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Liberal Ad Campaign: GOP 'Killing The American Dream'

Posted: 08/23/11 07:19 PM ET

WASHINGTON -- Progressive angst over the Obama administration has not necessarily abated since the signing of the debt ceiling deal in early August. But the president's pledge to re-focus the political conversation on job creation -- and the widely-expected opposition to his proposals from congressional Republicans -- has given those same progressives alternate targets on which to focus their frustrations.

And in another sign that liberal-minded organizations still place GOP obstruction at the top of their list of chief obstacles, one such group is going up with a new ad campaign accusing the GOP of endangering the American Dream.

The ad, sponsored by Democracy for America, will air nationally at first -- with a prime time spot during NBC's "Meet the Press" as well as "Inside Washington" -- before it is tailored for local versions that target individual lawmakers. The first two targets, one DFA official tells The Huffington Post, will be Reps. Allen West and David Rivera, both Republican freshmen from Florida. Should fundraising permit, the follow-up media buys will be in New Hampshire, Ohio and Illinois.

"We are holding Republicans accountable for killing the American Dream by pushing a radical agenda to gut vital programs that middle class families depend on -- and we will be there every step of the way to 2012," said Levana Layendecker, communications director for Democracy for America. "Americans everywhere are fed up with the Republican attack on the middle class, and we are demanding that representatives in Washington focus on practical economic solutions, which create good jobs and keep the economy strong so that all Americans can achieve the American Dream of getting a good education, making a better life for their children and having a secure retirement."

The irony of the DFA ad is that the major bargain pushed by President Obama during the debt ceiling negotiations -- one that included changes to Social Security's payment structure and Medicare's eligibility requirements -- would have softened much of the script's bite. That deal never passed, mainly due to disagreements on the revenue component. And as a side-effect of Republican leadership walking away, the White House was not only spared the angst of traditional allies, they were also able to retain those allies heading into September's high-stakes job policy debate.

WATCH:

 

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WASHINGTON -- Progressive angst over the Obama administration has not necessarily abated since the signing of the debt ceiling deal in early August. But the president's pledge to re-focus the politica...
WASHINGTON -- Progressive angst over the Obama administration has not necessarily abated since the signing of the debt ceiling deal in early August. But the president's pledge to re-focus the politica...
 
 
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09:50 PM on 09/04/2011
"Progressives" just don't get it; jobs happen from BUSINESS AND PEOPLE INVESTING IN GROWING THEIR WEALTH, not politicians, cronies and their handouts!!

Otherwise Cuba would lead the world in prosperity per capita, instead of MISERY per capita!
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Jimtoday
Son. Brother. Hell's Kitchen Progressive.
04:44 PM on 08/28/2011
Great! They are going to be running this ad hard in that daffy Eric Cantor's district. Cantor should already be on his voter's hit list for his non-supportive and shockingly ill-timed comments regarding aid for damage incurred by hurricane Irene. Voters want their elected officials working mightily foor things like disaster relief, and I suspect they're in no mood to hear Eric Cantor parsing his words about it.
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12:08 PM on 08/27/2011
What's this we crap? Hey the rich, not so rich, patriots, political parties, some have come and gone, and just about anyone who needed to flee troubled lands have invested in America TOGETHER and not just cash for over two hundred years...Blood, sweat, dreams, tears, property and yes lives, many lives...So what you done lately or at all to uphold or prop up and recharge the dream except take, complain, curse, envy and generally make problems for folks who work and make it happen...And adds? ADDS?! Who pays for these adds? You entitilment takers and trust funders are never satisfied...Never.
What are your motives, what is YOUR dream you must ask yourself. Does it meld with the whole? Or is your dream to tear it up. Does it shore up everyones dreams and support the Republic...You invest you share, you feel good with like folks then pass it on to your kin... And not just cash...Do something positive, at least learn about the great experiment that is the Republic...Contribute then maybe MAYBE someone will listen to you. Make it greater for those who WILL come after you. Otherwise your wasting everyones time.
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
hypnotoad72
Real democracy = living wages.
01:15 PM on 08/27/2011
Customers who buy the products sold invariably pay for the ads.  Part of the cost of the product goes into making the ad.

It's all reverse-socialism.  Everybody pays in so few can prosper.  That's what the working class is becoming.
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10:45 AM on 08/29/2011
I'm hip...My issue is why would anyone pay for an add that no one would read or consider reading, or whatever medium for free? It makes no business sense. When I suggest who pays for these adds, or buys into it, I mean why would anyone have to sell their agenda unless it is poor...It should sell itself through free mediums. Now that that presently, the plan presented flopped. It would not be a very good use of money no matter who buys it or sells it? It would be a very narrow customer base at best...Whether we care for it or not proffessional's sell, consumers buy. Pro's do not like to lose money and savy buyers do not like to waste money on krap...Economic simpicity at it's capitolistic best. Great for jobs though...
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03:26 PM on 08/27/2011
If you have to BUY adds that nobody would look at for free does not appear like a smart investment... Sounds like reverse profit to me...Let's invest in adds that offer jobs & ideas that work.
07:53 AM on 08/27/2011
My only complaint is that the ad isn't strong, or direct enough in its condemnation of the GOTP. They really suck, them and their dog fox news. They're basically in open, assault on America. They unrepentantly and routinely soapbox about how's there's a special place in their hearts for the contempt they hold for teachers, the poor, the middle class, small business owners, any and all infrastructure improvements (unless it's a bridge to nowhere in a state with a population that's less than Jacksonville FL), most of the people who live on the East or West coast, people who drink lattes, all minorities, including women, Blacks, Latinos, immigrants, and gays what gives? Now I see why Justice Roberts left off the part about domestic threats in Obama's swearing in oath.
03:20 PM on 08/25/2011
Middle class families do not depend on Government.Middle class families want Government out of their lives to be all that they can be on their own.Middle class families realize that the elites in DC are trying to eliminate them so there will be 2 classes of people the elite and the very poor who are completely dependent on the elite.Why do you think DC keeps pushing all these entitlement programs on you,because they care about you,or are they really interested in keeping and getting more control.
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Jimtoday
Son. Brother. Hell's Kitchen Progressive.
05:05 PM on 08/28/2011
That's the most paranoid bizarre notion I've heard regarding what government does for people.

The true part is that there is a creation of the super-wealthy and the very poor, and all we have to do to finalize that plan is to keep voting for Republicans.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Marisa Stein
~I solemly swear that I am up to no good~
02:19 PM on 08/25/2011
please tell Levana Layendecker that she doesn't speak for me
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No more Kool Aid
Believe what you see not see what you believe
11:12 AM on 08/25/2011
anyone have a tissue? My EBT cash balance won't replenished till it posts today and I ran out! The American dream is not Guarenteed, nor should it be. Tom Hanks said in a League of their own......"It's the hard that makes it great." It fits very well into this subject. Not everyone wins!
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rolor
'round and 'round we go
07:39 PM on 08/25/2011
Since when is basic livelihood an issue of winning?
Perhaps you're just confusing modest living needs with plutocratic dominion.
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04:12 PM on 08/27/2011
Or your confusing confusing years of entitlement thinking / encouragement with living needs, barely...
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modelaford
04:14 AM on 08/25/2011
If the Republicans truly believe that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy need to be extended to help create more jobs - then where in the heck are the jobs that these tax cuts were supposed to have created. They have had years to do it - and have not.

And where are the Jobs that the House Republicans promised in 2010 election?
.
They've had 9 months to do something about it - and I have not seen one Jobs package coming out of the House. The Republicans control the House now - so where is their Jobs Program?

Yes they have killed the American Dream - with all of their gridlock - and bickering - and no compromising - and their attitude of 'just say no' to anything and everything the President or Democrats or even the majority of the people in this country want.

The Republicans are full of hot air - and can't even deliver on a jobs program either.
And extending the tax cuts for the wealthy won't do it. Hasn't done it in the last few years - so why would anyone think they will work now.
03:24 PM on 08/25/2011
Look at the unemployment rate under 8 years of Bush compared to Obama and them look at the increase in GDP after the tax cuts.Liberals want to forget Bush inherited a recession,and I am no Bush fan on domestic policy.
05:52 PM on 08/25/2011
Get a grip on some facts. The Obama recovery after inheriting an economic crater has produced more private sector jobs at this point than any previous recovery since 82. If it weren't for Republathug Governors shedding public sector jobs, even after they took stimulus money, which is what the money was for, to keep Fireman, Policemen, Doctors, Teachers, folks like that on the payroll. Instead they used it to balance the bloated budgets they had from tax giveaways and no bid contracts to there crony benefactors. Bush produced 3 million new jobs in 8 years. About a million in the private sector and the rest were GOVERNMENT jobs.
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Goldshield
Retired NYPD Detective
10:40 PM on 08/25/2011
Obama, in a speech on budget policy last month, offered this summary of how he thought the nation lost its way fiscally during the presidency of George W. Bush. Last week, we took a look at new data about the period of 2001-2011, and concluded that the biggest contributor to the disappearance of vast estimated surpluses was additional spending ($4.3 trillion), followed by incorrect revenue estimates ($3.3 trillion) by the Congressional Budget Office.

Tax cuts are estimated to have totaled $2.8 trillion, which we guess would count as “trillions,” as the president put it. Strictly speaking, the two big tax cuts during the Bush years are estimated to total about $1.5 trillion, But many continued into the early years of the Obama presidency, and in December he cut a deal with Republicans to extend them even more, which brings us to $2.8 trillion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/revisiting-the-cost-of-the-bush-tax-cuts/2011/05/09/AFxTFtbG_blog.html
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CynAnne
Laureates in Fact and Reality
01:50 AM on 08/25/2011
(Co-writte­­­­n with SocialistD­­­­ist­­­­­­­­­o­rtio­­n­­)­­:
I think the government should tell people what they can and can't do in their bedroom, but I'm for small government­­­­­­­­­­­­.

I think the government should tell people who they can and can't marry, but I'm for small government­­­­­­­­­­­­.

I think the government should tell people what they can and can't put in their body and imprison them for unreasonab­le periods of time for doing otherwise, but I'm for small government­­­­­­­­­­­­.

I think the government should impose laws against women regarding what they can and can't do with their own bodies, but I'm for small government­­­­­­­­­­­­.

I think the government should be able to spy on American citizens without just cause, should be able to interrogat­­­­­­­­­­­­e anyone they suspect of being a terr0rist (even when no reasonable suspicion exists) and seize the property of anyone who disagrees with lraq, but I'm for small government­­­­­­­­­­­­.

I think the government should be able to unfairly burden the middle-cla­­­­­­­ss while giving tax breaks to plutocrats and corporatio­­­­­­ns outsourcin­­­­­­g American jobs­, but I'm for small government­­­­­­­­­­­­.

I think the government should outlaw lsIam and atheism and restrict building or creating structures for religions deemed 'unchristi­­­an', but I'm for small government­­­­­­­­­­­­.

I think the government should make children pray in school (but only to the white christian god), force schools to teach creationis­­­­­­­­­­­­m, rewrite history and deny scientific fact, but I'm for small government­­­­­­­­­­­­.

Vote T-Publican­­­­'t - cuz they're for small government n' stuff...
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modelaford
04:30 AM on 08/25/2011
Great summary of how their beliefs on social issues totally conflict with their 'small government belief. Very insightful.

They want 'big government' to outlaw things that pertain to social issues or what goes on in schools and in our bedrooms and women's rights - but they say they are for small government when it comes to taxing the very rich. Wonder if it's because they have the 'rich' lobbyists sending them on expensive junkets, giving them perks, and paying for their campaigns.

Their 'actions' speak louder than their words. They are not for small government - they are such hypocrites.
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Goldshield
Retired NYPD Detective
10:42 PM on 08/25/2011
Amen
12:19 AM on 08/25/2011
40 years late. Here's your American Dream, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q
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Jim Pasterczyk
Banned!
11:50 PM on 08/24/2011
Don't blame it on Washington or on Congress; put the blame squarely where it lies, on the Republicans.
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Joe Friday
11:42 PM on 08/24/2011
It's stunning how out of tune Liberals are!

"Entitlements" are killing the American Dream. This Administration has clarified the ugliness of Liberalism and put this Country on the path to it's demise. The solution is simple, remove the Liberals, remove the Liberal President and pay attention to the message of the people, the Tea People!
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Andrew Getting
Not Paul Giamatti.
12:03 AM on 08/25/2011
"Remove the Liberals"

Did you really just argue exiling everyone who holds a liberal belief?
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Joe Friday
12:29 PM on 08/25/2011
Andy ... If they take a "Loyalty Oath" they can stay!
12:06 AM on 08/25/2011
Goper Entitlements are absolutely killing the American Dream, they love their Corporate Welfare and strapping it on the backs of the middle class. The Majority of Americans gets it. Bravo America!
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Joe Friday
12:31 PM on 08/25/2011
Bi ..... You are just part of the "stunning" crowd! Silly Liberal!
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h111aryc1inton
Just trying to tell the truth
11:10 PM on 08/24/2011
This is the funniest ad for NOTHING I have ever seen...

Thanks gave me a good laugh.
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Gidster
Not so much Liberal as I am anti evil.
12:46 AM on 08/25/2011
So reality is funny?

Empirical data amuses you?

:)
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h111aryc1inton
Just trying to tell the truth
03:41 PM on 08/25/2011
Really? Attacking the GOP in what is supposed to be a non-partisan ad is pretty funny and the arguments in the ad were just stupid.

And correct me if I am wrong - but anyone over 55 today wasn't going to have their Medicare changed at all under the GOP plan, or did I miss something. There are things broken in that system and they need to be fixed - they have needed to be fixed for years and continuing to bury their heads in the sand won't get it done.

The President recently said that people should be contacting their congressmen and women and telling them they want them to be part of the solution - not part of the problem...funny that is what the teaparty has been doing since inception and now the President is starting to hear their voices. He still has time to save his Presidency and more importantly but difficult decisions need to be made and we need someone to lead us...and stop the attacks that don't help anyone.
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dtallwalk
10:41 PM on 08/24/2011
YEA we need more adds like this get the truth out in the open
the rich did not build the US they just collected intrest on it
11:10 PM on 08/24/2011
FF
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Squidwoman
There are no such things as coincidences
10:35 PM on 08/24/2011
Love it!