Day: August 18, 2009

Obama, The Leftist President

This was originally posted on Progressive Independence (visit the site through my blogroll).

He is a socialist!  No, he is a Nazi.  Wait he is far left.  No he is a progressive……no he is……you pick a label….everyone else does.

I have heard many times by many of the beltway pundits say the Obama does not buck the left or the progressives, if you will…..that he lets them have their way and make their own bills and he will rubber stamp it.  Sorry, people that is pure bullsh!t!

Thinkprogress.org has listed a few of the exceptions to the charge by conservatives:

  • Stimulus: Progressive economists — including at least one Nobel Prize winner — warned that the President’s stimulus package was too small to lift the sinking economy.  Similarly, progressives consistently warned the President not to replace highly-stimulative spending with ineffectual tax cuts.  Nevertheless, the President rejected progressive pleas for a more substantial package and brokered a deal with made tax cuts almost one-third of the stimulus. Obama allowed much of its final form to be dictated by a handful of Senate Republicans.
  • Bank Nationalization: Many progressives unsuccessfully urged Obama to nationalize the failing banks, rather than risk making future bailout payments to an industry whose recklessness nearly destroyed the nation’s economy.
  • Cap and Trade: Many of President Obama’s campaign promises for a robust cap-and-trade system have been watered down by a coalition of so-called “Brown Dog” Democrats loyal to Big Coal.
  • Single-Payer: The House Progressive Caucus prefers a single-payer system to the almost-exclusively private insurance-driven system proposed by the President.
  • Judicial Nominations: President Bush stacked the federal courts with young right-wing ideologues — one of whom even compared Social Security to “cannibalism.”  President Obama’s nominees, however, have been older and far more moderate than President Bush’s, and at least one has been actively opposed by disability rights advocates.

The president is NO leftist…no socialist….damn he is not even a liberal in my opinion…he IS however a centrist.  (yawn)

  • So to keep lying to the American people is just tacky…….Americans deserve the truth…..apparently MSM does not want to give it to them.  Because of that I and others try to point out the BS as we find it…..I can only hope that it is appreciated.

    • How Many American Jobs Will This Create?

    Without an industrial policy, this is the future of the auto industry.

    As reported by Reuters:

    Chrysler Group is planning to produce Fiat SpA’s Fiat 500 subcompact at a Chrysler plant in Mexico, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

    The Toluca, Mexico plant, which currently makes the Dodge Journey crossover and PT Cruiser, is an attractive home for the 500 because cars could be exported to South and Central America where the Fiat brand is popular, the Journal reported.

    Fiat acquired a 20 percent stake in Chrysler and entered into agreements to give it access to Fiat technology and platforms. Chrysler filed for bankruptcy in April.

    Let me see if I have this right……taxpayers bailed out Chrysler but it was not big enough…they then sold part to Fiat and now they will build cars in Mexico…is that about it?  So, just what did the taxpayers money do for the country?  We help save a company that will now use cheap labor in Mexico…..I feel really good about this (sarcasm).

    Is This The Best Example For Health Care?

    First a note to my readers:  I realize that I am spending a lot of time and space to the health care debate–I do so because I feel that it is a huge problem that needs a solution.  If my readers are bored with the debate I apologize but I cannot in good faith turn my back on the subject when there is so much lying and misinformation out there.  Thanx for reading and please bear with me…….

    As I have said…there is a wealth of plans and ideas for the problem of adequate health care….I have written about the GOP plan, the Dem plan. a corporate plan and on and on.  I have heard of yet another plan that is being mentioned by some in the media and that is the Massachusetts plan.  If you have heard of it…cool…but if not then you have no idea what it is all about.  Well, let me help.

    According to wiki:

    The Massachusetts health care reform law was enacted in 2006. It requires nearly every resident of Massachusetts to obtain health insurance coverage. Through the law, Massachusetts provides subsidized health care for residents earning up to 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), and partially subsidized health care for those earning up to 300% of the FPL, depending on an income-based sliding scale. The law is credited with covering an additional 439,000 Massachusetts residents as of April 1, 2008.[1] The law established an independent public authority, the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, also known as the Health Connector, which offers the subsidized coverage and facilitates the selection and purchase of private insurance plans by individuals and small businesses.[2][3] Incentives for residents to obtain health insurance coverage include tax penalties for failing to obtain an insurance plan. In 2007, Massachusetts tax filers who failed to enroll in a health insurance plan that was deemed affordable for them lost the $219 personal exemption on their income tax. In 2008, penalties increase by monthly increments, and are based on half of the cost of a health insurance plan.

    That sports fans is the plan that is being looked at as one of the possibilities.  I know…someone would like to know how it has worked out since 2006….right?

    Employers with 11 employees or more are also required to provide their workers with insurance or pay a nominal fee. Those individuals or families whose income falls below a certain level are eligible for a state-run program that is underwritten in full or partially subsidized by the state.

    In the three years since its adoption, the number of uninsured in Massachusetts has dropped to 2.6 percent from a previous high of about 10 percent, far below the 15 percent national average. This low figure, however, does not provide an accurate picture of the real state of health care in the Bay State.

    As with Obama’s vision of health care restructuring, the authors of Massachusetts’ health care program placed protection of the profits of the giant health insurers and providers at the center of their legislation. The result is a system where the vast majority of state residents still pay thousands of dollars in premiums for private plans, which they are required by law to purchase, and where the more affordable plans offer inferior care with sizeable deductibles and out-of-pocket fees.

    To above was taken from an article written by Kate Randall for wsws.org.

    Is this the best example?  You decide….would it cover many uninsured?  Does not sound like to me.  IMO, this plan is like other plans…it protects the insurance companies at the expense of those insured.  Beyond that if it would lower the price of insurance then I guess it would be a plan that will be seriously considered.

    We will see when the vagabonds return in September.