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You see the usual gathering of so called Democratic strategists and former advisers support extending the Bush tax cuts. Translation: the losers brigade has arrived to save the day.
First up is Larry Summers. This is the same economic advisor to both Clinton and Obama who was all for deregulation of the banking industry. The same banking industry that created the greatest financial meltdown since the Great Depression. Oh, Larry hates spending money on infrastructure development. He hates this unsexy infrastructure spending so much that he reduced the recommended stimulus plan from 1.2 trillion to 800 billion dollars before presenting the proposal to Obama. This is the same Larry who said that the stimulus was more than enough to keep unemployment from rising above 8%.
Next up is Mark Penn. Seems Mark is all for Obama’s capitulation. For those of you who have forgotten about Mark, he is the cat who advised Hillary Clinton on her winning strategy to capture the Democratic nomination for President. Oh, I forgot. Hillary did not win the nomination. Instead, Mark advised Hillary to campaign as an old hand in Washington who would bring stability in our troubled times. Seems Democratic voters wanted “change” instead in 2008. He also took Hillary’s campaign for over four million dollars with this sage advice.
Finally, rounding out the losers brigade is an oldie but a goodie – Bob Shrum. Bob is all for Obama’s capitulation. For those not old enough to know about Bob, he has been involved with advising Democratic presidential wannabees since the 1980s. If memory serves, Bob has served on eight presidential campaigns, and he is zero for eight (yes, Bob was involved with Gore’s campaign in 2000, but seeing as Gore’s election was stolen, I still consider it a loss). Bob hung up his spurs after helping to tank Kerry’s 2004 campaign.
All of the above live financially comfortable lives now. I know that Penn and Shrum are millionaires. Essentially, this group of advisers has profited nicely from giving god awful advice to Democrats.
Anyway, my message to other progressives who have given up on Obama is to remember this one little touchstone of truth. If Larry Summers, Mark Penn, and Bob Shrum think some policy is a good idea, you can be damned sure it is the wrong move. Keep this in mind when you are under siege from liberal friends who just can’t quit Obama. It is like the Ruby Slippers in The Wizard Of Oz. Just tap your feet together and repeat, ”There is no bigger loser than a Democratic loser.”
66 Comments
LOL! Thanks, I needed that, especially after the Browns found a way to lose to, ugh! Buffalo! No offense, Bills fans.
Great post. Recommended.
Don’t you just hate the way these enablers manage to profit so handsomely for their part in screwing the people?
I like the phrase “liberal friends who just can’t quit Obama”. As jaded as I am, it stuns me that so many people can still rationalize away Obama’s behavior. They seem to be caught in their own trap of thinking that Obama is who they want him to be and not the person he really is.
Don’t forget Dana Milbank, Gloria Borger, and pretty much the entire WaPo editorial and columnist stable.
Geez, was Dan Froomkin the last real reason to read that Neo-Bircher rag?
They “can’t quit Obama”?
That sounds like “can’t quit smoking”.
Obamaddiction?
I’ve gone cold turkey.
Ha! OhioGringo, you think your loss was worse than the Redskins, who lost by 1, after TWO missed field goals and a missed extra point on the last TD?
BTW, did you see my remark to you on another FDL diary, about how that author had managed to avoid the dreaded “FDL special notice,” even though the subject matter was indistinguishable from yours and others who fell victim to it?
Doesn’t it make you want to cry or hit your head against a wall when you see these “can quit” folks [many of whom number among my friends] continue with their low-information loyalty?
They’ve got a pretty good Sudoku, particularly on Sundays. And the many pages of comics [the cartoon kind, not the columnists] were always a plus.
Phoenix Woman,
If I had listed the WaPo editorial and columnist cabal, I would also included other loser columnists as well. After a while, my post would have read a like rap sheet for members of the Mafia. The only difference is that members of the Mafia may have a small sense of shame, while the Villagers have none.
He made me step back at “look forward not backward” and lost me at the “Health Insurance Continuation Plan”.
Yeah, the closer one looks the uglier it gets.
Obama’s tax cut sausage is riddled with mad cow disease.
Yeah, Schrum needs to stay home.
Problem? Obama doesn’t plan on having the Democrats win. So, of course, hire these guys for what they do best. Sabotage every last Democratic platform ideal. No one is going to vote for him again. You gotta know he knows as much- he is a smart guy- losing to win. Straw.
So Levin and Stabenow..how goest thou? NO is the way to go for the folks.
How about that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats refusing to bring the bill up for a vote? You just know someone like her who steadfastly refused to allow impeachment investigations to get started after the Democrats took the House in 2007 would make good on that promise, right?
Not for a New York minute: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/12/tax.plan/
a doughy delight!
If the corporate press types were held accountable for their screw ups as “wayward” Mafioso are, they just might be a bit more circumspect.
And count Krauthammer in the bunch. He gives a long opinion about how the progressives do not understand what a great deal the whole thing is….
When I saw Bob Shrum, who’s probably the most consistently wrong political adviser in history, being interviewed on MSNBC it reminded me that all you have to do to succeed is do the opposite of whatever he says!
Mauimom,
Indeed. But the “…can’t quit…” line riffs “Brokeback Mountain,” eh? Even foolishness can turn love to tragedy.
Somewhere I saw a comment that Krauthammer is just trying to mess with the heads of Democrats.
Bob “zero for eight” Shrum. I like that nickname for him.
Don’t forget Terry McAuliffe who was DNC chairman for forever and a day and kept losing election cycle after election cycle.
When Dean was brought in, he WON 2 election cycles. Democrats had to put a stop to that, so they brought in Tim Kaine, who returned them to their losing ways.
The fake liberals on the Mclaughlin Group were all loving the Stimulus of the tax cuts funny I don’t remember Bush’s tax cuts creating any jobs when Bush was in office.
Unless you count all the jobs that were created by Outsourcing jobs to China.
Well, it was a mess just to read the piece. I do not usually ever see/read his stuff. Why it was in our paper I do not know; I was trying to see what I could pick up about the whole plan. A mess, is about the most I could get, but he likes it;) weird
Isn’t Mark Penn the guy who thought that in democratic primaries, it was winner take all per state just like republican primaries?
I don’t see how lowering taxes will help the American economy why invest here when as 60 Minutes points out Brazil’s economy was the first to leave the recession and is booming.
Of course 60 Minutes never mentioned Brazil is run by Lefties. But why invest in America with a down economy and no growth expected when other countries are booming?
What’s Obama’s argument that the rich will invest their tax cut money in America when nobody expects America’s economy to recover for several years?
Does Obama think the rich like losing money? Does the GOP? Does the Main Stream Media believe that?
The rich invest their gambling money where they expect to make the biggest returns on their money quick.
They invest their rent money where there money is safe from taxes and inflation. Given our huge war debts taxes and inflation are only a matter of time.
Mark Penn made so many mistakes helping Hilary its a wonder Hilary allows him in the room.
There was a time when watching Democrats try to spin this bullshit as something positive would have seemed surreal to me. Not anymore.
Obama has turned himself into a joke that’ll have everyone laughing during the holidays.
Unfortunately, the laughter will cover the truth that we need to find real leaders fast, before everything falls apart.
this is embarrassingly light-weight political
“analysis”.
my guess is that mark penn and bob schrum have clout among democrats
that can only be measured in very large negative numbers.
trotting out these two dolts almost
certainly makes the opposite case a guarantee.
Tax cuts for the rich only help the rich free up their assets in America so they can transfer them out of the country before the Dollar goes in the toilet and inflation hits.
The Rich want their money to retain value as the dollar drops then when interest rates go higher the rich will move their money back into America and that will prop up the Dollar.
The Dems don’t get it their idea of heroes to motivate us with personal appeals shows they have no idea who we think is a hero or expert.
The Dems think that we react like Fox News viewers, like Authoritarian, Lizard brain, Emotional Choice voters.
I know lots of people who like Hilary but nobody who likes Mark Penn…more than a few blame him and Rahm for her losing.
I think Penn was thinking forward to the general election, i.e. he stupidly assumed that the nomination was hers.
If you’re thinking about winning future elections, you’ll lose the one you’re currently in. I think Bill Clinton said something like that in the ’90s.
Three times Jackass souls.
In a “tug of war” contest, there are usually two distinct sides yanking on a rope, trying to pull the other side across a line.
In Washington D.C., so-called “centrists” (like Summers, Penn and Shrum as part of the “Third Way”) supposedly stand in the middle between the right-wing and left-wing tug-of-war contestants, pulling for one side in some cases or for the other side in other cases, and yet these “centrists” seem to predominantly pull hard for the right, to the hard right, in instance after instance, dating back decades, leaving our nation’s financial house in the condition it is in today, with calls by “centrists” and hardcore right-wingers to tear down our nation’s financial house even more. (tax cuts, program cuts, tax cuts, program cuts, tax cuts, program cuts, ad infinitum, and all according to Grover Norquist’s playbook).
And apparently, or so we’ve all been led to believe, President Obama is trying to straddle the middle-line in this “tug of war” political and social contest, trying to negotiate “in good faith” and make a “deal” with hardcore right-wingers and “centrists” who are taking as hostage everyone in America who isn’t in the top 2 percent or a religious fundamentalist, in pursuit of the right’s political blackmail scheme, ransoming the future of our nation and our nation’s children in the process, cutting backroom deals, while trying to spin people into believing that this right-wing pig slop is instead sweet-smelling ambrosia, with money bags D.C. lobbyists (over 99 percent of them) pulling hard to the right, for the right.
And in instance after instance, many American citizens have been waiting for President Obama to step to the sides of the DFHs in this epic tug-of-war battle and pull hard for undiluted, uncompromising liberal policies, as if our very nation’s survival depended on it, if not also the fate of the rest of the world.
Otherwise, it looks like President Obama is standing in the middle alongside other “centrists,” pulling hard for the right, to the right, meaning that we’re seeing a repeat of the years under Bush/Cheney, and we all know how that almost ended in their last year in office, don’t we? Does any sane person want to see this happen again? Then, my God, why aren’t they voting for or legislating with (or even consulting with) the DFHs??????
Teddy Partridge is upstairs!
Sunday Late Night: Nature Bats Last
It is more than coincidental that all of these men are also physically repulsive. Get a look at some of the other greed monsters if you are into ugly–murdoch, ailes,… they all have a painful effect on the eyes. Maybe that is why they have in the background of presentable dupes who mouth their vile exploitation.
Maybe they are just bitter for what god has done to them.
Salon‘s Hack Thirty (for journalists) ought to be supplemented with a Political Hack 300. Summers, Shrum, and Penn would definitely qualify. But #1 would without doubt have to go to Alan Greenspan, the subject of the second chapter of Matt Taibbi’s Griftopia – the one entitled “The biggest asshole in the universe” – and the architect of all our economic crises as far back as, I believe, the S&L scandal of the 1990s.
It deal stinks. Bear in mind that since Nov. 30, one million unemployed, some of whom have only been collecting 26 weeks, have lost their benefits. Come Jan 1, add another million.
I’d have to say from looking at those pictures none of those three has missed too many meals lately, and given their propensity for getting paid well for dispensing shitty advice I doubt they’ll be collecting food stamps or unemployment any time soon.
“The Dems think that we react like Fox News viewers, like Authoritarian, Lizard brain, Emotional Choice voters”
Gee… Whatever could have made them think that?
Larry Summers is a great person to take economic advice from!
“How Larry Summers lost Harvard $1.8 billion”
by Felix Salmon
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2009/11/29/how-larry-summers-lost-harvard-18-billion/
http://motherjones.com/media/2010/12/mark-fiore-obama-tax-cut-deal check out this cartoon.lol
It’s Animal Farm come to life. Looking at those 3 pictures, I can only think of the pigs who were “more equal than others”.
I didn’t need to ID the “losers” who supported Bush including Colin Powell; it just smelled bad. Obama’s so called “deal” smells bad; he made it in his usual way directly with the Republicans as if his party didn’t exist and, as usual, he gave away much too much; so I don’t need to be reminded of the “losers” who approve of Obama’s tax deal. Nor do I need to be reminded that he can’t handle his own PR, he can’t stand up (except to the Left) for what he negotiated; he had to ask Clinton to stay there and defend it. I find Obama more and more distressing, unfortunately, and agree with Soros that other resources must be put in place to defend what’s left of our country.
Larry Summers is quite possibly the most incompetent economist in the country. You forgot to mention that while he was president of Harvard, he lost about a BILLION dollars of Harvard’s endowment by trading in the derivatives he didn’t want to regulate. His reward for that ineptitude was to become Obama’s top economic adviser.
Obama is a lackey of the status quo. Even Boy George Bush was a far more competent president. Bush got what he wanted.
Obama cut the deal because he thought he had to. The Dems could have brought this up months ago but decided to punt it so they wouldn’t have to deal w/ it prior to the election. Sad.
I don’t like the deal but it’s all we’ve got (and frankly more than I expected) based on the realistic political situation (ie: not 60 votes) in the Senate. Harry and Nancy could have made this a whole different scenario, but, as usual, didn’t.
It’s time for the Democratic donkey to follow the American lion, the woolly mammoth, and the giant sloth onto the list of extinct creatures.
Two brain cells–good. Four brain cells-bad.
Penn is the Rich Rodriguez of politics.
According to Wikipedia, the use of the donkey to symbolize the Democratic Party was inspired by the political opponents of Andrew Jackson, who called him a jackass during the campaign of 1828, and was made popular by this Thomas Nast cartoon in 1870.
I think in 2010 the Democratic Party has truly lived up to its mascot.
Bob Shrum is a highly trained professional. He has more experience at writing concession speeches than anyone else in the business.
Yeah, too bad we don’t have a Democrat President or he could use the Veto.
You mean people who think he’s really a moderate, reasonable centrist? Because people who still believe that are idiots.
Three strikes! Back to the bench Barack!
we should all send Barry a cigarette
As a conservative I sometimes roll on the floor and laugh my ass off listening to Obama destroy the Democrat party. It’s cool.
The fact that the Dems are going to extend the BUSH tax cuts, the same tax cuts they have been denigrating for years now, so sooooo sweet.
Obama goes out on national television and tells the world that yes, Dubya was correct and all the Democrats have been wrong, wrong, wrong.
It don’t get much better than this.
To be honest, I am disturbed by the fact that the extension will not be paid for with spending cuts, but I’m hopeful that will come with the new Republican controlled House.
Letting Wall St. pay for his campaign and smearing Bill and Hillary as racists is what won Obama the nomination…..that and the fact that Hillary won the popular vote in several states but Obama got more delegates from those very states.
Why do the democrats even bother pretending to choose their candidates through a popular vote?
I knew that I was on the right side of this issue, you have now just verified my own visceral reaction to this “compromise.” I, and other Progressives, have been thrown under to bus by the Obama Administration too many times to not know when it is happening again.
“Loser’s brigade”… lol…
I’m also fond of “The point-shavers”. :o)
Yeah Penn had a post on HuffPo. I asked him if he was the one who screwed up Hillary’s campaign? It wasn’t posted!
I figure Obama has given up smoking like Bush gave up drinking.
Don’t worry your pretty head…there’ll be so many spending cuts people will be starving. By all means laugh your ass off…esp when YOUR family starts suffering, maroon
Best laugh I’ve had in a week – thanks.
All your gloating aside, the sad thing is that you are correct.
In the interests of accuracy, don’t forget about each and every Dem that supports and enables Obama, they are responsible also.
Maybe Jane Hamsher can ask her friend Grover Norquist what to do – he was so helpful during the healthcare reform debate.
Now he is a winner!
Wow, that Norquist must be some powerful guy to be able to make Obama act like a Republican!
Grover Norquist is scary. It’s like he’s Karl Rove’s Karl Rove.
Oh yeah, he’s scary. Boo!
Dems freak out over Norquist while Obama accomplishes far more damage than Norquist could dream of.
To be honest, I am disturbed by the fact that the extension will not be paid for with spending cuts, but I’m hopeful that will come with the new Republican controlled House.
Yeah. And I am hopeful that Jesus returns to battle the moneychangers- and condemn the destructive, hypocritical and vacuous souls representing their fellow man to Hades.