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Obama Gives Firebaggers 86 Million Reasons Why They Don’t Matter
Remember those far left progressives who threatened to withhold donations to President Obama’s reelection campaign? After raising $86 million, the President and his supporters have proven their irrelevance.
The far left was outraged that President Obama would fathom reforming entitlements. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) sent out an email to their supporters in April asking their supporters to tell the White House, “President Obama: If you cut Medicare and Medicaid benefits for me, my parents, my grandparents, or families like mine, don’t ask for a penny of my money or an hour of my time in 2012. I’m going to focus on electing bold progressive candidates — not Democrats who help Republicans make harmful cuts.”
That sure sounds spooky. I’ll bet it had Obama For America quaking in their boots.
Well, maybe not.
The Obama campaign had 552,462 donors who made more than 680,000 donations. 98% of the donations were for $250 or less, and the average donation was $69.
The point is that groups like the PCCC and others who shall remain nameless get lots of media attention, but they really don’t represent Obama’s base. MSNBC loves these people because they scream loudly, and they never hesitate to be controversial by bashing Obama. They make for good TV, but are they relevant to the President and to the rest of us on the left?
The short answer is no.
There is a segment of the left that has turned bashing Obama into a lucrative cottage industry for themselves. When have any of these people ever successfully mobilized the left for a campaign? Their record, which is something they never talk about while raising money, is less than stellar. They are the failure wing of the Democratic Party. If this collective were to be embodied by a presidential candidate, they would be Walter Mondale.
They have a right and a duty just like we all do to criticize any political figure when we believe that they are going in the wrong direction, but if you think for one second that the PCCC or any of the firebaggers were going to support Obama in 2012, I’ll have some of what you’re smoking. These are people whose claim to fame is Obama bashing.
Their self-righteousness while leveling criticisms that are more in line with the Tea Party and Fox News than any progressive agenda never ceases to amaze.
I am constantly hopeful that the day will arrive when a truly forward thinking agenda can be implemented, but it will never happen if we only look for one man or woman do it. The real change that has to be made isn’t at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but in a Congress where too many Democrats aren’t interested in a real leftward agenda. A liberal Senate would have never included Ben Nelson of Nebraska who singlehandedly killed universal health care. A truly brave and forward thinking body would never have been forced to court the vote of Joe Liebermann.
Any president has to work with the Congress that they are given. If you want a real progress, then give this president the people who can help him deliver it. The previous Congress may have been Democratic, but it wasn’t progressive/liberal. If the far left was sincerely interested in delivering real change, they would be putting their money where it would do the most good.
Instead of spending hundreds of thousands of contributor dollars on anti-Obama television ads, why not give that money to candidates who are in close races?
It is a good question, but it is based on the flawed assumption that these individuals are sincerely interested in change. Their real motive is always media attention. The media grants them relevancy and keeps those contributions flowing. An anti-Obama campaign will get them on the tee-vee in a way that devoting all their time and resources towards electing candidates never could.
Too many in the media have been fooled into believing that the firebaggers speak for the left. They don’t. The media’s behavior also feeds the illusion that the firebaggers are relevant to Obama and 2012. They aren’t.
Nothing angers a firebagger more than when you point out that their efforts don’t matter to Obama. This president has his own large group of donors and voters. He doesn’t need the far left, and it is his independence from them that has earned Obama their perpetual wrath.
The dirtiest little firebagger secret of all is that after their temper tantrums and hysterics are long gone, in the privacy of the voting booth, the vast majority of them will vote to reelect Barack Obama.
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67 Responses to Obama Gives Firebaggers 86 Million Reasons Why They Don’t Matter
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Cathy
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Extremes on both sides of the fence! You can not please all of the people all of the time. It is past time for everyone to work together for the betterment of the entire country.
Jason Easley
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Cathy,
These are people who good be doing a lot of good, but instead they pursue an agenda of self-interest.
Cathy
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Isn’t that really the problem, Jason? Too many are pursuing a self interest quest, instead of a “good for all” agenda. Thank you for this site, and the good work you do promoting these vitally important topics.
Sarah Jones
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
“BP liberals”.
Reynardine
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
False flags?
John H Kennedy
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
As a 46 year Democratic voter and I fail to understand why you are working so hard to demonize any Democrat who disagrees with you. Can’t you see that your tactics are more divisive than those you condemn? And IF this election turns out to very close…it may just turn on the votes of a few…it may be on the votes of those you have maligned. You are making Permanent Enemies of fellow Democrats. Not smart at all. If the Dems you so despise decide to tear up their ballots in disgust, Democratic candidates all across America may be turned out. Is that what you want? The Democratic Party must have room for dissent. By trying to eliminate that you may be ruining Obama’s re-election chances.
Jason Easley
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
These people are the hardest of the hardcore. They will never tear up their ballots and not vote. I know it. Obama knows it. Anyone with a brain knows it. These folks would NEVER allow themselves to be left out of a General Election campaign.
It is tough to raise money if you are sitting on the sidelines.
It is the dumbest and emptiest threat in the firebagger arsenal.
AFM
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
I am a very proud liberal. I find it is my duty to tell the president if I think he isn’t doing the job right. If I didn’t tell him how I feel then how would he know where people like me stood. Asking for him to protect our programs and bring our troops home isn’t an extreme idea. I have gotten the volunteer calls for money. I have told them I will not give until I know what he and the spineless democrats are going to do to protect these programs. Not one thin penny or dime. I do my part by calling the congress and senate and email the president. I tell him when I support the issues and I tell him when I don’t. It is our duty. I take pride actually being a social democrat. I have never blinked on that point. Yes even living in a rural Tn town. My husband spent 21 years service in the military for me to have that right. If people don’t like well that is just tuff. Deal with it.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Not sure what people not liking someone spending 21 years in the military has to do with anything. You had the right to do as you are doing just by being born here.
I live near knoxville. Rural tn can be a scary place for Dems
AFM
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
I live in rural Tn about 2 hrs out of Nashville. Your right about being in a scary place for dems. I remembered when I voted for Obama and this friend of mine and his wife are true blue social republicans. The come to Jesus type. Mind you she was in her early 30s. She yelled at me for voting for Obama. I told her why would I vote for any republican that doesn’t have my financial interest at heart. She went on and on. I finally shut her up when I said to her don’t your parents both collect disability? Yes they do. Then I asked her didn’t she get welfare when she was single with a child? Yes she did. I reminded her that she and her family were getting government support at one time or other. I told her I rest my case and walked away. Funny think is her cousin works where my husband works. They said her husband got mixed up in drugs again. Here are these 2 always judging others thinking they are always better then any democrat. They moved to Murfreeboro and he is trying to clean himself up. I wish him well. I like him but never could stand her.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
when I was working, I worked with some of these so-called southern Baptists. Most of them are pretty nice some of them are absolutely insane. Going on about how Obama is a Muslim and all that kind of ridiculous crap.
I do see quite a few Obama bumper stickers still on cars around here, that may mean that there is some hope for the South
MsJoanne
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
I completely disagree. These “Professional Left” people *cough* Jane Hamsher and Susie Madrak *cough* *puke* were directly responsible for demotivating Dems in the midterms. Hamsher tried her best to kill the healthcare legislation because she wanted it all and she wanted it now (as did I) and if she couldn’t get it all at one time, she wanted it to fail. Well, politics doesn’t work that way. Canada didn’t get to universal healthcare on their first pass, it started in one province and spread. But in these peoples minds it’s all or nothing, no matter that the AHCA will help millions. At least we have something to build on.
It’s talk like that that pits the crazy left (which I consider both those women) against the reality based community who understands that we had 60 votes for two freaking months and those votes included Lieberman who said any public option would automatically make him a No vote.
I want better Dems too, but how progressive will a red state vote? Nelson, Landreau, etc. In those cases, IMHO, any Dem is better than any GOPer. Period. Full stop.
Dissent between Dems IS good, until you pull support from Dems leaving us with raging teabaggers who are too stupid to know that a nontroversial vote to raise the debt ceiling is really, really bad…let alone anything FOR THE PEOPLE which Dems tend towards.
Hamsher and her ilk are directly responsible for 2010. They were the anti-GOTV. And it worked.
And how’s that working out for all of us?
Sarah Jones
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Just to be clear, I blame the right wing for obstructionism and this group for our own failure to get some of the things passed that would have helped the folks liberals are supposed to care about. I noticed that last December, this group card NOTHING for the poor – they hated Obama because he wouldn’t tell the GOP to f*ck off, even if it meant no unemployment benefits extension. Now they hate him because he might have put SS on the table (a thing he knew was never going to happen and was deliberately leaked to put the GOP in the very position they are in now).
They have a right to their opinion, just as I have a right to mine, and I’m angry that they would rather stand with the right wing than get behind real change on the ground level. I’m angry that they have spent so much energy and money demonizing the President when we have a right wing to do that.
I am NOT talking about holding the President accountable. We have terrific journalists, for example at Truthout, who do this with integrity. If I found out that they were working with the tea party (which they are not), I would have the same loss of respect for their integrity. The TP, as funded by the Koch brothers, is often a hate group, using racism to achieve its political means and kill unions. THOSE are not liberal values.
Cathy
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Excellent!!!
Debra
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 10:14 am
Precisely Sarah! Couldn’t agree more.
nk007
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 7:18 pm
Very well said, Sarah.
Oldsun
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
OK call be dumb but WTF is a firebagger???
Kim Rivera
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 6:26 pm
Go to Firedoglake.com. That’s where most of the firebaggers reside.
This is just my guess, since I’ve never heard the term before. I just know that Jayne Hamsher and her merry band of angry ‘progressives’ do a whole lot of Obama bashing over at that site.
Oldsun
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
OH thats the problem I don’t pay much mind to Queen idiot and her demented following of so left their right mouth breathers.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Unfortunately we need some of them in the congress. However the more they try to defeat the Dem agenda the more they will be voted out.
We need the Dems to have differences but recognize that when push come to shove they need to vote as a block. Republicans for the mo0st part vote as a block, we need our reps to do it too
Sarah Jones
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 5:49 pm
Yes. People who hate the blue dogs fail to realize that in some areas, it’s a blue dog or a tea bagger. They drive me nuts, but as someone who was represented by a blue dog, I can say it was better than the alternative – and don’t those people’s lives matter?
jazzguyal
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 5:49 pm
I’m glad he’s got plenty of money, so I don’t think anyone needs to contribute any further to his campaign. That money can buy him all the campaign workers he needs so no one needs to volunteer to help in his re-election campaign. And if he loses his momentum he certainly won’t need any help from any liberal or progressive because they’re too stupid for him to bother with, because he’s got all this money. There are more people in Gitmo now than when W43 was in office, he requested and now has the right to execute any American outside the Country that he or any President so chooses, with no repercussions at all. His HCR had nothing to do w/healh care, it was insurance reform, and not much of that. He has 6 wars ongoing with no apparent oversight. He bailed out Wall street and never asked for any investigation of wrong doing, the same for the big banks. Gave the top 2% a huge tax break, put out a stimulus package knowing it was not enough. Rverything that happened on W43′s watch can happen again at anytime because no controlls were put in place to prevent any of this from happening again. Of course any solutions to these things would be way too liberal and progressive for any ‘real’ Democrat to do anything about. The only thing in the middle of the road is a yellow stripe and road kill.
Jason Easley
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 6:07 pm
No one likes to hear that their self pity is irrelevant, but take your crying somewhere else. Nobody here cares.
Debra
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 10:16 am
*snap
Cathy
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
Again and again–Blame the President! I did NOT realize that we had crowned the President with the power to wave his scepter and get rid of all the evils in the world without consulting with his learned court jesters (Congress). Every thing you mention, POTUS has addressed, but he needs Congressional approval to move his agenda forward–and it is not happening, too much obstruction politics. Please check out the facts before blaming it all on the President.
MsJoanne
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
Brilliant. And you’ll love what President Bachmann will do to us!
Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 6:19 pm
Beautiful!
C.L.
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
Excellent post.
The far left and the far right have a similar problem with authoritarianism: both believe that the leader of this country (authority figure) has ultimate control over public policies.
Since the president doesn’t meet their expectations of wielding this illusory ultimate control with respect to their specific goals, the far left demonize him as ineffectual, while the far right exaggerate the president’s power and influence by accusing him of unilaterally destroying this country.
Both groups are tiresome and childish. They don’t need to be told to “sit down and shut up” so much as told to “Grow up.”
english saddle
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
Did anyone go to the link? Jane hampsher working with teavaggers to kill healthcare! Why didn’t anyone talking about thus?
MsJoanne
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
I just read that link. I knew about Hamsher’s efforts to kill healthcare long ago and her being on CNN blowing that goat-fucker Erickson (google that if you dont catch the reference). I’ve always said that Hamsher was a GOP plant, in this blogging thing solely for her own celebrity, but man, she’s so much worse than even I, who reads virtually every non-working waking moment, ever knew about.
If I haven’t mentioned this, this site is fantastic. You guys do great work.
Centerist Cynic
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 7:33 pm
Thanks for the post. This is a a major frustration for me. Obama may not be perfect but he is not evil incarnate. With a country that is basically split 50/50, we must be willing to accept compromises. Compromise means noone gets everything they want.
Thanks again
Sarah Jones
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Yes, that’s why he got Osama, got healthcare passed in the face of huge opposition (both from the left and major corporations), saved the auto industry…..
nk007
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 7:27 pm
Well said. No President in U.S. History has ever been perfect, not even the liberal super hero, FDR. You really put you finger at what’s wrong with these “holier than thou progressives”:They fail to understand that the country is ideologically split. The President has to govern this diverse country. To be able to get anything done he has to compromise with Congress. The President is not a dictator.
Steve
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 8:13 pm
The more I see of these attacks on Progressives the more impressed I am with their almost supernatural powers. On the one hand they are absolutely powerless against the 86 million Obama money-raising machine, yet they somehow managed single-handedly to screw up the 2010 elections. Amazing! I like to tell people that I’m from the Democratic wing of the Democratic party to let them know where my politics lie, but I’m thinking maybe we need a better dividing line. How about those of us who believe in civil discussion even while disagreeing with one another on one side. And the flame-throwers and name-callers like the author and those on the left who have nothing intelligent to say except to hurl “Obamabot” at those who disagree with them on the other side. A pox on both houses of the flame-throwers I say. In my opinion Obama is a huge disappointment and I say that as someone who was absolutely clear-headed that he was a moderate. However, thinking back to the primary battle with Hillary Clinton I think he clearly lied by implying he would be more liberal than the triangulating Clintons. In fact, he turned out to be in the same mold even to the point of hiring the same tired sad sacks from that administration. In all fairness to Mrs. Clinton, who knows how she might have risen to the challenges instead of what we got. My last thought echoes one made earlier; if you really want to get votes from Progressives, insulting them or misrepresenting them as idiots doesn’t work very well. The Democratic party actually desperately needs every Progressive vote, because the huge number of Americans who don’t vote but are dying for a political party who would actually fight for them are sure the hell not going to show up at the polls with this party as currently constituted or for this President.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
In my opinion the Dems in Congress are the big disappointment and some are downright worthless. Obama can only do what his party will support, and he sint getting the support he needs since day one. Obama is vastly a better president than anyone else that was running. Perhpas you may wish to re-look hopw he has boxed the conservatives on.
Or join the tea party. The real people who screwed up the 2010 elections.
MsJoanne
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
Agreed. More Pelosis and Greysons and even Weiners and we’d be far better off. The president is but one and he doesn’t make legislation.
Steve
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
I’ll let the “his hands are tied” argument pass, but for one example, it is solely the President’s job to enforce the laws through his Attorney General. Can’t he put even one major corporate criminal (for almost causing a Depression) in jail? Eight hundred went to jail for the saving’s and loan scandal in the ’80s. A lot of working people may not have college degrees but they know when they are getting hosed. They know very well that if they did what the Wall Streeters did they would be sitting in jail right now and they are pissed off about it. This is a class war and we’re losing. I don’t look forward to what is coming down the road. I’m from Wisconsin and more and more you hear people talking about violence because they’ve given up hope that either political party is really on their side or that our system of government works anymore. When the match hits the fuse on that bomb anything can happen. While I appreciate a good chess player and it’s nice to feel pride when our President looks good representing us overseas, when the chess game is over he needs to don his armor and slay a few dragons for us or at least let us see that he’s trying.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 9:53 pm
www.post-gazette.com/pg/1...
Steve
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
I’ve read the article posted below (no reply button on your post)and as the old joke goes, “What’s one Wall St. criminal at the bottom of the ocean? A good start.” But as the last line of the article says, “The conviction of Raj Rajaratnam, however, is a small victory for maintaining a level investment playing field.” Small being the key word. Madoff was an old fashioned Ponzi schemer, so we’re only talking about 1 person so far, and I’m not aware of anyone involved in mortgage criminality in jail yet. If they throw some more in jail I’ll change my mind though.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 10:14 pm
I agree with you. A ton of people should be in jail. And I do mean a TON. I think what they did was horribly criminal.
But you did ask for just one people convicted. And I passed that one along.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
politicalticker.blogs.cnn...
He is a far better leader than what we could have had.
I am not here to do your research. Start doing it for yourself.
Sarah Jones
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
See ALEC if you want to know why the public option was killed.
PClaus
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 12:08 am
Well said, Steve.
nk007
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
I am as progressive as they come but I am not an idiot. The problem is not with progressives. The problem is with the “holier than thou progressives” who fail to understand that they do not constitute a majority of the country or a majority in Congress. For a president to get anything done he has to compromise with the moderates and conservatives. To think the President can decree things without support of Congress shows, in my humble opinion, a naive understanding of how the political system works. By the way, how come all of you were not out, 24-7, constantly demonizing Clinton when he was President?
If you don’t go out and vote, then you’ve no business complaining. At least go out and organize an effective progressive third party. Or go out and organize to elect progressive Democrats in Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska,Virginia, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, as well many conservative areas in the so called Blue states. But don’t come and try to pretend to care for the people while you are facilitating the election of right wing Republicans.
Leslie Parsley
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 9:26 pm
Long, sustained applause. Hamsher isn’t the only one. There’s her twin over at Salon.
Eric
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 9:35 pm
Wait until next quarter’s report. Obama’s environmental record (what there is of it) is abysmal. I won’t be WASTING either money or time on his reelection.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 9:51 pm
Well there you go. I suspect you wont be voting as the republicans have a zero record on the environment. Best of luck to you. BTW, how much of that environmental stuff do you think Obama can get through the house?
He hasnt done anything dramatic I agree.
The president has bragging rights to some piecemeal climate-change initiatives. The nation’s wind and solar power capacity increased 39 and 52 percent (PDF), respectively, from 2008 to 2009. Some of that is likely due to his decision to extend tax credits and create a new grant program for residential renewable energy as part of the stimulus package. The administration also approved the nation’s first offshore wind farm.
The president raised fuel-economy standards for cars, regulations that finally extend to light trucks. The rules don’t begin to take effect until 2012, so there’s no immediate impact in greenhouse-gas emissions. But the regulations are ultimately expected to ease carbon emissions from cars by 21 percent by 2030, compared to what they would have been under the old rules. The president is also in negotiations to create even stricter requirements by 2025.
Sarah Jones
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Bush, EPA, defunded, etc.
Debra
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 10:19 am
Exactly! His environmental record compared to whom? Bush? It’s going to take term after term to repair what the Bush administration did to this environment! Not to mention crazy-assed GOP Governors like mine (Rick Scott) is doing everything humanly possible to have us all drinking and swimming in sewage.
nk007
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 7:50 pm
Then you deserve a president Bachmann! Except of course that would include the rest of us who do not act like spoiled children. Remember how “holier than thou progressives” told us that there was no difference between Al Gore and Goerge W. Bush? Guess what, the country paid the price for such political idiocy!
Reynardine
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 9:59 pm
That’s what I think: she’s a false flag.
Reynardine
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
That was supposed to post to another comment, of course. But it’s clear to me that Jane Hamsher is a Republican agent working under a false flag, and while some of her cohorts and many of her followers may just be deluded, others are playing the same game. Follow the money.
Maikeru48
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
I wonder how much of that $86 million came from the President’s friends on Wall Street. But that’s just me being a firebagger, I guess…
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
95% of the donors gave $250 or less.
Debra
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 10:21 am
READING the report might be helpful. Just a thought.
Sarah Jones
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 6:53 pm
I would agree that you are being a Firebagger, since you ignored the facts and went right in for the kill, slandering someone with false accusations and then ending with self pity.
At no time did you bother to read what you were commenting on, notice the amount of small donations, or come back to apologize for making false accusations. It appears as if blind hatred for the President making it impossible to be rational.
nk007
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
Did you miss reading this: “The Obama campaign had 552,462 donors who made more than 680,000 donations. 98% of the donations were for $250 or less, and the average donation was $69.”? If you missed it that’s understandable, but if you simply ignored it then you are “being a firebagger.”
StJimmy
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
Following any politician blindly is stupid. On the left side of the spectrum there are two groups of idiots. The first being the “obamabots” who believe the President should never be criticized, the other being those who claim that Obama is the second coming of Bush.
When Obama does right we should praise him for doing so. When he doesn’t we should criticize.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
Well said
nk007
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 8:03 pm
I am a proud “Obamabot” who knows exactly the difference between constructive criticism and constant unfair criticism, that is sometimes based on manufactured lies, or utter ignorance of how the political system operates. I defy you to name one Obama supporter (the ones you label “obamabots” who has said that President Obama “should never be criticized.” Name one, please!
StJimmy
Jul. 15th, 2011 at 1:16 am
You just did. You just put it into flowery words.
Lucy
Jul. 13th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
Thank you. I have been waiting for someone to point out the obvious – the far left who are constantly bashing the President are not the base of the Democratic Party. A coalition elected the President – African Americans, Hispanics, young people, union members, and yes,Progressive. But the far left and the media treat the rest of us like we don’t exist. Like all the polls that have shown that the overwhelming majority of Democrats continue to support the President, this fund raising report says that we do. If these people really do care about progressive issues, I don’t know how they can consider not voting, which is a vote for the
Republicans. If the present day Republican party takes over,the issues we care about are dead for a generation.
K
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 1:41 am
Good article. The reason the far left turns me off is that ideology becomes more important than what is good and possible for the country – and that is the main reason I lose respect for most Republicans.
Obama isnt a president for democrats, he is a president for all people. I think he has proven time and time again that he puts the country above agenda.
The affordable health care act is one example – its very possible that it could have cost him a second term. Even today, he said he is willing to risk re-election to get a long term deal out of Republicans.
I feel the proposed cuts to entitlement programs by Obama recently were a tactic, I saw it from the very beginning, and it worked, but there will be people who dont realize that.
But I think we all need to realize that for medicare and any governmental health program to work, huge reforms to the health industry are necessary, which is why he did the affordable health care act. There is going to be an overlap time, which we are in the middle of at the moment, where his health care act comes in to effect, but hasn’t had any huge positive impacts on costs. I have faith that in time it will, but this is the toughest time, and the easiest time for Republicans to go after the entitlement programs.
If cuts are made to entitlement programs, it will most likely be done tied to tax increases, and that money can go to strengthening government health care. It’s a stagnant period in the reform, we just have to see it out and make sure Republicans have nothing to bargain with. Obama is being very calculated in this, and most people can see it.
As for the far left, I hope they realize that they need to compromise just as much as the right needs to, and to look at the bigger picture. There is no one way to fix things, there are many ways, but each different way has its pros and cons, and we need to find the best solution that has the least volatile impact.
Not to mention that if you dont support Obama for re-election.. there is no other democratic candidate – you are essentially giving that vote to Republicans, even if you dont vote at all.
Face reality.
mel in oregon
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
i won’t be voting for obama, just as i didn’t vote for clinton or carter. i’m not sure what the point of anyone calling people that disagree with the conservative obama firebaggers is all about. let’s look at obama’s record. he continued the taxcuts for the wealthiest people. he continues the tax loopholes on hummers, learjets, yachts, wine cellars, countryclub memberships, as well as special tax loopholes for oil companies, mining companies, timber companies, etc. so if you are rich whether as an individual or a corporation, you continue to get special treatment from obama, the same as under bush, clinton or reagan. obama hasn’t done a damn thing to close the tax dodge havens in switzerland, lichtenstein, or luxembourg where more than $10 trillion is stored by the wealthy taxfree from the IRS. thanks to ralph nader (who i have voted for & will continue to do so if he runs again) we know that general electric, exxon, yahoo, boeing, fed ex, verizon & wells fargo paid no taxes at all last year. in fact they get money back from taxpayers. as i’ve mentioned many times, obama’s cabinet is full of moronic wallstreet toadies. look at atty gen holder. very close with fugitive financier marc rich’s atty. rich of course was pardoned by loverboy clinton. or look at defense dept chief panetta. he can’t even get his facts straight about iraq & el qaeda, sounding as stupid as palin or bachmann. when obama threatens social security & medicare just to appease the idiotic republicans, he deserves no support. it’s a free country so far, & you have a right to your opinions, i just believe obama is a very poor representative for what we know to be right.
nk007
Jul. 14th, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Excellent article, Jason.