RIP, Democratic Party, 1933-2010

[CanonRay]

Democratic Party 1933-2010 RIP

The Obama Administration today announced the death of the Democratic Party, the AP is reporting. The Party was 77 years old.

Although many believed the party to be much older, it was born March 4, 1933 at the inauguration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Party led a vigorous youth, passing in its early days a number of socially conscious programs, including Social Security, banking reform legislation, and many jobs programs. The Party was able to lead the nation through World War II, and remained strong and confident it its beliefs.

Most Party watchers believe the first signs of illness began shortly following the end of the Truman administration. Although outwardly the Party seemed healthy, the early sixties showed the beginnings of a slow atrophy in its otherwise strong union arms.

The Party rallied briefly in the mid 1960’s, passing the Civil Rights Act and Medicare, as well as environmental legislation, and to most it appeared to regain its youthful vigor. However, most experts believed that exposure in the jungles of Viet Nam caused the final illness leading to death. Following the Party’s return home from that conflict, a long decline ensued, and the Party was by the turn of the century a mere shell of itself.

Although on life support, the Party rallied again briefly in 2008 with the election of the first black President, but the appearance of health was an illusion.

With the apparent willingness to dismantle the most basic Democratic programs, including Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment, and its inability to maintain any semblance of fight against the Republicans, the Party was today pronounced dead.

The Party died virtually alone. A few old cousins remain in unions in Michigan, and several retired environmental cousins reside on either coast.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to Find A Cure for Triangulation (FACT) at PO Box 1992, Clintonville, AR, or the Chamberlain-Obama Association for Appeasement, Harry Reid, Chairman, PO Box 2008, Sunshine, NV.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. ...

[Jefferson23]

2. The blending of the worst of policies..we have an enormous battle

ahead of us.

[COLGATE4]

3. K&R X 1000. And the sad part is that it didn't have to be...

[LiberalEsto]

4. If only Edwards

had kept his pants zipped...

[4dsc]

12. If only Dean would step up to the plate too..

eom..

[Bette Noir]

19. Edwards had already lost the battle when he was outed as a jerk,

and Dean has been virtually expelled by the Party insiders. I don't think either of them can be blamed for the demise of the Democratic party. I'd be more likely to blame the expense of campaigning, that the only way to get elected is to be obscenely wealthy oneself, for to court the patronage of those who are.

[AlbertCat]

100. when he was outed as a jerk,

Because, lord knows, a jerk has never been elected.

[cascadiance]

128. I wonder how soon party insiders knew of his problems...

... and knew he was the lightning rod to siphon the progressive votes away from candidates like Dennis Kucinich to take them out earlier, and then later they would clamp down on Edwards to take away the choices that progressives had. I know I felt that way after I had my "realistic" choice suddenly taken away from me. It felt fixed to ensure that the final battle was to be set for Clinton vs. Obama with noone else in the race for the nomination. This summed up my feelings at that point, and now in retrospect still does!

[JohnWxy]

17. very dissappointed in him, I was.

[howmad1]

21. Same applies to Bubba Clinton.

I blame him for the condition of our country today. If only he kept his pecker in his pants, how different things would be today.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[kenfrequed]

33. If what you say is true...

Then it is a negative mark on his record.

[kenfrequed]

32. Feh...

If his infidelities were his worst problems we wouldn't be here now. Personally I don't care who he's screwing in private, I was always more concerned with how we were being screwed in public with welfare reform and Nafta.

The advice of Dick Morris was even more odious than what the DLC and Blue dogs were pushing, and moved the Democratic party so far to the right that it made Nader an inevitability.

[icarusxat]

39. What if G. H.W. Bush had kept his in his pants?

Just imagine the trillions of dollars and billions of lives that could have been saved...

[jimlup]

48. True enough...

The 2000 election wouldn't have even been an issue. Odd that Gore lost because of Bill's pecker but the world is a very strange place and people are stupid.

[SugarShack]

75. Gore did not lose, and when the Miami Herald counted the ballots he won by 35,000!!

He asked to recount according to floriduh state law too. They have lots of electronic and audit problems there still...and it cost John Kerry in 2004.

[jimlup]

101. Yeah, sure, I know florida was stolen

But it shouldn't have come down to Florida. Clinton was unbelievably irresponsible in staining Monica's blue dress and that stain had implications that went far beyond the dry cleaners. The democrats would likely not have lost Arkansas and several other Southern States had Bill been viable at that time.

[quickesst]

152. What utter bullshit....

...At the end of his presidency, Clinton had an approval rating of 66%. It was Gore's failure to embrace and use Clinton's support, and his lack of a spine to challenge that made it so easy for the repukes to steal the election. Clinton(best president since Kennedy) haters. Gotta love'em, or not. Thanks.
quickesst

[alarimer]

150. His policies were terrible, regardless of the scandals.

He was the best Republican President we have ever had.

All that triangulation bullshit, NAFTA, "welfare reform" (which I always put in quotes because it's just a nicer way of saying war on the poor).

[nckjm]

164. BINGO!

[onehandle]

53. Yep. nt

[Phlem]

111. So True

makes me to wonder how a populist Dem night do. If he was actually honest, and a leader.

-p

[cascadiance]

126. And if earlier Russ Feingold had run and not decided to stay to "fight in the Senate"!

Feingold as president, and another senator for Wisconsin now would have us in tons better shape!

[sueh]

133. Democrats caught in scandalous activities or lose elections get dumped by the Party, while

scandalous Repubs do not. :crazy:

[Recursion]

155. Conyers was just re-elected. Rostenkowski was too.

We can be as blind to scandal as Republicans, sometimes.

[Graybeard]

5. And let's not forget to wish RIP to the USA.

America as we knew it is gone.

"Of the People, by the People

and for the People"? How quaint.

[Bette Noir]

20. I miss the "liberty and justice for all."

[txlibdem]

41. No. It's still here.

Except now it's:

"Of the RICH people, by the RICH peope

and for the RICH people."

That's what the Repukes mean whenever they use the term 'people' anyway... You and I are not people, we're throwaway garbage that will be cleared out when it's no longer useful or profitable for the rich.

[me b zola]

84. How sad. And true.

:(

[ThomThom]

113. The dems were able to over come the money imbalance with

high standards and representing the people's interests. The money started to buy elections and Clinton slowed it down by selling out. Now the money rules even though they are a minority of people. Fox news and the repugs know what they are doing and it is working. The list of things the Dems should have done since Johnson is very long and they all contributed to the demise. If only we had gotten campaign reform, followed Carter's lead, investigated Reagan and the hostages, looked into Reagan and his economic policies, made them count the votes for Gore, controlled the financial institutes, created jobs and a real economy, stopped the war machine, investigated 911 and on and on. RIP the Democratic Party. History will not be kind if anyone is around to write the truth.

[ananda]

6. And what a sad, pathetic ending it is too.

No fight left.

[defendandprotect]

35. Guess we're dying by the "whimper" rather than the "bang" ... ??

[Raksha]

55. That was my first thought too: "Not with a bang but a whimper."

[Still a Democrat]

7. Laughable

Extend health insurance coverage to 30 million Americans, prohibit insurers from dropping cancer patients and others with serious illnesses, and prevent children with pre-existing conditions from being turned down by insurance companies.

Provide billions for early learning programs, elementary and secondary education, and $30 billion to make college more affordable for youth who otherwise wouldn't be able to attend.

Reform Wall Street, rescue the auto industry and, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, produce 3 million jobs that helped stop the U.S. economy from falling off the cliff.

Assist millions of Americans in avoiding foreclosures, and produce billions to fight homelessness and hunger.

They know that a McCain-Palin administration would not have added funding for food stamps; food banks; and nutrition programs for women, children and infants. Obama did, and they know it.

Would a McCain-Palin administration have appointed Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court? Obama did. Would the United States be on its way out of lraq under a McCain presidency? Or pursuing a strategy to disengage from Afghanistan, even while thrashing al-Qaida and rounding up home-grown terrorists?

....

http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Disgruntled-l...

[Bette Noir]

22. Who are these 30 million Americans you claim now have health insurance,

who didn't before? The "reform" we were handed was a sick joke.

My husband and I pay 75% of our current income for "health insurance" that pays ~30% of our health care costs. Don't tell me what a great success that has been. And don't try to tell me that the wars are over, or almost over; one is simmering, and the other is at an active boil.

All the money in the country is still headed for Wall Street, homes are still being foreclosed on, REAL unemployment in my state hovers near 30%, counting the folks whose benefits have expired, or who never qualified due to technicalities.

I'll give you "saving the auto industry."

As for the rest, "better than McCain" is a pretty low bar to cross. I don't remember Obama's campaign slogan being, "At least I'm better than McCain."

[BenzoDia]

25. The full healthcare law hasn't even kicked in yet

The mandate will funnel people into federally funded (but member run) non-profit insurers called co-ops. This should help alleviate costs.

[ctwayne]

30. Does The Year 2014 Ring a Bell?

2014 is the key to understanding health insurance reform. Obama set up the law so it doesn't take effect until then. That means if a Republican wins in 2012, he or she will have plenty of time to repeal the law. 2014 is also the date we are supposed to leave Afghanistan. And even if the Republicans don't repeal a law requiring all Americans to purchase insurance from a private, for-profit corporation, they could simply remove funding of health insurance premiums for people of modest means.

Then we would have a Republican wet dream: All Americans would be required to buy insurance and no funding would be available for those who couldn't afford it. And when people squawked, the Republicans would laugh and say, "Blame the Democrats and President Obama!"

[BenzoDia]

34. Not exactly sure what your point is since I was responding to someone who was asking about the

benefits of the healthcare law.

[ctwayne]

66. I Wasn't Attacking You

I was expressing negative feelings about Obama's health insurance reform. The Republican plan is to cut funding for the worthwhile parts of the program. They will almost certainly leave the individual mandate in place because it benefits large corporate interests.

[txlibdem]

95. HCR was when I lost all respect for Pres. Obama

His weak hiding in the White House while the debate raged in townhall meetings and the halls of congress told me that he is a weak, ineffectual leader. He gives a good speech and has a great smile. Those are his two (and only) positive attributes. And I worked so hard to get him elected, debated Hillary supporters and McCain supporters that Barrack would be "our guy" not the corporations' lacky. He fooled us all.

/added on edit: And when the goat rope HCR bill was finished he reappeared from his isolation chamber to declare victory and tell us that it was the greatest achievement in 100 years! Yeah right. Where is the cost control? Where are the limits on how much insurance premiums can cost? Did it eliminate copays? No, no, no. It's just window dressing on a huge corporate giveaway, with the IRS as the enforcer (oh sure, they say that the IRS won't be going after anybody for failing to purchase --that's what they say NOW, give it another few years). It's a slow motion train wreck and we're in the front seats.

[Shining Jack]

108. +1

When I think about that "reform" bill I can't help having the picture of a gutted fish popping in my head. :(

[anamandujano]

112. "debated Hillary supporters"

So that was debate? Well, I'll be.

That said, I loathe Bill now and am willing to be schooled on Hillary.

[txlibdem]

132. You misunderstood my meaning: I debated Hillary and McCain supporters

This was during the Dem primaries as well as right up to election day in the case of McCain supporters. I walked, did calls, did everything short of picking people up at their houses to go vote for Obama. All this is what I regret.

During the primaries Hillary said she would fight the Pukes tooth and nail. My mistake was both believing Obama's words (that he would be fighting the Pukes and was against tax cuts for the rich) during the campaign and believing that Obama had fewer enemies than Hillary (I seriously underestimated just how racist a significant portion of the Republican Party actually is, in this day and age).

But, that's all water under the bridge, I guess.

[BenzoDia]

124. All things considered, I think he did a good job with HCR.

- Individual Mandate spreads the cost of coverage among healthy people.
- Federal grants to fund reviews/preventing of premium hikes.
- CO-OPs will offer non-profit insurance to compete against private insurers. Coops are the replacement for a public option.
- No co-pays for certain preventative care to prevent bigger health issues developing later on.
- 80-85% of each dollar must be spent on health care and not administration costs
- Standardized billing and moving to electronic records.

Found most of this on HealthCare.gov. There's a link to the bill that contains additional information

And don't forget that there's federal grants for States to experiment with different systems (pilot programs), and that they will be able to opt out if it's determined that their system is as good or better. This opens up the opportunity for progressive states to push this even further.

[txlibdem]

127. So the HCR glass IS half full after all?

I don't think my brain works the same way as yours does. You see a forward progress measured in inches and think "how nice it is that we moved ahead, if only a bit." I see a wasted opportunity to do a correction on a broken system that needed to be changed from the bottom up and then from the top on down. And then it needed to be looked at again and probably scrapped in favor of starting all over.

We have dozens of successful models we could go by: all of the western democracies in Europe all have excellent health care systems that are superior to the American system (except that the wealthy are stuck getting the same great care that "those people," the poor, get). Germany is the most stable economy in Europe and kicks our economy's proverbial a$$, yet their workers are all protected by strong unions(ones that have backbone to stand up against the company thugs), has universal health care, has a robust and equitable safety net, has retraining programs to keep its work force up to date with the latest developments, etc.

What America's health care system needed was a complete revamp, what we got was a bandaid, the ones with cartoon characters on them so the injured can feel a little better about having been shivved.

Sometimes I wish I could trade brains with folks like you: you're probably a much happier person because you never see the flaws, just the roses and the sunshine. Me? I can't see anything but the flaws and lost opportunities. Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle but I am convinced that it's quite a bit closer to my end than yours.

"Hitler ... stablized the {German} economy by controlling labor cost, creating jobs, and destroying unions. This is the reason that big business backed Hilter so much in the beggining. They loved the price freezes on labor and supplies."

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090202054352AA83mVs

Any of this sound familiar???

[BenzoDia]

131. Oh I don't think it's perfect by any means.

However, when I look at the Swiss Health system, I see the potential in ours.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland?wasRedirected=true

They offer their insurance through private insurers who have to provide a basic plan that they cannot profit from (like our coops). They also have an individual mandate and provide subsidies for the poor. They generally like their system. And although it's still expensive, the WHO ranked them much better than ours.

What I feel is most important is that everyone pays into the system and are offered a basic no-profit plan. Ours provides for both of these.

[txlibdem]

135. Where are these co-ops?!? I have tried to find one and they're nowhere

Is this another one of the many, many goodies that won't kick in till 2014, or is this one that waits till 2016, 2018 or even later?

By then there will be a Repuke President (if Obama is on the ticket in 2012 the White House will fall to a Repuke). They already have the House and in 2012 or 2014 they'll have the Senate as well. And all the funding for whatever you think Obama actually wanted you to have will be long gone. All part of the game.

[BenzoDia]

137. July 2013 is when they should be established by. Meaning they'll be well on their way

By the next election.

[txlibdem]

139. Thanks. I'll pass that along to the 40,000 people who die each year from lack of health care

I'm sure the grieving family members of those who die between now and 2013. 2010 = 40,000, 2011 = 40,000, 2012 = 40,000, 2013 = 40,000? How many people must die to satisfy POTUS' re-election hopes?

[BenzoDia]

140. What I would tell them if I could reach them is that

if they have been refused coverage for at least 6 months due to preexisting conditions, then Obama's health bill has created insurance pools that they can access right now.

In fact, lives have been saved because of them:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/health/policy/05risk.html

Unlike most commercial insurers, the risk pools accept individuals with any of a list of risky health conditions, like cancer or hypertension.

Edward J. Kenyon Jr., 49, an electrician in Sanford, Me., whose multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, was diagnosed last spring, said the policy he bought in August from that state’s pool had been a godsend.

Mr. Kenyon, who is self-employed, said he had not been able to afford health insurance for 20 years, and was managing to pay for a share of his chemotherapy treatments only through fund-raising by his family and friends.

With the risk-pool coverage in effect, Mr. Kenyon has scheduled the transplant for Nov. 26.$419.54, with a $1,000 deductible.

Unfortunately, the pools are under-utilized, partly b/c Democrats have thrown our arms up in defeat instead of passing along information that might actually help people. I've been debating mailing out fliers myself.

[txlibdem]

141. You said it there! Dems in congress have failed to bring up anything good they've done

It's like they really love to be in the minority where they don't have to do much work and they have a big, bad boogieman in the Repukes to campaign against: so many millions in campaign funding!

Gawd! I get more and more disgusted with the Dems in congress and POTUS with each passing month.

[BenzoDia]

142. I cannot argue with that. Dems have done a crap job at informing Americans

I do wonder if they're saving this 2012.

[BenzoDia]

123. Oh I didn't think you were, I was just having trouble following.

I wasn't attacking you either :)

[ProudDad]

59. Bingo!

[niceypoo]

130. The law allows insurers to keep robbing patients for four more years

Change you can hang your hat on?

[ProudDad]

58. You are WRONG

There are no co-ops...

There are "clearing houses" for the plethora of defective for-profit PRIVATE insurance plans...

No NON-PROFITS...

No Publicly funded options...

No extension of Medicare...

If you can afford the higher priced defective "insurance" you will be forced to buy it...

If you can't afford it, you'll be forced to pay a fine...

[BenzoDia]

134. Regarding federal funding to start up non-profit insurance issuers

Check out section 1322 of the PPACA:

http://docs.house.gov/energycommerce/ppacacon.pdf

[Recursion]

154. I got tired of quoting PPACA to a large segment of this board

Honestly it just stops being worth it.

[Caretha]

145. Sorry

your hope doesn't work. I've looked at the costs of the "non-profit" insures...guess what! I still can't afford it. Damn. Thanks for the thought though.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

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[Myrina]

49. +100

... and yet some folks are so full of the party-loyalty kool aid, they refuse to acknowledge the facts that we've been screwn by POTUS.

[saras]

50. Saving the auto industry?

You mean to say they've quit making cars, and started building livable cities, smaller homes, and functional mass transit? Wow, I missed that news.

[ProudDad]

60. +1000

[Speed8098]

114. I don't mean to criticize but.......................

My husband and I pay 75% of our current income for "health insurance" that pays ~30% of our health care costs.

That statement is either full of bull excrement or..........well.........you're not very good at finding the right coverage that fits your needs and your budget. Anyone payng 75% in health insurance needs to be educated. I don't even pay 75% of my income on my mortgage and property taxes and I live on Long Island in NY where we have some of the highest property taxes in the country.

And no, I'm not wealthy. I make a middle class income less than $90,000.00 per year and it's still a struggle here but there is no way I would pay 75% for ANYTHING that only gave me 30% in return. I know it's difficult but if you look around you'll find a less expensive plan with more benefits........or......as I said in my fist sentence, you're throwing bullshit.

[spooked911]

51. your list is laughable

because those things sound great, but the reality is much weaker and much worse. Plus this tax bill is a sick joke. Frankly, I am not so sure McCain would have done anything dramatically different.

[ProudDad]

61. Other than mcshame getting a little more resistence from

the same "practical" dems who give us shit for standing up for our principles...

I think you're entirely right... :hi:

[defendandprotect]

98. k/r

[txlibdem]

97. I wish I could disagree with you. But I can't.

You are right on the money. McCain would have painted the walls a different shade of green maybe but we'd still be about to fall off the cliff, just like today.

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

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[FedUp_Queer]

72. Wow...talk about believing the hype.

1) Now I have a mandate to purchase what private insurers have. I have no public option.

2) All this money for school, as you allege, does nothing to lower its cost to middle class families. Average price, in state, $7600 for a years. For out of state, $11,900. For private school $27,900. At best, a student will have $30,000 in debt before ever working a day in her life. This is up to $112,000 on average. Pell Grants went up to $2,223 per year.

3) Actually Wall Street reform did not go nearly far enough. Too Big to Fail...still in tact. Glass-Steagall? Still repealed. The stimulus? Stopped some bleeding. Auto bailout. Mostly good, but decimated Unions (they gave up more and lost significant amounts of benefits).

4) The "assisting" with foreclosures is a complete farce. Here's a great article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/14/obama-anti-foreclosure-program_n_796629.html

5) Sotomayor, seems pretty good. Kagan? Just another corporate shill in favor of the national security state: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/22/elena-kagan-favored-secre_n_620739.html

6) Disengaging from Afghanistan? Sounds like someone is smoking too much poppy. http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/12/12/goodspeed-analysis-white-houses-wishful-thinking/

Time and again this president has had opportunity to really do bold things and hasn't. He has favored corporations, secrecy, war and the rich time and again. He has seen fit to mostly give a few crumbs to the rest of us.

[unapatriciated]

77. great response.

the auto workers gave up a lot and received nothing in return when the industry made a nice profit after we bailed them out.

http://www.alternet.org/economy/147886/michael_moore%3A_profits_are_way_up_at_general_motors_..._so_why_aren%27t_they_hiring

During the first half of 2010, GM made $2.2 billion in profit, yet according to The Wall Street Journal, they've only added 2,000 jobs in all of North America, taking their workforce from 113,000 to 115,000.

And what's true for GM is true for the country. The government stepped in with trillions of dollars in cash and guarantees to keep Corporate America from collapsing due to its own stupidity, short-sightedness and greed. And it worked—for Corporate America. You may not have noticed as you were being foreclosed on, but the profitability of the Fortune 500 is almost back to normal. It jumped to $391 billion in 2009, up 335 percent from 2008. And the 500 biggest non-financial corporations are now sitting on $1.8 trillion in cash, more than at any time in the past 50 years. (That's what the business press always says—that they're "sitting" on it—although as far as I know this is not literally true.)

[PhillySane]

116. Guess it wasn't so stupid

The collapse, I mean. Did a world of good for the corporations. They were able to reset. And virtually nothing has changed for them. Just a good excuse to lay-off millions. GM is still GM. There are still very wealthy people at the top. The government didn't save anything for us. Just saved a cash cow for the rich.

[txlibdem]

136. The "Too Big to Fail" have gotten bigger since Obama took office!

4 out of the 5 big banks that were too big to fail in 2008 are far bigger today.

We're not making progress --we're heading in the WRONG direction at breakneck speed!

[Caretha]

79. Statistics and plain old numbers prove you wrong

More people are without health insurance than in 2009.

We still have 50,000 troops in Iraq and will have that many or more as long as mercenaries are there, and believe me they will be there with the amount of money we spent on building the bases in Iraqi. They are there for a purpose - to protect the oil and the corporations that own them. Thems the facts and you can spin all day long but none of that shit is going away.

Afghanistan is now longer than the war in Viet Nam. There is still an oil pipeline to built, don't you know?

And quit, FOR God's sake throwing Sarah Palin's name around. That ol' dog doesn't bark anymore.

[txlibdem]

138. Yup, that is 50,000 troops --we have absolutely no idea how many mercs

There were over 150,000 civilians and mercenaries in Iraq in 2008 and I haven't heard any word on how many of THOSE are being pulled back.

[rhett o rick]

89. Your "things could be worse" argument is laughable. Yes more people are covered by insurance

but the load was dumped on the already overloaded insured. Our premiums are skyrocketing making more people vulnerable. This is not sustaining. Why dont you recognize that?

But you say we should be thankful we are out of jobs, homes and benefits. Could be worse, we might be dead.

[Jackpine Radical]

91. Covered by unusable insurance, that is.

The deductibles and copays put it out of reach of the people who are supposedly covered by it.

[txlibdem]

146. Yes, but you will FEEL like you're covered

Until, that is, you actually need to USE that insurance. Then you're screwed.

[Champion Jack]

8. What Bullshit

[Moostache]

24. Insightful contribution (sarcasm)

Satirical exposition is one of the best ways to point out issues that should be addressed.
Profane declarations? Not so much...but whatever gets you through the night I guess.

As for the OP, I would have to say that the party he is describing died much earlier. The zombie corpse of the Party's ideals that has been trotted out on occasion since 1980 is NOT the same as a living and breathing party that stood for the rights of all. The fact that it really did not HAVE to be this way is what makes me sad.

[briteleaf]

9. Wake up Lady Liberty

The democratic party isn't dead. Both parties are dead. They have been for quite a while. The ultra wealthy and corporations have controlled and manipulated both parties for years. All of the republican and democratic congress folk and the president are elected via campaigns. Without campaign funds, your career in politics is over. The wealthy and corporate interests are the main source for their campaign funding. Secret, private concern groups (financed by the wealthy and corporations) buy expensive campaign ads praising a candidate or defaming a candidate. This is how elections are decided. Money is in control. This is what it's like to reside in a plutocracy. Ignorant americans just haven't wised up to what's going on. Politicians commonly retire and are hired at multi-million dollar salaries to become lobbyists for the same groups that got them re-elected campaign after campaign. We have a government of the corporation, by the ultra-wealthy and for the ultra-wealthy and corporations.
So what is America going to do about it? Nothing will be done until enough of the downtrodden, used folks on the bottom of the economic ladder learn the truth about how they have been duped by the wealthy. The sad truth is that things have to get worse. The financial pain has to become acute enough for enough of us to get outraged enough to rise up and change it. We can change it peacefully by voting out the representatives we have and electing representatives who will begin with campaign/lobby reforms. We can change it by class warfare. Remember, our own Declaration of Independence states the inalienable rights we have and goes on to include: "that when any form of government becomes destructive of those rights, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute new government establishing it's principles on such foundations, as to them, shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness".

[tropicanarose]

10. I am sickened by this bill, but I am not giving up

I am still a proud FDR Democrat. We have to keep fighting and never, ever give up.

[FedUp_Queer]

73. You are right. Plain and simple.

[Demeter]

11. It would be funny if it weren't too close to true

[wisteria]

13. A little over dramatic and over top, IMO. n/t

[emilyg]

14. k/r

It's no longer my father's party.

[CLANG]

15. She looks so good, doesn't she? It's amazing what they can do!

[DeSwiss]

16. My condolences.

- For all of us that the party left behind.......

K&R

[ProudDad]

63. +1000

:rofl:

[JohnWxy]

18. When Obama made that announcement nobody was listening (to him anyway).

[BlueJac]

23. I quit listening to Obama after.......

he hire his team of Clinton retreads. He and Bill make a great pair. Obama will get his investigations too, just like his buddy Bill. Does Obama smoke cigars too?

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JJW]

28. I didn't leave the party

The party left me after I was thrown under the bus.

[stopbush]

31. Thanks for quoting Reagan.

You must be proud.

[kenfrequed]

37. Oh...

You used the word 'Proud.' I think skin heads use that word as well. Thanks for quoting neo-nazis.

Really do you honestly think that the person you are referring to is actually ANYTHING like Reagan? Have they espoused Reaganesque policies or suggested that the Democratic party has moved too far to the left?

I notice that we on the left get accused of hyperbole frequently. Isn't that what you did (and what I clumsily imitated?)

[defendandprotect]

36. Agree ... and amazing how quickly it happened ... in '08 GOP was dead ....

and all it took was a bit of help from Obama -- !!!

[sirthomas66]

43. The speed at which it happened is a another confirmation of how

not a Democrat Obama is. We could have elected a chair and gotten A better deal.

[ProudDad]

62. Well, don't forget the cowardly Congresscritters

he couldn't have done it without their help...

[defendandprotect]

93. Well ....

I keep arguing that they aren't "cowards" .... rather they are

cooperating millionaires and multi-millionaries interested in

$$ they get from lobbists and their own wallets.


When it comes to corporate decision making both Obama and Dems have

backbones of STEEL, imo!


:)

[tomp]

119. very important point. it's not just obama. nt

[Laelth]

38. k&r for the sentiment expressed.

Only time will tell if the underlying prediction is correct.

-Laelth

[NorthCarolina]

40. Very sad, but very true. nt

[RBInMaine]

42. Hyperbolic nonsense. Please find your local planet.

[Caretha]

81. Insult much

to make your feeble point? You've got nothing

[sirthomas66]

44. Good post, although sad.

[RBInMaine]

45. This post should be entitled, "Hey World, this is what the fringe sounds like."

[sabrina 1]

85. It's a pretty big fringe, growing by the day.

Have anything substantive to add? Like maybe a refutation of some sort?

Can't say I blame you for not even trying. It's getting harder and harder, isn't it? I sympathize, I used to fight fiercely with rightwingnuts defending the Dem. Party, now I just don't bother, it's hard when people you knew were wrong about everything, can actually make some points. Too embarrassing for me to try to engage them anymore.

[usrname]

106. RW nuts are still blowing smoke

The right wingers are still incapable of making a coherent non-self-contradictory statement. However, I agree that it's almost embarrassing to support the Democratic party when they don't even support themselves. They don't even put up a facade of a resistance against the bullying tactic of the repugs.

[ScreamingMeemie]

90. I am not "the fringe".

I am someone's mother. Wondering why I am still not allowed to purchase affordable health insurance. Thank you.

[WizardLeft62]

46. Sad News

FDR is rolling over in his grave today....

He believes every Democratic Party sellout needs to go register as a Republican and stop their lying to constituents at election time.

Obama's "fireside chats" have been lectures to those who voted for him. Obama is a despicable person.

[man4allcats]

47. It is our further sad duty to report today the additional loss of

the United States of America, 1776 - 2010. As it happens, the nation was assassinated by fascists who controlled first the Republican and later the Democratic party as well. Rest In Peace, America.

[nannah]

96. seems like it

[Ozymanithrax]

52. The Democratic Party goes back to 1832 or 1833.

So your way off on its beginning. Until Strom Thurmond left the party he was considered a progressive Democrat.

I think the Democratic party will continue until the collapse and dissolution of the U.S. Government.

[Pacifist Patriot]

54. I think that's what the OP meant with....

"Although many believed the party to be much older, it was born March 4, 1933 at the inauguration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt."

That would be when what we ostensibly consider democratic ideals were possible to achieve. I can't imagine the likes of Woodrow Wilson would make much of a Democrat these days. Oh wait a minute. Yeah, he might. ;-)

[ProudDad]

64. He's just come back in style...

:)

[Ozymanithrax]

68. I think we should stick to real history instead of rewriting it.

I know it is so much better to accentuate the positive, but I'm not much of a Pollyanna.

[Pacifist Patriot]

115. I read it as satire not history.

If I were critiquing a true history of the Democratic party I'd take your point. The OP seems to be commenting on the principles and policies we expect of the Democratic party, not providing a factual account of the party apparatus.

[CanonRay]

71. Thank you!

[ProudDad]

65. Strom Thurmond? Progressive???

He was a died in the wool racist KKK asshole 'till the day he died...

Geez?

[Ozymanithrax]

104. Absolutely, but if you look into history, you will find that Strom Thrumond...

was considered a progressive as was Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt, on the other hand, was detested by progressives and consider the tool of bankers.

History is funny that way.

[olegramps]

120. I think that you have your presidents mixed up.

"We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace--business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.

They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.

Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me--and I welcome their hatred."

FDR

You know what is really sad? It is the fact that Obama is in the enemy camp.

[Ozymanithrax]

125. No, I think you know nothing about history.

You will notice he said nothing about progressives. FDR was a banker, and one of the great liberals of the 20th Century. Huey Long, who thought things like Social Security was giving peoples money to banks was a progressive. Herbert Hoover was considered when he ran as a great progressive in the same vein as Teddy Roosevelt.

FDR, a liberal, never ran as a progressive and was fought at every turn by progressives, such as Long. History is complex, and dropping little artificial horizons down on years like 1933 is an attempt to whitewash history and remove the parts some people don't like.

Progressivism is complex. Originally, progressives had two primary foci. The first was power of banks and business. Teddy Roosevelt was a progressive who led the anti-trust movement. The other stream of progressivism, led to things like the Eighteenth Amendment banning alcohol and the banning of drugs that persists to this day. One of progressivism's most important successes in those days was to end legal prostitution in most of the U.S., so that between 1904 and 1908 progressives shut down the Barbary Coast in San Francisco, the Stingaree in San Diego, Toy Town in New Orleans and all the other red light areas that existed up to that time. In San Diego, the women were given a one way ticket on a train if they did not take an oath to stop selling their bodies.

You should not assume progressivism as you assume it is today means the same thing it did when Progressives fought to defeat FDR, fought to elect Hoover, fought to get anti-trust laws past and the big corporations busted, fought to outlaw drugs and alcohol, and fought to throw prostitutes out out on their ear. The year 1933 is not a marker in Democratic Prty History other than it is the year that the greatest liberal of the 20th century became President. He did not give birth to the Democratic party.

[olegramps]

147. Yeah, and you are full of it like most know it alls

If you don't believe repealing laws that out-lawed union, abolished child labor, established the WPA, Tennessee Valley, Social Security were not outstandingly progressive in the 1930s you have not grasp on history.

[Recursion]

158. FDR ushered in the corporately-managed economy we still have today

which is why progressives of the time opposed him. And which is why I find it so very odd for DUers to say things like "I'm tired of corporatist Democrats; we need somebody like FDR again."

[olegramps]

159. Just address the actually facts and quit you revisionist bull crap.

He was the most progressive leader to ever lead the nation and did so at perilous time. If you want to compare him to some nitwits that didn't offer anything that could be enacted go to some Freeper board where you will be appreciated.

[Recursion]

160. You are aware that "Progressive" describe Republicans in the 1930's, right?

What's revisionist is pretending otherwise.

[Recursion]

156. Yes. Look up what "Progressive" means some time.

He was a Progressive Democrat as opposed to a Bourbon Democrat or whatever those were called in the 30's.

[Caretha]

82. If we can iradicate

the Blue Dogs and the Republican moles, then yes, the Democratic party has a chance.

[Ozymanithrax]

105. Probably not as a majorit party.

But I don't think Democrats are going anywhere.

[Recursion]

163. OK, how do we get back the House without blue dogs?

Who's the mysterious progressive dark horse candidate that's going to win back MS-4 or MO-4?

[ProudDad]

57. K&R +1000

[stray cat]

67. The democratic party is alive and well but the green party can't get it to merged with them

[Scurrilous]

69. Unrecced. n/t

[pmorlan1]

70. Very Creative

Thanks for the wonderfully creative post.

[Echotrail]

74. Also dead is my faith in the next candidate promising change.

He had me there for a while.
How can we trust any politician ever again?

[paparush]

83. THIS x 1000+

[emilyg]

86. You can't.

[blackspade]

76. I feel the same way.

Totally depressed about the complete capitulation of the Democratic Party to the Rethugs.
They should have just voted 'No'.
Instead we have a train wreck of a bill that raises taxes on the poor, damages the funding source of Social Security, gives 100s of billions to rich people, and gives the rich a huge break on their estate taxes.
What a fucking rip off for the American people.

[Name removed]

151. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RiverStone]

78. So are you giving up? Gonna go with a 3rd party? Or...

Instead of playing dead, go with the rumors that a true progressive (in the mold of Hoard Dean) will run against Obama in 2012.

I'm not disagreeing with the the party's values being sold out on this tax deal - but rather then wimp out or die away, I'd rather see folks try and fight for what we (used to stand for) - otherwise, if the party is dead - then who the fuck are all of us on DU?

[olegramps]

121. It is time to draft a someone like Trumka to lead the party. Someone with balls.

[intheflow]

80. It died in 1988, when it colluded with the GOP to limit

presidential debates to just the two parties, in effect, uniting the two parties in excluding any other viable third party candidate from debate... and thus also controlling the narrative of what the country's problems are and what possible solutions might be had.

Here's a brief bit of that history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election_debates#Debate_sponsorship

[Art_from_Ark]

88. And yet in 1992, there was a 3-way debate

Between Clinton, Bush, and Ross Perot

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x77c1g_1992-presidential-3-way-debate-bush_news

[Mosaic]

87. It's not dead yet

It needs to re-examine its principles and priorities. It needs a leader with backbone, and brains, the two must go together.

[Jackpine Radical]

92. Who am I to say miracles can't happen?

[20score]

94. Can I post this on FB? (Giving CanonRay credit, of course.)

[CanonRay]

118. Feel free

[Name removed]

99. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ThinkerFeeler]

102. Not dead, but split

The Democratic Party isn't dead, but it's terribly split. Centrists such as Obama are compromising with Republicans and enacting GOP policies.
When progressives complain, they're called cry babies and ridiculed.
If the progressives leave the party, that will be good for neither the Party (which would move even further to the right) or for the progressives (who would likely lose influence and power).

Basically, progressives are just screwed.

[colsohlibgal]

103. It's Disheartening

He is without a doubt aiming to attract center and center right votes - just another democrat who, like Rahm, thinks "where are the liberals going to go?". Triangulation city.

Beyond the financial chicanery there is more going on that's troubling - like rendition, word is he's disappearing more people than Bush did.

It's a tough spot for we professional lefties. How long do we keep making this deal with the devil, reluctantly supporting not so good so we don't get considerably worse? As we've been doing this, choosing between a rock and a hard place, the wheels keep getting closer to going off a cliff.

[cascadiance]

107. They have DEVOLVED!

[Shining Jack]

109. Lol!

Yeah, invertebrates. :rofl:

[cascadiance]

129. Yep, spineless jellyfish they be!

[OverBurn]

110. Didn't think we'd be here.....

After the Obama election I thought the Repukes were dead, for years and years to come. How did it change so fast? What the hell happened?

I feel completely hopeless that things will ever take a turn for progressives like me.

I'll continue to use my vote, to vote against the Repukes, but I have little hope it'll do any good.

The American public is just so fucking stupid and uninformed, it boggles the mind.

[rug]

117. One year ago.

We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend. And we honor those ideals by upholding them not when it's easy, but when it is hard.

BARACK OBAMA, Nobel Lecture, Dec. 10, 2009

[Name removed]

122. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[apex nerd]

143. Doesn't the Democratic Party date back before 1933?

I thought Thomas Jefferson was the first Democratic Party candidate to become President.

[yurbud]

144. the New Deal was the birth of the Democrats as the modern progressive party

[Recursion]

157. Are you deliberately being ironic with the use of the word "progressive"?

Just curious.

[yurbud]

161. for our major parties, ideological labels are always graded on a curve.

[Recursion]

162. A moving, rotating curve

Progressives were prohibitionist Republicans at that time. Left and right don't really translate well across multiple generations, I think.

[treestar]

148. Hyperbole

But what third party will you be joining?

[Arkana]

149. *sigh*

I'll fetch the smelling salts.

[Recursion]

153. The angst is thick today

By all means keep whining; the reality-based section of the party is getting things done.