Obama And Michelle Ask Progressive Groups For Help Driving White House Agenda

[babylonsister]

Progressives finally got their meeting!


Obama And Michelle Ask Progressive Groups For Help Driving White House Agenda


At a private White House cocktail reception last night for leaders of major progressive groups, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle appealed to these leaders and signaled that their groups would play a key role in driving the big progressive changes at the heart of the White House’s legislative agenda, an attendee tells me.

The message was that these groups would be valuable as a kind of progressive outside “echo chamber,” as the attendee puts it.

The party — which was organized by top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett — signals that the White House is moving forward with efforts to build coordination with outside progressive groups in order to drive the White House’s message and beat back its foes. As I reported recently, Jarrett is at the center of those efforts.

Obama didn’t give a talk, and the President, Michelle, and Joe Biden mingled informally with various groups of progressive leaders. The message, the attendee adds, was that “it’s very clear that there will need to be an echo chamber and a way for groups on the outside to build the case for big progressive legislation.”

more...

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/labor/obama-and-michelle-ask-progressive-groups-for-help-driving-white-house-agenda/


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http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/stimulus-package/obama-to-progressive-leaders-we-have-a-lot-more-to-do/


Obama To Progressive Leaders: We Have A Lot More To Do


Here’s some more interesting detail on the reception that President Obama, Michelle and Joe Biden hosted for progressive leaders last night at the White House, which I described below.

A second attendee emails me to describe Obama making the rounds and congratulating each leader personally for their work in helping pass the stimulus package.

“He was in good spirits -– spent a lot of time with each person,” the attendee emails. “Lots of congratulations being passed around. But when I could hear him he always turned to what’s next: We have a lot more to do -– energy, health care, etc.”

Obama also displayed a fairly intimate knowledge of what the groups had done to push the stim, such as the big Americans United for Change ad campaign.

“He was well aware of the work that had gone on –- including the ads,” the attendee emails.

“People were very excited -– if I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say, `It’s nice to be back in the White House after eight years,’ I could buy a nice lunch today,” the attendee adds.

One other fun detail, involving chief of staff Rahm Emanuel: “It was interesting,” the attendee emails. “Rahm came in the room and pulled Obama aside to share something. But it didn’t look all that urgent –- or at least it wasn’t bad. Whatever news he gave him got a big smile from the President and a half bear hug.”

[Still Sensible]

1. Obviously this is very good news.

Does anybody know how broad the representation was? Who was left out and is going to be mad about it?

[pot luck]

2. K&R

Good to hear that he is turning to progressive groups to counteract the propaganda coming from the MSM/GOP.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. Now that is what I like to hear

A good and inclusive list o' guests as well. This is good news. Thanks for sharing, in the midst of all it is good to hear the good stuff.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. I would be happy to help with a progressive agenda. That's the only kind I really like anyway.

[NYC_SKP]

5. Yeah, right..."that's not change we can believe in", "same shit, different dude"...

:sarcasm:

Take THAT, haters, whiners, and crybabies!

:rofl:

Thanks, babylonsister, for sharing this.

:patriot:

[vaberella]

24. HI-FIVE NYCSKIP....I'm a NYer too. ^_^

[NYC_SKP]

27. You know what we do?

You and me?

We rock. That's right.

:rofl: :hi:

:yourock:

[vaberella]

29. We doo...Woohoo!!

LONG LIVE NY!! :woohoo: :fistbump:

[PVnRT]

40. Way to be conciliatory, dick

People like you are part of the problem.

I like that Obama's done this, and many others will as well; it's a shame you think that this is a time to piss all over anyone who has leveled criticism at the man.

[onehandle]

6. Finally! Now the White House will be make WTC7 and "Hunt the Boeing" a top priority. nt

[grasswire]

7. I hate to sound pessimistic...

....but it could be a sop, responding to the criticisms coming his way as the centrist policies have disappointed many on the left already. Too bad he didn't do this before agreeing to the stimulus bill that cut taxes and cut programs.

[EraOfResponsibility]

8. better late than never IMO

He's met with them, and now he knows what's on their minds now, that's all that matters.

[babylonsister]

9. He wouldn't be so well versed on progressive issues if he

was just appeasing them imo.
And the progressives in Congress did have input on the stimulus. No group got exactly what they wanted, but all reasonable people realized something had to be done.


Obama also displayed a fairly intimate knowledge of what the groups had done to push the stim, such as the big Americans United for Change ad campaign.

“He was well aware of the work that had gone on –- including the ads

[Cha]

22. Then don't. Do something

different for a CHANGE.

[AtomicKitten]

10. This should be celebrated at DU particularly by those claiming Obama has shut out progressives. n/t

[merh]

11. Oh, everyone knows this can't be true, Obama is a centrist,

a moderate that wants to make the conservatives and the rightwing fanatics happy - the hell to liberals and progressives, the hell to the left. :eyes:

:sarcasm:

[GregD]

12. US Chamber of Commerce was there? WTF?

When you follow the links to the guest listing on Christy's site http://christyhardinsmith.firedoglake.com/2009/02/19/cocktails-with-obama-last-nights-guest-list-shows-focus-on-efca/ it states that the US Chamber of Commerce was there.

Aren't they simply evil and awful? Why would they be there with his list of progressives?

[babylonsister]

13. What do you know-someone's complaining, about the

guest list, no less! Maybe President Obama likes a populated party. ;)

[firedupdem]

14. That didn't take long! n/t

[GregD]

17. I'm not your typical whiner. Go look at my postings.

But I know enough about the damage that the USCOC has caused and I do challenge why they are there among well-known progressive groups.

[chill_wind]

19. Hah. Mark Gitenstein there, by any chance?

Yeah, got to love them Bush progressives...

Electioneering shell game

On October 31, 2006, Public Citizen filed a complaint<8> with the IRS asking it to investigate whether the Chamber and "its affiliated Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) failed to report millions in taxable spending from 2000 to 2004 intended to influence state-level attorney general and supreme court races and federal races around the country."<9>

It also asked the IRS to investigate whether Chamber and the ILR, "which are two separate legal entities, combined funds in a shared bank account to hide accurate reporting of investment or interest income for tax avoidance. ... Court records, internal corporate documents and media reports indicate that the Chamber and the ILR engaged in a massive campaign to affect the outcome of state and federal races through direct expenditures and grants made to organizations that carried out the Chamber’s wishes."<9>

Public Citizen reported that
"In 2000, the Chamber claimed it spent $6 million on judicial races and took credit for winning 15 out of 17 state supreme court contests. In 2002, the Chamber said it planned to spend $40 million on political campaigns, divided equally between congressional and state-level attorneys general and judicial races. None of these activities were reported on their tax returns from 2000 to 2003.

"In 2004, the first year since at least 2000 that the Chamber and the ILR reported political expenditures, both organizations appear to have underreported their spending. They reported a combined $18 million, but in a 'President's Update' memo released the day after the November elections, Chamber President Thomas Donohue claimed the group had spent up to $30 million in races around the country.

"The Chamber and ILR also failed to report grants and allocations to outside groups as required by Line 22 of IRS Form 990. Both organizations reported no grants to outside groups from 2000 to 2004. But in a 2005 deposition, a Chamber official acknowledged that the Chamber had partnered with at least six outside groups to advance its agenda to avoid garnering unwanted critical attention. At least two 501(c) organizations, the Washington-based American Taxpayers Alliance and the Columbus-based Citizens for a Strong Ohio, reported receipt of contributions from the U.S. Chamber."

(...)

Opposing "activist judges"

In late May 2005, the Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform President Lisa Rickard announced it was going to "reign in activist attorneys general."<11> At a Chamber-sponsored conference examining the "appropriate role" of a state attorney general, several speakers "complained that 'Spitzerism' has become a dangerous model for ambitious regulators," refering to New York AG Eliot Spitzer.<12>



(...)

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act

In October 2007, the Chamber filed a friend-of-the court filing in a class action lawsuit under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court which originated with a California RICO lawsuit involving Microsoft and Best Buy. The Chamber stated that "RICO is getting out of control as a device against business. It has been used in more than 4,500 cases since 2001, with only 35 of those cases filed by the government."<14> The Supreme Court overturned the appeal and ruled that Microsoft and Best Buy are subject to RICO laws.<15>

(...)

SCHIP veto

The Chamber is among a number of organizations which supported President George W. Bush's October 2007 veto of the SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007) bill.<19> Republicans and "some business groups" such as the Chamber contended SCHIP "should focus on poor children and the expansion a move towards government-run health care. They also worr identification rules in the Democratic SCHIP bill might allow illegal immigrants to obtain government coverage."<20>

(...)

Social Security

The Chamber also has a role in promoting President George W. Bush's plan to privatize Social Security.

(...)

Lobbying spending

The Chamber ranks first in lobbying spending in the past decade, with General Electric ranking second at $161 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.<25>

Political Money Line<26> highlighted in February 2005 that the Chamber and its Institute for Legal Reform reported combined spending of $53.38 million for lobbying the Executive and Legislative branches during 2004. According to the watchdog website, "This is the largest twelve-month amount reported spent by any group."

The Chamber reported spending $20,060,000 in the first six months of 2004 and $8,780,000 in the last six months of 2004. They paid forty-five lobbyists in the last six months of 2004 to lobby on thirty-two issue areas, including "Trade, Small Business, Labor, Healthcare, Defense, Appropriations, Tort Reform and other areas."<27>


more: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S._Chamber_of_Commerce

People might want to read up more on the Mark Gitenstein pick, while they're at it.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-justice5-2009feb05,0,7215699.story?track=rss

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8172908

I'll wait to see how the cocktail parties get translated into policy.

[MadBadger]

15. I know MoveOn was there last night.

[mzteris]

16. some attendees:

Among those on the guest list: Labor leaders Jimmy Hoffa, Gerry McEntee and Andy Stern; MoveOn’s Eli Pariser; Sierra Club’s Carl Pope; Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richardson; and Joe Solomonese of the Human Rights Campaign.

[Dr. Mullion Blasto]

18. Sure, this is a step in the right direction,

but do we really need permission to push our agenda? This is a real problem for us. Whenever someone in power gives us a nod of recognition, we get all mushy about it. It validates us. If we are serious, we will push our agenda whether those in power like it or not.

[Cha]

20. Great news but not

at all surprising:fistbump:

[jsamuel]

21. This sounds awful

"The message was that these groups would be valuable as a kind of progressive outside “echo chamber,” as the attendee puts it."

If that is all progressives are to them, people to echo what the WH wants, that is a major problem. Progressives should be a constituency, not a bunch of press secretaries.

[biopowertoday]

31. Good point. thanks

[vaberella]

23. Yippee!!! This is brilliant news. Woohoo!!

:woohoo:

[liberalsince1968]

25. At a COCKTAIL PARTY? If I'm supposed to be reassured by this, I'm not.

[mistertrickster]

26. Now . . . if only he would actually appoint some progressives. Like Howard Dean, duh? nt

[babylonsister]

30. He has, but maybe you were too busy complaining...

and this article was written Dec 1, 2008, so there are more.

http://washingtonindependent.com/20365/progressive-circle-forming-around-obama

snip//


Consider the people Obama has selected to be his advisers on domestic policy and national politics, as well as his communications director. Other prominent progressive players, including labor and feminist activists, also will be members of his future White House staff.

In the past two weeks, Obama has tapped Melody Barnes, of the progressive think tank Center for American Progress, to serve as his domestic policy director; Patrick Gaspard, a political organizer for the Services Employees International Union, or SEIU, as his politics director; Ellen Moran, of the liberal fund-raising group EMILY’s List, which backs pro-choice women candidates, to run his communications shop; and Phil Schiliro, a former aide to Sen. Tom Daschle, to serve as the White House’s liaison with Congress.

[mistertrickster]

33. Yeah, that's nothing. He DID put William Greider as Labor Sec'y, I'll give him that.

Now if he could just follow up on it . . .

We know that Rahm Emanuel hates Dean's guts, so it's probably not gonna happen. Emanuel wanted DNC money to go to "big players" (like himself). Dean had his 50 state strategy.

Dean won, but that doesn't necessarily make him popular.

[babylonsister]

39. News to me: I thought 'progressive' Hilda Solis was

President Obama's secretary of labor pick...

http://www.theseminal.com/2009/02/19/progressives-in-the-cabinet-hilda-solis/

Obama’s pick of Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor, then, signifies that the progressive labor movement is strong. Solis authored and helped pass the “Green Collar Jobs Act of 2007,” which allocated $125 million to promoting domestic energy while simultaneously retraining workers to meet the needs of the new green economy. She’s helped out on efforts to increase the minimum wage, and she’s co-sponsored legislation to end discrimination in salaries. (See her talking about the paycheck fairness effort here.) All of these are solid, progressive positions, and policies I’d want to see continued and enforced in the Department of Labor.

[mistertrickster]

42. Ah ha! You are right. I must have read his praise for Solis. I stand corrected. nt.

[mistertrickster]

34. Actually, I was too busy working my ass off to get Obama elected. Now I want him to work FOR US.

Just throw us a fricking bone . . . that's all I ask.

[vaberella]

38. It's when you saw Black athletes with White Wives

People always go on a tangent Black athletes when they make money get White wives. That's just what the media pimps out is the ones who marry outside the race who gets the air time. As though creating a precedent that matters. When it's actually quite the opposite in the full scheme of things. It's the same here...the ones the media focuses heavily on are the ones who happen to be Republican or heavy right and everyone assumes all the people in the cabinet are centrist to heavy right.

[Hutzpa]

28. Like the way it was done,

away from snoopers and I like the fact he did not give a speech
which shows he knows his base and no matter how the right and center
try to paint him, we will forever be tied....wheres my ring goddamit..

Kudos Mr President, THANK YOU!

Thanks for posting.


:patriot:

:thumbsup:

[EraOfResponsibility]

32. kick and rec'd

[Hekate]

35. I'm thrilled by this news (4th week!!!) but am so sorry I read this thread....

Some people just cannot stop bitching long enough to see the real progress that is being made, the recognition, the appointments, and all the rest of it. :argh:

For the one who complained about the cocktail party aspect :wtf: The Obamas used to have Wed. night cocktail parties back in Chicago. It's a relaxed format, a way to get to know people outside work and outside formal hearings and presentations. Did ANY of the participants complain?

For 8 years we had the Dry Drunk being almost completely anti-social to people he hadn't met before or those who hadn't been thoroughly vetted and screened. He went to bed at 9:00 for Pete's sake!

Now we have a couple in the WH who want to meet people of varying opinions and get to know them. If they invited all of them at once, they'd just have to have a thousand-person crush and good luck with that.

Sorry for the rant, Babs, and thanks for the OP.

Hekate

[Hekate]

36. FDR to Dem activists: "I agree with you, I want to do it; now make me do it."

In others words, go public, create a public groundswell of support that can override Repub opposition.

Obama to Progressives: sounds like the same to Hekate.

Hekate

[OneBlueSky]

37. now THERE's a door I'm happy to see opened . . .

the last time progressive could even enter the White House was probably during the Clinton administration . . . but even then it was more window dressing than substance . . .

sounds to me like Obama really wants our input -- probably because our solutions to various crises have the best chance of actually creating and fostering meaningful change . . . and if there's one thing this nation needs at this point in history, it's meaningful change -- in war and peace, in energy policy, in protecting the environment, in healthcare, in education, in alleviating poverty, in banking and finance, and in trade, to name just a few of the most obvious . . .

btw . . . despite far right rhetoric to the contrary, the roof did NOT cave in and the windows didn't shatter when progressives visited the White House . . . another right-wing myth bites the dust! . . .:applause:

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

41. Finally, after some of his disturbing picks for highest cabinet level positions.

At least he's willing to break bread with the God-awful, "far left" extremists, socialists. :sarcasm:

I still think he worst decision by far is Geithner. Saying that, I think health care is at the top of the list. People can't go back to work if they cannot be assured that they'll receive quality, affordable health care. Make sure children are covered, of course, but provide relief for the workers.

The workers matter. We need to craft a message that challenges the notion that Unions are the big, bad devil. I'm glad to see that President Obama is working to dispel that myth.

Don't be afraid to take on the conventional wisdoms and narratives that The Right have falsely created about who progressives are. When we really examine survey and poll data, we find that Americans are much more progressive on a host of salient issues than we think. We ought not be afraid to demonstrate how aligned our values are to mainstream, ordinary Americans.

I'm happy to hear that he is finally opening up his tent and allowing the progressive community to a voice. I think we've been shut out for far too long.

[Skwmom]

43. Well, let's just hope the progressives don't end up getting

blamed for the sinking ship. The Republicans and the Clinton "centrists" (including the three stooges, Rubin/Summers/Geithner) who pushed deregulation, free trade, and free markets deserve that recognition.

[yurbud]

44. I wish the Rahm story had a different punchline, sort of like Biff in BACK TO THE FUTURE

''Rahm, that doesn't look like three coats of wax on the limo...''

''Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Obama, my mistake, I'll get right on it, sir''