President Obama introduces "The American Jobs Act".

I thought the speech was very good, and I also thought the President demonstrated great passion as well as great exasperation that he has so little support to do the things for this country that MUST be done.

Here are the highlights courtesy of The Monitor:

Nearly $250 billion in tax relief for individuals and businesses through tax credits and a variety of tax cuts. 

140 billion to upgrade roads, bridges and schools. 

35 billion to help keep teachers, police and firefighters on the job. 

Extending and expanding a payroll tax cut that would save the typical American family $1,500 in taxes in 2012. 

A payroll tax "holiday" for employers on any new hires or wages. All companies would be eligible for the break, which would apply to up to $50 million in new payroll spending. 

Cut the payroll tax in half for businesses with payrolls of less than $5 million.

The President bent over backwards to find programs and tax cuts that the Republicans should NOT be able to vote against. But sadly for the American people that will only work if the Republicans are not actually willing to let this country crumble into disrepair for short term political gain. I have to say that I do not have much confidence that such an obvious act of treason is not exactly what the Republicans have decided to do.

Reminding the Progressives what their President accomplished when the Democrats had the majority in Congress. And the potential of what we can do in the future.

Surely they all realize that I can't do this alone.

 This is a summation of the first two years of the Obama Administration's accomplishments to remind us all about what it means to have the majority in Congress that can actually pass legislation and effect the kind of change that guided the State of our country's affair in the right path. Whether we like what the Obama Administration accomplished or not is beside the point but it takes a majority to push for something as we had witnessed during the first two years of the Obama Administration. 

This is also a reminder about why we need to reverse the power structure in 2011 by electing more and better Democrats to achieve more of what we had started in the first two years of this Administration. I understand some folks will try to undermine the progress we have made but we must highlight them so that the false narrative of some does not feel like the reality. 

To remind yourself of just how productive this President was before Democrats were caught flat footed and the Republicans captured the House, just click on this link courtesy of the Daily Kos.

If we continue to allow the Republicans to set the agenda and lose our passion for the fight, there is NO doubt that things in this country will get even worse.

Imagine what it would be like if the GOP captures the Senate AND the Presidency? 

Oh I almost forgot you don't HAVE TO imagine that, we just finished living it from 2000 to 2008. Remember?

So stand your Zumba toned ass up, dust off your khakis, put on your Birkenstocks, grab a skinny Latte from Starbucks, climb into your Prius, and get involved! Because our President and our country need you!

Everything you need to know about the Teabaggers is represented by this pathetic excuse for a human being, Tony Katz. Update.

There was an exchange on MSNBC earlier today between this bloated piece of shit and Jamal Simmons in response to these statements by Teamster President James Hoffa directed toward the Tea Party:

“President Obama, this is your army,” Hoffa concluded to applause, his voice raising to a shout. “We are ready to march. Let’s take these sons of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong,” he said, stepping back from the lectern where President Obama would speak less than an hour later. 

“There’s a war on working Americans and we are getting sick and tired of it,” Hoffa told ABC News Tuesday morning. “It’s absolutely a war. They declared war on us. We didn’t declare war on them. They’re the ones that introduced right to work in 14 states, and went after public employee bargaining rights in both Wisconsin and Ohio. We’re fighting them across the board. They want to roll the clock back to about 1900.” 

Now this is video of what Katz said about Hoffa, the Democrats, and President Obama. I am going to warn you ahead of time that he is an especially nasty piece of work, and what he said literally had me shouting at the television and wanting DESPERATELY to be in the same room with him for just five uninterrupted minutes.

That, my friends, is the face of the Tea Party in this country. THAT is the kind of sloppy, porcine piece of human excrement that is given a platform on our airwaves to attack our President.

I mean for God's sake Gandhi himself would have punched that guy in the throat!

Update: Here is Hoffa's FULL quote:

President Obama this is your army. We are ready to march. And president Obama we want one thing: Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. That's what we’re going to tell him. He’s going to be - and when he sees what we’re doing here he will be inspired. But he needs help and you know what? Everybody here's got to vote. If we go back and keep the eye on the prize, let's take these sons of a bitches out and give America back to America where we belong! Thank you very much!

I am sorry, I thought everybody knew that Hoffa was talking about voting the Teabaggers out. I will make sure to be more clear in the future. 

Lawrence O'Donnell presents Professor Lichtmann and his 13 Keys that prove President Obama will win reelection.

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As I am sure many of you remember I wrote about Professor Lichtmann and his formula on Tuesday.

I am still standing on my soapbox and preaching that we buckle down and make damn sure that Obama gets reelected, but it is nice to know that there is this formula out there which predicts he will succeed.

Fifteen Differences Between Democrats and Republicans.

All credit goes to the Pragmatic Progressive:

1. Republicans fear that the government has too much control over corporations. Democrats fear that corporations have too much control over our government. 
2.  Democrats believe it benefits all of us to help the weakest and the poorest among us. Republicans believe it benefits all of us to help the wealthiest and most powerful among us. 
3.  Republicans believe large corporations will always do what is best for the American people if the government stays out of the way. Democrats believe large corporations would disembowel you and sell your organs to the highest bidder if the government didn’t stop them. 
4.  Democrats believe everyone is entitled to health care regardless of their ability to pay. Republicans believe everyone is entitled to jack squat if they can’t pay for health care. 
5.  Democrats believe too much of our money goes to crooked corporate executives who take government subsidies and pay themselves $80 million salaries. Republicans believe too much of our money goes to teachers who make $30,000 a year. 
6.  Democrats believe anything that helps the American people during a recession or a time of crisis is the true essence of patriotism. Republicans believe anything that helps the American people during a recession or a time of crisis is the true essence of communism. 
7.  Democrats believe that we need to set high standards for clean air and drinking water. Republicans believe that standards for clean air and water are burdensome over-regulation. 
8.  Democrats believe the President and Congress need to work together to create jobs during a weak economy. Republicans believe that Congress should do nothing to create jobs and then blame the President. 
9.  Democrats believe that corporate polluters should be made to pay for the cleanup of their pollution. Republicans believe that making corporations clean up their pollution is burdensome over-regulation.
10.  Democrats believe our health care system exists solely for the purpose of making people healthy. Republicans believe our health care system exists solely for the purpose of making a healthy profit.
11.  Democrats believe Congress should be of the people, by the people and for the people. Republicans believe corporations are the people. 
12.  Democrats believe that corporations have too much influence over Congress due to their lobbyists and huge campaign contributions. Republicans believe the middle class has too much influence over Congress due to their voting and paying taxes. 
13.  Democrats believe we need to protect victims of corporate negligence by allowing Americans to file lawsuits against corporations. Republicans believe we need to protect large corporations from lawsuits by Americans who’ve been victimized by them. 
14.  Democrats believe that the rich should be taxed more than the poor and middle class. Republicans believe that the rich should be allowed to keep all their wealth, except for the millions in campaign contributions they give to politicians. 
15.  Democrats believe that too much money in politics produces corruption and destroys the American way of life. Republicans believe that money and corruption in politics are the American way of life.

 I could not have said it better myself.

“Even if I am being conservative, I don’t see how Obama can lose.” Says Professor with never fail formula for predicting the winners of Presidential elections.

Picture courtesy of the Obama Diary.

Courtesy of US News:

Allan Lichtman, the American University professor whose election formula has correctly called every president since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election, has a belated birthday present for Barack Obama: Rest easy, your re-election is in the bag. 

“Even if I am being conservative, I don’t see how Obama can lose,” says Lichtman. 

Working for the president are several of Lichtman’s keys, tops among them incumbency and the scandal-free nature of his administration.Undermining his re-election is a lack of charisma and leadership on key issues, says Lichtman, even including healthcare, Obama’s crowning achievement. 

Lichtman developed his 13 Keys in 1981. They test the performance of the party that holds the presidency. If six or more of the 13 keys go against the party in power, then the opposing party wins.“The keys have figured into popular politics a bit,” Lichtman says. “They’ve never missed. They’ve been right seven elections in a row. A number that goes way beyond statistical significance in a record no other system even comes close to.” 

Below are each of the keys and how it falls for Obama. 

1. Party mandate: After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than it did after the previous midterm elections. Says Lichtman, “Even back in January 2010 when I first released my predictions, I was already counting on a significant loss.” Obama loses this key. 
2. Contest: There is no serious contest for the incumbent party nomination. Says Lichtman on Obama’s unchallenged status, “I never thought there would be any serious contest against Barack Obama in the Democratic primary.” Obama wins this key. 
3. Incumbency: The incumbent party candidate is the sitting president. Easy win here for Obama. 
4. Third Party: There is no significant third party challenge. Obama wins this point. 
5. Short term economy: The economy is not in recession during the election campaign. Here Lichtman declares an “undecided.” 
6. Long-term economy: Real per capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms. Says Lichtman, “I discounted long term economy against Obama. Clearly we are in a recession.” Obama loses this key.
7. Policy change: The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy. “There have been major policy changes in this administration. We’ve seen the biggest stimulus in history and an complete overhaul of the healthcare system so I gave him policy change,” says the scholar. Another win for Obama. 
8. Social unrest: There is no sustained social unrest during the term. Says Lichtman, “There wasn’t any social unrest when I made my predictions for 2012 and there still isn’t.” Obama wins a fifth key here. 
9. Scandal: The incumbent administration is untainted by major scandal. “This administration has been squeaky clean. There’s nothing on scandal,” says Lichtman. Another Obama win. 
10. Foreign/military failure: The incumbent administration suffers no major failure in foreign or military affairs. Says Lichtman, “We haven’t seen any major failure that resembles something like the Bay of Pigs and don’t foresee anything.” Obama wins again. 
11. Foreign/military success: The incumbent administration achieves a major success in foreign or military affairs. “Since Osama bin Laden was found and killed, I think Obama has achieved military success.” Obama wins his eighth key. 
12. Incumbent charisma: The incumbent party candidate is charismatic or a national hero. Explains Lichtman, “I did not give President Obama the incumbent charisma key. I counted it against him. He’s really led from behind. He didn’t really take the lead in the healthcare debate, he didn’t use his speaking ability to move the American people during the recession. He’s lost his ability to connect since the 2008 election.” Obama loses this key. 
13. Challenger charisma: The challenging party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero. Says Lichtman, “We haven’t seen any candidate in the GOP who meets this criteria and probably won’t.” Obama wins, bringing his total to nine keys, three more than needed to win reelection. 

I might disagree with the professor on his assertion that Obama lacks charisma, but other than that I think the formula makes good sense.

Now while this is very good news for us in 2012, I by NO means believe we should rest on our laurels and just expect this to all play out in our favor.

In fact I believe that the Republican are well aware that they are in trouble in 2012 and are turning to dirty tricks in order to sabotage Obama's chances for reelection.

Case in point: 

The newest political strategy is to turn the African-American community against the first black president. The idea is to get black folks to scream at the President and to threaten to withhold our support come November 2012. Due to the very high unemployment rate in the black community, this could be an easy sell. The well-paid professional propagandists don’t ask African-Americans to lay the blame for the lack of employment at the feet of the business world (which is hoarding up a couple of trillions in their rainy-day fund), or to consider the fact that governors everywhere are cutting down on the public sector workforce (comprised of large numbers of black Americans per capita), or to holler at the Republican-dominated House, which has blocked most of the job-creating programs introduced by Democrats. Instead, they want us to aim our fire solely at our President and to blame him for 30 years of white men’s policies.

And the black community is not the ONLY voting block that the GOP is working to convince to stay home in 2012, we have also seen other groups like Environmentalists, Hispanics, LGBT members, and Union members targeted for disenfranchising by the Republicans.

The problem is that Obama is not a complainer.  He actually embraces the concept first put forward by President Truman that "The buck stops here." He simply accepts that he will receive the blame for problems left unsolved, the failure of policies aggressively blocked by the Republicans, and the fact that Americans are still dying on foreign soil.

If he were Sarah Palin he would go around blaming everybody else for every problem that came along, even those that WERE his fault.  But he is President Barack Obama, and he is somebody who buckles down and does the job to the best of his ability, hoping that the voters can peer through the fog of obfuscation and see the truth of what he has accomplished.

He has far more faith in the American people than I do. I think they are going to need somebody to grab them by the lapels and slap some sense into them before sending them off to the voting booth.

We are already seeing past supporters throwing up their hands in disgust "Hey, I thought he could walk on water. He can't? Fuck it I am not going vote then!"

To those people I would say that by staying home you are not just costing the President one more vote, you are handing your vote to the Republicans. That just means they need even fewer votes to grab hold of the nation's steering wheel and again start driving us off that cliff that the President worked so hard to steer us away from.

So yes the Professor's formula should give us all confidence that President Obama has a better than even chance of staying in the White House, but we still need to get active and do our part to get out the vote and educate our friends and family on the truth of what a Republican victory would mean for this country.

You know what I'm doing. What are you doing?

Update: I thought you all might like to see a few more pictures (Courtesy of the Obama Diary) of President Obama with his most loyal constituents.

The Teabaggers and what their scorched earth approach to politics portends for this country.

Courtesy of Aljazeera:

After its humble beginnings as an astroturf, Koch-Brothers-funded revival aimed at mobilising ill-informed, reactionary, mostly older white Americans against health care reform and other psychologically-constructed monsters under the bed, the Tea Party has become an malignant force that now holds the Republican Congressional Caucus - and with it the country - hostage. 

While the Stockholm Syndrome may not have quite set in yet among all Republicans, the tri-corner-hat crowd seems to behave much like the giant Brain Bug in the movie Starship Troopers, jamming a claw into the heads of their fellow GOPers and slowly sucking out cerebral tissue until only the brainless body remains. 

Most problematic, most of the Tea Partiers, private citizens and elected officials alike, seem to possess just slightly less understanding of the Federal budget or tax code of than say, Mater from Cars. Yet, these are the people in the driver's seat as the country heads for what might be Act II of the Great Recession, unless progressives, centrists, and others edified with high school civics adopt a new strategy to counter them.

And counter them we must, for they and their ilk are nothing new, but representative of a recurring and quite dangerous political strain that has always been with us since the dawn of civilization. Their undermining of the traditions, culture, and give-and-take necessary for any democracy to function has had destructive results on free societies in the past, and taken down a Republic or two.

From its inception, the Tea Party is the very definition of the type of revolutionary movement. Until Democrats, and their leader in the White House, realise they need to stop calling people like Paul Ryan "courageous" and "serious", and start fighting fire with fire, Michelle Bachmann and her creepy pinwheel eyes are going to continue to get their way at the expense of American values and the middle-class that once made this country great.

 The late, great historian Richard Hofstadter added further insight into just the type of "movement" we're dealing with, in his 1964 award-winning tome, "The Paranoid Style of American Politics". In it, he outlines the psychological origins of the type of crazed, Tea-bagger style of all-or-nothing dedication to an absolute end, when he wrote of their forebears: 

 "He does not see social conflict as something to be mediated and compromised, in the manner of the working politician. Since what is at stake is always a conflict between absolute good and absolute evil, what is necessary is not compromise but the will to fight things out to a finish. Since the enemy is thought of as being totally evil and totally unappeasable, he must be totally eliminated - if not from the world, at least from the theatre of operations to which the paranoid directs his attention." 

 In other words, any compromise, no matter how small, is seen as an act tantamount to treason, which is precisely why we need to stop engaging these tottering tea lovers, because they simply do not believe in the workings of democracy. 

Not really too much to add here except to say that between the Teabaggers and the Domininists trying to fuck up our country this may be one of the most divisive and important Presidential elections in America's history.  Yes I realize I said that same thing in 2008, and I said it because it was true, but I am convinced that what was true then remains true in 2012.

 Personally I long for an election that is simply an election, and NOT the potential harbinger to the end of the United States of America as we know it.

By the way in case you have convinced yourself that this is mere hyperbole on my part, let me remind you of a certain Presidential election in 2000, and how the repercussions from that are still resulting in death, financial collapses, and disharmony all over the world.

Rachel Maddow points out that the downgrading of the US credit score by S&P means little, but that the blame for any harm it might cause rests solely with the Republicans.

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I believe this is the same point that I have been attempting to drive home over and over this weekend.I appreciate Rachel Maddow's gift for breaking a complicated issue down and making it much more digestible for the public at large.

Just a reminder as to how we got here.

Courtesy of the Political Animal:

1980: Ronald Reagan runs for president, promising a balanced budget

1981 - 1989: With support from congressional Republicans, Reagan runs enormous deficits, adds $2 trillion to the debt.

1993: Bill Clinton passes economic plan that lowers deficit, gets zero votes from congressional Republicans.

1998: U.S. deficit disappears for the first time in three decades. Debt clock is unplugged.

2000: George W. Bush runs for president, promising to maintain a balanced budget.

2001: CBO shows the United States is on track to pay off the entirety of its national debt within a decade.

2001 - 2009: With support from congressional Republicans, Bush runs enormous deficits, adds nearly $5 trillion to the debt.

2002: Dick Cheney declares, “Deficits don’t matter.” Congressional Republicans agree, approving tax cuts, two wars, and Medicare expansion without even trying to pay for them.

2009: Barack Obama inherits $1.3 trillion deficit from Bush; Republicans immediately condemn Obama’s fiscal irresponsibility.

2009: Congressional Democrats unveil several domestic policy initiatives — including health care reform, cap and trade, DREAM Act — which would lower the deficit. GOP opposes all of them, while continuing to push for deficit reduction.

September 2010: In Obama’s first fiscal year, the deficit shrinks by $122 billion. Republicans again condemn Obama’s fiscal irresponsibility.

October 2010: S&P endorses the nation’s AAA rating with a stable outlook, saying the United States looks to be in solid fiscal shape for the foreseeable future.

November 2010: Republicans win a U.S. House majority, citing the need for fiscal responsibility.
December 2010: Congressional Republicans demand extension of Bush tax cuts, relying entirely on deficit financing. GOP continues to accuse Obama of fiscal irresponsibility.

March 2011: Congressional Republicans declare intention to hold full faith and credit of the United States hostage — a move without precedent in American history — until massive debt-reduction plan is approved.

July 2011: Obama offers Republicans a $4 trillion debt-reduction deal. GOP refuses, pushes debt-ceiling standoff until the last possible day, rattling international markets.

August 2011: S&P downgrades U.S. debt, citing GOP refusal to consider new revenues. Republicans rejoice and blame Obama for fiscal irresponsibility.

Any questions?

Jon Stewart points out that the Teabaggers are unhappy with the debt deal because "government still exists."

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Yeah I guess these so-called "patriots" simply will not be happy until there is nothing left of the country but a smoldering crater.

You know like the one that sits between their ears where their brains are supposed to be located.

A weary President Obama announces deficit agreement.

Like most liberals I am not even remotely happy that we seem to have bent over backwards for the good of the country while the Republicans have done nothing but act like anarchists determined to see America's reputation, and standing in the world, destroyed.

Especially since it appears that even this agreement (IF it actually gets passed) would still not ensure that our AAA credit rating would remain intact:

Stock markets around the world rallied on Monday, in relief that the world's largest economy would probably avoid running out of cash this week. But the agreement, which includes around $2.5 trillion of spending cuts over the next decade, has been criticised by some on both sides of the political divide, and will probably not save America's triple-A credit rating.

You know I once described to a friend that the problem with many relationships is that the person who cares the least about its survival, or the feelings of the other person, is the one in charge.  Since they have less invested in the relationship's survival they are free to act with impunity, while the person who is determined to "make it work" is frantically attempting to smooth things over and keep the relationship together.

Essentially that is what we are seeing in this situation between the President and the Democratic party, and the Republicans and their Teabagging Rottweilers.  A scorched earth approach does not seem to bother the Teabaggers because they either don't understand the repercussions, or simply don't give a shit.

But watch the video up above again.

Do you see how tired and saddened that man appears?

That is a man who felt the needs of the American people in his BONES.  In this relationship HE is the one who cares too much, and who will always do what he needs to do to save the relationship/country, and the people who will be devastated by its demise.

And that, despite whatever we may feel about this apparent capitulation, is WHY he deserves our support and our faith.  He did not give up on us, and by God we should not give up on him.

You can wear a thousand flag pins, and own NOTHING but red, white, and blue underwear, but if you cannot put the needs of the American people above your own ideology, than you are NOT a patriot! And you are not part of the solution, you ARE the problem!

Congessman David Wu decides to resign, in response to allegations of sexual misconduct with 18 year old girl.

Months ago, Wu sent the lead image above of himself in a tiger suit to a female staffer in his campaign using his congressional Blackberry. The message contained no text, just the photo of Wu dressed like a tiger.

Courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor:

Rep. David Wu (D) of Oregon announced Tuesday that he will resign his seat, after allegations of an unwanted sexual encounter with a young woman.

“The well-being of my children must come before anything else,” said Representative Wu in a statement. 

“With great sadness, I therefore intend to resign effective upon the resolution of the debt-ceiling crisis," said Wu, who was elected to Congress in 1998 as the first Chinese-American in the House.

On Friday, Wu's hometown newspaper, The Oregonian, broke the story about his alleged encounter with an 18-year-old over Thanksgiving weekend last year. Wu told his senior aides that the encounter was consensual, the story reports.

This is what the Oregonian reported over the weekend:

A distraught young woman called U.S. Rep. David Wu's Portland office this spring, accusing him of an unwanted sexual encounter, according to multiple sources. 

When confronted, the Oregon Democrat acknowledged a sexual encounter to his senior aides but insisted it was consensual, the sources said. 

The woman is the daughter of a longtime friend and campaign donor. She apparently did not contact police at the time. 

One person who heard the voice mail described the woman as upset, breathing heavily and "distraught."
 
In the voice mail, the young woman accused Wu of aggressive and unwanted sexual behavior, according to sources with direct knowledge of the message and its contents. 

Reporters could not verify the young woman's age. Notes on Facebook over the past 18 months indicate she graduated from high school in 2010. California records show she registered to vote in August. 

I got a lot of flack back when I was saying that Anthony Weiner needed to resign, because people were arguing that what he did was consensual and not even really sex.  I imagine this time everybody will agree that Rep. Wu simply needs to leave office as soon as possible.

Personally I do not think he will be of much use in getting past this debt ceiling crisis, but he is definitely giving his party a black eye as long as he stays around in his role as a Democratic Congressman.

I do not know the full story here, and of course everybody is innocent until proven guilty, but my instincts tell me that this girl is the more believable party. Which means to me that Wu is potentially a VERY bad guy, and he needs to not only leave politics but to face charges of rape or sexual assault.

When it comes to hurting young women, ideology does not even enter the equation. I don't care if you are a Democrat or a Republican, if you are a predator you need to pay for your crimes.

President Obama talking to a group of bipartisan college students about politics.

A friend sent this to me the other day and I am very glad that they did.

If you listen carefully to what he is saying it essentially explains exactly how he sees his job and why he approaches difficult problems in the measured way in which he does.

I still feel, despite the fact that there are many things still undone (Or not being done fast enough for our liking), that this man may have a real chance to go down in history is one of the greatest Presidents we have ever known.