dagblog - Comments for "Amid Democratic Division, McConnell to Force Vote on Obama Jobs Bill"

The pundits are tearing him

Oxy Mora — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:35:37 +0000

The pundits are tearing him up for being too timid at the press conference. No "passion", etc. I think it all depends at decision time when one is faced with a Rick Perry, or a Romney/Bachmann ticket.

A couple of months

AmericanDreamer — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:30:33 +0000

In reply to "..people run them out of

A couple of months early--hmm...maybe. My reaction was to wonder if he is more than a couple of months late, whether too many of those who looked to him with hope have tuned him out for good, and can't hear him or recognize or acknowledge or support him on anything good he's trying to do. Another reaction I had is that it may not just be Congress that the voters throw out if Congress does not act boldly and quickly, but him as well. I don't know how indicative are the comments of some at dag of broader sentiment among the voters. If they are, he may be too late and may be out of time to get himself in tune with public opinion and find a way to ride what looks like a rising tide of public anger at Washington that, who knows?, could sweep a whole lot of incumbents of both parties out next November.

And I thought his press

Oxy Mora — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:26:40 +0000

In reply to "..people run them out of

And I thought his press conference was excellent. I really liked the language, the "put" to Republicans.

"..people run them out of

Oxy Mora — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:19:52 +0000

In reply to "Defiant Obama challenges GOP

"..people run them out of town". Hmnn. I agreed with that narrative some time ago, but he's a couple of months early.

"Defiant Obama challenges GOP

AmericanDreamer — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:54:28 +0000

In reply to Amid Democratic Division, McConnell to Force Vote on Obama Jobs Bill

"Defiant Obama challenges GOP on jobs bill", Ben Feller, Associated Press, less than an hour ago:

Defiant and frustrated, President Barack Obama aggressively challenged Republicans Thursday to get behind his jobs plan or explain why not, declaring that if Congress fails to act "the American people will run them out of town."

.........

The president predicted dire political consequences for his opponents if they don't go along.

"I think the American people will run them out of town because they are frustrated and they know we need to do something big, something bold."

"We will just keep on going at it and hammering away until something gets done," he said. "And I would love nothing more than to see Congress act so aggressively that I can't campaign against them as a do-nothing Congress."

..........

Obama said the economy is weaker now than at the beginning of the year. Citing economists' estimates, he said his $447 billion jobs bill would help the economy grow by 2 percent and create 1.9 million jobs.

"At a time when so many people are having such a hard time, we have to have an approach, we have to take action that is big enough to meet the moment," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/defiant-obama-challenges-gop-jobs-bill-160959024.html

Comments by Obama referencing the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators were noted in the article as well:

Obama also said the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrators protesting against Wall Street and economic inequality are expressing the frustrations of the American public.

He said he understands the public's concerns about how the nation's financial system works. And he said Americans see Wall Street as an example of the financial industry not always following the rules.

Asked why there hadn't been more prosecutions in the financial sector, Obama said that many of the activities that precipitated the financial crisis in 2008 were not necessarily illegal. He said many financial schemes were probably immoral, inappropriate or reckless and required new regulations.

Obama criticized efforts in Congress, led by Republicans, to roll back some of the financial rules approved last year. He defended the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created by that the legislation against GOP efforts to weaken it.

Obama also said that some banks are now using new regulations as an excuse to charge consumers more. It was a reference to a fee some banks are imposing to make up for restrictions on debit card fees they charge retailers.

The latest on the situation

AmericanDreamer — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:45:19 +0000

In reply to Amid Democratic Division, McConnell to Force Vote on Obama Jobs Bill

The latest on the situation in the Senate:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/senate-democrats-rewriting-obamas-jobs-bill-14670019

Senator Shumer has a valid point on this dispute about who counts as "rich" for purposes of increasing taxes, but this can't be allowed to keep this legislation from coming up for a vote soon. Set the bar at $500,000, as a compromise between the $250K now, and the $1 million Shumer wants. Make up the lost revenue from the uber wealthy, say $10 million and up.

Obama is pushing for

AmericanDreamer — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:47:42 +0000

In reply to The democrats keep saying

Obama is pushing for something important and worthwhile here. He's doing what many of us have been begging him to do on issue after issue: he's out making the case as forcefully as he knows how to the public. The Senate Dems need to come through. And the public, if it wants this to pass, needs to give Eric Cantor an earful--as in phone calls can't get through to his office because there are so many calls in protesting his stance on this, or the Capitol mailroom has to rent a dozen extra carts just to get the mail to Cantor's office.

If a President who has disappointed progressives repeatedly gives his all for something they passionately support, will those who long since gave up on him notice? If an elected official plants a progressive tree in the forest when no one else is there to see it, did it happen?

My hope--perhaps a vain one--is that disaffected progressives will find it within themselves to notice and even help support good things he (and maybe his Congressional party) does, and not only the bad. For those who are no longer open to Obama as someone they could possibly ever think a positive thought about going forward, is it possible emotionally to make this about the 400,000 teachers and other school employees who could well lose their jobs if opponents block this bill, instead of all about and only about Obama? For once?

Some advising Obama, and perhaps Obama himself, clearly have harbored considerable skepticism that even if this White House lays full out for something progressive activists want, too many of the latter won't notice or won't care, and in any case won't do much to help him. Reading comments from some in the blogosphere, here and elsewhere, I can see why they'd think that. Are we going to prove those who are skeptical about whether progressive activists and citizens will stand up and be counted--by advocating with passion and commitment and smarts the way we want our President to--right?

This particular proposal is pro-middle class, pro-public education, pro-student, and will reduce the unemployment rate from what it will be otherwise by a non-trivial amount. And even if it fails will give not just Obama but progressive candidates for Congress next year a solid issue to campaign on if the Republicans can be forced to block it or vote it down outright.

When does it get much more unambiguous than this for progressives when we're talking about legislative proposals that can do something meaningful to help this sick economy and vote for the future by supporting our kids and their teachers?

The question Eric Cantor

AmericanDreamer — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:22:00 +0000

In reply to An account of Obama out

The question Eric Cantor needs to answer to the public is why he won't allow an up or down vote on the President's jobs bill?

If the Republicans are going to flip the bird to an estimated 300,000-400,000 teachers and other public education employees who will otherwise lose their jobs, because of the GOP's movement libertarian commitments to radical upward income and wealth redistribution, they should have the decency and the courage to say so, to the educators and to the parents of public school children who will see class sizes go up, classes not offered, services not provided on account of these looming budget cuts.

I don't know--does the Cantor crowd even bother to say they want a middle class any more?

The truth is that Cantor and his Republican House majority fully intend to block that vote because a) they don't want to go on record publicly voting either yes or no and b) they can.

The first makes them cowards. The second makes them corrupt.

Own it, Eric.

The democrats keep saying

Resistance — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:46:22 +0000

In reply to You are right to by cynical.

The democrats keep saying "vote for the democrat, that way we'll get what we need"

Give the president a congress full of Democrats.

We got em and they still screw us over.

You are right to by cynical.

Oxy Mora — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:06:05 +0000

In reply to An account of Obama out

You are right to by cynical. I am really pissed at the possibility that Dems will shoot themselves in the foot again.