Thoughts on Obama SO FAR?

[Ben]

[Ben]

Glenn Greenwald: What Obama Could Do Now

By: Jane Hamsher Friday October 15, 2010 7:05 am
I’ve been asking people what Obama could do now, without needing the approval of Congress, to address many of the serious problems facing the country.

Glenn Greenwald:

1. Announce that all War on Terror detainees in Guantanamo will be entitled to a speedy trial or be released, and all detainees seized outside of active war zones shall be entitled to prompt habeas corpus review.
2. Direct the DOJ that the “state secrets privilege” will no longer be used to shield executive conduct from allegations of lawbreaking and judicial review, but instead will be used only for its traditional purpose: to prevent specific secrets documents from being used in litigation.
3. Cease targeting American citizens for assassination who have had no due process and are not on an actual battlefield.
4. Instruct the Attorney General that the White House does not wish for any Bush-era War on Terror crimes to be immunized from the rule of law, including prosecution if warranted.
5. Refrain from prosecuting whistle-blowers and journalists who have exposed government corruption and lawbreaking except in cases where serious national security harm has resulted.
6. Announce a definitive timetable for full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and scrap plans for a large State Department private army to be assembled to be stationed in Iraq for the indefinite future.
7. Order the State Department and Defense Department to cease awarding contracts to Blackwater/Xe based on past abuses and the dangers that relationship creates in the Muslim world.

Glenn Greenwald was a constitutional law and civil rights litigator and is currently a contributing writer at Salon. He has also contributed to other newspapers and political news magazines, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The American Conservative, The National Interest, and In These Times. He is the author of two New York Times bestselling books: How Would a Patriot Act (a critique of Bush executive power theories) and A Tragic Legacy (examining the Bush legacy)

[Ben]

More of Glenn Greenwald:

[hippifried]

More rants from "the professional left". Not a bad label. A little too polite from my view.

If the President caved in to the YouTube & blogosphere pundits, I'd be calling for his ouster.

[Ben]

James Galbraith: What Obama Could Do Now

By: Jane Hamsher Friday October 15, 2010 7:36 am

Jamie Galbraith responds to the question: What can Obama do now, without the need of 60 votes in the Senate, to address our current problems?

1. The President should announce that cuts in Social Security and Medicare benefits are off the table for the lame-duck session, and thereafter. He should point out that the mandate of the Bowles-Simpson Commission, which is published on their web-site, did not authorize it to opine on the finances of the Social Security or Medicare systems. For this reason alone, should the Commission include recommendations to cut Social Security benefits (such as by increasing the nominal retirement age) for the alleged purpose of maintaining balance in Social Security finances, the President should urge Congress to refuse to take up such a recommendation.
2. The President should name a commission of independent experts to recommend within three months concrete steps to reduce unemployment significantly by 2012 — that is to say, practically immediately — including jobs/investment programs and steps to reduce the size of the labor force, including through work-sharing, increased vacation time, more attractive early retirement under Social Security and access to Medicare at a younger age.
3. The President should direct Jacob Lew, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to suspend the use of the present baseline macroeconomic forecasts and to impanel a commission of inquiry into the models and methods underlying medium-range forecasts, to best determine how those models and methods should be modified (a) to take account of the experience of the financial crisis, and (b) to correct major inconsistencies and mutually improbable assumptions in the long-term forecasts.
4. The President should name Damon Silvers to the position shortly to be vacated by Larry Summers.

James K. Galbraith holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations and is a professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin. He was executive director of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee in the early 1980s. He is the author of six books and several hundred scholarly and policy articles, as well as a stinging critique of President Obama’s deficit commission: Why the Fiscal Commission Does Not Serve the American People.

[Ben]

More rants from "the professional left". Not a bad label. A little too polite from my view.

If the President caved in to the YouTube & blogosphere pundits, I'd be calling for his ouster.

Well, Obama should simply pay attention and serve the people. In a democracy... in a meaningful democracy the people and government are identical. Simple. So, Obama simply, again, serves the people. (OK. So-called conservatives believe the ignorant masses are too stupid to govern themselves. And the people shouldn't -- and can't -- govern their own affairs. So, we've gotta leave it up to the smart ones like Obama, like Lieberman, like Harry Reid. I mean, why should pig farmers have a say in public policy? Why? Again, the ignorant masses should have no say in how the affairs of THEIR country are run. They, the majority, do not own the country. It's the people that OWN the country should run it. Like Blankfein and company.)

[hippifried]

OK. So-called conservatives believe the ignorant masses are too stupid to govern themselves. And the people shouldn't -- and can't -- govern their own affairs. So, we've gotta leave it up to the smart ones like...

That's always a problem with wings, from any angle.

The "professional left" isn't "the people" any more than the teabaggers are. President Obama is not an ideologue, & never promised to turn into some raving "progressive" upon election. These You Tubers aren't "the people". The fringes are the only ones who ever expected the nation to turn around overnight, whether for good or ill to their point of view. Barack Obama has been more effective at pushing his agenda through Congress than any of his predecessors since LBJ, & he's been there less than 2 years. Exactly what is it that you whiners want?

You don't know what you're talking about.

[Ben]

That's always a problem with wings, from any angle.

The "professional left" isn't "the people" any more than the teabaggers are. President Obama is not an ideologue, & never promised to turn into some raving "progressive" upon election. These You Tubers aren't "the people". The fringes are the only ones who ever expected the nation to turn around overnight, whether for good or ill to their point of view. Barack Obama has been more effective at pushing his agenda through Congress than any of his predecessors since LBJ, & he's been there less than 2 years. Exactly what is it that you whiners want?

You don't know what you're talking about.

I'm merely talking about the essence of government and centralized authority.... Well, the entire framework of a system, as it were.
People do not govern their own affairs. People do not participate in the decision-making process. Yes! We have elections. But we do not have meaningful democracy. Never have. (Ya gotta go back to Spain in the 1930s when libertarian socialism was sorta making a breakthrough.)
Most Americans want single-payer health care. Why don't we have it? Because it's not what corporate power wants.
America is a business-run society. There is no meaningful democracy. I mean, if politicians actually served the people (hence: democracy) they would enact policies that people want. Take military expenditures. That, right there, is a daily attack on democracy. Not having single-payer. Another attack on democracy. Handing trillions to the banks. Another attack on democracy. Should we continue? It depends whether or not you want to live in a democratic society? Some people don't. I mean, ya think Oprah or Bill Gates wants a democracy? Most Americans want increased taxes on corporations.... But the nexus of corporate and government power work to undercut democracy. (Again, it isn't very relevant what the so-called professional wants. It's what the people want. And by and large the majority of Americans are social democratic. So: we should have a government that reflects those interests.)
Obama is a moderate nationalist with a firm commitment to the corporate state. How do ya think he got so far in Illinois politics? By being a social democrat... like the majority of Americans -- ha!ha!ha!

[hippifried]

I'm merely talking about the essence of government and centralized authority.... Well, the entire framework of a system, as it were.
People do not govern their own affairs. People do not participate in the decision-making process. Yes! We have elections. But we do not have meaningful democracy. Never have. (Ya gotta go back to Spain in the 1930s when libertarian socialism was sorta making a breakthrough.)
Most Americans want single-payer health care. Why don't we have it? Because it's not what corporate power wants.
America is a business-run society. There is no meaningful democracy. I mean, if politicians actually served the people (hence: democracy) they would enact policies that people want. Take military expenditures. That, right there, is a daily attack on democracy. Not having single-payer. Another attack on democracy. Handing trillions to the banks. Another attack on democracy. Should we continue? It depends whether or not you want to live in a democratic society? Some people don't. I mean, ya think Oprah or Bill Gates wants a democracy? Most Americans want increased taxes on corporations.... But the nexus of corporate and government power work to undercut democracy. (Again, it isn't very relevant what the so-called professional wants. It's what the people want. And by and large the majority of Americans are social democratic. So: we should have a government that reflects those interests.)
Obama is a moderate nationalist with a firm commitment to the corporate state. How do ya think he got so far in Illinois politics? By being a social democrat... like the majority of Americans -- ha!ha!ha!

(I really like this quote system better than the old one, where you could end up with the entire thread in a single post. Neatness counts.)


Sorry Ben, but you're just another commie, & America isn't going to toss out the capitalist system any time soon. Marx was a crackpot. The cold war was bullshit. The Soviets just collapsed under their own weight. President Obama isn't a commie, never claimed to be one, & never promised to move the country in that direction. The American dream isn't about buying a house. It's about having the opportunity to strike it rich. What 'tax the corporations'? Corporations don't pay taxes. Taxes are just another expense that's added into the pricing structure. All corporate taxes are paid by consumers. On top of that, 100,000,000 Americans (that's 1/3 of the population) own stocks. Corporations aren't the enemy. They're the equalizer. Capitalism is just privatized socialism. It's how we go about pooling our resources to get what we want. Not everybody wants the same things.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the government has no role. I think you're right about the single payer health system. People want it because they know it'll save them boatloads of cash. There's no reason not to roll healthcare into the general infrastructure. I'm pretty sure that's what the President would prefer too, but he doesn't make law. The president proposes, but the Congress disposes. Ya gotta understand how the system works. The Congress is a committee of 535 who all get their say, & government power in the US lies with the Congress. Unrealistic expectations always lead to disappointment. Naivity breeds radicalism. The fringe around the political sphere does not represent the sphere as a whole. Right now I can't tell the difference between the whiny left & the teabaggers.

Oh by the way: What "libertarian socialism" in 1930s Spain? The Popular Front held power for all of 2 months before they found themselves embroiled in a 3 year bloody civil war that they lost, making Franco into history's only successful fascist. Seems like a pretty major OOPS to me.

[russtafa]

Go Franco a truly good guy