the consistent effort by conservative, corporate dems to try and tarnish progressive

[JDPriestly]

34. And yet, as Elizabeth Warren has pointed out, the Justice Department as refused to bring

the really big Wall Street players who committed serious fraud to court. They have been allowed to settle as if their wrongs were merely civil wrongs.

In contrast,

"SAN DIEGO (AP) — A woman who escaped from a Michigan prison nearly 37 years ago while serving time for attempted larceny was found living under an alias in San Diego, police said Tuesday.

. . . .

When she escaped, Hayman was about halfway through a minimum sentence of 1 1/2 years for attempting to steal clothes from a Detroit-area store.

. . . .
Authorities in Washtenaw County, Mich., where the prison is located, would decide whether additional charges related to the escape are filed, Marlan said.

http://news.yahoo.com/fugitive-found-california-37-years-escape-174324734.html

Now larceny is a serious crime, but not nearly as serious as the fraud involved in hiring robo-signers to sign foreclosure documents to be filed in a court or lying when selling securities to unsuspecting investors. Yet the police hunt down a woman who committed larceny while bankers who committed fraud that caused the near crash of the world's economy are allowed to pay retribution for their crimes.

And then Obama worshipers (I would not call them supporters because I am an Obama supporter but I and many other supporters am not blinded to his faults) point to rather ineffective policy measures as proof that Obama cares about little people.

The fact is that the income inequality has continued to grow at a very rapid pace during Obama's presidency. He acknowledged the problem in his State of the Union speech, but if he really wants to tackle the problem, he is going to have to reduce the percentage of big spenders on his invitation lists and start really listening to the poor and dwindling middle class people. The preference of his administration for charter schools is just one indication of his rather superficial approach to middle class issues. Charter schools are a way of taking the political control over education away from the community and putting it in the hands of wealthy benefactors of specific schools. They are a means of de-democratizing education and removing the control and decision-making power from democratically elected school boards in order to hand that power to the elite who sponsor the establishment of the charter schools.

Elizabeth Warren's comments about the lack of professional diversity among Obama's nominations for the judiciary is another very accurate critique of the Obama presidency. Appointing judges who are diverse in race, religion, sexual preference, etc. is unimpressive if those appointed are by and large have backgrounds mostly in corporate law. Granted, the corporate firms pick up law school graduates who were at the top of their classes, but still, more diversity in terms of professional experience would strengthen our courts.

Let's hope that Obama really does require companies holding government contracts to raise their minimum wages. That is the one really concrete proposal that Obama has made to lessen the disparity in incomes. But it is awfully late in coming. We needed that back in 2009. Not advisable to hold your breath until it is reality.

In addition, Obama did not come out fighting to clarify what the ACA really is and what it is intended to do. He let the Tea Baggers grab the steering wheel on it. He is paying for that dearly.

I want liberal policies like strong public education and single payer healthcare. I know I cannot always have what I want, and that is why I support the ACA although it is not what I think would have been best for the country. I support Obama and worked hard to get him elected.

But I do not criticize Obama lightly. He has made some serious mistakes and has not represented the interests of the middle class and working people with nearly the energy and dedication of a Franklin Roosevelt, and due to that fact, he has to understand that many of us will criticize him. Franklin Roosevelt had the wisdom to let the bankers know that their fraud and abuse of other people's money could no longer be tolerated. Until Clinton signed the repeal of Glass-Steagall, the relatively small ups and downs in our economy could be dealt with. Obama should have as we used to say "taken the bankers to the woodshed" and shown them who is boss when they brought down the world's economy. He didn't. And history will blame him for that failure.

To have neglected to really right the ship of state with regard to the financial sector and to continue to negotiate trade agreements at a time when prior agreements have cost so many working people their jobs and their livelihoods is disingenuous.

Well, it is 7:44 a.m. in Los Angeles and I am rambling. We shall see in November whether we can hold the Senate and make headway in the House on Obama's record. We shall see. You and I can express our opinions here all we want. The test will be in the ballot boxes next November. If Democratic voters like what Obama has done, we Democrats will make some headway. If Democratic voters think that Obama has been too weak and not represented their interests, they won't turn out, and we will end up with, at best, a split Congress that does not support the president. I'm hoping we do well, but it won't be all that easy on Obama's record. A lot of people who lost their homes or nearly lost their homes will back Obama but may not bother to come out for the midterms. Can't say I blame them even though I will do what I can to make sure they vote.