Grand Bargain is the Wrong Solution by Katrina vanden Heuvel

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http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/14-8



Americans, listening to the intensifying debate about the fiscal showdown in Washington, must think they’ve entered an “Alice in Wonderland” world. The lame duck Congress only returns to Washington this week, but already the lame is drowning out the logical.

Americans have just voted to reelect the president with clear priorities. They want Washington to get to work creating jobs and economic growth. They expect the president to raise taxes on the richest two percent in order to invest in areas vital to our future, as he pledged repeatedly across the country. They didn’t hear much about the so-called “fiscal cliff” in the election campaign, but their opinions on what is acceptable in any grand bargain are very clear.

In the election eve poll done by the Democracy Corps for the Campaign for America’s Future (disclosure: I serve on the board of the Campaign’s sister institution, the Institute for America’s Future), voters were asked what would be unacceptable in a large deal to reduce deficits. Seventy-nine percent found cuts to Medicare benefits unacceptable; 62 percent found cuts to Social Security unacceptable. And a stunning three in four found across the board domestic cuts that didn’t protect programs for “infants, poor children, schools and college aid” unacceptable.

It’s hard for voters’ common sense to get a hearing inside Washington’s beltway. Instead, the multi-million dollar campaign funded by Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson to “Fix the Debt” has enlisted CEOs and the noisome former co-chairs of the president’s deficit commission, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, to raise hysteria about deficits and debt. Republicans are arguing yet again for cutting Social Security and Medicare in exchange for lowering tax rates on the wealthy, while promising that closing loopholes would raise more revenue. Voters just rejected Mitt Romney when he tried to peddle a version of this junk arithmetic.

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2. huh? nt

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3. http://www.democracycorps.com/about-us/

http://www.democracycorps.com/about-us/

http://www.democracycorps.com/National-Surveys/the-real-election-and-mandate/

President Obama won an Electoral College landslide and a 3 or 4-point national victory – against the great odds posed by prolonged high unemployment, lack of income gains, a barely perceptible recovery and political gridlock that kept his job approval at just 50 percent at best. He won because he was able to engage the diverse national coalition of Latinos, African Americans and Asians, young people and unmarried women who formed nearly half the electorate, despite the fact that these groups suffered the brunt of recession and have benefited least from the halting recovery.

He also succeeded because he waged class war and won. That was how he was able to define the choice, winning back voters who had been hammered by the economy and getting them mobilized again. That he waged class warfare successfully has critical consequences for what is the mandate in the weeks and months ahead.

LOL! HUH

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4. you seem to be trying to say something - but i can't figure out what it is. nt

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5. How's this?

James Carville, Bill Clinton’s campaign strategist, and two of his Democracy Corps strategist pals have blasted OBomba’s current teevee ads. They ran focus groups on various ad messages, and concluded that O ‘will face strong headwinds in November unless he changes his campaign narrative.”

http://my.firedoglake.com/wendydavis/tag/james-carville-and-the-democracy-corps-democratic-stategists-offer-advice-to-obama/

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6. and? the campaign is over. nt

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7. Great!

So I don't have to look at Carvilles' ugly mug? Or hear about his DLC politics.

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8. Really--- a Rush Limbaugh link...Really

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9. Yes really

Did the link not fit? Or are you just going to report to get me banned?

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10. Yeah I'm going to report to get you banned.

And guess what...it worked.

Worm Dirt.

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11. And a good job you did.