A profound thanks to those who invoke FDR and the New Dealers

[DerekG]

Full confession: Watching Ken Burns' recent Roosevelts documentary reduced me to tears. I'm 32 years old, and have never once felt that a sitting president had the welfare of the working class and poor in mind. Not once. The very notion that an administration could be visionary is as alien to me as a Lovecraft yarn.

I do not suffer from hero worship, nor do I yearn to live in a time when lynching was a regional sport, or Japanese internment a purported necessary evil. All that I want is a president and cabinet that cares more about the people around me than the gangsters sitting in board rooms. Not too much to ask for, is it?

Thanks to each and every DUer who continues to invoke the liberal reformers who came before us. It uplifts me, to see the names of Franklin and Eleanor, of Wallace and Perkins and Hopkins and Ickes and all the rest. It means the dream isn't quite dead. There's just a vacuum--one that could easily be filled with the encouragement of a hungry, courageous, angry (and yes, a wistful) citizenry. I'm primed for a fight, myself.

[Recursion]

1. FDR definitely had the welfare of the white working class in mind

That's true

[sheshe2]

7. Key word.

White.

[Recursion]

8. Katznelson's book, and Coates's journalism, have really made me rethink the postwar prosperity

And confronting the role FDR played in getting us there would probably be good for us.

[AverageJoe90]

67. I'm sorry, but no. Just no, dude.

Having looked at the evidence myself, Katznelson's thesis ultimately ended up being so full of holes that it made Howard Zinn's "A People's History" look like a literary masterpiece(and I mean no disrespect to the late and great Dr. Zinn, but his own work was itself pretty flawed).

He absolutely does NOT take into account how the Dixiecrats actually acted during that time: neither he or Coates will admit this, but, as I have correctly pointed out several times on this site, the Dixiecrats actually HATED the New Deal(even if not always open about it at first), not just because they feared it would break the Southern system, but because they hated progressivism *in general*. And the only reason they eventually backed off, is because F.D.R. eventually became so popular, that even some Southerners genuinely respected the man, and it was either stick to their principles or lose their political clout. And as it turns out, that didn't actually last. Another thing Katznelson either didn't know or decided to omit, was the fact that many of these same Dixiecrats actually went back to their old ways, and even went so far as to collaborate with conservative Republicans to prevent any more new legislation from being passed, after the '38 elections. (In short, F.D.R. couldn't do a lot of the things he wanted to do, and the conservatives hamstrung him every step of the way.....just like what's happening to Obama, now.)

That alone, destroys his thesis. And Coates' alleged "journalism" on this only clinched it further for me, as he basically went to a fairly incredible length to make him a "shill", as it were, for this book.

[Warpy]

9. Not really. The wage floor was set to support a family of four on one income

POC were last hired, first laid off, but even menial jobs like train porter and janitor paid enough for POC to feed their kids and keep a roof over their heads. It was the best deal working men of all colors ever had under capitalism.

Get richer quicker capitalists hated it. The slow, steady buildup of wealth was painful to them.

Still, any rich guy who paid the least bit of attention did get richer. We just didn't have hedge fund con artists ripping off the stock market to the tune of billions per year and banksters making bets with our money. Theft, the biggest contributor to getting rich quick, was regulated out of the system.

When married women were first allowed back into the workforce (yes, allowed) in the late 50s, their contribution to the household was magnified by that income floor that said an honest day's work deserved enough money to support a worker, no matter age, color or sex.

The wage floor in this country even at its spending power peak never allowed a worker new cars, restaurant meals or hotel stays on vacation. It allowed families on a "thrifty" budget to live above the poverty line even if they did the worst jobs in the country because they were the "wrong" color to do the best.

Things were better for all workers under the New Deal. Did workers of various colors get the shaft in other ways? Oh, you bet they did. So did women of all colors.

And that's why fascist pigs like the Koch boys couldn't wait to dismantle it. How dare black men and white women think they were worthy of living wages?

[Enthusiast]

12. Nice post, Warpy!

[Cha]

16. Yes, the White Working Class, she.. this is a Whole Different Era.. FDR was great and I appreciate

that we had him.

Now I'm living in the present and am grateful we have President Obama.. who changed so much when he came into Office. The most under appreciated President ever.. all the crap he has to put up with. It's a wonder anything has been accomplished.. but, the former community organizer has done it.. if anyone bothered to stop whining long enough to actually read the history.

[Octafish]

56. This era is the result of people reversing FDR's policies.

Trickle Down economics has worked perfectly for the one-percent. War without end has worked perfectly for the money trumps peace class. Undemocratic government has worked perfectly for the fascists.

So, yes. President Obama has had it tough. But he hasn't put it into words that people can understand, let alone relate to and vote on.

[whathehell]

60. Exactly. n/t

[woo me with science]

109. [phone]

[pangaia]

66. Why does he support TPP?

[AverageJoe90]

69. That wasn't how it was *intended*, though.(yes, that's the key word!)

Pretty much every mainstream historian agrees that, as had been originally planned, the New Deal was supposed to FULLY benefit persons of *every* ethnicity, not just white.....only the Dixiecrats threw a hissyfit and slung their shit everywhere, forcing F.D.R. to back down a bit.....similar to what's happening to Obama today, not just with the GOP, but even with some in his own party! This isn't new.

[bvar22]

70. Text from FDR State of the Union Address, 1944:

"In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be[font size=3] established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.[/font]

Among these are:

*The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

*The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

*The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

*The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

*The right of every family to a decent home;

*The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

*The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

*The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

[font size=3]America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.[/font]

a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be[font size=3] established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.[/font]


As far as I know, this is the first official statement declaring Racial Equality as a goal of the Democratic Party. If someone can find an official quote that pre-dates the one from the 2nd Bill of Rights, please post it.

FDR also authorized the promotion of Black Men to Officer status.
All military personnel were required to salute these Black Officers, and call them "Sir".
This was a HUGE step forward.

There is still much to do.


bvar22,
and aging FDR Democrat who just will not shut up.

[dflprincess]

79. And I love you for not shutting up about it Bvar

[RiverLover]

81. fellow FDR Dem here, bvar22, Please never shut up!!! Nice post. Thanks~

[Stellar]

91. love your post.

keep up the good work.

[eridani]

13. He either went along with southern senators, or there would have been no programs at all

Thankfully, in the 60s, we got a start on remedying that exclusion, but unfortunately there has been rollback ever since.

[AverageJoe90]

68. I don't blame him for feeling that way, TBH......

But in all honesty, although F.D.R. could have bucked them altogether, and still managed to make it.....to be totally fair to him, it would certainly have been much tougher to pull off, and we might very well have seen the party splinter in 1936 instead of 1948, and winning two more terms would have been more of a challenge, unless the Republicans ran a couple of dopes in '40 or '44. So I understand the pragmatism, unlike some other folks here.

[NewDeal_Dem]

99. Not really the case.

With respect to the critical issue of employment, for example, we know that by 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was employing approximately 350,000 African Americans annually, about 15% of its total workforce. In the Civilian Conservation Corps, the percentage of blacks who took part climbed from roughly 3% at its outset in 1933 to over 11% by the close of 1938 with a total of more than 350,000 having been enrolled in the CCC by the time the program was shut down in 1942. The National Youth Administration, under the direction of Aubrey Williams, hired more black administrators than any other New deal agency; employed African American supervisors to oversee the work the agency was doing on behalf of black youth for each state in the south; and assisted more than 300,000 Africa American youth during the Depression. In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) inserted a clause in all government construction contracts that established a quota for the hiring of black laborers based on the 1930 labor census and as a consequence a significant number of blacks received skilled employment on PWA projects.

African Americans also benefited from the Federal Music Project, which funded performances of black composers; from the Federal Theatre and Writing Projects, which hired and featured the work of hundreds of African American artists; and from the New Deal’s educational programs, which taught over 1 million illiterate blacks to read and write and which increased the number of African American children attending primary school.

As the leader of a political party that was heavily represented in Congress by racist Southern Democrats who supported segregation and even opposed the adoption of a federal anti-lynching law as an infringement of state’s rights, FDR had to choose his battles carefully and at times appears timorous in the face of racial injustice-especially when viewed from today. But this is the President who appointed a far greater number of blacks to positions of responsibility within his government than any of his predecessors, so much so in fact that this group became known as the “Black Cabinet” or “Black Brain Trust” in the press. FDR was also the first president to appoint an African American as a federal judge; to promote a black man to the rank of Brigadier General in the Army; and, incredible as it might seem, the first president to publicly call lynching murder — “a vile form of collective murder”-which W.E B. Dubois applauded as something that sadly was long overdue. Overall FDR’s administration tripled the number of Africa Americans working for the federal government, including thousands of black engineers, architects, lawyers, librarians, office managers, and other professionals, and under his leadership, and with the strong support of Eleanor Roosevelt, the Democrats included the first specific African American plank in the party platform at the 1936 convention.

The New Deal was not perfect. It could not and did not eliminate segregation, or the pernicious discrimination in employment, wages, and working condition that plagued so many African Americans during the difficult years of the 1930s. Moreover, in spite of the best efforts of federal officials like Harry Hopkins to forbid discriminatory practices among neighborhood relief agencies, such practices often continued at the local level, especially in the South. But in spite of these and other shortcomings, the willingness of the Roosevelt Administration to recognize the existence of a racial problem in American and to take steps at the federal level to ameliorate that problem, was, as Sitkoff notes, unprecedented.

http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/new-roosevelt/african-americans-and-new-deal-look-back-history

[Scuba]

21. Good smear! You're in fine form!

[JI7]

23. how is that a smear ?

[QC]

30. Constant practice. n/t

[MannyGoldstein]

25. .

http://life.time.com/history/franklin-d-roosevelt-death-classic-photo-accordion-player/#1

One national issue on which the Roosevelts agreed — to a greater or lesser extent — was that of civil rights. Eleanor was the more vocal and adamant of the two, but it was FDR who signed Executive Order 8802 in June 1941. Geared toward defense workers, 8802 was the first federal action designed to prohibit employment discrimination in the United States. It was, arguably, the most significant action in the realm of civil rights by a 20th-century American president until LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

[sabrina 1]

38. He definitely started the Civil Rights ball rolling. And at a time when it was pretty much unheard

of. Reading both his, but especially his wife's opinions, and as she lived much longer, her work on this subject alone, once again you realize that these were people with courage.

They didn't care much what the Right Wing had to say about them. Unlike today where Dems seem more concerned about what the Right will think of them than their own base.

[MannyGoldstein]

39. But since you and I are purists, we hate FDR

for not doing everything instantly. Or would have hated him. And stuff.

[sabrina 1]

40. I didn't know that, that he didn't do everything instantly!!!

Lol! Sometimes all you can do is laugh!

Btw, is there a Purism Wing of the Dem Party?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

41. That wing keeps breaking up into smaller and smaller sub-committees.

[whathehell]

62. "I welcome their hatred"

That's how he responded to the Right Wing.

[JDPriestly]

65. Actually, Teddy Roosevelt first asked an African-American to eat at his table in the White House.

Lincoln was friends with African-Americans in that he talked to them. But Teddy Roosevelt invited an African-American to dinner. That was a huge thing at that time.

The First African American Invited to Dinner at the White House

In the autumn of 1901, Booker T. Washington, the great educator, author, and orator, was on a speaking tour. In Mississippi, he received a telegram from President Theodore Roosevelt. (President William McKinley had been assassinated less than two months before, an event which led to Roosevelt being sworn in as President.)

The telegram asked Washington to come to the capitol for a conference.

When Washington arrived on the afternoon of October 16, 1901, he received an invitation to dine with the President at 8:00p that evening. According to Roosevelt biographer, Edmund Morris (author of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt), the dinner proceeded “behind closed doors, under the disapproving gaze of a negro butler”.

Besides Roosevelt and Washington, the President’s wife, daughter, and three sons were present at the historic meal. While this seems a trifling thing to us today, at the time inviting a black man to dinner at the White House was anything but. News of the unique dinner traveled along the Associated Press wires throughout the night. The morning newspapers were generally positive in the North, but many Southern papers took a different tact. They proceeded to attack both Roosevelt and Washington with fervor.

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/05/the-first-african-american-invited-to-dinner-at-the-white-house/

Seems incomprehensible that so long after the Civil War that invitation was news, but it was.

Of course, Eleanor Roosevelt was Theodore's niece.

Theodore Roosevelt was a Republican. But as my grandmother told me, the Republicans left their voters behind. Republicans were not liberals by today's standards. But the Democrats at that time were a very conservative bunch.

[jwirr]

64. Eleanor also championed Marian Anderson when she was banned from singing by the Daughters of

the Revolution. This was Eleanor taking on both her and FDR's lineage.

[MannyGoldstein]

71. That was a beautiful episode.

God bless Eleanor.

[jwirr]

72. I agree. She was as much our leader as was her husband. They made a wonderful team.

[Zorra]

43. A shameless "Let's Rewrite History" Third Way strawman post. "In June 1941, Roosevelt issued

Executive Order 8802,which created the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC). It was the most important federal move in support of the rights of African-Americans between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The President's order stated that the federal government would not hire any person based on their race, color, creed, or national origin. The FEPC enforced the order to ban discriminatory hiring within the federal government and in corporations that received federal contracts. Millions of blacks and women achieved better jobs and better pay as a result. The war brought the race issue to the forefront. The Army and Navy had been segregated since the Civil War. But by 1940 the African-American vote had largely shifted from Republican to Democrat, and African-American leaders like Walter Francis White of the NAACP and T. Arnold Hill of the Urban League had become recognized as part of the Roosevelt coalition. In June 1941, at the urging of A. Philip Randolph, the leading African-American trade unionist, Roosevelt signed an executive order establishing the Fair Employment Practice Commission and prohibiting discrimination by any government agency.
(Emphasis mine)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt%27s_record_on_civil_rights

“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.” ~ FDR

[hifiguy]

47. Thank you Zorra.

I seem to have struck a nerve when I posted FDR's "Second Bill of Rights" speech.

[Zorra]

50. Yep, hifiguy, I believe you did just that.

A government of, by, and for the people is the one thing they fear more than anything, except maybe for a decline in profits.

[woo me with science]

58. Superb post.

Thank you.

[sabrina 1]

104. Thank you, the rewriting of history is a problem when the facts are

so readily available. The real reason for the effort to denigrate one of the party's best presidents are so obvious.

Third Way = Republican Lite

[pacalo]

2. What an impressive post.

Your perceptions are very much like my own, yet I'm in awe that you get it at such a young age. FDR was one of the most remarkably good presidents we've ever had.

[WhiteAndNerdy]

3. My paternal grandfather was a huge FDR man.

He even named one of his sons after him. Sadly, he died when I was only a few months old, so I never got to talk to him about politics, or his experiences fighting in Europe in WWII. I would have learned so much from him that I had to read about instead. It's just not the same as hearing about it from someone who was there.

[VanillaRhapsody]

27. both my Grandparents voted for FDR and were lifelong Democrats...

My grandfather went into the CCC's after the war which FDR created for them. They helped build our nations National Park system....

And my grandmother told me until she died a few years ago...that none of this is any different than it was then...Republicans get into power by tricking the masses into believing they are the fiscal conservative ones...meanwhile Democrats always have to come in and clean up the mess of an economy that they left behind.....

Same as it ever was...

[ReRe]

85. My Mum said the very same thing, almost word-for-word. n/t

[longship]

4. FDR's greatest speech, January 6, 1941.

Last edited Mon Dec 8, 2014, 03:54 AM - Edit history (1)

The Four Freedoms Speech, maybe the best political speech ever in all of history. It can be summarized short, and concise. As great speeches should be. And here it is. Short and concise.

No further blabbing about FDR is necessary after listening to this. It is what FDR's presidency was about, and why he was elected to four terms.

This is why I am a Democrat.

[PSPS]

5. Yes, he was elected four times for a reason.

The various swooners on DU will try to denigrate FDR but that's only because his benchmark makes any contemporary democrat a very bad joke by comparison.

[VanillaRhapsody]

28. Nice smear on a successful Democratic President....

that is the bad joke here....

[sabrina 1]

37. The poster wasn't smearing FDR, s/he was praising him.

[VanillaRhapsody]

44. No you got the wrong President...

[woo me with science]

42. [phone]

[sabrina 1]

49. Exactly!!!

[Doctor_J]

57. With huge majorities, which mean that lots of Republicans voted for him

he was popular across generations and classes, because he was willing to do the right thing, or at least try to.

[JDPriestly]

6. K&R. Obama promised hope. FDR delivered hope.

We all need to ask ourselves and our friends: how much did we earn before the 2008 crash? How much are we earning now?

Have your wages kept pace with the increases in food costs, utility charges, other expenses?

That's our personal bottom line. How do the increases in our outlays compare with the increases or decreases in our incomes.

Some are doing OK. But many are not.

The increased number of jobs is great. But what are they jobs? Are they permanent, full-time jobs or temporary, maybe even seasonal, part-time jobs? Are they service jobs? Or are they industrial jobs? What percentage of them is in the financial services sector? What percentage is minimum wage?

We need to be tough critics of what goes on in our economy.

At the apex of union density in the 1940s, only about 9.8% of public employees were represented by unions, while 33.9% of private, non-agricultural workers had such representation. In this decade, those proportions have essentially reversed, with 36% of public workers being represented by unions while private sector union density had plummeted to around 7%. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics most recent survey indicates that union membership in the US has risen to 12.4% of all workers, from 12.1% in 2007. For a short period, private sector union membership rebounded, increasing from 7.5% in 2007 to 7.6% in 2008.[37] However, that trend has since reversed. In 2013 there were 14.5 million members in the U.S., compared with 17.7 million in 1983. In 2013, the percentage of workers belonging to a union was 11.3%, compared to 20.1% in 1983. The rate for the private sector was 6.7%, and for the public sector 35.3%.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_States

A good collection of Franklin D. Roosevelt's speeches on many topics is entitled Looking Forward. I have a paperback copy but the original was first published in 1933.

On page 186, FDR described the situation of the country that faced him as president:

"It is fist necessary to look the facts squarely in the face. They are as follows. Two-thirds of American industry is concentrated in a few hundred corporations, and actually manage by not more than five thousand men. More than half of the savings of the country are invested in corporation stocks and bonds, which have been made the sport of the American stock markets. Fewer than three dozen private banking houses, and stock-selling adjuncts in the commercial banks, have dictated the flow of capital within the country and outside it. Economic power is concentrated in a few hands. A great part of our working population has not chance of earning a living except by the grace of this concentrated economic machinery. Millions of Americans are out of work, throwing upon the already overburdened government the necessity of relief. The tariff has cut off any chance of a foreign market for our products -- the effect of which has been the cutting of the earnings of the farmer to the extent of threatening him generally with foreclosure and want."

FDR put helping the American people first. We will forever be grateful to him.

But if you read the paragraph I quoted, the conditions may sound awfully familiar. Of course, today we have trade agreements. But they have not achieved the goals that Roosevelt set.

FDR stated about trade agreements (which he favored strongly):

"A tariff is a tax on certain goods passing from the producer to the consumer. It is laid on these goods rather than on other similar ones because they originate abroad. This is obviously protection for the producers of competing of goods at home. Peasants who live at lower levels than our farmers, workers who are sweated to reduce costs, ought not to determine the price of American goods. There are standards which we desire to set for ourselves. Tariffs should be large enough to maintain living standards which we set for ourselves. But if they are higher they become a particularly vicious kind of direct tax which is laid doubly on the consumer. Not only are the prices of foreign goods raised, but those of domestic good also.

pages 145-146, Looking Forward.

[Cha]

15. There's been a lot of realized HOPE from President Obama.. but, you actually have to know

the facts. Which really helps before you spout off cheap pot shots.

[RiverLover]

17. Yes, that's why he signed off on the massive food stamp cuts. The hungry are so hopeful.

Obama Administration Won't Delay Food Stamp Cuts, But States Can
Mar 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/06/food-stamp-cuts_n_4907110.html

[Cha]

19. I didn't say shite was perfect.. I said there's been a lot of good but you have to actually

know the history.. not focus on all the negative shit you can come up with.

"Congress was clear in the farm bill that the reductions in SNAP benefits take effect not later than 30 days after enactment," a USDA spokeswoman told The Huffington Post in an email. "Given those limitations, USDA is providing States with as much flexibility as is reasonably possible under the law."

The good news for the 850,000 food stamp recipients potentially affected by the reductions is that their states have the power to stop them -- and so far New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania have announced plans to do just that.

[RiverLover]

20. Most states have rethug governors so it isn't hopeful. Sad it had to pass on the federal level.

But you're right, Obama hasn't been all bad.

[Cha]

22. Thank you.. I don't think Obama is bad at all.. It's sad that there's such monsters in Congress..

and more to come.

[RiverLover]

26. Total agreement there! Not fun to think about though. {{shudder}} nt

[sabrina 1]

51. Really? I know one of those food stamp recipients. He was a disabled young father of two

little girls, one 5 the other 11. He had little time to follow politics closely and the allowance he was receiving wasn't nearly enough to feed his children as it was. When he called to tell me that he had lost $50 of the already inadequate amount he was receiving, he was devastated. Every dollar counted and he was counting on that assistance until he recovered enough to get back to work.

Waiting for his state to fix something the Fed Govt did wasn't an option for him, children need to eat EVERY DAY.

He passed away two months ago. We were devastated those who knew him. I guess the stress of trying to survive in today's America when you are faced with a catastrophe like this, was too much for him in the end.

All of us were helping him also, not something he wanted.

This should never have happened. It would NOT have happened under FDR who actually understood that the poor and the hungry can't wait, a day, and certainly not a week for bureaucrats to get back to them.

He was in NY. I'm glad they have 'announced plans' to get around to it, sometime in the future. Meantime, what are people supposed to do, especially those who have no one to help them?

[rhett o rick]

77. Sorry but I have to focus on the negatives when I see them every day.

You must not see what's happening in America. You must not see people you know being evicted from their homes into the street. People very close to me, it they are lucky enough to have jobs they are temporary with no benefits. And yet Pres Obama is working hard oh.......................... ramming thru the TPP that will make things worse. I notice that you and all your friends don't talk about the TPP. Why is that?

[Doctor_J]

55. Yes, Paul Ryan was soundly defeated in 2012, yet we got his punitive budget anyway

Travesty is the only good way to describe what is happening, vis-a-vis the New Deal and Great Society.

[woo me with science]

32. Propaganda is a low, disreputable occupation.

I couldn't live with myself, distributing talking points for today's totalitarian neoliberals. And I mean that in utter seriousness. My conscience is worth more than anyone could possibly pay me.

TPP is not about free trade. It's a corporate coup d'etat.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025927200

Chris Hedges: A society of captives
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025927255

[Cha]

33. Oh, it's just you with your personal attacks that say everything about poor you and

nothing about the people you're attempting to insult.

[Phlem]

53. Are you and Pro Sense good friends?

I completely agree with woo, but I'm pretty sure I've seen plenty of your post demeaning folks that don't agree with you. I'll expect a reply of course.

[rhett o rick]

74. Yes shame on us that want CHANGE. While Pres Obama may win your heart with his

smile, he is killing the middle class. The TPP will kill the middle class, not that you care as long as he has a nice smile.

I am guessing you are up with his appointment of Antonio Weiss, another Wall Streeter. Good for the 1% and too bad for the 99%.

[cui bono]

87. Come on... they're not falling for just a smile.

Haven't you seen the bathing suit pic?

[VanillaRhapsody]

45. [phone]*

[JDPriestly]

46. Obama has done a lot of good things.

But if he had given Americans the hope that FDR gave us, then Democrats would have strong majorities in both houses.

Americans are not hopeful and above all do not have confidence in the government at this time.

It is not all Obama's fault. But Obama is partly responsible for the fact that Americans do not have the hope that working together as a people provides. Obama never dared to take the bankers down. Roosevelt did not hesitate to haul a few of them off to jail.

It may seem horrible, but I think the American people on the whole would have had more faith in government and more hope had a few bankers been required to admit the fraud and dirty tricks they committed and had to take responsibility for the horrible, horribly poor judgment they used in loaning what in the end was the money of the American people.

Hope comes when you have a sense that you have a fair chance, a fighting chance. Obama for all of the good he has done -- the ACA primarily -- has not inspired in ordinary Americans a sense of being in it together and having a fighting chance. It just has not happened.

Hope is not alive in the US today. Some have hope. It isn't completely dead. But it is not vibrant and alive.

The proof is in the make-up of Congress.

[rhett o rick]

73. The only HOPE we have with Pres Obama is that we HOPE he doesn't appoint more Conservatives.

We elected him for HOPE and CHANGE and we got conservatism, we got WAll Street. He wants to appoint ANOTHER Wall Street crook in Antonio Weiss.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12771304

I am glad you like his smile because he is picking your pocket.

[cui bono]

95. And which your post is completely devoid of...

If JDP is wrong, then rebut her/him.

Tell us, what are the facts that refute the post you responded to? It should be easy for you to do so point by point.

Go for it. Otherwise your post means absolutely nothing.

[VanillaRhapsody]

29. you have fallen for the fucking rightwing meme that he hasn't been a successful President...

you are sooo far off my friend...

[rhett o rick]

76. Pres Obama and the Right-Wing agree on the TPP. Hello. I am guessing you are on board.

Pres Obama and the Right-Wing agree on domestic spying. You too?

Pres Obama and the Right-Wing agree on fracking. You favor poisoning our ground water? LOL. Of course you do if Obama tells you to.

Pres Obama and the Right-Wing agree on the Patriot Act and indefinite detention.

Pres Obama and the Right-Wing want to kill public education. Hello, can you spell Arnie Duncan??? You agree of course.

Pres Obama and the Right-Wing agree on drone killing and torture.

I voted for a progress Obama that was for transparency. Now he is stonewalling the torture report. How do you feel about torture?

Pres Obama and the Right-Wing agree that Bush and Cheney should be forgiven and bygone be bygones. How do you feel about pardoning Bush and Cheney???

[VanillaRhapsody]

78. serious???

Strongly Favors topic 1:
Abortion is a woman's unrestricted right
(+5 points on Social scale)

We can find common ground between pro-choice and pro-life: Opposes topic 1
Expand access to contraception; reduce unintended pregnancy: Favors topic 1
Stem cells hold promise to cure 70 major diseases: Favors topic 1
Trust women to make own decisions on partial-birth abortion: Strongly Favors topic 1
Extend presumption of good faith to abortion protesters: Favors topic 1
Pass the Stem Cell Research Bill: Favors topic 1
Protect a woman’s right to choose: Strongly Favors topic 1
Blocked IL law: Born Alive Infant Protection Act: Strongly Favors topic 1
Rated 100% by NARAL on pro-choice votes in 2005, 2006 & 2007: Strongly Favors topic 1
Voted against banning partial birth abortion: Favors topic 1
Supports Roe v. Wade: Strongly Favors topic 1
Sponsored bill providing contraceptives for low-income women: Favors topic 1
Rated 0% by the NRLC, indicating a pro-choice stance: Strongly Favors topic 1
Ensure access to and funding for contraception: Favors topic 1
NO on prohibiting minors crossing state lines for abortion: Strongly Favors topic 1
NO on defining unborn child as eligible for SCHIP: Favors topic 1
YES on $100M to reduce teen pregnancy by education & contraceptives: Favors topic 1
NO on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions: Favors topic 1
YES on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines: Favors topic 1

Strongly Favors topic 2:
Legally require hiring women & minorities
(-5 points on Economic scale)

Supports Fair Pay Act: equal pay for equal work: Strongly Favors topic 2
Racial equality good for America as a whole: Favors topic 2
I benefited from affirmative action in my academic career: Strongly Favors topic 2
Keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day’s work: Strongly Favors topic 2
Past discrimination affects future generations: Strongly Favors topic 2
Fight job discrimination to give women equal footing at jobs: Strongly Favors topic 2
Include class-based affirmative action with race-based: Favors topic 2
Better enforce women’s pay equity via Equal Pay Act: Strongly Favors topic 2
Supports affirmative action in colleges and government: Strongly Favors topic 2
Opposes CA Prop. 8, one-man-one-woman marriage: Strongly Favors topic 2
America’s race and class problems are intertwined: Favors topic 2
Get minorities into home ownership & global marketplace: Favors topic 2
Ending racial profiling is part of fight for justice: Favors topic 2
Sponsored bill for a Rosa Parks commemorative postage stamp: Favors topic 2
Rated 100% by the NAACP, indicating a pro-affirmative-action stance: Strongly Favors topic 2
Recognize Juneteenth as historical end of slavery: Strongly Favors topic 2
Re-introduce the Equal Rights Amendment: Strongly Favors topic 2
Reinforce anti-discrimination and equal-pay requirements: Favors topic 2
Afghan law tolerating marital rape is abhorrent: Strongly Favors topic 2

Favors topic 3:
Comfortable with same-sex marriage
(+2 points on Social scale)

Same-sex couples should be allowed to marry: Strongly Favors topic 3
Same-sex couples should be allowed to marry: Strongly Favors topic 3
Decisions about marriage should be left to the states: Opposes topic 3
Homosexuality no more immoral than heterosexuality: Favors topic 3
We need strong civil unions, not just weak civil unions: Favors topic 3
Gay marriage is less important that equal gay rights: Opposes topic 3
Opposes gay marriage; supports civil union & gay equality: Favors topic 3
Marriage not a human right; non-discrimination is: Favors topic 3
Gays should not face discrimination but should not marry: Opposes topic 3
Include sexual orientation in anti-discrimination laws: Favors topic 3
Increase funding for AIDS treatment & prevention: Favors topic 3
Rated 89% by the HRC, indicating a pro-gay-rights stance: Strongly Favors topic 3
Provide benefits to domestic partners of Federal employees: Strongly Favors topic 3
NO on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage: Strongly Favors topic 3

Favors topic 4:
Keep God in the public sphere
(-3 points on Social scale)

Cut poverty in half in 10 years, with faith-based help: Strongly Favors topic 4
Engages people of faith on all aspects of his public service: Favors topic 4
Listening to evangelicals bridges major political fault line: Favors topic 4
Black churches minister to social needs out of necessity: Favors topic 4
Reach out to faith community;faith has role in public square: Favors topic 4
Religious concerns ok, if translated into universal values: Opposes topic 4
Rated 100% by the AU, indicating support of church-state separation: Strongly Opposes topic 4
NO on recommending Constitutional ban on flag desecration: Opposes topic 4

Strongly Favors topic 5:
Expand ObamaCare
(-5 points on Economic scale)

Ensure access to basic care: Favors topic 5
They called ObamaCare "Armageddon", but no asteroids fell: Strongly Favors topic 5
Repealing healthcare reform would cost $250B: Favors topic 5
Health care is a right: something’s fundamentally wrong now: Strongly Favors topic 5
Increase competition in the insurance and drug markets: Opposes topic 5
National Health Insurance Exchange for private coverage: Opposes topic 5
The market alone can’t solve our health-care woes: Favors topic 5
Believes health care is a right, not a privilege for the few: Favors topic 5
Will expand health coverage & allow meds to be re-imported: Favors topic 5
If we started from scratch, one-payer system would be best: Strongly Favors topic 5
Added 20,000 children to Illinois healthcare: Strongly Favors topic 5
National insurance pool & catastrophic insurance: Strongly Favors topic 5
Crises happen in our lives and healthcare is necessary: Strongly Favors topic 5
More funding for Rx benefits, community health, CHIPs: Favors topic 5
Preserve access to Medicaid & SCHIP during economic downturn: Strongly Favors topic 5
NO on means-testing to determine Medicare Part D premium: Favors topic 5
YES on increasing Medicaid rebate for producing generics: Favors topic 5
YES on negotiating bulk purchases for Medicare prescription drug: Strongly Favors topic 5
YES on expanding enrollment period for Medicare Part D: Favors topic 5
YES on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D: Favors topic 5

Strongly Opposes topic 6:
Privatize Social Security
(-5 points on Economic scale)

MyRA: new savings bond for retirement: Favors topic 6
What do we do with the losers of privatizing?: Strongly Opposes topic 6
Stop any efforts to privatize Social Security: Strongly Opposes topic 6
Privatization puts retirement at whim of stock market: Strongly Opposes topic 6
Stop any efforts to privatize Social Security: Strongly Opposes topic 6
No privatization; but consider earning cap over $97,500: Strongly Opposes topic 6
Stock market risk is ok, but not for Social Security: Strongly Opposes topic 6
$2000 tax credit for Working Families Savings Accounts: Opposes topic 6
NO on establishing reserve funds & pre-funding for Social Security: Opposes topic 6

No opinion on topic 7:
Vouchers for school choice
(0 points on Economic scale)

Guarantee affordable life-long, top-notch education: Opposes topic 7
Race to the Top: reward innovation in public schools: Favors topic 7
Opposes D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Strongly Opposes topic 7
Increase school choice & accountability within NCLB: Favors topic 7
I doubled charter schools in Illinois; but no vouchers: Favors topic 7
Vouchers don’t solve the problems of our schools: Opposes topic 7
Supports charter schools; it’s important to experiment: Favors topic 7
Supports charter schools and private investment in schools: Favors topic 7
YES on $5B for grants to local educational agencies: Opposes topic 7

Strongly Opposes topic 8:
No 'rights' to clean air and water
(+5 points on Social scale)

Genesis teaches stewardship of earth: sacrifice for future: Strongly Opposes topic 8
Promote green technologies and fuel efficiency standards: Strongly Opposes topic 8
Conserve, develop alternative fuels, increase efficiencies: Strongly Opposes topic 8
Scored 60% on Humane Society Scorecard on animal protection: Strongly Opposes topic 8
Strengthen prohibitions against animal fighting: Strongly Opposes topic 8

Opposes topic 9:
Stricter punishment reduces crime
(+2 points on Social scale)

Reduce recidivism by providing ex-offender supports: Opposes topic 9
Pushed Illinois bill to videotape all capital interrogations: Opposes topic 9
No extra penalty for gang association: Opposes topic 9
Some heinous crimes justify the ultimate punishment: Favors topic 9
Videotape all capital punishment interrogations: Opposes topic 9
Passed 150 laws to toughen penalties for violent crime: Favors topic 9
Death penalty should be enforced fairly and with caution: Favors topic 9
Death penalty should not discriminate by gang membership: Opposes topic 9
Battles legislatively against the death penalty: Strongly Opposes topic 9
Supports alternative sentencing and rehabilitation: Strongly Opposes topic 9
Increase funding for "COPS ON THE BEAT" program: Opposes topic 9
Reduce recidivism by giving offenders a Second Chance: Strongly Opposes topic 9
YES on reinstating $1.15 billion funding for the COPS Program: Opposes topic 9

Opposes topic 10:
Absolute right to gun ownership
(-3 points on Economic scale)

Respect 2nd Amendment, but local gun bans ok: Opposes topic 10
Provide some common-sense enforcement on gun licensing: Opposes topic 10
2000: cosponsored bill to limit purchases to 1 gun per month: Strongly Opposes topic 10
Concealed carry OK for retired police officers: Favors topic 10
Keep guns out of inner cities--but also problem of morality: Strongly Opposes topic 10
Bush erred in failing to renew assault weapons ban: Strongly Favors topic 10
Ban semi-automatics, and more possession restrictions: Strongly Opposes topic 10
NO on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers: Strongly Opposes topic 10

Strongly Favors topic 11:
Higher taxes on the wealthy
(-5 points on Economic scale)

We need a tax code where everybody pays their fair share: Strongly Favors topic 11
Now business can write off the full cost of new investments: Opposes topic 11
Lower corporate tax rate; pay for it by closing loopholes: Opposes topic 11
Trickle-down economics has failed: Strongly Favors topic 11
Maintain the inheritance tax on wealthy: Strongly Favors topic 11
Tax cuts for the rich do not create jobs: Favors topic 11
No tax breaks for millionaires; GOP always wants tax cuts: Strongly Favors topic 11
Tax cut for 95% of all working families, not corporations: Strongly Favors topic 11
Trillion dollar giveaway: the Paris Hilton Tax Break: Strongly Favors topic 11
Bush tax cuts help corporations but not middle class: Strongly Favors topic 11
Rated 100% by the CTJ, indicating support of progressive taxation: Strongly Favors topic 11
NO on raising the Death Tax exemption to $5M from $1M: Strongly Favors topic 11
NO on allowing AMT reduction without budget offset: Favors topic 11
NO on extending the tax cuts on capital gains and dividends: Strongly Favors topic 11
YES on $47B for military by repealing capital gains tax cut: Favors topic 11
NO on retaining reduced taxes on capital gains & dividends: Strongly Favors topic 11
NO on permanently repealing the `death tax`: Strongly Favors topic 11
NO on supporting permanence of estate tax cuts: Strongly Favors topic 11
NO on raising estate tax exemption to $5 million: Strongly Favors topic 11
NO on repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax: Strongly Favors topic 11

Strongly Favors topic 12:
Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens
(+5 points on Social scale)

Sent unmanned aircraft drones to monitor Mexican border: Opposes topic 12
Stop expelling talented undocumented workers: Strongly Favors topic 12
Send 1,200 National Guard troops to southern border: Strongly Opposes topic 12
Crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants: Opposes topic 12
Deporting 12 million people is ridiculous and impractical: Strongly Favors topic 12
Immigrants are scapegoats for high unemployment rates: Strongly Favors topic 12
Illegals shouldn’t work; but should have path to citizenship: Strongly Favors topic 12
Support granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants: Favors topic 12
Reform must include more border security, and border wall: Opposes topic 12
Pathway to citizenship, but people have to earn it: Favors topic 12
Let’s be a nation of laws AND a nation of immigrants: Strongly Favors topic 12
Give immigrants who are here a rigorous path to citizenship: Favors topic 12
Still supports comprehensive reform and the DREAM Act: Favors topic 12
Extend welfare and Medicaid to immigrants: Favors topic 12
Support the DREAM Act for the children of illegal immigrants: Strongly Favors topic 12
Comprehensive immigration reform without amnesty: Strongly Favors topic 12
Provide funding for social services for noncitizens: Favors topic 12
Rated 8% by USBC, indicating an open-border stance: Strongly Favors topic 12
YES on continuing federal funds for declared "sanctuary cities": Strongly Favors topic 12
YES on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security: Strongly Favors topic 12
YES on giving Guest Workers a path to citizenship: Strongly Favors topic 12
YES on establishing a Guest Worker program: Favors topic 12
YES on building a fence along the Mexican border: Strongly Opposes topic 12
NO on declaring English as the official language of the US government: Strongly Favors topic 12
YES on comprehensive immigration reform: Strongly Favors topic 12

Favors topic 13:
Support & expand free trade
(+2 points on Economic scale)

Export more goods stamped "Made in the USA": Favors topic 13
Negotiate a Transatlantic and a Trans-Pacific Partnership: Strongly Favors topic 13
Double our exports by 2014; starting with South Korea: Strongly Favors topic 13
People don’t want cheaper T-shirts if it costs their job: Opposes topic 13
Fair trade should have tangible benefits for US: Strongly Opposes topic 13
Tax incentives to create jobs at home instead of offshore: Opposes topic 13
Trade agreements mean we sell "Made in America" to millions: Strongly Favors topic 13
Double US exports via deals with Panama, Colombia, & S.Korea: Strongly Favors topic 13
NAFTA protects corporate profits; should protect labor: Opposes topic 13
Stand firm against CAFTA for labor & environmental standards: Strongly Opposes topic 13
Amend NAFTA to add labor agreements: Opposes topic 13
NO on implementing CAFTA for Central America free-trade: Strongly Opposes topic 13
YES on free trade agreement with Oman: Strongly Favors topic 13

Opposes topic 14:
Maintain US sovereignty from UN
(-3 points on Economic scale)

2005: The Plan: build credibility with travel abroad: Opposes topic 14
The UN has succeeded in avoiding a Third World War: Strongly Opposes topic 14
Human rights and national security are complementary: Favors topic 14
No “strategic ambiguity” on foreign policy issues: Favors topic 14
Meet with enemy leaders; it’s a disgrace that we have not: Strongly Opposes topic 14
In Berlin: proud citizen of US; fellow citizen of the world: Opposes topic 14
Cooperation among nations is not a choice; it’s the only way: Strongly Opposes topic 14
Engage with Iran; but combat Al Qaeda in Pakistan: Favors topic 14
Iran is more isolated and will face growing consequences: Opposes topic 14
Secure all world's nuclear materials by international treaty: Strongly Favors topic 14
Key to Iranian sanctions was world's involvement: Strongly Opposes topic 14
Restore habeas corpus for detainees in the War on Terror: Opposes topic 14
YES on preserving habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees: Strongly Opposes topic 14
YES on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation methods: Strongly Opposes topic 14
NO on removing need for FISA warrant for wiretapping abroad: Strongly Opposes topic 14

Opposes topic 15:
Expand the military
(+2 points on Social scale)

Don't give military money that they're not asking for: Strongly Opposes topic 15
Grow size of military to maintain rotation schedules: Favors topic 15
Give our soldiers the best equipment and training available: Favors topic 15
Sponsored bill for Iraq budget to be part of defense budget: Opposes topic 15
Improve mental health care benefits for returning veterans: Favors topic 15
YES on limiting soldiers' deployment to 12 months: Opposes topic 15

Strongly Favors topic 16:
More enforcement of the right to vote
(+5 points on Social scale)

Ended corporate jet travel subsidized by lobbyists: Favors topic 16
No lobbyist money; no PAC money; fund campaigns instead: Strongly Favors topic 16
Reduced cost TV ads for candidates; $85M presidential limit: Strongly Favors topic 16
Public campaign financing with free television & radio time: Strongly Favors topic 16
No “bundled” money from federal-registered lobbyists: Favors topic 16
People know his “bundlers” because he pushed disclosure law: Favors topic 16
First bill ever passed was campaign finance reform: Strongly Favors topic 16
Lobbyist influence comes from access, not money: Favors topic 16
Prohibit 'voter caging' which intimidates minority voting: Favors topic 16
YES on establishing the Senate Office of Public Integrity: Favors topic 16
NO on allowing some lobbyist gifts to Congress: Strongly Favors topic 16

Favors topic 17:
Stay out of Iran
(+2 points on Social scale)

US policy should promote democracy and human rights: Favors topic 17
End our longest war: out of Afghanistan in 2014: Favors topic 17
We've taken the fight to al Qaeda in Afghanistan, until July: Opposes topic 17
Evil does exist in the world; sometimes war is justified: Favors topic 17
We are playing to Osama’s plan for winning a war from a cave: Strongly Favors topic 17
Iraq: 100,000 troops have left; let's finish the job: Favors topic 17
$2.7 billion each week of Iraq spending is unsustainable: Favors topic 17
War in Iraq is “dumb” but troops still need equipment: Strongly Favors topic 17
NO on redeploying troops out of Iraq by July 2007: Strongly Opposes topic 17
YES on redeploying US troops out of Iraq by March 2008: Strongly Favors topic 17

Favors topic 18:
Prioritize green energy
(-3 points on Economic scale)

Develop 100-year natural gas supply; it's beneath our feet: Opposes topic 18
GovWatch: Supports nuclear power if it’s clean & safe: Opposes topic 18
3-way win: economy, environment, & stop funding terror: Strongly Favors topic 18
Increase CAFE to 40 mpg: Strongly Favors topic 18
Sponsored legislations that improve energy efficiency: Favors topic 18
Lowest oil imports and highest oil production in 16 years: Opposes topic 18
All-of-the-above approach to reduce foreign dependence : Opposes topic 18
All-of-the-above energy; enough natural gas or 100 years: Opposes topic 18
Big promoter of clean coal technology & nukes: Strongly Opposes topic 18
More Alaska oil & gas leases, plus new gas pipeline: Strongly Opposes topic 18
Free America from its dependence on foreign oil: Strongly Favors topic 18
Debate is settled: climate change is a fact: Strongly Favors topic 18
First-ever carbon pollution limits for new oil & coal plants: Strongly Favors topic 18
Include clean coal in clean energy future: Opposes topic 18
Reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050: Strongly Favors topic 18
Aggressively address accelerating climate change: Strongly Favors topic 18
Cap-and-trade is more specific on reducing greenhouse gases: Strongly Favors topic 18
Natural gas is a "bridge fuel"; then go solar: Opposes topic 18
Invest in clean energy because China & Germany will: Strongly Favors topic 18
Doubled use of renewable energy; doubled car fuel efficiency: Favors topic 18
Don't cede wind, or solar, or battery industry to foreigners: Strongly Favors topic 18
Subsidize clean energy by canceling oil subsidies: Favors topic 18
More incentives for clean energy, including nuclear: Opposes topic 18
GovWatch: $150B for electric car batteries & new technology: Strongly Favors topic 18
Invest in alternative energy sources: Favors topic 18
Renewable Fuels Standard: require ethanol in fuel supply: Strongly Favors topic 18
Wind energy jobs are not imaginary jobs: Strongly Favors topic 18
Sponsored bill for tax credit for providing 85% ethanol gas: Favors topic 18
Sponsored bill raising CAFE by a 4% per year until 2018: Strongly Favors topic 18
Rated 100% by the CAF, indicating support for energy independence: Favors topic 18
Sign on to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change: Strongly Favors topic 18
Designate sensitive ANWR area as protected wilderness: Favors topic 18
Set goal of 25% renewable energy by 2025: Strongly Favors topic 18
Let states define stricter-than-federal emission standards: Strongly Favors topic 18
YES on reducing oil usage by 40% by 2025 (instead of 5%): Strongly Favors topic 18
YES on disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska's ANWR: Strongly Favors topic 18
YES on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Favors topic 18
YES on factoring global warming into federal project planning: Favors topic 18
YES on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies: Strongly Favors topic 18

Opposes topic 19:
Never legalize marijuana
(+2 points on Social scale)

We share cross-border drug problem with Mexico: Favors topic 19
Look at needle exchange; and expand treatment: Strongly Opposes topic 19
Fight to rid our communities of meth: Favors topic 19
Expand drug courts; help prisoners with substance abuse: Strongly Opposes topic 19
2001: questions harsh penalties for drug dealing: Opposes topic 19
Not first candidate to use drugs, but first honest about it: Opposes topic 19
Smokes cigarettes now; smoked some pot in high school: Favors topic 19
Admitted marijuana use in high school & college: Favors topic 19
Deal with street-level drug dealing as minimum-wage affair: Opposes topic 19
End harsher sentencing for crack vs. powder cocaine: Opposes topic 19
Require chemical resellers to certify against meth use: Favors topic 19

Favors topic 20:
Stimulus better than market-led recovery
(-3 points on Economic scale)

I've cut taxes for middle-class families & small businesses: Strongly Opposes topic 20
Some earmarks are defensible, if done in full light of day: Strongly Favors topic 20
We cut taxes 25 times, for 95% of Americans: Strongly Opposes topic 20
My plan cuts taxes for most small businesses & 95% of people: Strongly Opposes topic 20
Restore progressive tax; close loopholes; relief to seniors: Favors topic 20
Return to PayGo: compensate for all new spending: Opposes topic 20
Specific tax relief for families making $75,000 or less now: Strongly Opposes topic 20
Close tax loopholes for US companies relocating abroad: Favors topic 20
Bush’s economic policies are not working: Favors topic 20
Supports federal programs to protect rural economy: Strongly Favors topic 20
Last thing we need now is a permanent tax cut: Favors topic 20
Save $150 billion in tax cuts for people who don’t need them: Favors topic 20
Recovery Act averted a second Great Depression: Strongly Favors topic 20
Spending freeze now would be destimulative; later is better: Strongly Favors topic 20
Bring back the Clinton tax rate for income above $250,000: Favors topic 20
Buffett rule: millionaires pay minimum of 30% in taxes: Favors topic 20
No across-the-board tax cuts for the wealthy: Favors topic 20
Tax cuts for wealthy got us into the current deficit: Favors topic 20
No $300 billion on tax cuts for those who don’t need them: Favors topic 20
I will raise CEO taxes, no doubt about it: Favors topic 20
I’m not bashful about it: wealthy will pay more taxes: Favors topic 20
Reduce Bush tax cuts to pay for health care & other programs: Favors topic 20
YES on increasing tax rate for people earning over $1 million: Strongly Favors topic 20

[rhett o rick]

82. What in that batch of rhetoric has he actually done? It's one thing to say you favor something

yet quite another to do something about it.

Do you favor the TPP? Reading the above I would guess you do.

[cui bono]

88. Don't even try. I've been around the merry-go-round with this one over this very subject

too many times. They don't get that words - especially campaign promises - are not the same as actions.

[VanillaRhapsody]

111. No you didn't read the above....as it screws up your "narrative"

that she is NOT a Progressive!

[rhett o rick]

114. We were discussing the President and his obsession with the middle class killing TPP.

And if you want to talk about H. Clinton-Sachs, she isn't a progressive. Not when she, not only approved, but promoted the Iraq War.

[Oilwellian]

110. LOL

I just developed narcolepsy.

[VanillaRhapsody]

112. Of course...because it screws up your HRC meme!

[pampango]

92. No. 85% of republicans oppose 'fast track' authority on TPP for Pres. Obama.

The only supporters are Democrats and liberals. republicans oppose it both because they don't like or trust Obama and without fast track the republican majority in congress can add and delete anything it wants from the TPP if negotiations on it are ever completed.

Obama is not going to get fast track authority from a republican congress. Without it he would be a fool to submit the TPP to a republican congress. One may or may not like Obama but he is no fool.

Poll: conservative and moderate republicans oppose fast track (for the TPP) by a ratio of 85 percent or higher.

On the question of fast-track authority, 62 percent of respondent opposed the idea, with 43 percent “strongly” opposing it. Broken down by political affiliation, only Democrats that identify as “liberal” strongly favor the idea. Predictably, a strong Republican majority oppose giving the president such authority, with both conservative and moderates oppose it by a ratio of 85 percent or higher.

http://www.ibtimes.com/trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-poll-only-strongest-obama-supporters-want-him-have-fast-track-1552039

While opposition is relatively uniform both geographically and demographically, the survey data reveals a sharp partisan divide on the issue. Republicans overwhelmingly oppose giving fast-track authority to the president (8% in favor, 87% opposed), as do independents (20%-66%), while a narrow majority (52%) of Democrats are in favor (35% opposed).

http://fasttrackpoll.info/

On the issue of trade agreements, divisions within the Republican Party are again apparent. Staunch Conservatives are strongly opposed to granting the president fast-track authority: 76% oppose, only 22% favor. Moderate Republicans and Populist Republicans also oppose this proposal; however, their opposition is more muted. Among Moderate Republicans, 53% oppose, 43% favor; among Populists, 57% oppose, 35% favor.

Democratic groups are more united on this issue. Roughly 50% of Liberals, Socially Conservative Democrats and Partisan Poor favor fast track. New Democrats are more likely than any other typology group to endorse the idea — 61% favor.

http://www.people-press.org/1999/11/11/section-6-issues/

[rhett o rick]

96. You know I hope that the fast track authority vote is separate from the vote on the TPP??

I believe all Republicans (all Conservatives) love the TPP and other free trade agreements but don't want Pres Obama to get credit. The TPP is a boon to big corporations and delivers a death knell to labor, so all Conservatives Democratic (Obama and Clinton) and Republican love it.

The Republican Conservatives probably don't want a fast track because they want to make sure it doesn't help the 99% at all. Basically they don't trust Pres Obama.

Liberals of course object to the fast track method because of it's lack of transparency.

[pampango]

97. Of course. The conservative base does not support the TPP either, though their politicians do.

The Republican Conservatives probably don't want a fast track because they want to make sure it doesn't help the 99% at all. Basically they don't trust Pres Obama.

Liberals of course object to the fast track method because of it's lack of transparency.

I agree that they don't trust (or like) Pres Obama.

Some liberals certainly object to fast track on transparency grounds. Of course, the 'secret' negotiations that have gone on for years have done so without fast track. The transparency may not be related to fast track but to other factors.

Also, liberals and Democrats are the only group that does support fast track.

Here's a Pew poll from last month:

Americans overall are lukewarm about the two major trade deals under negotiation – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a free trade agreement between the European Union and the U.S., and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade deal between the U.S., Canada and 10 Asian-Pacific countries. About half (53%) of Americans see TTIP as a good thing and 55% say the same about TPP. Democratic support for both treaties is stronger than that of Republicans: 60% of Democrats see TTIP as a good thing compared with 44% of Republicans, while 59% of Democrats look favorably on TPP compared with 49% of Republicans.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/11/07/why-cant-we-all-get-along-challenges-ahead-for-bipartisan-cooperation/

While a number of Tea Party Republicans voted in favor of the three Obama-promoted free-trade agreements in 2011, they are viewing the TPP differently because of its magnitude and due to pressure from the Republican base. “Because of its massive size, the TPP has captured a lot more attention from the Right than the Korea pact ever did,” Stamoulis says. “With Republicans’ base much more engaged on the TPP—the Tea Party Nation and others opposing it—I expect to see a lot more Republican opposition this time around, and indeed, we already are seeing that.” The visceral dislike of Obama by many on the Right may add fuel to rightist opposition to the TPP and the fast-track procedure, Stamoulis concedes, but he points out that opposition to corporate-style globalization has been mounting among Republican voters for some time. “Polls showed that Republican voters’ opposition to free-trade agreements existed back during the Bush administration as well,” he notes.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/22547-obamas-pacific-deal-would-deepen-income-divide

[rhett o rick]

98. Do you have an explanation why the Conservatives don't like Free Trade Agreements? nm

[pampango]

103. Not really. Suspicion of foreigners - immigration, trade, foreign aid, "us vs them" - might

be part of it. It probably revolves around nationalism/patriotism, at least on a shallow flag-waving kind of level. America = good, foreigners = bad.

It's hard to argue that conservatives don't like 'free trade' agreements due to a perception of the hardship it causes American workers. They don't show such perception with regard to tax policy, fiscal policy, labor policy, safety net policy, corporate regulation policy, etc. Perhaps an economic setback happened to them personally or to someone close to them. They seem to respond to those more than to what happens to 'others'.

If they lose a job or don't get a promotion, it is easier for them to blame a foreigner than it is to figure how American law and culture has weakened unions and labor law and empowered corporations and the wealthy. It is much easier to blame a Mexican or Chinese for their economic hardship than it is to understand how Taft-Hartley and other legislation has weakened unions to an extent not present in any other developed country; or how tax policy has encouraged outsourcing and rewarded rich 'job-creators' while penalizing workers.

It is harder for them to believe that their hardship is the fault of "good ol' American" corporations and "good ol' American" 1% that get richer and richer while they struggle. It must be the poor Chinese worker or the Mexican down the street. FDR was able to explain the connection the power of the American elite and the struggles of the middle class. He did not blame foreigners for our problems and went about taming our own elite. Our current political leadership is not able to do this.

Of course, the talk radio that conservatives listen to plays up these fears and never points the finger at corporations or the 1%.

[treestar]

89. Using FDR to bash Obama

We know what you are doing.

FDR is being idolized in order to bash Obama.

Things were different then.

[Enthusiast]

10. Beautiful sentiments, DerekG. I'm with you.

[Populist_Prole]

11. A hearty welcome and K&R

This is what's it's about: Not stupid social issue bullshit.

[MBS]

14. Beautifully said, thanks. n/t

[RiverLover]

18. Thank you DerekG, I'm primed for a fight too! Its one worth fighting for.

FDR:

"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education."

"Not only our future economic soundness but the very soundness of our democratic institutions depends on the determination of our government to give employment to idle men."

"I believe that in every country the people themselves are more peaceably and liberally inclined than their governments."

“A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.”

“The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.”

“True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.”

“We are trying to construct a more inclusive society. We are going to make a country in which no one is left out.”

“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.”

“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”

“Prosperous farmers mean more employment, more prosperity for the workers and the business men of every industrial area in the whole country.”

“We continue to recognize the greater ability of some to earn more than others. But we do assert that the ambition of the individual to obtain for him a proper security is an ambition to be preferred to the appetite for great wealth and great power.”

“But while they prate of economic laws, men and women are starving. We must lay hold of the fact that economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings.”

[fredamae]

24. For Many "Boomer's"

FDR is Why we became Dems. I dedicated myself to the Dem Party in 1959. It was because of Roosevelt, even a little bit because of Truman.

In short:
Your generation is bewildered and Ours is Heartbroken. We Experienced that kind of governance. We tried to prevent the "GOP Lite" Fiscally Conservative Dems from expanding-but So many abandoned traditional values in favor of Reganomics.

And "traditional" Dems (The Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party) by the 1990's were considered (dirty word) LIBERALS! Today, even Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel don't try to hide their Revulsion of "us". Rahm, calling "us" (paraphrase) Effn Retards" essentially and Schumer with his comparison of "us" being (paraphrase) "as bad as the Tea Party"
Like the Drug Dealer on the corner...Wall Street and ilk came with bags of cash-Dems in leadership fell for it and now can't "kick the greed".
In the eyes of "our corporate rulers and their the Kings and Queens in Congress": "We", young and old, are all DFH's, now.
FDR Speech: I Welcome Their Hatred

[hifiguy]

48. FDR welcomed the hatred of the Wall $treeters

Far too many of today's "Democrats" kowtow to them and beg for their approval and $$$. Hi Hillary.

[99Forever]

31. One is left to wonder what FDR would...

... have to say about what the corporate take over of this one time Party of the Working People. I bet he is spinning in his grave.

[pampango]

34. Great post. Many will give Obama a lot of credit for his accomplishments, including Krugman, but

few will claim that he equals FDR in his accomplishments.

[Cha]

75. I'm glad FDR accomplished so much.. and had the help to do it. I'm grateful for what Pres Obama

has accomplished with what little help he's had.

[treestar]

90. Apples and oranges

the Depression granted political capital.

There's no way to compare.

[woo me with science]

35. Huge K&R The corporate machine works hard to narrow our perspective and awareness,

and keep us from remembering or thinking about what is possible from governments for human beings.

It's all about making us forget what's possible, and what we have a right to expect.

There is a reason we are not supposed to remember or talk about FDR's accomplishments for human beings. There's a reason we hear lots about oppressive countries like North Korea in the Third Way propaganda, but almost no mention at all of current, more humane democratic countries. And it's why politicians like Bernie Sanders, who remind us of these things, are attacked and marginalized by the propaganda machine.

"We are better than North Korea!" is supposed to be sufficient, even while we have jackbooted stormtroopers brutalizing our increasingly impoverished cities and a surveillance machine monitoring our activities.

TPP is not about free trade. It's a corporate coup d'etat.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025927200

Chris Hedges: A society of captives
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025927255

[Yo_Mama]

54. This is so true.

That's exactly what is happening. It's not that we have no real solutions, it is rather that government has been propagandized out of seeking them.

[sabrina 1]

36. He definitely did have the welfare of the people in mind. Listening to his fireside chats

is like living in a fairytale. He actually communicated with the people. He had people in his cabinet who worked with him to take care of the people who elected him. He wasn't trying to create some Utopia, just from listening you can tell that he was being very practical and pragmatic as well.

He knew that a society that was in need, that didn't have enough to eat, that had no future and no hope was a society that had no National Security.

Democrats should be running around the country boasting about FDR and the legacy he left that is still functioning for the most vulnerable Americans

Instead we have people within our own party now denigrating him, and worse, helping the Republicans to destroy that legacy, to privatize his Social Programs etc.

The more I learn about him, the more I realize how very, very far this party has strayed.

[Yo_Mama]

52. Yeah, that's what's missing today.

From a 53 year-old. You're NOT the crazy one.

[sadoldgirl]

59. There are a few points to remember though

FDR had a Congress that worked with him in many ways. It helps.

The country had a lot of populists crying out for help for the people,
and they were heard by the people. Now any populist is either
smeared or reduced to "inflammatory" or even worse "terrorist"
communist. Just think of Michael Moore and others who have tried
to wake up the people.

The birchers and ultra conservatives have worked to undo the
New Deal ever since its conception. They have been very smart
by doing it just one small step at the time, and in this case the
people did not pay attention.

[RiverLover]

63. All very true. And sobering... nt

[whathehell]

61. He was great..

not perfect, but the best president of the 20th Century (something even Newt Gingrich admitted) and, as historians ranked him in 2009 -- The Third (some said Second) greatest
president in all of US history.

[JEFF9K]

80. Now you see why Republicans want to ...

shut down public broadcasting.

[BainsBane]

83. Sounds like I missed a documentary with a 19th-century "great man" approach to history

It's unfortunate that the lesson you took from the New Deal was about Roosevelt being "visionary" rather than the fact it was the mobilization by the poor, working class, veterans, segments throughout society, that pushed FDR as a way to ward off a potential revolution. The sort of notion that Presidents bestow policy like gifts form on high is counter-factual and counter-historical. Credit goes to the millions of Americans who took part in social movements that forced Roosevelt's hand.

http://isreview.org/issue/71/unemployed-movements-1930s

[MBS]

94. The program was much richer and more nuanced than you imply.

IMHO, it's the best of all the Ken Burn documentaries and well worth watching.
You really should watch it.

The thing is, FDR WAS visionary. So actually was Eleanor, whose achievements were also highlighted: among other things, she basically wrote the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Theodore Roosevelt (also part of the program) was important, too. All three worked for change, and for principles higher than themselves.
These ARE individuals who really made a difference.

But, yes, of course, it was people who voted for them (at least TR and FDR) and supported them.Of course, the Roosevelts and the social movements go hand in hand. The Roosevelt program also gave a pretty rich portrait of the parallel social movements, too.
At least in a democracy, leadership is always a two-way process, both guiding and guided by the society.

My parents always used to say that in many ways the Depression was a better time than today. In the Depression, they said, people worked to help each other, look out for each other, unlike today, in which too many people whose only priority is their own personal welfare. May we snap out of our short-sightedness and selfishness soon.

[appalachiablue]

84. Your appreciation of Frankin and Eleanor warms my heart. Continue studying him and that era.

He was one of the greatest US Presidents, elected 4 terms and ranking alongside Washington and Lincoln. The strength, vision and achievements of FDR contributed vastly to 20th century American greatness. He began office under terrible conditions in a dark time giving rise to the expression,
"Democrats, cleaning up after Republican messes since 1933".
That includes President Obama entering office after the worst financial crash in 75 years brought on by the mortgage crisis and banking deregulation. Between that time, 1929-2008 there was no major US financial crisis because of regulations FDR and his cabinet imposed on Wall Street- creation of the FDIC, SEC, etc.

FDR welcomed the hatred of those "economic royalists" and forged a New Deal agenda that lead to US prosperity for more than 45 years. Frances Perkins witnessed the loss of workers lives at the NY Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911 and as FDR's Labor Secretary created major new programs for desperate Americans throughout the country. The American people including the poor were supported by the energy and determination of the New Dealers. Together they pulled this nation through a Depression and World War. Union organization and membership increased tremendously benefiting millions of American households; new Unemployment and Social Security Insurance programs brought relief and security. These programs and progressive action lead to the largest and greatest middle class in history.

Pictures of FDR and labor leaders like John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers and AFL-CIO were on the walls of grateful family homes my mother told me. African Americans joined the Democratic Party in historic numbers by Truman's administration. After 12 years in office, radio fireside chats and little Fala FDR had become like a father figure in the best sense. Like others I am reminded of FDR by Senator Bernie Sanders' courage, belief in the people and fighting spirit against tremendous obstacles.
When young I was fortunate to know some people who had come to Washington during the FDR, JFK and Johnson administrations. They were bright economists, academics and policymakers committed to the New Deal, the Great Society and liberalism. I remember how one told me the Roosevelt name means "field of roses" in Dutch.

When Ronald Reagan declared war on government at the US Capitol in January, 1981 it was a return to the pro-business thinking of the 1920s, the policies of Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, "less government in business". That less regulation lead to stock market speculation and easy money fueling the Roaring 20s, the Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. I was in DC during that 1981 Inauguration and cannot believe the changes to this country since Reaganomics.

During WWII my parents already persevered to fight Fascism, my mother a young bride working in NYC and San Francisco while dad was an artillery officer fighting Nazi Germany in the 7th Army Rhineland Campaign, the Liberation of Dachau Concentration Camp April 29, 1945, just two weeks after FDR passed, and in the Army of Occupation. Their parents had seen WWI, survived the 1918 Spanish Flu Epidemic and struggled to keep home and family during the Depression. The Greatest Generation, their children were my hardworking, brave and wonderful parents. Americans of all backgrounds built and benefited from this new democracy based on the concept of "we the people" and with the first written constitution of any major government in history. It has to be preserved now for the sake of all living Americans and those of the future.

Corporate control, excessive financialization and greed, economic inequality, deregulated government, loss of labor and worker rights and a dumbed down populace have altered the stability of the US. And climate change. For five years experts have recognized these challenges are as significant as the post- WWII restoration of Europe by the Marshall Plan- what's needed now for 21st century America, a great rebuilding. It can be done, the will exists, so do the wealth and resources. Popular, progressive formations from the bottom by the people are necessary to start US restructure and restoration. There's a lot of work to do to, and The Whole World is Watching. The leader to inspire us is FDR. So glad you're here, and keep the faith.

[MBS]

93. Thank you for this wonderful,wonderful post

I agree 5 million %.
And to THIS I say:

Corporate control, excessive financialization and greed, economic inequality, deregulated government, loss of labor and worker rights and a dumbed down populace have altered the stability of the US. And climate change. For five years experts have recognized these challenges are as significant as the post- WWII restoration of Europe by the Marshall Plan- what's needed now for 21st century America, a great rebuilding. It can be done, the will exists, so do the wealth and resources. Popular, progressive formations from the bottom by the people are necessary to start US restructure and restoration. There's a lot of work to do to, and The Whole World is Watching. The leader to inspire us is FDR. So glad you're here, and keep the faith.

I was raised in the same atmosphere.
My parents were similarly courageous, hard-working and giving folks with strong Democratic values. They understood the importance of good government, of FDR and (negatively) Reagan.

I would only add to your comments about the importance of change "from the bottom by people" a negative counterpart: my perception/frustration that the Reagan era was the product not just of Reagan and his cronies, but of the people who voted for him, TWICE. And those who continue to worship this grade-B movie actor-posing-as-leader (A bronze statue of him at the DC airport? I mean, wow), despite the evidence of the damage caused by the changes instituted during that period. Ditto those who voted for W (TWICE) and who continue to support right-wing Republicans (or worse, don't even bother to vote).

About the same time that Reagan was governor of California, California voters also began to change. Suddenly, the state that voted for education bonds right through the Depression -- votes that signified the ability of voters to look to the future, to take the long view -- suddenly became too selfish and short-sighted to support education, or anything else that "raised taxes".In short, WE (not DU, but our fellow citizens) are responsible for this sorry state of affairs.
And, as you said so eloquently, WE are the ones who can (and, yes, please, WILL) get us out of it.

[truedelphi]

101. Personal aside - what I noticed during the Reagan era was not only

Those universal and greedy things that happened in terms of our Federal government's workings and also those of the state legislatures, but I also noticed how the children of wealthy Democrats started to change. Apparently once you get controlling interest in your parent's company, you start to see the wisdom in not paying employees so well. You realize that the moment that a bit of hard times hits the economy, you can declare bankruptcy for the company and fly out of there on a golden parachute, while the workers' pensions go under, as bankruptcy allows for "legit" debts to be paid first, while pension funding can be raided or abandonned.

Really sad to see childhood friends become little Mr and Mrs Reagan's. Although they still have that Obama sticker on the car and what not, they are as Republcian as anyone that Reagan ever sat down to eat dinner with.

[MBS]

105. yeah, I know what you mean.

"Silicon Valley" is full of those folks.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

86. There's a segment of the population out there still fighting "commies".

[Jamaal510]

106. Whenever I

run into a RW-nut on another forum talking about communists, I always tell them that the Red Scare has been over for decades, and then they strangely get quiet typically.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

107. Feel free to share this pic I made a while back....

[woo me with science]

100. kick

[truedelphi]

102. You handled kick 100; I will add 101. n/t

[woo me with science]

108. kick

[Oilwellian]

113. Love your post...my grandparents were FDR Dems

I was born in 1955 so it was long after FDR, but they were still solid Dems in the early sixties because they had JFK's portrait on their living room wall. LOL

For years, I was ridiculed by my right-leaning immediate family for my political views. Your post evoked a beautiful moment I had with my father who is now 89 and thoroughly rabidized (I just made that word up) by Fox News. I was recently visiting him and out of the blue he said "I know why you're a Democrat. My parents were FDR Democrats so it's in your blood, and I'm OK with that."

Out of the fog there was a brief light. The emotions were deep the rest of that day.

[woo me with science]

115. kick

[woo me with science]

116. kick