General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKRUGMAN: We aren’t the “center-right” country of (The News Media/GOP) fantasy
November 11, 2012, 5:58 PM28 Comments
Organization
James Fallows says something Ive been thinking, too:
........ the Democrats now look like the natural party of government. Bush had already established a reputation for being unable to get anything right in the actual business of governing; all that was supposedly left was political prowess, and now thats gone too. And even the news media have, I think, begun to notice that we arent the center-right country of fantasy, were a diverse nation, ethnically and otherwise, in which a lot of liberal ideas have become perfectly mainstream.
Still, hubris and all that: this newly effective coalition could be shattered if taken for granted. And you know what could really produce the kind of dispirited base that was supposed to doom Obama in 2012? A sellout on key Democratic values as part of a Grand Bargain. If, say, Obama raises the retirement age in return for vague promises on revenue (promises that would be betrayed at the first opportunity); if he appoints a deficit scold to a major economic post; it could all fall apart.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/organization/
ananda
(28,864 posts)..
closeupready
(29,503 posts)her readers, writing a campaign post-mortem on the explicit assumption that the US is a 'center-right' country - even though the United States was born out of a violent revolution. Gotta love how they always overlook that little fact. I am not saying that violent revolution is the way to go, please note; just saying that it is 100% false to claim or imply that the US is center-right. It is both historically and currently liberal.
savannah43
(575 posts)Why would anyone who can think pay attention to anything she states?
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)I haven't listened to her prattling since she chided Clinton for "not recognizing" that god, himself, had sent dolphins to help Elias Gonzalez make it to America.
Jesus on toast, what a bunch of mush! And this specimen wrote speeches for the so called "Great Communicator"?????
The whole talking head circuit of right wing and right leaning talk shows are a bunch of has-beens and total failures. I mean, they "interview" Dennis Miller on Fox News fer Christ sake!
reformist2
(9,841 posts)intheflow
(28,476 posts)I'm going to scream. We The People are firmly on the left. Our government stubbornly persists in staying quite right of center.
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)Doesn't that make him a center-right politician, just like a good republican should be?
And wouldn't it make sense for the GOP to become center-righterer? (Yes, that's a word. Because I said so.)
coldbeer
(306 posts)and we are drifting to atheism because we
have no choice. Ain't politicians liars by definition?
When you investigate Christianity you realize that
we preachers are liars. Let's pay taxes and educate
our children.
Hutzpa
(11,461 posts)compromise got thrown out the window when republicans spits at the face of the president eery chance they get. We will begin to see how the president plans to govern by his nominations.
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)But wouldn't that just make us "them"?
It's not "no compromise" .... it's "well, if you guys aren't gonna govern, we will."
I think President Obama needs to pay more heed to the people that elected him instead of back stabbing leaders in the Democratic party that want to throw them under the bus once they get our votes.
I just got through listening to Ed Rendell's comments on TV. He is encouraging President Obama to consult Business on this Fiscal Cliff. I think the President is best served to get the Labor Unions at the table too, so we want get raped.
RC
(25,592 posts)Obama does need to start paying more attention to "We the people..." than to Wall Street and the "to big to fail" corporations that are failing this nation.
of 'compromise' willl be in the Cabinet appointees. And if Erskine Bowles is nominated for anything, I will scream to high heaven. He has been mentioned as a possibility.
Why can't he appoint someone for Treasury who has NOT worked at the Fed/Goldman Sachs? How about Krugman? How about any Economist who understands MONEY?
And btw, Obama has just as much a MANDATE as W did.
Tax the Rich until their eyes bleed!
zentrum
(9,865 posts)Make him know and feel our opposition to being dragged back to compromise.
Don't just post here. Post to Obama.
femrap
(13,418 posts)asking him to tax the rich and I got a very nice email reply on fancy WH email paper!!!!
First response I ever got. I'm saving it!
And if anyone has a Repugnant Congresscritter or Senator, write them as well. In fact, I'm doing a 3-prong approach:
1. Email (which is the worst way imho), but I do it.
2. Phone them
3. Snail mail to the WH, but for the House and Senate, send to their HOME office. It gets there quicker and is taken more seriously by the locals who work in those offices. Print out your email and mail it. Sometimes I put glitter in it to get their attention. Or confetti. Or both, if I'm in a bad mood. I'm crafty.
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)I think I will.
I want Obama to ask GOP leaders whom they serve. Their citizens? or one citizen: Grover Norquist. Does his pledge override their pledge to the country? Does an oath to The Family trump their oath of office?
AzDar
(14,023 posts)UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)redqueen
(115,103 posts)I have a sad suspicion that they may try some kind of "But midterms! Gotta be moderate for the midterms!" bullshit.... but no. That's a lie.
Because when they say "moderate" they mean "right wing" and the only thing that will help in the midterms is if we stick to those core liberal issues like Warren did.
Any pandering to the illusory "center" is asking to lose the house, and more.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)Bravo!
quinnox
(20,600 posts)wiggs
(7,814 posts)but that the gop poisoned and polarized discourse so much that the public turns against issues IF CONNECTED WITH DEMS OR THE PRESIDENT.
The public option had 71% approval before the gop pissed all over it and Obama. Most of the ACA provisions have wide support. Likewise, most dem positions have wide support as long as you don't ask respondents to choose political sides on the issues.
Autumn
(45,096 posts)DCKit
(18,541 posts)And somehow, this white guy isn't panicking. I'm surrounded by variously tinted folks with great ideas, and I love those ppl. "Forward", "Move On", let's get on with it.
Hope I live long enough to see the result of this - a shrunken military and more social spending.
Pachamama
(16,887 posts)...compared to how they ignored VALUABLE advice at the beginning of last term.
History repeats itself if we dont learn from the mistakes of the past....
President Obama - pay attention to what Paul Krugman is saying here.....very important....