Guess who’s not coming to dinner?

[Ichingcarpenter]

Sen. Bernie Sanders says liberals want face time with Obama


Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) doesn't like what President Obama's budget could do to Social Security benefits. And he's not that happy that the White House is hosting a dozen Republican Senators for dinner tonight -- while progressives' invitations appear to have been lost in the mail.


Asked whether Obama ought to reach out more to liberals, including those like Sanders who are eager to chew up his budget, the senator joked: “Am I anxious to get a good free dinner? Absolutely, I am always open for a good free dinner.”


But "that invitation has not been offered," Sanders told Top Line in an interview on Pennsylvania Avenue just outside the White House gates. "He hasn't reached out to me, to the best of my knowledge, he hasn't reached out to progressives, and that is disappointing.”
Sanders is part of a group of progressive members of Congress, and interest groups, opposing the president’s budget.


Following his interview with Top Line, he joined a rally in front of the White House to garner support for a petition calling on the president not to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits.
“People who have voted with the president, it's not just Bernie Sanders, are extremely disappointed with the president,” says Sanders, who points to unions, veterans’ organizations, and AARP as organizations that share his position. “They are saying, do not balance the budget on people who have lost their arms and legs defending this country.”


http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/guess-not-coming-dinner-sen-bernie-sanders-says-111007362.html

[darkangel218]

1. Bernie is awesome.

One of the very few who have the courage to stand up for what is right.

[Le Taz Hot]

2. This isn't 12-dimensional chess,

it's capitulation and collaboration with the same entities who have BOTH parties firmly in their pockets.

How often were we told, "He'll be more liberal in his second term." As we can see, he's gone full-tilt boogie in the opposite direction because he's got nothing to lose. Between cutting SS benefits and MANDATED health insurance (as opposed to health care), the Democrats are going to suffer a bloodbath in the midterms. "Vote for the Dems because they're better than the other guy" will ring hollow by then.

[Autumn]

3. I'm voting for the party who doesn't want cuts to SS.

Oh shit, there isn't one.

[merrily]

12. Of course there are U.S. political parties that don't want to cut OASDI.

[The CCC]

24. I'm voting for the party who doesn't want cuts to SS.

Actually there is. It's called the Green Party.

[OnyxCollie]

28. There are.

But advocating for one will get you tombstoned.

[n2doc]

4. Maybe he can offer to play golf or shoot hoops with BO

But more likely BO just likes to hang out with folks he agrees with and respects, like Boehner.

[Liberalynn]

6. +1

[forestpath]

5. It's insulting, dismissive, and shows exactly whose side Obama is on.

[KoKo]

7. Recommend!

[michigandem58]

8. Cheap shot by Sanders

The President is ratcheting up political pressure on repugs and is being seen as conciliatory and moderate. But at the end of the day, Sanders' reaction from the far left probably helps the strategy.

[Enrique]

11. criticism from the Left is good all around

like you say, it helps Obama with his triangulation strategy.

the worst thing progressives can do is call Obama himself a progressive. I hear right-wingers call him a lefty and it pisses me off because it is such a huge lie. When I hear people on our side play into that lie, I am beside myself.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

22. Especially when you compare it to Ike. He wanted a top marginal rate of 100% to pay for WWII.

[merrily]

13. Sanders is not far left.

Marx was far left.

[redqueen]

15. +1 ... Sanders is just left.

The US has a distorted understanding due to having centrists portrayed as leftists for decades now.

[magellan]

17. Obama is always being moderate and conciliatory...with Repubs

Let me know when he starts offering to give the store away to liberal/progressive interests.

[lark]

29. Not a cheap shot IMO.

It's a real reaction about who Obama values, obviously progressives are not on his list. He only wants to make nice with Repugs, not with actual Democrats who aren't 100% in the pocket of the 1%.

[PA Democrat]

30. Sanders is "far left"? Then so am I.

I'd rather be "far left" than naive.

[fadedrose]

9. The table at DU has guests with varying positions

I noticed on TV - a couple of hosts including Tweety and Ed Shultz - saying that it is time for a moderate president in the next election because a progressive cannot win.

This is the same BS they did at Iowa when Dean was running, and they convinced all of his supporters that he had no chance so why waste their votes.

History is repeating itself.

I wish somebody would do a poll on DU to see how many moderates and how many progressives there are on this side (along with the trolls, of course)....

[fadedrose]

14. and the moderate they support is Hillary Clinton... nt

[merrily]

16. It is time for a moderate President? What do they think Obama is?

The 1% are desperate to convince everyone that this is a center right nation.

I would rather see a poll on how many New Democrats and how many liberals post here.

Many people seem to use "progressive" as a synonym for liberal, but it is not.

The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) was a non-profit 501(c)(4) corporation[1] founded in 1985 that, upon its formation, argued the United States Democratic Party should shift away from the leftward turn it took in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The DLC hails President Bill Clinton as proof of the viability of third way politicians and as a DLC success story.

The DLC's affiliated think tank is the Progressive Policy Institute. Democrats who adhere to the DLC's philosophy often call themselves New Democrats. This term is also used by other groups who have similar views on where the party should go in the future, like NDN[2] and Third Way.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Leadership_Council

[MADem]

27. Dean's Iowa canvassers were Dean's worst enemies.

They didn't intend to be, but a lot of those kids with the orange hats rubbed some of the "country bumpkins" (which is how the recipients of the lectures by the Hatted Ones felt they were being regarded) the wrong way.

An estimated 3,500 or more earnest Dean ground troops were in the corn-belt state last week, during the cold heart of winter, for a precinct-by-precinct effort to turn on and turn out Dean voters. They were known as “The Perfect Storm,” or, among journalists on the trail, as “the orange hats.” Bright with the light of common faith, that volunteer corps was supposed to provide Dean with the margin of his success. No other campaign could match those numbers or that degree of commitment, the pundits said.

But it didn’t work.

Maybe it’s unfair to blame the hats, but put yourself in the boots of an average Iowa Democrat a few days before the caucus. The campaign is so intense that it has become a form of political harassment. Your phone rings every 10 minutes with an automated robo-call on behalf of one candidate or another. Your mailbox is jammed with political junk mail. Then comes a knock on your door and there you find a couple of committed campaigners from Park Slope or Noe Valley or Wicker Park telling you that Howard Dean is your man. And they’re wearing these really loud orange caps.

How would you react if a bunch of Iowans invaded your neighborhood like that? Now you’re beginning to understand what might’ve happened to Dean on Monday....In the aftermath, I can’t help but think the Dean-ites came off as a little precious, maybe even a little bit cultish, in those caps. What was the point? Were they trying to impress Iowans with the size of their army? Were they a subtle, ironic comment on the presumed nerdiness of the locals? Were they an expression of uncritical devotion to the higher political cause? Inevitably, the choice of headwear set the volunteers apart, and not in a good way. It made them stand out, much as saffron robes make a Hare Krishna devotee stand out at an airport. And “The Perfect Storm” imagery? Someone should have told Dean: In the Midwest, when the weather turns violent, sensible people get away from windows and doors and head for the basement to wait it out.

http://www.salon.com/2004/01/20/orangehats/

[fadedrose]

31. I watched it non-stop...

The problems started after Hillary went to Iowa.

The debate was a sham. ALL of the candidates piled on top of Dean because he was the top contender when the primary caucuses began - with the exception of Barbara Lee, who was not part of the what I thought was a conspiracy against Dean. Dean himself looked a bit confused by the guns are pointed in his direction....

I saw and felt what I saw and felt. None of the points you mentioned had a bearing on the caucuses. Reporters were commenting about the changes in heart, so unexpected, were happening. These were not people from neighborhoods who you say were annoyed. These were policitians who are NEVER annoyed by anything political.. all this happened in 2000.

And the Clinton people in Michigan tried to get her primary votes given to her at the convention - this was 2008 - even tho they were told ahead of time that no votes were applicable since the primary was not held at a time sanctioned by the DNC. That's why all the other candidates dropped out, save one, whose name I forgot.

That was unethical because they knew ahead of time that the votes would NOT be counted, but they fought anyway. Besides, Michigan had a "Other" box checked on the ballot that many many people checked off... So the ballots were counted, and they were distributed somewhat evenly by the DNC who was plagued by the Clinton campaign to give her the votes.

[MADem]

34. Hillary didn't screw Dean. That's just absurd. Dean screwed Dean, and he'd be the first to say so.

Trying to blame Hillary for Iowa 04 is a bridge MUCH too far. Blame John Kerry--for having tighter message and much better organization, but don't stick this on Clinton--that's just ridiculous.

I think you are confusing 2004, when DEAN ran, with 2008, when Clinton ran. You seem to think they appeared in the same primary--they didn't.

2004 (NO HILLARY): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries,_2004


2008 (NO DEAN): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_candidates,_2008

History: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/on_the_trail/2004/01/howard_deans_very_bad_night.html

DES MOINES, Iowa—"Prove it or not," Howard Dean told his supporters at a rally Sunday in Davenport. "Now is the time to see if this works," to see if the unorthodox, Internet-fueled campaign assembled by Dean and his campaign manager, Joe Trippi, translates into votes. "Tomorrow, at 6:30 p.m., you can prove it or not." The answer Iowans gave him was a raspberry: Or not.

I attended a West Des Moines caucus Monday night with Dean's Iowa press secretary, Sarah Leonard, and her feeling about the race was that it would be close, so close perhaps that they wouldn't be able to call it that night. She felt it was a three-way race, between Dean, Kerry, and Gephardt. "Edwards, I just don't think you can build an organization in 48 hours," she said. But it wasn't close. Momentum beat organization, both Dean's digital one and Gephardt's analog one. (Leonard did say before the caucus, however, that the rumor that Dean had a hard count of 50,000 was preposterous. "If we had a hard count of 50,000, I'd probably be at the Val Air," she joked, referring to the ballroom site of Dean's caucus night party.)

The results from our caucus reflected the results of the 1,992 other caucuses in the state in one respect: Kerry got twice as many delegates as Howard Dean, four to two (with John Edwards picking up four as well). There were lots of new and first-time caucus participants, so many that the organizers ran out of forms to register them. But they weren't the new voters the Dean campaign wanted. George Davey, the precinct captain for the Dean campaign, said he was hoping for 25 to 50 Dean voters between the ages of 18 and 25, but only one showed up. "I think if we could blame [Dean's loss] on anyone, blame it on the 18- to 25-year-olds, because they were nonexistent," he said.

Davey, who is 37, also said Dean needed to be less negative toward his opponents. And another Dean volunteer, Toby Sackton, a 57-year-old from Boston, complained that Dean's television ads weren't any good. "We saw three ads, one by Kerry, one by Edwards, and one by Dean. Dean's was by far the worst," he said. "It was an ad aimed at getting the supporters out," not appealing to voters who didn't already like Dean....

[fadedrose]

36. Dean lost to Kerry (2004) & Hillary lost to Obama (2008)

Hillary wasn't running in 2004, but she didn't want Dean to win. He dropped out after he lost Iowa. He was the first to call the Iraqi war wrong, and the first to talk about universal health care. I heard her speech in Iowa, painful tho it was to listen, and didn't care for her then either...that was Iowa in 2004. She was not running but wanted to wait till 2008 and didn't want Dean cluttering up her primaries... Funny, but a lot of people wondered why Kerry didn't fight to have Ohio recounted.

I am confused about a lot of things, but not who ran against who.

2008 is when Hillary had her sights on winning - but Obama tripped her up. And Bill never forgave him for it, and in spite of the speech he made at the 2012 convention, I thought it was to collect favors in 2016. That's the type of thing that Obama meant when he said about Panetta, "he served without a personal agenda."

Gore vs Bush (2000) - and I always wondered why he didn't accept the Clintons' help when he was running...

[MADem]

40. Yes, that's what I said. Saying Hillary 'screwed' Dean in 04 is just absurd. nt

[L0oniX]

10. "White House is hosting a dozen Republican Senators for dinner" When in the spot light...

appearance can be everything.

[xtraxritical]

18. I love Bernie and would cook his dinner anytime.

[damnedifIknow]

19. Had Republicans on the ropes

and a few punches away from a knockout and then retreated to our corner, let them catch their breath and come out swinging again which will now happen. It's almost like...I won't go there.

[bluethruandthru]

20. It makes me laugh to see my teabagger/RW 'friends'

get all lathered up calling Obama a 'socialist' or 'commie'..or even 'librul'. If they had even the slightest clue how much of a mainstream republican (in actions) Obama really is! Dwight Eisenhower and even Richard Nixon look downright progressive compared to our current president!

[JDPriestly]

21. Obama systematically keeps real Democrats, liberal or progressive

Democrats as far from the White House as possible.

Can you name a real liberal, just one, in his cabinet at this point? Kerry is the most liberal, and he is by no means all that progressive.

Keeping liberals out of the limelight and out of the White House and out of the circumference of the presidency serves to render them unviable as presidential contenders.

Hillary is a typical example of a conservative Democrat who served in Obama's cabinet. Not only that but she served as Secretary of State, the most prominent position in the cabinet of any president. Hillary would have name recognition based simply on her status as former First Lady. But her appointment to Secretary of State has kept her name on the tips of the tongues even of those Americans who don't pay a lot of attention to politics.

Now try to think of a spokesperson for more progressive stances who has served in Obama's cabinet. Just try.

One way to prevent people from getting the name recognition in the public mind that can make them good candidates for president is to appoint them to a major cabinet position or hold them close to the White House.

That Obama names no really strong liberals, virtually no one, for example, from the progressive caucus, to his cabinet is, for the Democratic Party, a very divisive aspect of Obama's presidency.

And it serves to push our Party further to the right whether Democrats like it or not.

I would vote for any really progressive candidate in 2016. But they have to promise to be honest with voters. No ladies (or gentlemen) on the side or standing in the wings just out of sight. (Not a problem with Bernie Sanders, I suspect.)

Elizabeth Warren would be great although age could become a problem for her as it could for Hillary.

The more I think about how Hillary is being set up for 2016, the sicker it makes me feel. Hillary is the corporate pick. It looks like that to me anyway.

[Myrina]

23. ^^ Post of the day. Thank you ^^

[fadedrose]

32. When Obama spoke at Leon Panetta's Farewell Reception...

Last edited Wed Apr 10, 2013, 03:27 PM - Edit history (1)

He said many wonderful things about Secretary of Defense Panetta, among which was the comment...paraphrasing..."he who served 'without a personal agenda'" -who do you think he meant. He hasn't said that about anyone else leaving around this time or previously.. I think he meant SS Clinton.

And his shared interview on 60 minutes with Clinton did not look like one he had his heart set on - maybe a price for Clinton's resignation...nah, that's crazy.

But it more or less ended Benghazi (until 2016 anyhow).

So much happens that seems crazy but is true in many cases.

[JDPriestly]

33. Who does "her" refer to? Hillary? or Panetta?

[fadedrose]

38. Too hard to say when I don't know what you mean any more than you know what I meant ;)

So I edited my post so it at least makes sense to me. But I'll try again if you like...

[JDPriestly]

39. Thanks. I understand now.

And, on edit, I add -- interesting observation. Food for thought.

[DeSwiss]

25. Reach out?

He knows exactly where you are and what you want.

- One reaches out to someone they actually want to talk to.....

[Laelth]

26. k&r for Bernie Sanders. n/t

-Laelth

[Initech]

35. I'm really sick of Obama trying to reach out to the other side.

They do nothing but obstruct. It cannot be done. What did the Republicans do when they won overwhelming majorities in 2000 and 2004? Did they reach out across the aisle? No they got drunk with power, spent like drunken sailors, passed all their crappy policies and threw us under the bus. Not only that they demonized us by repeatedly saying anyone who didn't file lock step with Bush was anti American. Obama needs to do the same.

[Rex]

37. Really? Obama left out the Professional Left?

But some here say it is the Evil Empire trying to divide up Dems! So by the stupid logic of some idiot bloggers, Obama is falling right into the trap - but not cuz only The Left does that.