President Obama's "Back to School" Speech

And of course, the rabid right don't want their children "indoctrinated by the President of United States". Funny, this surely did not happen on any other president's watch, so why this one? Gotta ask that.....



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President Obama's Press Conference, September 10, 2010 (Video, Transcript)

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(UPDATE) Another "Nut in the Hut": Pastor Jones burning the Koran and POTUS response

Yes, this is a publicity stunt of the worst kind. To publicly burn a holy book of Muslim faith the Koran? What will that accomplish? We are already hated in the Middle East for fucking it up by the illegal invasion of Iraq. We already destroyed a country and paying a price for never finding weapons of mass destruction. Now we have a no nothing Pastor who is pulling a publicity stunt of hatred?

And now he wants to speak to President Obama about this? Please. Jones, nut in the hut, the President won't be calling your ignorant ass anytime soon.

President Obama on Good Morning America:



Finally, from General Petraeus on down to the Republicans (who are finally coming out with a response), the final consensus is that this is not only a bad idea but will put our troops in harm's way due to this totally irresponsible publicity stunt.

Pastor Jones cancels Koran burning:

The pastor of a Florida church announced Thursday he is calling off his plans to burn copies of the Qurann on Saturday -- the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Rev. Terry Jones said at a press conference he is canceling the controversial event.

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President Obama's economic remarks in Parma, Ohio

Now President Obama is pulling out his gun and going after the Republicans by finally calling them OUT by name. About time.




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Minority Voters and the Young "NOT ENGAGED FOR NOVEMBER"

That is bad news for the Democrats.

Minority and young voters made a significant mark on the 2008 presidential election with their high turnout; today, however, these groups appear to have reverted to previous levels of interest in voting in the context of midterm elections. Most notably, in contrast to 2008, when whites and blacks were about equally likely to say they were giving "quite a lot of" or "some" thought to the presidential election, whites are much more likely than blacks to be thinking about the 2010 elections: 42% vs. 25%, a gap exceeding those from recent midterm elections.

Many can speculate on why the non enthusiasm by these groups, but the bottom line is Democrats need these groups to show up in November. No one can dismiss that the economy is number one, especially for the African-American community which is at over 16% in unemployment, but there are other factors.

I read a diary from a 20-ish diarist who laid it out why the young voters are not in the Democrats corner. It comes down to what the Democrats and Obama promised during 2008 campaign and did not deliver, especially on health care (which is abysmal and will become Obama's Achilles heel) and restructuring student loans for the college age kids. About the student loan issue, it is unbelievable that you can purchase a home at 4.5% interest rate and for student loans borrowing money is over 6%. Something is drastically wrong with this picture.

The reason this is happening is the recession, and the perception that Democrats are not doing enough to fix it. There is a feeling that Democrats tricked people into thinking that they were going to make big changes to the country, and then failed to make those changes.

You might think this is an unreasonable criticism, that the Democrats are doing the best they can, and that they never said they were leftists. I can understand that point of view, and it makes a lot of sense. But let's look at what millennials are dealing with in this economy, and it might not seem so unreasonable.

You might be comfortable with the way things are. You might not be interested in radical changes. You might be okay with incrementalism. But others are different. There are very big problems in the USA, and they are making many people very miserable. It's not wrong for these people to ask that the problems affecting them be fixed.

Now, these are some of the problems that are affecting young people.

The unemployment rate among young people is very high:

The unemployment rate for young Americans has exploded to 52.2 percent -- a post-World War II high, according to the Labor Dept.

Tons of people are graduating from high school and college, and they are finding that they can't find jobs.

And they have tons of debt that they need to pay:

Student loans outstanding today — both federal and private — total some $829.785 billion, according to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and FastWeb.com.

This is a problem. All my life, I was told that if I did good in school, and went to college, that I would be able to find a good job. That was obviously not true. There don't seem to be any jobs in this economy, let alone good ones.

Instead of telling your kids that they will be able to succeed if they work hard, you might consider telling them that life's a bitch, and then you die. That seems a bit more realistic than the "American Dream".

For those that do not believe the Democrats are in trouble, think again. They are in huge trouble. Gallup released a poll that has the GOP with a 10 point edge over the Democrats. I thought this was an outlier, but NBC/WSJ just released a poll and have the GOP with a 9 point edge.

A combination of sky-high GOP enthusiasm, a deep sense of pessimism about the country’s direction and dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama's stewardship of the economy has given Republicans a clear advantage heading into the November midterm elections, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

With the Labor Day holiday marking the traditional starting point of the campaign season, Republicans have a nine-point edge among those considered likely voters, plus a near 20-point lead among those expressing the highest amount of interest in the midterms.

In addition, six in 10 believe the country is on the wrong track; nearly two-thirds think the nation is in a state of decline; and a similar number aren't confident that their children’s generation will enjoy a better life.

Perhaps more ominous for Democrats, the number of Americans who approve of Obama's handling of the economy — the top issue in the country — has declined below 40 percent for the first time.

“We all know that there is a hurricane coming for the Democrats,” says Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, who conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. “We just don’t know if it will be a Category 4 or a Category 5.”

I have been writing consistently since last spring for this White House and Democrats to focus on the economy and job creation.

That did not happen, the unemployment numbers are still sky high and the Democrats will pay the price in November.

The health care fight was the one that took all the oxygen out of the room. In fact, you don't see anyone running on THAT craptastic piece of legislation. With little cost containment, you will soon see many Americans angry at not being able to afford coverage. The Democrats had a chance with the public option, something the public wanted but ditched it to the backroom deals, which ended up having the public forced to purchase health insurance. We are going to pay a price at the polls in November for this huge mistake and miscalculation towards the American Public.

Barack Obama does not have too much political capital left. If the Democrats lose massively in November, all roads lead back to him as head of the Democratic Party. And in all honesty, it should. All the decisions came from the West Wing, including the horrific communication. Please after November let us say adios to Robert Gibbs and friends, they failed to communicate much of this administrations agenda and it shows. Along with Gibbs, send David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel, Jim Messina packing. Their advice to the President have him boxed into some of the worst poll numbers out there, especially his handling of the economy.

How this administration missed all the clues from the public shows that they were not engaged with the public. There will be some long faces in November, but the final decision must come from Barack Obama, himself. Until he changes and shows that he "gets it", the bad news will continue to ROLL IN.



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President Obama's Labor Day remarks on the economy from Milwaukee, WI

President Obama spoke to union workers on Labor Day at Laborfest in Milwaukee. He announced a long-term jobs program that would exceed $50 billion to rebuild roads, railways and runways. He also criticized Republicans for causing hard economic times.



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President Obama's Remarks to the Nation on the ending of the combat mission in Iraq (Video)

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Catastrophic home sale numbers (Video)

Again, until the mortgage/home industry rebounds (which is no time soon), this economy will continue to be where it is at, atrocious...oh, that tax credit needs to be reinstated, SOON...



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President Obama's Weekly Address, "No Corporate Takeover of Our Democracy"

The President calls out Republicans for blocking campaign finance reforms that would address the Supreme Court decision opening the floodgates of corporate money into elections.



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Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on the "New York Mosque Controversy" (Video/Transcript)

This Special Comment aired August 16, 2010



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President Obama's Weekly Address, "GOP trying to destroy Social Security", August 14, 2010 (Video)

On the 75th anniversary of Social Security, President Obama promises to protect it from Republican leaders in Congress who have made privatization a key part of their agenda. He makes clear that, especially in light of the financial crisis, gambling Social Security on Wall Street makes no sense.



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President Obama, "Muslims have the right to practice their religion as anyone else" (Video)

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Bat.Shit.Crazy.

I saw this crazy exchange on Anderson Cooper last night. How this man is a congressman is beyond me (Rep. Louie Gohmert-R)??? Terror Babies??? Are the Republicans peddling this bill of goods? And evidence? As you watch the clip, there is NONE.



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Desperation, 1930's style....

This is what desperation is all about:



The above are Americans outside of Atlanta, Georgia in line to get on a WAITING LIST for low income housing. These are people who were working, laid off, and now losing everything. 13,000 people showed up in 90 degree plus heat just to have their names put on a waiting list, what does that tell you?

This is desperation on the 1930's scale.

No one believes that the economy is recovering and as folks are being kicked off unemployment, what will happen to them? Are we becoming the country of "if it is not me, I don't give a damn?" Because it sure looks like that to me. A tier 5 unemployment plan must pass congress or we will start seeing babies, mothers, children, fathers in the streets due to desperation, if they are not there now.

A Tier 5 unemployment extension could benefit US financial markets. After the stock market closed today down 265 many are investors are wondering what it will take to get the US financial markets robust again. With consumer spending at an all-time low and nearly 14 million Americans without work some help is in order if we are going to see the economy thrive again.

While we can argue and parse over whatever happens on a daily basis, this election, as I have said for over a year is about this economy. And baby, this economy is shitty and scummy for millions out here. When folks don't have jobs the wheels of motion stops for everyone in the economic chain. This is from purchase power, home values, health care access, food on your table, the whole nine yard.

From the NBC/WSJ Poll out today:



November is a hard sell to an electorate who is angry at BOTH PARTIES. It is not about the Republicans because the electorate get them, they are not about shit, basically, but it is about what the Democrats have done which many don't get.

Lastly, the die hard Democrats will vote, including practically everyone on this site. The problem is getting all those other voters, soft voters, independents who pushed us over the finish line to stay in our corner and from all the polling we have a lot of work to do. They are highly skeptical, angry, and feel that nothing is getting done. They pushed us over the finish line in 2008 and gave us a massive mandate and numbers in congress.

Now it is time to pitch to these people to come out. Make them feel that we are in their corner, even for the unemployed worker, let them know that if the Republicans get in charge they can kiss their unemployment good-bye. We have to say this and mean it. They must because this election will probably be tighter than a tick, every vote matters and count. For every one person that says they are not voting or will "maybe" vote, that is two votes WE must make up. Remember that.

Update [2010-8-11 21:45:59 by icebergslim]:

I felt this is important for this discussion. Americans have always thought ownership of a home is money, equity for the future. As the housing market has obliterated itself, many Americans are just walking away from their debt, responsibility. Remember, walking away from loans, debts is a sign of desperation or no carishness, which makes it harder for the over blown housing market to rebound. In fact, I know a couple whose home equity has vanished and are just walking away from the loan. For them, it is not that they can not afford to pay it, they can, they are just choosing NOT TO PAY IT because there is no monetary value in the home. This is another paradox going on out here.

During the great housing boom, homeowners nationwide borrowed a trillion dollars from banks, using the soaring value of their houses as security. Now the money has been spent and struggling borrowers are unable or unwilling to pay it back.

The delinquency rate on home equity loans is higher than all other types of consumer loans, including auto loans, boat loans, personal loans and even bank cards like Visa and MasterCard, according to the American Bankers Association.

Lenders say they are trying to recover some of that money but their success has been limited, in part because so many borrowers threaten bankruptcy and the collateral in the homes backing the loans has often disappeared.

Cross-posted @ Daily Kos

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Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on the idiot called Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

I guess the DNC, DCCC, DSCC don't need my time or money. To trash members of your own party is totally over the line.

Barack Obama you got a scummy White House and until YOU GET IT, you will continue to bleed support.

Mid-term elections less than 90 days away....

Read it all here.


First, Keith Olbermann with Michael Moore:



Keith Olbermann's Special Comment:



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Hard hitting television ad against Minority Speaker John Boehner

This one hits home. In fact, I remember Joe Scarborough from morning joe talking about the bad habits of John Boehner and how he could not see him as Speaker of the House because he is done by 5 PM everyday and at the local bar. Ain't that something...and remember, Boehner's district is middle class working folk, voting against unemployment is a disastrous decision for that area....



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