In Love with Conflict

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Tuesday August 09, 2011 · 6:05 PM PDT

2011/08/09 · 18:05

A version of this post is published at The People's View.

Cenk Uygur had a piece today on Daily Kos today that personifies the Professional Left's idiotic romance with conflict. Conflict not for any particular outcome but conflict for conflict's sake. Cenk opens with such a hubris:

Let me give you a small example nobody talks about, but I think is telling. After Gabby Giffords was shot, his administration indicated that he would do a major speech on gun control ... later. I told my audience that was not going to happen. Why? Because I know Obama. He hates, hates, hates conflict. And he would never take on an issue where he did not have overwhelming support. It's not in his nature.

Well, the truth is that the administration never indicated that the President would do a "major speech" on gun control - that was made up by the media. In fact, most sites that seem to have reported that there was going to be "a major speech" are right wing blogs. What the administration said, specifically, what then-Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, is as follows: Read More

It's Not a Threat, Congressman Kucinich. It's Math.

deaniac83

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Tuesday July 26, 2011 · 5:25 PM PDT

2011/07/26 · 17:25

A version of this story is available at The People's View.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich put up a scathing attack on the President today. His beef? That the President said in his speech last night that should Congressional irresponsibility lead to the first ever default by the United States government, lots of government payments, including perhaps social security checks may not be able to go out - at least not on time. That made Kucinich livid. Wrote Kucinich:

Social Security is 100% wholly funded up to the year 2036 without any changes whatsoever. It has no place in the debt ceiling debate at all. Furthermore, it is not the government’s money but the money of the workers who have paid into the program their entire lives.
Threatening the withholding of Social Security checks to advance an agenda that includes cutting Social Security benefits is not befitting of the Democratic Party, it is not fair to the American people, and it represents a sellout of the interests of seniors.

This is absolutely mind-blowing. First of all, for someone accusing the President of not being candid, the Congressman is not intellectually honest that President Obama wants to "cut" Social Security. There are no cuts in the calculation of one's basic benefits; none. Kucninich's rhetoric, then, leads you to one of three conclusions: (1) Dennis Kucinich is wholly ignorant of how the social security trust fund works, or even what it actually is, (2) Dennis Kucinich is concealing his knowledge and playing dumb for the sake of ginning up outrage, or (3) Dennis Kucinich does not really believe that a default is a big deal. Read More

President Obama's Evisceration of Republican No-tax Religion, and A Lesson in Trust for Progressives

deaniac83

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Saturday July 23, 2011 · 10:24 AM PDT

2011/07/23 · 10:24

A version of this story is published at The People's View.

On Thursday night, lots of people were running around screaming, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling" over rumor-mill reports that President Obama was willing to give Republicans as much as $3 trillion in spending cuts, devastating our social safety net, without securing any guaranteed tax revenue increase. Well, whaddya know, despite tons of hair catching on fire, the rumor mills were lying to you. Shocked, I'm shocked I tell you that there's rumors flying around in our national media!

But it turns out that the President held his ground as strongly as ever that significant revenue increases would be required to get any meaningful deal done on deficit reduction. So John Boehner turned tail and ran. The President took no prisoners in his press conference and laid bare the real Republican agenda to the American people in his press conference: protect the tax code welfare to the ultra wealthy rather than solve the nation's huge debt problem.

deaniac83

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Thursday July 21, 2011 · 2:39 PM PDT

2011/07/21 · 14:39

A version of this story is published at The People's View.

To say that there is panic in much of this side of the blogosphere about a meme that President Obama is trying to "cut" Medicare and Social Security would be an understatement. The fever pitch of those who seem to think Paul Ryan is a better friend of Medicare than President Obama has reached a high level.

The panic-mongering, as usual, has no basis in reality. We should at the outset remember some things President Obama has already done as part of health reform to increase benefits for those on Medicare:

Collapsed, eventually completely closing the Part D prescription drug donut hole.
While the donut hole is being shrunk over time, seniors in that gap get a 50% discount.
Medicare (Part B) recipients now have free preventive care, eliminating copays for them under the old system.

The President has said that he is willing to do entitlement reform, Medicare reform specifically, to strengthen the program and ensure its financial viability. Let's look at what such an approach might look like. Read More

The New Corporate Media: $315 Million for Huffington Post Owners Costs Pink Slips for 200 Americans

deaniac83

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday March 14, 2011 · 3:15 PM PDT

2011/03/14 · 15:15

Crossposted from The People's View.

I don't know how many of you know this, but the Huff and Puff Post has a new owner. Don't know who? I'll give you a hint: You've got mail! Yes, Huffington Post has sold to AOL for a cool $315 million in cash. Hell, I'll let Huff and Puff Po themselves tell the story:

AOL has agreed to purchase The Huffington Post for $315 million, approximately $300 million of which will be paid in cash funded from cash on hand. The Huffington Post is privately owned by its two cofounders, as well as a group of investors. The proposed transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of government approvals. The boards of directors of each company and shareholders of The Huffington Post have approved the transaction.

And just as HuffPo's owners make out with $315 million, AOL is eliminating 900 jobs, partly thanks to this very bonanza for the Huff and Puff Post:

NEW YORK – AOL said Thursday it will slash 900 jobs worldwide, or nearly 20 percent of its work force, partly to eliminate overlap that stems from its recent purchase of The Huffington Post.
About 200 of the cuts are from AOL's content and technology departments in the U.S. The remaining 700 are at AOL's offices in India, which mainly provide back-office support to the U.S. But AOL spokesman Graham James said 300 of those will move to other companies, which are taking over support functions.

deaniac83

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Sunday December 12, 2010 · 10:07 AM PST

2010/12/12 · 10:07

Crossposted from The People's View.

I am pretty disturbed about the righteous pompousness happening in some corners of the ideological Left trying to portray the reduction in social security payroll taxes by 2 percentage point as a bad thing. Even though the lost revenue is replaced from the general fund, their argument is that somehow, it would weaken the political position of social security and thus send it on its way to eventual elimination.

Bullcrap. First of all, while one is generally required to pay into social security during their working years in order to receive benefits during retirement, social security is not an individual retirement fund. It is a direct transfer payment. Current beneficiaries are paid from current tax revenue, and whatever, if anything, is left over is put into a trust fund. In fact, that is the very nature of it. That's why it's called social security. It's a social program to financially protect America's elderly.

deaniac83

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Tuesday December 07, 2010 · 8:22 AM PST

2010/12/07 · 08:22

Not that anything under the Sun is new, but a good chunk of the Left established media (both new and old) are in uproar over the compromise between President Obama and Congressional Republicans on unemployment extension and tax cuts. The accusations of President Obama as a sellout are flying left and right (well, mostly left). Even Democracy for America, a group I have been a founding member of, emailed me yesterday waxing poetic about how the White House should have "dared" Republicans to raise taxes on all Americans. I mean, it's not that they don't get it - they obviously do - but they think that making some kind of a statement is more important than the following things:

Extending unemployment benefits for 13 months.
Reducing the employee portion of the Social Security payroll tax by 2 percentage point for a year.
Extending all the middle class tax breaks - the Bush tax cuts and the ones given in last year's Recovery Act.

deaniac83

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday November 30, 2010 · 5:04 PM PST

2010/11/30 · 17:04

Crossposted from The People's View.

In mid-November, I wrote a piece about the Obama recovery in consumer spending, specifically, retail sales. This past weekend was the nation's biggest retail sales weekend of the year, also known as the black Friday weekend. So what's happening? Is the retail sales growth continuing, indicating a continuing desire of consumers to spend? It certainly seems that way.

The National Retail Federation released data showing strong improvements in retail shopping trends over last year.

According to a National Retail Federation survey conducted over the weekend by BIGresearch, more shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend – and spent more – than a year ago.

According to the survey, 212 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend*, up from 195 million last year. People also spent more, with the average shopper this weekend spending $365.34, up from last year’s $343.31. Total spending reached an estimated $45.0 billion.

deaniac83

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Sunday November 21, 2010 · 10:05 AM PST

2010/11/21 · 10:05

Crossposted from The People's View.

Last evening, Cenk Uygur, the radio personality and MSNBC fill-in host, posted yet another one of his "Why won't President Obama listen to meeee" diaries here on Daily Kos. I wouldn't have read it completely, were it not for the attention grabbing (and in my judgment inappropriate) channel he chose to deliver to President Obama his message: his wife.

Well, the first lady isn't Cenk's personal messenger to the President. So I will do the second thing in the title first: Cenk, lay off Michelle Obama! You saw an inspirational woman in her own right and your first thought was "how can I bug her about her husband's public life?" You didn't think of telling her that you're proud of her and how incensed you are that Sarah Palin is re-launching racially charged attacks against her. You didn't think of thanking her for her initiative to reduce childhood obesity and raise a healthier generation of kids. You didn't think of the organic vegetable garden in the White House. You didn't even think about asking her about her biggest job: raising two amazing children.

deaniac83

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Wednesday November 17, 2010 · 10:32 AM PST

2010/11/17 · 10:32

Crossposted from The People's View.

Yesterday, I crossposted my article about retail sales and the Obama jobs recovery here on Daily Kos. It caused a bit of a stir in the comments, it seems more than on the merits, about my use of the phrase "left puritans" in the first sentence. Many seemed to take the phrase as referring to "the left" or progressives in general, even as I took pain to make the distinction clear. So I thought I'd do a couple of "meta" things today. I want to clear up what I mean when I use phrases like "left puritans" or "left ideologues" or the like. Second, I want to make clear why I will continue to defend President Obama.

deaniac83

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday November 16, 2010 · 3:25 PM PST

2010/11/16 · 15:25

Crossposted from The People's View.

Amidst the plethora of right wing victory celebrations and left puritan whining, the economy continues to show signs of recovery. The signs are quite significant given the time we have just come through. Not only did October see a continuation of substantial private sector job creation (and the loss of government jobs, lead by the layoff of temporary census workers, slowed down), auto sales lead a rally on retail sales, raising it by the highest amount in seven months. Retail sales are a key indicator of consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the US economy. Accelerating retail sales are indicative of a consumer market that is picking up.

deaniac83

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday November 12, 2010 · 1:39 PM PST

2010/11/12 · 13:39

Crossposted from The People's View.

There's a storm over the release of the proposal of the two co-chairs of the Presidential Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Especially when it comes to changes in federal health spending, the proposal downright stinks, and I will have more to say about the Social Security and Medicare provisions later. The proposal, however, is about more than just Medicare and Social Security. It is about a wide range of changes to the federal budget and the federal tax code. While a lot of it entails painful choices, the proposal presents some unique and valuable opportunities for progressives that most of the coverage is completely missing. So today I start this small series to cover Chairs' proposal in detail. Today's part will focus on the income tax reform proposals (both individual and corporate).

Before I go any further, let me say this: the proposal we are discussing is the Co-Chair's draft proposal, not one released by the entire commission, whose recommendations are due on December 1. When it is released, I plan to cover it in detail. Keep an eye on The People's View for coverage.

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In Love with Conflict

It's Not a Threat, Congressman Kucinich. It's Math.

President Obama's Evisceration of Republican No-tax Religion, and A Lesson in Trust for Progressives

About Those Medicare "Cuts"

The New Corporate Media: $315 Million for Huffington Post Owners Costs Pink Slips for 200 Americans

Why the Payroll Tax Cut is No Threat to Social Security

Tax Compromise: President Obama Had Your Back

Black Friday Weekend Roars Back as Obama Recovery Continues

He's A President. Not A Dictator. Also, Lay Off Michelle Obama!

"Left Puritans" and Why I Continue to Defend President Obama

Huge Retail Sales Gains and the Obama Jobs Recovery

Progressive Income Tax Reform in Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs' Proposal