Obama Grasping Centrist Banner in Debt Impasse

[groovedaddy]

(As has been so often pointed out here at DU, today's centrists are to the right of Dick Nixon. gd)

WASHINGTON — President Obama made no apparent headway on Monday in his attempt to forge a crisis-averting budget deal, but he put on full display his effort to position himself as a pragmatic centrist willing to confront both parties and address intractable problems.

At a news conference preceding the latest round of debt-reduction talks with Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders, Mr. Obama said he would not accept a temporary agreement to kick the problem down the road a few weeks or months.

He said that he was willing to take the heat from his own party to move beyond entrenched ideological positions and that Republicans should do the same. And he continued to insist on “the biggest deal possible,” saying that now is the best opportunity for the nation to address its long-term fiscal challenges.

Republicans dismissed his performance as political theater. But Mr. Obama’s remarks appeared to be aimed at independent voters as well as at Congressional leaders, and stood in contrast to the Republican focus on the party’s conservative base, both in the budget showdown and in presidential politics.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/us/politics/12obama.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. Jesus. This is making me sick to my stomach. nt

[sasha031]

2. heard today on Bill Press

after the press conference yesterday,the WH was polling independents in the midwest.

[CrossChris]

3. I've known Obama would "pick a fight" with the left in '11 to impress centrists. I didn't think he'd

dismantle the New Deal in order to claim this kind of cred.

[bvar22]

4. Moving ever to The RIGHT.

CENTRISM...because it is so EASY!
You don't have to STAND for ANYTHING,
and get to insult those who do!!!
:party:




Who will STAND and FIGHT for THIS American Majority?
You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

[center rising]

6. Ahh yes, attacking centrism is easy

Progressive are trying to find the boogeyman, and since Obama is going soft on you, centrism is now the root of all evil

Problem is, your attacking the wrong people.

[bvar22]

7. Centrism is great...

...it you're (not "your") a 1/2 Republican.

I'm ALL mainstream FDR/LBJ Democrat,
and I'm going to stay that way.


"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone

[center rising]

8. Liberals are only a third of the country

Centrism accounts for about 40% We decide elections. Can you as a progressive say the same??

[bvar22]

10. You can SAY all you want to,

but I will SHOW you where the "Center" is:


Here is what the MAJORITY of Americans (Democrats AND Republicans) want from OUR government!

In recent polls 2005!!! by the Pew Research Group, the Opinion Research Corporation, the Wall Street Journal, and CBS News, the American majority has made clear how it feels. Look at how the majority feels about some of the issues that you'd think would be gospel to a real Democratic Party:

1. 65 percent (of ALL Americans, Democrats AND Republicans) say the government should guarantee health insurance for everyone -- even if it means raising taxes.

2. 86 percent favor raising the minimum wage (including 79 percent of selfdescribed "social conservatives").

3. 60 percent favor repealing either all of Bush's tax cuts or at least those cuts that went to the rich.

4. 66 percent would reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.

5. 77 percent believe the country should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment.

6. 87 percent think big oil corporations are gouging consumers, and 80 percent (including 76 percent of Republicans) would support a windfall profits tax on the oil giants if the revenues went for more research on alternative fuels.

7. 69 percent agree that corporate offshoring of jobs is bad for the U.S. economy (78 percent of "disaffected" voters think this), and only 22% believe offshoring is good because "it keeps costs down."

http://alternet.org/story/29788/

8. Over 63% oppose the War on the Iraqi People.

9. 92% of ALL Americans support TRANSPARENT, VERIFIABLE elections!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x446445

The numbers are even better today.


So WHY does neither party represent these values? :shrug:

Because there are too many suckers in America who vote for a LABEL or a pretty POLITICIAN
instead of the ISSUES. They're called "Centrists".
...Afraid to Take a STAND.


"The only thing in the Middle of the Road
are Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos."--Jim Hightower

[libmom74]

9. Please tell me what

centrists stand for, because for the life of me I can't figure it out.

[mzmolly]

5. "Republicans dismissed his performance as political theater."

I hope they're correct.

[swilton]

11. Centrist????