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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=tanstl@hotmail.com href="mailto:tanstl@hotmail.com">David Sladky</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, December 16, 2012 7:53 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Obama and GOP Play Tag Team on Entitlements</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<H1 class=title>Obama and GOP Play Tag Team on Entitlements</H1>
<DIV class=tabs></DIV><!-- node -->
<DIV id=node-13348 class="node odd full-node node-type-ba_radio">
<DIV class=meta>
<DIV class=submitted> Glen Ford</DIV>
<DIV class=submitted> </DIV>
<DIV class=submitted><FONT face=Arial>But the left wing of the Democratic Party
can only stop the forces arrayed against entitlements by actively opposing their
own president, who is playing austerity tag team with the Republicans. And the
so-called progressives don’t have it in them. </FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=terms></DIV>
<DIV class=content>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face=Arial></FONT> </P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#280099><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=4><B>Obama and GOP Play Tag Team on
Entitlements</B></FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><B>A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen
Ford</B></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in" align=center><FONT
color=#2323dc>“<FONT face="Arial, sans-serif"><I>It is a choreographed beat-down
of the American majority by corporate Democratic and Republican thugs, aided by
shrieking corporate media banshees screaming, Watch out for the cliff, Watch out
for the cliff!”</I></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>It seems that every breathless moment of
corporate media news is choreographed to convince Americans that austerity is as
inevitable as tomorrow’s weather. The objective of this con game is to gut
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The two principle parties engaged in
negotiations – the White House and congressional Republican leaders – are both
agreed that entitlements must be put under the knife. The “grand bargain” that
both Obama and the GOP seek has already been made, in principle. Austerity is
the common language and goal of the talks, and nobody that counts in the
discussions is defending entitlements. </FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>There is only one problem: the vast
majority of Americans oppose cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>This is the great difficulty facing both
Obama and the Republicans: the fact that the public favors the maintenance and
even expansion of the meager U.S. social safety net. The disagreement, the great
debate, is not between Republicans and the White House, who both agree on
putting entitlements on the chopping block. The disagreement is between strong
majorities of the American people, who want no tampering with the three
entitlement programs, and Obama and his Republican friends, who are hell bent on
so-called entitlement “reform.”</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>This is not a fight between the two
parties; it is a choreographed beat-down of the American majority by corporate
Democratic and Republican thugs, aided by shrieking corporate media banshees
screaming, Watch out for the cliff, Watch out for the cliff!.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in" align=center><FONT
color=#2323dc>“<FONT face="Arial, sans-serif"><I>Corporate Democrats and
Republicans can abandon the pretense of a great ideological divide, and return
to their shared mission of cutting entitlements.”</I></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>The “grand bargain” was struck back in the
summer of 2011, when both sides agreed on roughly $4 trillion in cuts. The
agreement only unraveled because a presidential election was drawing near, and
the two parties needed to pretend that they were separated by vast political
differences. Now that the election is over and the verdict is in, corporate
Democrats and Republicans can abandon the pretense of a great ideological
divide, and return to their shared mission of cutting entitlements. Both hide
behind the phony “fiscal cliff” to convince the public that the pending theft of
entitlements is an unstoppable act of nature, rather than a conspiracy of
corporate henchmen, against the clear wishes of the majority of
Americans.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>Robert Reich, the liberal former Labor
Secretary in President Bill Clinton’s administration, says that Obama is not
behaving like a president who is serious about facing down the Republicans. If
he were, Obama would let the Bush tax cuts die at the end of this year, and then
have Democrats introduce new tax cuts for the middle class. The president could
dare the Republicans to hold middle class to tax cuts hostage to cuts for the
rich. In that kind of facedown, Obama would likely win.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>But Obama is not trying to outmaneuver
Republicans; he and the GOP have teamed up to stampede the public – the suckers
in this game – into giving up their entitlements. As David Swanson puts it, we
are not witnessing the making of a grand bargain, but a “</FONT></FONT><FONT
color=#0000ff><U><A
href="http://warisacrime.org/content/neither-grand-nor-bargain"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>grand
catastrophe</FONT></FONT></A></U></FONT><FONT face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT
size=2>.”</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>Minneapolis Congressman Keith Ellison, the
Black co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, says he and the other
75 members “are not going to allow the most vulnerable Americans to shoulder the
burden of this fiscal problem.” But the left wing of the Democratic Party can
only stop the forces arrayed against entitlements by actively opposing their own
president, who is playing austerity tag team with the Republicans. And the
so-called progressives don’t have it in them. </FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On
the web, go to BlackAgendaReport.com.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#280099><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2><I>BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be
contacted at </I></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#0000ff><U><A
href="mailto:Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com"><FONT color=#280099><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT
size=2><I>Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com</I></FONT></FONT></FONT></A></U></FONT><FONT
color=#280099><FONT face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT
size=2><I>.</I></FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<DIV class="field field-type-text field-field-listen">
<DIV class=field-items>
<DIV class="field-item odd"><SPAN id=swftools-swftools-50cdd18a63c04
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<DIV id=comments class=block>
<H2 class=comments>Comments </H2><A id=comment-34022></A><!-- comment -->
<DIV class="comment odd clear-block">
<H3 class=title><A class=active
href="http://blackagendareport.com/content/obama-and-gop-play-tag-team-entitlements#comment-34022">Robert
Reich Calls Out Obama</A></H3>
<DIV class=submitted><SPAN class=comment-name>Enlightened Cynic</SPAN> - <SPAN
class=comment-date>11/28/2012 - 14:31</SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=content><A
href="http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_is_the_white_houses_council_of_economic_advisers_helping_the_republican/">http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_is_the_white_houses_council_of_economic_advisers_helping_the_republican/</A> <BR>Why
is the White House trying to scare average people about the consequences of the
“fiscal cliff?”<BR>If the President’s strategy is to hold his ground and demand
from Republicans tax increases on the wealthy, presumably his strongest
bargaining position would be to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire on schedule
come January – causing taxes to rise automatically, especially on the
wealthy.<BR>So you’d think part of that strategy would be reassure the rest of
the public that the fiscal cliff isn’t so bad or so steep, and that at the start
of January Democrats will introduce in Congress a middle-class tax cut whose
effect is to prevent taxes from rising for most people (thereby forcing
Republicans to vote for a tax cut for the middle class or hold it hostage to a
tax cut for the wealthy as well).<BR>But today (Monday) the White House’s
Council of Economic Advisers issued a <A title=report
href="http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/white-house-report-fiscal-cliff-could-cut-consumer">report</A>
warning that if Congress allows the Bush tax cuts to expire January 1and the
Alternative Minimum Tax to kick in, the middle class will face sharply-rising
taxes. <BR>The result, says the Council of Economic Advisers, could slow
consumer spending by 1.7 percent next year, and slow overall economic growth by
1.4 percent. The loss of $200 billion in consumer spending is just about what
American families spent on all the new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. in the
last year, according to the report. About $36 billion less would be spent for
housing and utilities, $32 billion less for healthcare, and $26 billion less for
groceries and at restaurants. <BR>This kind of fear-mongering plays into
Republican hands. <BR></DIV>
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<DIV class="comment even clear-block">
<H3 class=title><A class=active
href="http://blackagendareport.com/content/obama-and-gop-play-tag-team-entitlements#comment-34023">The
Rubber is about to meet the Road</A></H3>
<DIV class=submitted><SPAN class=comment-name>Enlightened Cynic</SPAN> - <SPAN
class=comment-date>11/28/2012 - 14:50</SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=content>We're going to see before MLK, Jr's Birthday what his REAL
LEGACY is. Not to blame him for the milquetoasts parading as leaders
today, they are gutless on their own. But we will see how far we've either
advanced or regressed real soon.<BR>We'll see if the Keith Ellisons and others
will take to the airwaves or the streets to loudly protest the coming social
cuts. Or we'll see if all concerned are just talking loud and saying
nothing.<BR>We are also about to see the limits (or not) of the Obama Cult
Worshippers. When harder times befall the poor, Black, Brown and White
where will the Obama Excuse Mongers line up? When they see suffering in
their immediate or extended families or neighborhoods will they continue to
worship at the altar of Obama or will they finally realize they've been
worshipping Baal and the Golden Calf?<BR>I still marvel at the fact... what
amazes me more than anything is that the President is such a wimp and nitwit
he's about to tarnish what, if anything, is left of his already marred
legacy. Is he such a Wall St. whore that he doesn't understand we'll be
right back into a worser and deeper recession with entitlement cuts? His
legacy is destined to be the Black Herbert Hoover.<BR>After 5 or 6 or 7 or 8
years of Obama, won't be no blaming it on Whitey.<BR>What a dimwit. We're
teetering towards a nation of "Losers," figuratively and literally.<BR></DIV>
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<DIV class=indented><A id=comment-34027></A><!-- comment -->
<DIV class="comment odd clear-block">
<H3 class=title><A class=active
href="http://blackagendareport.com/content/obama-and-gop-play-tag-team-entitlements#comment-34027">Dimwit
or Manchurian</A></H3>
<DIV class=submitted><SPAN class=comment-name>beverly</SPAN> - <SPAN
class=comment-date>11/28/2012 - 23:54</SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=content>Dimwit or Manchurian Candidate? I pick the
latter. Obomber was CIA born, reared, and programmed to be the perfect
front for the globalists. We are in the final stages of conversion into a
fascist nation. Obomber was the final piece of the puzzle to make the
conversion sail through without any dissent. The real dimwits are
the sheeple who refuse to see how they've been screwed over by the
president. <BR>Don't place any large bets on Keith Ellison and the gang
doing anything of note to stop the president's dastardly deeds. They
haven't done shit for 4 years while Rome burned. If Ellison was
so hot and bothered about safety net cuts, why didn't he raise a stink when
Obomber convened the Cat Food Commission way back when? Where was
Ellison and company when Obomber sat on billions in foreclosure money that
Congress had designated for foreclosure assistance? NDAA? Internet
censorship? <BR>Obomber won't have to worry about his legacy.
In the bleeple's eyes, he'll always be the greatest thing since sliced
bread. The rest of the poser Left will think of him fondly as a
"progressive" who was thrwarted by Republicans and racism in his quest to
be the FDRII. Talk about drowning in the river of denial.<BR>On another
note, is it true that Mittens Romney is going to the WH this week to meet with
Obomber? I guess they'll have a beer and laugh at how they got over on the
electorate with another sham election. Then Mittens will help Obomber
think of more ways to turn this place into sharecropper nation.<BR></DIV>
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<DIV class="comment even clear-block">
<H3 class=title><A class=active
href="http://blackagendareport.com/content/obama-and-gop-play-tag-team-entitlements#comment-34038">MITT'S
CABINET APPOINTMENT</A></H3>
<DIV class=submitted><SPAN class=comment-name>PEASEHEAD</SPAN> - <SPAN
class=comment-date>11/29/2012 - 07:37</SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=content>Or maybe President Obama will offer him a position in his
Cabinet just to show that there are no hard feelings remaining from the
campaingn, and that he (the President) is really serious about reaching across
the aisle in a bid for "bipartisanship" and "compromise".<BR></DIV>
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<DIV class="comment odd clear-block">
<H3 class=title><A class=active
href="http://blackagendareport.com/content/obama-and-gop-play-tag-team-entitlements#comment-34064">Not
Much on Obama's Left</A></H3>
<DIV class=submitted><SPAN class=comment-name>Richtown</SPAN> - <SPAN
class=comment-date>12/02/2012 - 15:31</SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=content>I agree with Glen’s assessment that the Progressives just
don’t have it in them to go up against their president, in fact it would be
unusual for them to exhibit any signs of discontent over the direction the party
has taken over the past twenty years. You would at least think that the Liberal
Left would be chomping at the bit to take on Obama over his luke warm support
for their fight to end Global Warming. I suspect they realize that their efforts
would be in vain considering that Obama’s few meager efforts to support
renewable energy ended up with a public relations black eye as taxpayer funded
operations went belly up after a relatively short period of time. This was a
winning event for Obama’s friends on the Right who have long been trying to
dismantle the EPA and any other effort by government that
would increase their cost of production. This is unusual in one respect,
Obama has a cozy relationship with Tony Blair, the British monarchy, and Prince
Charles who is a long time member of the World Wildlife Fund and an avid
supporter of climate change actions. One wonders how Obama is going to justify
his conflicting views to his British supporters, however, they are also
politicians and are quite aware of the conflicts that can confront politicians
caught between two opposing
factions. <BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>