Comments on: One Mil Should Not Become the New $250K!

By: rootless_e

rootless_e — Sat, 26 May 2012 05:51:20 +0000

The progressive grievance against President Obama and Speaker Pelosi for not supporting single payer is enormously revealing. Dennis Kucinich supported single payer. He never polled up to 10% in the Democratic primaries. None of the three most supported candidates, Obama, Clinton, or Edwards endorsed single payer. And yet the President has been endlessly castigated by “progressives” for supporting the plan he promised to support and not adopting the program of a fringe candidate – a program that had no chance of becoming law. What this reveals is a sense of privilege and entitlement that has been pretty repellent.

By: Alan in SF

Alan in SF — Sat, 26 May 2012 01:05:46 +0000

“Why is it that Nancy Pelosi, one of the most effective Speakers of the House ever, gets absolutely no respect?”

Perhaps because she’s signed off on a whole slew of horrible measures and has yet to pass a piece of progressive legislation? Because she agreed to stifle single-payer advocacy for the promise of a public option, then surrendered on the public option? Because she whipped the caucus to support the absolutely pointless, incredibly wasteful Afghanistan escalation? Because she went to bat for the for-profit college loan ripoffs? Because she has never even pretended to represent her district (which I live in)? Other than that, can’t think of a reason.

By: gluon1

gluon1 — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:21:58 +0000

Just, so much, this, what rootless_e said. Or, as someone else said, Is Nancy Pelosi the only one who understands how to play this game?!

By: pjr

pjr — Fri, 25 May 2012 02:40:32 +0000

What rootless_e said, exactly. In addition, the reaction of liberals also is useful down the road. If the Dems really want what Obama has been consistently requesting since before he became President, they need to generate demand for it–Pelosi seems to have done a little of that.

By: James Edwards

James Edwards — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:13:15 +0000

I’m sure Pelosi knows two things. The first is that Boehner is not in control of his group and the other is that nothing will happen before the election. If Boehner calls her bluff, which he should, the radicals in his party will rebel and he won’t get the votes. The dems can rebel saying $1 Million is too high. So she is giving her side cover to not vote while at the same time forcing them to admit they are in the pocket of millionaires.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:58:43 +0000

Just for the record, there is a constituency—possibly a constituency of one—which believes that Obama and Pelosi and every other Democrat should stop trying to extend the Bush tax cuts for anyone. This lonely constituency is for simply letting all of the Bush tax cuts expire. That’s not because we have no sympathy with the working class, or that we don’t understand the negative consequences for the economy; it’s that letting the tax cuts expire is the only option that is really possible, because it’s the only option that doesn’t require some cooperation from Republicans.

The Republicans will never, ever compromise on this, and they will never, ever accept an extension of only a portion of the sacred Bush tax cuts. The idea that somehow we can divide the Bush tax cuts into segments, no matter where you put the dividing line, is a dead issue, a non-starter, deceased, demised, passed on, expired and gone to meet its maker, it has joined the choir invisible. I think we need to admit that even though its plumage is still beautiful, it’s an ex-idea.

So Obama should explain to Boehner that he understands that no compromise is possible, and so the whole question of extending the Bush tax cuts has been taken off the table, that he will simply let them all expire on schedule—then he should propose an Obama tax cut that makes sense. That way the Republicans have nothing to bargain with, or for, or against. They either vote for a tax cut or they vote against it.

By: rootless_e

rootless_e — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:02:36 +0000

It is not a negotiating strategy, one would have be shockingly naive to believe that Boehner can or will negotiate on this issue. It is an electoral strategy.

Why progressives are so clueless is something I cannot speculate about.

By: Adams

Adams — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:42:15 +0000

“It’s also a weird bargaining strategy…” Get serious. Pre-compromise is a strategy that is copyrighted to the Obama administration and licensed to all Democrats. cf health care “reform.”

By: Fred Donaldson

Fred Donaldson — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:26:59 +0000

Pelosi also recently remarked she would have voted for Simpson-Bowles – a draft of the two affluent chairmen that included hiking both Social Security retirement age and Medicare eligibility age – all at a time when 50-year-olds can’t get a job – let alone folks in their 60s (and what employer would want to add “those people” to their health insurance premium pool?).

The strain of the job seems to be getting to Pelosi, and to many other so-called (by themselves) progressives, who don’t seem to hold true to things like Glass-Steagal, public option, single-payer, financial transaction tax, end the war – sorry, I am rambling and nashing my teeth, sort of like an old, tired American Motors driving experience.

By: readerOfTeaLeaves

readerOfTeaLeaves — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:25:42 +0000

Well, I find that if I can’t visualize something it is tough for me to make comparisons. I’m thinking of the ‘greatest hits’ graphs that Dr. Bernstein listed in a Dec 2011 blogpost, and three in particular seem relevant —
http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/the-best-of-cbpp-graphics/

Graph #4: “Effective Tax Rates on Wealthiest People Have Fallen Dramatically”

#6: “Economic Downturn and Legacy of Bush Policies Drive Record Profits”

#7: (personal fave) “Tax Cuts, Wars Account for Nearly Half of Public Debt by 2019″

Off the top of my head, I can’t really visualize what any of these graphs would look like under Pelosi’s proposal, and I find the confusion unsettling. Any hope that CBPP might have the resources to provide comparison graphs…?