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7 years! (Original Post) MrScorpio Apr 2016 OP
Great graphic! I'm sick of the idiots who say the two parties are the same! Squinch Apr 2016 #1
Me too! Liberal_in_LA Apr 2016 #93
And also the idiots who jimlup May 2016 #100
Yep. So many idiots, so little time! Squinch May 2016 #113
Same here. Hortensis May 2016 #109
Just a moment, please. I thought Obama was a neocon. A Third Way neoliberal. This doesn't add up. Buzz Clik Apr 2016 #2
Me too! JustAnotherGen Apr 2016 #5
No, but the TPP is a neo liberal deal. liberalnarb Apr 2016 #31
Nope. That's your definition. Buzz Clik Apr 2016 #35
Especially the ones who live overseas. n/t libdem4life Apr 2016 #71
... but not the ones who live entirely in the artificial reality of their twisted minds. Buzz Clik Apr 2016 #73
Strange reply. Have to parse that one a little extra. n/t libdem4life Apr 2016 #76
You're SO sweet! dchill May 2016 #102
A tad over the top, don't you think? Whatevs. n/t libdem4life May 2016 #117
LOL hay rick Apr 2016 #83
How! Our other trade agreements have cost us good jobs (that have been replaced by JDPriestly Apr 2016 #94
I think every seven years democrats forget how shitty La Lioness Priyanka Apr 2016 #48
My line is that Democratic Presidents generally disappoint me slightly whereas GOP ones invariably Warren DeMontague May 2016 #106
Living in a democracy is disappointing La Lioness Priyanka May 2016 #115
+1 uponit7771 May 2016 #119
K&R... spanone Apr 2016 #3
Yes he did a great job Andy823 Apr 2016 #4
I don't think anyone on here is saying continuing what Obama has done would be a bad thing. liberalnarb Apr 2016 #36
Couldn't have said it better...! Surya Gayatri May 2016 #107
Yes those 10s of millions of us who never recovered from the crash fasttense May 2016 #111
So is the solution to sit out the presidential election and allow the White House to Squinch May 2016 #114
You left off the 4,000 plus innocent people killed with drone strikes. rhett o rick Apr 2016 #6
Thanks for bringing a balanced perspective. nt MrScorpio Apr 2016 #7
The Goldilocks "liberal" - no Democrat has ever been good enough. yallerdawg Apr 2016 #9
So what are insinuating? That we should only discuss the good things? rhett o rick Apr 2016 #15
You need to Andy823 Apr 2016 #20
The best thing to happen to the Sanders' legacy and "movement" .. yallerdawg Apr 2016 #25
Yep, us anti everything people want results not words. zeemike Apr 2016 #41
I would like to see something between swooners and haters Skittles May 2016 #103
I'd be willing to bet dollars to holes in donuts that within DAYS of a Sanders inauguration ... Hekate Apr 2016 #61
Thankfully, there won't be a Sanders inauguration. baldguy Apr 2016 #96
I doubt Sanders would waste a couple years trying to play nice with repukes Skittles May 2016 #104
Find myself agreeing with you all over the place, Andy! LOLOL! Surya Gayatri May 2016 #108
Bernie does support The Obama Drone Policy, rick. liberalnarb Apr 2016 #38
Liberalnarb. sheshe2 Apr 2016 #86
well in that perspective hfojvt Apr 2016 #40
Japanese internment? NT 1939 Apr 2016 #23
ouch.. yuiyoshida Apr 2016 #37
FDR and the sainted Earl Warren NT 1939 Apr 2016 #43
Correct and couple of addtional things Ferd Berfel Apr 2016 #13
Sanders supports the drone war JI7 Apr 2016 #47
you have proof of this? shanti Apr 2016 #56
Several links for your delectation Hekate Apr 2016 #63
Thanks for the links Hekate! sheshe2 Apr 2016 #87
"All of that and more" -- Bernie Sanders, when asked by Chuck Todd if he would use drones betsuni Apr 2016 #51
Post removed Post removed Apr 2016 #84
The number I've quoted has come under question. I quoted the number that rhett o rick May 2016 #101
Its certainly a good graphic, but I also like to imagine the bread lines that were avoided BootinUp Apr 2016 #8
Yes, let's inject a little reality in this thread. passiveporcupine Apr 2016 #27
quick takes on the issues you raise BootinUp Apr 2016 #39
The problem with not enough support is who it comes from passiveporcupine Apr 2016 #45
Yes, actually Obama did start the revolution. sheshe2 Apr 2016 #88
The revolution started before Obama. I think the real revolution passiveporcupine Apr 2016 #89
Obama did far more that he is given credit for. sheshe2 Apr 2016 #90
I know Obama has accomplished a lot passiveporcupine Apr 2016 #91
most of the income is NOT going to the top hfojvt Apr 2016 #44
Sorry, I should have said profit, not income. n/t passiveporcupine Apr 2016 #46
you did say profit hfojvt Apr 2016 #50
Well we aren't talking normal bennefits here passiveporcupine Apr 2016 #53
any capital gains they get from that, and dividends hfojvt Apr 2016 #57
capital gains are taxed at a much lower rate than income n/t passiveporcupine Apr 2016 #60
and so are dividends hfojvt Apr 2016 #68
Sarcastic comment about DU followed by emoji. Rex Apr 2016 #10
The Uninsured rate under Bush is deceptive rurallib Apr 2016 #11
k & r! lovemydog Apr 2016 #19
+1 uponit7771 May 2016 #120
He made a promise to the gay community that he would do right by us Politicub Apr 2016 #12
I was skeptical about this when Obama picked warren La Lioness Priyanka Apr 2016 #49
I had forgotten about that name. Politicub Apr 2016 #52
Yup, as I said I was totally wrong to be skeptical La Lioness Priyanka Apr 2016 #54
How about an honest assessment, and not one that would make a fawn blush . . FairWinds Apr 2016 #14
Don't go on ... JoePhilly Apr 2016 #77
Just imagine what he could have done PatSeg Apr 2016 #16
It would also help if he were a progressive. passiveporcupine Apr 2016 #28
I think at his core, PatSeg Apr 2016 #64
the most important thing that needs to be done passiveporcupine Apr 2016 #65
Yes PatSeg Apr 2016 #75
FDR is one of my heroes, but FDR was not God.The rewrite of history on FDR could get to be as bad... Hekate Apr 2016 #66
That was very well said PatSeg Apr 2016 #74
Why is congress like that though?? angrychair Apr 2016 #85
Oh definitely PatSeg Apr 2016 #97
It's been an excellent two terms for President Barack Obama..... George II Apr 2016 #17
"And to think that the RWNJs were afraid that Obama was going to destroy America!" Plucketeer Apr 2016 #18
Don't forget about some of the Andy823 Apr 2016 #21
Well - truth be told Plucketeer Apr 2016 #32
President Obama has more than lived up to my expectations.. mountain grammy Apr 2016 #22
+1 Hekate Apr 2016 #69
Well said, mg... Surya Gayatri May 2016 #110
+1 uponit7771 May 2016 #121
Spectacular! shireen Apr 2016 #24
Yes, but what has he ACCOMPLISHED? (sarcasm) NT PBass Apr 2016 #26
I am proud and happy that this man in our President Gothmog Apr 2016 #29
Kick. (n/t) Iggo Apr 2016 #30
The fact is Obama saved America. SunSeeker Apr 2016 #33
+ 1 ... my neice too. JoePhilly Apr 2016 #79
K&R ismnotwasm Apr 2016 #34
Great thread. Really sums it up. forest444 Apr 2016 #42
K&R! betsuni Apr 2016 #55
Barack Obama was the right President at the right time. jillan Apr 2016 #58
great jlarson Apr 2016 #59
Nice to see you. That's a great graphic. Hekate Apr 2016 #62
Best president of my lifetime...it's not even a close question alcibiades_mystery Apr 2016 #67
Unemloyment numbers are total BS SusanLarson Apr 2016 #70
It has gotten better in many ways PowerToThePeople Apr 2016 #72
Obama will end up in the top tier of all Presidents. JoePhilly Apr 2016 #78
I swear Soxfan58 Apr 2016 #80
I still think Obama is lovely! Rosa Luxemburg Apr 2016 #81
Me too, Rosa!! ailsagirl Apr 2016 #82
The fool, larry elder, says its weakest recovery ever. Cant stand to see a black man succeed Liberal_in_LA Apr 2016 #92
And there are those who would like to erase it all & start from scratch. baldguy Apr 2016 #95
Could have been a lot worse. JEB Apr 2016 #98
We've certainly come a long way over those years GOPblows431 May 2016 #99
"Destroy America"? Fuck, I only wish I'd had some liquid cash to put in the stock market early 2009. Warren DeMontague May 2016 #105
We're supposed to believe these numbers mean anything to people. Madmiddle May 2016 #112
Great graphic underpants May 2016 #116
Is there still time to repeal the 22nd Amendment? Califonz May 2016 #118

Squinch

(50,916 posts)
1. Great graphic! I'm sick of the idiots who say the two parties are the same!
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 12:15 PM
Apr 2016

PS: Great to see your name. I haven't in a while.

jimlup

(7,968 posts)
100. And also the idiots who
Sun May 1, 2016, 12:36 AM
May 2016

say that Obama has destroyed America and that they have to take it back and make it "great again."

 

Buzz Clik

(38,437 posts)
35. Nope. That's your definition.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 02:41 PM
Apr 2016

The TPP has the potential to benefit every US resident in ever walk of life.

JDPriestly

(57,936 posts)
94. How! Our other trade agreements have cost us good jobs (that have been replaced by
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 10:26 PM
Apr 2016

lousy ones) and caused our trade deficit to skyrocket.

Ah!!! I see the weasel words: "has the potential."

Meaningless. That is an empty statement. There is really nothing to back it up.

 

La Lioness Priyanka

(53,866 posts)
48. I think every seven years democrats forget how shitty
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 03:38 PM
Apr 2016

Republican presidents really are, and in their mass amnesia make hysterical arguments that republicans and democrats are more or less the same.

This affected poor al gore in 2000, hope smarter and less hysterical heads will prevail this time around

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
106. My line is that Democratic Presidents generally disappoint me slightly whereas GOP ones invariably
Sun May 1, 2016, 04:37 AM
May 2016

manage to exceed my worst fears.

But I would say - honest, fair assessment - that Barack Obama has arguably been the best President of my lifetime.

 

La Lioness Priyanka

(53,866 posts)
115. Living in a democracy is disappointing
Sun May 1, 2016, 10:29 AM
May 2016

Because almost fifty percent of the pop disagrees with you, and they cannot be ignored

Andy823

(11,495 posts)
4. Yes he did a great job
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 12:18 PM
Apr 2016

Yet we still see posts here on DU from those who say otherwise. They say he was a do nothing president, he was republican lite, he was just like Nixon, and all kinds of BS. We also see those same posters saying that Hillary will "continue" what Obama has done, and they say that is bad for the future. I don't know about anyone else, but I would love it if she "DID" continue to rule the same as Obama has. For some reason I just can't buy into what right wing trolls here keep spewing, and I can't understand why anyone would, unless of course they too were trolls!

 

liberalnarb

(4,532 posts)
36. I don't think anyone on here is saying continuing what Obama has done would be a bad thing.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 02:42 PM
Apr 2016

I think they may be saying that's not quite enough. That the American people need serious help.

 

Surya Gayatri

(15,445 posts)
107. Couldn't have said it better...!
Sun May 1, 2016, 06:36 AM
May 2016
I don't know about anyone else, but I would love it if she "DID" continue to rule the same as Obama has.
 

fasttense

(17,301 posts)
111. Yes those 10s of millions of us who never recovered from the crash
Sun May 1, 2016, 07:31 AM
May 2016

Feel that signing away our trading rights to multinational corporations is not helping the situation.

We unrecoverred feel that using a Democratic lame duck congress to extend the tax cuts to the rich is a ripoff from the middle class. That setting up a committee to gut Social Security is Not democratic. That not prosecuting bankers and Not bailing out people and cities, yet bailing out bankers and corporations is not helping us to recover. He could have been another FDR. But he chose not to.

I suspect pople who want the next president to be just like the current president are doing just fine economically. The rest of us, not so much.

I know you folks who worship Obama are going to jump on me but I'm not going to respond to you. This beautiful Sunday morning in my old age, I have to go work my 3rd job to put food on my table.

Squinch

(50,916 posts)
114. So is the solution to sit out the presidential election and allow the White House to
Sun May 1, 2016, 08:44 AM
May 2016

go back to a Republican? Or are you waiting for the revolution to overthrow the government.

Either way, you are cutting off your own nose.

And, no, he couldn't be another FDR. He didn't have the Congress behind him. Because we didn't give it to him. Because Democrats don't vote in the off year elections, and we don't fund the down ticket races. So if you REALLY want a revolution, that is what you change.

But there is a faction of Sanders supporters who simply won't do that. They'll keep sitting on their asses and waiting for the revolution that will never come while they complain that there is a conspiracy against them.

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
6. You left off the 4,000 plus innocent people killed with drone strikes.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 12:24 PM
Apr 2016

But I bet you can rationalize that away. They shouldn't have been in the same country with terrorist suspects.

yallerdawg

(16,104 posts)
9. The Goldilocks "liberal" - no Democrat has ever been good enough.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 12:41 PM
Apr 2016

FDR?

How many dead in indiscriminate Allied bombing of civilian targets?

Or is it FDR has a "different" standard?

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
15. So what are insinuating? That we should only discuss the good things?
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 01:09 PM
Apr 2016

Why would you try to rationalize away what I believe is a war crime? Do you think these deaths are just collateral damage to a illegal process that is aimed at killing suspected, that's suspected, terrorists.

This has nothing to do with what FDR did or didn't do.

Andy823

(11,495 posts)
20. You need to
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 01:55 PM
Apr 2016

Understand that the man has done a good job. He has made mistakes, but when you and the same old anti Obama gang come in and ONLY post negative things about him, the party, and now Clinton, well one has to wonder what your real agenda really is.

I would be willing to bet that the same group of anti everything posters here would have gone after Bernie within 6 months when he couldn't get things done that they wanted done on day one.

zeemike

(18,998 posts)
41. Yep, us anti everything people want results not words.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 03:00 PM
Apr 2016

But that is why we are different...the other side is satisfied with words.

A good job is relative...good for whom?
The ACA was good for the insurance industry but not poor people...TPP is great for corporations but a disaster for ordinary people.

Some people want to worship the leader and that is what this seems to be about. And for me that seems like a dangerous thing to do...to much like a cult.
I prefer critical thinking...and there is no shame in that.

Hekate

(90,560 posts)
61. I'd be willing to bet dollars to holes in donuts that within DAYS of a Sanders inauguration ...
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 04:50 PM
Apr 2016

...the new song would be "Where is the Love?" and his name would be mud.

Of course Obama got things done a lot faster than the old guy, because Obama was tossed under the bus within days of the vote count and long before the Inauguration.

 

Surya Gayatri

(15,445 posts)
108. Find myself agreeing with you all over the place, Andy! LOLOL!
Sun May 1, 2016, 06:41 AM
May 2016
...when you and the same old anti Obama gang come in and ONLY post negative things about him, the party, and now Clinton, well one has to wonder what your real agenda really is.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
40. well in that perspective
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 02:59 PM
Apr 2016

How big is the "war crime" in the vast scheme of things? Does that war crime make the glass 1/2 full or 1/10th full or 1/100th full?

Why are those 4,000 lives so important to you? To me, they are very small in the big picture. 4,000 lives? Over seven years (or more?). There were 4,317 people murdered in just California, Texas and Florida in just 2009 alone. Take 10,000 a year for the whole country (it was 15,241 in 2009 so I am using a low estimate) and the total is 70,000 over seven years.

70,000 would seem to be much much larger than 4,000. So why should my hair be on fire over 4,000?

And is Al-Alwaki among the 4,000? Because I am still glad that he is dead.

Ferd Berfel

(3,687 posts)
13. Correct and couple of addtional things
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 01:00 PM
Apr 2016

The unemployment figures used are U3 rather than the more accurate U6 (this is always the case) so the unemployment figure is actually much higher even for White People, but significantly higher for non-whites.

and

The jobs 'created' are mostly low pay, minimum wage service jobs rather than living wage jobs you can support yourself on.

John Willliams - generally more believable than BLS
http://www.shadowstats.com/

U3 vs U6
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm


Recovery Has Created Far More Low-Wage Jobs Than Better-Paid Ones

from 2014 but you'll get the idea
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/28/business/economy/recovery-has-created-far-more-low-wage-jobs-than-better-paid-ones.html?_r=0

betsuni

(25,380 posts)
51. "All of that and more" -- Bernie Sanders, when asked by Chuck Todd if he would use drones
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 04:03 PM
Apr 2016

or special forces in counter-terrorism. As president, he would use drones.

Response to rhett o rick (Reply #6)

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
101. The number I've quoted has come under question. I quoted the number that
Sun May 1, 2016, 12:39 AM
May 2016

has been given by Sen Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a huge fan of Obama's drone killing. Other sources are more conservative but the kill ratio has been reported as from 30 to 100 innocent men, women and children killed for every single terrorist "suspect".

An analytically conservative Council on Foreign Relations tally assesses that 500 drone strikes outside of Iraq and Afghanistan have killed 3,674 people.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/24/-sp-us-drone-strikes-kill-1147

US drone strikes could be classed as war crimes, says Amnesty International
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/22/amnesty-us-officials-war-crimes-drones

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued a pair of reports in October fiercely criticizing the secrecy that shrouds the administration’s drone program, and calling for investigations into the deaths of drone victims with no apparent connection to terrorism.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23/obama-drone-program-anniversary_n_4654825.html

How can anyone wonder why Obama doesn't condemn the war crimes of the previous administration, when he is committing what some consider war crimes himself.

I wonder who gets to decide who dies by drone strikes.

BootinUp

(47,085 posts)
8. Its certainly a good graphic, but I also like to imagine the bread lines that were avoided
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 12:34 PM
Apr 2016

due to his handling of the financial crisis.

passiveporcupine

(8,175 posts)
27. Yes, let's inject a little reality in this thread.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 02:15 PM
Apr 2016

I agree that Obama has helped to save the countryfrom what would have been a much worse financial crisis, if a Republican was in the white house, and he has helped to build jobs.

but I still don't see where he has changed anything about the money in politics...it's much worse now than when he first started. He still has not pushed hard enough on green energy and stopping oil production, and he still has done nothing to change the fact that this country is an Oligarchy, with most profit going to the top while the middle class keeps slip sliding away.

Yes we have jobs, and some of them are good jobs with good pay and good bennies, but too many of them have changed from good manufacturing jobs with union pay and bennies to low income jobs (many service jobs) and many manufacturing plants have moved to the south (those that aren't moving overseas) and are hiring non-union at much lower wages.

I admire Obama very much and I know he has done what he could against the congress he was dealt with, and getting ACA was better than what we had before, but he's still not progressive enough for what this country needs, if we want to compete with the world. Our educational creds are also slip sliding away, yet kids from other countries still come here to go to college. We have good colleges, it's just that kids here can't afford them any more.

All this has gotten worse on Obama's watch. I'm not blaming him for all of it, but I'm not letting him off the hook for all of it either.

More than 16 million children in the United States – 22% of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level – $23,550 a year for a family of four. Research shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice that level to cover basic expenses. Using this standard, 45% of children live in low-income families.

Most of these children have parents who work, but low wages and unstable employment leave their families struggling to make ends meet.

http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html


When you look at that chart you see our unemployment and uninsured rates have improived, but have they really? Or is it that the people are working multiple jobs to make ends meet (and still not making it) and many have just dropped out of the search for jobs because they are too old to be hired now, and too many of the "new insured" have insurance they still cannot afford to use.

We are the wealthiest country in the world and yet we have some of the lowest living standards and poverty and health rates for developed countries. We are spending too much on war and for-profit prisons and a screwed up justice system, and not enough on our own people.

BootinUp

(47,085 posts)
39. quick takes on the issues you raise
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 02:47 PM
Apr 2016

money in politics - Obama came out forcefully against Citizens United decision. I think a review of that whole episode puts a good light on him actually.

jobs - I think Obama himself would agree with you and would very much prefered to do more. He has recently spoken about this if I am not mistaken. I give him a B+ on this issue. I would have liked to see a push for a bigger stimulus initially in '09, and also a more effective mid-term campaign.

things getting worse or better - Its not easy turning around a huge ship of state when it was as badly damaged as ours was in '09. I give him an A on turning it around just because he started in such a massive hole.

Child poverty - I am not an expert on this issue. I am not sure I have too much to say worth typing except that I believe Obama shares your concern and did everything he could to address it.

Progressive enough or Is Bernie's way better - I think this is the question you are raising. My take on this whole question is to ask whether the politician in question is able to gain enough support to actually change something. In a nutshell, I do not see Bernie building the support needed to enact the changes he promises and therefore, it is not the better way. Just my opinion.

passiveporcupine

(8,175 posts)
45. The problem with not enough support is who it comes from
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 03:32 PM
Apr 2016

Obama did not start a revolution of the people and then keep it going. He tried to work within the existing system, which he could not work with because of republican obstructionism.

Bernie knows he can't do anything great without us behind him, continuously pushing for the changes we want and need now. Bernie is truly leading a revolution, not thinking he can do it on his own.

Obama could have gotten more done with our help, but he dropped us. Not deliberately...but without thinking about what he really meant when he said "Yes We Can". It takes the WE to get anything done.

Considering everything, he got a lot done on his own, but not enough.



sheshe2

(83,654 posts)
88. Yes, actually Obama did start the revolution.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 09:11 PM
Apr 2016
http://www.democraticunderground.com/110232999


But that's how America works: we have no sense of history. We don't understand just how bad it was right before the 2008 election. In actuality, we were losing 700,000 jobs per month. Unemployment was twice what it was now. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was below 8,000. The financial industry had crashed the global economy and was seemingly continuing those very same actions as if nothing they had done was even wrong. Retirees were losing their life savings. Millennials were unable to find their first jobs and were being crushed by student debt. Our country was bogged down in two costly wars that were contributing to the deteriorating conditions and instability of the Middle East. While all this was going on, the rich in this country, seemingly unaffected by everything going on around them, continued to profit at record levels.


When it came time for him to run for president starting in 2007, Barack Obama did not run on a promise of revolution.

What he did run on was convincing millions of Americans that were was a better way to govern. That we were all in this together and that if enough Americans stood up and voiced their concerns then Washington, D.C. would be forced to listen. His soaring rhetoric was based upon the idea that through hope and change we could advance the mission of our founding fathers and get ever so closer to our perfect union. That was his pitch: not simply that he would go in and overturn nearly 220 years of constitutional governance but that he would advocate for a way to govern more effectively. By voicing their support for his candidacy, Barack Obama's supporters were confirming that they too, agreed that we needed a candidate whose policies and whose views on government would best provide a way to make our system run as it was intended to run.

And so in 2008, America made history with its resounding election of Barack Hussein Obama. It was such a decisive victory that even Fox News had trouble describing it: nearly 69.5 million popular votes, a 365-173 victory in the Electoral College, and the winning of nearly all swing states including Florida, Ohio, and even North Carolina. Even better was the fact that Democratic senators rode Obama's coattails and with the defection of Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and the delayed seating of Democrat Al Franken of Minnesota, Barack Obama found himself in April of 2009 of having a filibuster-proof Senate and a Democratically-controlled House. Here was his chance to enact a progressive wish-list with things like universal healthcare, a way to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, an increased minimum wage, and free colleges and universities.

Does any of this sound familiar?

It should. Because it is the very same platform that now Senator Bernie Sanders is echoing for president. Yet despite this huge "wave" of enthusiasm that brought Barack Obama into the White House, he faced stiff opposition from not only Republicans, who vowed to make him a one-term president but also Blue Dog Democrats who felt Obama's "radical agenda" wasn't in the best interest of the American people. During a bitter and fought-out battle for the Affordable Care Act, not only did the landmark legislation not receive a single Republican vote from either the House or the Senate but Obama had to compromise on the legislation and even the idea of a public option was too much for certain Blue Dogs to swallow. The ACA that we now have in place passed after a nearly eight-month battle on Christmas Eve of 2009 with Obama needing all 60 votes in the Senate as well as having to fend off 34 Democrats who voted against the legislation in the House.


snip//

The American people are living through a revolution. It is not a revolution from a seventy-four-year-old democratic socialist from Vermont. It is the revolution from a fifty-four-year-old biracial man from the south side of Chicago. A skinny man with large ears and a funny middle name who has put our country on the path to prosperity for decades to come. A man staked his presidency on providing affordable healthcare to tens of millions of people. A man whose actions staved off a second Great Depression despite the fact that these actions gave his opponents the ability to misinform the public and to retake Congress. A man who slowly and methodically worked with Congress to improve our crumbling infrastructure. A man whose very first bill was a bill to help protect women in the workplace. A man who has used the bully pulpit to advocate for higher wages and more affordable college. A man who has done all this despite having two of history's least productive Congresses since 2010.






Read More: http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2016/2/24/its-all-been-done-how-barack-obama-already-achieved-bernie-sanders-revolution

**********************

Who is going to fly in on BS coattails? No one, he refuses to even raise money for them.

passiveporcupine

(8,175 posts)
89. The revolution started before Obama. I think the real revolution
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 09:28 PM
Apr 2016

started with Occupy wall street. Then Obama picked up on it and it carried him to victory, but instead of keeping the grassroots base powered up to put the pressure on congress, he tried to do it through his usual method of working with recalcitrant people. He is very much an organizer who can bring people together, but what he wasn't counting on was the hatred from the right that a black man was in the white house, and their constant obstructionism seriously limited what he was able to accomplish. He did amazingly well on some things, just through his own tenacity, but as the years went by, congress became more and more obstructionist. They were seriously pissed when he won a second term.

What he really needed, and what we should have kept up on our own, was a grass roots powered revolution that pushed congress to act and cooperate with Obama. And I think we could have done it. If enough people tell congress to do the will of the people or lose their jobs, they will get scared...especially if they don't see us backing down.

But we didn't stay in formation and that is what we needed to do. We need a leader to keep us together and that is what Bernie is trying to be for us.

Our young people get it. It's us older fogeys who need to stand up and fight for a change. Not something we are very good at.

sheshe2

(83,654 posts)
90. Obama did far more that he is given credit for.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 09:45 PM
Apr 2016

I'll go find the list if you wish, it is huge and most of us don't know half of what he accomplished. The dreaded Peoples View has an excellent one.

As for the young ones, I will fight tooth and nail for them. However sorry, they just don't vote. They may go to the rallies, yet they can't get off there ass to vote. So they will not be there for the revolution either. Please show me polls that show a huge youth turn out for BS. I haven't seen it.

Thanks passiveporcupine.



passiveporcupine

(8,175 posts)
91. I know Obama has accomplished a lot
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 09:59 PM
Apr 2016

I'm not one of the people here who give him no credit. But he got handed a lot of shit too and it would have been really nice if he had just had a normal congress to deal with.

I'm afraid "normal" and "congress" are two words that we won't be seeing in tandem for a long time. I'm so ticked off at congress I could scream.

Take care and I hope your spring is lovely.

PP

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
44. most of the income is NOT going to the top
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 03:25 PM
Apr 2016

unless you broaden the definition of "top". The top 10% gets 50% of the national income. The top 1% only gets 20%. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023937994

As far as what we spend money on. I am guessing that our country spends billions on tattoos and more billions on coffee. Yep, $1.6 billion. http://www.statisticbrain.com/tattoo-statistics/

$13.6 billion on coffee. http://www.coffeereview.com/americans-spending-more-on-coffee/

We spend a lot more than that on public schools, libraries, universities, and parks.

I mention coffee though, because a local hospital is having a health fair, and for some reason they think they need to give away free coffee at it, so I had to make the damned coffee. There always seems to be free coffee. Staff meeting? Free coffee. Customer appreciation day was yesterday, the sign said "enjoy a free cup of coffee in the lobby".

passiveporcupine

(8,175 posts)
46. Sorry, I should have said profit, not income. n/t
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 03:34 PM
Apr 2016

We don't even call all of it income...we call some of the CEO pay "benefits" so they don't have to pay as much in taxes.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
50. you did say profit
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 03:59 PM
Apr 2016

but why should profit be more relevant than income?

Well, benefits too. That may be harder to measure, and that is true through the whole economy. My co-worker gets the benefit of $135.80 per month paid to his health insurance. We both get the benefit of paid vacations, paid holidays, and paid sick leave. We both get the benefit of our employer paying 6% of our salary into our retirement (we pay another 6% but then do not pay income taxes on that portion of our pay) and paying 7.65% for FICA taxes in our name.

I am betting that the bottom 90% still gets more of that than the top 0.1% does, but I am not sure where I would find data.

passiveporcupine

(8,175 posts)
53. Well we aren't talking normal bennefits here
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 04:14 PM
Apr 2016

The CEO's still get those. The bennies I am talking about are the millions in stock options they get so it doesn't need to be included in their millions in income. Not the same thing as the benefits we get. And the profit for the top comes mostly from stocks and dividends and sources that are not taxed like income. The profit of our corporations goes primarily to the top in this country. Very few of us peons have much in the way of stock and dividends. Not compared to the top who are the owners, CEO's, Board of Directors, etc. who always own most of the shared in the business.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
57. any capital gains they get from that, and dividends
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 04:33 PM
Apr 2016

would be included in their income. (Not sure what their basis would be for a sale though - zero? or the price of the stock when they got it?)

I know the rich own most of the stocks, but I am not sure how pension funds figure into that picture. Or banks either. My credit union, for example, has $50 million in "investments" which is separate from the $52 million it has in loans. Of course, I am not sure how the $94 million in deposits is divided up, and 10.6 million of that is checking accounts (and how permanent is that money?) do 10% of the members have 60% of the total? I have about $70,000 in there (mostly retirement accounts) and that seems like a lot of money to me, but it is only 0.07% of the total.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
68. and so are dividends
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 05:23 PM
Apr 2016

I know

I have been blasting Obama for that for years. He's the one who made that portion of the Bush tax cuts permanent and called that a victory.

Oddly enough, they are taxed at a lower rate for me too. I had $328 in dividends in 2014 which were taxed at a zero percent rate. Had $457.75 in dividends in 2015 but didn't save anything because the Retirement savings contribution credit (line 51) already knocked my taxes down to zero. In 2014 I ended up paying $1,375 in taxes on $30,493.27 in income. A 4.5% tax rate, which is higher than the average for those in the bottom 50%.

rurallib

(62,387 posts)
11. The Uninsured rate under Bush is deceptive
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 12:50 PM
Apr 2016

Up until the ACA, even if you had insurance it was very iffy that insurance would cover you in a time of need. Thus even people with insurance, so called "good" insurance, went bankrupt due to medical bills.

lovemydog

(11,833 posts)
19. k & r!
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 01:43 PM
Apr 2016

Millions more insured and it's now illegal to deny anyone insurance because of a preexisting condition.

Politicub

(12,165 posts)
12. He made a promise to the gay community that he would do right by us
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 01:00 PM
Apr 2016

And he certainly kept his word. Gay liberation is part of a longer movement. But Obama helped speed things up by not defending DOMA, getting rid of DADT, and so much more.

Marriage equality - amazing it passed during my lifetime.

There's a lyric from one in the songs from Hamilton: How lucky we are to be alive right now.

 

La Lioness Priyanka

(53,866 posts)
49. I was skeptical about this when Obama picked warren
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 03:40 PM
Apr 2016

For his inauguration, but Obama was a great president for us. I was wrong to be skeptical.

Politicub

(12,165 posts)
52. I had forgotten about that name.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 04:12 PM
Apr 2016

I remember feeling disappointed about him being selected for the inaugural. That went away pretty fast.

In his second inaugural he connected women getting the right to vote, the civil rights movement and gay rights - From Seneca Falls to Selma to Stonewall.

 

La Lioness Priyanka

(53,866 posts)
54. Yup, as I said I was totally wrong to be skeptical
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 04:14 PM
Apr 2016

I think it was ok for me to criticize the choice of warren but OTT to assume that meant he doesn't care about sexual and gender minorities

 

FairWinds

(1,717 posts)
14. How about an honest assessment, and not one that would make a fawn blush . .
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 01:02 PM
Apr 2016

the Obama Dept. of Education appears to be a cesspool of corruption
that allows and even encourages private interest profiteering at the
expense of our young people.

The war on whistleblowers . .

Claiming (and exercising) the right to execute American citizens
without trial.

These, and others, are unforced errors.

I could go on . .

PatSeg

(47,279 posts)
16. Just imagine what he could have done
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 01:19 PM
Apr 2016

with a cooperative congress. There could have been many more well paying jobs if Congress would have worked with the President on infrastructure and green energy. Those who blame Obama for the increase in low paying jobs need to direct their criticism to a republican congress who is determined that this president does not succeed.

passiveporcupine

(8,175 posts)
28. It would also help if he were a progressive.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 02:22 PM
Apr 2016

I thought he was, based on his first platform in 2004. I was wrong. He's still far better than a republican, but he's not what this country really needed (another FDR). I'm still glad he was our President because he's a good man and has done some very good things, and he was the best that was running at the time.

Now it's time for a new FDR.

PatSeg

(47,279 posts)
64. I think at his core,
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 05:02 PM
Apr 2016

Obama the man is more progressive than Obama the politician, but that is just a hunch. I think he's done what he thought he could do and even when he was being "moderate", he was hindered by the republicans. If he'd had the congress that FDR had, I'm quite sure he would have been much more progressive. Meanwhile, I can only hope that the more progressive side of Obama would have opposed the TPP - that one really bothers me.

If you want a new FDR, you need a new congress! We need to put more of our energy into down ticket races. While Dems put so much focus on presidential elections, the republicans quietly win congressional seats and state/local positions. They aren't always as stupid as they look or they are just maddeningly persistent.

passiveporcupine

(8,175 posts)
65. the most important thing that needs to be done
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 05:18 PM
Apr 2016

is one of Bernie's highest priorities. Get the money out of politics.

If money didn't drive politics, the republicans wouldn't be able to pull as much crap as they do, and the dems wouldn't be as weak as they are. Right now there are people in all parties who are fed up with the status quo...they want to see this econmic picture turned around.

And if money weren't driving politics, apathy wouldn't play such a big part in our failures. Young people want to see change, but too many of them have just given up trying (until a real revolution comes along, which they can sink their teeth into)...that's why Bernie is so popular with the youth. He's talking about getting the money out of politics. He's the only one who is.

PatSeg

(47,279 posts)
75. Yes
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 06:50 PM
Apr 2016

Getting money out of politics is vital to the future of our country, though that money is not leaving easily. I'm not sure it is even possible short of a real revolution.

Hekate

(90,560 posts)
66. FDR is one of my heroes, but FDR was not God.The rewrite of history on FDR could get to be as bad...
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 05:21 PM
Apr 2016

...as the rewrite of Ronald Reagan by the GOP if we are not careful.

My mother was an anomaly in many ways. She was deeply scarred by growing up in the Great Depression, in which her father lost his business and went on the road to work for the CCC. She admired FDR, but she had to think her way past her father's anti-Semitism ("Rooosenfelt" etc.). The KKK was active in Colorado when she was growing up there, and they hated the Roman Catholics (her family, in other words) about as much as the Jews and the African Americans, so that also gave her a lot to think about.

She admired FDR for all the good things he did, but here's one thing she taught me when I was still in grade school: he interned the Japanese Americans, and while it doesn't negate the good he did, that was an un-American and horrifying thing to do. Ditto turning away a boatload of Jewish refugees.

People are not all one thing. My heroes are not plaster saints, which is why I can look at Thomas Jefferson, FDR, and Margaret Sanger and see their flaws but still call them my heroes.

Thanks for the kind words about President Obama, but in many respects the time shapes the leader. Obama's country has been very different from FDR's.

FDR took charge during a time of mass despair. He had a willing Congress. The country was still working its way out of the Depression when Pearl Harbor was attacked; suddenly the America Firsters were pretty much silenced and the rest of the country unified. Gearing up for a mechanized war gave jobs to millions of men and women, and millions of men were drafted into the Army -- coincidentally solving the unemployment problem.

Different times, different leaders.

PatSeg

(47,279 posts)
74. That was very well said
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 06:46 PM
Apr 2016

FDR is also one of my heroes, but like you, my admiration is realistic and I am very aware of his flaws. I feel that he was the perfect president for that time and had he held office at a different time in history, he might have been relatively forgettable. I am in awe of what he did accomplish and as such, I am forgiving of his shortcomings.

As for President Obama, I feel certain that history will be very kind to him. Sometimes we can't see all that is happening until some time has passed. "Can't see the forest for the trees", so to speak.

By the way, MY father talked about FDR as well, but he really couldn't stand the man, so I came to my opinion on my own over the years.

angrychair

(8,681 posts)
85. Why is congress like that though??
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 08:46 PM
Apr 2016

Ask the DNC. Nationwide, counting state and federal offices, Democrats have lost roughly a 1,000 seats to teapublicans. I largely blame DWS but feel PBO should have replaced her long ago.

PatSeg

(47,279 posts)
97. Oh definitely
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 11:42 PM
Apr 2016

Worse DNC chair ever. How incompetent does one have to be before they are fired? She couldn't be any worse if she was a republican spy. I think she has a "50 state strategy" to lose to republicans.

Also, shouldn't a DNC chair be a full-time occupation, not some extracurricular activity?

George II

(67,782 posts)
17. It's been an excellent two terms for President Barack Obama.....
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 01:38 PM
Apr 2016

Imagine if they didn't obstruct him every chance they got?

 

Plucketeer

(12,882 posts)
18. "And to think that the RWNJs were afraid that Obama was going to destroy America!"
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 01:38 PM
Apr 2016

He HAS - to hear therm tell it!

Andy823

(11,495 posts)
21. Don't forget about some of the
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 01:59 PM
Apr 2016

Left wing nut jobs. They have been agains him from day one for some reason, and they continue to this day to deny that he was a great president. Of course maybe thy are really "right wing nut jobs" pretending to be left wing nut jobs!

 

Plucketeer

(12,882 posts)
32. Well - truth be told
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 02:37 PM
Apr 2016

I don't say "great" and Obama's name in the same sentence. He might be great for the stock market, but he's done ZIP for labor.

mountain grammy

(26,598 posts)
22. President Obama has more than lived up to my expectations..
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 02:01 PM
Apr 2016

mainly because I recognized from the beginning, he was more moderate than me, but he won me with his opposition the Iraq war and his message of hope. That said, progress I expected, and progress we got. We also got 8 years of a scandal free administration, a first family we can be proud of, an improved economy, and new hope for many. My worst nightmare is what America would look like today if McCain had won in 2008 or Romney in 2012.

forest444

(5,902 posts)
42. Great thread. Really sums it up.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 03:05 PM
Apr 2016

Scorpios are known for getting right to the chase. And once again, we were not disappointed.

(we wordy Libras could take a page from your book)

 

alcibiades_mystery

(36,437 posts)
67. Best president of my lifetime...it's not even a close question
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 05:22 PM
Apr 2016

President Barack Hussein Obama!

Thank you, Mr. President!



 

SusanLarson

(284 posts)
70. Unemloyment numbers are total BS
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 05:55 PM
Apr 2016

The number only counts new fillings, and also ignores the long term unemployed and those who have given up looking. The real unemployment rate is somewhere between 11% to 24%

For the young and older workers jobs are almost impossible to find.

 

PowerToThePeople

(9,610 posts)
72. It has gotten better in many ways
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 06:20 PM
Apr 2016

I will certainly give him props.

There are still many issues that have not or have become worse, I will still call out those areas.

That is what progress requires.

JoePhilly

(27,787 posts)
78. Obama will end up in the top tier of all Presidents.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 07:27 PM
Apr 2016

To the gnashing of RW teeth, and sadly ... some far LW teeth too.

Soxfan58

(3,479 posts)
80. I swear
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 07:41 PM
Apr 2016

I thought a republican said on TV the country was heading down the tubes with this horrible man Obama. They must have been mistaking.

 

baldguy

(36,649 posts)
95. And there are those who would like to erase it all & start from scratch.
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 10:34 PM
Apr 2016

Only some of whom call themselves Republicans.

 

GOPblows431

(51 posts)
99. We've certainly come a long way over those years
Sun May 1, 2016, 12:30 AM
May 2016

It's a shame there are plenty of people in this country who are eager to reverse these changes. Pathetic.

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
105. "Destroy America"? Fuck, I only wish I'd had some liquid cash to put in the stock market early 2009.
Sun May 1, 2016, 04:34 AM
May 2016

America was already fairly well destroyed after the last guy got through with it.


I am very proud of this President and his record of accomplishments.

 

Madmiddle

(459 posts)
112. We're supposed to believe these numbers mean anything to people.
Sun May 1, 2016, 08:05 AM
May 2016

We are, right now, living under the regime of the most corrupt government of all time. So, these numbers, which are low balled to show that the problems we talk about are not so bad. They're a joke. We have jobs that do not pay anywhere near enough to live on. A GDP that doesn't reflect how pathetic manufacturing has become. An uninsured rate that doesn't count peoples' actual coverage, which means most peoples deductables are astronomical. I could go on but it's to depressing.

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