Arianna appeared on MSNBC's "Countdown" Friday night to discuss the flight of congressional Democrats from a vote on an extension of middle-class tax cuts that would allow the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy to expire.
Arianna outlined the various Democratic battle lines on tax cuts and backed Ezra Klein's assertion that Dems are "demonstrating a complete inability to govern."
"Right now, honestly, Keith, I don't think they are thinking beyond the election," she told host Keith Olbermann.
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VOTE INDEPENDENT ON NOV. 2
Time to throw out both major political parties and give the outsiders a chance to govern us.
Sounds like a candidate for the tea party.
Conservative media outlets have an astounding number of viewers/listeners, giving them the power of the first rule of propaganda: "Say something 1000X and it will sound true, whether it is or not. If you say it with lots of fear or anger, then saying it 500X will do." Any alternate train of thought from Progressives, or even from Congress, is working within the context, and against the background, of these constantly repeated messages from folks like Palin & Beck. The pen is mightier than the Congress. But one repeated video message is worth 10,000 words.
Fox and other Regressive media outlets have folks convinced that they can have their cake and eat it too, regarding taxes and the reduction of the deficit. Fox has the power to repeat its message enough times to enough people to substantially influence the upcoming elections.
I applaud you, the folks at Comedy Central, and Oprah for building what could grow to be Progressive media empires. If Progressives can gain control of large media empires, we can have the same power Murdoch does now.
I look forward to the day when the Progressive message can reach the public as many times as the Regressive message does. But we aren't there yet, so we may as well face it.
Might want to look at this.....because the stimulous cost more than the war
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Little-known-fact-Obamas-failed-stimulus-program-cost-more-than-the-Iraq-war-101302919.html
Both these parties need to grow up and find a middle way to go. And so called "progressiveness" will not be the way, because the people don't want it, they want measured, effective, and smaller govt, not what Obama has done so far."
I am always amused by ill-educated political revisionists who don't even understand the basic definition of the terms they use. Here's someone who believes they're 'reasonable' and demands that 'progressiveness' take a back seat to pandered compromise (meaning: nothing changes much) because that position suits his/her political perspective.
Here's the truth of the matter: small government has NEVER proven to be more effective than big government (citations, please). The problem isn't with BIG government (current federal workforce is less than 6% of the national population), it's with BAD government. We currently allow (and traditionally encourage) politicians to generate economic windfalls for themselves. Current figures demonstrate that a Senate staffer earns - ON THE AVERAGE - 3/4 million per year when they matriculate to a lobbying firm.
That helps with all the compromising, water treading, and marching in place, doesn't it, 'reasonable111'?
(DEMS) "the GOP are holding the middle class tax cats hostage!!, VOTE FOR US, and then MAYBE, JUST MAYBE we will do something about it"
True, they are holding the tax cuts hostage, but in a way, the Dems are holding American
votes hostage too.
There thinking is-
"If we get to the tax cuts now, the republicans will call us names ):
...If we promise to do the tax cuts after the election, we get the votes, we can then give up and the GOP will like us :)
And then we get to go inside the 'super cool' conservative tree house their always talking about :D
The tax cuts don't expire until the end of the year anyway.
Everything has been a major fight in the Senate with the Republicans holding up bills by one Senator's actions or requiring 60 votes just to get it to the floor. So, Harry looks around - if they brings up this vote, this is all they do until the recess and there is very little chance it will get done anyway.
SO
Let's table this fight until after the elections. Let's explain to middle-class voters that the Republicans are holding your tax cuts hostage to keep cuts on incomes over $200/250,000 (it's incomes over that amount, not tax payers - everyone will get the same cuts on any income below these levels). And let see if the American middle class are ready to send a message to their representatives that they don't want them working for only the wealthy among us.
I think that's fair - democracy means everyone has to do their share.
and it didn't happen yesterday or the day before.
I say send a couple of bucks to Sharon Angle and get it over with.
It's complaining about President Obama and the Democrat Congress because they do not fit the mold of media sensation, marketing, and all the other talking head ethics. It's complaining since the Democrats are not in the ring, looking to body slam their opponents by any means possible, to give their audience a sellable moment to cheer.
Ultimately, these comments are indicative of political entertainment, and not a keen analysis of the current events and and a structured, pragmatic, and accessible way make a real difference.
Fanned
Since you seem to be somewhat math challenged on this that's 5 less than 60 and yet he got everything, and I do mean everything, that he wanted. He still called the shots even when he lost Congress. Now according to Harry Reid that's impossible, just impossible I tell you.... why 60 is needed to do anything right? Take a look at the composition of the Senate over the last 100 years or so and there are very few times any party had more than the D's have now. And even without magic number 60 laws still got passed against opposition. Hmm...
You must be a true believer D - there's always some excuse isn't there? And funny how it's always "THEM" isn't it... Perhaps since it's so obvious you can't see it but the reason is the current D's aren't effective is that they simply have either no will to govern or are totally incompetent at it. Either way they have sold the whole country down the river with their equivocating and I frankly blame them right now more than I do the R's and TP's.