Obama wants Net Neutrality, the GOP tries to pass legislation to forbid it.
Obama thinks local municipalities should be able to build their own broadband, Big Telecom disagrees, so does the GOP, so the GOP drafts legislation to make it illegal.
Anyone who claims both sides are the same is just ignorant or an idiot.
Bill takes away FCC powers on the books since 1934 and 1996.
ARSTECHNICA.COM|BY JON BRODKIN
“What the president, president’s campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote,” Romney said in the afternoon call, according to audio aired on ABC News.
Romney, who lost to Obama by 126 electoral votes, said the president courted voters by offering policies — some of them this election year — that appealed to key constituencies.
“With regards to the young people, for instance, a forgiveness of college loan interest, was a big gift,” Romney said, according to The New York Times. “Free contraceptives were very big with young college-aged women,” he continued. “And then, finally, Obamacare also made a difference for them, because as you know, anybody now 26 years of age and younger was now going to be part of their parents’ plan, and that was a big gift to young people. They turned out in large numbers, a larger share in this election even than in 2008.” The president’s health care reform plan, he added, also brought out support from African Americans and Hispanic voters.
“You can imagine for somebody making $25,000 or $30,000 or $35,000 a year, being told you’re now going to get free health care, particularly if you don’t have it, getting free health care worth, what, $10,000 per family, in perpetuity, I mean, this is huge,” he said. “Likewise with Hispanic voters, free health care was a big plus. But in addition with regards to Hispanic voters, the amnesty for children of illegals, the so-called Dream Act kids, was a huge plus for that voting group.”
Looks like Romney being “completely wrong” about his comments on the 47% were themselves completely wrong. The sad fact here is that I don’t think Romney gets that his “I’ll give you a 20% tax cut that doesn’t affect the deficit” was his own cynical attempt at “buying” the electorate….by advocating policies he thought were right for the country.
This GOP notion that the entirety of the Obama electorate, or even a sizable portion of it, just wants free stuff, is what is costing the GOP support. It’s a foolish notion, based on bloviating talkers on the radio, that was never based on any objective reality. It’s always been a subjective opinion. And a fairly unpopular one.
I think the thing that threw the GOP pollsters and faithful off was the this notion that the U.S. is a “conservative” nation (based on polls like this). They think that because twice as many people self-identify as “conservative”, they are therefore going to be Republicans. But when asked to self-identify, we find a greater number of people find themselves to be Democrats.
This is the GOP-Disconnect. Yes, many more Americans consider themselves to be conservative rather than liberal. But we also find more Americans consider themselves to be Democrats than Republicans.
Conclusion…Republicans assuming all Democrats are liberals is just flat out wrong. Republicans assuming all Democratic voters are just poor commies wanting free stuff are just wrong.
Until the GOP (and more importantly, their loudest media representatives) can come to terms with this disconnect, expect more “candid” comments like the ones Romney made…it’s what the GOP faithful truly believe…and it’s just not true.
The Wall Street Occupiers and the Democratic Party | LA Progressive http://www.laprogressive.com/progressive-issues/the-wall-street-occupiers-and-the-democratic-party/?utm_source=LAProgressiveNewsletter&utm_campaign=ebc07ce1a0-LAP_News_19_July_2011_Live7_18_2011&utm_medium=email
This is not to say that the Occupiers can have no impact on the Democrats. Nothing good happens in Washington –regardless of how good our president or representatives may be –unless good people join together outside Washington to make it happen. Pressure from the left is critically important.
But the modern Democratic Party is not likely to embrace left-wing populism the way the GOP has embraced –or, more accurately, been forced to embrace –right-wing populism. Just follow the money, and remember history.
This general shift of populism is a curious thing to watch…as it has been for a good long while.
Looks like it’s time for the next round of “Whats actually in the bill?”
UPDATE: We’ll get to what’s in the bill later. One other news story that fits into this agenda (and it ain’t an accident) is the recent news of the prosecution of Goldman Sachs.
Wall Street’s preeminent investment bank, Goldman Sachs, was charged Friday by the government with fraud in marketing exotic mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis.
The Securities and Exchange Commission brought the civil charges in federal court in Manhattan with a lawsuit against Goldman and one of the bank’s vice presidents.
The charges relate to so-called collateralized debt obligations — complex securities tied to the performance of subprime mortgages — that Goldman created in 2007 near the end of the housing boom.
The value of the securities plunged in the mortgage meltdown that began later that year, helping to set off the global financial crisis.
This was Sach’s own version of “too big to fail”. Since they had their hands in so many pies, it only made sense to bet against themselves, in the twisted logic of the money-makers-movers-and-shakers.
They are probably totally hosed here. This is going to shut them up, and some others, about the new regulations. Personally I’m for them (in a general sense). I like the idea of a Consumer Protection Agency. Many whistles were blown in the Fed’s direction as far back as 2000 about the shady crap, but it didn’t make it far enough up the chain. Hence the CPA.
I also like more light on the derivatives and more complex weird products being sold. Just like Enron (and under the same guy), Wall Street was making loads of cash by hiding all the risk (and loss). More light makes that harder, and in the global age, after a global meltdown, international havens for sums that large are going to be hard to come by (in the long run). Our recent move to go after the “Swiss Bank Account” b.s. is a good example of this.
The (R)’s are in a tough place, again. Having to argue that Obama is owned by the banks (bailout) and a socialists against them (new regulations) while trying to stymie legislation wanted by the majority of the country and the majority of the government. My guess would be misdirection as their strategy.
[videos forthcoming]
US NEWS
People thieving the electrons.
Obama Budget Strategy raises questions.
New home construction gets a lift (month-to-month).
Small business help on the way.
A couple economists agree that printing money is a good idea…today.
China wants a new global currency standard.
McCain Twitterview a joke, a stilted lagging joke.
Probe into AIG bonuses launched.
Gassley suggest suicide for AIG execs, then back off to resignation and public flogging.
Laid off worked parades in front of AIG mansion.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Pakistan moves closer to rule of law.
Iraqi government wants heads to roll.
Dead Sea Scrolls authors existence questioned.
Pope v. witchcraft and tribalism.
Everyone of the Book (Christian, Muslim, Jew) vs teh Gays.
SCIENCE/TECH
Veggie garden makes a return to White House lawn.
Obama gets schooled on Special Olympics and bowling. NOTE: Bowling not a particularly intellectual pursuit.
Dean says either Clinton or Obama must drop out in June – Yahoo News
WASHINGTON – Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Monday that either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama must drop out of the Democratic presidential race after the June primaries in order to unify the party by the convention and win the election in November.
But Dean didn’t say which candidate should drop out, only that it should happen after primary voters have been to the polls.
“We want the voters to have their say. That’s over on June 3,” Dean said in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
I would love to see Clinton end up being as big a man as Gore was during the 2000 election (debacle), and step down for the good of the party, but I seriously doubt she has the balls to do so.
Dean makes some obvious points in the statement.
Dean also said that while the party rules say Democratic superdelegates can wait until the party’s August 25 convention to make up their minds, that would be too late to unify the party and defeat the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain.
“We really can’t have a divided convention. If we do it’s going to be very hard to heal the party afterwards,” Dean said. “So we’ll know who the nominee is and that’ll give us an extra 2 1/2 months to get our party together, heal the wounds of having a very closely divided race and take on Senator McCain.”
C’mon HIll-dog, do the right thing.
Oh, wait, it’s Hill-rod, who needs to do the right thing.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Nearly 20 high-profile Hillary Clinton backers strongly criticized Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday over her recent suggestion that Democratic party superdelegates should not overturn the pledged delegate outcome at the party’s convention this August.In a letter to the House Speaker dated Wednesday, the backers said that position is at odds with the party’s original intent on what the role of superdelegates should be. (Read full letter [PDF])
“Superdelegates, like all delegates, have an obligation to make an informed, individual decision about whom to support and who would be the party’s strongest nominee,” the backers wrote.
“Both campaigns agree that at the end of the primary contests neither will have enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination,” they also said. “In that situation, super-delegates must look to not one criterion but to the full panoply of factors that will help them assess who will be the party’s strongest nominee in the general election.”
In an ABC interview earlier this month, Pelosi said it was her belief whichever candidate ended the round a primaries with the pledged-delegate lead should be awarded the Democratic nomination by the superdelegates. That argument would benefit Barack Obama, whose current pledged delegate lead of 171 is virtually insurmountable given the party’s proportional delegation allocations, even if Clinton were to win each of the remaining 10 primary contests.
You lost, girl. Now deal with it.
Robot Pirate Ninja 