'Obama Gave Away The Store' - Rep. McDermott (D-WA) In Interview w/ Cenk of TYT

[ihavenobias]

Note: What you see below is just an excerpt, you read the full piece http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/is-it-time-for-democrats_b_797012.html|here>. Also, watch Cenk's interview with Rep. McDermott http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x535727|here>.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/is-it-time-for-democrats_b_797012.html|Is it Time for Democrats to Fight Obama?>
By Cenk Uygur

You want to hear something really depressing? If John McCain had won the presidency, there is almost no chance he could have gotten the Bush tax cuts extended for the rich. Think about it. How was a Republican president going to get an overwhelmingly Democratic Senate and House to pass those tax cuts that they hated under Bush?

No, only a Democratic president could get a Democratic Congress to agree to tax cuts for the rich. So, in this sense, progressives are worse off for having a Democratic president than a Republican one.

Then, at least we would have known who we were fighting. Remember, Bush could barely, barely get these same tax cuts passed when the Republicans controlled both the Senate and the House!

Funny how the rich and powerful win no matter who is in charge and what party they claim to be from. And think about how much the political spectrum has shifted to the right that Bush had to use reconciliation and then barely got the tax cut through a Republican Congress whereas now a Senate with basically 59 Democrats just passed the same tax cuts with ease. Washington has fallen off a right-wing cliff and the media hardly noticed...

...When I asked Rep. Jim McDermott some of these questions last night, he seemed at a loss for what to do next. You can feel his frustration and confusion as to how we got here with a Democratic president. Here are some of his quotes:

I think that we are in serious trouble because the president simply does not seem willing to go after some things that I think he's going to have to if he's going to get anything done for the people of this country. He simply has, in my view, given up the willingness to fight for economic justice in this country.

When you start giving in on the kinds of things he's giving in on, you really worry that there is no way back from that. And I'm, I mean, that's why I said it was... this was Gettysburg, because it really is... that was the turning point in the war. And it really is a question of how you continue to rally your troops if you keep giving in on things that people really care about.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. K & R

[pauldp]

2. Cenk Nails it again. Obama knows how to fight - he fights progressives!

[SoCalNative]

3. Here's the big problem

whether or not Obama "gave away the store," his OWN party shouldn't be selling him down the river.

You can bet your bottom dollar that the Republicans in the House and Senate wouldn't be making disparaging comments in this vein if it were a Republican president in office that had made a deal they didn't agree with.

[MessiahRp]

7. LMFAO

Yes, his party should stand up for him when the only people he attacks are his supporters. Give me a fucking break. :eyes:

[MissDeeds]

8. The problem is

he sold his own party down the river, not the other way around.

[SoCalNative]

9. Doesn't matter

they can berate him all they want..PRIVATELY

[MissDeeds]

11. Yes, it DOES matter

very much that he sold out his own party, and he needs to be called out on it.

[NorthCarolina]

13. Sorry, but I just do not get this "Let 'em fuck you, then quietly fall in line" mindset. nt

[Enthusiast]

14. Exactly when should we

sell him down the river? What would it take? Just what would you consider egregious enough to sell Obama down the river as you say? His core campaign focus was on ending the Bush tax cuts for the filthy rich. We also expected him to preserve social security at all costs as any good Democrat would do. We know what Republicans do and how they behave but we are not Republicans. See the following.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x17785

[sirthomas66]

15. I disagree. I have never been prouder to be a Democrat than to

watch this forum finally begin telling it like it is. Obama has destroyed himself, but he has not destroyed the people here, who will remain morally and ethically intact enough to choose another who may well do infinitely better than Obama. But had they remained silent, it may have rendered them unable to mount another rally. In retrospect, I who supported Obama more than any other presidential candidate ever, must sadly come to the realization I made a terrible mistake that will be very costly to the next generation. Obama's attack on Social Security is and will continue to be the most ignominious action of any Democrat I've seen in 45 years of being true to the Party.

[Hydra]

16. Well said

A Democrat's loyalty is to the truth and the values, not the people who claim to represent us.

If you truly represent us, we'll see it by the actions.

[sirthomas66]

17. Thanks.

[WizardLeft62]

4. Yes, indeed!!!

Obama did not get the majority of his money from the "Internet" or small donors who supposedly gave $25 to $30 dollars.

Obama's major donors were from Goldman Sachs and other big corporations.

Obama is not a "sellout" but paying back his right wing conservative money backers.

[Lisa D]

5. That's misleading--and has been spun on DU before.

"This table lists the top donors to this candidate in the 2008 election cycle. The organizations themselves did not donate , rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates."

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=n00009638

[subterranean]

6. Republicans have leverage because they're willing to hold the country hostage

to advance their own narrow interests. Democrats aren't willing to do that, so they don't have the leverage to get what they want. If Obama didn't care about the unemployment extension or maintaining the tax rates under $250K, or approving START, he wouldn't have given away the store.

I'm worried this will become the pattern for the next two years. The Republicans will threaten to shut down the government or stop anything from getting done until Obama meets their demands. And they know there's a good chance he will pay the ransom.

[20score]

10. What a bad situation this is.

K&R

[libmom74]

12. McDermott

is my Rep here in WA, he is one of the few good ones left after the November "shellacking".