I find it very curious that any tax increase on the wealthy was the first peg of Obama's....

[WCGreen]

list of demands to be let go...

That is if it ever really was a concern for the president, raising taxes on the rich.

We thought it was, we hoped it was.

But was it really just wistful projection on the part of the seemingly irrelevant progressive wing of the increasingly centrist political party known to the big boys on Wall Street as our democrat division.

But what he stood tall and fast for was not having this debt discussion again anytime close to campaign season...

That, my friends, shows he is a true politician and he was never anything truly special.

Just another politician.

That's it.

No big deal.

Just another self-serving politician.

And he was going to change the way we do business in Washington.

All the change we hoped for.

How many times have we heard that before?

Well, when promises to the base comes from the other side, at least they act upon their convictions.

They might not believe them, they may not even follow through but at the very least they give their base some red meat to gnaw on for a while.

We, my friends, get tepid Chardonnay.

He could have stood tall, backed the GOP into a deeper corner than they backed themselves into. Forced them to capitulate somewhat on the tax matter.

But that would have been messy.

Now he can campaign without having to worry about the debt limit until after the general in 2012.

That line in the sand was, after all, far too close to the shoreline to be anything but shaky.

[Autumn]

1. Yeah and that bit about them expiring? Don't hold

your breath.

[CelticThunder]

2. k&r

[cantbeserious]

3. It Should Be Clear To All By Now That Obama Is A Very, Very Weak President

eom

[Myrina]

13. He's a better Republican president than Clinton was!

n/t

[cantbeserious]

21. Yes - That Says Alot Since The Clinton Was The Best Republican President Prior To Obama

eom

[tularetom]

4. We voted for Roosevelt and we would have settled for Clinton

But we got Jimmy Carter.

[NorthCarolina]

7. I wouldn't have settled for Clinton. I am as far left of DLC principles as I am from GOP principles

[Dragonfli]

30. Both entities are Koch sponsored, so I am not surprised you feel that way

They are a two pronged attack against the poor and working classes, the Republican Fascists and the Republicans in "Dem Drag".
Both sides work for the Ideals of the Kochs and believe in supply side Economics, both view the american worker as indentured servants and the poor as a less than human drag on society.

[vi5]

8. I wish he was Carter...

At least Carter had a genuine concern for the poor and the downtrodden in our country. At least he wasn't completely beholden to corporate interests.

Yes, he had his flaws, but I would have settled for a one term president who did what he thought was in the best interests of the people in this country struggling the most and who erred on the side of peace than one who will probably get 2 terms but drive the country into the ground to save his own political hide.

[indepat]

29. Might not have been just a one-term president were it not for that nasty little

repug-orchestrated October Surprise. :shrug: :patriot:

[pscot]

12. Actually, I voted for Malcom X

and seem to have gotten Nipsy Russell.

[mindem]

19. That's funny.

[adhd_what_huh]

5. mmmmm I love the smell of cynicism in the morning

[ChiciB1]

17. The Problem With Cynicism Is That Some Of Us Have Become That Way

BECAUSE of what we are seeing. And believe you me, IT IS NOT a good feeling. Added with utter DEPRESSION the combination really binds one's soul.

My stomach is in knots all the time these days... LITERALLY! I've already been impacted by so much that has happened and now I look on the horizon and see more coming at me. There are days I just don't want to get up in the morning, then other days after I get up I can't wait until it's time to go to bed!

Perhaps it's not really cynicism, maybe it's just ICE COLD FEAR!

[adhd_what_huh]

20. we have pushed the Repubs to their far

right and America does not like it. I expect 2012 to be a great and transformational year for us.

[ChiciB1]

22. Glad For You... Some Of Us May Not Make It To 2012... Plus I See

where you live, I live in another reality to some extent. It hits me in the face every day, and THIS STATE may be one of the very LAST to take a turn for the better.

I DON'T see HERE getting any less right wing for a very, very long time. Yes, where you live the economy SUCKS, but you do live in what many would call a Blue state!


This Sunshine State has a red circle around it!

[Hydra]

31. GFL

Transformational in the sense that someone like Sarah Palin will be selected to take over?

[Shandris]

23. Hang in there Chici.

Of all the talk that Republicans have made over the years, one thing they'll occasionally say is true (not that some of us don't say it too, mind you!): When you give in to fear, they win. Of course, the 'they' Republicans were referring to is the phantom-like 'Muslim Extremism (gasp!)'. But it actually is applicable to any group that thrives on pushing its policy objectives through terror and apathy-inducing bombardment, that overwhelming sense of loss of control.

I understand where you're coming from; these coming days aren't pretty, and I see little actual hope on the horizon for now. But...it will end. It -always- ends. Use that fear to make you wary, but don't let it paralyze you. We'll need your (and all of ours) energy when the darkness has come and gone.

Until then, hang in there. Do what you must to weather the storm, and know that there are many, many more of us out here who understand, and will do our best to weather the storm with you.

:grouphug:

[ChiciB1]

28. Thanks For The Kind Words... Your Advice IS Good & I HAVE Been Around

as an activist for a very, very long time. And I think that's part of the problem. I KNOW we DID overcome a lot, and we had some very bad days in the past. There are days I wish I had never known a certain kind of activism, because the APATHY now brings me down.

I suppose that the minute by minute updates are part of the problem too, we didn't used to see things in a flash as we do now. I TRY to remind myself of this, but there are those days and they ARE dark. And I'm sure if you've talked to anyone who was around during Viet Nam or even older, there is a certain mantra going round. It's this one... I've never seen this country like this before.

Maybe it was, it just didn't seem so though. But, my finger nails may be nubs, still I have finger nails right now.

Thanks again...
And a :hug: for you!

[florida_lurker]

6. Nobody in Washington it talking about increasing taxes on wealth

Wealth and income are two different things and it's not just a casual misunderstanding.

While you people focus so heavily on increasing the income tax rate for doctors and lawyers who work for a living the truly wealthy, the ones who don't actually have earned income, will be sitting around laughing that you fools don't know they aren't impacted because they only pay taxes on capital gains.

[WCGreen]

10. I said the rich....

I do taxes for a living and certainly know that capital gains taxes are how most of the real wealth is taxed.

Beside that, this wasn't a discussion about the intricacies of the various way we choose to tax our citizen, it was about a capitulation on a perceived principle...

Just a suggestion, if you REALLY are interested in hanging around, ease up on the "you people" rhetoric.

[florida_lurker]

16. Read your thread title.

[florida_lurker]

24. Sorry, I'll be a good DU'er....

BUSH TAX CUTS ROAR RABBLE ANGER LOCK-STEP!!!!!!!!!

Wait, capital gains are what the wealthy pay? They don't actually pay income taxes? Who cares, what does that have to do with Bush?

[Cool Logic]

9. The reason he let it go is simple...demographics...

There simply aren't enough of them.

Like the proposed tax on corporate jets ($300 million/yr), it will do little to enhance the revenue stream.

Even so, raising taxes on the rich should be probably be part of the equation, because if nothing else, it reinforces the idea of "shared sacrifice." I would also define things like stock options as compensation to make sure those who receive corporate stock options pay their fair share of Income and Social Security taxes.

However, our problem is far worse than most people realize. We need to enhance our revenue stream by trillions, not millions; otherwise, we must cut our expenditures by trillions, not millions.

[WCGreen]

11. Letting the Bush tax cuts expire would go a long way to bringing

the tax system back in balance.

[cantbeserious]

27. Best To Get Started With Job And Revenue Growth Than SS And Medicare Cuts

eom

[QC]

14. It's only curious if you assume that Obama is a liberal.

Free yourself of that delusion and his constant enabling of the right wing makes perfect sense.

[Myrina]

15. +100

n/t

[woo me with science]

18. Thank you.

This was not a cave. It was a collusion.

[Edweird]

25. Same old 'bait and switch'. Remember the first "health care" promise? Public option with no mandate?

[grahamhgreen]

26. Raising taxes to pre-reagan levels would provide us with a huge SURPLUS!

This guy is a salesman for neo-con policies, occasionally throwing the left a bone begrudgingly, noghing more.

[Name removed]

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