Defend Wall Street not winning campaign for GOP

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/17/2458930/defend-wall-street-not-winning.html

Posted on Monday, 10.17.11

By EUGENE ROBINSON

[e-mail]

Defend Wall Street is not likely to be a winning campaign slogan in 2012. For Republicans, this is an obvious problem. For President Obama and the Democrats, it’s a golden — if largely undeserved — opportunity.

The biggest impact of the Occupy Wall Street protests has been to provide a focal point for generalized economic and political discontent. Frustrated voters on the left and the right may disagree on, say, immigration policy or healthcare reform. But they can agree on a critique of the financial sector — and, potentially, on specific measures to bring about necessary change.

No, Wall Street shouldn’t be made the scapegoat for all the nation’s woes. But it was the financial Masters of the Universe whose shocking irresponsibility and unbounded greed triggered the 2008 crisis, which almost sent the global economy into the abyss. We’re still dealing with the resulting devastation — massive unemployment, an epidemic of foreclosures, severe fiscal strain on governments at every level.

Wall Street, however, received a huge bailout from George W. Bush. Three years later, things are looking up in Lower Manhattan. Salaries and bonuses are climbing back to levels that gladden the hearts of Ferrari dealers.

[underpants]

1. Time is the factor - the timeline has been blurred and now people are seeing it more clearly

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=2079673

[Kevin Beyer]

2. Those crooks should be in jail.

:puke:

[customerserviceguy]

3. The Repukes aren't going to defend Wall Street

All they have to do is attack the protesters. This managed to work really well for them in 1968 and 1972.

Here's the thing that helps them: Barack Obama and his campaign aren't going to run against Wall Street, either, even though they make some mealy-mouthed slogans about taxes on "millionaires and billionaires" that they know have zero chances of passage in a Repuke-controlled House.

If they really believed that much in soaking the rich, why didn't they do it in the first two years of the President's administration? The last act of the last Congress was to extend the Bush tax cuts for two more years, and this was AFTER the election.

[markpkessinger]

5. Sad to say I think you're right on the money. n/t

[customerserviceguy]

7. Thanks

The Democratic controlled Congress did get one thing for extending those tax cuts, and that was an extension of unemployment benefits.

Those extended benefits expire in less than three months from now, even though they're a part of the President's job plan. Of course, we know where that plan is going. My question is, what will the Democratic Senate give up to the House Repukes in exchange for an extension this time?

Or will we simply not have one?

[Morning Dew]

4. DefendWallStreet

would be a good campaign for a group like Billionaires for Bush

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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

[markpkessinger]

8. It's not so simple...

At this point, Obama and the Democrats are seen -- and quite deservedly so -- as being part of the problem along with the GOP.