Is the President Leading or Following?

[Winterblues]

Do the Democrats have a leader? I would love to see some evidence that we do...If he is leading, where are we being led? He has spent the last two years telling us tax cuts for the wealthy are hurting our economy and adding to our Debt and Deficits..If he truly believes this to be the truth will he stand up for his convictions or be led down a path of least resistance and accept Republican economic principles. Those economic principles that have shown to be so very effective over the past several decades...Clinton led and America prospered. What will Obama do?

[bluetrain]

1. The mistake is thinking Obama holds anything resembling a liberal agenda.

[Winterblues]

2. No the mistake is believing he is the Leader of the Democratic Party

How is he leading?

[chimpymustgo]

3. He did skillfully lie to us and mislead us.

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. +1000!

[somone]

11. His corporate masters found their perfect Rorschach inkblot

and we're seeing the results.

[obxhead]

20. Very skillfully. Beware the soothsayer. nt

[L0oniX]

10. The mistake is thinking he and most everyone else gives a shit about us.

[joeybee12]

4. He's a follower, taking cues from the Republican party...nt

[gratuitous]

14. I'm not willing to let the President off the hook like that

I think Barack Obama is a grown up, able to make his own decisions and pursue his goals on his own initiative. He't not just following orders, and I'm not willing to say, "Oh, well, he's just a follower, it's those dirty so-and-sos that led him down the garden path who are to blame for all this bullshit."

[blm]

5. The retreads from Clinton WH are LEADING this WH unfortunately. Maybe O wasn't ready to stand firm

on his own beliefs, and his second-guessing himself has led to his reliance on the consul of those 'experienced' Clinton WH hands....experienced in rolling over for corporate elite.

[disillusioned73]

21. A thought just crossed my mind....

do the "retreads" even want a second term?? I mean, wouldn't have the "retreads" benefeted more from the primary going the other way?? Just a thought.....

[Little Star]

6. He's leading alright. Leading us right down the primrose path. n/t

[Individualist]

7. He's following DLC's agenda.

That became obvious when he began surrounding himself with DLCers as soon as he was elected.

[RKP5637]

13. Yep, exactly, and it's the wrong strategy for the 21st century! Hell, my neighbors

are democrats wondering WTF is going on and I explained to them the DLC. They were clueless, had absolutely no idea what DLC meant/was/is. I wonder how many other democrats are the same, I bet a lot and that's why they sit around wondering WTF and where's the magnanimous change they've been waiting for ...

[L0oniX]

9. He has a corporate dog collar on with a leash.

[Uben]

12. Uh, he's leading. And doing a fine job!

I don't expect people to understand why Obama does what he does because they do not have the info he has and they do not have to go thru the shit he does to get things done.

A lot here would like to see all the tax cuts expire rather than extend the cuts for the 2%. I understand the idea of it, but I don't think they do. If the cuts for the middle class were to be allowed to expire, the economy would likely fall back into recession. This is what the republicans want. It would give them a hand up in the next elections. Obama does not WANT to give in on the tax cuts for the 2%, but doing so would deny the republicans what they really want.......Obama to fail. So, they will make him extend the 2% cuts in order to get the cuts for the rest of us.

Obama is on OUR side. HE does what he does for us. We may not understand why he does what he does, but I think he deserves our support, nonetheless. I was a Clinton supporter in the primaries, but Obama won, and I am glad he did. Given the situation in congress, I think he's done a pretty damned good job. There are those here who don't agree, and that's okay too.

If we don't support who we elect, who the hell are we gonna get to run the next time?

Turn back the clock two years. Is that what you want? Not me. No friggin way!

[RKP5637]

16. We can support him but not agree with him. n/t

[Uben]

22. Yes, you can!

I don't agree with everything either, but I don't pretend to know better than he what is best for the country. I trust the man. He is smart. I'm not stupid, I have an pretty high IQ myself, and I try to reason out why he does what he does without prejudice.
Too many here jump on a bandwagon because their particular issues are not getting addressed or not turning out the way they expected.
I guess that's human nature for a some and it's totally within their rights to do so. But, when did we stop giving our own the benefit of a doubt? I didn't. I think the guy is working towards the best interests of the American people as a whole, not one faction, not one side.

[RKP5637]

33. Yep, I think he's in a most difficult position as president, more so than many I

can think of off hand in history. I'm sure there have been far worse, but he's had a lot to deal with ...

[Angry Dragon]

24. Extending the tax cuts for the more affluent is bad for the country

He should be on the air waves stating that everyday, all day
Tax cuts for the lower income people is good.

Is there anything more I need to know??

[Uben]

30. Yes, there is more you need to know.

Obama has stated that extending the tax cuts for the 2% is bad for the country. If you didn't hear it, you weren't paying attention.
He can say it till he's blue in the face....it will do no good. The republicans want him to let them all expire. That would throw a shaky recovery into a downward spiral, just in time for a 2012 election! They win. Is that what you want? Surely not.

[Winterblues]

37. Here is the deal, Those tax cuts were passed through reconciliation

Democrats control both Houses at the moment. It would be fairly simple to pass tax cuts for the middle class using reconcilation and just let the tax cuts for the wealthy expire.. A leader would actually suggest this if he believed what he has been saying...A leader would LEAD on this issue but Obama does not seem to be such a person.

[Angry Dragon]

39. So my options are

1. Letting the tax cuts continue for the more affluent, which is bad for the country, add more to the deficit
2. or getting a republican president in 2 years, which is bad for the country

If the tax cuts continue, Obama will not be re-elected anyway, this country will either have much larger deficits, or the people at the bottom will get squeezed even more. So he can not win that one.

If he actually stands and fights for the people he took an oath to serve, then he might stand a chance to run again, that is if he really wants to. He was elected to lead this country, he is not leading. This country has been going down the slippery slope well before bush got in office.

It is not my job to get excited about him, it is his job to excite me with his vision, his goals, and then I will follow him to the ends of the world. I have no idea what his vision nor goals are. Is that my fault?? No

For some reason this country has always liked a person that fought for what they believed. The republicans fight for what they believe, even though it is very misguided. The people love them for this. Where is the fighting president we elected?? I can not find him.

[Lorien]

27. Turn it back two years and you have the same shit

with clumsier packaging.

[obxhead]

31. Exactly!

That's why when the HCR really got rolling in summer of 2010 Obama decided to step out of the way and let Republicans control the message and the direction.

All of my extended family and friends are still suffering this depression. I'm so glad it's over for you and your family. Obama allowed the people that created the problem to remain in their positions of power.

I'll have a couple more primary examples to give as soon as he is complicit in extending tax cuts for the wealthy, devastating our SS system, and "fixing" HCR.

No, I don't want the clock turned back 2 years. That is NOT the only option available to us though and I'm tired of hearing that BS excuse made.

[Uben]

34. Okay, turn the clock forward two years....

....what do you think is going to happen if the tax cuts are allowed to expire? You have just negated the stimulus that helped turn things around, and now the economy is a shit-pile and we are having elections. Who do you think is going to win?

Game, set, and fucking match!

[obxhead]

35. I give, who wins?

Another politician with the same agenda? One that leads us down the path of corporate personhood? If that's the path, then why should I care if they wear a D or R after their name?

[Uben]

36. I think you care.....

...even if you don't think you do. Obama did not run as a progressive. Did you vote for him? Why?

[Coyote_Bandit]

15. Earlier in his political career

Obama supported single payer. He'd abandoned that position by the time he ran for President. And when it came time for the healthcare reform debate he continually lowered his stated expectations and demands. He has shown that he is not a leader who seeks principled reforms.

Expect him to do what is politically expedient with respect to tax cuts for the wealthy - and that is to keep them in place.

I'm not so sure Obama views himself as a leader. I think he prefers to play the role of a facilitator - caught in the middle between Congressional Dems and Pukes. In playing that role he can always point the finger of blame at them and simultaneously argue that he did what he could to mediate their differences.

[RKP5637]

18. That can be true, of course, but it's keeping us in a rut IMO. n/t

[leftynyc]

19. Horrible strategy

The President ALWAYS gets the blame. All I see is someone who refuses to fight and has no problem looking pathetically weak.

[Coyote_Bandit]

23. Absolutely

Color me unimpressed by the current administration - for a wide variety of reasons.

[Mimosa]

28. Coyote , candidate Obama still talked single payer in June 2008

Check out YouTube.

I heard the speeches. I believed. Now I feel like a sucker.

[Blaukraut]

17. Neither: He's getting out of the way - of repugs. Letting them run the show n/t

[Mimosa]

29. And this helps us how? n/t

[Lorien]

25. He and the GOP are playing us. It's a "good cop/ bad cop" routine

Marsha Warfield (you may remember her from the sitcom "Night Court") just wrote on FB "Bipartisanship: crappy politicians' cover for passing laws that only benefit the rich people they really work for." Spot on, and the PERMANENT tax cuts for millionaires will only be more evidence of that.

[somone]

32. We certainly have seen ample proof

but there will always be people who refuse to see that the earth is round...

[iamtechus]

26. Does a judas goat lead?

[Name removed]

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