You giving Obama any credit for that proposed jobs bill is another example of Obama successfully having his cake and eating it to. People paying attention know that while he proposed that big jobs bill, he actually did nothing other than give a couple speeches to get it passed. It was purely a political ploy. On the surface, he looks like a progressive, like he actually gives a shit about Main St., while behind the scenes he is taking action that reveals him to be the insider, corporate, Wall-St. loving guy he is.

Obama has long ago lost any entitlement to sympathy from any Democrat, and who cares how it happens as long as he is unable to make his megalomaniacal grand bargain.

If Republican hypocrisy gets us a vote ONLY on the debt ceiling, which will of course pass, that is what we should celebrate, because that means Obama can’t get his ego-driven “grand bargain” that trashes social security and medicare. So for god’s sake, stop whining about republicans and start putting pressure on the traitorous Obama for a ceiling-only vote and signature.

I’m for ANYTHING at this point that keeps Obama from getting his ego-driven grand bargain, which in all versions comes at the expense of the very people he vowed and was elected to help.

Let them eat peas?

He must be hurting for campaign contributions.

I believe that Geithner and other Wall St. devotees have convinced Obama that he is being an “adult” if he focuses on deficit and cuts entitlements. The debt ceiling “crisis” gives Obama cover for making those cuts…The Republicans MADE him do it.

I think Axlerod should be congratulated for perpetrating the greatest fraud on the American people (I fell for it) since that radio station convinced it’s listeners that Martians had landed on Earth.

Your choice to describe Obama as “capitulating” helps drive his meme that the Republicans have MADE him do all these awful things that he REALLY didn’t want to do. Which we learned early on is bull…

“I’m not sure they see the debt limit as a constraint so much as a forcing event.”

They see it as an opportunity to further erode the Middle Class safety net and preserve the wealth of the rich (and their campaign contributions, while being able to pretend that “the Republicans made us do it”. More wonderful Kabuki theater from hell-no-we-can’t Obama and the do-nothing Dems.

You are assuming that Obama still believes in a progressive approach to the economy, if he ever did. I believe that a couple months after surrounding himself with market, deregulation, and supply side believers Geithner, Summers, etc., and listening to Paulson during the election, he became a non-believer of progressive economic policy. And of course he had to keep his biggest contributors – Wall Streeters – happy, so there were no consequences for financial bad actors and no real reform. Time to stop believing and making excuses for Obama.

A lot of disgruntled progressives seem to be talking about staying home in 2012, which I believe is a problem because Democrats can interpret that any way they please (like, we haven’t moved far enough right yet). It would seem more powerful if progressives who plan not vote for Obama again, like me, instead vote for a progressive candidate from a third party, which could not be misinterpreted and used to excuse a further move to the right by the Democratic Party.

Why does Geithner still have a job???

1. Axlerod told us a year ago that Geithner and Obama have “man crushes” on each other, and said Geithner wasn’t going anywhere;

2. Obama talked a good game about econ during the campaign, but either didn’t understand what he was saying or was simply paying lip service to helping Main St. (that is, Obama has no real values); and/or

3. Geithner’s mantra that we must not upset markets or banks or risk hurting the economy dovetails with the Obama’s political goal of keeping his biggest contributors happy.

Obama’s such a good negotiator that he’s the first president in history to be maneuvered into have to make major concessions to get the debt ceiling raised (which is normally de rigeur).

Or as others have said, maybe this reflects his grand plan to enact a Republican/corporatist agenda while being able to pretend that it’s not what he wants, the Repugs made him do it (as with ditching the public option; extending tax cuts for the rich; etc.).

I’d love to see Warren stay where she is and Maria Shriver run for Scott Brown’s seat…win win.

We won the war in Afghanistan before Obama escalated: al Qaida is long gone.

Obama is covering his ass in case we are attacked again from anywhere by anybody; trying to demonstrate that he is a warrior; and keeping the generals – who are thrilled to be trying out their latest theories of warfare – happy…

Which indeed is seriously cynical because it is about his reelection.

For the lives lost and money wasted, it’s immoral and should be criminal.

Mr. Dayden:

You continue to assume the Obama supports Democratic/Progressive goals and is, now in office, completely incompetent at achieving his goals.

I believe the evidence is now overwhelming that the opposite is true: He does not have goals consistent with Democrats/Progressives and is very good at getting what he wants…while pretending that the Republicans made him do it.

This is particularly true in the economic sphere; Geithner has clearly persuaded Obama to the supply side/low corporate taxes/trickle down economic approach preferred by Wall St., banks, CEO’s and Republicans, including Bush.

Evidence: Obama was very successful at persuading Democrats to support his escalation in Afghanistan; even liberals such as Boxer voted against health care amendments opposed by Obama that would have allowed gov’t. negotiation of Medicare drug prices and reimportation of drugs from Canada; Obama worked actively to quash progressive financial reform; no consequences for Wall St./Banks who brought us this recession and protection of Bush people from any accountability for malfeasance and law-breaking, while attacking whistleblowers across the spectrum.

Please wake up and smell the coffee: Obama works more or less openly and actively to thwart progressive (often mainstream Democrat) proposals while pretending to be at the mercy of Republicans.

Until we accept this depressing truth about our president (whom I campaigned for and contributed to), nothing is going to change… He’s going to keep marching rightward and rewarding his wealthy benefactors while we scratch our heads and surrender the fight. (As Greenwald says, why should Obama pay attention to liberals when all we do is whine and then back him/defend him anyway.)

First, I would like to complain that you make it very difficult to comment, at least compared to other blogs.

Second, you seem to have forgotten that at the same time Obama was not breaking the contracts of bankersters and wall streeters, he DEMANDED that auto workers take a hit BEFORE he would bail out the car companies.

Obama’s behavior has been corporatist and despicable from the beginning.

What you completely leave out is that all of this is possible because of Obama’s utter timidity, weakness, passiveness, cowardice, or lack of any true beliefs and a self-serving expediency. He really has been despicable and it is time to take him on!

Don’t worry…Obama and Geithner will put an end to the economic justice coming out of Utah soon enough.