It appears that our Wall Street masters are still miffed that President Obama used a few harsh words against Wall Street even after he helped give them their wingnut welfare bailout. And we’re not talking about the chump change Americans receive in unemployment benefits mind you. On the mental list of slights and outrages that just about every major figure on Wall Street is believed to keep on President Barack Obama , add this one: When he met recently with a group of CEOs at Blair House, there was no representative from any of the six biggest banks in America. Not one! “If they don’t hate us anymore, why weren’t any of us there?” a senior executive at one of the Big Six banks said recently in trying to explain his hostility toward the president. “It’s not so much just this one thing,” he said. “Who cares about one event? It’s just the pattern where they tell you things are going to change, that they appreciate what we do, that capital markets are important, but then the actions are different and they continue to want to score political points on us.” Still, the executive understands that it makes political sense for the White House to stiff-arm Wall Street, if not bash it with a massive sledge hammer. And the article is just getting warmed up. Jamie Dimon, who once was a supporter equated Wall Streeters with slave owners from the South: Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase and a supporter of Obama in 2008, has been among the more outspoken critics of the White House’s anti-Wall Street rhetoric. “It’s harmful, it’s unfair and it leads to bad policy,” Dimon recently told The New York Times Magazine, adding that he told Obama: Former “President [Abraham] Lincoln could have denigrated all sSoutherners. He didn’t.” You can see how deluded these fat cat CEO’s are. I mean a few words will make them cry. As I said, even though the President gave these Masters of Destruction virtually a free pass they will now go back to pumping their millions in the GOP. What a shock. While the landscape could change if the economy continues to improve, Wall Street is expected to line up heavily behind the GOP nominee in 2012, provided that person is not a populist, Federal-Reserve-System -bashing, tea-party -friendly candidate, such as Sarah Palin or Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Still, even the prospect of such a candidate emerging from the GOP field should go toward tempering ay full financial industry revolt against Obama. “The people who feel intellectually committed to the Democratic Party will continue to be supportive,” one senior banker who is deeply plugged into Washington said. “You’ve seen a swing to the GOP but people are quite worried about the divisive effect of the tea party. There is certainly a devil, you know, factor that could help the president.” Some tea partiers have hurt their feeling too. Awwww, poor babies. one financial executive said. “They really don’t care what we think at all.” Here’s another lesson I hope the President has learned. You can give the financial sector a trillion dollars, keep their institutions intact, extend the Bush tax cuts that go directly to themsleves and allow the flow of what are now a record number of monetary bonuses to keep on chugging and they’ll still turn on you because of a few mean words. These people are truly in their own world that only Alan Greenspan and his fellow Randian uber- narcissists relate to. And in the end, these corporate jet setters would never support the left for an extended period of time because for the most part their ranks are made up of Birchers and Free Market freaks.
Continue reading …For the last 17 years, ABC's medical editor, Dr. Tim Johnson, has hyped various forms of government-run health care. He continued that pattern on Tuesday's Good Morning America, promoting Barack Obama's 2010 law
Continue reading …Time magazine's Michael Scherer on Monday
Continue reading …I deeply respect Dennis Kucinich. He is an unapologetic liberal and was an indefatigable Democratic presidential candidate both in 2004 and 2008. His presence–when allowed by the traditional media,who too often ignored or made fun of him–served the necessary purpose of moving the conversation towards more progressive ideals, even as a longshot candidate. So it’s no surprise that Rabbi Michael Lerner brought up the idea of primarying Barack Obama as a way to keep him honest to Democratic ideals, he named Kucinich specifically as the kind of primary candidate we need. But there is a real way to save the Obama presidency: by challenging him in the 2012 presidential primaries with a candidate who would unequivocally commit to a well-defined progressive agenda and contrast it with the Obama administration’s policies. Such a candidacy would be pooh-poohed by the media, but if it gathered enough popular support – as is likely given the level of alienation among many who were the backbone of Obama’s 2008 success – this campaign would pressure Obama toward much more progressive positions and make him a more viable 2012 candidate. Far from weakening his chances for reelection, this kind of progressive primary challenge could save Obama if he moves in the desired direction. And if he holds firm to his current track, he’s a goner anyway. I fundamentally disagree with Lerner’s thesis, and I think history backs me up. Ask Jimmy Carter how getting primaried by Teddy Kennedy helped him. But either way, this kind of left jab against the President has to go on without Dennis Kucinich, who declined officially on Lawrence O’Donnell’s program any interest in primarying the President in 2012. But Kucinich is not going quietly into that good night. Just because he won’t primary Obama does not mean that he thinks liberals should sit quietly by. He recommends that we speak loud and long about helping the middle class, about getting out of Afghanistan, free trade and our monetary system, injecting our values into the debate. That’s a campaign I think we all should get behind.
Continue reading …While Pres. Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the military, unanswered questions remain: How soon will the new policy be implemented, will it be accepted and could it hamper military operations? (Dec. 20)
Continue reading …Charles Blow made some political observations in his New York Times column Saturday that are destined to anger many of his left-leaning readers. Just imagine how the average New York Democrat is going to respond to being told the future of his Party is being jeopardized by the fact that “Too many liberals just want to whine”: read more
Continue reading …Barack Obama's tax compromise victory has got tingles running back up Chris Matthews' leg. After showing a clip of the President at Friday's bill signing, the “Hardball” host raved to guests Eugene Robinson and Howard Fineman about the Commander-in-Chief's “cute smile we all love…That wonderful, boyish smile” (video follows with transcript and commentary): read more
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