Kucinich: 'Class War Is Over, Working People Lost'

[brentspeak]

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/144650/kucinich%3A_%27class_war_is_over%2C_working_people_lost%27

"The class warfare is over -- we lost," Kucinich said before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "I want to make that announcement today. Working people lost. The middle class lost."

The harrowing comments from Kucinich, who is Chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, come amidst a national unemployment rate of 10 percent, one year and several months after the economic collapse of 2008 has marred the livelihoods of many.

snip

Kucinich, who voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (also known as the Wall Street bailout), lamented it as a catalyzing force for the rising inequality of income in the United States. "The wealth of this nation is being accelerated upward," Kucinich said. "That’s one of the problems that I had with the bailout."

"You could say that it helped stabilize the American economy, but what I see is the separation between the real economy and Wall Street. Wall Street is stabilizing, markets are a lot better, banks are doing well -- they parked their money at the Fed for a while so they could get higher interest rates."

[DebbieCDC]

1. K&R

[mbperrin]

2. Why can't Dennis the K get his clone to come to Texas to represent

me?

Please????

[ProSense]

3. That article is from Dec. 17, and

working people won today, despite past declarations from Kucinich.

[jefferson_dem]

5. Stale stories and right-wing claptrap is all the cynics have to work with nowadays.

I kind of feel sorry for 'em.

[brentspeak]

11. If I were you, I'd be feeling sorry for myself

Being dumb enough to label Dennis Kucinich's statement "right-wing claptrap" is a sure sign one's brain is in the crapper.

[jefferson_dem]

23. Well, I wasn't referring directly to Kooch in my comment.

Though the story *about* Kooch posted in the OP fits into the "stale" category I mentioned.

The right-wing claptrap is being dropped all over this board by supposed "progressives" who want to join teabaggers in the "kill the bill" campaign. Have you not been paying attention?

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

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

[jefferson_dem]

33. I didn't realize you also torture bunnies.

[arcadian]

47. Kooch is a derogatory term.

I expect it from you though.

[fascisthunter]

17. you will say anything... sad but true

corporate shill

[jefferson_dem]

28. I will say...

that your use of "corporate shill" as an attack label says more about you than it does me.

Good luck with that.

[Ken Burch]

50. Working people can be said to have won

If the good stuff gets put back in the bill in the conference committee.

[OHdem10]

4. In other words, the DLC reigns and rules.--pulling the strings.

[AuntPatsy]

6. Okay if he is saying to get over it and just sit it out now, he lost my respect...

I thought this guy was a fighter? Sounds like he has given up and is encouraging others to do the same..

Are we willing to allow that we are losers?

Is this a leader?

[dipsydoodle]

7. They interviewed him live

on UK TV news and he spoke a lot of sense.

Not having a royal family doesn't seem to have prevented all of you being royaly shafted. :sarcasm:

I ever hear "change you can believe in" again I'll fucking scream.

[fascisthunter]

8. sad, but true as for now

But Dennis, the war will still be fought, so don't give up sir! I know what ya meant, but we need to see this fight as a long-term battle. More that 90% of this country is just finding out that there had been a war on them for years and years. Awareness changes everything.

[ProSense]

10. "But Dennis, the war will still be fought, so don't give up sir! " Dennis the quitter?

:rofl:

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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

[ProSense]

16. "Who has been paying you for all this past year's insurance shilling on this website?"

Now, I'm laughing at you.

[brentspeak]

21. Before you do that, answer the question

[ProSense]

24. You're pathetic

and I'm still laughing.

[donco6]

53. I'd love to know, too.

Pro$sen$e has some serious time on her hands.

[jeanpalmer]

38. DK understands

you can't win with a sellout to the insurance industry.

[Cali_Democrat]

9. Is this the same Dennis Kucinich that was considering Ron Paul as a running mate?

The same guy that has claimed to see a UFO and has been married 3 times?

Credibility is an important thing in politics and it's a shame he has none.

[brentspeak]

14. Interesting that you have the word "Democrat" in your username

Seeing that you are ridiculing a congressional Democrat, just how much of a "Democrat" are you?

[jefferson_dem]

26. Since you bring it up -- 58 Democrats (and one Socialist) voted for reform today.

40 Repugs voted against reform today.

Which side are you on?

[fascisthunter]

15. Do you Know the Definition of UFO

Unidentified Flying Object.... which means, if you are an idiot and need to know, it means you could not identify what you had seen, just as OUR OWN MILITARY does!

As for running with Ron Paul, he was never going to do it, but you run with that you conservo loser.

[Cali_Democrat]

19. Dude...it's his problem if he thinks he sees aliens, not mine.

He did want to consider Ron Paul as a running mate. To even consider it is disturbing.

What about the fact that he's been married 3 times? He's getting into Tiger Woods territory.

His credibility is zero.

[fascisthunter]

22. Where did he mention Aliens... lets see a direct quote!

put up or shut up liar

[SoxFan]

42. Actually, he saw a Black Triangle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_triangle_(UFO)

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2007/10/kucinich_had_a_ufo_encounter_according_to_friend_shirley_maclaine.php

[fascisthunter]

48. wow... a black triangle... still no word on aliens

I guess people have to make shit up to bring the man down.

[krabigirl]

61. Who cares if he believes in UFO's? How is that different from belief in a god? ro

or the marriages...hello?

[Laelth]

12. k&r for the Honorable Dennis Kucinich. n/t

Kill the bill.

Forcing people to buy insurance is no more the answer to a failed health care system than forcing people to buy houses is the solution to homelessness.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Garam_Masala]

18. Dennis is one of the few genuine and honest politicians

You can always count on him to follow with action what he promises.
he can not be bought easily like most others.

[suzie]

30. Kucinich is known among his colleagues as someone who likes to score quick political points, but is

uninterested in doing the follow through and difficult work that involves getting legislation passed.

But he does provide those great talking points which can be repeated over and over on internet forums.

[grytpype]

20. Yep, this is all a Noble Failure.

But that's what libs like.

They can't govern, so they "stand up for their principles" and lose.

Then they go home and cry about how good and pure they are and how mean the world is.

Fine. I'm glad we have Obama in the WH to move the country forward rather than lose and cry.

[brentspeak]

25. FDR couldn't govern?

How much bailout money did FDR give to the banksters in his time? How many Treasury stooges did FDR appoint to protect the banks and their profits at all cost?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

34. Don't much about the Roosevelt Administration, eh?

Reading. It's a good thing.

[brentspeak]

60. Write something that contradicts my post and I'll read it.

[ipaint]

27. Quick look over here!ll! Dennis saw a UFo...Oh Noes!!

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

Rahm Emanuel's profitable stint at mortgage giant

"On Emanuel's watch, the board was told by executives of a plan to use accounting tricks to mislead shareholders about outsize profits the government-chartered firm was then reaping from risky investments. The goal was to push earnings onto the books in future years, ensuring that Freddie Mac would appear profitable on paper for years to come and helping maximize annual bonuses for company brass.

The accounting scandal wasn't the only one that brewed during Emanuel's tenure.

During his brief time on the board, the company hatched a plan to enhance its political muscle. That scheme, also reviewed by the board, led to a record $3.8 million fine from the Federal Election Commission for illegally using corporate resources to host fundraisers for politicians. Emanuel was the beneficiary of one of those parties after he left the board and ran in 2002 for a seat in Congress from the North Side of Chicago.

The board was throttled for its acquiescence to the accounting manipulation in a 2003 report by Armando Falcon Jr., head of a federal oversight agency for Freddie Mac. The scandal forced Freddie Mac to restate $5 billion in earnings and pay $585 million in fines and legal settlements. It also foreshadowed even harder times at the firm."

...In his investigation, Falcon concluded that the board of directors on which Emanuel sat was so pliant that Freddie Mac's managers easily were able to massage company ledgers. They manipulated bookkeeping to smooth out volatility, perpetuating Freddie Mac's industry reputation as "Steady Freddie," a reliable producer of earnings growth. Wall Street liked what it saw, Freddie Mac's stock value soared and top executives collected their bonuses.

Another focus of Freddie during Emanuel's day—and one that played to his skill set—was a stepped-up effort to combat congressional demands for more regulation."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-rahm-emanuel-profit-26-mar26,0,5682373.story?page=1


Freddie Mac scandals began during Emanuel's watch
By Bob Secter and Andrew Zajac Tribune reporters

March 26, 2009


Before its portfolio of bad loans helped trigger the current housing crisis, mortgage giant Freddie Mac was the focus of a major accounting scandal that led to a management shake-up, huge fines and scalding condemnation of passive directors by a top federal regulator.

One of those allegedly asleep-at-the-switch board members was Chicago's Rahm Emanuel—now chief of staff to President Barack Obama—who made at least $320,000 for a 14-month stint at Freddie Mac that required little effort.

As gatekeeper to Obama, Emanuel now plays a critical role in addressing the nation's mortgage woes and fulfilling the administration's pledge to impose responsibility on the financial world.

Emanuel's Freddie Mac involvement has been a prominent point on his political résumé, and his healthy payday from the firm has been no secret either. What is less known, however, is how little he apparently did for his money and how he benefited from the kind of cozy ties between Washington and Wall Street that have fueled the nation's current economic

...The Obama administration rejected a Tribune request under the Freedom of Information Act to review Freddie Mac board minutes and correspondence during Emanuel's time as a director. The documents, obtained by Falcon for his investigation, were "commercial information" exempt from disclosure, according to a lawyer for the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rahm-emanuelmar26,0,1946702.story?page=2


The benefits of having friends in high places and the their ever eager shills to distract from their dirty deeds.

Let's see profit handsomely from helping to cause the housing bubble and subsequent collapse vs. seeing a UFO years ago.

Hmmm... it's so hard to figure out which criminal belongs in jail and which is the DLC's shiny object of the day.

[fascisthunter]

29. DLCers are trolls, republicans in Dem clothing

the corporate arm of both parties making deals behind closed doors for the rich and powerful. Anything more pathetic than that? One must really hate their country and really look down upon democracy itself to accept these corrupt bastards.

[phleshdef]

31. Kucinich has turned into nothing more than a petty attention whore.

[Armstead]

35. Maybe -- But he is usually telling the truth too

Shoot the messenger seems to be as common in the Democratic Party as the GOP these days.

Kucinich certainly has his faults -- but his analysis of issues, and his suggested solutions, are usually spot on.

[fascisthunter]

49. sounds like you hate what he says and just want to attack his character

because you really can't argue against what he says.

[Name removed]

54. Deleted message

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

[ClarkUSA]

59. More than that, he's a Failer who promised to work with the GOP caucus to defeat HCR.

The only folks who failed are the Failers.

:rofl:

Here's how others who aren't playing to the Eternally Bitter see it:

Why the health care bill is the greatest social achievement of our time.
Jonathan Chait, Senior Editor of The New Republic
December 24, 2009 | 12:00 am

The first thing reform does is make insurance affordable for people who currently can’t buy it. Why can’t people afford insurance now? Well, either they don’t get it through work and can’t afford a regular insurance plan (say, a cashier at Wal Mart who doesn’t get insurance through her job) or they have a preexisting condition which means no insurer will sell them a regular insurance plan (say, a diabetic who can’t get insurance on the individual market.) Or sometimes both (a diabetic Wal Mart cashier, perhaps.)

Health reform solves the affordability problem by subsidizing insurance coverage, or expanding Medicaid, for low- and moderate-income families. And it solves the pre-existing condition problem by setting up a marketplace, called an exchange, where insurers must sell policies to anybody, at one price, and cover all basic services. In order to prevent people from going uninsured until they get sick, it also requires everybody to purchase insurance, except in limited hardship cases...

Reality lies in between the two mutually exclusive caricatures. First of all, the insurance industry has taken a decidedly mixed stance on health care reform... Second of all, most of us normally accept private profit accompanying public services. Liberals don’t call programs to reduce class size a “teacher’s union bailout.” Nor do liberals call Pentagon increases a “defense contractor’s bailout.” Insurers may be getting a lot of new customers, but that comes with the trade-off of a lot of unwanted regulation. There is more at work in the progressive revolt than an irrational attachment to the public plan or an executive distrust of private industry. The bizarre convergence of left-wing and right-wing paranoia echoes the forces that brought down the moderate consensus of the postwar era.

http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/just-noise

[krabigirl]

62. and Obama, a corporate whore.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

36. I was hoping you were being ironic in posting this...

but apparently you're not.

As of this week, the federal investment in TARP funding is projected to begin turning a profit. Even with interest, the taxpayers are likely to get all their money back.

In other words, Dennis was dead wrong on the subject of TARP, and he's dead wrong on the subject of Health Care Reform.

[tranche]

37. It would be nice if he would do something about it.

Every time I seem to hear from this guy is after a bill is passed.

[SoxFan]

39. He's a completely ineffective fringe player

[jefferson_dem]

40. A political gadfly.

More of a mild nuisance than anything.

[Armstead]

43. He's an ineffectual version of Bernie Sanders

He doesn't have Bernie's ability to effectively wheel and deal, and he's too flaky as a person. So he gets in hos own way too often.

But like Bernie, his positions usually make sense when he has an opportunity to explain them in a calm setting.

[David Zephyr]

41. I have to agree with Dennis. It's over. Even the Democrats sold out.

Money trumps people.

[Dinger]

46. corporate whore repuke or corporate whore dem, Take Your Pick (nt)

[Sultana]

44. Yawn!

:boring:

[krawhitham]

45. Well if Kucinich says it then it must be true

Oh wait he is one of the worse dems we have

[jeanpalmer]

51. We clearly lost

"The wealth of this nation is being accelerated upward..." That says it all. That's what it's all about.

[zulchzulu]

52. Kucinich is a self-absorbed hack

As a leader of the progressive movement, Kucinich has proven to be an ineffective little prick who hopefully gets voted out by someone else who can kick his ass in the primary, if that's possible.

I remember back in 2003 when Kucinich was going to speak at the BobFest (Bob LaFollette) in Baraboo, WI and someone I knew decided he would pick Kucinich and his aide at the Madison Airport and take him to the event.

He was all excited about being able to drive him and also was hauling up a lot of grassroots merch for the Candidate section.

What did Little Dennis do?

He fucking told my friend to just drive and didn't want to engage in even polite discussion. He was yelling at other staffers on his cell phone and his aide sat stone-faced jotting down stuff on a notebook. The drive to the event takes an hour and a half.

When they got there, my friend left him off and Kucinich barked that he would need him to drive him back after he spoke.

My friend then went to set up the fairly large Kucinich table with TVs playing Kucinich speeches, bumperstickers, buttons and other merch that they bought to give away.

Did Kucinich visit the table of these dedicated fans and have the common decency to thank them for their efforts? Fuck no.

My friend then had to drive back Kucinich and not be able to attend the other cool events/speakers that were scheduled.

Kucinich again demanded silence from the driver, my friend. Oh, and he didn't give him a dime for gas either.

Compare that to myself who drove people like Ted Kennedy around when he came to Madison. We joked, laughed and discussed the campaign when it was not distracting.

Kucinich needs to resign and go the fuck away.

[brentspeak]

56. I hope your information concerning that incident is more reliable than the info you provided here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=78102&mesg_id=80822

[hulka38]

55. You DLC people wanted the invasion of Iraq. You thought the economy was in great shape

because the Dow hit 1400. You people have no idea what's going on until it is force fed to you.

[totodeinhere]

57. Thank you Dennis for having the balls to tell the truth.

Dean/Kucinich in 2012. And don't tell me that ticket couldn't win. By then the American people will be desperate for real change.

[uponit7771]

58. Kucinich would veto the tripling of CHC's, that's a shame...