Will we ever elect a President as Liberal as Richard Nixon again...

[SunnySong]

Brought in serious new civil-rights laws and agencies for minorities, women, the handicapped and children.

Proclaimed the first official U.S. Earth Day/Earth Week in 1971 created the the Environmental Protection Agency and Clean Air Act while approving the most sweeping environmental legislation in history.

Went to China (Imagine Obama going to Iran)

Spent more on social programs than defense.

Taxed the rich more than the poor

Instituted COLA's for Social Security.

Created SSI which still gives money to the blind and disabled.

Worked surprisingly tirelessly for native American rights of self detrimnation and funding programs to help them.


Funding for social welfare services under Nixon grew from $55 billion in 1970 to almost $132 billion in 1975. This represented an increase from 28 percent of all federal outlays to 40.4 percent, compared to a decrease in defense spending in the same period from 40 percent of all federal outlays (or $78.6 billion) to 26.2 percent (or 85.6 billion).


Have we as a country moved so far to the right that we can't imagine a president spending more on people than defense or meeting our ideological enemies face to face rather than bombing them with drones.


I would love to see Obama be a Jimmy Carter style president but honestly I would be thrilled if on budgetary matters he would be more Nixionian.

[Skink]

1. That's why the Republican party took him out.

[mod mom]

77. Yep he was set up by poppy et al by the Townhouse scandal & the editing of tapes.

[hootinholler]

130. Townhouse scandal?

:shrug:

Don't remember that one. Please do tell.

-Hoot

[mod mom]

148. I discovered it in Russ Baker's "Family of Secrets", here's an article he wrote:

Watergate and the Future: News for 2009
Russ Baker
Published: Monday December 22, 2008


-snip

I explored in particular a little-known matter called the Townhouse Affair. It turns out to be an important precursor to Watergate. Townhouse and Watergate both had earmarks of involvement by CIA figures.

And I looked at something that has barely emerged in public, but which was discussed by Nixon and his advisers: his ongoing struggle with the CIA. Combined with other evidence I developed of Poppy Bush's longstanding involvement with the CIA (back to the 1950s), it becomes apparent that there was more to Watergate than Richard Nixon's paranoia. There is not space here for all the particulars I lay out in Family of Secrets. But a few highlights:

*Townhouse appears in retrospect to be an elaborate effort to frame Nixon for financial wrongdoing, by orchestrating a ridiculously shady-looking fundraising operation (and purported political blackmail scheme) headquartered in a basement office in a D.C. townhouse. The people who conjured up and ran Townhouse were tied to Poppy Bush.

*Wealthy independent oilmen who backed Bush felt anger and distrust toward Nixon, who proved to be less than entirely reliable on their key issues, such as a tax giveaway called the Oil Depletion Allowance.

*Many figures in Nixon's White House had CIA ties, and appear to have been keeping an eye on him, even as they worked for him. (The role of the security services raises suggestive questions as a new president prepares to take office – namely, how free is any president to pursue the agenda he promised the voters? The ghosts of the Bushes and what they represent will hang over a new President Obama in ways we have never imagined.)

*Poppy Bush had extensive secret ties to the intelligence apparatus before he became CIA director in 1976. This connection has not previously been reported, and it provides an answer to a question that puzzled observers at the time – namely, what had Poppy Bush ever done to prepare him to lead the nation's premier spy agency?

*After being named Republican national chairman, Poppy Bush used that position to monitor and help shape the unfolding Watergate affair.

*John Dean was much more than a whistleblower. It appears that he was aware of or even a key figure in the White House covert activities that brought Nixon down, yet encouraged Nixon to take the blame for them.

*There is evidence suggesting a connection between Poppy Bush and Dean. Records show that Bush actually called the then-obscure Dean from his UN office in New York during the earliest days of these events. Why would the UN ambassador be speaking to a White House counsel?

*The rookie reporter Bob Woodward began working at the Washington Post, and on Watergate in particular, with job recommendations from high officials in the White House who knew him from his days in Naval intelligence work.

*A handful of famous Watergate tape excerpts were misconstrued – or in some cases, misleadingly edited – by some in academic, media, legislative and judicial arenas to convey a false impression of what Richard Nixon actually knew – and of how culpable he was.

*Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski, a key figure in the ousting of Nixon, was a close Texas friend of Poppy Bush – and steered clear of evidence that pointed to Poppy's involvement.

*Even the notion of "Deep Throat," purportedly Woodward's main source (identified as the recently-deceased FBI man W. Mark Felt), may have been part of a CIA-style "psyops" scheme to create the impression of Nixon's culpability. Some key figures claim that there was in fact no "Deep Throat" at all.

*Nixon suspected the CIA of surrounding him and then setting him up. From his own days supervising covert operations as vice president, he recognized that the Watergate burglars and their bosses were seasoned CIA hardliners with ties to the Bay of Pigs invasion and events linked to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Nixon battled the CIA for files on what he called the "Bay of Pigs thing," but never could get access to them.

-snip

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Watergate_and_Future_News_for_2009_1222.html


The book is worth a full read! :hi:

[truedelphi]

172. Thanks for another wonderful post. Don't have time to read this

Right now but will get to it before I hit the bed.

[hootinholler]

174. Well damn it

Another depressing tome to put on the list. I'm still trying to get over Jeff Sharlet's "The Family" by reading golf books.

Thanks! I hadn't heard of the Townhouse affair.

-Hoot

[mod mom]

185. I know how you feel. I've starting watching this show "The Fabulous Beekman Brothers"

on Planet Green to escape from worry. Sometimes I wish I was a sheeple. :hi:

[MinM]

182. The Nixon Presidency was the culmination of a Right-Wing Coup

The stuff that Russ Baker chronicles, in that section of his book at least, is basically Republican in-fighting... The Assassinations of JFK, Malcolm X, MLK, and RFK had already neutralized the Left and paved the way for a Nixon Presidency. Of course the in-fighting and subsequent Watergate Scandal paved the way for the Last Liberal President (Jimmy Carter).

BTW a better book on Watergate itself is Jim Hougan's Secret Agenda: Watergate, Deep Throat and the CIA


Jim Hougan: Strange Bedfellows: Deep Throat, Bob Woodward and the CIA

Zumwalt, Felt and McCord were by no means alone in their deep mistrust of the Nixon White House. Within the Pentagon, a military spy-ring was pillaging Kissinger's secrets on behalf of Adm. Thomas Moorer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 1970.

Within the offices of the National Security Council, and on secret missions to China, Kissinger's briefcases were rifled and his burn-bags ransacked. In all, perhaps a thousand top-secret documents were stolen and transmitted to Moorer's office (if not elsewhere, as well) by Yeoman Charles Radford, a young Mormon acting on orders of Adm. Robert Welander.

Here, matters become a bit incestuous.

Admiral Welander was an aide to Moorer. But he was also a mentor of Lt. Bob Woodward, whose commander Welander had been aboard the USS Fox. Reportedly, it was at the urging of Welander---who had yet to be implicated in "the Moorer-Radford affair"---that Woodward extended his tour of duty in 1969, going to the Pentagon to serve as Communications Duty Officer to then-CNO Tom Moorer.

In that capacity, Woodward presided over the CNO's code-room, reading every communication that went in and out, while acting, also, as a briefer and a courier. This, he tells us, is how he met Deep Throat, while cooling his heels outside the Situation Room in the White House. It was 1970 and, according to Woodward, Mark Felt was sitting in the next chair.

The Moorer-Radford Affair is not usually considered a part of the Watergate story, though it deserves to be. The Nixon Administration learned of the Pentagon spy-ring in late 1971, but the affair did not become public until almost three years later. By then, the Watergate story was almost played out.

While president, Nixon was determined to keep the affair secret, telling Kissinger aide David Young, "If you love your country, you'll never mention it." But the Pentagon's chief investigator, W. Donald Stewart, was more forthcoming. Asked how seriously the affair should have been taken, Stewart replied with a rhetorical question: "Did you see that film, Seven Days in May? That's what we were dealing with...

Read more: http://www.counterpunch.org/hougan06082005.html

[mod mom]

186. Thanks for the recommendation.

:hi:

[Mimosa]

198. ^ It's a MUST READ! ^ Thanks for the bullet points, Mod Mom!

I'm sort of regretful I gave my copy away last year. I hope it's available at the library so I can re-read it.

[chrisa]

240. Interesting, but I think Nixon sank himself.

He was a crook and an idiot. That did him in.

[Arkana]

153. Nixon's paranoia destroyed him, not his party.

[mod mom]

161. that's what the powers who did him in want you to believe:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8643673#8645822

[Arkana]

213. You're right--Woodward and Bernstein just made up all that Watergate crap.

Never happened. It was just a smoke screen for the Republican Party's orchestrated takedown of Richard Nixon!

And what would the point of this have been, exactly? To make Gerald Ford (who was arguably just as liberal and a good deal nicer) President? To lose to Jimmy Carter in 1976?

You realize how absurd this sounds, right? Not everything is a gigantic conspiracy.

[mod mom]

216. Woodward, who was the receiver of the information, was connected to intelligence.

Keep your blinders on and accept what MSM dishes out and by all means NEVER question authority. :eyes:

[Arkana]

226. Wow, this isn't an overdose of hyperbole and a massive strawman at all.

Did you ever hear me say once not to question authority? No, you did not.

I simply said that maybe not everything was a giant conspiracy.

[Demeter]

228. Maybe He Had Good Reason to Be Paranoid

After eight years of being Bushwhacked, I freely admit I'M paranoid!

[Goldstein1984]

2. You must know this post will go nowhere on DU

You might as well be trying to sell Neil Young albums in Alabama.

[SunnySong]

7. We need to drain this nation of the greed of I've got mine and F you.

We need to be proud to help the helpless. Feed and house the homeless. Doing things not because they are profitable but because they are right.


Giving money to professional gamblers has never put anyones financial house in order. Either one is a criminal or a fool to believe otherwise. But here we are throwing trillions at unwinnable wars we don't need to fight and wall street tycoons who don't need our money and we vetch because people on welfare may be spending their cash "wrong" or someone is trying to cheat WIC at the grocery checkout line.


The bad guys won not with guns of fascism but with a war on the American mind.

[obxhead]

141. Off to the home page with this post.

LOL, I never would have expected it either to be honest.

[mod mom]

151. By the success of this thread perhaps Neil should consider Alabama.

[SidDithers]

154. Guess you were wrong, eh?...nt

Sid

[ProSense]

3. So you want a liar who was forced into taking stances by a Democratic Congress? How about one as

liberal as FDR?

[SunnySong]

4. I will take the charlatan if I have to... FDR is a pipe dream... Nixon seems doable.

If only we had a democratic congress to hold the presidents feet to the fire....

[ProSense]

12. "Nixon seems doable." Right, because

who cares about facts? Let's rewrite history to fit any talking point.

He reformed the health care system, the first President to ever succeed at doing so.

He is leading a green revolution for the first time.

He is moving on issues largely ignored for nearly four decades.

[SunnySong]

14. I'm not rewriting history... heck

Quick test is the following Obama's healthcare plan or Nixon's




First, it offers every American an opportunity to obtain a balanced, comprehensive range of health insurance benefits;

Second, it will cost no American more than he can afford to pay;

Third, it builds on the strength and diversity of our existing public and private systems of health financing and harmonizes them into an overall system;

Fourth, it uses public funds only where needed and requires no new Federal taxes;

Fifth, it would maintain freedom of choice by patients and ensure that doctors work for their patient, not for the Federal Government.

Sixth, it encourages more effective use of our health care resources;

And finally, it is organized so that all parties would have a direct stake in making the system work--consumer, provider, insurer, State governments and the Federal Government.


--Employee Health Insurance, covering most Americans and offered at their place of employment, with the cost to be shared by the employer and employee on a basis which would prevent excessive burdens on either;

--Assisted Health Insurance, covering low-income persons, and persons who would be ineligible for the other two programs, with Federal and State government paying those costs beyond the means of the individual who is insured; and,

--An improved Medicare Plan, covering those 65 and over and offered through a Medicare system that is modified to include additional, needed benefits.
One of these three plans would be available to every American, but for everyone, participation in the program would be voluntary.

The benefits offered by the three plans would be identical for all Americans, regardless of age or income. Benefits would be provided for:
--hospital care;
--physicians' care in and out of the hospital;
--prescription and life-saving drugs;
--laboratory tests and X-rays;
--medical devices;
--ambulance services; and,
--other ancillary health care.

There would be no exclusions of coverage based on the nature of the illness. For example, a person with heart disease would qualify for benefits as would a person with kidney disease.

In addition, CHIP would cover treatment for mental illness, alcoholism and drug addiction, whether that treatment were provided in hospitals and physicians' offices or in community based settings.

Certain nursing home services and other convalescent services would also be covered. For example, home health services would be covered so that long and costly stays in nursing homes could be averted where possible.

The health needs of children would come in for special attention, since many conditions, if detected in childhood, can be prevented from causing lifelong disability and learning handicaps. Included in these services for children would be:
--preventive care up to age six;
--eye examinations;
--hearing examinations; and,
--regular dental care up to age 13.

Under the Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan, a doctor's decisions could be based on the health care needs of his patients, not on health insurance coverage. This difference is essential for quality care.

Every American participating in the program would be insured for catastrophic illnesses that can eat away savings and plunge individuals and families into hopeless debt for years. No family would ever have annual out-of-pocket expenses for covered health services in excess of $1,500, and low-income families would face substantially smaller expenses.

As part of this program, every American who participates in the program would receive a Health-card when the plan goes into effect in his State. This card, similar to a credit card, would be honored by hospitals, nursing homes, emergency rooms, doctors, and clinics across the country. This card could also be used to identify information on blood type and .sensitivity to particular drugs-information which might be important in an emergency.

Bills for the services paid for with the Health-card would be sent to the insurance carrier who would reimburse the provider of the care for covered services, then bill the patient for his share, if any.

[ProSense]

15. Quick test

Nixon: HMOs

Obama: federally funded state single payer, health plan overseen by the OPM, and free choice vouchers.

[SunnySong]

18. Fair enough but how many more Americans would bne alive today if we had passed the bill.

Plus free dental up to age 13 seems pretty sweet.

and does the current healthcare plan cover mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse?

It might for all I know.

[ProSense]

24. That's the rub isn't it?

The bill didn't pass. President Obama's did, and it included some other excellent provisions. So in that respect, we've come a long way.

[pattmarty]

158. Sorry. You don't need the rose colored glasses after all, you must be blind.

[dflprincess]

225. Now you're claiming the the Insurance Profit Protection Act is single payer?

[eridani]

28. "No more than he can afford to pay"

In other words, if you have little money you deserve really shitty coverage that you can't afford to use. You have to be a sociopath to justify classifying people into Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze categories. (They forgot to add Dirt for the 55-64 age group.)

We don't have "strength and diversity" in our health care system. We have totally chaotic unaccountable bureaucracies who steal our money and add no value.

"Freedom of choice?" That is utter horseshit. Employers and insurers are still allowed to dictate our choice of providers. Given that my former employer no longer covers my doctor, the bullshit early retiree subsidy merely gives me the opportunity to give up my doctor so my ex-employer can get money from the government. Spare me this useless crap.

[Better Believe It]

82. What about the probable cuts in Medicare and Medicaid next year?

President Obama's "deficit" commission will want Congress to use a big axe on Medicare and Medicaid.

And before 2014 rolls around,I believe Congress will amend the law in order to lower the threshold at which the healthcare benefits are taxed and will certainly reduce the amount of federal assistance for tens of millions of people who will be forced to buy private health insurance.

[leeroysphitz]

89. LOL. You just got schooled. n/t

[Jakes Progress]

183. Never learned a lesson yet.

Won't start now.

[pattmarty]

155. I wish I had a job so I could by a pair of those rose colored glasses.

[rhett o rick]

192. I agree, stick to the facts. Like he has forgiven the Bush Admin war crimes.

He has adopted Bush's domestic spying and apparently has accepted the powers granted by the Patriot Act. Has given corporations like BP carte blanche to destroy our environment. He cant even end DADT. Poverty is increasing and the middle class is sliding into poverty. He cant extend unemployment. I wonder if he will extend the Bush tax cuts.

The green revolution wont help the homeless.

[rhett o rick]

196. Here's a fact. 50 million on food stamps dont give a shite about "green".

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8643288

[ZombieHorde]

36. Lies versus the wrong skin color camps? I will take the lies. nt

[Radical Activist]

83. Will we ever have a Congress as a liberal s that one?

That's the more relevant question. It's pretty obvious that Obama would do far more than Nixon did if he had Nixon's Congress.

[suzie]

98. No fair, not in the talking points to discuss Congress.

[SunnySong]

145. Perfectly fair... where are the democrats in congress.

Add to that why do Americans care more about cheap junk from Walmart than fair wage and why do Americans care more about lower taxes than making their community better for all.


The country didn't move to the right all by itself greedy I've got mine F you types have led the way on both sides of the aisle.

[suzie]

176. The greedy types were led by Nixon and his Southern Strategy, which has sold racism for the years

since Nixon to hold onto a base group of states. And to elect right wing candidates for Congress by making "community" synonymous with "minority".

But, if you want to talk about the liberal qualities of a race-baiter, you go right ahead.

This old southerner, who remembers separate water fountains and segregated restaurants simply thinks, "Shame on you."

[pattmarty]

159. How in the fuck is it obvious? Stick with facts for christ sake...........

..............Obama "had" 60 Senators and 255 House members. As far as I can see there are two choices here, he either didn't want to push for whatever reasons or he is weak.

[Radical Activist]

175. You think there are no conservative Democrats?

I thought everyone was aware of that. Or maybe you live in a world of make believe where the President is all-powerful and Senators are eager to ignore corporate special interests as soon as a President asks them to.

And if it were just up to the House then there wouldn't be a problem. The house already passed a climate change bill and health care with the public option with Obama's support. Obama isn't the hold up. The House isn't even the hold up. The Senate is the problem. Once we acknowledge the real problem then we can start to deal with it.

[pattmarty]

188. Believe whatever you want. Presidents have personalties too just.........

.............like my & yours friends we have. A President has a multitude of jobs (more so than in Nixon's time) cajoling, arm-twisting and ass kissing are among them so he can get his agenda/policies through both Houses. He's just not "tough" enough with whomever he needs to be. I personally believe that's why he wanted Rahm so much. But hey, I digress. The policies of Nixon and the policies of Obama (so far) can't be fairly compared mainly because of the old "different time, different place" story, but strictly on THE policies of the two, Nixon's would be considered more "progressive" to most persons comparing the two.

[Radical Activist]

189. Most of Nixon's supposed progressive accomplishments were forced on him by Congress.

Some with his support and some without. So it's an odd contradiction that you would praise Nixon and ignore the significance of Congress.

[pattmarty]

238. Tell me where I "praise" Nixon? I swear to fucking god some..........

...........people cannot read. I am not or ever have "praised" Nixon. Tell ya what, Obama is a Liberal genius with his "pragmatic chess" and his excellent healthcare "reform". NOW, I finally said something you can say I said. I really don't know how you can be a "Radical Activist" if you can't see that the POLICIES enacted under Nixon were less progressive than what Obama has accomplished SO FAR. Blind, rose colored glasses, I just don't know. That is the argument here, that POLICIES THEN were more progressive than POLICIES NOW.

[JackRiddler]

164. I'll take an Obama who is "forced into taking stances" by a Democratic Congress.

Too bad there isn't a solid Democratic majority in the Congress to force an end to the Wars of Bush, the dominance of the Pentagon system, the economics of the banksters, the attack on fundamental rights of due process, the war on teachers and the no-fly list, to shut down Guantanamo and investigate the crimes of government and corporations, and to invest a few hundred billion dollars in an energy revolution.

Oh, wait. There is a Democratic Congress? Well, maybe the uncomfortable situation of having the power and not using it to take on the biggest issues can be fixed by remaining lame as possible going into the midterms.

But I do hear there's a self-evident half-measure worth praising for you to now present as the greatest achievement of all time.

[TBF]

165. FDR only passed people-friendly litigation

because he was forced to. Communism was actually a threat to the two-party system at that point, and he wisely through his weight behind the New Deal. I'd like to see someone was far to the left of FDR ...

[PSzymeczek]

211. I'd settle for someone as liberal

as Teddy Roosevelt.

[TBF]

241. Taft probably did more, but you're right -

at least Roosevelt was known for trust-busting, rather than bailing out banks and oil companies.

[UrbScotty]

181. +1

[madrchsod]

5. NIXON IMPOSES WAGE AND PRICE CONTROLS!!!!!

yes nixon was a commie!

just think if obama tried that.....


http://www.econreview.com/events/wageprice1971b.htm

i remember when that happened and boy oh boy were the republicans around here pissed off!

[pattmarty]

160. So Obama is not a socialist/nazi?

:sarcasm:

[lunasun]

6. Cheney and Rumsfeld started with Nixon dont need more of them

how liberal was trying to manipulate the re-election(watergate)?

[SunnySong]

10. I'm not talking about the man of course I wouldn't want a Zombie president.

well again (we had one 86-88)


But what would happen if a democratic president today tried the broad social goals and spending of a Nixon of yesteryear...

This isn't a Nixon apologist post this is a demonstration of how far the rabbit hole we have traveled.

[saigon68]

22. Zombie Reagan & Jindal

http://www.theonion.com/video/zombie-reagan-raised-from-grave-to-lead-gop,14385/

[sandnsea]

8. Yeah Nixon did all that, all by his little self

:crazy:

[SunnySong]

11. No he had a Democratic congress and activst population turning the screws.

Where are those elements today I ask you.

[ProSense]

13. "Where are those elements today I ask you."

Pining away for Nixon?

[rhett o rick]

195. Today we have a Democratic Congress and WH that are owned by the corporatists.

I am curious whether you are a corporatist yourself or just defending those in Congress because they have a D after their name. The conflict is between the have's and have not's. Many Democrats in Congress represent the have's. Whose side are you on?

[TheMadMonk]

17. Bought off. And bought off with the cheapest of bribes.

Miniscule contributions to campaign funds and cheap consumer goods.

[Poboy]

95. Legislators are bought off with trinkets and beads.

Corporations have bought of the vast wealth of this country, and ideals of its people, for pennies.

[Catherina]

162. Standing in a long line at B of A cashing their checks from lobbyists n/t

[Major Hogwash]

178. During his lunch hour, while he was planning Watergate, while he composed music with his left hand

And wrote notes for his memoirs with his right hand.
Which would be on the Best Sellers list later, no doubt.
As long as Peter's brother's name was Best.

Yupper, ol' Tricky Dick sure was a really great guy, a really big pres, and a really good golfer.
And, ain't that all that really counts, after all?


Sandy, you set 'em up, I'll knock 'em down.

LoL

[gateley]

9. If these accomplishments were listed without being attributed to Nixon, we'd

be thinking he sounds perfect!

[scarletwoman]

16. I appreciate this post, really shows how far our country has fallen.

I was in my early 20s during the Nixon years, I despised and loathed him. Little did I realize then that the real forces in the shadows who were taking him down were a thousand times more evil and corrupt. They won, and we the people have done nothing but lose ground ever since.

rec'd,
sw

[ProSense]

19. "Little did I realize then that the real forces in the shadows who were taking him down "

Nixon created the evil. John O'Neill of Swift Liars' fame, Cheney, Rumsfeld. Nixon spawned the evil.

[scarletwoman]

30. Sorry, I no longer subscribe to such facile, one-dimensional views of that history.

Nixon was a creature of the forces that eventually took him down. He was not the creator, he was the one being acted upon. His downfall happened because he started believing he was the one in control -- he wasn't.

[ProSense]

32. "His downfall happened because he started believing he was the one in control -- he wasn't"

That's what usually happens to evil bastards.

[scarletwoman]

33. Because it was the even MORE EVIL "evil bastards" who did him in.

[ProSense]

34. Well, I don't have sympathy for evil bastards who get what's coming to them.

And I damn sure don't want an evil bastard for President.

This reminds me of people who say "at least Bush got his way" and "Ken Lay was a huge philantrophist."

[scarletwoman]

39. Who said anything about sympathy?

I'm pointing out that however much an "evil bastard" Nixon was, the guys who took him out were and are MUCH more "evil" than he ever was.

If I point out that some asshole punk of a corner drug dealer got done in by the really BIG guns in a major drug cartel -- who are a MUCH worse problem than the asshole punk of corner drug dealer ever was -- that's not "sympathy", that's simply pointing out the truth of where the greatest danger lies.

[Jakes Progress]

184. Too subtle.

Your post committed the ultimate sin. I could be construed, in a back-handed way, with a lot of spin and preconception, if you aren't paying attention as a slight toward the president. Any hint, thought, observation, or fact that does that is automatically eligible for pouncing and mis-direction. Thought, reflection, and honest discussion are not a part of the plan; orthodoxy rules.

[Jackpine Radical]

128. Think Saddam.

[Mimosa]

52. ^Good insight, Scarletwoman^

Have you read "JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died & Why It Matters" by James Douglass? There is some interesting info re: why Nixon was brought down. I'm inspired to re-read the book.

[Jackpine Radical]

140. I think it really got going with the OSS/CIA in the last days of WWII

and shortly thereafter. Commie-baiting was the big game in town back then. We got McCarthy & Nixon (remember his 1948 campaign against Helen Gahagan Douglas) on the political side, and the likes of Allen Dulles (banker, longest-serving CIA Director, member of Warren Commission) running the spook show.

Yeah, Nixon was deep into that stuff from the early days. I really think you hit the nail on the head about his delusion that he was in control.

In a similar vein, I think "they" planned to control JFK through Old Joe, but lost their strings on Jack when Joe had his stroke. Jack then began asserting his independence, got weak-kneed (in their view) about the Bay of Pigs, started questioning Vietnam, etc. & became a liability whom they then removed from the board.

[treestar]

74. That's when Cheney and Rumsfeld started their evil plans for

"government continuity" in case of disaster, giving them good reason to root for a disaster. Nearly got it in 2001.

[Better Today]

20. I see you are paraphrasing Jon Stewart. He did do a great one with this, didn't he?

[SunnySong]

21. Didn't see it but it wouldn't surprise me. The first time I heard this was from a

great republican liberal Stewart McKinney.

He was shocked at the cuts Reagan was proposing one budget and brought up Nixon. We had been discussing a Family Ties episode and he laughed that some day liberals will look back with fondness on Nixon's policies. I guess he has the last laugh.

[Better Today]

23. For your enjoyment then, link below.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-june-16-2010/an-energy-independent-future

[treestar]

76. Jon Stewart is hilarious, but like any comedian

is shallow in searching for a funny inconsistency. Being funny doesn't make it true.

[liberation]

149. If anything, Jon Stewart is consistently funny...

... it just pisses you off that the joke is now on your guy.

But that is a whole different matter.

[Lorien]

25. Don't forget the Endangered Species Act

I was talking to a friend who always loathed Nixon today and we were saying the same thing; we'd give body parts to have as Liberal a President (and congress) again.

[WCGreen]

37. Or the EPA...

[Lorien]

119. D'oh! Can't believe I forgot that. The environment was a HUGE issue back then

especially after the DDT scare, and Nixon saw that. Carter was very environmentally minded as well, but no President has been since then. Hell, the environment rarely shows up on any DUers top ten most important issues lists! Amazing, since none of the other issues will amount to anything if our planet can't support human life.

[XemaSab]

38. And the National Environmental Policy Act (which is a BIG DEAL), and banning DDT

:D

[PSzymeczek]

214. The first Earth Day

was in 1970.

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mimosa]

54. The discussion is about policies, not personalities

As a teenager, before i could vote, I was in the streets 'hey, hey LBJ, how many babies did you kill today.' I proceeded to protests against the wars in Southeast Asia,

But on domestic policy issues -aside from war and conscription- Nixon wasn't horrible. Who cares about his personality? Johnson also had a creepy personality, although he was an extrovert. Nixon was an extreme introvert who was uncomfortable in an extrovert's career.

I remember the liberal republicans. They were then about where DLC type dDems are today on many issues.


And the stupid Health Insurance corp bill won't do anything for me and my partner when we most need it: now!

[ProSense]

69. Yeah, the same people who were cheering Jindal are now cheering Nixon. n/t

[KonaKane]

244. There's a shocker.

I'm starting to see a pattern. How about you?

[suzie]

102. Nixon was a psychopath, who was already talking about running for a third term.

Nixon started the trend of trying to undo everything that LBJ had started in the Great Society.

Nixon was not a liberal Republican, except in some fantasy world.

You want to complain LBJ and overlook the fact that Nixon was responsible for the deaths of 28,000 more Americans when we had a cease-fire in Vietnam?

Unbelievable.

[Lorien]

126. It's so hard to get many people around here to separate the two; personalities vs. policies

which is what bought us Reagan as well. Americans vote for personalities, not policy, and so often they can never see past that. Until that changes nothing else will.

[Hawkowl]

150. It's why we need a President and a Prime Minister

Or a head of state and a head of government. Could be a hereditary king for all I care. I think then, the majority of the Americans can worship celebrity with their mindless patriotism through a "God save the king!" and then tirelessly lobby the head of government regarding policies.

[KonaKane]

245. Policies like attempting to fix an election and then lie about it?

Yeah, that certainly speaks well of Nixon's policies. Not to mention his character (or lack of it).

[Bluenorthwest]

71. Perspective matters.

Obama says Gay people are to be always treated as lesser, because of his religion.
I'd rather be called unsavory names than condemned in the name of God. And that sir is a fact. Because a person using a slur is only insulting my sexuality, not adding an apostate blasphemy, an insult to the divine, a use of the holy as a device for the agenda of men.
Think about it.
I also have a question about your sig line. There are quotation marks but no cite. Who is it you are claiming to quote? Are those in fact just words you wrote, and then ascribed quotation marks to make them seem to be the words of another? Or are those words really a quote? Those marks mean someone else said it, and you are quoting them. So who said it?

[KonaKane]

251. In answer to your questions:

First of all, can you point me to a credible quote by Obama that Gay people are lesser human beings, because of his religion? You see, I've followed the man's career for some time now and I have never heard him utter anything even close to that.

Secondly, the quote in my graphic. It actually came from an aquaintance of mine (outside of DU, here in my real world) but it also accurately expressed the sentiment of many atheists here on DU toward religion and people of faith. I kept the quotes because it helped make the point that the individuals pictured are proof of the opposite.

[Cetacea]

27. And liberal republicans like Jacob Javits, Weiker, etc..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_K._Javits

[corpseratemedia]

49. sorry deleted

TMI

[depakid]

29. Well, you are getting something very similar to his health plan!

[sce56]

31. Occupation Health & Safety Administration

OSHA was created under Nixon also!

That is one of the reasons they got rid of him! They as in the BFEE!

Read the book in my sig line to understand better how Nixon fell.

[Mimosa]

193. Family of Secrets is a must read, a brilliant history

SCE56, thank you. :) Family of Secrets by Russ Baker is the primary book which shows what was going on behind the scenes. It's true and it's what the Bushes don't want people to know. The chapters which have to do with Richard Nixon are enlightening.The book is historically sound and yet is as much a page turner as any thriller.

http://www.amazon.com/Family-Secrets-Americas-Invisible-Government/dp/1608190064/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277683255&sr=8-1

Prosense, your jabs towards me don't escape me. You might try reading books like Family of Secrets and maybe you could understand people who have a more complex outlook.

[AzNick]

35. If you pick and choose then Reagan is a liberal as well

Tricklonomics were the big thing under Reagan and yet the rich pay less taxes under Obama.

It does not mean Reagan was more of a liberal. It means that Bush Jr pushed the envelope even further to the point where this country is running out of money.

[ProSense]

40. Bush was a liberal

he expanded funding for HIV/AIDS programs and signed the SOFA agreement.

[AzNick]

170. Again, if you pick and choose... Obama is a gun nut

You can claim that Obama is a gun nut by pointing at the fact that he allowed weapons to be carried in national parks.

[ProSense]

41. Don't forget

Abortion

[Goldstein1984]

42. Isn't it sad when we look back at a Republican who was

driven out of office as part of the good old days?

I know more and more people turning against the war in Afghanistan.

I won't support anyone who supports this war.

The truth is, I hope I live long enough to see everyone who had decision-making authority where Afghanistan is concerned tried for crimes against humanity.

[suzie]

112. You look upon the days when a president chose to send 28,000 Americans to their

deaths as the good old days?

You don't support the current war and yet you look fondly back on Nixon, who ended a cease-fire so that he could let more Americans get killed?

Really?

[greenbird]

43. I never thought I'd see the day

when Nixon was painted in a positive light. Memories, people!

[Hekate]

44. What fresh Hell is this?

:wtf:

[cali]

45. I despise revisionist history. And to a significant degree that's what your op is

[Hekate]

46. It's insane, isn't it?

The lunatics have taken over the asylum.

[cali]

47. it's stupid. and, well, stupid sucks. particularly when taken to this degree

[PFunk]

48. Yes...AFTER this country hit's rock bottom

Right now most american's are too dumbed down enough buy the corporate MSM to even consider it

[cali]

50. it's incredibly, breathtakingly dumb to think

Nixon was a liberal. He. Was. Not.

[Fumesucker]

51. Neither is Obama..

Which is the point of the OP.

Thanks for helping to make the point pellucidly clear.

[cali]

53. lol. it's a stupid argument; a stupid comparison.

The times Nixon operated in are obviously, quite, quite different from the times that Obama operates in.

One can't even reasonably ask what kind of President Obama would have been had he been President in the late sixties and early seventies. He would have been forged by different factors had he grown up in the twenties and thirties. Same goes for Nixon had he grown up in the sixties.

But anyone with any knowledge of the Nixon era knows that he wasn't a liberal/

[Fumesucker]

57. The point being that by today's standards Nixon was a flaming liberal..

And yes, I was politically aware at the time and thoroughly despised Nixon.

I've watched America lurch further and further to the right for thirty years now, we need a lurch to the left again, not the gentle steer to the center right that Obama is giving us.

[cali]

58. no he wasn't.

that's revisionist history.

[Fumesucker]

59. So you think America has not moved to the right in the last thirty years?

I don't think you're going to find very many here on DU that will agree with you on that.

[cali]

60. um, I said that America has moved to the right in an earlier post

that hardly makes Nixon liberal. Now instead of putting words in my mouth, why don't you respond to the FACTS I posted in an earlier post about Nixon's record.

[Fumesucker]

61. Other people have posted other FACTS about Nixon..

FACTS that put him solidly in the liberal category, by *today's* standards.

I note that you did not respond to those FACTS.

Any politician, indeed any person, is a mixed bag, no one is perfect.

But the FACT remains that by the standards of a country that has lurched a long way to the right since his presidency, Nixon was in many ways a liberal.

[cali]

62. bwahahahaaha. I did indeed respond- with the facts

you however, did not.

pretty sad attempt at deflection, fumesucker.

[Fumesucker]

63. The FACTS have already been posted..

You posted some, others posted different FACTS..

There's no need for repetition.

Of course Nixon was not a liberal-by the standards of 1970.

But we do not live in 1970 any more.

[NorthCarolina]

78. Self Delete eom

[treestar]

80. Why do we need to lurch rather than gentle steering?

There could be fall out that is damaging to more people. Just because something is more emotionally satisfying to you does not make it best for the country.

[Fumesucker]

86. The nation is like an oil tanker headed for a reef to starboard..

Ponderous and with a great deal of inertia, keeping the rudder to starboard but just somewhat less so is not going to steer away from the reef, what needs to be done is to put the rudder hard to port and actually steer away from the danger.

The social and economic fabric of our country is coming apart at the seams, a kinder, gentler version of what we've seen for the last thirty years is not going to repair the massive problems we have.

[suzie]

125. Maybe it's because I live in the South, but I never, ever considered someone

who started The Southern Strategy, based in racism, as a liberal.

Was there a change in definitions while I wasn't looking and "race-baiting" now equals "liberal"?

I never thought I'd see the day when people who call themselves Democrats would categorize someone who relied on dog whistle politics as "liberal".

Amazing, just amazing.

[Fumesucker]

180. Like any politician, or indeed person, Nixon was a study in contradictions..

Sure, Nixon had his faults and they were more than a few. Nixon also had some truly bad policy initiatives, not least of which was his founding of the DEA, an organization which has performed infamously right through the present.

But in terms of many of his policies he would be far to the left of the Democrats, including Obama, today.

[suzie]

187. Nixon was an evil psychopath who planned to overturn the 22nd amendment

and run for a 3rd term--his associates floated the idea about. He also thought about a military coup to stay in power--Alexander Haig alluded to that in a later confirmation hearing.

He stationed people in the government to gut everything from the New Deal or the Great Society that would benefit the poor or ordinary people. Nixon had total dictatorial control of the government as his agenda. You want to call that a "bad policy initiative"?

He started the trend toward privatization of government services.

Nixon sent 28,000 Americans to their deaths after there was already a ceasefire in Vietnam.

He wanted a list of Jews who worked in the Government. He compiled an enemies list and sent his agent provocateurs out to foment trouble so that he could arrest anti-war demonstrators.

Nixon ran on a platform of race-baiting. He spent a lot of time developing the "culture war" meme that has been used against Democrats ever since.

To discuss how an anti-Semitic, race-baiting psychopath who started many of the very ugly trends in American society is left of Obama is just bizarre.

What's next, a discussion of how George Wallace was left of Obama? Lester Maddox?

[Fumesucker]

190. You are hearing something that's not being said..

You are hearing praise for Nixon when what actually is being conveyed is disdain for where much of the Democratic party has gone in the last thirty years.

[suzie]

235. No, you've made up some fantasy world where race-baiting and anti-semitism equals liberalism.

That wasn't true in the 1970s and it isn't true now.

The OP lists SSI as one of Nixon's liberal accomplishments. Actually, it was simply another part of his race-baiting. Nixon and friends played on fears of people in wealthier states that low income people would move to their states to acquire better benefits--thus nationalization of Assistance for the Aged, Blind and Disabled into a national program under his control.

In housing, Nixon moved from the previous administration's funding of non-profit housing programs to subsidizing private contractors to build substandard housing that soon went into default.

Nixon's HUD was also responsible for creating the network of for-profit nursing homes that would generate huge profits for the private sector--a large part(35%)of the Medicaid budget even today. Again, he moved nursing homes away from the non-profit and public sector into a money-making private enterprise.

You simply issue blanket statements to reinforce some giant anti-Obama bias.

Which may be fascinating, but as another poster has pointed out, lacking in facts. Or connection to the real world.

Both of which have been provided by numerous posters on this thread, but you have chosen to ignore them.

[Mimosa]

204. You can't completely compare the politics of the 1950s-70s to now

You can't completely compare the politics of the 1950s-70s to now and be accurate. Times have changed. Technology and economics have changed everything.

In the 1950s and 1960s, a high school graduate could get a job, get some additional training and actually support a family. Modestly, yes. But the middle class was more secure then and could actually put money aside.

[RoyGBiv]

55. Pick up a history book ...

... seriously. Preferably one that hasn't been through the editing process of the Texas Board of Education.

There's so much wrong with this I wouldn't even know where to being, so I'll just leave it at this.

If you really, truly want a monomaniacal, paranoid would-be dictator who has absolutely no respect or even understanding of the law in charge, there are plenty of other systems of government being tried out in other areas of the globe. And it ain't working there either.

And by the way, this was the kind of thinking that brought us the 1930s in the rest of the world. The result was pretty horrific.

[cali]

56. Chew on some facts, all you rah rah Nixon folks:

Nixon refused to follow the Eisenhower pattern of consolidating Democratic programs and attempting to run them more efficiently. He was prepared to make major departures, in part to conciliate the South on race; in part to build a new coalition with policies on aid to parochial schools, opposition to abortion, and support for school prayer, all of which would appeal to Roman Catholics; and in part to appeal to his traditional Republican constituencies with attacks on President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society welfare policies.

Race was the most important domestic issue. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) stalled on implementing desegregation of southern school districts until prodded by federal court orders. By 1970 the administration had bowed to the inevitable, with Nixon setting the tone by declaring that legal segregation was inadmissible; almost all of the all-black southern schools were merged into unitary school districts by 1970, and less than 10 percent of black school-children attended all-black schools by that time, a major advance from the preceding administration.

The president remained strongly opposed to court-ordered busing and came out for the concept of the neighborhood school. He proposed that Congress ban court-ordered busing, ordered the Justice Department to oppose busing orders in pending lawsuits, and called for a $1.5 billion program of new federal aid for school districts in the process of dismantling their segregated facilities. These proposals bogged down in Congress, which did pass several measures, sponsored by southern Democrats, to end the use of federal funds for busing.

Nixon's proposed amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, up for renewal in 1970, were tilted toward the South. The president proposed that its provisions be extended to all states so as not to "discriminate" against one region and that voting-rights lawsuits be tried first in state courts, a change that would have diminished the prospects of effective enforcement of the law. A group of Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee scuttled the Nixon draft, and a bipartisan coalition substituted its own extension of the bill, which also included provisions for granting the vote to eighteen-year-olds.

An unusual departure for the Nixon administration was the plan developed by Secretary of Labor George Shultz to provide training and employment openings for minorities on federally funded construction projects. The government, especially Labor Department and HEW officials, began using racial classifications and numerical goals in implementing their desegregation programs—the first example of "affirmative action."

Law and order was another administration priority. Antiwar and civil rights demonstrations and civil disturbances on the campuses and streets created a backlash among the constituencies Nixon was courting. With children of the post-World War II baby boom coming of age, the crime rates soared. The administration responded with the vigorous use of four measures: the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (1968), the Organized Crime Control Act, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (1970), and the District of Columbia Criminal Procedures Act. Provisions emphasized wiretapping, preventive detention, and other measures that aroused the opposition of civil libertarians. No appreciable dent was made in the crime rate, which was the province of local law enforcement, and a war on illegal drugs also had little success.

Other Nixon initiatives involved attacks on several of the most visible Great Society programs, which Republicans had strongly opposed. In January 1975, Nixon eliminated the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the coordinating agency for the so-called War on Poverty, begun in 1964. The controversial Community Action Program was reorganized, other OEO programs were moved to other departments, and funding for some activities was cut.

Read more: Domestic policies - Richard M. Nixon - war http://www.presidentprofiles.com/Kennedy-Bush/Richard-M-Nixon-Domestic-policies.html#ixzz0s36rCpWa

[NorthCarolina]

79. I don't see anyone "Rah" ing Nixon at all. The OP was attempting to point out

that the country has been moved so far to the right that even Nixon would be considered a "Liberal" by today's standards. Why such angst with the OP? Perhaps you might do well to go back and fully read the OP. You might then see that Nixon is not being "praised", but rather his policies are being held to a political lens.

[ProSense]

81. "Will we ever elect a President as Liberal as Richard Nixon again..."

Given this piece the OP is downright insulting.

[NorthCarolina]

84. All Presidents have accomplishments. The discussion revolves around the

beneficiaries of those accomplishments. I fail to see how this OP is "downright insulting".

[ProSense]

90. Right, and Reagan had a liberal record.

Bring back Reagan.

[NorthCarolina]

103. I hardly think

that is the message the OP is trying to express.

[pattmarty]

163. Where the fuck did that come from? This is a comparison of POLICIES........

........not fucking PERSONALITIES. If we had those policies TODAY we would be in pretty good goddamn shape. Nixon was a paranoid ass hole, but anybody would take those POLICIES today. I did not see ANYONE call Nixon a liberal. Jeez!!!

[ProSense]

205. Really?

Want a real assessment of policies.

Trying to hold up Nixon, Mr. Cambodia himself, as some great liberal hero is absurd.

He established a few agencies and policies, with Congress and the public pushing hard, but that is not what makes a person liberal.

Claiming that this title "Will we ever elect a President as Liberal as Richard Nixon again..." is about policies, especially given the responses in this thread is an attempt to justify a reprehensible suggestion.

[pattmarty]

227. AGAIN, nobody called Nixon a liberal. Spend some time tonight.....

............reading back through ALL the posts. You're the one saying that ALL of us here are "saying" Nixon was liberal. AND, quit linking shit to yourself. That's the same type of crap Fox and their ilk use. You must have failed miserably at "reading comprehension".

[ProSense]

236. "Will we ever elect a President as Liberal as Richard Nixon again..."

I read that in the title.

"Will we ever elect a President as Liberal as Richard Nixon again..."

[paulk]

91. +1

the OP is being attacked because some here are afraid the OP casts our current President in a negative light.

They are unable to see around those blinders -

I think that, as Democrats, we should take notice of how far to the right our party has drifted - and the OP does make an interesting comparison on which to base that drift...

[ProSense]

100. Democrats cheering Nixon is no different from Democrats cheering McCain. n/t

[paulk]

101. a simplistic reply

which does not address either my points or the points made by the OP

perhaps one of these days you could make time in your busy posting schedule

to actually respond to what people say

[bvar22]

146. Well said...+1

Allow me to repeat:

"the OP is being attacked because some here are afraid the OP casts our current President in a negative light.

They are unable to see around those blinders -

I think that, as Democrats, we should take notice of how far to the right our party has drifted - and the OP does make an interesting comparison on which to base that drift..."

---DU member paulk

I agree 100%

[ProSense]

212. "to actually respond to what people say"

What?

So are you rooting for Obama to succeed?

[Mimosa]

207. ^ Exactly ^

There's no attempt in the OP to paint Nixon as a liberal. I think on social issues Nixon would probably be about where Mirr Romney is today.

And from having been around some very liberal movers and shakers when their guard was down and they'd had a couple of drinks, I learned individuals sometimes have personal views at odds with their official public stances.

I wonder how old the people are who don't 'get it.' Sometimes a broader perspective evolves by virtue of having lived a long time. I'm not inclined to exaggerate about people or do name calling.

[Hippo_Tron]

229. Because the notion that Obama is ideologically less liberal than Nixon is absurd

If the OP had wanted to discuss how far to the right the country had moved they could have started an OP like "will the country ever be as liberal as it was in 1970?" Nixon wasn't a liberal or a conservative on domestic policy. He outsourced domestic policy to congress in hopes that doing so would get them to look the other way while he continued fighting in Vietnam even though he promised to end the war.

[mochajava666]

64. Never.

Money has corrupted politics irreversibly. Our government is totally FUBAR.

[unblock]

65. the congress he had to deal with was insanely liberal by today's standards

if nixon were president during, say, 2001-2009, the result would likely have been quite similar to shrub's, at least in terms right/left. nixon i would expect to have been rather more competent, though, though no less right-wing.

[spanone]

66. nixon was an abomination....put down the crack pipe

[mmonk]

67. Not until after the fall.

[stray cat]

68. Only if progressives can be 1/2 as competent as conservatives

in communicating a message and level of competence that can get a majority vote. Right now progressives can't even unite among themselves let alone the remaining 70% of the populaition

[IronLionZion]

70. His healthcare reform was HMOs nt

[ProSense]

72. Exactly.

Nixon: HMOs

Obama: federally funded state single payer, health plan overseen by the OPM, and free choice vouchers.

And people are pining away for Nixon. It's a complete insult to President Obama to pretend that somehow Nixon is a progressives dream by comparison.

[goclark]

87. My memory of Nixon was that he was far from Liberal

I'm African American and a Senior --if he was so "liberal" he was certainly not thought of as "liberal" to African Americans.

Whatever he may have done for civil rights did not make him our Hero --

Was he as horrible as Bush - NO.

Bush goes to the head of the class for Stupid.

Again, those were far different times.
Whatever we read in the local Newspapers we for the most part had to believe. We tried hard to read between the lines and for African Americans we read little papers like the Baltimore Afro but that was it.

Whatever they told us on TV News, for the most part, we believed. The "News" channels that I recall were -- CBS, NBC.and I think ABC.

The Watergate trial stood out in my memory as the first chance that I remember seeing both sides of the issue presented on "Live Television."

IMO, there is no way that we can compare any pasy President other than Bush to Obama. The 2010 "24 hour Fixed News cycle" allowes us to get our "News?" from so many sources and we believe what we want to with the "facts" we see on the latest Forums and "Fixed News."

[Mimosa]

223. Where's the federally funded single payer health care you mentioned, Prosense?

Prosense:

"Obama: federally funded state single payer, health plan overseen by the OPM, and free choice vouchers."

Is that what got passed this year? When does it start? How can I get covered?


It doesn't look like anybody's pining for Nixon. That's a distortion. The man was a bit of a neurotic. And some of us were in the streets protesting the war in vietnam and it's hideous expansions into Cambodia and Laos.

Kissinger sort of yanked nixon's chain. The kissinger joined the ranks of the super rich by facilitating trade with China. But that's another story.

[treestar]

73. It won't ever be 1972 again

The right wing will stay in power if you give us so easily. They've had almost 30 years to affect attitudes and the culture.

[SunnySong]

92. There is no reason that it can't be 1972 again....

If Reagan was able to turn us back to the fifties certainly a powerful charismatic progressive voice certainly should be able to invoke the freedom of the seventies to a downtrodden population.


We need to swing the pendulum back from the idea that the only two policies in America are far right and center right.


We also need to make this a country of people not corporations. Where peoples needs come before profits and every American is important no matter what the y contribute financially.

[CBR]

75. Support abortion for biracial babies!!!! nt

[LWolf]

85. I don't think it will happen in my lifetime. nt

[Citizen Worker]

88. and believe it or not Nixon signed legislation establishing

OSHA and submitted legislation that would have created a negative income tax. That legislation passed the House but died in the Senate after the Watergate break-in. The negative income tax would have rebated money to wage earners earning less than $7,500.00 per year. As diabolical and paranoid as Nixon was there were some positive developments during his six year reign of terror.

[tomp]

107. the signing of legislation means very little....

....and presidents do not deserve credit for mere signing. any president who can't sustain a veto is pretty much just going to sign.

what did nixon veto?

[SunnySong]

111. He had 43 vetos with 7 overidden 16% overidden

To put that in perspective W had 12 vetoes with 4 overridden. 25% overridden


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


for full disclosure two of those overridden vetoes were progressive legislation we take for granted today The Clean Water act as well as The War powers act.

I am not claiming above Nixon was some progressive nirvana or a good president. I am simply noting that his policies are too liberal for the DEMOCRATIC congress and hyperactive corporate media we have today.

[ProSense]

113. "I am not claiming above Nixon was some progressive nirvana or a good president."

So the title of the OP is about Congress?

[SunnySong]

117. The OP is about how far right AMERICA's persepective has lurched that if

we had a President with Nixon's policies the news channels and fellow politicians would be screaming liberal and socialist at the top of thier lungs.


One of the quotes above in the OP points out that Nixon wasn't progressive because he was anti-busing...


When was the last time you heard any elected politician speak out in favor of busing????


Can you imagine even Nixon proposing Arne Duncan's education plan. The streets would have exploded.



No we bah like sheep to our corporate masters as they privatize schools and strip teachers of their pensions.

[ProSense]

122. Can you imagine Nixon proposing this:

Saving Lives Through the New G-8 Maternal and Child Health Initiative

The comparisons are simplistic and do not take into account the full picture.

Again, you frame the OP as being about the country and Congress when you clearly stated President.

[SunnySong]

127. Well Nixon was a president and saying will we ever have a country as liberal

as Nixon again didn't seem to flow.


That said it is not a direct attack on the Obama administration rather than an illustration just how far right this country has moved.


When protests are unfocused (I am among those who really have no exact idea what the G20 protesters are protesting. Clearly producing a soundbite message wasn't on their agenda)

When congress looks to cut benefits, when states look to lower wages and break unions and yes when the President looks to privatize public education I yearn for a real progressive voice to stand up and say we need to do what is right not what is profitable. Because in the end doing right is more important than making money.


Am I saying Nixon was that voice? Good lord no...

[ProSense]

135. "Am I saying Nixon was that voice? Good lord no..."

You cherry picked a few policies to ask if the country would ever elect some like Nixon again.

Why the hell would the country want to do that? You have offered no justifications, just disclaimers like the quote in the title of this comment.

[SunnySong]

191. The problem is that it is more than a few policies it was the vast majority...

And a stranger question why does the Dept of Homeland Security still exist... Why are we continuing to send military equipment to Kansas city police departments... Why do we continue to hold people without trial or lawyer... Why have we not reversed welfare reform... unsegregated the schools (Many High schools are back to being whites only)... increased the power and influence of labor.... Increased taxes on the wealthy (No estate tax for billionaires this year lucky dead duckies)


Why isn't a democratic congress and a democratic president even moving to dismantle W's legacy.


Why is a country that could put a man on the moon now incapable of plugging an oil well.


This ain't about Nixon its about us...


The answer to our problems is getting our values back.

[ProSense]

197. "why does the Dept of Homeland Security still exist"

Why does the DEA?

"Why are we continuing to send military equipment to Kansas city police departments... Why do we continue to hold people without trial or lawyer... Why have we not reversed welfare reform... unsegregated the schools (Many High schools are back to being whites only)... increased the power and influence of labor.... Increased taxes on the wealthy (No estate tax for billionaires this year lucky dead duckies) "

Because we need Nixon?

This is the time we live in. Holding up Nixon as someone to aspire to as a leader is rewriting history.

You can say it's not about Nixon, but that is not what your title or holding up a few of the policies he enacted say.

Nixon was an atrocious person, not a liberal and the country doesn't need his kind of leadership.

[joe black]

93. Or even Ike.

[saltpoint]

94. I don't do Richard Nixon.

Hunter Thompson got it right about Nixon when he wrote:


“Nixon, at least, was blessed with a mixture of arrogance and stupidity that caused him to blow the boilers almost immediately after taking command. By bringing in hundreds of thugs, fixers and fascists to run the government, he was able to crank almost every problem he touched into a mindbending crisis.”

--Hunter S. Thompson

[Uzybone]

96. Jebuus

Liberals for Nixon.

Have we totally lost our minds?

What next? Liberals for Hoover? After all the tax rate for the rich was raised to 60% under Hoover. Imagine Obama doing that today blah blah blah

[Fumesucker]

104. This isn't really a pro-Nixon OP..

Rather it's anti-Obama..

Which is why it's drawing so much flak.

[ProSense]

105. "Rather it's anti-Obama."

Really?

[Fumesucker]

134. Just my opinion..

But that's the way I see it..

And it's not just Obama but the Democratic party in general, they don't come off looking so good when compared with the bogeyman Nixon.

Also I don't mean to put all the blame on Obama, he is by no means the only player or the worst.

[EFerrari]

115. It's more a measure of how far to the right we've gone since then.

Obama didn't drag the party over here all by himself :)

[Fumesucker]

131. That's true..

I didn't mean to put all the blame on Obama, he is as much a product of the political environment as he is a driver of it.

[Soylent Brice]

247. bingo. n/t

[ShamelessHussy]

97. not if big money has anything to say and do about it

not to mention that it does not matter a wit, who cast the votes, but who counts the votes

and so it goes...

[harun]

99. Our government will get overthrown before that happens.

[tomp]

106. "Worked surprisingly tirelessly for native American rights...."

....and whose law enforcement agents created murderous havoc at Pine Ridge and whose justice department prosecuted Leonard Peltier, who is still in prison, unpardoned by any president, dem or repub,, "liberal" or "conservative".

[ProSense]

108. "I would love to see Obama be a Jimmy Carter style president,,,"

Think big

[bondwooley]

114. Yes! n/t

[amborin]

109. Nixon's health insurance plan was to the left of Obama's, also...

[ProSense]

110. Um

Really?

[amborin]

116. yes, really

[ProSense]

120. Saying it doesn't make it so. n/t

[SunnySong]

118. reading it above that was my take as well...

It certainly was easier to understand and explain to others than Obama's plan

[pattmarty]

168. Nice. Do the Fox "news" or Ann Coulter type of link. I'm going to...........

..........start "linking to myself" every time I post now. Intelligent.

[tomp]

121. it's not "we as a country" that has moved rightward.

it is the government that has moved that way.

the government, our so-called elected officials, now use sneakier and higher tech ways to fleece the people. the only difference is that we get fewer real bones, and more virtual bones, while they fleece us. example: obama himself is a virtual bone, i.e., he is African-American, charismatic, and presumed to be "liberal" due to media marketing. virtually everything we get from obama is far, far less than it could be given the democratic majority plus his popular support. the mere fact that the country is not rising up is testimony to the spectacularly effective bone-throwing by the powers that be.

[Turbineguy]

123. Well, it's true

that Reagan and two Bush's have certainly improved Nixon's place in history. If Sarah Palin is put into the White House it will be Progressives who will be putting up billboards of GW Bush with "Do you miss me yet?"

[Lorien]

124. We had a Democratic congress and Senate that acted like one, and the Fairness Doctrine

so naturally the President HAD to do more for the people, and the people were demanding positive change. I may never have been a fan of Nixon, but some of his policies were indeed excellent. He was quite a mixed bag as President go.

[SunnySong]

129. Exactly.. and we had people on the street and a middle class

that wanted a cleaner environment more than lower taxes and who wanted fair wages more than cheap crap from Walmart.

[ProSense]

133. People in the streets don't make Nixon liberal n/t

[SunnySong]

136. Without the enviromental movement cogress and Nixon don't pass/sign all that wonderful and

for the time radical legislation.

Per Senator Gaylord Nelson... "Earth Day proved popular in the United States and around the world. The first Earth Day had participants and celebrants in two thousand colleges and universities, roughly ten thousand primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities across the United States. More importantly, it "brought 20 million Americans out into the spring sunshine for peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform."

Senator Nelson stated that Earth Day "worked" because of the response at the grassroots level. Twenty-million demonstrators and thousands of schools and local communities participated.<29> He directly credited the first Earth Day with persuading U.S. politicians that environmental legislation had a substantial, lasting constituency."


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


20 million people voting with their feet. We are the people today? What do they really care about?

[ProSense]

137. Right, so Nixon wasn't liberal. n/t

[SunnySong]

138. The OP isn't about Nixon the man it is about the policies passed under his watch.

More money for the poor and a dramatically smaller percentage for defense. Taxing the wealthy and corporations ect...


When will we elect Democrats that can bring us back to those priorities.

[Mimosa]

201. Right on, SunnySong.

I understand that you're addressing policies not personalities. The corporations had solidified their hold on the country with the assassination of JFK. Eisenhower had warned about the power of the military industrial complex. Even Harry Truman wrote an ominous op-ed warning (published in the Washington Post) about the runaway 'strange' powers of the CIA exactly one month after the Kennedy assassination.

Nixon wasn't quite as 'evil' as the Bush family. He hadn't grown up in a privileged atmosphere and did retain some of the Quaker conscience with which he'd been imbued as a child. In spite of his ambition to climb and to succeed he wasn't totally ruthless.

[Mimosa]

202. I remember those days.

As a culture we've lost a lot since the 1970s.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

132. This is a decent example of how far the Republican party has shifted

And as a result our entire political structure and country as a whole. The GOP base is currently filled with ill informed people who live and breath for their daily dose of hate and lies. They've no real concept of what's for the better good of the people, themselves or the country. They're simply too distracted by the ignorant wedge issue being fed to them by their political leaders. Nixon was before my time, so I've no personal experience of what the Republican base was like then. I do know I've seen a surge of misinformed, hate motivated voters over the course of my adult life.

"Taxed the rich more than the poor." My brain is having a difficult time processing that information. I cannot imagine an America where the brunt of the tax burden wasn't on the shoulders of the working class.

[DailyGrind51]

139. Nixon devoted more Federal funding to cancer reasearch than any of his predecessors!

[keepCAblue]

142. Nixon gave the green light to Kaiser HMOs. "Less medical care. More profit"

And THAT (Less medical care. More profit.) is what destroyed quality medical care in this country today. The monstrous, heartless, profit-driven HMOs and insurance companies of today, we can thank Nixon and Edgar Kaiser for.

Partial Transcript:

Ehrlichman: “… private enterprise one.”

President Nixon: “Well, that appeals to me.”

Ehrlichman: “Edgar Kaiser is running his Permanente deal for profit. And the reason that he can … the reason he can do it … I had Edgar Kaiser come in … talk to me about this and I went into it in some depth. All the incentives are toward less medical care, because …”

President Nixon:

Ehrlichman: “… the less care they give them, the more money they make.”

President Nixon: “Fine.”

Ehrlichman: “… and the incentives run the right way.”

President Nixon: “Not bad.”

[keepCAblue]

143. self-deleted. duplicate. n/t

[keepCAblue]

144. Yeah, right. And imagine if Nixon-Bush-Dulles hadn't assassinated RFK, what might have been. n/t

[Crunchy Frog]

147. Sad but true.

[pattmarty]

152. Started the EPA, block grants to states. Yep, quite a "liberal" by............

...........today's fucked-up standards. I'd be happy if Obama were half as liberal in his policies. Oh, almost forgot that he came close to passing universal healthcare too.

[garybeck]

156. Started the DEA. not very liberal. n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

157. If we should hate nixon for just one thing...

it should be for opening trade relations with china. It was the death knell for american manufacturing.

[Catherina]

166. Chomsky on Nixon - "Richard Nixon—in many respects the last liberal president"

"when Richard Nixon — in many respects the last liberal president — declared a drug war in 1971, two-thirds of the funding went to treatment, which reached record numbers of addicts; there was a sharp drop in drug-related arrests and number of federal prison inmates, as well as crime rates."

http://www.chomsky.info/articles/200006--.htm




"Even that otherwise egregious warlock of Whittier, Richard Nixon, practiced domestic affairs in the tradition of social democracy. He was, in fact, our last liberal president, an amazing claim until one considers that he favored a negative income tax; tax revenue sharing; a guaranteed income for children; supplementary programs for the aged, blind and disabled; uniform application of the food stamp program; better health insurance programs for low income families, aid to community colleges, aid to low-income college students; the creation of the National Endowment of the Humanities; and increased funding for elementary and secondary schools. Today someone of Nixon's domestic political tendencies might be considered too radical for C-SPAN."

Why Bother?: Getting a Life in a Locked-Down Land
by Sam Smith

[ProSense]

200. Hunter Thompson on Nixon: HE WAS A CROOK

HE WAS A CROOK

[scarletwoman]

231. HST on Nixon in 2003: "I miss Nixon. Compared to these Nazis we have in the White House now,

Richard Nixon was a flaming Liberal."

[ProSense]

232. Nazis

always a good comparison for what a liberal hero should be. At least he had a point. Not sure he'd be advocating the return of Nixon as a liberal.

Anyway, Nixon was a sick bastard, and now he's gone.

[Sebastian Doyle]

167. Aside from his environmentalist leanings, Nixon was a Bush Crime Family fascist tool from the start

And that whole "opening China" business was done by then-ambassador Poppy Bush, who then turned things over to his brother Prescott Jr. who spent the remainder of his days selling out the US to the Chinese Communists, before finally relocating to Hell just this week. Where I'm sure Nixon warmly greeted him.

Well, it's Hell, so ALL the greetings are warm, but you know what I mean :evilgrin:

[earth mom]

169. Nixon was responsible for unleashing the health insurance industry on all of us

and so hell no, I don't think he was a liberal by any stretch of the imagination.

Nixon was an old school republican, who looks liberal now because both parties are more right than ever.

We haven't had a real old fashioned democrat in office since Jimmy Carter and look how they shit canned him and dissed him like he was garbage, which he wasn't! :grr:

But let's be honest here.

Corporate america is running the show and anyone who can't see that isn't paying attention to the BP gusher and how the Obama administration follows BP's orders instead of the other way around. :puke:

[KonaKane]

171. I guess I won't make the mistake of directly quoting Richard Nixon again

anyway, back to his Adoration Fest.

[Beartracks]

173. Wow - the last Repub pres who actually wanted to govern. n/t

[colsohlibgal]

177. Not Until We Break The Grip Of The Corporate State.

Until we do that the controlled MSM will control the visibility of candidates to make sure nobody remotely populist/progressive gets the White House.

[Major Hogwash]

179. We should rename Democratic Underground to Nixon Underground in his liberal honor.

Except it would wake the dead.
Get it?
Nixon . . underground?

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Where's my duzy?

[dionysus]

194. ROFL

:spray:

i love DU.

[ProSense]

199. Nixon 2012.

:rofl:

[SunnySong]

203. How about we just re-elected the head?

[ProSense]

206. Hey, Nixon is your guy.

"Will we ever elect a President as Liberal as Richard Nixon again... "

I hope the hell never.

[SunnySong]

208. Only in a cartoon fantasy world.

I do wish we could start to go back to policies that are for people and not corporations.

[ProSense]

209. "I do wish we could start to go back to policies that are for people and not corporations."

Like HMOs?

[TBF]

242. No we are talking about things like unions,

living wages (or jobs at all at this point...), and the continuation of social security.

We are not interested in your "privatization" plans. That I should have to spell this out to you is maddening.

[inna]

230. "Nixon is your guy" - malicious misrepresentation.

Typical.

[TBF]

243. You've made that quite clear,

I'm sure you'd be much happier with Ronald Reagan.

[RagAss]

210. You forgot Methadone Clinics.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

215. So you are idolizing a man who was a crook and a liar

A President who deliberately prolonged a war and sabotaged peace efforts so that he could get elected to office, ensuring that the war went on for another seven years and countless American and Vietnamese lives were taken in the process. Do you want Obama to do that in Afghanistan and Iraq?

A President who ruthlessly interfered with Latin American governments and installed a vicious military regime in Chile at the expense of an elected centre-left democratic government. Hey, I've got an idea -let's get President Obama to mastermind a coup in Brazil and get rid of Lula and install one of those brutal military regimes there. That would be a just the icing on the cake wouldn't it?

A President who tried to appoint southern segregationist bigots to the Supreme Court (thankfully the Senate blocked them). Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't we persuade President Obama to appoint Ted Olsen and Anne Coulter to the Supreme Court. Then he can be just like Nixon!

A President who did appoint William Rehnquist to the Supreme Court, an opponent of civil rights with a dubious background who went on to screw minority groups and women over for the next three decades.Yes, what was Obama thinking appointing a Hispanic woman to the Supreme Court. We need more judges like Rehnquist dammit!

[ProSense]

217. But he gave us HMOs. What's not to love? n/t

[SunnySong]

218. Ted Kennedy always regretted not making that deal.

And the idea of HMO's is not that far from most managed health care plans in Europe and Asia.


Read Nixon's plan and honestly tell me The United States was better off without it.

-
-
-


First, it offers every American an opportunity to obtain a balanced, comprehensive range of health insurance benefits;

Second, it will cost no American more than he can afford to pay;

Third, it builds on the strength and diversity of our existing public and private systems of health financing and harmonizes them into an overall system;

Fourth, it uses public funds only where needed and requires no new Federal taxes;

Fifth, it would maintain freedom of choice by patients and ensure that doctors work for their patient, not for the Federal Government.

Sixth, it encourages more effective use of our health care resources;

And finally, it is organized so that all parties would have a direct stake in making the system work--consumer, provider, insurer, State governments and the Federal Government.


--Employee Health Insurance, covering most Americans and offered at their place of employment, with the cost to be shared by the employer and employee on a basis which would prevent excessive burdens on either;

--Assisted Health Insurance, covering low-income persons, and persons who would be ineligible for the other two programs, with Federal and State government paying those costs beyond the means of the individual who is insured; and,

--An improved Medicare Plan, covering those 65 and over and offered through a Medicare system that is modified to include additional, needed benefits.
One of these three plans would be available to every American, but for everyone, participation in the program would be voluntary.

The benefits offered by the three plans would be identical for all Americans, regardless of age or income. Benefits would be provided for:
--hospital care;
--physicians' care in and out of the hospital;
--prescription and life-saving drugs;
--laboratory tests and X-rays;
--medical devices;
--ambulance services; and,
--other ancillary health care.

There would be no exclusions of coverage based on the nature of the illness. For example, a person with heart disease would qualify for benefits as would a person with kidney disease.

In addition, CHIP would cover treatment for mental illness, alcoholism and drug addiction, whether that treatment were provided in hospitals and physicians' offices or in community based settings.

Certain nursing home services and other convalescent services would also be covered. For example, home health services would be covered so that long and costly stays in nursing homes could be averted where possible.

The health needs of children would come in for special attention, since many conditions, if detected in childhood, can be prevented from causing lifelong disability and learning handicaps. Included in these services for children would be:
--preventive care up to age six;
--eye examinations;
--hearing examinations; and,
--regular dental care up to age 13.

Under the Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan, a doctor's decisions could be based on the health care needs of his patients, not on health insurance coverage. This difference is essential for quality care.

Every American participating in the program would be insured for catastrophic illnesses that can eat away savings and plunge individuals and families into hopeless debt for years. No family would ever have annual out-of-pocket expenses for covered health services in excess of $1,500, and low-income families would face substantially smaller expenses.

As part of this program, every American who participates in the program would receive a Health-card when the plan goes into effect in his State. This card, similar to a credit card, would be honored by hospitals, nursing homes, emergency rooms, doctors, and clinics across the country. This card could also be used to identify information on blood type and .sensitivity to particular drugs-information which might be important in an emergency.



Bills for the services paid for with the Health-card would be sent to the insurance carrier who would reimburse the provider of the care for covered services, then bill the patient for his share, if any.

[ProSense]

219. "Read Nixon's plan and honestly tell me The United States was better off without it." It didn't pass

but this did:

THE PRESIDENT’S PROPOSAL

February 22, 2010

The President’s Proposal puts American families and small business owners in control of their own health care.

• It makes insurance more affordable by providing the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, reducing premium costs for tens of millions of families and small business owners who are priced out of coverage today. This helps over 31 million Americans afford health care who do not get it today – and makes coverage more affordable for many more.
  
  
• It sets up a new competitive health insurance market giving tens of millions of Americans the exact same insurance choices that members of Congress will have.
  
  
• It brings greater accountability to health care by laying out commonsense rules of the road to keep premiums down and prevent insurance industry abuses and denial of care.
  
  
• It will end discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.

It puts our budget and economy on a more stable path by reducing the deficit by $100 billion over the next ten years – and about $1 trillion over the second decade – by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse.

PDF

KEY PROVISIONS THAT TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY

UNDER SENATE BILL AS AMENDED BY RECONCILIATION BILL

Below are some of the key provisions that will take effect immediately, under the legislative package the House will consider later this week (the Senate health bill as amended by the reconciliation bill). The reconciliation bill is based largely on the improvements put forward by the President’s proposal – moving towards the House bill in certain critical areas.

1. SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDITS—Offers tax credits to small businesses to make employee coverage more affordable. Tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums will be immediately available to firms that choose to offer coverage. Effective beginning for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2014, the small business tax credits will cover 50 percent of premiums.)
   
   
2. BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE—Provides a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the donut hole in 2010. Effective for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2011, institutes a 50% discount on brand-name drugs in the donut hole; also completely closes the donut hole by 2020.)
   
   
3. FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER MEDICARE—Eliminates co-payments for preventive services and exempts preventive services from deductibles under the Medicare program. Effective beginning January 1, 2011.
   
   
4. HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES—Creates a temporary re-insurance program (until the Exchanges are available) to help offset the costs of expensive health claims for employers that provide health benefits for retirees age 55-64. Effective 90 days after enactment
   
   
5. ENDS RESCISSIONS—Bans insurance companies from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Effective 6 months after enactment.
   
   
6. NO DISCRIMINATON AGAINST CHILDREN WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS—Prohibits health insurers from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, this prohibition would apply to all persons.)
   
   
7. BANS LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Prohibits health insurance companies from placing lifetime caps on coverage. Effective 6 months after enactment.
   
   
8. BANS RESTRICTIVE ANNUAL LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Tightly restricts new plans’ use of annual limits to ensure access to needed care. These tight restrictions will be defined by HHS. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, the use of any annual limits would be prohibited for all plans.)
   
   
9. FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER NEW PRIVATE PLANS—Requires new private plans to cover preventive services with no co-payments and with preventive services being exempt from deductibles. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2018, this requirement applies to all plans.)
   
   
10. NEW, INDEPENDENT APPEALS PROCESS—Ensures consumers in new plans have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal decisions by their health insurance plan. Effective 6 months after enactment.
    
    
11. ENSURING VALUE FOR PREMIUM PAYMENTS—Requires plans in the individual and small group market to spend 80 percent of premium dollars on medical services, and plans in the large group market to spend 85 percent. Insurers that do not meet these thresholds must provide rebates to policyholders. Effective on January 1, 2011.
    
    
12. IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED UNTIL EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE (INTERIM HIGH-RISK POOL)—Provides immediate access to insurance for Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition - through a temporary high-risk pool. Effective 90 days after enactment.
    
    
13. EXTENDS COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 26TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE – Requires health plans to allow young people up to their 26th birthday to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice. Effective 6 months after enactment.
    
    
14. COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS—Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for nearly a doubling of the number of patients seen by the centers over the next 5 years. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.
    
    
15. INCREASING NUMBER OF PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS—Provides new investment in training programs to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.
    
    
16. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SALARY—Prohibits new group health plans from establishing any eligibility rules for health care coverage that have the effect of discriminating in favor of higher wage employees. Effective 6 months after enactment.
    
    
17. HEALTH INSURANCE CONSUMER INFORMATION—Provides aid to states in establishing offices of health insurance consumer assistance in order to help individuals with the filing of complaints and appeals. Effective beginning in FY 2010.
    
    
18. CREATES NEW, VOLUNTARY, PUBLIC LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM—Creates a long-term care insurance program to be financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide benefits to adults who become functionally disabled. Effective on January 1, 2011.

[Mimosa]

224. That is better than what we got this year, alas.

And think how far ahead we'd be now if we'd gotten a public plan back in the 1970s.

[defendandprotect]

220. Nixon did all he could at the time to create this disaster we're living thru now --

[PatrynXX]

221. and kept some kick ass recordings....

some good shit always comes out every time they release more tapes

[Hutzpa]

222. If your meme is to go after Obama as they did Nixon

then you are in some kind of lala land. :wtf:

You want Obama to be more of Nixionian, I'm I @ the right forum....:crazy:

What has gotten into this place tonight?




:mad:

[Rex]

233. Nixon was a piece of garbage that ended his own career, by his own paranoid brain.

I'd just settle for another Jimmy Carter, but that will never happen - repukes will fuck up whatever administration it is no matter who is in charge.

[1776Forever]

234. The one thing I hate most about Nixon was he starting the privitzation of healthcare to form HMOs!

Michael Moore's Sicko
and the crimes of free-market medicine
by Mark Williams

http://home.flash.net/~comvoice/40cSicko.html

Sicko notes that the HMOs were given a big impetus by the Republican Nixon administration in the early 1970s. The film contains excerpts from a taped White House conversation between Nixon and John Ehrlichman, Nixon's top domestic affairs advisor, on health care policy. In this Feb. 17, 1971 conversation, Ehrlichman talks about his meeting with Edgar Kaiser, head of the Kaiser Permanente HMO. Ehrlichman says that health maintenance organizations should be a key part of Nixon's health care plans.

Why? Ehrlichman explains that "Edgar Kaiser is running his Permanente deal for profit. And the reason that he can . . . the reason he can do it . . . I had Edgar Kaiser come in . . . talk to me about this and I went into it in some depth. All the incentives are toward less medical care . . . the less care they give them, the more money they make." Nixon replies, "Not bad." The next day Nixon gave a televised speech announcing his new health care initiative which touted HMOs as a key to spreading health care. These tapes show that Nixon and co. saw the HMOs as a way to keep health care limited and that the main purpose they served was to fatten the wallets of the health care executives.

(to be far this didn't stop with Nixon)... From the film, one would get the impression that the huge expansion of the HMOs since the early 1970s was backed only by the Republicans. But in reality, it wasn't only Nixon's gang. The Democrats gave a great boost to the expansion of HMOs as well. And the bulk of the class collaborationist trade union leadership jumped on board in touting the HMOs sponsored at the workplace, over the progressive alternative of national health insurance for all. Indeed, while Nixon's original HMO-expanding plans died, they passed in a different form in a bill sponsored by Democratic liberal senator, Edward Kennedy. Back in the 1970s, Kennedy was boasting "As the author of the first HMO bill ever to pass the Senate, I find this spreading support for HMOs truly gratifying. . . . .

...........

So it was Nixon who was for cutting health care to make money first!

[1monster]

237. Sounds a lot like this book: SILENT COUP THE REMOVAL OF A PRESIDENT

By Len Colodny and Robert Gettlin

http://www.silentcoup.com/

I read it many many years ago--It was very interesting then, but I've forgotten much of what was in it. These would have been the same people who took out JFK and later sabotaged Jimmy Carter's attempts to get the hostages home and stole his debate prep notes and gave them to Reagan......

[retread]

239. Ask Salvador Allende or the “Frente Amplio” for starters.

[Heywood J]

246. Since when is $85.6B less than $76.6B?

compared to a decrease in defense spending in the same period from 40 percent of all federal outlays (or $78.6 billion) to 26.2 percent (or 85.6 billion).

He cut the defense budget from $78.6 billion to $85.6 billion? I'd like to have someone cut my pay the same way, thanks!

[MajorChode]

248. Here's what Nixon really did:

Here's just a couple of Nixon's fuckups as an example

Nixon extended the Vietnam war until it was politically favorable for him to start to withdraw.

Nixon created stagflation in the early 70's by strong-arming fed chairman Arthur Burns into flooding the economy with money so as to make the economy appear healthy before his reelection.

Nixon was an asshole of the 1st degree. The only thing that separates him from Raygun and Shrub is opportunity.

[MajorChode]

249. "Taxed the rich more than the poor"

Nixon made over a million dollars while he was president and paid almost no taxes:

1969 Income: $328,161 Tax: $72,682
1970 Income: $262,942 Tax: $792
1971 Income: $262,384 Tax: $878
1972 Income: $268,777 Tax: $4,298

[SunnySong]

250. 1971-1981 15 brackets 14% to 70%

Is there any reason we can't bring back a 70% top rate?

[MajorChode]

252. Certainly there is no reason, however...

it's a mistake to think that just because the top marginal tax rate may have been 70%, 90% or whatever that people actually paid that much. Nixon was a prime example of how deductions were used to exclude the vast majority of income from taxes, and most of those deductions heavily favored the rich.

[SunnySong]

253. True that,,, nt