When an Obama Appointee Calls Us “Greedy”, Obama Calls Us “Greedy”

[McCamy Taylor]

Listen up all you people who think that Obama is safe in 2012 as long as he can run against Sarah Palin. Sure, she does not know which Korea is our ally. But I remember another candidate who could not name the leader of Pakistan. And he still managed to get almost half the vote---and all the mainstream media support. All his handlers had to do was paint Al Gore as out of touch, cold and unfeeling.

This time around, the GOP will not need media whores like Ceci Connelly of the Washington Post to do its dirty work. (If you have forgotten about her, here is a link to The Rolling Stones article The Press v. Al Gore http://www.angelfire.com/indie/pearly/htmls/gore-nightmare.html) Republican appointees like Alan Simpson are doing all their dirty work for them.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/11/alan-simpson-greedy-generation-wont-leave-me-alone-after-debt-commission-leak.php


When Obama’s National Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform appointee, Republican Alan Simpson calls the Baby Boomers “the greediest generation”, the American public does not hear

“Alan Simpson calls the Baby Boomers “the greediest generation”.’

The American public does not know who Simpson is and it does not care, because his name is never going to be on a ballot. What the voting public hears is

“Obama…calls the Baby Boomers ‘the greediest generation.”

In 2012 America will not be asked to voice its displeasure with Simpson. America is going to be given a choice between 1) Obama and 2) Someone else.

The Obama camp appears to believe that there will be a third option as in “3. I like Obama but I don’t much like some of the Republicans he has appointed to important jobs out of a misguided sense of bipartisanship.” Oh boy, are they in for a rude awakening.

In 2012, the American public is not going to remember that Bush holdover Federal Reserve Chairmen Ben Bernanke declared the recession over in 2009.

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/08/bernanke_bold_offered_anew_for.html

They will not blame him for celebrating the so called “jobless recovery”---which, in laymen’s terms means highest profits ever for big corporations and continued joblessness, homelessness and illness for the American worker. No, as they consider their choice between 1) Obama and 2) Someone Else they are going to remember that President Obama boasted about the good times while the people who elected him to office where living in their cars or under a bridge.

When it comes time to vote in the next election, America will not remember that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wrote a NYT editorial entitled “Welcome to the Recovery” in August 2010 in which he makes much of Big Business’s Big Profits---

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/opinion/03geithner.html

While the economy has a long way to go before reaching its full potential, last week’s data on economic growth show that large parts of the private sector continue to strengthen. Business investment and consumption — the two keys to private demand — are getting stronger, better than last year and better than last quarter. Uncertainty is still inhibiting investment, but business capital spending increased at a solid annual rate of about 17 percent.

And very little of working class America’s misery. They will not blame Geithner for the bank bailout which was followed by a round of big bonuses for the Banksters. They will not even blame Geithner for his own tax evasion history. All of that will be laid at Obama’s doorstep.

In 2012 do you honestly think that people whose unemployment benefits were cut off or whose kids were denied school lunches so that the US could send more troops to Afghanistan are going to blame Bush holdover Robert Gates for that decision?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/10/is-bob-gates-leaning-towards-a-troop-surge-sure-seems-like-it.html

Don’t make me laugh.

Back in 2008, a lot of people expressed sentiments like this one (from a list of reasons to vote for Obama):

Barack Obama is an excellent manager who knows how to delegate responsibility to the right people to achieve results. It was absolutely amazing how the Obama Campaign was so well organized that it could topple the Clintons during the primary campaign, which was proof that Obama can delegate enough responsibility to achieve whatever results are needed.

http://wizbangblue.com/2008/08/11/10-real-good-reasons-to-elect-barack-obama-president.php

So, President Obama, how is that delegating thing working out for you? Are you getting a lot of unfair criticism for stuff your appointees have said and done? Are folks failing to appreciate that you have a good heart and you mean well? Ah, shucks. I am sure if you just get our there and tell the American people that you did not mean to let bank CEOs get seven figure bonuses and you did not mean for corporate America to flourish while working class America suffered and you did not mean to take the bread from kids mouths to pay for bombs in Afghanistan----

America will tell you to go f___ yourself in the only way it can. At the ballot box.

[laughingliberal]

1. I think some are in denial about this. This is Obama's commission & anything they do or any...

proposals of theirs that are taken up by Congress will be laid at his feet.

The deficit hawks are out in front with their message and I'm hearing nothing out of the White House. The failure to speak out against benefit cuts leaves the impression he supports them. Frankly, I don't see why anyone would appoint 2 well known New Deal haters to head the commission unless this is exactly what they wanted.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jberryhill]

111. Can you explain to me what is a "butt boy"?

And what the origin of such a term might be?

[backtomn]

119. Come on.......

I think that giving this definition (or definitions) might get you thrown out of DU. Does it really matter what some knucklehead might say??

[jberryhill]

131. I believe it is a term best not used

[valerief]

121. Cigarette smoker, of course. I can't see what the poster in question wrote, because that poster

is on my Ignore list. I LOVE my Ignore list.

[Nay]

34. Thank you, LL. I won't get into the "greedy boomer" part of this

discussion (because I don't see ANY generation in the US turning down its bennies today to help the planet tomorrow), but the stark fact is that Obama appointed Simpson, has allowed Simpson to speak freely with no interference, and Simpson is what he will be saddled with in 2012. I also believe this commission is composed of exactly the ppl Obama wanted, and that says some bad things about Obama. And it won't help him that these appointees are republicans -- no one, not even the WH, will tell the voters that.

Are people in denial over what this means? You bet. Big time. But they won't wake up until it bites them in the butt. I don't know why it will take them that long, since I became uneasy the day he appointed Geithner et al to direct our economic responses to the crisis. This has yet to play out, so I haven't been over the rainbow about the supposed 'recovery' they have pulled off. About 10 other shoes are going to fall, and we're celebrating a wee bit early.

[Little Star]

78. I feel like I'm watching a movie remake....

When you said "I'm hearing nothing out of the White House" my mind immediately flashed back to the summer of town hall meetings with the tea-party out in force regarding HCR. The tea-party's message was loud and dominant.

This feels like the same damn thing all over again.

[ima_sinnic]

100. oh boy, that's an unpleasant memory, but you're right

that was a turning point for me.
since I've already been turned, this isn't so shocking. but that doesn't make it acceptable in any way, shape, or form.

[laughingliberal]

108. It's the same for me. It's SOP for this President.

When he's not in agreement, he's shown he knows how to fight. Witness how hard he fought the progressives to keep the excise tax on workers' benefits in the HCR bill and compare it to how he's fought (sic) for progressive policies.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

137. That is another thing I asked the WH to explain in my email

though of course we probably know the reason. I asked him to apologize to my elderly mother for his minion calling her GREEDY and to explain to her why this man is trying to take her (and our) SS away. I told him that is OUR money. Not the government's, and NOT Alan Simpson's. We paid it into that fund so that we'd have it when we retire. It is NOT welfare. It is NOT an "entitlement". It does NOT add to the debt. It is paid for in full via our taxes. We are not GREEDY for wanting that money when we need it anymore than we are "GREEDY" for wanting money out of our savings accounts when we need it. Bullshit.

I left him the phone numbers. Mine and hers. He won't call. No one will. We'll get DEAD. SILENCE.

Speaking of SILENCE, I too have noticed the STUNNING SILENCE from the White House on this issue and I take it as complicity and agreement. If it is NOT, then Obama better bring some big media and get his butt out there and say so. LOUDLY.

:wtf:

[whathappened]

193. we all no

by now the reason behind there cutting and slasing s.s. and medicare , first off they did nothing to protect our jobs that bleed to cheap labor markets , now we end up here with a bunch of low pay jobs which produces not alot into s.s. and medicare , they can see down the road that these funds are gonna be short on funding , and they refuse to increase the tax on the rich in america , so we are headed down a dangerious path , which sucks big time for us baby boomers and generations to come , we are headed for a third world nation and they are planning our life for us , with out us , assholes

[Mimosa]

212. Social Security is little better than no money as it is.

I'm not old enough for it yet. And I had crummy jobs (lab, artist, photographer, R.E. agent, where my S.S. wasn't paid by an employer) so I don't think I have enough 'quarters'. Older women I know who live on S.S. barely eek by. I can hardly believe anybody would contemplate cutting it when it ought to be raised.

[Amonester]

234. Obama is busy playing basketball

and then, he must be thinking (with his Professional Losers of advisors) about how to calm down NK's crazy Kims war-mongers.

Good luck at getting anything that will fix that before some time...

[truedelphi]

191. Like you suggest, no one in the White house would:

appoint 2 well known New Deal haters to head the commission unless this is exactly what they wanted.

And They would not appoint Geithner, leave Bernanke on his Throne at the Fed, continue plundering Main street's economy for the benefit of Wall Street, continue with the Monsanto Appointees, and be willing to sign off on the crappola legislation like the "Food Safety Act" unless they were in full collusion with the Dark Side.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[diane in sf]

9. this is a nasty tar and feather of a whole generation--if you've ever taken a plane trip

you've used more energy than some people in this world will use in their whole lifetime. "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone..."

[Radical Activist]

161. More energy than some people, yes.

But not more than the average American baby boomer. It's the most energy wasteful group of people in human history, and the rest of us will now pay the price. You can call it a tar and feather, but it's the cold truth.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Sherman A1]

29. Agreed & Well Said

I am one of those boomers and I paid into SS from when I started working 42 years ago. The full retirement age was then 65 which has been adjusted upward (changed the rules in mid game for me), now they are talking of doing more "adjusting". I am okay with that, but if that is to be the case....

I want my money back.

Each of these ideas or adjustments is in my opinion, stealing from me and frankly I don't appreciate that being done.

I am not asking for a handout, just that the deal (the social and financial contract) be honored.

I paid into this thing and I expect to collect.

[Creative]

64. Unfortunately, your benefits have already been spent by politicians

to buy themselves power.

[GinaMaria]

171. Fortunately, it's illegal to loot people's retirement funds

I can't steal your retirement fund, spend it on something else and tell you to fuck yourself, keep working and hand over more retirement money to me.

That money was taken from my paychecks since I was 12 years old with the promise, of receiving benefits at age 65. I kept up my end of the contract. I smell revolt and massive layoffs of elected officials.

[Creative]

221. Actually, it would be illegal, if the retirement funds in question were in the private sector.

However, the government can and did spend SS on something else. And soon they will be telling you to go f#(& yourself.

[GinaMaria]

231. No, the money isn't gone

it's in the form of bonds. It's time to cash those in. Congress can take paycuts and a reduction in healthcare benefits just like the rest of us are doing to pay it back. Time to hold our employees accountable.

If the retirement funds had been in the private sector they would have vanished long before I was even born. It would truly be gone. This money wasn't taken out of our paychecks as a gift. There is a promise and contract and no amount of rw bs will get me to accept otherwise.

[Creative]

232. And how much do you think those bonds will be worth in today's dollars

when Helicopter Ben finishes printing a few trillion more?

At least those in the private sector who steal, e.g. Madoff, go to jail. On the other hand, those in the public sector are allowed to use what they steal to buy more power.

[Name removed]

69. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nashville_brook]

72. what does that have to do with Alan Simpson deriding your parents/grandparents as GREEDY?

my parents and grandparents fought for civil rights and an end to the war in Vietnam. There was nothing greedy about them.

[laughingliberal]

91. Distraction meant to demonize a generation so it becomes acceptable to steal their money.

Look for much more of this type of attack as they get closer to getting their hands on the trust fund.

[bobbolink]

96. You are precisely right! EVIL distraction, I would add.

Just plain EVIL.

[Radical Activist]

154. Decades of wasteful, greedy consumption is what brought us the climate crisis.

The failure of a majority boomers to take any responsibility for that, or even take action to correct it, is a typically greedy attitude. Boomers ran up a huge tab in carbon emissions that future generations will pay for in the form of lost jobs, homes and lives.

[Mimosa]

215. Lost jobs?

You mean like all the steady unglamourous jobs which have been outsourced to China and India over the last 30 years or so?

[katandmoon]

228. Obama could learn a lesson from YOUR transparency.

[Mimosa]

214. Calling a whole generation greedy is vicious calumny

Nashville, same in my family as well. :( The President should speak out and rebuke that PIG, Simpson.

I've lived humbly and not wastefully my whole life. I chose not to have children out of concern about overpopulation. I'm sorry about that now because most people have even 1 kid who cares when she gets old.:( I never consumed anything more than what I needed, I buy quality and keep my things forever, I cook mainly from scratch, haven't traveled much, cared about the environment.

My carbon footprint is miniscule. ;)

[backtomn]

122. I wish we had that discipline.......

I can probably include myself in this criticism......but, why do we bother to respond to some of this crap??? We just give these people the press they want. Palin would probably disappear without our responses. How does she LEGITIMATELY deserve press?? A loss as a VP candidate should not guarantee you infinite press (positive or otherwise). Ignore this woman and she will disappear.......same as the Repub idiots on this commission.

[pinboy3niner]

23. The Right applauds your contribution to generational warfare

They are orgasmic when anyone on the Left helps to take our eyes off the ball.

[olegramps]

36. Are you for real.

Making a living wage, being able to afford a home and feed your children makes you a greedy destroyer of the planet. The top 2% have 90% of the wealth and the worker bees are the fault of the earth's problems. If the workers got smart and confiscated the undeserved wealth they could solve many of the environmental problems that confront us and which the capitalists have refuse to do for decades. Who in the hell resisted better gasoline mileage. Oh, yeah...it was those greed workers.

[Radical Activist]

71. There was a conservation ethic after the great depression.

America once had a culture of using energy and resources efficiently, much of it left over from the farm tradition. That went out the window to several decades of conspicuous over-consumption and it was boomers who have lead the way. From dismantling public transportation to expanding use of coal, future generations will pay the price for the decisions of the boomer generation. And while polls show that young people want action on climate change, it's boomer voters, reporters and politicians who stand in the way telling us what other issues we should be more concerned about.

[Enthusiast]

175. Utter bullshit.

That is all. No further discussion necessary (with you).

[Radical Activist]

179. Utter truth that you can't handle.

That's why you can't respond.

[dflprincess]

200. Oh please,

did you see the cars the "greatest generation" drove after WWII and the mileage they got? And it was that generation that moved out to the suburbs resulting in longer commutes. Not to mention all the "modern convenieces" everyone had to have - all of them energy suckers.

It was the children of the Depression that led the way in consumption. And, in some ways it was a natural reaction for them as many of them found themselves living better than they had ever dreamed they might.

[Demobrat]

230. Not to mention it was the "greatest generation" who

thought it would be a good idea to have 4-6 kids per couple, creating a situation where their children had to scramble and compete all their lives for places in school, jobs, homes, etc, driving up prices in the meantime. Of course the price of housing escalated when there were four buyers for every house - and whose fault was that?

They were great all right - great at overpopulating the planet. And now it seems to be fashionable to blame the boomers because there are so damn many of us.

[DirkGently]

205. What relation does this Carbon Emission theme of yours have to do with Simpson's comment?

It's his comment you are defending. Was "carbon emissions" that Simpson was speaking about?

[Enthusiast]

211. He is here to change the subject

and sow derision among our ranks. The same divide and conquer strategy is being played out in the greater media. TPTB don't want us discussing these issues, they want us to shut up and accept it.

[Mimosa]

216. How old are you, R.A.?

One can't help but be curious how you arrived at your conclusions.

[blindpig]

38. The 'boomer lifestyle' is a creation of capitalism.

Nobody asked for an automobile culture or suburbia, created out of whole cloth with the connivance of the government.

Nice shot at dividing the working class, as clear as spring water which side you're on.

[laughingliberal]

95. Yep! And, try as they will, it's still the generations ahead of us who elected the vultures.

Once again, in this last election, we saw the older Americans vote overwhelmingly for Republicans. People don't seem to realize the very first baby boomers are 64 this year. When reports say 'seniors' voted for Republicans, that's the ones who worked a great deal of their lives with some labor protections and all the other benefits of the New Deal. Large numbers of them retired with defined pension plans and have consistently voted since 1980 to make sure the generations after them would have none of the benefits they enjoyed.

[laughingliberal]

130. +1000 nt

[Radical Activist]

158. I guess you're on the side

that supports continuing the generational crime of climate change, since you have such a hard time handling the truth.

Yes, boomers did ask for the two car garage in suburbia. Yes, they did make policy choices that lead to the climate crisis. It wasn't inevitable. Choices were made that future generations will pay for.

[blindpig]

162. As a supporter of Capitalism it is you who can't handle the truth.

But we've known that for a while.

[Radical Activist]

165. And yet, you still can't respond to the substance of anything I wrote

except with slogans and insults. That's nothing new either. You like to wail against capitalism in the abstract, so why can't you handle hearing the truth about the over-consumptive capitalist choices the boomer generation made?

[Enthusiast]

178. Substance? Zero substance. nt

[blindpig]

220. "choices"

There ya go, the language of consumerism, the fallacy of capitalist individualism. The 'choices' available are those presented by the dominant culture, stray outside those lines and doom likely awaits. Is that not what happened to the 'back to the land' folks? It is very hard to 'make it' in even the most modest way if one strays outside of the accepted parameters.

The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.

The 'choices' which we are permitted are only those which either profit the ruling class or are harmless to them. But in truth there are only two choices, submit or revolt.

"Wolves are to dogs as humans are to consumers."

[AlbertCat]

167. Choices were made that future generations will pay for.

And this is the only generation where this is true!


:eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes:

The Boomers are also hippies and counter-culture rebels. They brought you communes and granola.

If one is gonna generalize generations, I'd say the teenagers of the 80's, punk, cocaine, me-me-me generation that is now in their 40's and 50's have a lot to answer for. They were born in the late 60's and early 70's. They're not Boomers, born 20 years or so after WWII, are they?

[Radical Activist]

169. No generation

has done anything that will cost so many lives for so many decades into the future, especially if we don't take more concrete action immediately. The body count and societal destruction will surpass WW2. Yes, it is the worst generational crime in the history of the world.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9635225&mesg_id=9635225

[Enthusiast]

176. Plus one. nt

[Mimosa]

181. What boomer lifestyle? Sounds like stereotyping to me.

Economically, few of the boomers I know are 'set up.' Some of us are hanging on by our brittle old fingernails.

[laughingliberal]

196. delete wrong place

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

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[MissDeeds]

56. Deeply ignorant and offensive post

You don't know history, or you'd know the many contributions that Baby Boomers have made to this country. You really have hit a low point with this post. Pathetic.

[Radical Activist]

74. Deeply true and people can't own up to it.

Other contributions boomers made to society have nothing to do with it. We aren't operating on a point system for good and bad behavior. We're all going to pay for the carbon emissions that came from the post-war boom to today. Most of that is from the over-consumptive behavior of the boomer generation, and now, their refusal to make the sacrifices necessary to correct that mistake.

[Dr.Phool]

150. What does carbon emissions have to do with SS or Catfood?

Trying to confuse the subject? Conflict of Interest? Earning your allowance?

Maybe you should post a disclaimer.

[Radical Activist]

155. The topic is greed.

Decades of greedy over-consumption lead to the climate crisis. Try to keep up. And now boomers expect younger generations to pay higher social security taxes for their benefits while we also have to pay the cost of their lifestyle in the form of climate disasters. Yes, that's greed.

[unapatriciated]

180. I did not spend decades over- consuming.

I spent decades working two sometimes three jobs to support my family. Most of the working class did not enjoy what you describe. Yes we may have had two cars (not new ones, but used) because it became necessary for both parents to work in order to have the basics and maybe a vacation every couple of years. It was the big corporations like General Motors and Firestone and their greed that decided we would become a nation of Automobiles and Highways.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Public-Transit-in-Los-Angeles

The Best Public Transit in the World?
Believe it or not, there was a time when Los Angeles had a world renown public transit system. With above ground rail cars as old as 1887, similar to the MUNI system in San Francisco, the population of Los Angeles moved around freely, cheaply, and with ease......

A Money Making Scheme
Before the demise of the Red Cars, the system was bought up by General Motors, Standard Oil and Firestone Tires, among others, and the service began to suffer. Over a comparatively short period of time, with the management of these automobile-affiliated companies the Red Car system lessened in quality, service, and subsequently lost many formerly satisfied customers. Perhaps not so coincidentally, this formerly popular and efficient service had quickly fallen into disrepair. Once the new owners "proved" the ineptness of the Red Cars to the (notoriously corrupt) city officials, it was agreed upon that the transit system would be shut down and dismantled. Sadly, you can still see skeletons on the old rail system on some of L.A.'s traffic ridden streets.

We could have had fuel efficient automobiles and we would have bought them but GM, Chrysler and Ford decided for us. It was their greed and defiance to change that contributed to our climate crisis.

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/vehicle_impacts/cars_pickups_and_suvs/life-in-the-slow-lane.html

The 1970s: The Early Days of Industry Nay-Saying

The Big Three have a long history of railing against virtually any safety or pollution enhancements that Washington has attempted to place on their vehicles, from seat belts and turn signals to collapsible steering wheels and air bags. In 1966, Henry Ford II famously argued that implementation of federal safety requirements for automobiles (including lap and shoulder seat belts) would force his eponymous company to “close down.” (3)

The auto industry has, however, paid lip service to fuel economy from time to time. Back in the early 1970s, for instance, before energy crises forced Congress to take action on fuel economy, the industry actually trumpeted its commitment to fuel efficiency. There was a catch, of course: It wanted a break on emissions regulations. Here’s how a 1973 Chrysler advertisement promised easy and immediate gains in fuel efficiency: “You’re entitled to know! By relaxing emission controls right now, we can start saving 5 billion gallons of gas right now! Right now!” (4)

The ad drew fire from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which labeled it “false and misleading” and called for a Federal Trade Commission investigation.

I have paid into SS since I first started working at 15 (didn't use student exempt status, not even sure I could have in the 60's) and I will not allow someone who has enjoyed the benefits of SS to tell me I'm greedy. What those who call us greedy forget is we were the largest (in numbers) to contribute to SS and they stole it to fund their wars.

[Radical Activist]

182. Coal is the #1 man-made source of CO2 emissions.

The fact that most boomers chose to buy gas-guzzlers and vote for politicians who tore down public transit doesn't absolve anyone.

[unapatriciated]

190. The fact that many of us did not drive gas-guzzlers

and most of us never bought the lie of "clean coal" but voted for Obama anyway in hopes to change his stance on this as well as other issues.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/obama-defends-clean-coal.php


You continue to throw more irons into the fire just to vilify an entire generation. I got news for you I have been a conservative regarding resources since I earned my first paycheck. Some of us were recycling before it was a fad, we walked instead of getting in the car to go to the corner store. We grew up poor and did not waste.

Just curious, how old are you and did you enjoy the lifestyle that you are attributing to many of my generation.

[olegramps]

224. Your arguments are so fallacious they are down right ridiculous.

It is the upper tiers of society that isn't paying its way and oppose paying their fair share of their earnings into SS. Consider this: The wealthy collect the same benefits as the top worker however, their contribution is only a fraction of the percentage that the average worker is taxed. I believe that you are in reality a capitalist apologist. Just consider this fact. Who is tearing the tops off of mountains to mine coal? Who sends miners down into unsafe mines to be suffocated with coal dust. Oh,yeah, its the greedy boomers.

[Name removed]

62. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Radical Activist]

75. So all you care about is what you get,

and who gives a fuck about climate change? Yeah, that proves the point pretty well.

[Autumn]

82. As I said, look to your leaders on climate change,

not the little smuck who was lucky to make 20 or 30K a year and paid into OUR SS fund, a "radical" idea I know. You can blame the corporations, and the politician who will never have to depend on SS to get by for the climate change. Rich bastards all. You prove the point. And tossing in climate change is a typical red herring on a SS thread. And Obama will wear everything his commission says in 2012. Mark that.

[YOY]

105. They're our pennies Radical. The Catfood commission can eat shit before they touch it.

Then again I'm an "X-er" not a "boomer" so I'll just wait my turn to be insulted by scum.

[Mimosa]

184. Stereotyping by age is ignorant and offensive.

Some of us over 55 'baby boomers'were the people who decided not to have children because we were concerned about the environment. We protested the war in Vietnam. We fought for womens rights, gay rights, civil rights.

Most baby boomers are not economically set up. The dollar isn't what it once was.

R.A., you don't seem to know what you're talking about.

*edited for spelling*

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[eridani]

20. About the same time the rest of our society does that n/t

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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[inna]

16. OMFG.

:puke:

[italiangirl]

192. OMFG

Inna, please do not use that phrase OMFG. It is very offensive to speak of God in this manner.
I am sure there are other effective phrases you can use instead of that.

[Evasporque]

201. AllI see is deleted message all over this post...trolls gone wild....nt

[inna]

203. I presume you're referring to the post to which I was responding.

[inna]

202. I'll use whatever phrase I want to use, as long as it's allowed on this forum.

Contact admins if you have a problem.

[msanthrope]

213. OMFG--Why do you assume she's talking about your god?

and if she is, and you have a problem with her language, then you can alert the mods and let them know that a poster on DU is committing blasphemy...

a truly victim-less crime BTW.

[McCamy Taylor]

18. Baby boomers gave us Civil Rights. The fought the illegal war in Vietnam.

They gave us the Women's Movement and Gay Pride and more social progress than this country had seen in a century. They worked their hardest---and suddenly, in their 50s and early 60s their jobs are outsourced, Big Oil gets their pension, JPMorgan gets their house, their kids can not afford to go to college, their parents are being told to eat catfood---

Yeah, those greedy, selfish Baby Boomers who thought that if they made this country a better place, it might show them a little gratitude. If they were good Democrats they would just go somewhere and blow their own brains out. That would solve the unemployment problem. That would make their presidents's numbers look good.

[eridani]

21. Not to mention prepaying our own Social Security at the same time we were paying

--for our parents' retirement.

[Celtic Raven]

57. + Million

For some reason that little fact gets swept under the rug. My paychecks were double dipped every week, yet now I'm greedy?

Bullshit!

[unapatriciated]

183. they do seem to forget that don't they.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cornermouse]

33. You have a very limited view of who belongs in which generation.

It was not people my parent's age who died at Kent State. It was people my age. It wasn't people my parent's generation who objected to Vietnam. It was people my age.

[olegramps]

37. "Useless white kids." LOL

[dgibby]

44. While you're entitled to your own opinion,

you're not entitled to your own facts. The Baby Boomer generation started in 1946. a year after I was born. The Civil Rights Movement took place in the early '60's.

As for those "useless white kids", you are either woefully ignorant, forgetful,and/or your bias is showing.

In any case, perhaps this article will help:

http://www.crmvet.org/tim/tim64b.htm#1964csg

[Name removed]

54. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[reggie the dog]

32. they are not greedy at all

they fought for and won a higher standard of living, that they are now losing before their eyes

[Autumn]

65. That's because the young ones will not fight for

the rights they were given. Every younger person I know, who works in coast job, hates unions and their whole attitude is I have mine so I don't give a fuck.

[reggie the dog]

73. i know young people in unions

fellow teachers, my brother is a mechanic and is in a union, my sister is a union teacher. but our dad is the union rep in the garage he works in.... but yes, union membership is sadly down....

[Autumn]

89. I live in an idiot area,

whole lot of idiots around and in Colorado Springs.

[reggie the dog]

93. my family is in chicago

[olegramps]

225. Colorado Springs is a prime example of what a virtual Theocracy looks like.

Right up the road is United States Air Force Academy. It is a hell whole of Christian Fundamentalists being trained to massacre people under the guise of patriotic service. When religion is used to justify war all is lost. When will the cannon fonder get smart that they are nothing but tools of the wealthy.

[Sherman A1]

30. Really?

Thanks for the little lecture....

I really suspect that you have your facts turned upside down, but enjoy your little rant....

[Jim Sagle]

5. And in 2013 Obama will be somewhere in Corporate America laughing his ass off at those who ever

believed him.

[SammyWinstonJack]

77. Which was probably his plan all along.

:puke: He won't suffer for the loss of SS benefits/Medicare cuts like millions will.

[flyarm]

163. It was in all likelyhood.."THE PLAN" , not his plan. I just don't think he ever had a plan.

he kept stealing everyone else's plan in the primary!

That was very evident , if one watched and listened closely.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

138. NO DOUBT

:mad:

[awoke_in_2003]

143. what makes you think...

he isn't laughing now?

[Catherina]

146. +1 n/t

[Jim Sagle]

187. Well, right NOW he's probably nursing his split lip.

From DU's front page:

Obama suffers basketball injury; Gets 12 stitches

Until his injury, though, I'd have to agree: He's laughing at us now.

[sabrina 1]

6. Simpson calls the elderly 'greedy old geezers' and he tells

veterans they are 'not being patriots' now because they are taking their benefits when the country needs them.

Obama appointed a known lunatic, an enemy of SS, a man who is privileged and despised the old, the poor, the disabled and apparently War Veterans. You can by judged by the company you keep. He made this man Co-Chair of his Commission. This, AFTER having said he, Obama, despises Commissions like this. When Hillary proposed setting one up during the campaign, he called them a waste of time and stated that all they are, is a 'stealth way to get around Congress'. He stated in that debate that his administration would no such Commissions, that these issues would be argued before Congress, where they belong and where there would be transparency'. Then he went on to do exactly what he said he would not do. He seems to have a habit of doing this.

[bigtree]

10. this is over the top and just plain bull

every member of a bipartisan panel does NOT necessarily speak for the President. He's never said ANYthing close to what Simpson or any other wing-nut has said about the elderly and you know it. Yet, you and the op use the words of a republican hack to make it appear the President believes those things. And the President can control CEO salaries? That's a new one to me.

The op is just a sad and demagogic hit piece which I'm sure will find favor among folks who just can't seem to come up with anything actually said from the President to criticize him so they resort to any old hack to spread the bull.

[democracy1st]

12. If Simpson was liberal and said the exact same words would he still be around?

[McCamy Taylor]

14. Bigtree, tell me something. Who is in charge in Washington right now?

The executive branch in this country has almost unlimited powers--the courts and public opinion have seen to that. And the Obama administration, by failing to indict Bush (basically saying that a commander in chief can do no wrong) and by continuing policies of warrantless wiretapping and execution of folks by administrative decree (which violate the Constitution) seems to be using those expanded executive powers to the fullest. So, why is not he using those powers to help folks? Why are his hands tied when it comes to whether or not people get to eat, but he is in charge when it comes to whether or not to kill an American citizen abroad? Why is he obligated to follow the law on Dont Ask Dont Tell, but his FBI can search your computer without a warrant?

Obama either needs to to declare once and for all that expanded executive powers are illegal---which means Bush goes on trial, the wiretaps stop, no more folks get killed without a trial---or he needs to acknowledge that the economy is his responsibility now. Not his fault, but his responsibility. And he can not delegate that responsibility. He has a bunch of administrative agencies like Health and Human Services that could actually do some good---if he ran those offices the way he runs the DOJ.

Imagine if LBJ had said "I'm gonna appoint a bipartisan commission to look into health insurance for seniors and votes for Blacks. Let's see what Ronald Reagan and Strom Thurman want to do on these issues and follow their lead."

[awoke_in_2003]

144. we know Obama isn't in charge...

NOTHING is ever his fault :sarcasm:

[Mimosa]

219. Remember Shirley Sherrod's hasty firing from Dept Agriculture job for her remarks?

Remember Shirley Sherrod?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/us/politics/22sherrod.html

Yet Alan Simpson has repeatedly insulted women and seniors but Obama has said or done nothing. That makes me sad.:(

[sabrina 1]

19. Who appointed that Republican hack? And has he ever told

that hack to lay off the elderly, veterans, the disabled? Why hasn't he fired him? Many people have asked that he be fired for some of the things he has said. He calls the American people the 'lesser people'. He is Obama's choice for co-chair of a Commission that is supposed to give advice that will affect the 'lesser people'. And frankly if I wanted a Republican hack having that kind of power, I would vote for one.

I did NOT support Democrats so that they could bring back into positions of power, Republican hacks like this and give them enough power to meddle with SS. If I had known Obama loved these ousted, failed REpublican hacks so much, there is NO WAY I would have supported him. I wanted to get rid of them. He appears to be in love with them and completely deaf to the people who elected him. So long as he does not ask him to apologize to all those he has insulted, and/or fire him, he DOES speak for him. Sorry. You are known by the company you keep.

[Celtic Raven]

60. Yes

:applause:

:yourock:

Said it better than I could.

[MissDeeds]

63. +1000

Well said!

[laughingliberal]

104. Not only did he appoint Simpson but he created the commission. It was obvious the whole purpose...

of this commission was to steal the SS money. All we need to know is it was the love child of Judd Gregg and Kent Conrad. When the Senate defeated the bill to create it, Obama gift wrapped it, tied a nice bow around it, and handed it to them by executive order.

[peace frog]

206. Damn right

Classic.

[olegramps]

39. Yes, he can control CEO's salaries...its called taxation.

Let the corps pay these leeches million and millions and we just confiscate their ill gotten gain and say thanks.

[ProudDad]

151. I'd also propose a 100% "inheritance tax"

for personal estates that are over $10,000,000...

Instead of today's ZERO PERCENT...

[olegramps]

223. This the issue that concerned the Founding Fathers.

The lack of inheritance taxes ultimately results in concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands.
Unfortunately, the majority of those who control making the laws are themselves included in the most wealthy of our citizens and it will be cold day in hell before they are magnanimous enough to share their gotten wealth with their fellow citizens. This is why I support unions as the only effective means to procure the election of representatives that actually represent the working class. When workers abandoned unions they left themselves open to exploitation by the greedy bastards that have absolutely no conscience.

[laughingliberal]

103. Whether the members of the commission speak for Obama or not is moot to me. He created this beast...

and, AFAIC, he is accountable for anything they do. The commission would not exist, at all, without his executive order.

[Jackpine Radical]

134. So Obama appointed a fox and a skunk to oversee henhouse security

--but of course he has no responsibility for their conclusion that the lock on the gate be placed near the ground and designed to be predator-friendly.

[Zhade]

46. Gee, he broke yet another campaign promise? What a surprise.

NT!

[laughingliberal]

102. 100% on target, sabrina! nt

[inna]

132. You are exactly right, and this is a very good point that is usually missed.

Obama knows exactly what he is doing, and what he is doing is simply inexcusable.

[Bluebear]

7. Let alone 'sucking off the government tit". Whatever. nt

[SeattleGirl]

8. Oh for fuck sakes!

What in the hell is up with all the Obama hatred here?

I thought this was Democratic Underground.

I guess I was wrong.

BOOOOOOO!!!!!! And a hearty unrec!

[McCamy Taylor]

11. This is DEMOCRATIC Underground, but no Dem gets a free ride.

If Obama goes down in 2012, the party goes down.

I want to see Obama do well. I want him to win in the next election. But, I am not starry eyed enough to think that it will happen just because I hope it will.

[Name removed]

113. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[inna]

15. oh, FFS and "Booo!" yourself.

[Bobbie Jo]

52. Is there an echo in here?

:rofl:

[MissDeeds]

58. Ditto

[JTFrog]

31. +1000 n/t

[Name removed]

47. Deleted message

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[Zhade]

51. "hatred". Such a myopic, pissant, unimaginative little whine.

My rec cancels your unrec.

[political_Dem]

53. I was wondering the same thing.

I know it's Black Friday and all, but that doesn't mean we're in the middle of a bizarro world.

After all, who sent the memo out sanctioning this type of behavior?

[Name removed]

76. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AtomicKitten]

116. +1

:fistbump:

[Name removed]

79. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[WinkyDink]

83. The facts speak for themselves, and neither cheers nor jeers will alter them.

[Scurrilous]

84. LOL

Republican sticks foot in mouth.

Blame Obama!!1!

[treestar]

90. +1 million

The OTT nature of this particular attack is a new record! :puke:

[ima_sinnic]

101. "obama hatred"?? did you even read the post? sheesh.

apparently there are teddy ruxpins around here who operate the same way a little hammer tap on the knee works: a few key phrases here and there trigger him to type out O-B-A-M-A H-A-T-R-E-D

hey, nobody forced Obama to appoint a commission of blood-sucking greedy republicans with a reputation for hating Social Security and wanting to mess with it to "do something" about the deficit (at a time of skyrocketing unemployment)--in fact, the Senate voted down such an idea. So this commission which is conspiring to privatize SS, something GWB couldn't even do, is ENTIRELY Obama's creation. He thought of it, he appointed the people to it, and he's not saying diddly about this latest threat to OUR Social Security.

Rather than flappping your gums about "Obama hatred" you might consider just how this whole scenario really makes Obama look in the eyes of the voters.

Or don't you care?

[Name removed]

127. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

139. Deleted message

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[Jakes Progress]

142. Do you have any of your own principles or ideas?

Just answer this. If gwbush had set up this same commission, would you still be defending it? For that fact, are you defending and supporting the commission and its actions or are you just defending Obama regardless of the issue? Many of us are Democrats - the old kind. The ones who got involved and worked for the party long before we had a rock star president (whom I also worked to get elected.) He's just wrong on this. To support your candidate when he is wrong is the very definition of hypocrisy.

Boo. And a hearty rec to counteract.

[ProudDad]

157. Think again...

"Democratic Underground (DU) was founded on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2001, to protest the illegitimate presidency of George W. Bush and to provide a resource for the exchange and dissemination of liberal and progressive ideas. Since then, DU has become one of the premier left-wing websites on the Internet, publishing original content six days a week, and hosting one of the Web's most active left-wing discussion boards.

"We welcome Democrats of all stripes, along with other progressives who will work with us to achieve our shared goals. While the vast majority of our visitors are Democrats, this web site is not affiliated with the Democratic Party, nor do we claim to speak for the party as a whole."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/about.html

[inna]

13. damn right.

[Bobbie Jo]

50. Big surprise there.

:eyes:

[inna]

133. roll your eyes at somebody else.

:puke:

[Bobbie Jo]

145. Pssst....

:eyes: oh, and....get over yourself.

[pinboy3niner]

24. This could have been witten by a conservative

I normally avoid all the internecine warfare here. Not only because i believe it's usually non-productive, but also because I think it only helps conservatives.

Aw, shucks. The President's not perfect. He doesn't ram legislation through a Congress that will not supply the votes he needs. Damn Obama! If he can't get the Republican votes, it's his fault!

I have some disappointments, too, but I'm not ready to throw this President under the bus--especially for things over which he doesn't have control.

[McCamy Taylor]

25. It will be written by many conservatives---in 2012. That's why I decided to mention it now.

So maybe, just maybe, this party can get its act together.

[Richard Steele]

26. Exactly so. K&R

[Hydra]

107. That's funny

Because he rams through anything he wants, after pretending to give a nod to the base.

See HRC and what he admitted afterward for evidence. A Dem pushing a Repub bill, making decisions behind closed doors with the people who are destroying people's lives.

[Frisbee]

136. RE: for things over which he doesn't have control

I didn't realize he doesn't have control over who HE appointed to a commission.

[ProudDad]

160. This argument is so amazing (although probably true)

"especially for things over which he doesn't have control."

If...

A pResident of the Corporate States of America...

Who rides into office hinting that he might actually "act progressive" (a little)...

On an electoral vote total not achieved since ray-gun in '84...

With "complete control" of the Senate and House and the Bully Pulpit...

"has no control"...

Then stick a fork in us 'cause were totally fucked...

[Phlem]

189. Don't forget being able to name someone

a high level terrorist and offing them without a trial.

Yea he's real fucking helpless.

Oh yes, we are fucked.

[boston bean]

28. The time has come for the baby boomers to get over themselves.....

Who said that? Find out for yourself....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/weekinreview/21broder.html

[xchrom]

35. indeed. nt

[olegramps]

42. Generational wars are myths created to divide and conquer.

[boston bean]

67. Ant that is what was employed by Obama in that article.

And by some here in this very thread.

[olegramps]

222. Unfortunately, this is very true.

[Mimosa]

186. Eeek, I remember that but I guess I didn't think he meant it.

Just what we need: generational warfare. *rolling eyes*

I was SHOCKED by Obama's appointments to the Catfood Commission. Simpson was always VILE.

If GW Bush had set up this same commission, nobody on D.U. but freeper trolls would be defending it.

[Starry Messenger]

40. k&r

[namahage]

41. And when an Obama appointee helps shoot down a bill speeding foreclosures,

so does Obama, right?

Or is it that if it's bad, it's because of Obama, while if it's good, it's in spite of him?

[sam sarrha]

68. they want to use Robo Stamping to take peoples homes. without checking merit of the action, BECAUSE

The mortgage people don't have the Deeds, they are sold into limbo. too many people are going into court and filing a 'Disclosure Request' to see if the people who are going to take your home actually own the property. they want to stop that.

this is another big scam ripping off the under class, the top 1% hold 42% of Americas financial Wealth, 6 times what the bottom hold at 7%, the top 20% hold 93%... so there isn't much left, and the banks and the insurance people are fighting over what scraps are left to steal from the poor.

[treestar]

94. You got it.

Just like Republicans, total hypocrites. Complete double standard - so long as it goes against Obama.

[Scurrilous]

109. Heh.

:thumbsup:

[uponit7771]

209. Their arguments have become so transparent and incredible

[Number23]

233. You win the thread. Pity it's not one worth winning...

[jberryhill]

43. Everything on Du is personally endorsed by Skinner /nt

[treestar]

88. Yes, he like Obama, is attributed with all sorts of conflicting views

It's amazing they can think at all, what with holding or being responsible for such wide varieties of views on the same subject.

[laughingliberal]

112. Apples and oranges. Skinner did not personally appoint all the posters on DU. nt

[ProudDad]

153. Darn!

I thought that was original with me... :hi:

[laughingliberal]

188. Well, you know. Great minds and all that...

:)

[ProudDad]

152. Skinner didn't personally appoint all of the posters on DU (n/t)

[whoopingcrone]

48. Please stop missing the point.

Taylor's post is not about who is to blame for what.
It's about who is being seen, by the voting public at large, as responsible now,
and will be held responsible in 2012.
and IMO the post is spot on.
In 2012, if I'm still alive, I would have been voting Demo for 63 years,
except that one of the ways I'm going to commemorate my 82nd birthday next week
is to change my party affiliation to independent.
Since I live in a village with 1645 hugely slanted towards liberal Democrat permanent residents,
and the registrars are my friends and collaborators in innumerable projects, this action will not go unnoticed.
I won't be the first.
And to my regret, as the article predicts, I won't be the last.

[madrchsod]

49. yup...he`ll be another jimmy carter

a decent man that did`t have a clue.

[peace frog]

207. Not buying that

He has a clue and knows what he is doing, decent or otherwise.

[Name removed]

55. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MissDeeds]

59. K&R

:kick:

[Overseas]

61. How different things would be if the commission started with war profiteers.

We had a storm of bipartisan outrage when ACORN was accused of defrauding the government.

So let's see the deficit commission start by attacking war profiteering. How many fraud convictions should we allow before dropping a "defense" contractor?

http://www.contractormisconduct.org/

We could save a lot by de-privatizing military services. How many Privates on kitchen duty would dare serve moldy food to our troops? How many servicemen assigned to do the wiring on base would dare electrocute their fellow soldiers in their showers?

Furthermore, having soldiers perform regular military services like cooking, plumbing and electrical work gave us an additional benefit of being a massive job training program for our military. They emerged from the service with broadly marketable skills.

[sam sarrha]

66. we are Greedy because we want SSI ..AND ..Medicare, I'll show you Greedy..> Link >>

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

this is what caused the Recession, the Richest 1% holds 42% of Financial wealth, top 19% holds 93% ..the bottom 80% holds only 7% of financial wealth.. top 1% holds 6 Times that the bottom 80% hold.

how is that for wealth redistribution.??

[nashville_brook]

70. [phone]

[laughingliberal]

114. Now, now. We're to look forward, now, & find ways to be more 'bidness' friendly. nt

[ProudDad]

156. 1928 levels...

Good luck with that one again...

[amborin]

80. K&R

[WinkyDink]

81. "Greediest" who died for nothing in that current travel destination called VietNam.

[laughingliberal]

87. Yep. But demonizing the boomers is part of the propaganda campaign to justify stealing the SS trust

...fund. Look for it to ramp up more and more as they see their chance to get their hands on the money we've been putting in for the past 30 years. There is absolutely no justification for it but look for every form of diversion to emerge as they get closer to realizing their dreams about all that lovely money.

[WinkyDink]

92. Absolutely. Lies are mere play-things compared to the actual crimes committed towards the goal of

looting every single dollar currently not in corporate hands.

[GinaMaria]

174. Maybe we need to hire a PR firm. What could we get if every boomer

gave 1 dollar?

[Laelth]

85. Agreed. This is unacceptable. k&r n/t

-Laelth

[treestar]

86. That's just taking it way too far

It's not admitting the realities of our system of government. It is a bipartisan commission, required to be so. You're putting too much at the top, as though Obama is a King from on high and no one else's contributions, good or bad, matter.

Further it appears the slightest hint of someone disagreeing with your exact position on anything is enough to make you go ballistic, even if their ideas have no chance of being implemented.

[laughingliberal]

98. "You're putting too much at the top, as though Obama is a King from on high "

He is the King on high for the deficit commission. The whole horrible idea was voted down in the Senate. Obama created it by executive order. Thus, it's all on him. The commission exists only because of him.

[donco6]

99. "No chance of being implemented."

I'll quote you on that later.

[TheKentuckian]

110. This is 100% his baby and no amount of surrender monkeying will change that an iota

It was a horrible TeaPubliKlan/Republicrat idea that went down because the TeaPubliKlan co-sponsors fell off because Obama came out in support of the nonsense and instead of letting it die he created the damn thing by Executive Order and so set the terms including appointing a bunch of corporate hacks.

[dionysus]

115. wow. "surrender monkeying ". a RW smear used against the french being employed on DU against

democrats. just sad.

[TheKentuckian]

123. No, I used it against a conservative that routinely supports authoritarian positions

and complies with the wishes of the powerful to such a degree that the poster actually crusades for their interests under the flag of their superior access to information and because they hold positions.

If that means "Democrat" to you then so be it but don't expect everyone to hold the same low standards.

This is the fruit of party over principle and allowing those without principle to run the show.

[nashville_brook]

124. that democrats have to defend Social Security from democrats is the real sadness.

[laughingliberal]

129. Indeed. nt

[grahamhgreen]

120. How much of this are you willing to take?

[YOY]

97. It's almost like they WANT to lose.

Shit on the base. Shit on the age group.

Give us Bob Dole's Health Care plan and call it a "big fucking deal"...followed by the "fix it later" NAFTA BS line.

Yes, it actually appears they are TRYING to lose.

[nashville_brook]

125. it's almost like they don't care if they can take the money and run.

[WinkyDink]

106. Previous Obama comments about the "Baby Boomers" (i.e., HRC et al.) don't make me sanguine.

[AzDar]

117. Is he corrupt, or just in over his head? I've no idea. One thing I DO know..

This ain't even close to what I voted for. :grr:

[Overseas]

118. K&R! I wish that understanding was important to my Democatic party.

But they didn't get it when single payer was taken off the table before discussion even started.

Imagine what the vote would have been like had my Democratic legislators banded together to support the people in a time of national crisis and pushed through Medicare for All. Sigh...

The voters didn't blame the Republicans for their 100 filibusters and pressure to lower the stimulus budget. They didn't blame Republicans at the ballot box even for having crashed the economy less than 2 years ago. It was already Obama's fault.

Why does my party believe they can continue to stomp on their base? Is it that we are firmly in the era of secret campaign spending initiated by the right wing judicial activists that my Democrats didn't dare filibuster because they were timid about "The Nuclear Option" to remove filibuster power, and really don't want to examine election integrity and return to paper ballots?

[nashville_brook]

126. our party never even tried to stick the GOP with these antipopulist blunders

the party also withheld support from the few dems who fought hardest for the people.

[Overseas]

172. Wish they'd realized they could have been bipartisan with the GOP myths.

Rather than being bipartisan with these modern twisted Republicans, I wish my Democrats had been bipartisan with the Republican myths instead. The myths many people like to believe about them --

i.e., Republicans used to be fiscally responsible. We'll be bipartisan with that tradition and introduce some competition into the medical insurance business with a strong public option. Fiscally responsible Republicans would understand that tax cuts for the middle and lower classes are spent immediately and stimulate economies all across the country. They wouldn't shun the facts that tax cuts for the top 5% are invested in adding to their own strategic cash reserves of millions of dollars. Many of those old-fashioned fiscally responsible Republicans voted Democratic in 2008. They knew our economy was way out of balance and counted on the Democrats to increase the buying power of the 90% to keep our economies afloat after the frenzied crash of high finance. Let's be bipartisan with them.

Republicans had a few ounces of compassion from time to time. Some of them teamed up with Ted Kennedy to help the poor and infirm. If nothing else, you could get them aboard with shaming-- how could this be happening in the richest country on earth? Let's be bipartisan with those who seemed concerned about providing a basic level of compassion, whether they're currently serving in Congress or not.

Republicans used to claim to be strong on defense. But they let millions be wasted on war profiteering and never caught bin Laden. Still, let's be strong on defense in bipartisanship with Republicans who sought to avoid war at all costs, and use our tax dollars more strategically. Maybe we can get by with 5 intelligence/national security agencies, not 19.

Some Republicans realized that environmental and safety regulations evened the playing field for all businesses, requiring basic compliance standards from all, rather than making it a voluntary thing that needed justification on their balance sheets, to be pushed aside when profits slipped a bit. Some Republicans seemed to care about leaving a cleaner environment for their grandchildren, so let's be bipartisan with them.

[lob1]

140. Sometimes I think we're a base without a party.

I feel mostly unrepresented by today's dem's and Obama in particular.

[Overseas]

173. It has been really uncomfortable. //nt

[Mimosa]

217. Medicare for all would have set Dems up as the majority for 20 years. n/t

[katandmoon]

128. K and R!!!!!!

[ProfessionalLeftist]

135. I agree. Wrote to the WH and told him that this cretin is making HIM

look bad and that IF he does not come out against Alan Simpson's remarks, then we all assume he AGREES with them - and I think that's a reasonable assumption if Obama doesn't bring something to the fight and SPEAK UP against this abuse. Otherwise, I assume as will millions of others, that he wholeheartedly agrees with Simpson's insults.

[Swamp Rat]

141. A more accurate designation would be: "unemployed" "homeless" "disabled" "sick with no healthcare"

"VERY ANGRY!!"

:grr:

[laughingliberal]

195. +1,000,000 nt

[Jakes Progress]

147. K&R for another well documented post. Thanks. What too many here

don't get is exactly the point you make. They defend the president by nit-picking that it wasn't his words or it his press conference. They are too concerned about defending his honor and his reputation and don't realize that when it comes to the election, he is the one who gets it all. If he extends the war - it's his. If he appoints someone - their actions and words are his. The defenders want to cavil and whine that that isn't fair. Go ahead and argue that point if you want, but they shouldn't ignore the reality that Obama is going to be elected or not, the Democrats are going to win or not based on all of this. As for whether he has a good heart - who knows and what difference does it make when it comes to the election. Not even the majority of those who voted for gwbush would have said he had a better heart than Gore.

Bottom line. Obama had better get to changing or he will not get reelected. If he continues on this track, he will become the richest, one-term, ex president in history. Plus his actions are condemning his image to more scorn than Bill Clinton gets here. I have come to believe he doesn't have the best interests of the people at heart. I wouldn't care about that if he would only act and govern as if he did. At any rate, he hasn't been acting like he does and his governance and politics don't indicate that he does. I would be gladly proven wrong, but this commission isn't going to do that.

[McCamy Taylor]

149. I think Bill Clinton was supposed to be a "one term placeholder" too.

Only they misjudged him. He was "executive" material, a man who insisted upon running his own administration.

[McCamy Taylor]

148. A cautionary tale about Jimmy Carter and David Rockefeller.

Anyone over the age of 45 knows that Jimmy Carter was a maverick, right? A Georgia peanut farmer "who could." He was an antiestablishment candidate who ran on a platform of innocence and purity which touched the hearts of Americans who had had enough of Tricky Dick and his dirty ways. Carter was so pure and innocent that he could not forsee the kind of trouble the Washington establisment would give him. They chewed him up and spit him out----

That's the way the story goes.Now, read another version of the story, from Third World Traveller from 1980:

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Trilateralism/JimmyCarter_Trilat.html

... Jimmy Carter, using a combination of charm, hard work, middle-of-the-road policy positions, and a keen sense of where power lies in the U.S., built his political career by gaining support, first from the Establishment of his local area, and then from the dominant sector of the national ruling class. Traditional democratic constituencies like labor, intellectuals, minorities, ethnics, and big city machines provided support as time went on but the key to Carter's victory was the early support given by upper class groups centered in Atlanta and New York, especially the latter's large financial and media corporations.
The makeup and locus of power in Carter's administration supplies strong additional evidence of the validity of this perspective. The individuals Carter chose to fill the central policy making positions in his administration were overwhelmingly from Eastern Establishment organizations: the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Committee for Economic Development. In addition, at least six assistant secretaries of State and Treasury are also either Commissioners or CFR members, as are numerous ambassadors, advisers, and government negotiators. These men make the most important foreign, economic, and domestic policy decisions of the U.S. government today; they set the goals and direction for the administration.
The Eastern Establishment-through the Trilateral commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, and key media corporations-helped elect Jimmy Carter president. What does this mean for the future? It means increased ruling class control over U.S. politics, leaving minorities, the women's movement, the Left and even traditional Democratic Party constituencies like unions and liberals with less and less influence. This increased control is deemed necessary by Eastern Establishment leaders in order to give them freer reign to address the domestic and international crises facing the capitalist system during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s.
The shape of their plans to deal with these problems add up to an increased appetite for authority, discipline, and control. The U.S. ideological climate has shifted to the right over the past few years, _ providing the basis for a forced decline in the living standards of the working class. This trend bears close watching and appropriate ~ action by all those who desire a more, rather than less, democratic world.

One really important point: David Rockefeller (as in Standard Oil that is now a bunch of "little" oil companies including Exxon) started the Trilateral Commission. David Rockefeller promoted Jimmy Carter. And, in 1980, David Rockefeller was the bag man for the Hostages for Votes conspiracy that won the right wing the White House for 12 years.

Corporate America knew that after the excesses of Nixon, the nation would demand a "pure" Democrat. So, they selected a place holder, a man with limited experience in national level politics who would do and say exactly what they wanted him to do and say until it was time for the next election. Their plan worked brilliantly.

So, guess who endorsed Obama?

http://www.rense.com/general79/cjamg.htm

[Demeter]

159. Es verdad. It's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth

and the truth shall set you free.

[felix_numinous]

164. Yep, neo cons are baby boomers too

so I guess technically that is an accurate statement, though it is incomplete because neo cons ended up stealing from all the rest, who were just conned.

[AlbertCat]

166. When an Obama Appointee Calls Us “Greedy”...

I'm sorry...but...

When an Obama Appointee Calls Us “Greedy”, an Obama Appointee Calls Us “Greedy”.


:eyes:

[fascisthunter]

168. those trying to divide people by calling a whole generation greedy should be ignored

what an ignorant and divisive claim, based on prejudice. I think Simpson's remarks are to smear a whole generation so the rich can steal from them. Talk about being greedy and a weasel prick. Not clever...

[GinaMaria]

170. The Baby Boomers have already paid. This is an attempt

to make boomers pay twice and they're attempting to get away with it by calling those who've had their retirement looted, greedy. This is outrageous. SS has a surplus. That surplus exists in bonds thanks to our government officials. Time to cash in those bonds. I don't care where they get the money from, take it from *'s trust fund, but it's time to send a message to the government loud and clear, that we will not take cuts in the benefits we have already paid for, or work longer for less when we've already paid. We will not be labeled 'greedy' by the people who robbed our retirement fund and expect us to work longer and receive less in an attempt to pay back their theft!

We know where the buck stops!

[woo me with science]

177. Unrecced by accident. Meant to rec.

Glad so many others have already recommended.

[Swede]

185. Or they'll see the R behind his name when they check

who is who on the commission.

[laughingliberal]

194. Or the (D) behind his other appointee's name who said this:

Last February, Bowles, who made his fortune on Wall Street and served as a top aide in the Clinton White House, boasted in a speech to bankers, "We're going to mess with Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security."

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/22/opinion/la-oe-altman-social-security-20101122


They're both signalling they're going to steal our money. One may be more polite about it than the other but theft is theft. And they were both appointed by Obama.

[defendandprotect]

197. Agree...the Simpson appointment by Obama speaks in many ways for Obama ...!!

[BrklynLiberal]

198. The Dems need some good debate framing..AND some concrete accomplishments to

brag about..and then BRAG ABOUT THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Odin2005]

199. I love to pick on Boomers, but THIS is shameful!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

204. I agree 100%!! We continue to laugh and make fun of this crazy, hateful woman, but

the Corporate Media is relentless in trying to prop her up for the presidency, while attacking everything Obama does and says.

Ask George W. Bush: there are different standards for Democrats and Republicans. Our biggest mistake is that we continue to underestimate the frivolity of the American electorate. There is a systematic dumbing down of American society.

Propaganda, hatred, apathy, and misinformation, coupled with an unemployment rate that doesn't appear to be declining any time soon, could very well give us President Sarah Palin.

[farmboxer]

208. Simpson & Repubs are trying to ruin Obama

They are doing a great job. Obama should let the people know what "he" thinks, not the Republican plants!

[unapatriciated]

227. since Obama created this commission and appointed Simpson.

He has also allowed many outrageous comments from this vile man to go unchallenged, I think it is safe to say Obama agrees with Simpson.

[GaltFreeDiet]

210. Carlin warned us

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q

[olegramps]

226. As George said, the rich cocksuckers own us and we continue to elect them to represent us. Pathetic...

[Mimosa]

218. Alan Simpson's idiotic pseudo certainty...

From a good article about Simpson, the man who smeared Anita Hill:

Former Senator Alan Simpson's greatest accomplishment in life was being born the son of Milward L. Simpson, a former governor of Wyoming as well as US senator. He's probably best known for smearing Anita Hill when she dared to testify about Clarence Thomas's sexual harassment of her, but now he's the Co-Chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Like so many other Obama carry-overs of the Nixon/Reagan/Bush regime, this commission is dominated by the "logic" of trusting the mess-makers to clean up the mess, so Simpson's Co-Chairmanship is a perfect fit. He served in the House from 1964 to 1977, and in the Senate from 1979 to 1997, serving as Republican whip from 1985 to 1995. In short, he was right in the thick of things as Senate Republicans helped Ronald Reagan put an end to fiscal responsibility with his massive tax cuts and bloated Pentagon spending, which continued indefinitely despite the oceans of red ink they unleashed.

This week, as DaveJ highlighted in his diary "Deficit Commission Co-Chair: Social Security T-Bills Have 'Been Used', Alex Lawson of of Social Security Works managed to confront Simpson with a video camera while he leaving one of the commission's secret meetings. Lawson asked some fairly straight-forward questions and Simpson responded in his typically abusive manner.

The comments made by Simpson (since he was appointed by the President to this Commission) against women, the lesser people, etc are disgusting.

Read more here:

http://www.openleft.com/diary/19153/alan-simpsons-idiot-pseudocertainty

[TheWebHead]

229. the "Greediest Generation" comment was likely inspired by a Forbes article

earlier this month by Laurence J. Kotlikoff:

http://www.forbes.com/2010/11/11/greedy-boomers-social-security-medicare-cuts-personal-finance-kotlikoff.html?boxes=Homepagechannels

It's basically a comparison to "the greatest generation" that proceeded the baby boomers.

This is mostly about trillion dollar deficits as the result of medicare, the largest and fastest growing of all the entitlements. When it was created, the answer to many in old age was hospice and morphine and telling them "I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do." Now, there are things we can do but it costs a lot of money, and by definition if you are running enormous deficits and piling up debt, the bill is delivered to the next generation.