Excuse me but WHERE is our President on the Cat Food Commission's recs and

[ProfessionalLeftist]

the extension of the tax cuts for the rich?

Crickets.....we heard from Pelosi - that's IT?!

Is Obama intending to LEAD anytime soon? I don't give a damn what trip he's on, he needs to get his face in front of a camera and state in NO uncertain terms that continuation of tax cuts for the very wealthy is unacceptable. Period. And, that cutting social security or medicare is unacceptable. Period. And that Congress had better find other ways and other cuts because he will veto any bill that reaches his desk involving extension of tax cuts for the rich or cuts in ss or medicare. Period.

Instead he's just ABSENT. Crickets....

Now, I voted for Obama and I really like the guy but dayum is he gonna LEAD anytime soon? These are SERIOUS issues and he plops them in the hands of the likes of the Catfood Commission and then walks away! Hellooo?

[Inuca]

1. He is indeed absent, like in being ABROAD

and trying to deal with some not exactly easy stuff over there. That being said, I am abroad myself and having difficulty keeping up to date with what's going on, so I do not really have an opinion on any of this. Yet.

[eridani]

5. I actually love it that he is the face of our country abroad

But dammit, anyone ought to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.

[KharmaTrain]

2. This Is A Trial Balloon

Despite all the pisses and moans, this is just "recommendations" of the leaders of the committee...not anything that's been submitted but pretty much a trial balloon to see who squeals the most about what. There was plenty in these "recommendations" to piss off right, left, up and down...now the question is who fights the hardest.

Call it transparency...in the past these "recommendations" end up behind closed doors (Energy Task force) and no one says boo until it's on the House or Senate floor waiting for a final vote or pushed through in other ways.

This is setting the table for battles up ahead. You can bet the pollsters are going crazy getting reactions to the points that have come out...which are political winners and how they can be used in the sure battles that lie ahead.

Just like the Health Insurance reform, the President stays out of the mess...letting the meat be ground by others.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

3. This is NOT a mess he can stay out of

or that he should stay out of.

I do not agree with or like the way he handled "Health Insurance Reform" - basically, he didn't. He let the Insurance corprats and lobbyists write it. He gave no direction, he just tossed it to them and said "ok guys, you figure it out".

:wtf:

That is NOT leading.

[KharmaTrain]

4. The Bully Pulpit Only Goes So Far...

I agree that President Obama didn't come out strongly enough for the public option, but he also knew it had almost no chance in the Senate. I'm certain he was firmly behind the House version which did have the Public Option and many other provisions that would have laid the groundwork for Single Payer, but when it comes to the Senate that was a different story and where that battle and others have been lost.

The corportists and lobbyists you speak of did most of their dirty work under the wing of Max Baccus and others in the Senate. It was Harry Reid who first agreed to the organization rules that set 60 as a limit on almost all legislation and then refused to fillibuster. The President can try to bring people together but he can't hold a gun to the heads of people like Ben Nelson or Blanche Lincoln and that's where health insurance reform and the banksters reform failed.

Unfortunately this President relies on others to do most of his heavy legislative lifting and tries to please rather than lead. He's learning that the only thing in the middle of the road is roadkill.

Cheers...

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Phew! For a minute there I thought NOBODY knew what was going on...

Just like with every other advisory panel, little, if any, of this stuff is going to get passed.

Eliminate the mortgage deduction?

Seriously reduce the Pentagon budget?

Kill off the Delta Regional Commission?

Reduce funding for the Smithsonian?

And this isn't even the final report.

[jberryhill]

6. He's at the G20 in South Korea

My, my, my, how when the cat's away, the mice will play...

I believe the Catfood Commission is a report. Those words in a report, which does nothing, scare you so.

[MadHound]

8. Why are you expecting him to reject these cuts?

He appointed this commission, he appointed the members of this commission. It isn't like he wasn't aware of what these men wanted to, nor what their personal preferences were. Obama is an intelligent man, he knew, like many others did, what would be coming out of the Catfood Commission, why do you think that he would reject their findings when he is the one who set them in motion?

[WinkyDink]

9. Letting the dust settle, as with HC Reform.