How effed up ARE we when we can't appreciate Obama? Well according to Canadians....

[Triana]

And THIS: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025786940

I'm embarrassed to be an American because of the goddamned chronic, insidious STUPID here. And it's not JUST the Republicans and their media mouthpieces. On this, it's also the Democrats.

[elleng]

1. VERY.

[malaise]

2. Very effed up

He's not perfect but he has done several good things

[olegramps]

104. What I see here is increasing criticism of President Obama.

Some want to make him the scapegoat for the impossible task of overcoming Republican obstructionism. Now they are in full swing to discredit Hilary Clinton. I really wonder if FDR was alive if they wouldn't throw him to the wolves. I absolutely believe that the majority of the losses that the Democrats incurred were caused by their failure to support the party's liberal values and most especially our Democratic president. Seems to me that we are setting the stage for a future massacre in 2016.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

105. Just thinking back to 2012 and how DU was a haven.

The potential for Romney/Ryan was real and horrifying. This article could be describing what happens right here in DU.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. Canadians can't believe what goes on here

[Fred Sanders]

4. Why did this happen? Corporate media united in propaganda and blatantly using fear to deflect truths

and pessimism to dismay voting.

And a party that thinks rejecting their twice elected President and his achievements was a fucking brilliant strategy.

Though in fairness with the fucked up corporate media it was maybe all they had.

[heaven05]

8. Why did this happen? americans stupid enough

to vote for the RW propaganda and americans dumbed down enough to believe the propaganda and not vote.

[Fred Sanders]

12. Yes. And do not forget the cowardly Democratic candidates that were blinded by their own power lust.

[heaven05]

39. 10-4 on that

[arthritisR_US]

22. Sensationalism sells and fear is a major component within it.

MSM broadcasts compete with the likes of Honey Boo Boo and Hollywood Housewives, so it's no surprise they have stooped to the lowest denominator and abandoned the principles of informing and educating the electorate.

[Ykcutnek]

5. I have more respect for POTUS than any other public official in this country.

Not out of some "blind loyalty," but because he has earned it.

I was a disillusioned 20-yr-old when he was first elected and I sit out that election.

But as I grew older, grew up, and started to actually pay attention, I grew to like the President.

And even though my vote didn't mean much in my dark red state, I enthusiastically voted for him in the 2012 election.

[brer cat]

56. Welcome to DU, Ykcutnek!

We are glad to have you.

[Cha]

58. Thanks for that, Ykcutnek!

[flamingdem]

87. I wonder if we can invite the Canadians to be

Guest Voters! Just kidding.

[Cha]

89. I love Canadians! Such fond memories of my trips to Canada when I lived in New York!

flamingdem

[shenmue]

6. Official Thing From Me: Canada, I Sorry

I give u a kiss.

[Frustratedlady]

7. If I decide to move, I think I'll go north...if they'll have me.

Beautiful! I love that LTTE.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

9. I'd like to take that paper and whack a few snouts with it.

And not just the jackass repukes in my real life.

[cali]

10. when people perceive that times are tough

(and they certainly do feel that way) they turn on the President's party.

[Enrique]

11. Americans elected Obama President

and then re-elected him.

[Spazito]

16. And then they promptly voted to completely tie his hands so he could do little...

and rewarded the party in opposition to President Obama, hence the confusion.

[Skidmore]

19. Yup...nt

[jtuck004]

42. Nice story. Few believe it now, since the book StressTest. This is the plan they designed.

Your comment might have flown up to last year, but in light of the facts it It makes one sound a little out of touch.

The book, btw, talks about how they forced the thieving banksters to take the money, while over 15 million people have moved into poverty under this administration, and been ignored. Or worse, lied to by people who want to manufacture excuses and spin.

http://www.stresstestbook.com/

Stewart says the public perception is that this administration went to hell and back for the banksters, not for the people. And when "Killer" TImothy Geither tried to re-spin it, an audience full of voters laughed at his face. Voters are smart - they know when they are being lied to.

here: http://thedailyshow.cc.com/extended-interviews/z9b8f1/timothy-geithner-extended-interview

It's really good, and explains a lot.

[Spazito]

45. The voters just voted for the republicans who idolize the banksters...

giving them back the power to decimate the economy yet again. Regulations were brought in by Democrats that curtailed the excesses practiced by the banksters. Those regulations will now be removed. Smart non-voters enabled this as well.

" Voters are smart - they know when they are being lied to."

You do see the disconnect in your statement, don't you?

[jtuck004]

53. I see the disconnect. It's tragic in a self-imposed sort of way. n/t

[Cha]

59. "Voters are smart.. they know when they are being lied to" LOL.. Is that why "the voters" voted

to give Billionaires a better life while screwing themselves over?

That's a blanket statement that sounds like it gives aid and comfort to the dumbfucks in America who have spoken..




Spazito

[Spazito]

60. Hey Cha!

That toon in your post sums it all up, doesn't it.

[Cha]

65. Yes, our little

dumbfucks in America.

Nice Letter from Canada, Spazito.. yes the country voted to overload Congress with those who have "13%" approval rating.. thanks in large part due to the Koch Billions and the Dems who ran from the Successes of the Dems, and the idiots who stayed home.. not giving a second thought to the future of our Planet.



Congratulations, Voters(and NON voters). You Just Made This Climate Denier the Most Powerful Senator on the Environment. http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120134/climate-change-denier-james-inhofe-lead-environment-committee

It's the Environment, Stupid.

[Spazito]

68. Inhofe in charge of environment policy...

geez, just geez. They now have two years to launch endless 'investigations', starve programs that serve the poor and the vulnerable, devastate Social Security and Medicaid and on and on.

Congrats to all the non-voters who decried lack of action on the environment, programs for the poor and the vulnerable but couldn't be bothered to show up when it actually counted. WTG!

[Cha]

70. "..programs for the poor and the vulnerable but couldn't be bothered to show up when it actually..

counted, WTG"

Exactly, Spazito

[Behind the Aegis]

93. I saw that on Bill Maher. I responded thusly...

WHAT THE HOLY FUCK!

FactCheck: Bush made change to "climate change," not Obama
Inhofe writes on p. 85, that after a series of blizzards in 2010, Al Gore commented, "Just as it's important not to miss the forest for the trees, neither should we miss the climate for the snowstorm." Inhofe adds, "The American people were suspicious to say the least, especially when they noticed a deliberate shift in terms over this period from catastrophic 'global warming' to 'climate change.'" Inhofe implies that the Obama administration made this rhetorical switch around 2009, in the post-Bush era. Is that true?
No, it's not; the switch was made during the Bush presidency. Our staffer, Jesse Gordon, worked as an EPA contractor in 2001-03, preparing content for the epa.gov website. Gordon reports, "During that period, word came down from EPA to change all instances of the term 'global warming' to 'climate change.'" That timing means that the Bush administration changed the rule from that of the Clinton administration; Obama & Gore had nothing to do with it, so Inhofe's implication is incorrect.

Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on The Greatest Hoax, by James Inhofe , Feb 28, 2012




Stop cap-and-trade from getting in via regulatory back door
Even though global warming hysteria and cap and trade are long dead, the fight is far from over because President Obama is now moving forward with a plan to achieve through regulation what could not be achieved through legislation. In December of 2009, the Obama EPA issued what it called the "endangerment finding"--a finding that greenhouse gases harm public health and welfare. Armed with this "finding" the EPA is planning to regulate greenhouse gases instead through the Clean Air Act, which was never meant to regulate carbon. Like cap and trade, this plan will have the same $300-$400 billion pricetag, it will put the same amount of jobs in jeopardy, and it will cause the same amount of havoc for our economy. My fight today is to stop them from achieving this cap and trade agenda through the back door.
Source: The Greatest Hoax, by James Inhofe, p. ix , Feb 28, 2012




Restricting fossil fuels will not spur shift to other energy
Under cap and trade, each regulated entity may only emit a certain amount of carbon, and if it exceeds that limit, it can buy credits from other entities that are not exceeding their limits. Of course, higher emitting entities such as coal-fired power plants, would have to purchase a large number of credits to continue business as usual.
Of course, the philosophy behind cap and trade is that if we restrict enough supply of fossil fuels, the price will increase, and we can then simply shift to less costly alternatives. Yet this is wishful thinking. Alternatives are fine, but in most cases, they aren't widely available or commercially viable yet--certainly not in a form that can efficiently, affordably, and reliably meet our existing energy needs. How are we supposed to run this machine called America without proven and reliable sources such as oil, coal, and natural gas? The answer is we can't.

Source: The Greatest Hoax, by James Inhofe, p. 47 , Feb 28, 2012




God promised to maintain cold & hot seasons
I take my religion seriously--I always say I'm a Jesus guy--so why wasn't I buying into what evangelists such as Rev. Richard Cizik were saying? Cizik was being sponsored by many environmentalist groups who were pushing the idea that evangelicals were on board with global warming hysteria.
Many times during my global warming fight, I turned to Day 36 of "Promises" which features one of my favorite Bible verses, Genesis 8:22:
As long as the earth remains
There will be springtime and harvest,
Cold and heat, winter and summer,
Day and night.And this is what a lot of alarmists forget: God is still up there, and He promised to maintain the seasons and that cold and heat would never cease as long as the earth remains.
Source: The Greatest Hoax, by James Inhofe, p. 68-71 , Feb 28, 2012

more wingnut quotes: http://www.ontheissues.org/International/James_Inhofe_Energy_+_Oil.htm

[Spazito]

99. Yep, it's going to be very, very ugly over the next two years...

With Inhofe and 'bomb, bomb, bomb' McCain in charge, ugly is probably an understatement.

[TomCADem]

13. $4 Billion In Political Advertising...

...in an election with historic low turnout can do that. Give me $4 billion, and you can probably convince Americans that Santa Clause is the anti-christ, and the Pope is a socialist. Oh wait, we are already halfway their thanks to Fox News.

[Fred Sanders]

21. Pathetic, but true. Money talks, ads work by brain washing...how else to explain the Big Mac?

[Peacetrain]

14. no kidding.. the same group do it to every Democrat that has held office

I am old enough to remember how they took after Kennedy , Johnson, Carter, Clinton before he even did more damage to himself.. so that same group was bound to go after Obama.. the thing that I find funny, is they are nearly always promoting Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders.. Elizabeth Warren is not running, and Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat so no way do they have to stand up for their people when they get in office.. and the manure hits the Westinghouse..


Edit to add.. to all the Hillary supporters who are on this site, .. Hang tough.. there is a certain segment that is just bound to try and destroy her.. its in their DNA

[Stevepol]

114. I have to take issue.

I don't believe that either Warren or Bernie has lambasted Obama. In fact, every time I've heard Bernie speak he has taken great pains to applaud what Obama has done under the most extraordinary opposition faced perhaps by any Dem president in history. And I don't believe Elizabeth Warren has been highly critical of Obama either. That's not to say that they haven't made clear their own policy preferences.

I don't know all of what each of these people has said, but I know there are things that I wish Obama had done and not done. I am one of those who has criticized Obama's elevation of Timothy Geitner, for example. To my mind, that is deserved criticism. Geitner was one of those responsible for the financial crisis and to give him more power in dealing with the crisis was unbelievable to me. And like any human being I'm sure there are a myriad of other things that Obama could be criticized for.

But overall, who in the country could have done a better job than Obama has done?? I think he's one of the best presidents of the last 40 years. But that doesn't mean I have to hold blinders over my eyes where I see places where I feel he has failed to address a problem or has been short-sighted or whatnot.

And I also believe that the failure of Democratic candidates to state the facts of Obama's many successes is one of the biggest reasons the candidates lost. As much as I admired Grimes in KY, I have to say I'm glad she's hopefully not going to running for anything else. If she had kicked out the consultants giving her bad advice, I really think she would have beaten McConnell. When the young and the poor and the weak vote, they have to be inspired by somebody who will work to address their needs and who will not run away from facts highly favorable to the Democratic Party. These candidates who hung their heads and tried to avoid praising Obama or his (highly successful) policies should have their heads examined.

But please don't make the progressives out to be the enemy. If the Dems win in 2016, it will be because of the values espoused AND LOUDLY PRAISED (not ignored and damned by faint praise) by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

[Spazito]

15. Excellent letter which really does reflect how many, many Canadians reacted...

to the mid-term election results. The exception to this is the Harper government who are rubbing their hands in glee that their rabidly right wing compatriots are back in control.

[malaise]

25. Harper has done more harm to Canada

than Canadians realize - they too will wake up.

[Spazito]

29. Yes, like Bush, he has tarnished Canada's reputation internationally...

loves war and the 1%. The good note is his poll numbers are dropping rapidly, the Liberal's numbers are growing and the NDP's are stagnant.

I am hopeful the Harper cabal will be turfed next year but the left is splintered 4 ways while the right isn't so it makes it somewhat harder to win but it can be done.

[Bluenorthwest]

27. The Harper government is not an exception, they are the duly elected choice of the Canadian people

Harper and Company were not installed by God but by election. And for that matter, re-election.

[Spazito]

30. 60% of the Canadian voters did not vote for Harper...

but, because the left is splintered 4 ways, it only took 39% of the vote to give the Harper cabal the majority. The downside of a multi-party system.

[Bluenorthwest]

33. By the same token, the entire West Coast of the US elects Democratic delegations and governors

and my own State just re-elected a Democratic Senator by a 20 point margin, 4 Reps out of the total 5, the Governor again, legalized cannabis and added an Equal Rights Amendment to our Constitution. Oh, made the Statehouse just a tad bluer still....CA and WA did about the same.
Their system delivers to them Harper, whom as you say most of them do not really want. But when Kentucky elects a Republican, this Canadian looks at Oregon and asks US how that happened? It's the downside to our system. Suddenly they forget about downsides to systems, even while Harper's downside is still in power?
That sort of double standard is bothersome to me.

[Spazito]

35. Both systems have downsides...

One system has elections every two years, none of which offers the opportunity to turf out all the federal politicians in Congress in one fell swoop, the other has elections every 4 to 5 years and the voting public can turf everyone of the sitting politicians in one go. Which system would be considered having a downside in this context?

The letter writer is speaking of the overall result federally not how each State, individually, fared. The overall result was the handover of the Senate and the House to the Republicans due to a dislike of President Obama being a major component.

[cilla4progress]

106. Be prepared for an onslaught of refugees!

from Red States! Who can blame them!

You live in OR; I live in WA. We voted in med and then rec cannabis some time ago. You voted in euthanasia, and then we did. We have 2 Dem woman senators, Dem governor. AND we just voted in sensible gun control!

Sadly for me I live on the east side of the Cascade Range - politics more simiilar to N. Idaho than to Seattle! But luckily, these state-wide positions govern me, as well as the west side.

[Number23]

69. Spaz, your post should give some folks here excellent food for thought

But it probably won't.

[Spazito]

71. I tend to agree, the downsides to multi-party systems do seem to be...

studiously ignored. It's unfortunate.

[mrripley43]

81. Party colors

It should be noted, the colors associated with political
parties is reversed in Canada. The right (Conservative)
is blue and the left (Liberal) is red. The further left NDP
is orange.

[LiberalLovinLug]

119. What Spazito said but also

Speaking as a Canadian, what is also baffling is the point raised that all these indicators of an economic recovery compared to the doo doo Obama stepped into when he first arrived in office and no recognition of that by the electorate. Specifically the soft right. Let's face it, most voters vote with their own interests first. And right wing voters even more so. Harper was elected with what is called a Minority government the first time, then when the economy started improving and didn't crash like our neighbour to the south, he was re-elected with a Majority (still with only 39%) The reason it didn't crash so bad was because of the former Liberal governments solid bank regulations. I'm sure Harper would have been against those and followed Dubya's lead if he had won power earlier, but Harper was glad to take credit for our more stable economy, and won because of it.

That is what is baffling to Canadians, and I'd gather people in most western democracies, that all those "moderates" and folks in the mushy middle, the small c conservatives, wouldn't reward that at all. But then I also don't get why Democrats were running away from Obama and not proclaiming his and their parties accomplishments from every roof top in order to communicate that to those voters.

But one thing I've noticed watching Americans, you tend to stick with your packs no matter what. You talk about being "life long" Democrats or "die in the wool" Republicans. Like you are born into a tribe and you have no choice in the matter. Canadians are more easy going when it comes to parties. Personally I'd never vote Conservative, but I know there are many Canadians that have voted back and forth between parties depending on the particular issues or the state of the economy.

[Spazito]

125. Harper was working on legislation to reduce the bank regulations when the crash...

happened even though his government was in a minority position. The intent was to introduce the legislation as soon as they had a majority government. Timing is everything, had the crash happened in 2012, the banks here would have been doing the same things the banks in the U.S. did, they lobbied very hard for the softening and are still doing so, I have no doubt.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

17. Is that Sid?

By JOSH BOAK
AP Economics Writer November 8, 2014 Updated 14 minutes ago

....

Consider wages. Workers' pay usually outpaces inflation once the unemployment rate dips beneath 6 percent. That's because when fewer people need to look for jobs, employers must raise pay to attract the most desirable among them.

Even with 5.8 percent unemployment and even though more than five years have passed since the Great Recession officially ended, this phenomenon has yet to take hold. Most workers' pay is barely keeping up with historically low inflation.

....

Look, too, at the percentage of adults either working or searching for work. It's a measure called labor force participation. The government counts people without jobs as unemployed only if they're seeking work. If more people stop looking, labor force participation falls.

At 62.8 percent, the U.S. participation rate hasn't budged over the past 12 months. And it's down a sharp 3.6 percentage points from 2007. That means a lower proportion of Americans are engaged in the job market and benefiting from the economic upswing.

....

Since 2007, the participation rate has fallen disproportionately in three critical states where Democratic incumbents lost Tuesday, costing their party control of the Senate: Arkansas (-5.9 percentage points), Colorado (-5.3 points) and North Carolina (-4.7 points), each of which will now be represented in the Senate by a Republican.

....

More: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/11/08/4304510_why-many-arent-celebrating-low.html?sp=/99/100/&rh=1#storylink=cpy

Low-wage workers do not care about a soaring stock market. And we're sending soldiers BACK to Iraq.

People REALLY need to start digging below the surface. No offense to our Obama-loving Canadian friend.

[SunSeeker]

24. Who is blocking minimum wage laws? Who filibustered Obama's Jobs Act?

Yeah, the GOP--who then turn around and blame Obama for doing nothing about jobs...like you do.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

37. Put the pom-poms down and try to understand why voters sat out...

or swung to Republicans. Big picture, Sun, big picture.

And yes, I do blame Obama and the Democratic Party for not seizing power when they had it. I've watched the NC GOP wipe out DECADES of progress in a matter of months. Perhaps Moral Mondays will go nationwide if Americans ever wake up to the royal screwing they are in for.

Jobs should have been priority #1. The Bush tax cuts should have fully expired. Then, when the country was on its way back to fat and happy, "health care" reform should have been introduced. Americans would have been much more amenable to it. Now we're faced with possible repeal of the medical device excise tax, and the Supreme Court's ruling on subsidies. What a clusterfuck that didn't need to be.

"It's the economy, stupid."

[SunSeeker]

41. Turn off Fox, will ya? Obama had 24 working days of a filibuster proof Senate majority.

Healthcare Reform was properly a priority because 45,000 Americans were DYING each year due to lack of coverage. But before Obama did that, he got the Recovery Act through as well as saved the US auto industry. The people who didn't vote in 2010 and 2014 are either the usual fools who sit out midterms, or were bamboozled by Fox News, who spews their anti-Obama hate propaganda 24/7. You sound a LOT like Fox News. Funny that.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

46. And they should have used those working days to the fullest.

And they should have let them fucking filibuster.

And the stimulus wasn't enough (see Krugman and Stiglitz).

Maryland now has a Republican governor. MARYLAND.

"...conservative Democrats abandoned Mr. Brown in droves in favor of Mr. Hogan's messages on the economy."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-governors-race-20141104-story.html

Hill, Bill, and the Obamas campaigned for Brown, by the way.

Also: Obama blames lack of African American, Latino turnout for Democrats’ midterm woes

You really need to pay attention as to WHY people aren't voting, or swinging to the other *team.*

Accusing me of being a FUX viewer? Oooh, ouch, I'm crushed!

[AndyTiedye]

84. They Didn't Even Have That. Vote #60 was Lieberman (D?, insurance companies)

[SunSeeker]

88. Exactly. And it wasn't even 24 consecutive days.

http://mauidemocrats.org/wp/?p=2442

The Democrats' period of Super Majority was split into one 11-day period and one 13-day period. Given the glacial pace that business takes place in the Senate, this was way too little time for the Democrats to pass significant amounts of legislation, let alone get bills through committees and past all the obstructionistic tactics the Republicans were using to block legislation. 

Further, these Super Majorities count Joe Lieberman as a Democrat even though he was by this time an Independent. Even though he was liberal on some legislation, he was very conservative on other issues and opposed many of the key pieces of legislation the Democrats and Obama wanted to pass. For example, he was adamantly opposed to “Single Payer” health care and vowed to support a Republican Filibuster if it ever came to the floor. 

Summary: 

1. 1/07 – 12/08 – 51-49 – Ordinary Majority. 
2. 1/09 – 7/14/09 – 59-41 – Ordinary Majority. (Coleman/Franklin Recount.) 
3. 7/09 – 8/09 – 60-40 – Technical Super Majority, but since Kennedy is unable to vote, the Democrats can’t overcome a filibuster 
4. 8/09 – 9/09 – 59-40 – Ordinary Majority. (Kennedy dies) 
5. 9/09 – 10/09 – 60-40 – Super Majority for 11 working days. 
6. 1/10 – 2/10 – 60-40 – Super Majority for 13 working days 

Total Time of the Democratic Super Majority: 24 Working days. 


Considering what he was up against, it is amazing how much Obama did get through (Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Recovery Act, Auto industry bailout, ACA, repeal of DADT).

[SunSeeker]

85. Obama did use those 24 days to the fullest. He saved us from a depression and passed the ACA.

The idiots who voted for the Republican were bamboozled by GOP lies. The GOP wants to dismantle Social Security and turn it over to Wall Street. The GOP wants to dismantle Medicare and just give seniors a voucher. Your healthcare costs more than the voucher? Too bad. Die.

The GOP "jobs" plan consists of tax cuts for the rich and letting corporations outsource all they want. If Maryland wants to know how their experiment with a Republican governor will turn out, they need only look to the economic implosion under Brownback, or Christie, or Walker. But no, they never see the hell the GOP is raining onto these states and onto our country because Fox News propaganda and dark money campaigns are blaming it all on Obama. Like you are. Funny that.

[treestar]

121. that is so unreasonable

why should they not have had more time? With a 2010 election D Congress, they would have. This is shooting yourself in the foot. Punishes only yourselves (the people who think like this).

[kacekwl]

63. Obama had a chance to...

do great things but let the overwhelming support he had after both his elections slip away. Trying to work with the GOP was a losing effort and he should have realized that after 6 mo. tops. A lot of the major problems faced by the country have simple solutions and I can't believe we are still dealing with social security , medicare , job programs etc.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

66. I still can't believe that after 8 disastrous years of the BFEE...

and the high of this:



we are where we are now. It's mind-boggling.

I hope folks are paying attention to Social Security and Medicare -- I trust very few of them, including Obama.

[Cha]

62. And, those posting everything negative thing about the President just so they can say "put down

pom poms" will never listen to the reality of what this President has accomplished. It's like talking to a brick wall.

The ones who didn't come out vote because they didn't have a reason .. couldn't get beyond their selfish what's in for me?.. attitude. How about a second thought for the future of the Planet?



Congratulations, Voters(and NON voters). You Just Made This Climate Denier the Most Powerful Senator on the Environment. http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120134/climate-change-denier-james-inhofe-lead-environment-committee

It's the Environment, Stupid.

SunSeeker

[stevenleser]

79. You know that baby boomers retiring accounts for half the decline in the participation rate

right?

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/07/17/baby-boomers-are-a-big-part-of-labor-participation-rate-decline

The other reason you should know this if you are going to talk about employment is that U-6 is improving at a rate similar to U-3, the official employment rate. U-6 takes into account part time workers who would like to work full time AND discouraged workers.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

108. That is mentioned in the article I posted...

so, yes.

"Underneath the surface, things are not good," said Michael Mandel, chief economic strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute. "Both Democrats and Republicans would be making a mistake if they looked at the unemployment numbers and didn't understand why voters are angry."

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/11/08/4304510_why-many-arent-celebrating-low.html?sp=/99/100/&rh=1#storylink=cpy

Too late now. At least for Democrats. No, wait! Look forward... 2016 and beyond... GOTV!

[stevenleser]

112. "That" is singular. I mentioned two things. Baby Boomers retiring and U-6.

Do you have an answer for U-6?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

117. U-6, U-3, U2...

Americans weren't feeling it, as we learned last Tuesday. And why weren't they feeling it? Because Dems do a lousy job of framing, and of tooting their own horn. Why else?

[stevenleser]

118. That doesnt mean anything.

Even at the apex of the dotcom boom some folks were unemployed and "not feeling it".

That means nothing.

[world wide wally]

18. Be careful what you ask for, Americans. Now you're about to get it.

Unfortunately, so are the rest of us.
How does such a dysfunctional country get to be so powerful anyway. I know it certainly wasn't by acting the way we do now.

[roamer65]

20. Poor Canadians are languishing under the "leadership" of Harpo right now.

Next year is your chance to kick him out, Canada!

[SunSeeker]

23. K & R

[oldandhappy]

26. They do not believe it, and I do not believe it either.

The more I hear about the last of Dem support, the more I wonder about all of our sanity.

[ReRe]

28. K&R

I almost moved to Canada after the 2004 election. Couldn't talk my family into it.

Thanks, Canada! And you too, Triana.

[Bluenorthwest]

31. That Canadian can say Hello to Mr Harper for me.

I wonder if they will keep electing that twit for all time?

[roamer65]

32. I predict here and now that the Liberal Party of Canada will win in Oct 2015.

Justin Trudeau delivers a powerful and truthful message when he speaks. It will be hard for Harpo to counter it.

[Bluenorthwest]

34. I do hope so, I love Canada and have some great memories from working there.

It's a beautiful country and Canadians have a great sense of humor.

[cabot]

43. I prefer Tom Mulcair

but Justin is a close second. Either way, I just want Harper gone!

[quakerboy]

36. One word: Harper

They did the exact same thing, only worse because their legislative victors then choose the PM as well, two elections in a row. Canada aint got room to talk.

Edited to add: BC sent conservatives to fill 21 of its 36 seats. This guy really has nothing to say to us.

[Spazito]

38. Wrong, the "legislative victors" do not "then choose the PM"...

The leader of the winning party, whichever party, automatically becomes the PM, he or she is not chosen after the election.

Quebec elected 59 NDP members and only 5 Conservatives in the last election. Using BC as an example of anything is as useful as my comparison, relatively useless in the context of federal results.

[quakerboy]

82. Point remains in effect

In fact, its actually worse. That means that the people of Canada elected conservatives, knowing that meant that Harper would be their PM.

As for the other.. The author of the note in the op claims to be from BC. Which elected conservatives. And now he wants to give America grief for electing conservatives.

[Spazito]

102. 39% of Canadian voters voted for him, 60% did not, they voted for left...

parties. The multi-party system results in the majority of voters voting against a party yet they still win.

Ahhh, so you would only accept such a letter from someone in Quebec then? I doubt it, you would still be upset someone dared to be critical and do it by using facts.

[quakerboy]

133. They chose to split their votes in such a way as to put Harper into power

And not just once. After having him in power for one term, the number of Canadians choosing that path with their votes increased.

As for the other.. If the author were from Quebec, he might have an argument.

But as a country, it would appear that if Obama were Canadian, they would have sent him packing, same as they did BOTH of their liberal parties, and put his opponents into power.

I don't mind criticism. The US deserves it fairly frequently. But hypocritical criticism strikes me as less useful.

[Spazito]

135. Where was the letter hypocritical?

It stated facts, Canadians ARE puzzled, to say the least, about the utter loathing of President Obama given what he has done during his time in office.

It seems you mistakenly think someone writing from a Province that voted conservative makes that letter writer a conservative themselves, ridiculous.

Again, Canadians didn't send the left parties packing, 60 % of Canadians voted for them. It is the downside of multi-party systems and the 'first past the post' method of distributing the vote.

I think the criticism in the letter is fair just as I welcome any criticism of Canadians for not getting their shit together and learning to vote strategically.

[quakerboy]

137. In coming from a country that has elected Conservatives, criticizing us for electing conservatives.

"send him our way".

Except that they as a country chose to elect GWB lite to a second term, after seeing what happened in the US when we elected GWB. Putting it simply, they had politicians who would have had similar policy choices to Obama, and they instead chose to Elect CONSERVATIVES. The fact that it was 40/60 makes no difference, unless you believe that the multiparty system somehow came as a surprise to the majority of Canadian voters. Or, i suppose unless you are prepared to give the US the same leeway based on gerrymandering and vote counting fraud. Which would equally invalidate the writers message, just in a different direction.

I'm not saying that the writer is conservative. Im saying the country chose conservative leadership. There is a reason I don't go writing editorials about how dumb Canada is for electing Harper or give our Aussie brothers too much grief over Tony Abbott. My country allowed GWB, and just brought in a fresh crop of Republican lawmakers. It would be hypocritical of me. Same as it is for them in reverse.

If he'd left off the "send him our way" jab, I probably wouldn't have posted. but in point of fact, they voted down their Obama policy equivalents and chose Harper instead. They didn't just vote for a divided legislature, they handed Harper the whole damn pie.

At the end of the day, the essence of this letter would be roughly equivalent to someone from Texas critiquing Canada for electing conservatives. And ending it with " when you are done with him, send (Paul Martin) or (Jack Layton) our way!".

[Spazito]

138. Again, because the Province in which the writer resides voted conservative...

does not negate, in any way, his point.

Canadians like President Obama much more than they like Harper, it is a simple fact. If President Obama were, instead a Canadian and the leader of either the Liberal or NDP party he would have beaten Harper hands down even with the multi-party system in place.

[quakerboy]

139. Actually, It does

Its roughly equivalent to a Texan saying that Venezuela doesn't really appreciate Maduro, and to send him their way.

Its silly. That one Texan might like Maduro, that one Canadian likes Obama. That's an anecdote that goes against a plethora of proof to the contrary.

Canadians like Obama at a distance. As a hypothetical American who is better than the buffoon who came before. But they had their chance to elect people with policies equivalent to Obama's, and they declined to do so, in favor of a Buffoon of their own.

[Spazito]

140. Poll taken on what Canadians really think about Harper, Obama and Putin...

What Canadians really think about Harper, Obama and Putin

"There are a host of differences between the leaders of Canada and Russia, but Stephen Harper and Vladimir Putin do have one thing in common: about 40 per cent of Canadians would describe both leaders as "secretive."

Polling firm Angus Reid Global surveyed more than 1,500 respondents and asked them to select up to six words from a predetermined list that they would use to describe various world leaders. Here are the most popular choices for each prime minister or president.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Canadians polled by Angus Reid were more likely to use negative words to describe Mr. Harper, with"secretive" the choice of 39 per cent, followed most frequently by"arrogant" (37 per cent),"dishonest" (31 per cent),"strategic" (26 per cent) and"boring" (26 per cent).

U.S. President Barack Obama

The most popular words picked by respondents to describe Mr. Obama were "influential" (46 per cent), "charismatic" (43 per cent), "compassionate" (33 per cent), "inspiring" (32 per cent), and "credible" (29 per cent).

"The love story with [Mr. Obama] continues," Shachi Kurl, vice-president of Angus Reid Global, said. "Canadians hold him in higher esteem than their own prime minister."

(And in higher esteem than Americans, who elected him -- the U.S. President frequently polls better in Canada than he does back home.)"

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/what-canadians-really-think-about-harper-obama-and-putin/article20076917/

The letter certainly iterated how Canadians feel as shown in this poll.

By your criteria, a Liberal in Texas would be hypocritical if they criticized Canada for electing Harper because Texans vote republican in greater numbers than they do Democratic, that's bizarre criteria, imo.

[quakerboy]

141. And yet they elected Harper, and did NOT elect those most like Obama

So Id consider that a far more important poll. At the end of the day, its the only one that seems to matter.

[Yavin4]

40. Here's the answer Canada

Although those accomplishments are indeed impressive, they mask the struggles that the every day American faces. 64% of the voting age public did not vote. That means that the real victor is American disinterest in politics or belief that politics/government can improve their every day lives.

[sulphurdunn]

44. Had the Dems won big time,

what do you think they would do between now and 2016?

[freshwest]

47. Appreciating Obama is good way to get abused continually.

Any change from that would be quite refreshing. But I'm not one to hold my breath waiting.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

49. My message to those that would bash me for going all out for My President:

Just read my sig!

[freshwest]

50. We'll sing in the wilderness:

[Lady Freedom Returns]

51. “Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!”

― Bram Stoker

[Lady Freedom Returns]

48. YO Canada! Guess what?

I know how lucky we are! I voted for him twice and wish I could a third time!
http://ih0.redbubble.net/image.11377288.9017/sticker,375x360.png

[unrepentant progress]

52. Oh, I completely agree. I thank the stars every single day that...

Oh, I completely agree. I thank the stars every single day that we have a neoliberal technocrat in power who sold out single payer, wants to cut Social Security, has pursued disproven neoclassical rather than proven Keynesian, or MMT, economic policies, has perpetuated endless war, stepped up the drug war, sold public education to the highest bidder, kept Gitmo open, and seems completely disinterested in inequality except when it's election time.

But hey, at least he's black and not batshit insane. Oh, and he kinda sorta supports gay marriage too. He's got that going for him.

So yeah, it could be worse. Yay?

[redruddyred]

91. sebellius said that single payer was not politically feasible.

don't even think what we've got now is politically feasible considering the assholes in our government.

MR CRUZ I'M READY FOR MY SHUT DOWN.

(take two)

[Feron]

115. You just need to eat your vegetables.

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

[unrepentant progress]

120. Heh.

Can I please have some more, sir?

[treestar]

122. Well maybe with a Republican Senate too he can get you single payer now

Talk about seeing things as darkly as possible.

[marlene.elyse]

54. I hate the result of the midterms

but I think it has to do with many factors:

gerrymandering
flood of money into politics
voter suppression
ISIS/Ebola fear mongering
a hugely uninformed electorate

This article is full of misinformation also:

-Corporate profits at an all time high- at the expense of the rest of us
- 200,000 jobs added per month- these have been part time, low income jobs at the expense of good full time jobs- this is a net figure
-The stock market is fueled by speculation and will crash sooner or later
-We have inflation, although the fed is keeping rates down artificially but prices are rising and wages are not.
-The rich are getting richer- not a good thing.

These are not the reasons to support Obama. I am critical of actions that I think hurt those of us who voted for him. I think it was a mistake to postpone immigration reform and the dems should not have brought up the idea of working with GOP on social sec reform right before the election.

The strategy of running from Obama was a failure because it almost confirmed the crazy view of the GOP.

[erpowers]

55. People Do Not Know

The real problem is that Democrats ran against their record. How many people heard, or saw an ad like the article from a Democrat? CBS Nightly News even ran a story discussing the fact that a Republican governor was running an ad where he talked about how well the economy was doing, while a Democratic Senatorial candidate was running an ad talking about how he knew the economy was not doing well enough. If Democrats had run campaigns with talking points like the ones mentioned in the article more of them might have won their elections.

[redruddyred]

92. republicans are the only ones who are good at the economy EVAR.

let's fix that misconception.

[Cha]

57. The Congress that won had "13%" approval ratings as we all know and Obama's successes were

largely ignored by the Dems who lost.

No, wonder Canadians are boggled.. it boggles my mind! Except we know how brainwashing and hate sells .. it's everywhere.

Thank you for this, Triana.

[MFrohike]

61. Ok

I'll make sure I take advice from a citizen of a country with one of the most unrepentant right-wing governments in the world.

As for his mention of corporate profits, perhaps he could note much of it is due to cost reduction (layoffs) and not actual economic expansion. When he mentions the stock market, he neglects to note the years of near-zero borrowing costs, which have funded a massive (massive isn't a big enough word) buyback of shares by the issuing companies. Those buybacks, in the hundreds of billions of dollars, have boosted earnings per share, which has in turn boosted their valuations and the markets at large. The lack of inflation, except of course in key measures like energy (until very recently) and food, when combined with wage growth less than the rate of that inflation means that the debt that people hold is getting more expensive every passing day. Unemployment? That one makes me laugh. All that's been done, on every level of government, is to move people out of the official designation as being part of the workforce. With that done, it's really hard for the overall ratio not to drop.

Oh yeah, the strong dollar. There's a real boon for an economy with a massive debt overhang. Yeesh, this guy is a moron who simply strung together a bunch of headlines with no damn clue whatsoever what any of it means.

I just noted the oil production bit. Putting aside the environmental costs, let's not bother to mention that it's all riding on a giant tide of junk debt and depends on break-even costs of over $90 a barrel. Given the Saudi's recent declaration that $80 a barrel is just fine with them, I wouldn't get too attached to the future of fracking.

[FairWinds]

64. "No, wonder Canadians are boggled.."

Are you kidding us?
That letter was from ONE person.
It proves precisely NADA !!
I always taught my students to avoid reasoning by anecdote,
in this case a SAMPLE OF ONE !!

[RufusTFirefly]

73. Didn't you get the memo? Richard Brunt speaks for all of Canada now

I think it's one of those weird Canadian customs, like curling, poutine, and a double-double that we can't fully appreciate down here.

Besides, he probably made a real effort to crawl out of his igloo to write, so he deserves our respect.

No one from the States would dare to cherry pick a single letter from one publication from some unknown person and use it to represent the views of the entire country. It's too absurd to even consider.

But somehow when it's Canada, it's different.

P.S. I'm the child of a Canadian mother and the brother of a Canadian sister. Canada is in a very bad way with Harper, but that still doesn't mean that one letter writer speaks for an entire nation.

[Number23]

67. K&R but DU does have this president's back

( to the chagrin of a loud, clueless and TINY minority here )

There was a poll a while ago that confirmed it. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025594689

[TRoN33]

72. It's not just Canadians...

Europeans, Africa countries, Middle East, and Asia are also like WTF about American voters who voted for Republicans.

[grahamhgreen]

74. Please, defend his recent troop escalation in the failed Iraq war.

[Iliyah]

75. K & R!

They stayed home and didn't vote. America will be effed-up by the party of hate and lies, and the complainers never disappoint.

[Lil Missy]

76. DU is not representative of real life or reality. n/t

[Jamaal510]

77. K&R

[DrBulldog]

78. I no longer think of myself as an American ...

... even though I was born and raised here. How could I? It's now a nation of war, hate, stupidity, xenophobia, ignorance, greed, corruption, mediocrity, racism, bigotry and is officially now by international standards an oligarchy instead of a democracy. That's not much to which to feel any kinship or loyalty. And it only took thirty years of Reaganism to bring all that was so promising and beautiful back in the 60's and 70's crashing down. Just allow me to live my own remaining life in reasonable comfort and peace - that's all I can hope for now.

[NBachers]

80. Are you talking about Democratic Underground, or the USA in general?

[ffr]

83. We know this. Which is why I was pounding the GOTV pavement.

I could see history repeating itself from 2000 when Gore was running away from Clinton. WTF!

But all our effort wasn't enough. Not even close. Voters just got too damn comfortable and decided to sit out the election instead of keep the fight going.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

86. How effed up???

This effed up:



Mark Prior who ran in Bill Clinton's old stomping grounds. A "Democrat" who ran as "the most Conservative Senate Democrat" and LOST to a REAL Republican.

[redruddyred]

90. obama is pretty dope

I have my criticisms but he's decidedly not an idiot.

only two more years left whatever follows will inevitably be a disappointment. I mean, bernie or liz is probably too much to hope for.

[Fearless]

94. Forgot to mention that the average person is still being shit on.

[DeSwiss]

95. “Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” ~George Orwell n/t

[B Calm]

96. Those Canadians don't understand American racism.

[Android3.14]

97. After all, Richard Brunt...

Last edited Tue Nov 11, 2014, 07:25 AM - Edit history (1)

...is a certified genius, right? He's not just some dude who wrote a letter, I hope.

How stupid is it that a single letter to the editor ends up on DU as an expression of the entirety of the Canadian population? How's that for unbelievable consensus?

[RufusTFirefly]

128. Agreed. Talk about "embarrassed to be an American"!

Many of us enjoy reading things that support our longstanding views. But to take a single letter in a single newspaper, written by someone we know little or nothing about and then use it to apply to a country of more than 35 million people is just bizarre. It's confirmation bias taken to its most absurd extreme.

[southern_belle]

98. Touche'

[progressoid]

100. Wait, corporate profits at a record high & the rich are getting richer is a Democratic goal now?

Well, fuck that.

[still_one]

101. I couldn't agree more.

[Kablooie]

103. It's because the right is screaming their propaganda 24 hours a day.

they, have huge, huge megaphones and use them constantly so that it drowns out everything else.
When propaganda is all most people can hear it becomes the belief of everyone, right and left.

Fox News, AM radio and right wing news blogs clog up all the information channels.

[Baitball Blogger]

107. Obama is my president.

There was a lot of garbage standing in the way of that realization, but that is now gone.

[bluestateguy]

109. Unfortunately, we allow white men to vote

That does not help.

[riverbendviewgal]

110. Most Canadians love Obama

except those who love Stephen Harper who loves Republicans and is an American Republican wanna be.

We do know that one of the major reasons there are people in the USA who hate Obama is because he is BLACK.

My American brother who lives in the NE USA coast is one of t hem.

[packman]

111. I love Canada

I think we should invade it and take it over so we can draw it close to our bosum with kisses and hugs. Beautiful country and good people, glad that invasion stunt in 1775 failed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Canada_(1775)

[Spazito]

116. LOL, I understand the scorch marks remain on a small part of the White House...

from that failed attempt.

[former9thward]

123. Deleted. Wrong post response.

[Orsino]

113. Is that you, Nate Silver? Polling Canada via a single LTTE? n/t

[former9thward]

124. I think Silver has a better methodology than that.

It seems his record in 2014 was pretty good.

[napkinz]

126. ...

[Number23]

127. I LOVE all of the love for this thread!

[Arthur_Frain]

129. OK but what I could never figure out

was why Canada elected Harper after watching what George W. did to us.

[YOHABLO]

130. Excellent Point!!

[Amonester]

131. Because Liberals were divided between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party.

Happened because candidates of these two parties had more votes in total than the cons did, but the cons were victorious as they had more votes/counties than their opposition candidates individually.

So harper's regressive cons were elected a majority government with 39% of the total votes....

Familiar, isn't it?

Good news is, Liberals are way ahead in pols with Justin Trudeau (Pierre-Eliot Trudeau's son) one year before the next Federal election!

[Old Nick]

132. Right on, eh?

Rec

[rafeh1]

134. Democrats lost

Because the right wing zionist alliance with the right wing in us

[napkinz]

136. K&R

nt

[Number23]

142. Kick!

[ecstatic]

143. The hatred is unreal, but it was expected.

I just hope that history books will be honest.

[Number23]

144. Kick, dammit! KICK