Laugh and deride if you want, but this is how it's going down...

[Rosco T.]

1) Obama puts Chained CPI in the budget, something the 'Thugs wanted

2) Democrats outraged.Expected.

3) GOP splits, part are just as outraged as the Democrats, part a screaming that it's not enough. Expected.

4) Outrage spreads, grows louder and more angry. Expected.

5) After a length of time, not long, Obama steps forward -
--- I tried to make a compromise with the GOP, I included one of their major 'wants'
--- They have rejected it, as I EXPECTED they would.
--- Chained CPI is OFF the table, we will find savings in reasonable ways, and we will get revenue to help.
--- The GOP has proven they are no longer credible, reasonable, or have anything but their own political gain in mind.
The only plan they have is their own self-interests.
--- Enough.

Then assuming the whiners don't act childish like in 2010, The House is ours, the Senate remains and strengthens
Then, watch the fun.

[robinlynne]

1. He put it in writing in a fancy blue binder.

[Common Sense Party]

5. He has binders full of chess moves. nt

[robinlynne]

42. Yeah.

[yourout]

2. I'm laughing.......pure fantasy.

[alfredo]

14. Obama is playing rope a dope on the GOP.

[kardonb]

53. laughing

we'll see who as the last laugh , yourout , and i won't be you !

[MichiganVote]

3. Using the SS benefits to delude or "scare" the GOP into action is just as bad.

Sides' he means it. Has no use for anyone but the banksters.

[forestpath]

6. +1

[progressoid]

11. Exactly.

Even if it gets dropped, people will remember. 2014 is just around the corner.

[Floyd_Gondolli]

17. You give the average Joe far too much credit

They're busy watching The Voice and Diving With the Stars.

[progressoid]

34. I was thinking more about the 70-75 million senior voters that will be bombarded with negative ads

about this debacle.
Also the 65-70 million voters that are nearing retirement.

This is the kind of hot button issue that will get them to the polls.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

44. Average Joe/Jane didn't let crap corporate entertainment...

keep him/her from running to the polls in 2010 in a Granny's-getting-offed-by-Death-Panels frenzy. 2014 will be no different -- Republicans will make sure Americans know it's Obama, and by extension, Democrats, who offered up Social Security. This will not end well.

[1StrongBlackMan]

102. Problem is ...

Republicans will make sure Americans know it's Obama, and by extension, Democrats, who offered up Social Security.

The gop framing won't work ... President Obama won't be on the ballot and even the average Joe/Jane know that.

And then, look at what the Democrats in Congress are actually saying about President Obama's proposal ... those in safe districts are loudly arguing against the proposal ... those expected to be in closer races are saying, "I oppose this CCPI thing; but I'm open to discussing it BUT ONLY WHEN THE republicans AGREE TO DOING MORE ON REVENUE."

The average Joe/Jane will be reminded of this.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

115. Obama wasn't on the ballot in 2010, either.

Obama's ACA in 2010; Obama's proposed cuts to Social Security in 2014. It's really pretty simple.

Polls bear out that average Joe/Jane -- of all political stripes -- overwhelmingly oppose cuts to Social Security, and that includes CCPI. They don't want to hear excuses about what Republicans are, or are not, doing. And "Republicans made me do it" will not fly. Obama should NEVER have put his fellow Democrats, particularly those in unsafe districts, in a position that makes them MORE vulnerable. I can already picture the ads the Teabagger candidate will be running against my Sensible Centrist senator.

Obama had his chance to do more on revenue, i.e., let the Bush tax cuts expire when they were scheduled to. Yes, there would have been short-term pain for some, but now there's long-term pain for more. This is no way to run a country.

[A Simple Game]

59. Doesn't matter, the OP is already blaming 2014 on the Liberals. n/t

[1StrongBlackMan]

103. Actual ...

the OP is showing the path TO 2014 for Democrats.

[A Simple Game]

112. Please read the OP's last sentence. n/t

[1StrongBlackMan]

116. So what does ...

your comment mean?

[brooklynite]

62. Who will be running against Obama in 2014?

[progressoid]

65. Ya know, it probably doesn't matter if you lose a few thousand votes to the repukes in Brooklyn.

But in purple America, flipping those votes can mean the difference between a Democrat or a Republican in office. We don't need to give them any more ammo against the Democratic party.

[bornskeptic]

66. So you think people are going to vote for the party that tried to privatize their Social Security,

the party that raised their retirement age to 66 or 67, the party that wants to voucherize Medicare and block grant Medicaid, all because President Obama proposed what amounts to a 1.25% cut in Social Security which won't happen because most Democrats will vote against it? When is your book on political strategy coming out?

[progressoid]

73. Hang out with some swing voters for a while.

You'd be amazed at how gullible they can be. Their rationale for voting can easily be swayed by whatever the talking heads scream at them about.

[brooklynite]

79. Not my point: Obama's SS plan won't be a Republican campaign target...

...unless Democratic Congressmembers vote for it. Can you point to a single Democrat who responded positively?

[1StrongBlackMan]

106. But Brooklyn isn't purple ...

And even if it was, what are the Congress folks that represent Brooklyn ... you know, the ones who WILL be on the ballot ... actually saying about President Obama's budget proposal?

The fact is ... because of the gerrymandering after 2010 ... in order to flip the House (and extend in the Senate), Democrats need the plurality of Independent voters AND gop voters that poll as seeing the modern gop as being the party that is unwilling to compromise, to either vote Democratic (unlikely), vote 3rd-Party, or stay home.

[1StrongBlackMan]

100. It's NOT to ...

delude or scare the gop; so much as to EXPOSE the modern gop for who and what they are. And the target audiences are the plurality of Independent voters and gop voters that poll as assigning the modern gop as the party that is unwilling to compromise. It is those groups (thanks to gerrymandering) that Democrats need to vote Democratic (not likely), or vote 3rd-Party (in an attempt to rid Congress of those unwilling to comromise), or stay home in 2014 (out of disgust).

This is about 2014.

[Common Sense Party]

4. Five-dimensional chess, yes, we know.

He's SO smart ad is thinking 43 moves ahead of the enemy.

Except that many of the 'Thugs did not even want Chained CPI.

[Autumn]

7. You left out the part where Obama gets his credibility back.

Just cause he could say "--- They have rejected it, as I EXPECTED they would." doesn't let him off the hook for offering it. That horse is out of the barn, and the barn burned down.

[Life Long Dem]

21. As if it's about Obama

[Autumn]

24. This is all about Obama, it's his offer.

[Life Long Dem]

28. Then don't vote for him again

[Autumn]

30. I don't intend to ever vote for him again. Not gonna happen.

[robinlynne]

88. +1.

[Renew Deal]

8. This has been the script every other time

So no surprise there

[Squinch]

9. I wish I thought you were right, but I don't. I think this was just as big a blunder as it seems.

[SamReynolds]

10. He'll be much more diplomatic about it.

He won't say 'as I EXPECTED', for instance.

But yeah, I see things going this way too.

[progressoid]

12. Laugh?

Nobody thinks this is funny.

[silverweb]

13. That's what I'm hoping for.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Only time will tell if that's what happens.

I've signed all the petitions. Beyond that, it's necessary to retreat from the political/emotional roller coaster, detach a bit, and just wait.

[ChangeUp106]

15. Dreaming

Look that's something that seems reasonable to believe, but when has Obama ever said "F*** it, I tried, now we're doing it the liberal way?"

[alfredo]

19. Obama could submit a word for word copy of Ryan's budget and the Republicans

would rejected it without even reading it. Republicans don't want to give Obama any kind of victory, even if is something they have fought for for decades.

[ChangeUp106]

20. Exactly

Either the Obama administration is incredibly stupid or they truly want what they propose. At this point it has to be choice #2.

[alfredo]

25. Republicans have become predictable. That is the nature of conservatism.

[magical thyme]

50. Obama's proposal cuts SS and Medicare deeper than Ryan's proposal

Now the GOP can offer Ryan's SS and Medicare cuts and say that they're "saving" SS and Medicare from Obama's drastic cuts and many people will sigh in relief that it's not as bad as it might have been had Obama's proposal been accepted.

This is really, really not good.

And if it's eleventy dimensional chess, it's a game to open the door to deeper cuts in the future, not about keeping that door securely closed and locked.

[alfredo]

64. Ryan will not play along because of the revenue.

[magical thyme]

82. You're thinking short term. They're thinking 2016.

After Jeb is elected that is exactly what they will be able to do.

[alfredo]

84. If we control the house and senate, the damage a right wing pres

Can do would be minimized.

I am not sure the voting public is ready for another Bush. Jeb is not the most charismatic person.

[magical thyme]

86. proposing cuts to social security just ahead of 2014

is not a good way to hold the senate or regain the house. Democrats are now forced to distance themselves from the President, and not all of them are.

That cost W dearly in 2006 and President Obama dearly in 2010.

My own rep, who had signed the letter stating that chained CPI was bad policy is now refusing to promise not to cut SS.

[lobezen]

67. EXACTLY!

brace yourselves because cuts to Social Security and Medicare will be happening within Obama's 2nd term. Have we all forgotten that we went through through this whole song and dance during Obama's first term?! I sent post cards to the White House daily for a month straight admonishing him for proposing cuts to Social Security back in June/July 2011. It is the reason I refused to contribute a dime to his reelection in 2012. I seriously don't "get" President Obama I find myself asking WTF? a lot whenever I hear the details of his proposed budgets. It seems with very few exceptions, nobody in Washington gives a rat's backside whether the policies they propose will further devastate the average American. What is first and foremost in their minds is catering to the corporations and the uber rich.

[magical thyme]

83. Not necessarily in this term. The pushback may be too strong.

But he has given the GOP the opening to be the "saviours" of SS, and if not this term then by 2016 they'll be able to install Jeb and start dismantling SS.

[Carolina]

92. excellent post, lobezen

and so true. This is not some damn game.

Obama continually eyes changes to SS and Medicare as a way to cut the deficit despite his pretty campaign words. He's swallowed the bait that the deficit is the nation's biggest problem and in both terms, peopled his cabinet and inner sanctum of advisors with Wall Street types.

I, too, refused to donate in this past election cycle, and had it not for repuke efforts to subvert the vote and Rmoney's loathsomeness, I'd have sat out 2012. Obama is an empty suit, Wall Street's puppet.

Welcome to DU!

[1StrongBlackMan]

107. Why do folks keep saying this ...

And if it's eleventy dimensional chess, it's a game to open the door to deeper cuts in the future, not about keeping that door securely closed and locked.

as if this is the very first time "the door to" to SS has been opened ... it isn't.

And for those that believe that the door is open to cutting, you should be very, very hapy ... the people are clearly indicating that it is not.

[magical thyme]

113. link to the first Democrat to offer to cut SS?

We all know the GOP has been after SS since its inception. This is about the Democrats losing their fundamental difference here.

And yes, we the people are making clear we don't support cutting SS. Hopefully that will matter for a long time to come.

[1StrongBlackMan]

108. You have that backwards ...

Now the GOP can offer Ryan's SS and Medicare cuts and say that they're "saving" SS and Medicare from Obama's drastic cuts and many people will sigh in relief that it's not as bad as it might have been had Obama's proposal been accepted.

Doesn't that just show how unserious the gop is about accepting any offer President Obama presents?

[magical thyme]

114. that's too fine a line for most people to notice

We already know the GOP is unserious about accepting any offer the President presents.

The fact that the GOP can now offer a solution *left* of the President and still cut SS is not a good situation at all. Again, now they can say they are "saving" us from the President's "slashing" of SS, while still getting the cuts they've been after all along.

[carolinayellowdog]

16. blaming "childish whiners" for the 2010 defeat

is devoid of merit and is unsupported by evidence and reason

[Zoeisright]

45. No it isn't.

Democrats stayed home in 2010, and we got the tea baggers, who gerrymandered the fucking hell out of Congressional districts, so it takes 2-1/2 Democratic votes to win over a repuke. That was ONLY because of some Democrats whining and pouting and not voting.

There's evidence and reason for you, sparky.

[former9thward]

48. What evidence is there that Democrats stayed home?

Besides you saying it. Exit polls said Democratic turnout was good in 2010.

http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2011/07/democratic-turnout-was-good-2010-independents-broke-republicans

[Art_from_Ark]

77. It's the "mushy middle" that generally accounts for mid-term losses

The mushy middle is has no particular allegiance to either party and is more inclined to come out in numbers during a presidential election, but either sit out or vote for the other party in mid-term elections. It has been a trend that has pervaded American politics for at least the last 100 years, with the party in the White House nearly always losing seats in the House (and to a slightly lesser extent, Senate) mid-terms. In 2011, only 31% of voters identified themselves as being Democrats, and around 29% identified themselves as Republicans. Thus, around 40% were mushy middle independents who will vote whichever way the political wind is blowing them at the time, if they vote at all.

[1StrongBlackMan]

110. And ...

It is that "mushy middle" that is President Obama's target audience for showing, once again, the modern gop for who and what they are ... unwilling to compromise and unwilling to govern.

[Doctor_J]

71. stop lying

Dems did not stay home, even though they had every right to. The ones who stayed home were the ones who voted for change in 08 and realized they'd been conned. You and the rest of the limbeciles need to stop blaming everything on liberals.

[Carolina]

94. You are so right

and some can't handle the truth.

We have been continually conned and Obama is the Great Betrayer

[Carolina]

93. Which just goes

to show that when repukes win, they take advantage of their victory while when Dems win and we end up wondering WTF did we win?! Obama always concedes first. And there are too many bluedogs and corporatized Dems.

We don't need more Dems, we need an FDR and more Bernie Sanders

[fishwax]

101. moderate turnout was down in 2010, and fewer voted dem. Are those the whiners

you're talking about?

[alfredo]

18. It is all about 2014. Any budget from Obama will be rejected, so why not do

what he is doing now?

[tularetom]

22. I want some of what you're smoking

I'll admit it took me longer to catch on to the "umpteen dimensional chess" canard than it did to stop believing in the Easter bunny but they're both equally fictitious. If you don't think Obama really believes that the deficit is a bigger problem than social programs, just look at the advisors he has surrounded himself with.

The man has been in office for 4-1/2 years and he has never once responded to republican obstructionism in the manner you describe. What makes you think he's about to change all that now?

Please go find the interview his flunky Axelrod did with Rachel Maddow if you have any doubts as to whether or not this was a slick move designed to fool the republicans. It was not. These guys actually believed nobody would care if they offered to cut SS.

[lobezen]

72. +1

[Carolina]

95. Touche, tularetom

Not only doesn't he respond to repuke obstructionism in the way described, he concedes early, then invites them to dinner at the White House!

This is not some damn game, chess or otherwise; his proposals and his advisors reveal his true self and prove he doesn't give a rat's ass about "we, the people."

[alcibiades_mystery]

23. Obama believes in chained CPI, and it will pass with the budget

Chained CPI affecting Social Security COLA will take effects in the next fiscal year. Book that.

[gateley]

29. Not sure it will get the votes -- those who are doing the voting are the ones whose

seats are on the line, and they've seen the backlash.

[alfredo]

31. For a budget resolution to go into effect, it has to have 60 votes in the Senate.

[NV Whino]

26. Personally, I'm tired of multi-dimensional chess

Just fucking run the country already. And fuck the GOP.

[lobezen]

68. +1

[gateley]

27. I didn't think the GOP asked for the chained CPI -- it wasn't in Ryan's budget.

It seemed to come out of nowhere.

[ChangeUp106]

33. .

They probably suggested it to Obama over one of their dinners. Probably the same one where they said they wouldn't abuse the filibuster again.

[gateley]

36. Don't you just want to pull your hair out? Aaaaargh!

[Skittles]

38. or golf games

[lobezen]

69. +1

[Rosco T.]

39. You need to learn to research more...

http://www.politicususa.com/gop-hijacked-budget-december-chained-cpi-its.html

GOP Hijacked the Budget Over Chained CPI in December, Now It’s Not Enough

(snip)

In December of 2012, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said he had to have chained CPI. Oh, a little chained CPI would be compromise and if he got it, he’d give the President $1 trillion in revenue, “President Barack Obama is considering a possible budget concession on Social Security cost-of-living increases after House Speaker John Boehner dropped his opposition to raising tax rates for some top earners, said two people familiar with the talks…. A Republican congressional aide said Boehner is pressing harder for the CPI revision than for other entitlement changes, such as an increase in the Medicare eligibility age.”

Give us the chained CPI and we’ll give you 1 trillion in revenue, Republicans offered in December. Cut to April of 2013: Obama offers them chained CPI, and guess what?

Chained CPI is not enough of a compromise! It’s not even a real start. It’s just “rhetoric”.

(snip)

not exactly 'nowhere' is it?

[treestar]

91. Yes, Republicans are horrible

You'd think from reading DU it wasn't Boner who was the evil one.

[Carolina]

96. those who concede

to evil, aid and abet it.

BHO continually shows that he he will give in to the repuke evilness, so they keep pushing the envelop.

Ergo, Obama owns this evil travesty, too

[WorseBeforeBetter]

47. McConnell suggested it in November 2012...

according to this:

Obama's New Budget Is Actually Giving Republicans Exactly What They Asked For In December

....

As Sargent points out, McConnell told the Wall Street Journal in late November that the chained CPI cost-of-living adjustment, means-testing on Medicare premiums, and an increase in the Medicare eligibility age would be the "kinds of things that would get Republicans interested in new revenue."

Medicare means-testing and chained CPI are two proposals that Obama has embraced throughout the constant series of budget talks.

Republicans would push back on Sargent's argument with a common refrain — they already agreed to new revenue as part of the deal to avert the fiscal cliff. But the change in tone underscores the risk for Obama in embracing chained CPI as his own — infuriating his own base while still getting nothing in return from Republicans.

http://www.businessinsider.com/chained-cpi-social-security-cuts-obama-budget-boehner-mcconnell-2013-4#ixzz2Q7dBNrfp

The White House has been played, and DU's vocal minority was DEAD WRONG in its insistence that Chained CPI was FOREVER off the table.

[Rosco T.]

61. No, the GOP has been played....

.. and played with finesse

[WorseBeforeBetter]

63. I think even Obama knows he's been played...

he seemed pretty dejected in a clip I watched of him earlier this evening on the News Hour.

[southernyankeebelle]

32. That sounds about right. At least I pray it is. I don't want them touching anyone's

safety net no matter young or old. Keep these programs for the future generations. I don't trust Wall Street.

[bowens43]

35. ridiculous. What next obama playing 3 dimensional chess again?

obama got played like a cheap fiddle and has probably ensured that we lose the senate in 2014

[DrDan]

37. delusion is rampant today - what is your prediction for the Senate? Another said 80 in an

earlier post.

(bookmarked)

[JEB]

40. Anybody who thinks

that the GOP did not long ago prove their total lack of credibility has not been paying attention. Now that cuts to SS have been laid on the table we can only be thankful for GOP intransigence. Eleven dimensional clusterfuck. Praise Jeebus! Which way to the soup kitchen?

[paleotn]

41. Sorry, but I'm not buying it ....

... I see it differently, and I think Obama's track record supports my read on this. Right out of the box he's giving away what we woud consider far, far too much. His initial concession is to cut social security. Either his an awful negotiator or he, like fellow "moderate" Dem. Erskine Bowles, has no problem cutting social security. I think the latter.

Someone above wrote that they think he's sold out to the banksters. Well yea, and for the same reason as bank robbers..."because that's where the money is."

[rug]

43. The Avengers has a more plausible plot.

[bluemarkers]

46. I hope so

but I aged a few years over the past few days

[Roland99]

49. Oh, this is still that incredibly complex chess game Obama's playing?

[jopacaco]

51. In what world would this be ok?

So, it is ok to cause great anxiety to the poorest and weakest among who can't make do already and use them as though they are pawns in a game? I don't want any part of that scheme. Even if I believed that this is the plan (and I absolutely do not), I don't believe that the end justifies the means.

[sulphurdunn]

52. What would he do, if, while he plays chess

they play poker and call his bluff?

[patrice]

54. Result: Republicans are blamed for the Sequester - AND - the loss of those Infrastructure jobs. nt

[just1voice]

55. 1. Let war criminals go. 2. Let criminal bankers go. 3. No single payer health care

4. Austerity measures.
5. Blame GOP for everything in flawed left/right criminal paradigm.
6. Get suckers to repeat propaganda paradigm hopefully perpetuating it.

That's the way it goes down everyday.
Then watch the misery.

[MotherPetrie]

56. I'm afraid you have a long way to go. You're still in the denial phase.

[Maven]

57. Oh? And how is "step 5" supposed to work without getting a budget through Congress?

[silvershadow]

58. I hope you are correct. n/t

[tokenlib]

60. Give the President some of what you're smoking....

..it won't do anything to help the rest of us....

[reformist2]

70. This is basically a twist on the "sit down and shut up you lefties" meme.

I want Prez Obama to stop playing games. Just get out there and fight for what we believe in from the start. Also, whatever happened to getting on TV at night to make your case? Why don't presidents ever do that anymore???

[MFrohike]

74. Right

There is the little problem of every headline in the country noting the simple fact that the Social Security cuts were proposed by Obama, not the GOP. There's also the problem that should he take the cuts off the table, it won't be because he's being reasonable, it will be because the entire country is telling him that he's wrong. He'll end up looking like Bush when he tried to tamper with Social Security. The end result will be a Congress that looks much the same in 2014 and the continued lack of vision in Washington.

[Kablooie]

75. Just what I was thinking all along.

I'm not so sure about the House and Senate though.

That's the hope but our election system is so skewed and rigged that even if nearly everyone in the country wants Democrats the Pugs could still win.

[Scootaloo]

76. Maybe, but if so he's just beating a long-deceased horse

Seriously, he's been doing the "I offered, they refused" angle through his first term and now into the second. I think it's been demonstrated thoroughly enough, and I'd rather he shit or get off the pot, as the saying goes.

In other words, the point has been made. Thoroughly. Capitalize on it already!

Whether this is a Stupid Pet Trick or an actual attempt to pass the idea doesn't matter. It it's the former, it's absolutely needless and stressful for everyone. if the latter, well... I just hope it's the former, if I have to pick one of the two.

The republicans aren't going to work with him. We know it. Everyone knows it. Hell, they'd admitted it. The proof has been made and verified and re-proven, there are no mysteries. If this is all leading towards a goal of some sort, well fuck me, skip the pit stops, let's just fucking get there already!

[gaspee]

78. One would hope

That that is the true scenario, but past is prelude and every single time we offer something previously unthinkable, it just moves everyone further right. People argue like all of DU has been doing and just putting it on the table makes it possible. And in a few months time, it doesn't seem so radical and then it happens.

[graham4anything]

80. I love Una O'Connor. The Haters of Barack Obama & Hillary & Bill as Una O'Connor.

[img][/img]

it's all such high theatre.

Barack Obama roped the dopes again.
The haters were never fans from the first day

Reminds me of Rush Limbaugh's Rush the Vote, Operation Kaos.
It continues.

[Bluenorthwest]

81. Where in Step 5 does an actual budget get passed? That's their goal here, a budget

Your scenario ends without a budget, with Obama waving a magic wand shouting 'enough' as if that gets a budget passed. What happens next? Harry Potter casts a spell on the GOP for Obama and a budget passes?

[DCBob]

97. +1

[Tippy]

85. Night before last I believe it was R. Maddow interviewed D. Axelrod

She really didn't pin him down but I got the impression this is going exacly as expected in other words there was/is a plan.... anyone else see this?

[cliffordu]

87. Kick.

[Stand and Fight]

89. Awww.... More 3 Dimensional Chess Bullshit.

[Rosco T.]

90. We're up to 5a) already...

.. stay tuned.

[MBS]

98. I hope you're right.

The alternative is so depressing that, even though I'm a die-hard political junkie, I've barely been able to read, watch, or listen to any news about Congress or the White House for the last few weeks.

[1StrongBlackMan]

99. But ... But ... But ...

[graham4anything]

104. To remind-Winning is forever. Not a specific day or week or month, but forever.

Not quite sure why so many others do not see it.

One can lose many battles and win the war
One can win 15 games in a row in baseball, and still finish in last place

[Progressive dog]

105. It wouldn't be a believable movie.

That scenario wouldn't even work as a comedy.

[CrispyQ]

109. Except that he doesn't work for us.

He has set a precedent that a "democrat" can & will put SS on the table, & once it's been put on the table, it will be put on the table again. Now, TPTB don't even have to wait for a repub to get in office to try to go after SS.

Neither party works for us. We at least have a small coalition of voices, but they are way too small to be heard over the many other loud voices, like big media.

I wrote to my senators & rep & told them, "You better call the president & tell him to stop talking this chained CPI crap because right now, I'm not inspired to go to the polls & vote for any of you guys." Sadly, the weakest of my two dem senators is not up for reelection until 2016.

If he wanted to inspire enthusiasm for 2014, this was not the way to go about it. It feels like mandated insurance all over again.

[snot]

111. If this is "strategy," BO's tried it before, and it hasn't worked yet.

To any rational observer, "The GOP has {already} proven they are no longer credible, reasonable, or have anything but their own political gain in mind" –- ten times over.

To no effect.

[ucrdem]

117. I think it wil happen very quietly.

Most won't notice. There might even be a distraction, something involving guns perhaps, a touch of the tragic to take our minds off yet another Obama victory. And then it will be forgotten everywhere except the interminable rants of Greenwald, Hedges and Alex Jones.