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woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 01:00 AM Jul 2013

So what in the new progressive economic agenda are you most excited about?

There was a big speech. I heard it was really good.

So what is the new progressive agenda? What are the proposals that people are most excited about, that are finally going to hold criminal banks and corporations accountable and reverse the massive theft of wealth from the poor and middle classes to the one percent?

I really hope he talked about finally rejecting austerity and cuts to Social Security. And did he mention putting his foot down and rejecting the Trans-Pacific job and wage-killing agreement? What did he say about criminal banks and corporations? Did he mention the trillions being stashed overseas?

Let's talk about the bold new progressive agenda. What is he going to fight for and passionately advocate from the bully pulpit? What is the bold new narrative, and what are the *major* new proposals revealed today, that you think will finally bring fundamental change and economic security and growth to the 99 percent?


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So what in the new progressive economic agenda are you most excited about? (Original Post) woo me with science Jul 2013 OP
"Major" is much less important than "feasible" Recursion Jul 2013 #1
It's better than temporary311 Jul 2013 #2
Not always Recursion Jul 2013 #3
I don't agree. Absolutely so. delrem Jul 2013 #20
So, what's new that was proposed ohheckyeah Jul 2013 #6
No it's not! Fearless Jul 2013 #39
Get your shovel ready for the big Jobs Program leftstreet Jul 2013 #4
Really? Is there a jobs program in the speech? woo me with science Jul 2013 #5
Uh...he said he'd reveal the details in the coming weeks leftstreet Jul 2013 #7
Hate to tell you...Obama is a centrist/moderate/pragmatist. He gets stuff done Pretzel_Warrior Jul 2013 #8
Yes, he gets stuff done.... YoungDemCA Jul 2013 #10
Prepare to be eternally disappointed by politics, young democrat Pretzel_Warrior Jul 2013 #11
you don't have to be young to be disappointed. I'm in my late thirties and I am disgusted. liberal_at_heart Jul 2013 #14
Prepare to have your skull cracked by the repressive forces Pretzel_Warrior Jul 2013 #23
People are already dying from poverty. At some point the masses don't have much left to lose, and liberal_at_heart Jul 2013 #27
yep. Sadly I don't think there'll be real change until we see a few banksters'' or other 1%ers' kath Jul 2013 #35
A fucking men, lah.. WCGreen Jul 2013 #25
Hey, they get medical marijuana dispensaries closed, and work with the GOP to keep NSA funding going villager Jul 2013 #30
What stuff is he going to get done economically? woo me with science Jul 2013 #12
They just want to keep the trickledown economics alive Rex Jul 2013 #9
I hear Larry Summers may be coming to town. That should "fix" a lot. nt adirondacker Jul 2013 #13
Wow! Someone named "Summers." woo me with science Jul 2013 #16
I don't think he's any relation to Susan. But he was president of Harvard, where all the smart adirondacker Jul 2013 #19
Except,according to him, even at Harvard women's brains aren't equipped to do math or science. kath Jul 2013 #37
Riiiight! I think he studied that or something, so it must be true. adirondacker Jul 2013 #41
He'll have to have another beer with Boehner to get the details. Tierra_y_Libertad Jul 2013 #15
This "Boehner" person. woo me with science Jul 2013 #21
or a golf game Skittles Jul 2013 #26
Oh good a re-branding. limpyhobbler Jul 2013 #17
I was sure he was going to talk about woo me with science Jul 2013 #18
McJobs for all! limpyhobbler Jul 2013 #22
Ask the Republicans. joshcryer Jul 2013 #24
Yes, they *DO* seem to have a lot of influence! woo me with science Jul 2013 #28
They control half the government with regards to economic policy? joshcryer Jul 2013 #29
Do they control what he does about the Trans Pacific? woo me with science Jul 2013 #31
Yup, KORUS FTA had to pass the House and Senate by super-majority. joshcryer Jul 2013 #32
What?! The US Korea Free Trade Agreement FORCES Obama to negotiate the TPP?! woo me with science Jul 2013 #33
Oh, confused KORUS with TPP. Nah, but TPP would have to pass Congress. joshcryer Jul 2013 #36
I can't stay in character, Josh. woo me with science Jul 2013 #50
I didn't say that. joshcryer Jul 2013 #51
+1000 Hydra Jul 2013 #56
I'm sorry you missed it. It was inspiring. I don't remember the words exactly, but it jtuck004 Jul 2013 #34
Yeah, his speeches are always inspiring. kath Jul 2013 #38
+1 Fearless Jul 2013 #40
+2 adirondacker Jul 2013 #43
The fact that I think absolutely no one in this thread ACTUALLY saw this "big speech" Fearless Jul 2013 #42
i just finished listening to it. Must work hard to make it. Wind, Solar, online college, yay! nt adirondacker Jul 2013 #44
Is this "eat your peas" version 2? Fearless Jul 2013 #46
Pretty much. He did have a soulful begining and end to his speech, but stuff in the middle SOS. adirondacker Jul 2013 #48
That will not do come midterms. Fearless Jul 2013 #49
I reserve the right to believe it when I see it AgingAmerican Jul 2013 #45
''So what is the new progressive agenda?'' DeSwiss Jul 2013 #47
Gee, I wonder who. woo me with science Jul 2013 #54
He said something about calling some college presidents when he gets stumped. Waiting For Everyman Jul 2013 #52
Oh yeah, and Democrats need get rid of programs that don't work as well as they should jtuck004 Jul 2013 #53
Record U.S. natural gas and booming oil production. Broward Jul 2013 #55
So-called progressives decide to bash a speech they didn't bother geek tragedy Jul 2013 #57

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
3. Not always
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 01:05 AM
Jul 2013

There are situations where that's true, and situations where a bad plan is better than no plan. The trick is knowing the difference.

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
5. Really? Is there a jobs program in the speech?
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 01:14 AM
Jul 2013

I didn't see it! Can you tell me about it?


Oh...you were kidding.

 

Pretzel_Warrior

(8,361 posts)
8. Hate to tell you...Obama is a centrist/moderate/pragmatist. He gets stuff done
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 01:23 AM
Jul 2013

You can look down your nose at his removing all troops from Iraq, escalating removal of all troops in Afghanistan, passing the stimulus bill, passing health care reform, ending DADT, coming out in support of gay marriage, and getting a financial consumer protection agency in place, but those and many other accomplishments are big deals.

 

YoungDemCA

(5,714 posts)
10. Yes, he gets stuff done....
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:10 AM
Jul 2013

Removing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, while keeping an American "presence" there, passing a watered-down, tax-cut heavy stimulus to appeal to a Republican House conference that voted unanimously against it, passing the Heritage Foundation's health care plan, dragging his feet on DADT and gay marriage until finally caving to pressure from LGBT activists, and getting one agency in place amidst the Too Big to Jail bankers being protected and strengthened...

Yeah, I can't see why anyone would have a problem with Obama's policies. No siree...

liberal_at_heart

(12,081 posts)
14. you don't have to be young to be disappointed. I'm in my late thirties and I am disgusted.
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:17 AM
Jul 2013

I am now an ex democrat because I am so disgusted. I can't believe so many people just accept that this is the way it has to be. People didn't just accept things the way they were during the civil rights movement or the women's rights movement or even during the labor movement when unions were born. We can have another labor movement. I do not accept that this is the way it has to be.

liberal_at_heart

(12,081 posts)
27. People are already dying from poverty. At some point the masses don't have much left to lose, and
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:37 AM
Jul 2013

they are willing to risk it all just for the chance to make it better for their children. That is when you see real change, and with corporations trying to make minimum wage the standard wage for all it won't take long to reach that point.

kath

(10,565 posts)
35. yep. Sadly I don't think there'll be real change until we see a few banksters'' or other 1%ers'
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 03:29 AM
Jul 2013

Heads on pikes.

 

villager

(26,001 posts)
30. Hey, they get medical marijuana dispensaries closed, and work with the GOP to keep NSA funding going
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:41 AM
Jul 2013

Stuff done, indeed!

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
12. What stuff is he going to get done economically?
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:16 AM
Jul 2013

This was a big economic speech! How about that TPP? He can decide to stop that! Do you think he will?

What do you think are his greatest and most important proposals to address the devastation of the middle class and economic inequality?

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
9. They just want to keep the trickledown economics alive
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 01:23 AM
Jul 2013

until they completely destroy the middle class.

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
16. Wow! Someone named "Summers."
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:20 AM
Jul 2013

You can't help but think of good things, like the beach! What do we know about this "Summers" fellow?

Oh....my.

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
21. This "Boehner" person.
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:29 AM
Jul 2013

Is he a union leader? Or someone like Krugman or Reich, who will offer some really bold and sound economic ideas for bringing back the middle class?

limpyhobbler

(8,244 posts)
17. Oh good a re-branding.
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:20 AM
Jul 2013

Glad we can put all that ugly mass surveillance nonsense behind us, and move forward into another fake battle over which party will screw us less.

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
18. I was sure he was going to talk about
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:23 AM
Jul 2013

all the billions and billions of our tax dollars being poured into those Bush programs to spy on every single American and militarize our police and put surveillance drones in our skies...and how under a Democrat, that money could be put to so much better use, helping Americans and rebuilding our cities.

Did he say anything about that?

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
31. Do they control what he does about the Trans Pacific?
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:43 AM
Jul 2013


Is this "Boehner" fellow responsible? Somebody must be responsible. It couldn't be a DEMOCRAT!

joshcryer

(62,276 posts)
32. Yup, KORUS FTA had to pass the House and Senate by super-majority.
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:49 AM
Jul 2013

I'm not sure why you've changed the discussion to who is responsible. All facets of government are responsible in this case. (Legislative, Executive, and even Judicial vetting.)

I'm just curious as to what you expect Obama can actually do that would do anything. Other than pandering to both sides and compromising whenever he can because he's the most bipartisan President in US history...

Assume he's a magical liberal. What could he do?

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
33. What?! The US Korea Free Trade Agreement FORCES Obama to negotiate the TPP?!
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 03:05 AM
Jul 2013

REALLY?! I did not know a free trade agreement could FORCE a President to support a free trade agreement.
That is very spooky!

You said I changed the discussion, so let's go back to my question! You wrote this:

I'm just curious as to what you expect Obama can actually do that would do anything.


That sounds very, very depressing to me. Do you mean you really don't think Obama can do ANYTHING to help? Then why did he give a speech?

joshcryer

(62,276 posts)
36. Oh, confused KORUS with TPP. Nah, but TPP would have to pass Congress.
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 03:30 AM
Jul 2013

And once it did a President has basically no power over the trade agreement, that's other parts of government.

Regardless, your rhetorical questions aside, answer mine, please. What can Obama do that would be significant? That would be substantial? That would have an actual effect?

Write a flowery speech?

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
50. I can't stay in character, Josh.
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 04:53 AM
Jul 2013

Last edited Thu Jul 25, 2013, 07:33 AM - Edit history (1)

Not in response to that absurdity: Congress is forcing Obama to negotiate the TPP.

That's the most absurd, desperate reach I've read all day.

And your demand to me is equally absurd, given that we have spent the past four YEARS talking about the things Obama could be doing, including bringing legitimate economists and liberals into his administration instead of this parade of corporate thieves; instructing his Justice Department to prosecute banking criminals instead of medical marijuana users, journalists, and whistleblowers; eschewing "Grand Bargains" or at the very least proposing corporate welfare as a cut rather than the subsistence checks of the elderly poor; and saying no to this fucking evil free trade agreement that will drive millions more of us into poverty and subvert our democratic sovereignty to the interests of profit-mongering corporations.

How's that for a start?

And you'll notice that all the things I mentioned merely involve his stopping BLUDGEONING the 99 percent, rather than actually doing something proactive to HELP us. I didn't even mention an actual jobs program or putting on his legendary walking shoes to stand publicly with some union leaders in demand of a living wage. How outrageous is that?


How sad and pathetic and disgusting is it that we have reached a place in this party, and this country, when any expectation for vision and plans on behalf of the people from a Democratic President is immediately met with knee-jerk disapproval for even *suggesting* that the people might find a passionate and vocal advocate for their interests within the administration.

joshcryer: "I'm just curious as to what you expect Obama can actually do that would do anything."


That's about as pathetic a response I have ever seen from someone who purports to defend a President.

You will come back with some attempt, I'm sure, to keep this ridiculous exchange going. It will be some question or insinuation with the absurd premise that Obama is, in reality, a secret advocate of the 99 percent but is merely helpless in the face of overwhelming circumstances.* Or perhaps you will switch gears and scold us for not remembering that Obama was never a liberal in the first place, as though even a "moderate" President** cannot be expected to stand up against the wholesale selling out and impoverishment of millions once in a while. Either way, there will probably be another smear in there about unreasonable expectations.

Spare me. We have been watching this administration for nearly five years now, and it has been one horrific sell out and betrayal after another. At this point, if we can't mobilize together to somehow force the elites to pay attention to our agenda....Well, then their agenda - including Obama's precious new Grand Bargain and the TPP - is going to bury us.


___________________________________
___________________________________

And now, the asterisks:

*Just for the record, here's the list again of Obama's major achievements in office, wholly apart from Republican obstructionism. This list does not show the President trying to enact an agenda for the 99 percent and being obstructed. It shows him working aggressively and proactively, over and over again, to install corporatists into his administration and to enact, in every policy area important to them, the agenda of the corporate one percent:

The record shows aggressive, proactive advocacy of a corporate agenda.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023330641#post90


**There is absolutely nothing "moderate" about what's being done to this country. Indefinite detention, "kill lists" and drone wars, pre-emptive war as administration doctrine, mass surveillance, internet IDs and internet-censoring measures like ACTA, military drones in American skies, coordinated violent crackdowns against peaceful protesters, strip searches for any arrestee, corporate education deform, new drilling and selling off the Gulf of Mexico, job-killing free trade agreements, big agriculture appointments, bailouts and settlements for corrupt banks, austerity budgets, and attacking Social Security and Medicare in an economy that has already impoverished its middle class.....These are not moderate or centrist positions. Not by a long shot. They are extreme corporatist, neocon, and police state policies. Corporate Trojan horses now control our political parties, and our Constitution and our country are being dismantled in the name of profit.

joshcryer

(62,276 posts)
51. I didn't say that.
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 05:27 AM
Jul 2013

Obviously Obama wants TPP. He said it soon after being elected. In 2009. No brainer. I don't disagree on that nor do I suggest that Congress is forcing his hand.

But let's say Obama was a magical liberal lovely awesome guy. What could he do if Congress wanted TPP? Nothing.

You've done nothing but insult me in a deflection from the question I asked. You and I both know that due to the separation of powers Obama is powerless, even if he was a magical liberal leftist (which I warned DU he wasn't even back in 2007). Legislation requires Congress. Congress composed of a Senate and a House. Which is divided.

Presidents tend to be powerless unless they want to go blow shit up (whole Commander and Chief nonsense; what an utter mistake that idea was). Your desire to see Obama, mister uber-bipartisan to do something is just delusional fantasy and pitiful, to be honest.

Defending Obama? No, posting facts. Obama is the best bipartisan President I have ever known. Possibly even the best President in my lifetime. But a liberal? A leftist? Even a center-left President? Nonsense. Read my journal.

What to do, what to do?

Hydra

(14,459 posts)
56. +1000
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 01:59 PM
Jul 2013

The Administration's defenders are actually making the President look bad at this point. They should just give up the mask and tell us that this is how it is and our vote is demanded anyway.

 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
34. I'm sorry you missed it. It was inspiring. I don't remember the words exactly, but it
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 03:28 AM
Jul 2013

was something like our "future is like a shining city on a hill", and we need to get a handle on parking because there is some woman with 32 Cadillacs taking up all the spaces.

Or something like that.

Fearless

(18,421 posts)
42. The fact that I think absolutely no one in this thread ACTUALLY saw this "big speech"
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 03:38 AM
Jul 2013

Is very telling.

Looks like people are tired of Republican supported policies.

Fearless

(18,421 posts)
46. Is this "eat your peas" version 2?
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 03:51 AM
Jul 2013

Corporations should have to work hard at it for a bit. We're tired. And online college is a joke. We need comprehensive education reform that PROMOTES interaction with high quality instructors, not increases the distance from them.

adirondacker

(2,921 posts)
48. Pretty much. He did have a soulful begining and end to his speech, but stuff in the middle SOS.
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 03:59 AM
Jul 2013

I'll give him credit for bringing up the 1% inequality on several occasions. Actions speak louder then words. We'll see who he appoints.

 

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)
47. ''So what is the new progressive agenda?''
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 03:57 AM
Jul 2013
- Same farting noises as before; and in the end another austerity shit sandwich for somebody.....

K&R

Waiting For Everyman

(9,385 posts)
52. He said something about calling some college presidents when he gets stumped.
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 05:43 AM
Jul 2013

It sounded like that would be now.

I think he means he needs to think up some new PR. While I agree that's true, it won't help anything. Bottom line, it appears that we can expect more of the same (not much).

 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
53. Oh yeah, and Democrats need get rid of programs that don't work as well as they should
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 07:08 AM
Jul 2013

and let go of cherished priorities. And Congress needs to work with us to build a better economy.

"...we've never guaranteed success we expect people to be self-reliant
we've tolerated a little inequality for the sake of a more dynamic, adaptable economy"

(I am pretty sure he wasn't talking about bankers and the wealthy here ^^^, since they are hardly self-reliant with the help of the last three administrations. Just everyone else, who is doing the belt-tightening he praised)

There was some other stuff about jobs and manufacturing initiatives and stuff, which one can watch on CSpan.

The editorial b4 the speech in the local rag was interesting, as were the comments, Here.

 

geek tragedy

(68,868 posts)
57. So-called progressives decide to bash a speech they didn't bother
Thu Jul 25, 2013, 02:01 PM
Jul 2013

to read or listen to.

Hilarious. John Boehner must wish all Democrats were this stupid.

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