Ed Just Said The President Is Caving Under Pressure From Repugs And The RW - I Disagree.....

[global1]

The President is caving under pressure from his own Party. They are telling him to do something because their jobs are in peril.

They were starting to talk like they would abandon him and his efforts. Some in the House were willing to vote with the Repugs to allow people to keep their cancelled insurance.

No Ed - it was the President's own Party that he was trying to appease today in order to hold the ranks. It's unfortunate that the Dems would do that to him and not stick by him - but sometimes it looks like some Dems are afraid of their own shadow.

This is just my opinion. Yeah - the Repugs and MSM contributed to these actions today - but I'm under the belief if the Dems would have closed ranks around the President - he would have been a little less conciliatory today.

[mfcorey1]

1. When rethugs say boo, they scatter like scared rats. Damn shame!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

6. Got that right. Time to grow a freakin pair.

[MFM008]

2. hes smoking

republicans heartless and mean spirited. yup hes got it.

[IrishAyes]

3. Absolutely!

It must be very frustrating to deal with so many ignorant and short-sighted persons - on both sides of the aisle, not to mention across the nation!

[bigdarryl]

4. The President always caves to the rethugs

So he's right

[IrishAyes]

7. I wish I could say you know better than that; but perhaps you don't. It's up to you to learn better

for yourself - I stopped wasting energy on pot stirrers a long time ago. A swat or two here and there, now and then, but nothing more. Some people wouldn't wise up if a house fell on them.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

14. +1

[sheshe2]

19. Excellent response, IrishAyes!

[lostincalifornia]

27. This isn't the the republican plan, they don't have one. The only thing they want to do is repeal

The ACA.

This is giving states and insurance companies a year reprieve if they wish to exercise it and let their customers keep their old plans for a year

[IrishAyes]

28. President Obama did an excellent job pointing out that repeal - going back to the old system -

would be far worse than any temporary technical problems with ACA.

[lostincalifornia]

29. Yes he did, and As usual much of the media are misrepresenting that

[Laelth]

5. I think you are right.

Democrats too quickly forget Truman.

No apologizing for the ACA!

I've seen it happen time after time. When the Democratic candidate allows himself to be put on the defensive and starts apologizing for the New Deal and the fair Deal, and says he really doesn't believe in them, he is sure to lose. The people don't want a phony Democrat. If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Republican before they will a phony Democrat, and I don't want any phony Democratic candidates in this campaign.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman

-Laelth

[IrishAyes]

12. President Obama clearly didn't apologize for the ACA; instead, he praised it.

What he apologized for is the bumpy rollout and the pain that's resulted in for some people. Yes, he took a bit more of the responsibility for it on his own shoulders than he deserves; but if he'd lashed out at the obstructionism of his opponents, it wouldn't have made any difference to their defenders. Since he's at least as smart as I am - reportedly a lot more! - then surely he knows that reasonable and decent people support him. When I think about the unwarranted abuse heaped on Barack Obama by the very people he's helping, it makes me sick. You'll notice not one reporter asked about the insurance company lies and fraud!

[Laelth]

13. I hear you.

My comments were directed at the Democrats who, according to the OP, abandoned the President and the ACA.



-Laelth

[IrishAyes]

22. Thanks for the clarification. I need to do that myself at times!

[Laelth]

23. It's all good.

Cheers!

-Laelth

[BlueStreak]

8. Shultz has been a volcano of misinformation about the ACA

I've tried to listen to him 3 or 4 times this week and virtually 100% of what he says about the ACA is factually wrong. The guy should shut his mouth long enough to learn some of the basics.

[HijackedLabel]

9. Ed has been one of MSNBC's strongest ACA supporters.

I applaud him in his efforts.

The only people accusing him of lying are on The Five.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. See my reply #16.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

16. You are right. Even though he has been an avid supporter of the ACA, when it comes to the facts...

...he is not quick on his feet and often he allows wingnut talking points to go unchecked. I listen to his podcast daily and I love Ed. I watch his show as well. However, he is just slow on the uptake. He admits that he hasn't read the bill and isn't privy to everything in the law. So I'll give him that and applaud him for his honesty. Still, he needs to be quicker on his facts. I do like how he has Wendell Potter on to help out sometimes, but again, when he has these wingnut callers on and they spew their bullshit talking points, Ed needs to be ready with the facts. He knows what the talking points are because they're all saying the same fucking thing. He needs to be ready to fight back with the facts, quickly!!

[BlueStreak]

34. Some examples

A caller said that because he has employer-provided insurance he cannot get a subsidy on the exchange. Ed as much as called him a liar, but he was absolutely right. The correct answer is, "No, you cannot get a subsidy if your employer offers insurance. But you certainly can renounce your employer insurance and buy your own policy on the exchange if that is a better deal for you."

I can't tell you how many times he has said the website isn't working. That is flat-out untrue. The website is working. It still has some poor design, and that's probably not going to be fixed before the 2015 cycle. And I'm sure they are fixing things here and there, but basically the site is working. there is no reason to wait. Why doesn't he have an intern actually got on and try that.

Today he didn't have a clue how Obama planned to implement this fix. It isn't complicated. Obama said plainly that he was making an administrative decision to suspend enforcement of the restriction against offing the non-compliant policies in 2014. He isn't asking Congress for any new legislation, but Ed probably went off in the weeds for an hour on that one. I know he is on the air and can't study all these things, but where is his staff to straighten him out during an ad?

There were many more. I couldn't stand to even keep the radio on that station, but every time I came back, he was saying something else that was just plain factually wrong.

This stuff is not that complicated.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

37. Great examples!! I can come up with a few myself and often ear myself yelling at my

iPhone while listening to his show. He is really bad on the facts sometimes.

Hate her or love her, but Randi Rhodes is quite the opposite! She's very quick on her feet. She knows what she's talking about, is well researched. And though she isn't always right, she typically corrects herself when she needs to. She'll be incredibly missed when we lose her after this year. I have no idea what I'm going to do without Randi. She was only one of few voices of reason on the political left.

[BlueStreak]

40. and Thom Hartmann and Mike Papantonio are usually right on the facts

I guess Big Eddie is really into being the left's version of Limbaugh all the way.

[truebluegreen]

10. I kinda think President Obama's move was genius,

and i say that as someone who is not a big fan. He is saying that, per the government, you can keep your plan through 2014...so it is not the government that is taking it away.

On the other hand, we all know that he can't control the insurance companies which will most likely still cancel many plans...and be responsible for that. And I hope be seen to be responsible for that (which is just, since they are responsible).

[gordianot]

11. Ed is just having a bout of Tweetie disease.

Next week that too shall pass.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

15. It is a shame. The Rethugs would NEVER do this to their president. But, it's been like this ever

since this particular president raised his right hand. The Democrats have never had his back. Rather than standing and fighting for the stimulus bill that THEY drafted and passed, they ran scared of Republicans and ended up losing anyway. They allowed Obama to fight for them...all by himself. Then, we complained that Obama isn't out there making good use of the bully pulpit. BULLSHIT! The Democrats were nowhere to be found. Democratic leadership was invisible.

Then came the ACA law and those townhalls. The Democrats were complete cowards! They didn't stand and fight for this law...a bill that they voted for! A bill THEY passed!!! They knew what was in it, or they should have known. And if they didn't and voted for it, anyway, shame on them!!

I am incredibly upset with the Democratic Party establishment right now. Incredibly frustrated and upset. They may not get one red cent from me.

[tblue37]

18. You should donate directly to good candidates. The national party

leadership doesn't spend money to back really progressive candidates, but to support Blue Dog types all too often.

If Howard Dean were still chair of the DNC and running his 50-state strategy, it would be worth donating to the DNC. Right now, though, it is better to support individual candidates.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

21. That's what I always do. My focus has essentially been targeted funding. I find the most progressive

candidates I can and send money, make calls, knock on doors. I'm lucky in that I live in a pretty blue district. However, I have been known to work in nearby districts that aren't so blue but that have good Democrats running against not-so-good Democrats and work for them. I love local politics.

However, the same applies to the congressional level. I do give to certain good progressives like Donna Edwards and others. I will not, however, give one red cent to the DNC or the counterpart organizations in the House and Senate. I target individual candidates through ActBlue or MoveOn, or some other vehicle.

[tblue37]

30. Excellent approach. I admire thee way you target your donations--

both of money and of time and energy!

Too bad the national party leaders lack the loyalty and wisdom of its local foot soldiers.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

24. Oh, and I disagree with you wholeheartedly re: Howard Dean's 50 State Strategy. It is precisely

because of this strategy that we got Blue Dog Democrats in the first place. This is the truth that we must confront when it comes to Dr. Dean's strategy. As much as love and revere him, we have to be honest. The 50 State Strategy is all about electing as many Democrats as possible to Congress. It's not about electing as many PROGRESSIVE Democrats to Congress. It is about going to ALL 50 states--even the Red and Purple states. That inevitably means that we will be getting moderate and conservative Democrats. That is difficult for us progressives to accept. And though I love the idea of having more Democrats serve in Congress, one of the reasons why we have all these issues now is because moderate and conservative Democrats too often side with Republicans on issues. In other words, we don't have a public option and we never were going to get a public option, no matter how much we screamed and kicked. I remember spending countless hours and days on the phone, making calls to Mark Pryor, Kay Hagan, Blanche Lincoln, Baucus, the Nelsons' offices. We were never going to get the public option. We never had the votes for it. And these moderate and conservative Democrats were never going to allow a public option to reach the floor of the Senate, even if we were able to get the bill through the House. We couldn't even achieve that because there were a fair number of Blue Dogs in the House as well. We couldn't get a public option bill out of subcommittee in the House!!!

Again, I love Dr. Dean. I think he's great. But his 50-State Strategy resulted in a good number of those moderate and conservative Democrats nominated our legislature and not for the better, either.

[tblue37]

31. OTOH, having control of committes in Congress is a very big deal, and Blue Dogs

don't block the progress of bills to the floor to the degree that a Repub House majority does.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

38. That's certainly true. It's a catch 20-20. Where there are moderates, we have to find a

way to force them to the left. It can be done. We did it with ENDA and we also kept them away from touching the BIG THREE...for now, that is.

[tblue37]

41. +1 nt

[Lifelong Dem]

20. Yeah, I had trouble with his opening also

But then he went into how he was in Ohio today (a couple hours after his WH speech) and said this is the Obama we all know. But I noticed MSNBC today acting a little like they are distancing from Obama/Obamacare, and I'm like WTF is going on. Showing their true colors or what?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

25. MSNBC is more like CNN and Faux News-lite before 4:00 when Martin Bashir comes on.

This notion that MSNBC is a liberal network is true...if you watch if after 4:00. Before then, you might as well turn on CNN or Faux because you'll get the same Obama bashing and anti-Obama rhetoric as you do on the other cable networks.

[Jamaal510]

35. Alex Wagner and The Cycle seem OK,

but yeah...the other shows are meh.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

39. I forgot about those two shows.

[Peacetrain]

26. I do not have expanded cable anymore

so I do not get to hear the cable talking heads.. but Ed has always been easily depressed if it starts to get messy. He likes a clean plate.. and this is just not going to be that.. too big a program.. it is going to be messy as it rolls out.. he will be fine in a couple of months when things start to smooth out..

[Jamaal510]

36. That's exactly how it was

with the debates. He made the biggest deal out of O's 1st debate performance. Yes, he could've did better, but people neglected to mention that Romney was caught in more lies. I thought people win debates by presenting facts.

[Dawgs]

32. Obama's history shows that Ed is right. n/t

[libdem4life]

33. Meanwhile, back at the Armageddon Cheering Squad Headquarters, Shrub waxes eloquent.

The Big Question: Was he paid? Did he need the money?

How about: "Is that why he sent troops into harm's way, many of whom died, for no discernible reason?" just for starters. I have others, but ...