Left targets Sen. Kerry, frets about other deficit-reduction panel Democrats

[ProSense]

Left targets Sen. Kerry, frets about other deficit-reduction panel Democrats

By Erik Wasson

Liberal groups are going after a former Democratic presidential candidate who sits on the debt supercommittee and fretting about other Senate Democrats who they suspect are eager to strike a deal with Republicans.

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO and other labor entities in the state have passed resolutions calling on Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) to publicly oppose cuts to safety-net programs. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee, is one of three Senate Democrats who sit on the supercommittee.

<...>
“On behalf of all workers in our state and beyond, the Massachusetts labor movement urges Senator Kerry to capitalize on his historic role by preventing any cuts to the crucial safety net programs that support millions of Massachusetts families,” said Steven Tolman, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO in a statement.

Liberals are worried about Democrats as well.

more

Yeah, tell that to those who like to portray progressives as anyone but Kerry.

The Nation: Progressives on Supercommittee Marginalized Amidst Deficit Theater

<...>

Reuters reported on the existence of a super-supercommittee—six members of the twelve-member supercommittee are negotiating a compromise amongst themselves. The Democratic members are Representative Chris van Hollen, and Senators Max Baucus and John Kerry.

That means Representatives Xavier Becerra and James Clyburn—the only true progressives on the committee—have been excluded from the negotiations. Becerra is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Clyburn has already reportedly opposed the Medicare cuts being discussed and spent most of his time at the hearing yesterday addressing income inequality, using charts that showed explosive growth in post-tax income for the top 1 percent.

<...>

Not only is Kerry one of the more progressive Senators, but when the hell did Clyburn become a progressive?

Speaking of Bacerra...

Rep. Becerra: House Dems can be sold on entitlement reforms

Supercommittee member Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that he was ready to go up against his party’s base by putting entitlement reform on the table and predicted that House Dems would back some reforms provided they were part of a balanced agreement.

“I’m ready to do that, and I believe that each one of my colleagues including the House Democrats are willing to put everything on the table,” said Becerra in an interview with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC.

Becerra was responding to a question from Mitchell on his desire for a “balanced” deal. “What about the possibility of entitlements? A balanced approach would mean taxes, entitlements, defense cuts and that would mean you would have to be going up against your base,” said Mitchell.

“Everyone’s got to have skin in the game, whether its those programs that are near and dear to our hearts because they worked well, because people have paid for them, Medicare, Social Security, or whether its Department of Defense which had the largest increase in spending,” said Becerra.

<...>

Instead of trying to hype various members of Congress, maybe there should be a campaign to contact all of them to oppose these cuts.

Capitulation: 60 House DEMOCRATS Embrace Austerity, Sign-Off on Medicare Cuts, Defunding Government

Robert E. Andrews (N.J.)
John Barrow (Ga.)
Timothy Bishop (N.Y.)
Dan Boren (Okla.)
Leonard Boswell (Iowa)
Dennis Cardoza (Calif.)
John Carney (Del.)
Kathy Castor (Fla.)
Ben Chandler (Ky.)
Emanuel Cleaver II (Mo.)
Gerry Connolly (Va.)
Jim Cooper (Tenn.)
Jim Costa (Calif.)
Henry Cuellar (Texas)
Danny K. Davis (Ill.)
Peter DeFazio (Ore.)
Diana DeGette (Colo.)
Norm Dicks (Wash.)
Chaka Fattah (Pa.)
John Garamendi (Calif.)
Brian Higgins (N.Y.)
Jim Himes (Conn.)
Steny Hoyer (Md.)
Dale Kildee (Mich.)
Ron Kind (Wis.)
Rick Larsen (Wash.)
John Larson (Conn.)
Daniel Lipinski (Ill.)
David Loebsack (Iowa)
Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.)
Jim Matheson (Utah)
Mike McIntyre (N.C.)
Gregory Meeks (N.Y.)
James Moran (Va.)
William Owens (N.Y.)
Bill Pascrell (N.J.)
Ed Perlmutter (Colo.)
Gary Peters (Mich.)
Collin Peterson (Minn.)
Chellie Pingree (Maine)
Jared Polis (Colo.)
David Price (N.C.)
Mike Quigley (Ill.)
Nick Rahall (W.Va.)
Mike Ross (Ark.)
Steven Rothman (N.J.)
Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.)
Adam Schiff (Calif.)
Kurt Schrader (Ore.)
Allyson Schwartz (Pa.)
Terri Sewell (Ala.)
Heath Shuler (N.C.)
Adam Smith (Wash.)
Mike Thompson (Calif.)
Niki Tsongas (Mass.)
Peter Visclosky (Ind.)
Tim Walz (Minn.)
Mel Watt (N.C.)
Peter Welch (Vt.)
John Yarmuth (Ky.)

[woo me with science]

1. "Frets"?

How about deserved anger at the betrayal of a Third Way President who would put these cuts on the table in the first place, as well as every other corporate shill who would even *consider* backing them?

This is a moral issue. After decades of warmongering, tax breaks for the wealthy, and general theft from the 99 percent, to even suggest this is unconscionable.

ANY Democrat who supports this crap needs to go. Period.

[ProSense]

3. Oh

"ANY Democrat who supports this crap needs to go. Period."

...brother. What the hell kind of a solution is that? Vote out the entire Democratic party after the fact?

How about a proactive solution instead of hyperbole?

[woo me with science]

4. Every politician who supports this crap needs to go.

Better? :sarcasm:

[ProSense]

5. Actually,

"Every politician who supports this crap needs to go."

...no. Hyperbole aside, where the hell are the candidates? Anyone vetting replacements?

Got a generation? Fist waving and not voting doesn't change anything for the better. It just ensures that Nelson and Snowe can continue running and winning.

Start by dealing with reality: This Congress must not support these cuts.

[woo me with science]

7. "Start dealing with reality."

The reality is that the longer you support this SHIT, the more of this SHIT you will be fed.

No, you throw EVERY THIEF OUT. Period.

[ProSense]

8. Explain

The reality is that the longer you support this SHIT, the more of this SHIT you will be fed.

No, you throw EVERY THIEF OUT. Period.

...how that statement stops the members of Congress from supporting this?

[woo me with science]

9. Sheesh.

No, I will not explain to you why threatening politicians with their careers might affect their votes.

Perhaps you should phone up a former teacher.

[ProSense]

15. Well,

"No, I will not explain to you why threatening politicians with their careers might affect their votes."

...you should because, as I said, this" "ANY Democrat who supports this crap needs to go. Period."

...isn't a solution. Threatening to vote someone out after the fact does absolutely nothing.

Now, if you're ready to contact your own elected members of Congress, then it might do some good.

[woo me with science]

19. "Threatening to vote someone out after the fact does absolutely nothing. "

Bullshit. Not only is kicking out the thieves the solution, it is the ONLY solution.

Spare us the song, Prosense. We know it by heart. You can't complain before, because it hasn't happened yet. You can't complain afterward, because it has already happened.

The theft will continue for exactly as long as we keep voting for thieves.

[ProSense]

20. Yup

Bullshit. Not only is kicking out the thieves the solution, it is the ONLY solution.

Spare us the song, Prosense. We know it by heart. You can't complain before, because it hasn't happened yet. You can't complain afterward, because it has already happened

...that's bullshit. Go ahead and wait for members of Congress to act, and then vote them out.

Just remember that until all of them are voted out, it's still after the fact.

And spare me the bullshit about complaining.

[tabasco]

10. Half the people in this country vote republican, pretty regularly.

Let me hear your plan for throwing out all the thieves.

[woo me with science]

12. Ooga booga, the lesser of two evils?

Sorry, when you go stealing grandmother's food and medication money, you are evil. Period. It is not worth our time or energy to bother to measure whether this steaming pile of shit tastes slightly less grainy than that other steaming pile of shit.

As long as you accept shit, they will continue to give you shit.

No, you refuse to vote for ANY THIEF. Period. You write in a real Democrat. And you continue to do that, until they get the damned message.

[Number23]

21. Excellent question. The lack of coherent reply says it all.

[dionysus]

22. must... defeat dems... it will fix everything...

:rofl:

[woo me with science]

23. Shame on any Democrat

who rationalizes, enables, or tolerates stealing from the subsistence checks of millions of Americans who already cannot afford their basic needs.

This is the level of callousness to which the Third Way has brought us.

:puke:

[dionysus]

28. point is, you'd most likely end up replacing the dems with repukes...

if you're cool with that go for it

[woo me with science]

29. Point is,

spare me. Seriously. Spare me the tired, stale, pathetic argument about the lesser of two evils. How utterly low we have sunk as a party to defend those who would THIEVE from the SUBSISTENCE CHECKS OF DESPERATE AMERICANS (insert utterly exasperated, disgusted voice here for the rest of the sentence) because Republicans would be worse.

Good god. :puke:

You want to know what the point is? I'll tell you what the POINT is.

Point is, our party has been infiltrated and corrupted by Third Way shills and THIEVES for corporations and banks.

Point is, people are sick of the damned lies and rationalizations coming out of too many in the Democratic Party, and the sheer fucking callousness toward human suffering that used to be the hallmark only of the OTHER party.

Point is, we need to purge ALL the thieves, and those who defend them.

That is the POINT.

[Jakes Progress]

25. Getting rid of dinos is a proactive solution.

[msongs]

6. just because the austerity crowd runs the show from the white house down doesnt mean that....

hmmm or maybe it does

[woo me with science]

14. ...

Indeed.

[MADem]

2. You get what you vote for. If you don't vote but once every four years, you are part of the problem

IMO...

[Big Blue Marble]

11. Actually I had to vote for one of those sixty.

The choice was he or a tea bagger from hell. Unfortunately, I will most likely vote for him again,
but we will see how this all shakes out. Sometimes, voting for blue dogs is not our answer. I think
it was Mark Twain that said it just encourages them.

So sometimes voting is the problem after all.

[MADem]

17. No, voting is never a problem. You just have to pull the string; go back to the source.

If you are showing up at the polls with two choices, and two choices only, that means you have wasted two years and then some.

I don't mean you, personally--but "the greater you"--the vast bulk of citizens who simply accept the inferior candidate without trying to push him/her to be better, either with threats or promises. This means showing up in force at constituent meetings, writing letters, making phone calls, and letting your legislators know that you are paying attention.

That blue dog should have been primaried if he isn't representing the needs of a greater percentage of his constituency. Sometimes, even the threat of a primary will push a candidate to do the right thing, or to at least do better. Other times, of course, if the guy IS meeting the needs of most, you're stuck living with an imperfect representative. That doesn't mean you should give up, though--it's important to speak out and let 'em know what you like as well as what you don't like.

[newfie11]

13. Well well even Ben Nelson DIDN'T sign off on this

wonder of all wonders.

This needs to FINISH evety damn one of these dems that sign off on it.

[woo me with science]

24. Yes, they need to go.

Every politician who supports this crap needs to go.

We will continue to have theft for exactly as long as we keep voting for thieves.

[Peregrine Took]

16. From Illinois - not surprised about DLC'r Quigley who is my congressman but

Danny Davis?????? Ex share-cropper and public school teacher?

I smell a rat!!!

(WH pulled in these two fellow Chicagoans' on this unpopular vote as they are both in super safe seats?)

[politicasista]

18. Kick

agree with this post. And if anyone is lurking or posting in this thread, have not gone after the Senator, was just expressing an opinion in your other thread about him "no longer being a Democrat" because of whispers on this issue.

Will just stay in lurk mode because this is a sensitive subject for everyone. Peace.

[Lord Helmet]

26. it's Baucus I'm worried about not Kerry

[Jakes Progress]

27. By their deeds, they will be known.

Progressives don't go after safety net programs. I like Kerry. Voted for him. Campaigned hundreds of hours for him. But if he is seeking a deal that cuts the net, he just may have been turned. There is a strong reagan-democrat contingent pulling strings within the party. Maybe he gave up? Who knows? But you don't get a pass just because of what you used to do. You get a listen. You get to try to explain yourself. But you don't get to get by with cutting the net.