professional left" off his back through this speech? n/t

[ixion]

30. Centrist my arse. Corporatist is more accurate.

I'm sad to say.

[dmosh42]

36. Yes, very accurate! n/t

[grahamhgreen]

37. Translation = hard right agenda

[Still a Democrat]

41. So liberals oppose innovation, education, infrastructure, deficit reduction & reforming government?

Not this liberal.

[humbled_opinion]

45. Don't be fooled...

In case you haven't been paying attention the attack on entitlements, labor unions, community outreach programs and Lawyers, is just about to start..... The right will demand Social Security privitization, a new healthcare reform that privitizes (destroys) medicare and gives massive tax breaks to corporations ..... Unions contracts will be voided, pensions and benefits removed or pared down all in the name of giving more control and power to the corporations....

[Still a Democrat]

46. Relax

The right has been making noise about privatizing SS and Medicare for a long time. Not sure where you're getting the stuff about union contracts being voided.

[humbled_opinion]

55. WAKE UP ITS ALL AROUND YOU....

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/01/war-against-public-sector-unions#

http://blogs.forbes.com/danielfisher/2011/01/21/bondholders-unions-in-high-stakes-battle-over-state-bankruptcy/?boxes=businesschannelsections

[humbled_opinion]

57. Next up they will be calling for

End of all foreign aide, closure and defunding of the UN, end of unions, privitize Social Security, Privitize Medicare, cutting all social programs, and a tax code rewrite that targets the middle and lower income levels with no more tax credits and straight percentage tax rates. I can't believe even some Democrats have fallen for this bogus claim that this is what the last election was about.

[purrFect]

44. if that were true, i would expect a leftward shift, however i bet we will continue right

bet

[Better Believe It]

47. And that would be the Republican centrist agenda .... right?

Which is a bit more "liberal" than the "tea party" Republican faction agenda and easier to swallow by the public .... so they hope.

[FLPanhandle]

48. He was a centrist when he got elected

I'm still stunned that people are surprised that Obama is/was/will always be a centrist.

[brentspeak]

54. FDR was a centrist. Truman was a centrist. Ike and JFK were centrists

But they might as well have been far-left radicals compared to today's corporate-sponsored "centrists".

[sarcasmo]

52. Pissed off that my vote went for a centrist.

[4dsc]

56. Looks more like GOP talking points to me

SO you don't have to wonder why I'll be sitting out the 2012 elections.

[StarsInHerHair]

60. the center will be America's undoing

nt

[Raine]

62. All Right!!! Then he's moving to the Left, because that's the only way to

get to the middle from the right where he is now! :bounce:


Of course sadly I don't really believe that's what he means at all. If anything he'll be going even further right. :-(