Marcospinelli's Comments (7678)

“This is from CSPAN:
"Meetings where laws are written will be more open to the public, no more secrecy... ..No more secrecy... .."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQbQTrm_pSA

This is a clip of Obama speaking from a CNN newsfeed put up by Talking Points Memo (hardly a righwing organization).
Transparency Will Be Touchstone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72g7qmeP1dE

These are Obama's comments to James Ball, Online Editor at the Reno Gazette-Journal in January, 2008, broadcast on CSPAN.
"Clintons did health care the wrong way, behind closed doors"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvyharXBI0Q

Obama speaking on government transparency, from Glassbooth.com, a nonprofit organization unaffiliated with any political party, political organization, or ideology. The NYT, Wired, CNET-TV, CBS News, and other news organizations use its clips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU0m6Rxm9vU

Clip from one of the debates broadcast on MSNBC:
"On transparency", "About inviting the people back into their government again", and "Part of the job of the next American president is making Americans believe that our government is working for them, because right now they don't feel like it's working for them. They feel like it's working for special interests and it's working for corporations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K97hvOOdy_I”

“My answer is yes, they are ALL "reliable" links, including the Obama-Biden campaign.

You get to do this once with me, dearie, and I'm making an exception, doing the work for you because you appear to be learning disordered. Don't expect me to do this for you (or any else) again.

IN OBAMA'S OWN WORDS:

From the Obama-Biden08 Campaign:
Obama speaks at a Townhall Meeting at Roosevelt Middle School in Cedar Rapids, IA on July 30, 2007 - "We need a president who sees the government not as a tool to enrich well connected friends and high-priced lobbyists, but as a defender of fairness and opportunity for every single American. That's what this country's been about and that's the kind of president I intend to be".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEMxfme7OQI

From the Obama-Biden08 Campaign:
"The American people are the answer"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2cvru2TH-s

Obama's Transparency Problem: A video clip of a panel discussion broadcast on CSPAN and put up on YouTube by The Nation.
Panel discussion with Ari Melber of The Nation, The Nation's Editor and Publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington, DC Editor Chris Hayes, National Affairs Correspondent William Greider, the Executive Director of the Center for Community Change Deepak Bhargava, Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IODbwOhZYEM”

“Aren't you precious: You doubt that Obama made these comments?

They are all from approved sites (such as the Obama-Biden campaign) and if you watched them you would know they're real and untampered with.”

“"Paul Begala (born May 12, 1961) is a " and "John B. Judis is a"
==========­==========­==========­======

I know who Begala and Judis are. They're both young men who have opinions that are no more relevant or important than the opinions of their counterparts on the Republican side of this discussion. Their counterparts have written books, too, worked in presidential administrations, think tanks, universities, and have the word "scholar" attached to their names on their resumes (which is also true for me).

But you cite Begala's and Judis's. Why?

How you form your opinions? On the opinions of others you believe to be of your same ideological perspective and agenda. Are you sure you know that their agenda is the same as your agenda? Do you test it? Have you studied the source material yourself?

When you see poll results posted in the news, is your test for believing it whether it was done by a polling organization you consider to be leftist, i.e., "not Rasmussen"? Do you look to see what the question was, how it was phrased, the other questions asked? Do you look to see who and how many were polled, where and how?

Who are you? I'm much more interested in that and how you come to form your opinions.”

“Back at the time when Social Security was created (the Great Depression) was a time of great migration. More people worked 'piecework', temporarily (by the task, by the day/week/m­onth/seaso­n) and moved around frequently to find stable work.

The building trades weren't licensed. Farming wasn't corporate (as it is now), but were family operations that hired hands as needed. Farmers didn't keep books for tax purposes. Households paid for domestic labor out of a household budget wholly unrelated to whatever the family's actual business was, and no taxes were paid or records for the government's perusal kept. That's still pretty much the case (see Zoe Baird, Kimba Wood, et al, in just the last 20 years).

I forget at times that so many here are very young and have grown up with a narrative that fits for what's now & has occurred in their short lifetimes, and then they work backwards, applying structures and systems that didn't exist.
They make presumptions about then based on their understanding of how things work now.”

“"A fully realized effective program that led to expansion" sounds like a contradiction to me.
==========­==========­==========­====

Think of FDR's New Deal programs, in general, and the Social Security Act of 1935, in specific, like building a bakery to make and sell bread. Not just one type of bread (Wonder white bread), but a whole line of artisanal breads (bread that is crafted, rather than mass produced, baked in small batches rather than on a vast assembly line).

Think of each of the artisanal breads (ciabatta, foccaccia, brioche, levain, pain rustique, honey whole wheat, pumpernickel, etc.) as the individual groups that the program affects -- Elderly people, blind people, etc.

Social security's real and immediate purpose was to get money into the hands of people who weren't able-bodied and had no other means of earning a living, to both keep them alive and as a conduit for greasing the wheels of the economy.

Back to the bakery:

The artisan breads are such a hit that the bakery expands its offerings. Pastries, cookies, cakes (agricultural workers and other day laborers who traditionally worked off the books, work in households and as such were paid more casually, without any taxes withheld, etc.).”

“There are ways to end lobbyists' influence on our government, which include public financing of campaigns and ending 'corporate personhood', but it would take Congressional legislation.

Catch 22.”

“These aren't liberals; these are DLC-Democrats. This is the Republican-wing of the Democratic party.”

“Obama, in his own words:

"Meetings where laws are written will be more open to the public, no more secrecy...­..No more secrecy...­..":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQbQTrm_pSA

Transparency Will Be Touchstone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72g7qmeP1dE

"Clintons did health care the wrong way, behind closed doors":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvyharXBI0Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU0m6Rxm9vU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBtIKgGHYPQ

"On transparency", "About inviting the people back into their government again", and "Part of the job of the next American president is making Americans believe that our government is working for them, because right now they don't feel like it's working for them. They feel like it's working for special interests and it's working for corporations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K97hvOOdy_I

"We need a president who sees the government not as a tool to enrich well connected friends and high-priced lobbyists, but as a defender of fairness and opportunity for every single American. That's what this country's been about and that's the kind of president I intend to be:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEMxfme7OQI

"The American people are the answer":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2cvru2TH-s

Obama's Transparency Problem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IODbwOhZYEM”

“If this doesn't convince Obama-bots that Obama is taking them for a ride, nothing will.

Remember when Daschle's tax problems (for failing to declare a car and driver as income on his taxes) caused him to lose a seat in Obama's cabinet? Daschle's insider lobbying wasn't what caused Obama, who pledged an end to the way Washington does business, to regret nominating Daschle.

In hindsight, read Obama's own words with your now 'experienced' eyes and see if Obama's campaign rhetoric was just that, rhetoric that Obama knew at the time was just empty an promise:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/04/obama.daschle/index.html”

“Single Payer Advocates To Help With Sanders’ S703 Amendment and HCR Updates!

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/16084”

“Third quarter growth has been revised downward:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091124/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy”

“One in four U.S. mortgages is under water (owner owes more than the home's value):

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125903489722661849.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories”

“The Obama-Biden Administration is refusing to enforce the laws that are already on the books:

Wall Street's N@ked Swindle
A scheme to flood the market with counterfeit stocks helped kiII Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers — and the feds have yet to bust the culprits
by Matt Taibbi in The Rolling Stone

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/30481512/wall_streets_naked_swindle/print

Pay particular attention to the secret meeting held at the Fed by Bernanke and Geithner just prior to Bear Stearns' meltdown.

Obama's (& Biden's) refusal to investigate and prosecute, their insistence on "looking forward and not back" on everything done by the Bush administration, from the war and t0rture to the biggest heist of Americans' money since the Savings & Loan heist during the Reagan administration (which had been the biggest heist ever), makes Obama & Biden co-conspirators.”

“Obama's Nominee to Broadcasting Board of Governors, Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino Says On Tonight's Hannity: "We did not have a terror!st attack on our country during President Bush's term"

http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200911240056”

“Obama's Nominee to Broadcasting Board of Governors, Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino Says On Tonight's Hannity: "We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term"

http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200911240056”

“Financial Times: FT: PRESIDENT OF WORLD BANK WORRIES ABOUT NEW BUBBLE TOO

http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto112420091516301361”

“Afghan Army Turnover Rate Threatens U.S. War Plans

One in every four combat soldiers quit the Afghan National Army (ANA) during the year ending in September, published data by the U.S. Defence Department and the Inspector General for Reconstruction in Afghanistan reveals.

That high rate of turnover in the ANA, driven by extremely high rates of desertion, spells trouble for the strategy that President Barack Obama has reportedly decided on, which is said to include the dispatch of thousands of additional U.S. military trainers in order to rapidly increase the size of the ANA.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49397”

“Obama's Approval In The States: The Honeymoon Is Over

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/obamas-approval-in-the-states-the-honeymoon-is-over-were-back-to-the-campaign.php?ref=dcblt”

“When President Obama likes a magazine article, White House staffers had better read it.

Obama's must-read is Ron Brownstein's Saturday blog post "A Milestone in the Health Care Journey" at the Atlantic's political Web site.

Politico noted today that Obama found the article, which lauds Max Baucus' approach to health care, a good summary of the cost controls in the health care bill.

An administration official tells TPMDC that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel assigned the article as homework during a recent meeting.

According to the official, Emanuel told senior staffers "not to come back to the next day's meeting if they hadn't read the article."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/rahm-orders-health-care-article-be-must-read-for-staffers.php”

“You're losing me, Mr. President:

It increasingly seems that you have decided that your "change" will be confined to eliminating the stranglehold that the BushWhiteHouse exercised over all branches of government.

You've stood back & let the bought & paid for Senate devise legislation that effects no real change in the healthcare system except around the edges.

You've allowed the financial industry to continue the very practices that drove the economy into chaos. You've filled your Cabinet with the very people who were instrumental in laying the groundwork for the disaster, & given them free hand to prop up & protect the banks with no increase in regulation or protection for the system.

You allow the struggling HarryReid to try to whip the JoeLiebermans & BenNelsons into line without any public effort to back him up.

Now, it looks as though you're going to accept the advise of GeneralMcCrystal, the man instrumental in the PatTillman cover up, to dictate Afghanistan policy.

Nothing is changing except the Disaster of the Day.

Yes, yes. I know that you've restored the image of America around the world. But really, Sir, was that going to be so hard after 8 years of BushCheney? Just getting them out of office was going to spread a warm fuzzy feeling across the planet. Anyone could've done that.

READ MORE @
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/24/807808/-You-are-losing-me,-Mr.-President”

“Obama's Worsening Civil Rights Record:

"So, to recap: we have indefinite detention, military commissions, Blackwater assass!nation squads, escalation in Afghanistan, extreme secrecy to shield executive lawbreaking from judicial review, renditions, and denials of habeas corpus. These are not policies Obama has failed yet to uproot; they are policies he has explicitly advocated and affirmatively embraced as his own."

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/”

“""I promise I won't rest until America is prosperous once again," he said. The loss of jobs last month exceeded economists' estimates. It's the 22nd straight month the U.S. economy has shed jobs, the longest on records dating back 70 years."

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/International/07-Nov-2009/US-jobless-rate-tops-10--for-1st-time-since-1983-report”

“There's only one story, aka the facts.

Begala and Judis's words are commentary (opinion, aka spin) about legislation that passed and which created a fully realized, effective program that worked so well that it led to expansion for dealing with other groups needing aid. Nothing like it had existed before and it had a purpose that was somewhat different than what we're going after today.

The Social Security Act of 1935 was one of many of FDR's programs where each tried to get money to people to grease the wheels of the economy back into action. Social Security was different in that it wasn't designed to put anyone to work, but the purpose was to funnel money to the weakest, most vulnerable, least able to provide for themselves -- The elderly, the blind, minor children, disabled children, etc. That is the complete antithesis of what is being proposed now (the Insurance & Pharmaceutical Industries' Protection Act) that is, at its core, a corporate welfare scheme to perpetuate a tragically flawed system of employment-based or controlled benefits which nobody wants continued.

What PaulBegala, as a DLC Democrat, talks about that legislation and who it didn't cover, he's being a slick spinning huckster who has a well-feathered nest. Social Security was a life preserver for the moment, to get money to people who, if they didn't get money ASAP, would d!e. Nobody was even thinking about a decade or ten down the road.”

“The Obama-Biden Administration is refusing to enforce the laws that are already on the books:

Wall Street's N@ked Swindle
A scheme to flood the market with counterfeit stocks helped kiII Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers — and the feds have yet to bust the culprits
by Matt Taibbi in The Rolling Stone

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/30481512/wall_streets_naked_swindle/print

Pay particular attention to the secret meeting held at the Fed by Bernanke and Geithner just prior to Bear Stearns' meltdown.

Obama's (& Biden's) refusal to investigate and prosecute, their insistence on "looking forward and not back" on everything done by the Bush administration, from the war and t0rture to the biggest heist of Americans' money since the Savings & Loan heist during the Reagan administration (which had been the biggest heist ever), makes Obama & Biden co-conspirators.”