Progressive Group To Supporters: Withhold Donations To Obama If He Cuts Medicare, Medicaid

WASHINGTON -- One of the thorniest progressive groups in the side of the Obama administration is launching a new campaign against the president on Tuesday, this time targeting the president’s vaunted grassroots donor base.

One day before President Obama is slated to outline his blueprint for deficit reduction, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) put out a preemptive warning shot, of sorts. In an email to its list, the group asks members to withhold money from the Obama re-election campaign should the president endorse cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

The pledge reads as follows:

"President Obama: If you cut Medicare and Medicaid benefits for me, my parents, my grandparents, or families like mine, don't ask for a penny of my money or an hour of my time in 2012. I'm going to focus on electing bold progressive candidates -- not Democrats who help Republicans make harmful cuts." Click here to sign.

[snip]

Many people still want to believe in President Obama. But the White House needs to understand that their actions now will have real consequences for 2012. The level of grassroots enthusiasm will be determined by whether the President fights for bold progressive change -- and takes cuts that hurt grandparents, the disabled, and kids firmly off the table.

Progressive angst with the president is hardly unique to the deficit debate. On Tuesday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced that he would oppose the budget deal coordinated by the White House, Senate Democrats and House Republicans, on grounds that the cuts were “Robin Hood in reverse.”

In that respect, the PCCC’s latest campaign fits its institutional niche -- the group has done wonders raising funds, building its email list, and raising its profile off demands that Obama be a more principled Democrat. What stands out about this effort is the targeting of small donors, whose money remains (despite all the high-profile fundraising events) mother’s milk for the Obama campaign.

UPDATE: A Democratic source sends over the following poll data showing that, despite PCCC campaigns and boycotts in the past, the president's standing with progressives remains quite strong. From the most recent Daily Kos/SEIU/PPP poll (March 31-April 3, 2011):

• 86% of Liberals Have a Favorable Opinion of Pres. Obama
• 80% of Liberals Approve of Pres. Obama’s Job Performance
• When Asked Whether Pres. Obama Is Too Liberal, Too Conservative or About Right, 67% of Liberals Said “About Right”
• The most recent CNN/Opinion Research poll (April 9-10, 2011) has this:
• 78% of Liberals Approve of Pres. Obama’s Job Performance

Comments

[Taylor Taylor]

06:56 PM on 04/24/2011

I am not here to tell anyone who they should and should not support in the upcoming election in 2012. But I will pass on this bit of advice. If it is learned that progressives did not support the relection efforts for President Obama in 2012 they can look for other factions to treat them the same way in future elections. The president is not only the progressive President and to say since I did not get what I want I don't want to play anymore is a sad way to work as a team. It's your choice in 2012. It will be my choice after that.

[maserati2]

03:11 PM on 04/14/2011

This message is from a former Obama volunteer now following the fading footprints of Diogenes, still searching for an honest politician.

Why are Medicare & Medicaid so expensive? Could it be the blank check that Pharma was given in that not-so-secret backroom deal in exchange for a few silver coins? The monetary return to corporations for this gift that keeps on giving, year after year, must be extraordinary. Since the debit was brought to our attention by the Republicans and their leaders in the Tea Party, we must show that we are equally patriotic and fiscally responsible by eliminating fat and flab in the budget. Thank you, Republicans.

Washington has no problem cancelling contracts to reduce the deficit, so it is a no-brainer to open this contract for re-bid and substitute Single-Payer for the health insurance farce at the same time. Remember Single-Payer? It was a good idea then, it is a good idea now. Strange that both subjects have disappeared from view yet we automatically add more dollars to the overstuffed pockets of Big Business and drop both blame and cost on the backs of the poor and elderly.

Both changes would cut the deficit, make families financially sound again and create a healthy economy. Join with the VA if necessary, since they seem to understand the principles of price negotiation. Surely both parties including the Republicans will support cutting the excess and correcting these massive problems. Any politician interested in taking this on?

[Taylor Taylor]

07:00 PM on 04/24/2011

If you can do better, run for the office. I am real tired of hearing all this talk from progressives about what they want but did not get. Please run for the office and see what's it like to govern a entire country and not just a small part. We saw the results of that type of leader from 2000 to 2008. Also share some of your disappointment with your local congressman and senators. If they had voted with the president to move health care including single payer thru we would have what you wanted. But the Blue Dogs and a few others did not get on board, so therefore the 60 vote majority was lost. It's not all President Obama.

[txgrandpa6]

12:34 PM on 04/14/2011

I have, in the past, written to the White House and told them of my intention to withhold money and time from the President's re-election bid based on far too many disagreements with the methodology of this President. The President has thrown us under the bus far too many times for me to reasonably be expected to campaign for his re-election in 2012. Do not be led to believe that I will, in any way, support a Republican that just will NEVER HAPPEN. I will work for the Green Party in the 2012 election cycle based on their policies being much more in line with my own beliefs and my hope that they can, one day soon, become a viable alternative to the two-party system that is leading this country astray.

[fairwayhill]

02:42 AM on 04/14/2011

Obama is too much of a neocon AlPAC 2ionist war monger to be called a progressiv­­e.

[Whinerbozo]

08:15 AM on 04/14/2011

You said it, Comrade! Now you can go back to listening to Radio Islam and reading old copies of the "Daily Worker".

[Margaret Cargill]

07:36 PM on 04/13/2011

Democrats always kill themselves. The stupid notion that by withholding campaign funds from Obama, if he messes with medicare & medicaid is really really stupid. It is just like 2010 elections. Staying home did what for Obama, no it created the mess in Fl, Oh, WI. Don't be stupid with the ideologies, it will create a repub president, who will take this country back 150yrs.
DEMOCRATS DON'T BE STUPID.

[gfs5541]

08:14 AM on 04/14/2011

True. Worse, liberals don't seem to realize that these budget cuts were caused by the direct result of the 2010 elections. Liberals and Progressive don't have the right to be mad at Obama. They can only blame themselves for what's happening now.

[TFlint]

11:05 AM on 04/14/2011

You think McCain would have done better?

[Adrian Rodriguez21]

04:09 PM on 04/13/2011

Oh i guess you people think that politicians are there to help people, thats why you let them lie to you everyday. Grow up, i stopped believing wrestling is real when i was 7 years old. Politics was at about age 10. There is no santa, i hate to break the news, and also some hearts.

[ChasG]

06:50 PM on 04/13/2011

Growing up is hard to do.  But you can thank disillusionment for one thing: it has freed you from your childhood illusions.  "Thank you disillusionment." -- Alanis Morisette

[Acert]

03:11 PM on 04/13/2011

This issue may be unrelated but I have to say, Mr. President, very little matters to your base more than civil liberties. You have continued to hold the Gitmo detainees largely without charge. The few, who have been charged faced/face trial in kangaroo courts, not the American legal system, despite the fact that the latter has an exemplary record for dealing with ter r0r|$ts. In short, you have violated the constitution in an effort to score political points with the right-wing.

[KaAp]

04:00 PM on 04/13/2011

No, I agree with you entirely. I am appalled that nobody is standing up to the erosion of civil liberties. Habeas corpus has not been restored the patriot act is still in force, and on and on ... And Bradley Manning still sits in solitary confinement without a trial ....

[ChasG]

04:34 PM on 04/13/2011

Manning's hearing was delayed by his own attorney.  Without checking my link sources, my recollection is that a pre-trial hearing has been scheduled to occur within the next two months or less.

[ChasG]

04:37 PM on 04/13/2011

Congress defunded the closure of GITMO in early 2009 (yes, the once-Democrat controlled House now in GOP/TP control).  Don't blame Obama.  If the US Constitution was violated, then Congress is the violator.
 

[KaAp]

04:42 PM on 04/13/2011

It is not Bradley Manning's attorney's fault that he is being held in inhumane conditions ...
He should never have been held in those sort of conditions ... And, he did pledge to close Gitmo and it still is open and so are military tribunals ...
What about habeaus corpus? When will my civil rights be restored?

[RTIII]

02:54 PM on 04/13/2011

Calling ALL Obama Apologists - I _know_ you are reading this thread!

Here's all the proof you need to see the point of those who are offended by Obama's behavior. This is from the CURRENT Front Page of HP article on Obama's speach he's about to give. To wit:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/13/obama-debt-speech-_n_848446.html#liveblog

""We continue to move this president places he never said he would go," House Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy said to reporters today. "In the State of the Union the president sat out here and said we would freeze spending."

Instead, McCarthy said, "we have cut spending," referring to the 2011 budget deal recently agreed to, which makes a historic $38.5 billion in cuts over just the next six months.

"Our speaker negotiated, out numbered three-to-one" for that deal, he said."

[ChasG]

02:28 AM on 04/14/2011

Which part of that link did you read?
 
 The headline?
 
Obama Debt Speech: Tax Increases, Medicare Changes Included In President's Plan
 
Or the part at the end of the article which explains:
 
On Medicare, the president’s vision is similarly broad. Obama rules out a voucher system as envisioned by Rep. Ryan. The senior administration official who previewed the speech said the president “does not support raising the Medicare retirement age.”
 
"I will preserve these health care programs as a promise we make to each other in this society," Obama said in his speech. "I will not allow Medicare to become a voucher program that leaves seniors at the mercy of the insurance industry, with a shrinking benefit to pay for rising costs."
Instead, the administration is choosing to build off the legislation passed during Obama's second year in office. His proposal calls for setting “a more ambitious target” to hold down Medicare cost growth and reducing excessive spending on prescription drugs -- one of the few specifics that got cheers from progressive advocates briefed on the plan. In order to get there, the president proposes strengthening the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which is tasked with finding excessive and unnecessary spending within the system.
 
What part do you object to so much?

[ChasG]

02:35 AM on 04/14/2011

Your quotes do not come from the link above them.  I got my quotes from your link.

[RTIII]

01:43 PM on 04/13/2011

There are a number of Obama / administration apologists posting here today.

Some are likely corporate shills whose real purpose is to stir the pot and inflame Democrats. Some are likely quite sincere in their beliefs about this administration. Some will support this president nomatter what he does to them. . . .

The ONE thing that all should keep in mind is that Liberals and Progressives make up the "base" of the Democratic party; ALL people of like mind - who espouse either liberal or progressive values, or both, are needed by the administration in the 2012 election.

What the apologists don't seem to get is that we who voice dissent against this president and his administration have just cause for doing so. We are voices that the administration MOST needs to hear but has been ignoring.

Like it or not, those of us who are disaffected can lose this for Obama in 2012 - as demonstrated in 2010. So, rather than alienate us further, it seems to me that the apologists should be courting us and trying to bring us back into the fold, but not with vitriol that should be reserved for Republicans, but with sincere interest to our complaints. You _aren't_ going to bully us into accepting your view. You'll need to convince us that Obama will _finally_ take the left seriously. So far, there's no evidence of it, in my view, only repeated corporate sell out.

And I've had enough of that.

[oscartucker]

03:18 PM on 04/13/2011

"You _aren't_ going to bully us into accepting your view. You'll need to convince us that Obama will _finally_ take the left seriously. So far, there's no evidence of it, in my view, only repeated corporate sell out."

I certainly am not goint to try "to bully" you or anyone else into voting for the re-election of President Obama, but I do say that some people did "cut off their noses to spite their faces" in November, and everyone can see what happened there. President Obama is trying to address all areas of concern, yet there is opposition on every side. He cannot do it alone. What about your Representatives and Senators?

**** I am glad someone wants to be President, for it is a tough job. Someone may say, "Then don't run",but I look at the other side, and I KNOW that Democrats, Liberals, Progressives, Moderates, Centrists will NOT GET one thing that they have ever thought would help anyone. I believe that there are Republicans who do not agree with what the GOPTP are saying, yet they are afraid to speak up. They are afraid to vote for bills that will help the American people. Thus, the GOPTP is going to stand by Paul Ryan, and THAT'S where the cuts and even the demise of Medicare and Medicaid may come.
***What an IRONY! You don't want anyone to "bully" you, yet you are willing to bully President Obama. Try that on the GOPTP!!!! You'll be allienated!!!!!

[ChasG]

06:54 PM on 04/13/2011

F&F

[ChasG]

04:53 PM on 04/13/2011

The far left abandoned Obama long ago; many did so before his inauguration based solely upon cabinet picks. 
 
The ones who are stirring the pot to inflame Democrats are not the ones posting support for Obama; that's not what the GOP/TP wants.  The trolls are posting anti-Obama progressive rhetoric to drive a wedge between democrats, and your comments are living proof that they are succeeding.  And its becoming increasingly difficult to tell the two apart.
 
And I've had enough of that.

[KaAp]

07:13 PM on 04/13/2011

Well then reply to those who are in the Democratic party. Many of us on the left are not part of a political party. We contribute to candidates who represent progressive values ...

[RTIII]

09:27 AM on 04/14/2011

Of all the "voices" to be heard on HP political articles related to Obama, yours is the most vitriolic.

Why not go out and get a job? Or are you home sick? If so, I hope you get well soon, nobody needs your sputum.

[Kimberly Colley]

11:27 AM on 04/13/2011

A poll taken by the Daily Kos is unreliable because the sample is biased. It assumes that the number of people who read the site and respond to the poll accurately represents Obama's liberal base. Instead it only represents a small subset of the target population.

[eden4barack08]

12:20 PM on 04/13/2011

The polling is done by PPP, NOT by the DailyKo's, and it polls 1002 REGISTERED VOTERS, not DailyKo's readers.
Being better informed might help you avoid displaying your ignorance. I know it's hard for haters to believe that a majority of Dems actually approve of the President, but try and deal with it.

[Kimberly Colley]

01:24 PM on 04/13/2011

After reviewing the source, I agree that you are correct and I was wrong. However, I do think you could afford to take it down a notch.

[RTIII]

01:45 PM on 04/13/2011

It doesn't matter to Obama if the majority of Dems support the president, it matters that a sufficient number to win him reelection do. And for that, he needs us Progressives and Liberals.

[MaryBethC3]

11:04 AM on 04/13/2011

What we need is for people to sign the petition! Sign yet? Shared yet?

http://act.boldprogressives.org/survey/survey_obamamedicare/?source=tw

[KaAp]

12:31 PM on 04/13/2011

Have already signed and shared and posted to my facebook page and my twitter account and have also sent out a mass emailing ...
We must stand up and stand boldly together in solidarity!

[petera63]

10:47 AM on 04/13/2011

Withhold donations to Obama EVEN if he doesn't cut Medicare.

[rubberneck]

10:45 AM on 04/13/2011

Daily Kos Polls?

[eden4barack08]

12:21 PM on 04/13/2011

No, PPP poll.

"Public Policy Polling, 1002 Registered Voters, MoE 3.1%, Apr 7, 2011 - Apr 10, 2011."

[gsmp]

10:24 AM on 04/13/2011

Where are the dem politicos backing the President? The kochroachreactionaries stand in lock step on every single issue, no matter how destructive to the country!

[Peppers Dad]

01:28 PM on 04/13/2011

Because they will profit from their blind allegiance. Money buys everything and anybody. Dem's have no such largesse to co-erce armies of lemmings.

[gsmp]

03:11 PM on 04/13/2011

A sad truth, Dad.

[Ergon]

09:39 AM on 04/13/2011

Those who think a third party option is unworkable need to look at the George Wallace and Ross Perot candidacies.
The point is they nearly won
http://en.­wikipedia.­org/wiki/G­eorge_Wall­ace
http://en.­wikipedia.­org/wiki/R­oss_Perot 
and Ross Perot actually helped Clinton win, by splitting the vote

[MrStat1]

09:50 AM on 04/13/2011

"They nearly won?" I don't know about your definition of "nearly won" but it is vastly different than mine. George Wallace got 13.5% of the popular vote and 8.6% of the Electoral College. Sorry, I don't define "nearly won" on those numbers.

Perot got 18.9% of the popular vote and 0.0% of the Electoral College. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for "nearly won."

[Ergon]

10:45 AM on 04/13/2011

Did you actually read the articles? They were leading in the polls until Wallace was shot and the media started playing up "he won't be an effective president because he's in a wheelchair"
And, a Bush operative sold Perot a lie that his daughter would be targeted so he withdrew, then restarted his campaign. He still got enough votes to split it so that Clinton won.
This is politics, not football.

[KaAp]

01:31 PM on 04/13/2011

Well, then if the two party system is no longer sustainable. Perhaps this is a transformational historical moment ... Didn't JFK say you see things as they are and ask why and I ask why not? The past is past... but, historical precedent ought not determine our future.