Day: July 12, 2010

The Obama Coalition In Trouble As 2010 Midterm Election Nears! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

President Obama has a lot of accomplishments to be proud of, and has been judged by observers as having accomplished more in 18 months than any President, other than Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson!

But try and tell that to the various groups which made up the Obama coalition of 2008!

Labor Unions are unhappy with Obama for failure to gain major labor goals!

Gays are impatient with Obama for the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and other initiatives not yet accomplished!

Jews have been unhappy with Obama because he has been perceived as tougher on Israel, although the recent Obama-Netanyahu summit seems to have changed the image of antagonism that had existed between the President and the Israeli Prime Minister!

Environmentalists are unhappy with Obama’s handling of the BP Oil Spill!

Hispanics are upset that the illegal immigration issue has made little progress in Congress, although happy that Obama has initiated a lawsuit against Arizona through his Justice Department!

Young people are having trouble finding jobs when they leave high school and college, and it tends to make them less enthusiastic to work for Obama and his party in the midterm elections, and even to vote! 🙁

Independents and moderates have been backing away also from Obama, and the percentage of white voters who backed Obama are now declining in support for him and his party, at least based on public opinion polls!

Educators are displeased with Obama with his promotion of accountability for teachers, and his pushing of educational reform not supported by the teachers unions!

Many liberal bloggers and talk show hosts and journalists are becoming more highly critical of the President and his party!

It is ironic that Obama has accomplished a lot, but yet it is simply not enough to please most of his constituencies, and yet the reality is that if the Republican Party wins control of Congress or makes major gains, it will make all of the initiatives of Obama harder, if not impossible, to achieve!

So in many respects, the criticisms and opposition developing is self defeating, as while Obama may be far from perfect, any weakening of his ability to accomplish his goals will only weaken and harm his constituencies!

So if there is any common sense out there, it is time for the coalition to stop sniping, and work to back the Democrats and Barack Obama, or they will be responsible for the demise of their desired goals and accomplishments!

Unemployment Compensation, Tax Cuts For The Wealthy, And The Problem Of The Deficit!

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Republican Senators and Congressmen are actively involved in condemning an extension of unemployment compensation as wasteful, not paid for, adding to the deficit, and promoting laziness and shiftlessness in those people who need to have the “work ethic”!

But, at the same time, they claim it is essential to continue to promote massive tax cuts to the wealthy, even if it adds to the deficit!

If one is to back the idea of the deficit as a major crisis, which it is rapidly becoming, then it makes no sense to assert that tax cuts are acceptable, when these wealthy people have had major increases in income in the past ten years, while the average American either pays more in taxes, or has only had a small decrease in taxes!

When people who are unemployed receive unemployment compensation, it keeps them “above water” and gives them purchasing power, which helps to promote a revival of the economy! It is NOT the same as working, and to say that people who receive part of their salary as unemployment compensation, are living “high off the hog” is an outrageous, uncaring, despicable fabrication! 🙁

But still, Senators Jim Bunning of Kentucky, Jon Kyl of Arizona, and Orrin Hatch of Utah, along with numerous Congressmen and radio talk show hosts and Fox News Channel, continue to spread the word that the rich need more tax cuts, and the poor unemployed be damned! 🙁

What kind of country that calls itself advanced and civilized would allow such a circumstance to continue to exist? If the top one percent already have 17 percent of all income in the country AFTER taxes, is not that enough? 🙁

The “Tea Party” For Progressives And Liberals-“One Nation”!

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Progressives, liberals, and their supporters have tried to combat the Tea Party Movement, which promotes conservative ideals, by forming so called “Coffee Party” groups!

But with the rapidly growing fear that conservatives will make major gains this fall, the Coffee Party activists have now formed a national group called “One Nation”, and are trying to organize labor and civil rights groups!

A total of 170 groups are forming a coalition to get their message out for the fall campaign for Congress and the states!

There will be a march on October 2 in Washington, DC, to emphasize the need for more jobs! The goal will be to encourage young people and minorities, a very important part of the success of the Obama candidacy in 2008, to become more active and committed in promoting change, as they did two years ago!

“One Nation” is disappointed that much remains to be done on the Obama agenda, and aim at pressing for more action, and more enthusiasm among the progressive electorate is urgent if what has not been achieved is to have a chance of enactment in the next two years!