Is this Obama's Waterloo with the left wing?

[Soul Crusher]

Wow   - check this out.   


DAMN!


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/obama-bush-tax-cuts-video_n_793123.html

[240 is Back]

you love the 'nail in the coffin' threads where obama fails and the left gives up on him.

cause you forget ppl have goldfish memories.
and you forget repubs iwll run a polarizing candidate in 2012 to give the dems all someone to vote AGAINST.

so put this on your obamacare shelf, will ya?  Cause 'the left' ain't going anywhere - they'll stay with obama if only bcause you elect babygirl to ensure they do

[Soul Crusher]

you love the 'nail in the coffin' threads where obama fails and the left gives up on him.

cause you forget ppl have goldfish memories.
and you forget repubs iwll run a polarizing candidate in 2012 to give the dems all someone to vote AGAINST.

so put this on your obamacare shelf, will ya?  Cause 'the left' ain't going anywhere - they'll stay with obama if only bcause you elect babygirl to ensure they do

240 - did you open the link I provided?

[Soul Crusher]

[Soul Crusher]

Source: The Washington Post

By Greg Sargent

Okay, we now have our first poll measuring the impact of Obama's Bush tax cut on the Democratic base. Suffice it to say this is a major, make-or-break issue with them that could have real political ramifications for the President and Congressional Democrats.

The poll, done by the respected non-partisan firm Survey USA, surveyed over 1,000 people who contributed time or money to Obama in 2008, and found intense, overwhelming opposition among them to the tax cut deal. This supports the notion that there may indeed be a serious liberal revolt in reaction to it.

Indeed, majorities of people who contributed to Obama in 2008 say they are less likely to support Obama and Democrats in the wake of the deal, which extends all the Bush tax cuts in exchange for a 13 month unemployment extension and other concessions for Republicans.

I got an advance look at the poll, which was commissioned by MoveOn, and you can read the polling memo right here. The key findings:

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/12/poll... 


________________________ ________________________ ______________________


DU is complete meltdown. 

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4646676

[240 is Back]

if there's one thing that is important to me, it is the viewpoints of people who voted obama, complain constantly, and who will certainly vote obama again.

I mean, we can learn so much from them

[Soul Crusher]

if there's one thing that is important to me, it is the viewpoints of people who voted obama, complain constantly, and who will certainly vote obama again.

I mean, we can learn so much from them

You are on a roll today.   

[The Showstoppa]

The turnout for Obama will not be what it was in 08.....I have talked to way too many "supporters" of his in 08 who are just in the mode of "it makes no difference who is in office...."  Some of the main things that got him so much support from lib white voters ie: get out of the war, repeal don't ask don't tell, repeal the tax breaks, etc... he has at best waffled on.  He will still get 99.999999% of the black vote, but his numbers among the moderates will be way down.....


unless the republicans nominate someone who will polarize the moderates, which is why (I assume) 240 is so anti-palin... 

[240 is Back]

I love sparring.  i can post from phone at Mcd now.  I have to start work for evening shortly, so I'm gonna miss out later haha.

[Soul Crusher]

The turnout for Obama will not be what it was in 08.....I have talked to way too many "supporters" of his in 08 who are just in the mode of "it makes no difference who is in office...."  Some of the main things that got him so much support from lib white voters ie: get out of the war, repeal don't ask don't tell, repeal the tax breaks, etc... he has at best waffled on.  He will still get 99.999999% of the black vote, but his numbers among the moderates will be way down.....


unless the republicans nominate someone who will polarize the moderates, which is why (I assume) 240 is so anti-palin... 

By 2012 - 240 will be on the Grizzly express - you betcha. 

[The Showstoppa]

By 2012 - 240 will be on the Grizzly express - you betcha. 

she'll give him some gun safety lessons and more importantly some shooting tips...

[Soul Crusher]

she'll give him some gun safety lessons and more importantly some shooting tips...

240 needs Palin to be elected for sheer entertainment and CT purposes.  You people think i am overboard with Bama - wait till you see what happens when she is sworn in. 

 

[Soul Crusher]

Tax Deal: Lefties Go Wild, Obama Presidency Hits Apocalypse (Multiple Updates from O’s Presser)
Pajamas Media ^ | December 7, 2010 | Bryan Preston




If the commenters at the Huffington Post, and the hosts and guests at MSNBC, are any guide, the Bush tax cut deal has rendered the Obama presidency a zombie.  It looks alive and is even able to move and groan a bit, but it’s mostly dead.
foxinretreat—CLASS WARFARE and some civil unrest , brewing in a neighborhood near you. Hey oligarchs how it turns out is anybody’s guess. I hope Wikileaks unleashes its info on the banks ASAP, I could care less if WS has to tank to stop this madness.

mjtaylor22—THEY GOT MOR EBANG FOR THEIR BUCK, HOW BOUT INCREASE UI PAYMENTS, AND SEND EVERY CITIZEN A CHECK FOR AT LEAST 1,000..SORRY TAX PAYING CITIZEN……

Linda Mulenbach—Dear Mr. President. You had me, and then you lost me! Can we please have a democratic primary challenger! I am DONE with Obama.

Chefbob50—Wanted: One backbone and set of balls send to B. Obama c/o 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Wash. D.C.

Well, Chefbob, you obviously sent Obama your heart in 2008. Why not complete the deal now?  There’s more HuffPo commentary at the link, including stuff like this:

srheard—The next time I vote for a President, I am going to rank strong negotiating skills right up there with literacy and intellect.

That’s funny.  Conservatives brought up the “competency” argument in 2008 and got slapped with the race card.  Now here’s a liberal playing competency against Obama.  I happened to be watching MSNBC’s Ed Schultz (so you don’t have to) when the deal came down on Monday.  His guest was liberal Rep. Keith Ellison.  I thought the two might have an on-air rage party.

Looking beyond the fever swamps, Paul Krugman doesn’t like the deal at all.  Sen. Dick Durban thinks the Democrats may walk out on it (which would only mean they will get a worse deal after the GOP takes over the House next year).   And liberal Rep. Jim McDermott calls the deal “Obama’s Gettysburg.”  Which, if you think about it, puts Obama in the role of Robert E. Lee.  Guess that means Biden gets to play Gen. Pickett.  Heh.

It does seem as if all of Obama’s various bad choices and lack of experience have come to focus here.  He has no experience in high level, hardball negotiations prior to the presidency, and it showed here: He lost in the eyes of the base that put him in office.  He made a very poor choice in a vice president, and now that vice president is reportedly getting the job of selling this deal.  To put that into some perspective, Joe Biden is so magnetic and persuasive that he has resorted to stealing others’ words and peddling them as his own.  Biden is so persuasive that his plan for Iraq — opposing the surge, breaking it up into vulnerable mini-states — went nowhere.  Biden is so persuasive that he’s never been more than a footnote to any recent presidential contest, until Obama plucked him for the veep job.  It’s not a stretch to think that Biden won’t be any more persuasive among Obama’s liberal base than Obama himself is, and that base is turning on Obama in rage.  Then again, here’s some counter evidence: As I’m writing this, the President is on the air in defensive lecture mode saying that this deal wasn’t about the “politics of the moment, but about what’s possible right now.”  Uh, ok.  And the difference is…?  If his future communications on this and other issues remain as laughable as that, perhaps Biden is the better choice to front the band.

This presidency was already in a state of rapid decay, maybe even freefall.  The mid-term “shellacking” robbed it of its congressional power and killed off Democratic allies in several states.  Major figures like Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod were already heading for the exits, leaving behind the radical czars, the damaged and the gaffe prone.  Now this deal may go down as Obama’s “read my lips” turn, alienating what’s left of his base.

Anything can happen in two years, and the more morbid among Obama’s allies are pining for a crisis to resurrect him.  I’m not yet convinced that Obama is a one-and-done, but the rage among his base sure makes his re-election look a whole lot less likely.

Update: Watching President Obama’s press conference, I’m struck by just how out of sorts he seems.  He’s trying to argue that he took this short term deal, which will end up being a bad long term for Republicans, because of the “tax cuts on the rich.”  What he doesn’t seem to get is that he’ll be arguing about the “Bush tax cuts” as a whole in two years, when he’s running for re-election, having already lost that debate in 2010.  He’s coming across as hectoring, defensive, and not well acquainted with the facts or the policy.  This may be the worst presidential press conference I’ve seen Bill Clinton denied “that woman.”

Update: Whoa.  Now he’s angrily lecturing the left for their reaction to the deal, citing their negative reaction to ObamaCare because it lacked a public option.  Again, he’s coming across as a know-it-all who’s reminding you of that unforgivable thing you did that ruined your relationship way back when.  While it’s nice to see someone attempt to inject a little reality in the “reality based community,” I predict that this won’t go over well.  At all.

More: Well, that was pretty bad, the kind of presser Napoleon might have given after Waterloo.  Obama, among other things, compared Republicans to terrorists holding the American people “hostage”.  That theme is bouncing around the left, indicating either an unhealthy groupthink is going on or that there’s an actual strategy at work.  It’s a bad line to take, and it won’t work.  Tax policy does not equal terrorism, especially in an age of actual, lethal terrorism.

All in all, not a good finish for 2010 if you’re Barack Obama, which will go down as the year of the death of “Hope and Change.”

Bryan Preston has been a leading conservative blogger and opinionator since founding his first blog in 2001. Bryan is a military veteran, worked for NASA, was a founding blogger and producer at Hot Air, was producer of the Laura Ingraham Show and, most recently before joining PJM, was Communications Director of the Republican Party of Texas.

[Soul Crusher]

Source: CBS News


President Obama today defiantly defended his compromise plan to extend the Bush tax cuts, insisting in a news conference, "This isn't the politics of the moment, this has to do with what can we get done right now."

He lashed out at his critics on the left, who have accused the president of abandoning his Democratic principles by cutting a deal with Republicans.

"This notion that somehow we are willing to compromise too much -- this is the public option debate all over again," the president said. "We pass something that Democrats have been fighting for for over 100 years, but because there was a provision in there that they didn't get...somehow that was a sign of weakness and compromise."

He continued, "If that's the standard by which we are measuring success or core principles, then let's face it, we will never get anything done. People will have the satisfaction of having a purist position and no victories for the American people."

...

The president said today that he was fulfilling the "promise I made during the campaign, the promise I made as president" -- to ensure that the tax cuts would be extended for the middle class.

The president acknowledged today that he often said this year that Republicans were holding the middle class "hostage" by resisting an extension of middle class tax cuts without an extension for wealthy Americans as well.

"I think it's tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers -- unless the hostage gets harmed," Mr. Obama said. "Then people will question the wisdom of that strategy. In this case the hostage was the American people."



Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20024891-503544....

[Soul Crusher]

Testy Obama fires back at Democrats over tax deal
Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 12/7/10 | Steve Holland and Patricia Zengerle



WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A testy President Barack Obama on Tuesday expressed frustration at his own Democrats for attacking him over his tax-cut deal with Republicans, who he called uncompromising "hostage takers."

Obama found himself in an unusual position a day after sealing a major tax-cut agreement -- praised by Republican opponents and denounced by liberal Democrats who felt he violated a pledge that helped get him elected in 2008.

Liberals accused him of caving to Republican demands by agreeing to extend all the Bush-era tax cuts, even those for wealthier Americans, instead of their preference for limiting the tax cuts to families making less than $250,000 a year.

Obama's tax-cut deal could be seen as a move toward the political center after November 2 elections in which Democrats suffered huge losses.

He said he could have spent months arguing the Democrats' position but that it would have risked further damage to the economy.

Obama leveled some of his toughest criticism to date at the left wing of the Democratic Party, saying his critics were taking a "sanctimonious" position that would not have helped solve problems.

His voice rose and he sounded exasperated when he said if he had refused to compromise, "People will have the satisfaction of having a purist position and no victories for the American people."

The country was founded on the principle of compromise, Obama said, and he singled out one leading critic, The New York Times editorial page, saying "The New York Times editorial page does not permeate across all of America. Neither does the Wall Street Journal editorial page."


(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...

[Soul Crusher]

U.S.: Israel Settlement Freeze Demand Dropped
MATTHEW LEE | 12/ 7/10 05:38 PM | 



WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has abandoned attempts to persuade Israel to slow West Bank settlement activity, officials said Tuesday, dealing a major blow to the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and one of the president's top foreign policy initiatives.

After months of trying to broker a formula under which Israel would impose a new, temporary settlement freeze in return for U.S. promises and incentives, two American officials said the administration has concluded that course won't work. The decision was expected to be announced later Tuesday.

Talks stalled in September, barely a month after they started. The Palestinians refused to return to direct negotiations until a new freeze was in place following the expiration of an earlier, 10-month Israeli slowdown in settlement expansion.

Now, said the U.S. officials, American pressure for a three-month moratorium and the U.S. incentives package, which included political, diplomatic and security assurances for Israel, are off the table. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The White House's bid for a Middle East peace settlement was a longshot from the start, but its apparent breakdown comes at a time when the administration is struggling on a number of fronts abroad. There is slow progress in the Afghan war, increasing friction with China and the embarrassing deluge of confidential diplomatic cables released by the website WikiLeaks.

The U.S. officials said the administration was not giving up efforts to broker a peace deal and noted that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will visit Washington next week for consultations.

The U.S. will be talking with both sides in the coming days, one of the officials said, while Arab states and other interested countries also will be consulted.

However, the administration's decision to drop support for the Palestinians' key demand could mean the end of the moribund peace process.

Obama had made Israeli-Palestinian peace a major goal of his administration, appointing seasoned peace negotiator George Mitchell as his special Mideast envoy on his second day in office.

Story continues below
AdvertisementMitchell made dozens of trips to the region to get the parties to agree to direct talks. In early September, with the expiration of the initial slowdown looming, Obama brought Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas along with the leaders of Jordan and Egypt to launch the face-to-face discussions, which failed.

Neither Israeli nor Palestinian officials would comment on the developments in Washington before their official announcement.

Earlier Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the U.S. had halted talks with Israel on settlement activity because Washington was distracted by the WikiLeaks release of secret documents.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley responded by saying that Israel may have been preoccupied with putting out a huge forest fire that burned until Sunday.

The U.S. had been pressing Israel to renew a moratorium on new settlement construction in exchange for security guarantees and diplomatic assurances of support. Israel wanted those in writing, as well as a pledge that east Jerusalem would be exempt from the moratorium.

The Palestinians refused to return to the peace talks unless Israel halted all building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem – lands they want for part of their future state.

Peace talks began in September but ground to a halt three weeks later after Israel's original moratorium on new West Bank construction expired.

Netanyahu returned from a November trip to the U.S. with a list of guarantees, including 20 next-generation stealth fighter planes and U.S. pledges to veto anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations, according to Israeli officials.

In exchange, Israel was asked to renew the expired limits on settlement construction.

Days later the deal snagged after members of Netanyahu's Cabinet demanded a written pledge from the U.S. that the moratorium would exclude east Jerusalem. Such a pledge never materialized.

The U.S. had wanted a moratorium in the hopes that it would allow Israel and the Palestinians to make enough progress in drawing their future borders to make the settlement question irrelevant.

With borders determined, Israel could resume building on any territories it would expect to keep under a final peace deal.

But Israeli officials said Tuesday that short of an understanding on borders, a crisis could erupt if Israel agreed to the freeze sought by the U.S.

Now, said Israeli officials, insisting on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the contacts, the U.S. and Israel have agreed on a statement that "in the coming days and weeks, efforts will continue toward finding ways to renew the direct negotiations in order to reach a framework that would lead in the end to an agreement between the two sides."

___

Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed to this report.


________________________ ________________________ ______________


Left wing in total meltdown at HP. 

[Soul Crusher]

mlevans  (530 posts)      Tue Dec-07-10 04:51 PM
Response to Original message
42. I expect it'll just get ignored, but I sent him this earlier today.
 Dear Mr. President,

Congratulations! You've accomplished something no one else has ever been able to do. You've made me feel embarrassed to be a Democrat.

When we worked so hard to get you elected, we thought you were a determined fighter who would stand up for the ideals we shared. This latest caving in to the Republicans shows just how sadly mistaken we were. We thought you were smarter than George Bush too, but even he would have figured out early on that the opposition wasn't going to cooperate and would have started playing hardball. That's another dismal revelation that I could have done without.

At 2,500 characters I can't say all that is on my mind and in my heart right now. I will just say that I am bitterly disappointed.

Sincerely,
Morgan L Evans


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4647115

[Soul Crusher]

Not to make light of the signifance of todays day in history, but some dems are saying they feel today is akin to pearl harbor thrmselves getting bombed by obama on the tax issue, the isreal cave in, the presser trashing them etc. 

Bitches.

[240 is Back]

he worked across the aisle and 'gave a little' to the repubs.

instead of saying "wow, that's great he's learned to compromise"...

you are rejoicing and gloating because people on the left are unhappy.

Good luck converting them to repub voters in 2012 after talking all that shit for 8 years on them.  Chances are they'd vote for a bucket of shit that didn't diss them, over your pitiful 2012 offering

[Fury]

Not to make light of the signifance of todays day in history, but some dems are saying they feel today is akin to pearl harbor thrmselves getting bombed by obama on the tax issue, the isreal cave in, the presser trashing them etc. 

Bitches.

I've been reading the HP threads you've linked. They're on complete suicide watch as they're realizing that their idiotic Utopian views of the world are crashing down on their heads. It's glorious, to say the least. 

[tonymctones]

he worked across the aisle and 'gave a little' to the repubs.

instead of saying "wow, that's great he's learned to compromise"...

you are rejoicing and gloating because people on the left are unhappy.

Good luck converting them to repub voters in 2012 after talking all that shit for 8 years on them.  Chances are they'd vote for a bucket of shit that didn't diss them, over your pitiful 2012 offering

LMFAO he did nothing but toss reps aside for 2 years and you want ppl to praise him for doing something by his own admissions he didnt want to do and was the reps idea?

LOL YOU FUKING TOOL 

[Soul Crusher]

240 I already said he did the right thing.

[MCWAY]

I've been reading the HP threads you've linked. They're on complete suicide watch as they're realizing that their idiotic Utopian views of the world are crashing down on their heads. It's glorious, to say the least. 

Weeping and gnashing of teeth, sackcloth and ashes!!

Those goofies need some major-league couch time.

[Soul Crusher]

Complete panic

[The Showstoppa]

he worked across the aisle and 'gave a little' to the repubs.

instead of saying "wow, that's great he's learned to compromise"...

you are rejoicing and gloating because people on the left are unhappy.

Good luck converting them to repub voters in 2012 after talking all that shit for 8 years on them.  Chances are they'd vote for a bucket of shit that didn't diss them, over your pitiful 2012 offering

Nope.  Obama is alienating too much of his party that helped him get elected in 08.  People are not going to be as fired up to vote for him this time around.  Guaranteed.