What everybody is missing about the fiscal curb negotiations

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday January 01, 2013 · 9:57 AM PST

2013/01/01 · 09:57

Once again the White House cut a deal and once again we liberals are outraged at Obama's cave, capitulation, poker fold, Jedi mind-fail. I understand the frustration. It can be difficult to watch your political leader compromise on a core position like the $250,000 threshold for tax rates.

But I think everybody is ignoring a few aspects of the fiscal curb negotiations: 1) we got more in the deal then you may think; and 2) even if we had went over the fiscal curb, taxes going up only for incomes above $250,000 was never guaranteed. Follow me above the orange symbol thingy and I'll tell you why.

DemBrock

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Sunday January 31, 2010 · 2:54 PM PST

2010/01/31 · 14:54

There is a diary currently on the rec list that essentially blames Rahm Emanuel for all of President Obama's supposed problems and missteps, due to his lack of embrace of George Lakoff's ideas on messaging. I don't really know and I'm not disputing the diarist's evidence that Rahm doesn't embrace Lakoff. However, what I find to be total horseshit (and the reason for this rebuttal diary) are comments like this:

When Obama was campaigning he was a brilliant and inspiring speaker, but when he got to the White House, something changed, almost instantly. Yes I was still supporting Obama (still do), but somehow he seemed different, less bold, not the same inspiring man he was on the campaign.

Well I think I know what caused the change. Rahm. Rahm was not part of the campaign, he wasn't there when Obama was on top of his game. The time when Rahm started giving Obama advice is exactly the time when Obama's star began to fall.

And as soon as Rahm, the man who doesn't believe in framing started to give advice, Obama's approval started to drop and has so far not recovered.

DemBrock

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday December 01, 2009 · 12:56 PM PST

2009/12/01 · 12:56

Disclamer: This diary is not about President Obama and Afghanistan, so please adjust your screaming hyperbolic tone of typing before entering. :) (snark)

So everybody now knows about the ridiculous "controversy" over the hacked global warming emails. Well after reading about it, a childhood friend of mine (who since has become a hardcore right-winger) posted this message on his facebook:

Hackers Expose a farce? You be
the judge..... Climate Change, formally known as Global
Warming...... Changed to reflect, hmmmmmmmmmmm what?

Having done my senior thesis on the connection between denial of global warming and belief in creationism (a remarkable correlation BTW), I can say I understand the subject fairly well and know absolutely that anthropogenic global warming is real. So not one to let falsehoods and ignorance go unanswered, I responded back with this post:

Poll

60 votes Show Results

Is Anthropogenic Global Warming Real?

60 votes Vote Now!

Is Anthropogenic Global Warming Real?

Yes

34 votes

Maybe

8 votes

12 votes

What's anthropogenic mean?

6 votes

I don't care, I just want to argue Obama/Afghanistan more!

0 votes

I don't care, I just want pie!

0 votes

Flood Congress with Calls: Let Them Hear You!

DemBrock

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 30, 2009 · 6:52 AM PDT

2009/07/30 · 06:52

This is it. No more excuses. No more bullshit. If we truly want to reform our health care system, these last few days of July and entire month of August are absolutely crucial. We must inundate Congress with phone calls, emails, and personal letters telling them to pass meaningful health care reform that reduces costs, provides coverage to the uninsured, and ensures choice of a strong public option.

I don't care if you live in Vermont and have the best senators in Congress or live in Oklahoma and have the worst; every single elected official on Capitol Hill must hear their constituents demand strong health care reform. I live in Ohio and have a one great Democrat who is strongly in favor of real reform (Brown) and two lousy Republicans who want nothing to do with it (Voinovich & Boehner). But starting yesterday, I made the pledge to myself that I would call all 3 of them every single day between now and the day the bill is signed. And that is the pledge I am asking all of you to make today.

Poll

12 votes Show Results

I pledge to call my reps daily until real health care reform passes

12 votes Vote Now!

I pledge to call my reps daily until real health care reform passes

Yes

9 votes

3 votes

Cap and Trade Vote on Friday: Contact your Reps!

DemBrock

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 24, 2009 · 8:02 AM PDT

2009/06/24 · 08:02

Climate change legislation is on the move in Congress. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454), also known as the Waxman-Markey bill, will most likely be brought up for a vote in the House on Friday. This according to a conference call I was on last night with VP Al Gore (as I'm sure many of you were).

This is an extremely important bill, as for the first time the U.S. will attempt to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we produce each year. The bill implements a cap-and-trade policy intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 83% by 2050. It mandates a federal renewable energy standard, calling for a 20 percent renewable energy and energy efficiency standard by 2020. It also requires utilities to obtain 15 percent of their power from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power and also demonstrate annual electricity savings of 5 percent through energy efficiency measures.

While the bill has its detractors, Al Gore, the Sierra Club and numerous other environmental organizations support the bill as they recognize it as the first step in the winner-take-all fight against global warming. However the vote is supposed to be very close, and we need to make sure that it passes.

Poll

378 votes Show Results

Where is global warming on your priority list?

378 votes Vote Now!

Where is global warming on your priority list?

Absolutely #1

15 votes

Top 5

19 votes

Somewhere in the middle

13 votes

Way at the bottom

331 votes

ACTION: Major Push for Public Option

DemBrock

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday June 19, 2009 · 5:33 AM PDT

2009/06/19 · 05:33

Alright people, it is time to put our strength in numbers to use! We know that a public option (obviously outside of single payer) is the only way to improve care, keep costs low, and keep private insurance companies honest. However the Republicans continue to push back against it and the Democrats continue to cave into their demands. So it is time that they hear from us. Slinkerwink, Chris Bowers, and some others have done a great job so far informing the community of the ongoing debate. But today must be the day that we as an online community start to take control of the debate, and inform Congress and the White House that the American people want the public option!

Poll

46 votes Show Results

How many did you contact?

46 votes Vote Now!

How many did you contact?

Emailed 1 contact only

3 votes

Called 1 contact only

1 vote

Both emailed and called 1 contact only

2 votes

Emailed 2 contacts only

5 votes

Called 2 contacts only

0 votes

Both emailed and called 2 contacts only

7 votes

Emailed 3 contacts only

4 votes

Called 3 contacts only

0 votes

Both emailed and called 3 contacts only

2 votes

Emailed all 4 contacts only

7 votes

Called all 4 contacts only

0 votes

Both emailed and called all 4 contacts

1 vote

Emailed more than 4 contacts

7 votes

Called more than 4 contacts

1 vote

Both emailed and called more than 4 contacts

6 votes

Starting a Website--Need Your Help

DemBrock

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday June 16, 2009 · 9:02 AM PDT

2009/06/16 · 09:02

Hello all. I thought I would take a minute away from the Iran and health care news to post a short non-political diary that will allow me to tap into one of the Kossacks' areas of expertise: technology.

I am a recent college graduate interested in starting a political website similar to Dailykos or TPM, although with a much more narrow focus. I do not want to say exactly what it will be about, for I am still developing the idea in my head. But basically it will be about exposing the Republicans for what they really are, i.e. their protecting of corporations and millionaires to the detriment of the rest of the country.

What I am asking for help on today is the actual building of the website...

DemBrock

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 10, 2009 · 10:08 AM PDT

2009/03/10 · 10:08

As some of you may know, I am a college student at Miami University (yes I go to school and live in John Boehner's district). One of my majors is American Studies, and my senior capstone (senior thesis class) is "Darwin in America," due to this year being the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin and 150th anniversary of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species." The class revolves around the evolution/creation debate and how this debate has shaped life in America. An extremely cool class with a great professor. Our class has done many things so far, including receiving instruction on evolution from a brilliant Zoology professor, gave presentations on various aspects of Darwin in society (mine was on Social Darwinism and Eugenics), and conducted our own Scopes Trial in class. We are even planning a trip to the Creation Museum in Kentucky to observe how that side argues and frames their position in the debate.

But, as with most senior capstone classes, the major portion of the class is devoted to a research project. So I have decided my project is researching the link between anti-evolutionism and denial of Global Warming. And that is where my fellow Kossacks come in...

Poll

31 votes Show Results

Your view of the evolution/creation debate?

31 votes Vote Now!

Your view of the evolution/creation debate?

The debate ended in 1859 with Darwin's book

6 votes

The debate ended with Gregor Mendel and his work on genetics

4 votes

The debate ended with the development of modern 20th C. biology

9 votes

There is still a debate, though evolutioin by natural selection is probably correct

3 votes

There is still a debate and neither side has solved the answer yet

0 votes

There is still a debate, thought the Bible and creationism is probably correct

0 votes

The debate ended with the Bible

0 votes

The debate ended with a different creationist text/ideology

0 votes

Who cares? We all are going to die anyways

3 votes

Mmmm....Pie

6 votes

50-State Strategy Is Not Dead!

DemBrock

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday January 21, 2009 · 5:48 PM PST

2009/01/21 · 17:48

This is going to be short and sweet. I love Howard Dean. His 50-State Strategy was pure genius and is the reason why the Dems are the majority party today. He is the reason why I donated to the DNC over the past 2 years. So I understand how people feel when they hear that Dean's strategy may be stopped and instead the DNC returned to the Terry McAuliffe insiders.

However, to explode in outrage over anonymous sources saying the 50-State Strategy is dead is just nonsense. First off, they are anonymous sources for a reason. Only last week, an anonymous source was quoted as saying Kaine's DNC would be "the 50-state strategy on steroids." When there is a conflict between two sources like this, the best bet is go to the horse's mouth himself, Tim Kaine. And this is what he said today according to The Hill: http://briefingroom.thehill.com/...

DemBrock

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday November 06, 2008 · 3:15 PM PST

2008/11/06 · 15:15

Last week, my congressperson and Minority Leader John Boehner was in Oxford, Ohio (home of my college Miami University) at a small rally in an uptown restaurant. As reported by The Miami Student, Boehner called Obama's present votes in the Illinois legislature "chickenshit."

DemBrock

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday August 01, 2008 · 3:13 PM PDT

2008/08/01 · 15:13

Recently, a blogger on here named off the Democratic senators in favor of offshore drilling, including in that list Sherrod Brown of Ohio. This alarmed me because he is my senator and so far has been one of the great progressives of the 110th Congress, even joining Senator Dodd to filibuster the FISA bill. So a couple weeks ago I sent a two-page letter to his office in Washington about the consequences of this drillinng and the impending crisis of Global Warming. I could have just emailed him, but preventing more drilling was just too important to me for a simple email. Today I got a email response back from Senator Brown, and I am happy to state that he has once again shown himself to be a true progressive.

DemBrock

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 10, 2008 · 1:06 PM PDT

2008/07/10 · 13:06

So last night we heard whispers about some senior Democrats getting ready to "compromise" on offshore drilling. I found this to be appalling, much more so than the "compromise" on FISA earlier this week. There is absolutely no benefit to giving more millions of acres of government land to oil companies for their exploitation when we have a global crisis on our hands. It will do nothing in the short-term and actually will harm us in the long run in terms of trying to reduce our country's carbon output.

The more I thought about this, the angrier I got. So before going to bed last night, I decided to do something about it. I have learned that a simple phone call or email to my representatives in Congress just is not good enough sometimes. Therefore, I wrote this letter to my Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown. However, that is not all I plan to do...

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What everybody is missing about the fiscal curb negotiations

All Rahm's Fault? Really?

Facebook Global Warming Argument--Help Me Win!!!

Flood Congress with Calls: Let Them Hear You!

Cap and Trade Vote on Friday: Contact your Reps!

ACTION: Major Push for Public Option

Starting a Website--Need Your Help

Need Help for Thesis on Evolution/Global Warming

50-State Strategy Is Not Dead!

"What does a community organizer do?"

Senator Brown Response on Offshore Drilling

My Letter to the Senate on Offshore Drilling