[Cross-posted at The Left Coaster.]
Yesterday I had the enjoyable experience of writing the President had everything in his hand for the Cliffmas negotiating, only to publish a few minutes later and discover he’d given away all of it. Irrevocable pledges on taxable income melted away like polar ice, promises by the Vice President were blithely ignored and atrocious political messaging for the new year drank like the sweetest poison.
I don’t feel suckered—I wrote only weeks ago Obama has always displayed appalling negotiating skills—but vastly deflated and hurt. I truly hoped and believed that Obama could learn, that the win of the election and the screaming urgency of multiple national problems would change his priorities and mental stance toward the Republicans, but it didn’t. DC, Obama and the Democrats insanely bought into deliberate deficit lying and hysteria and will hurt the country with cruel solutions for a problem that doesn’t exist.
We should be giddy with excitement about new solar, education and infrastructure projects for next year but instead have to listen to lying from the Obama Press Secretary about the “chained-CPI” just being a “technical fix.” Fuck you, Jay Carney, incredibly after the work and victories of the election Bush tax breaks were traded away for cuts to our seniors, go ahead and totally disgrace your family and upbringing by being nothing but an obnoxious liar in this life, just don’t think it ever works with the little people, my cat doesn’t believe you.
National politics is a blunt, simple game were nuance and details rarely work. The plain fact is that after winning an election Obama decided our seniors would pay the price for DC political games. What a political disaster, what a screaming political messaging debacle for the future: Obama and the Democrats voted to cut your Social Security! The Republicans have been dreaming of killing Social Security ever since it started, now we get to watch them use our own Democratic President in taking down our own people in 2014 for cutting it. Way to go.
What about the second term agenda and the base? What about global warming, gun control, unemployment, wages, education? Forget it, if the White House can’t fight and see political reality now they never will, look forward to rank stasis in the status quo and petty lying bickering with Republicans for four more years.
After likely losing the Senate to Republicans and more seats in the House in the 2014 election, the base is absolutely critical in off-year elections and we’re going to get smashed again after ignoring and screwing the liberals in the Party. Americans want Congress and the President to create jobs and honestly fix real problems, all the lying and rationalizations will come back to us, that much is certain.
Merry Christmas. We shall carry on and do our best. The plain fact is that President Obama is oblivious to American history on Social Security, current political reality or plans for the future with this awful Cliffmas insanity. The country and the Democratic Party are going to pay a massive price for it, precisely the last thing America needed with so many hurting so badly. It’s a grim painful scene with not much hope present, but there’s no sense in babbling bullshit and lies like the Democratic Party Obama Administration Press Secretary, our seniors and the country see where that’s brought us to.