Just curious, but why didn't our Democratic President, with the backing of the Democratic Senate...

[Scuba]

...start the budget negotiations somewhere right about here.....


Spread the tax burden fairly across the economic spectrum, with those benefiting most from our society contributing commensurately.

Raise the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour to ensure a reasonable standard of living for all working families and to stimulate our sluggish economy.

Lift the cap on Social Security and implement an across-the-board COLA after years of not having one.

Medicare for All so no American is denied care or has to suffer financial hardship because of health problems, and no American businesses are saddled with health costs that keep them from competing fairly with foreign competitors.

A social services a “safety net” to guarantee every citizen is provided the food and shelter necessary to survive difficult challenges in their lives.

Investment in and maintainence of the infrastructure of our country, to stimulate jobs and help secure our future.







Why not establish this as the starting point for negotiations?

Finally, for those who will respond that this is a fairy tale list of unicorns and rainbows, let me state that taxpayer money going to Exxon/Mobil is far more amazing and ridiculous than anything on this list.

[BlueDemKev]

1. Answer:

It's simple. If Obama had proposed this list to the GOP, the Republicans would have gone straight to the airwaves screaming "big government!", "nanny state!", "high taxes!", "overregulation!", "SOCIALIST!", "MARXIST!", "COMMUNIST!"....and the American people, with their infinite gullibility, would have crapped in their pants believing that an army of feds was about to bust down their front door and inspect every inch of their homes. :wtf:

Considering the Rethugs were able to convince so many Americans that the market-based health insurance reform law was a "government takeover" of the entire health care system, just imagine what they could do with anything on that wish list! :eyes:

[democrat_patriot]

2. And there is a bit of a time constraint....make it a Dem controlled house

and maybe.

This is an entirely fabricated emergency created by the Republican party.

Make the debt ceiling an up or down vote by itself. Instead they create this whole cut spending issue - to push their agenda of ZERO government.

1. It makes the economy worse if we default. They are willing to take the political hit, if there even is one.
2. Which creates a bigger EMERGENCY regarding revenues - which allows them to say "cut more spending"! (more Dem programs).
3. Which creates worse economy - see #2. Repeat and rinse.

[xchrom]

3. & they didn't do that any way? Nt

[msongs]

4. FDR - I welcome their hatred. Obama/Dems - We surrender dear nt

[vi5]

5. Yeah, boy it's a good thing we avoided that!

I mean geez. Can you imagine if THAT happened?

Thankfully Obama and the Dems deftly avoided having the Republicans scream "Marxist!! Socialist!! Communist!! Nanny State!!!". God only knows what types of horrible things would have happened.

Thankfully Republicans have said nothing of the sort and all has gone well thanks taking the approach of capitulation rather than negotiation.

[BlueDemKev]

8. Unfortunately, name-calling WORKS

The tea-baggers/rethugs verbal abuse apparently resonated well with the American people who put them in control of the House (and nearly the Senate) after throwing the right-wingers out the door just two years prior.

[vi5]

10. But my point is...

They are going to do that anyway. Nothing Obama or any Dem has done to be nice or to avoid them being able to call him names, has actually resulted in them not calling him those names or slinging those arrows.

So if he gets called the names whether he does or doesn't push for things, then why not push for what is right and good and "democratic"?

[BlueDemKev]

13. My point is this....

....I'm not saying be nice to them. I say we kick their ass the way we did when we ripped the bark off of Paul Ryan's Medicare-killing proposal. However, if we propose hard-left stuff that most Americans say they oppose, like a single-payer health care system or a $15.00 minimum wage, we're not going to get the independent/swing voters who abandoned us in 2010 back next year. And we will have the tea-bagging lunatics running this nation come Jan. 2013: House, Senate, AND the White House. You want that to happen? I sure don't. :yoiks:

[Scuba]

15. Actually some polls showed most Americans were in favor of single-payor health insurance. n/t

[BlueDemKev]

18. All someone has to say is.....

...."socialized medicine" or "health care rationing" and "government takeover" and it'll send that support scrambling.

[vi5]

16. Where you are wrong...

Most of the things that the right likes to portray has "hard left" are actually supported by the majority of people in most polls.

Most polls showed people supporting a public option.
Most polls show people in favor of tax rates going up on the rich.
Most polls show people supporting infrastructure spending.

So what's frustrating and what is annoying and aggravating is that rather than looking at those polls and trying to get a real sense of what the public wants and would support, and where the numbers are tight or where it requires some solid, focused messaging, instead of doing that Obama simply cowers and runs in the direction of the republican message and talking points.

Honestly it's almost like his political slogan is "Messaging is hard!" because he just doesn't seem to want to do it. Yeah, sometimes it requires work and it requires calling the other side out on their bullshit.

[sabrina 1]

12. So, have they stopped now that Obama chose to try to

give them a lot of what they wanted?

[Frustratedlady]

6. They did that anyway, didn't they?

They wasted too much time haggling over healthcare reform. That should have been done later.

[BlueDemKev]

9. Health Insurance Reform....

...would never have gotten done if Obama had waited. It was such a monumental task he needed to push for it when he had maximum political capital (early 2009) and huge Democratic majorities in Congress to work with. I don't necessarily disagree with what you're saying, maybe health insurance reform wasn't worth going after, other than shoring up S.S. and Medicare. Still, I'm glad he did it.

[Bandit]

11. You mean they didn't do what you said anyway?

There is no way to satisfy these people so Democrats should just do the right thing and the Hell with those cry babies..However....Democrats are afraid to do the right thing because Republicans will gang up on them if they do..

[BlueDemKev]

14. Name-calling doesn't bother me....

...any more than it does Obama. However, given the average American voter succumbs to right-wing verbal garbage when the Democrats hold power and ACT on it (i.e.--voting), we have to be careful not to give them effective ammunition to use against us. That, and WE need to improve our public communication ability 200 percent!!

[lumberjack_jeff]

7. I'm not confident that doubling the minimum wage would increase employment.

Nothing except increased employment will improve the economy. The relevant question is whether the spending of the retail clerks (who weren't replaced by the new self-service checkstands) spent their windfall in ways that increased overall employment.

[indepat]

17. One simple reason: out nationally elected officials have an extremely RW agenda rather than a

progressive agenda that provides for the general welfare: global hegemony and welfare for the uber-wealthy and large corporations are jobs #1 and #2, but providing for the general welfare is not even on the radar. ;) :patriot:

[grahamhgreen]

19. Because he is an idiot?

I don't think so.

[Octafish]

20. Corporations must be first to feed at the governmental trough...

...after the billionaires and banksters, of course.