Preview Of The Democratic Party Platform And National Convention
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-09-04/preview-democratic-party-platform-and-national-convention
The Democratic National Convention gets under way in Charlotte, N.C. Diane and her guests talk about what to expect as the president and his supporters make the case for four more years.
Guests
Shawna Thomas
White House producer for NBC News.
Ron Elving
senior Washington editor for NPR.
Stuart Rothenberg
editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report and a twice-a-week columnist for Roll Call.
Comments
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The stench of division precedes it. I only hope we don't get an avalanche of costly promises, executive orders and illegal presidential overreaches we can't get rid of. This administration strikes me as one that would tear up the railroad tracks or any other infrastructure to do damage to any administration that would replace it, scorched earth!
Bin Laden is DEAD,and G.M. is ALIVE....
The "Hope and Change" I voted for.
H1N1 task,DONE. Largest man made environmental disaster,EVER,DONE and paid for by BIG OIL,and NOT taxpayers.America`s banks saved.Wall Street is back,with record profits. Millions of IRA accounts restored to their full value.TARP repaid. Home values on the rise.The Iraq War ended. The Lily Ledbetter Act passed. Obamacare extending health insurance to 30 million more Americans.Tariffs on cheap Chinese tube steel and tires,providing 1000`s of Ohio jobs. Over $700 million in Stimulus money to Ohio alone,for projects long neglected by Ohio Republicans.
(No more) "Mission Accomplished" celebrations.(No more) lies about keeping us safe on their watch. (No more) shredding of hard drives.( No more) Karl Rove run White House. (No more) Cheney/Hallibuton no bid contracts.(No more) "Surge" to hide the failures.(No more) torture is enhanced interrogation.
The (No more) list alone was "Hope and Change".Now get rid of Gitmo.End the Afghanistan War. Bring back American jobs from China...........ASAP !!!!!
You forgot one thing, motivating people in droves to throw him out of office in November.
How appropriate that the national debt will hit the $16,000,000,000,000.00 mark at the start of the democrat national convention. President Obama the biggest deficit spender in the history of the world.
that debt is $50,900.00 per citizen/ $140,000.00 per taxpayer, that's not hope and change, that's disaster.
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Obama did not "save GM" he bailed out UNION members of the UAW at tax payer expense, if you were not in the UAW you got screwed out of your pension and lost your job. The company should have gone through managed bankruptcy, it would have emerged stronger with more people employed than there are today without a dime of tax payer money. Union legacy costs that are pulling GM down are still there so at best Obama only kicked the can down the road to buy votes with our money.
“We should have asked the UAW [United Auto Workers union] to do a bit more. We did not ask any UAW member to take a cut in their pay.” Non-union employees of GM spin-off Delphi lost their pensions. UAW members didn’t.
"The government still owns 500 million shares of GM, 26 percent of the total. It needs to sell them for $53 a share to recover its $49.5 billion bailout. But the stock price is around $20 a share, and the Treasury now estimates that the government will lose more than $25 billion if and when it sells"
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/314694/bad-worse-obama-s-gm-bailo...
"These are the values inspiring those brave workers in Poland ... They remind us that where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost." --Ronald Reagan, Labor Day Address at Liberty State Park, 1980".
The betrayal of the Middle Class and their Unions by radical extremist T-Party/Republicans should not be forgotten.Middle Class Americans cannot make ends meet with a tax cut,but rather need high paying Union jobs.
Not every auto job,plant,or dealership was saved.But the American auto industry survived,saving more than a million jobs. Thank You President Obama,for standing up to those who only cared about the preferred stockholders.
Clifford wrote:
" Not every auto job,plant,or dealership was saved.But the American auto industry survived,saving more than a million jobs. Thank You President Obama,for standing up to those who only cared about the preferred stockholders"
------------------------------------------
"General Motors still owes taxpayers $42 billion according to an Inspector General's report and the company's stock has hit an all time low."
"According to the Detroit News, the Treasury Department increased its estimate of government losses in the $85 billion auto bailout by another $170 million.
In the government’s latest report to Congress this month, the Treasury upped its estimate to $23.77 billion, up from $23.6 billion.
Last fall, the government dramatically boosted its forecast of losses on the rescues of General Motors Co., Chrysler Group LLC and their finance units from $14 billion to $23.6 billion.
And not just GM:
The government booked a $1.3 billion loss on its $12.5 billion bailout of Chrysler.
Why is this? Well the government basically gambled on GM and Chrysler stock:
The Treasury, which initially held a 61 percent majority stake in GM, now holds a 26.5 percent share, or 500 million shares in GM. To break even, the government would need to average $53 per share for its remaining stake.
Well, that may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but GM is currently trading at under $25. What is that old adage about buying low and selling high? I might have worked for the UAW, whose jobs (and votes) Øbama sought to preserve, but the taxpayer is taking it on the chin once again"
"Is featuring Clinton smart politics or "a sign the president is desperate to have the most high-wattage Democrat at the convention in order to draw more attention to his campaign?" asks Jena McGregor at The Washington Post. "It may be a little bit of both." But let's face the facts: Clinton is the only two-term Democratic president alive, and "if you're president and you're looking for the person who can make the best case for your candidacy, it's the person who really knows what it's like to be commander in chief."
"What is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even
when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be
to your advantage. The mere act of believing that some
wrongful course of action consitutes an advantage is
pernicious. "
Sound familiar?
Nil illegitimi carborundum!
Ronald Reagan was the first to pose the question "ARE YOU BETTER OFF TODAY,THAN 4 YEARS AGO"? That was a trick question. Why? When he asked that question,I/WE had good paying union jobs,(mine paid $35K)with 4 weeks paid vacation,fully paid Blue Cross Health care,and dental.Flash forward to 2005,and millions were only able to get part time jobs,and MY pay was down to $15K,with NO vacation.No health care.No nothing,but the humiliation of getting food stamps to just subsist.
Last year alone the Middle Class earned another 2% less than the year before. The United States ranks 184th of 184 in paid days off. Prices are going up.Wages are going down.People are afraid to even take a lunch break.
30 YEARS OF "TRICKLE DOWN", SUPPLY SIDE",REAGANOMICS","FREE MARKET","JOB CREATOR",ECONOMICS SUCK !!!!
THE MITT ROMNEY CROWD,WHO SENT OUR JOBS TO CHINA.THE SAME WHINE AND CHEESE CROWD ARE STILL WHINING,NO TAXES ON THE CROOKS. AND THE AMERICAN WORKER IS STUCK WITH PAYING THE TAB.THE AMERICAN WORKER IS NOW CALLED A "SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP",BY T-PARTY/REPUBLICANS.ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Under Obama, the debt has increased from about $11T to about $15T. But the reason isn't because of any great "binge spending" by Obama that the GOP keeps harping about. How much of it is because of the historically low revenues taken in by the government over the past 4 years - due to both the Bush Tax Cuts and the huge economy crash in 2008?
Clifford wrote: "WE had good paying union jobs"
If you believe one word that you write, why would you vote for a political party that is just itching to amnesty in anywhere from 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants into the country to get their votes. What do you think this will do to low skilled hourly pay, the health care system, social security and all the other social programs you can't seem to live without? When these millions become citizen's there are millions more to follow because family reunification laws. Democrats pretend they care about you but the truth is they only care about power, the unions only care about the dues and the politicians they can buy with it, in other words power.
Arleen M wrote:
Under Obama, the debt has increased from about $11T to about $15T
That would be $10.6 trillion to $16 trillion.
Arleen M wrote:
"Under Obama, the debt has increased from about $11T to about $15T. But the reason isn't because of any great "binge spending" by Obama that the GOP keeps harping about. How much of it is because of the historically low revenues taken in by the government over the past 4 years - due to both the Bush Tax Cuts and the huge economy crash in 2008"
Yes Arleen, one of the reasons for low revenues is mainly due to lack of job creation and the uncertainties brought on by the present Administration. There has been no budget passed in the last 3 yrs. The Administration has given mixed signals putting additional regulations on business and have shown they are anti-small business.
Bush's Tex Cut did not really amount to much.
An Oligarch like Romney relishes Depression/Recession as an opportunity to consolidate ownership while disciplining the workforce. (It's the Capitalist cycle, a death spiral of civilization.) A hostage of fascist Oligarchy like Obama is beholden to his clientele and is like a capo bargaining for time in a concentration camp. (Not a bad analogy for a collapsing ecology in the midst of impending famine; a regime where defunding feeds Recession; where healthcare is toxic and extortive; and where a cooling tank of flammable fuel rods in Japan stands poised to poison the biosphere....) Party politics is an insane spectacle and a fraud deciding nothing. When small minds tout such degenerate candidates it is of no more import than betting the Yankees versus the Red Sox. (Yep, sports betting is closely akin to the market religion. I giggle heartily at the corporate protectionism of WTO.) If either Romney or Obama honestly told you what is coming you would raise Hell... so why not do its anyway? Notice that Diane is more aware than the contenders pretend to be.
The population of Mexico is about 112 million. Estimates vary but there are about 12 million of them in the US. Lets just annex Mexico as a territory and be done with the haggling. We could crush the drug lords directly after a united US effort......no artificial borders to deal with etc. After all, the US absconded with huge chunks of the former Mexican empire anyway.......California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas....the folks down there feel an ancestral claim to the area.
The trick is that the "illegals" in the US are not just from Mexico. Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Columbians, et al are estimated to be a large part of them. And all these arbitrary definitions of who is illegal or not are based on relatively recent history.......the legal constraints and definitions have been political manuevering for decades. Even the so called native americans came to North America from elsewhere over many years. We are all "immigrantes". Note how Congress manipulates the number and types of H1B Visas annually to bring in whomever business wants.....an annual boondoggle from the Chamber of Commerce.
Second Hour today reviews a biography of Rachael Carson, but we can't consider the collapse of our global household until it arrives. Small minds (not "the little people") is our problem. Paul Ryan, and even Martin O'Malley (Nancy Pelosi's liittle brother who hosts the Maryland Show) want you to think of the National Fisicality as a household budget, but it ain't no such thing. When Fred Smith started Federal Express his first task was to get millions in debt. That way powerful wealthy people had a stake in his success. He couldn't lose because creditors steered business his way and opened doors. Alexander Hamilton had the same idea when he was Treasurer of the Washington Administration, and the success of being a debtor nation has never failed our owners yet. Why the key to development in exotic lands is the imposition of debt on their populations by collusion of the leadership there and our business Oligarchs. (Marines collect=that's honor.))Much of our national debt is owed to the Social Security Trust Fund account and the Medicare account. Combine this with what our wealthy hold and you have well over half national debt totals. Japan, another Raggedy Annie, is our biggest foreign creditor. China (nominally only, because our Oligarchs control Chinese industry for the most part) is estimated at 8% (Christian Science Monitor). So when Obama discusses a 'balanced budget" he may be considering how we'd look strangled like Spain or Greece. If it weren't for failing food production infrastructure would be our biggest worry (priority?). Interest will never be lower if we wanted to make needed improvements around "The Old Homeland Place." And our wealthy creditors (our owners in the 1% stratosphere) would be so grateful that we steered them right (or maybe not, cause they ain't now... just seem to crave Feudalism and Dark Ages). Motto: If you're nostalgic for horsepower and horse meat vote Romney/Ryan and get busy paying them debts.
As James Taylor said:
"When the sky above you,
Turns dark and full of clouds,
And that old summer deluge begins to blow.
Just keep your head together.
And play for 15 minutes,
And soon you'll board a charter jet home,
With a big check."
Show hasn't even started yet, and already the mud is flying!
As for "trickle-down" economics, it lacks a few words to describe how it actually works.
The correct title should be "a-veritable-flood-at-the-top-that-trickles-down-and-peters-out-long-before-it-gets-even-close-to-the-bottom" economics.
"Are you better off today,than 4 years ago"? I don`t know. The "Job Creator" Gods, like candidate Mitt Romney won`t show us their tax returns,so we can see if they are.
Clifford wrote:
"Are you better off today,than 4 years ago"? I don`t know. The "Job Creator" Gods, like candidate Mitt Romney won`t show us their tax returns,so we can see if they are.
Four years ago my IRA lost 2/3 of its value and we were preparing for a major economic catastrophe under not very competent president (Bush). I can say I am better off now than 4 years ago.
Amazing is the fact that we are still talking about unregulated private sector having all the answers. Do we have a collective amnesia?
I am so tired of Obama blaming Bush for the problems of our country. Yes, the economy was bad four years ago, but he had made it so much worse. Even my 7 year old knows to take responsibility for one's actions and to admit a mistake. Why can't this leader do the same thing?
Who can build the wildest most hazardous nuclear reactor the fastest? Mittens or Barry? It doesn't have to work because "the profit is in the pudding." It 's raining pretty hard here in Charlotte but Duke Power hasn't covered the heavy metal laden slag piles just above the main reservoir. They just cover the festivities and Obama... that's how they do. McGuire is a twin to Unit 4 in Fukushima (GE MarkII), and has even more rods stored. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.
jenandjack30 wrote:
I am so tired of Obama blaming Bush for the problems of our country. Yes, the economy was bad four years ago, but he had made it so much worse. Even my 7 year old knows to take responsibility for one's actions and to admit a mistake. Why can't this leader do the same thing?
My IRA recovered in the last 4 years. Good job President Obama.
Regarding the question, "Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago", it depends on who you are. The top few percent are better off (look at the recovery of the stock market). The middle class continues to lag behind. That is why it makes sense to ask the very wealthy to contribute (via somewhat higher taxes) to reasonable efforts to improve the economy. If consumers (largely composed of the middle class) have more financial resources, then business will have more customers for their goods and services.
jeanandjack30 - Ask your 7 year old why Bush is hiding. Peek-a-boo, I see a war criminal. (Someday Obama will have his own wanted posters.) Maybe you're "better off not knowing." Good old Obama ain't gonna make you clean toilets for your supper.
Lincoln said that "a nation divided against itself cannot stand". If that is true, then our days are numbered. In Lincoln's day, a civil war took place. What is in store for us?
Employers hire people based upon demand for their products and not based upon the tax cuts they might get. When there is enough demand, they will hire people to help them satisfy that demand. When there is no demand they will not. So, we need to build demand. How? Get money into the hands to people who spend it. The wealthy already spend as much as they want. The poor and lower middle class will spend more as they get it. The unemployed well spend once they get jobs.
Hank Gromada wrote: "That is why it makes sense to ask the very wealthy to contribute (via somewhat higher taxes) to reasonable efforts to improve the economy."
If the Bush tax cuts are repealed on the "rich" as proposed by Obama and the democrats it will raise $85 billion in new revenue, that will fund federal government spending for eight days , 8 days!
Hank Gromada-
Assault on middle class started much earlier. I would say with Reagan and deregulation. The first major financial scandal took place after Reagan deregulated S&L's.
Everyone benefitted from the fact that economy was stabilized in the last 4 years and job creation restarted.
What about tax incentives to companies who take their jobs overseas?