Halperin Blasts Obama For Telling The Truth, Criticizing gop

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_08/025349.php

HALPERIN BLASTS OBAMA FOR TELLING THE TRUTH, CRITICIZING GOP.... In his latest Time column, Mark Halperin expresses his deep disappointment in President Obama and Democrats for criticizing Republicans over Social Security. It seems much of the GOP has plans to undermine, if not completely privatize, the program, and leading Dems -- get this -- hope to tell voters about it.

In a move as predictable as Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, Democrats are using Social Security scare tactics to gain ground before the November election. President Barack Obama is not only tolerating this classic old politics maneuver by his party -- he is leading the charge.

Amid a flurry of Democratic Party news releases and press conferences warning voters that Republicans are targeting Social Security for destruction, the President devoted his radio and Internet address last week to commemorating the 75th anniversary of the signing of the law that created the program. He cautioned that "some Republican leaders in Congress don't seem to have learned any lessons" from the past and are "pushing to make privatizing Social Security a key part of their legislative agenda if they win a majority in Congress." This familiar refrain might indeed help the Democrats limit their midterm losses, but Obama's involvement shows that on this issue he is putting party before bipartisanship....

There's a key detail that Halperin largely overlooks: everything Obama said was true. Every word. The leading GOP lawmaker on the House Budget Committee wants to privatize Social Security, and his idea has been endorsed by a wide variety of Republican officials and candidates. In Nevada, Sharron Angle has called for eliminating Social Security altogether, and her position has not be denounced by party leaders.

One high-profile House Republican recently called for the government to "wean everybody" off Social Security. A day later, another House Republican endorsed Social Security privatization. Two days later, yet another House Republican endorsed Social Security privatization. All of this happened just this year.

So, with an election coming up, leading Democrats believe voters should be aware of GOP priorities. Halperin believes that's wrong -- Dems in general and the president in specific shouldn't talk about a campaign issue on which Republicans are vulnerable, because it might make them less likely to compromise on the issue later.

In other words, even in a competitive election season, after Dems identify their rival's key vulnerability, they shouldn't say anything, even if it's true. Instead, as Halperin sees it, Democrats should be making an effort to be nicer to the party that's trying to destroy them, in the hopes that a GOP that's shown no interest in compromise might suddenly become more amenable to a "bipartisan partnership."

I don't understand it, either.

-Steve Benen

[WI_DEM]

1. I have yet to see a coordinated message/campaign yet by the Dems. They need to get going

and yes, social security/medicare cuts should be highlighted along with the GOP wanting tax cuts for the rich paid for by cutting those programs.

[Enrique]

2. Halperin is the quintessential pundit

he has an agenda, people. He has clients, and they are not the readers.

He's not anti-Obama, he doesn't care about Obama. He's also not pro-Obama, when he defends Obama against the "professional left". He doesn't care about Obama, he's pushing his clients' agenda. He's working on Obama, he's pushing him to support certain policies.

He works for the greedheads who want all that Social Security money.

The White House press corps is stocked with these people.

[babylonsister]

5. Exactly; he doesn't care about anything except his agenda. nt

[CTyankee]

8. I got his book from the library and couldn't even finish it.

I like really good nonfiction..."Game Change" was not good. He wrote it to make a fast buck, and that's the best thing you can say about...

[geek tragedy]

3. "Party before bipartisanship."

Thank fucking god. Bipartisanship is dead.

[JamesA1102]

4. Halperin is a GOP shill

and always has been. Don't trust a damn thing the man says.

[blm]

6. In 2004 Kerry said that Bush planned to privatize SS in 2005. Bush camp said Kerry was lying and MSM

repeated that whilst bemoaning that candidate Kerry would 'say anything' to get elected.

So....Early2005 Bush launches his campaign to privatize SS, and not one MSM talking head mentioned that Kerry was wrongly defamed in 2004 campaign for warning that was exactly what Bush would do.

[karynnj]

9. True - and they ignored that one of Kerry's sources was the Suskind article in the NYT

(Not to mention Kerry was and is on the Finance Committee so he knows what the Republicans asked the CBO to price out.) (For anyone curious here's a scary link to Suskind's description of Bush and his administration - http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html )

The other was Bush himself speaking of it - but apparently being Bush means you can change your mind and the earlier view doesn't count.

[Bluerthanblue]

7. well Mr.Halperin, sometimes the truth hurts- but the fact is, denial can kill.

Sometimes you have to call people on their bullshit- The media is pushing their manufactured "mosque" controversy to the exclusion of everything.

If Halperin thinks that ignoring the issue now in hopes that future 'compromise' is more likely, he's playing right into the hands of the GOP. It's called enabling- If the GOP isn't pushing something the public won't like, then they can dispute the claim. If they are (and they clearly are) then Pres. Obama is just doing the job the media SHOULD be doing.

:shrug:

[Cosmocat]

11. This is part and parcel of the "liberal media"

Time after time after time, issue, after issue ...

the Rs can literally just make crape up in the moment and not get called for it, the dems can call the Rs out on what they FLAT OUT say or do, and it is the dems playing politics ...

[flpoljunkie]

10. Halperin so wants to be relevant. Too bad, he's not.

[TheKentuckian]

12. Halperin is a beltway numbnut "sensible centrist" who's bread is buttered by the wealthy and

whose audience is comfortable suburbanites that are social moderates and supply side true believers.

[justgamma]

13. This is what the Iowa GOP platform says.

"We believe, with the eminent failure of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, Republicans should take any and all necessary actions to abolish these programs, over time, and replace them with private solutions."

How can they say with a straight face that this isn't what they want?