Open Thread: Better Democrats (And We've Got One)

Vertebrae (4.00 / 2)

More than conservative, moderate, or liberal, voters are attracted to candidates with backbones!
It's all too rare. The fact that Carol Shea Porter stands up and faces those rude disrupters shows everyone what she's made of. That will go a long way in November.

No'm Sayn?

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by: BurtCohen @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 06:35:01 AM CDT

DD you kill me (0.00 / 0)

you have more connective tissue and backbone than any 10 politicians...

Not in the shot

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by: JonnyBBad @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 07:30:44 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Um, Thanks JB (0.00 / 0)

Not sure where that came from, but I have no problem accepting unsolicited praise. :)

Hope all is well.

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 09:03:17 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

because you do! (0.00 / 0)

no compromise no surrender

Not in the shot

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by: JonnyBBad @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 10:08:35 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Went to Ossipee TH on Wednesday (4.00 / 4)

and supporters seemed to outnumber opponents.  That didn't stop the idiots, but it temporized the environment and CSP dominated.  Man, she is awesome.  One fellow told her that she "disgusted" him, and Carol laid him out (civilly) and the guy did the three step backing away from his comments.  Others stood and called these people to task.  Nobody's taking their s&$t anymore.

Northwood tomorrow, 9 am - it'd be nice to send Carol back to DC with a wind at her back.

"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world." A. Einstein

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by: StraffordDem @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 10:04:47 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Grayson crops up everywhere. (0.00 / 0)

Bank regulation is the next big thing.  HIR was easy.

http://hannah.smith-family.com...

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by: hannah @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 07:36:09 AM CDT

History lesson (0.00 / 0)

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by: Jennifer Daler @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 09:10:47 AM CDT

Liz Cheney Expert? (4.00 / 1)

The grim pay attention to her views:

Afghan President Karzai, whose support we need if we are going to succeed in Afghanistan, is being treated to an especially dangerous and juvenile display from this White House. They dress him down publicly almost daily and refuse to even say that he is an ally. There is a saying in the Arab world: "It is more dangerous to be America's friend than to be her enemy." In the age of Obama, that is proving true.

Who sees it? I gave you a hint.

www.KusterforCongress.com - www.paulhodesforsenate.com
www.nikitsongas.com - www.devalpatrick.com

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 10:29:43 AM CDT

Got it--very good. (0.00 / 0)

To her point, if Obama had not reacted to Karzai's signs of decisive shift away from America, the Cheneys would say he's too soft.

--
"Act as if ye have faith and faith shall be given to you." -Aaron Sorkin

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 17:39:35 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Part of my frustration (0.00 / 0)

Is the reactionary nature to Republican politics. Although we hear of "core values," their position consistently finds itself nearly, if not directly, opposite of the position of this administration.

I've given up on the beltway folks and the posing pundits that strut on TV. Unfortunately, locally, when I try to have a cogent discussion with my conservative friends, they take the same tact.

It isn't "flip flopping" as much as it is them being political weasels.

www.KusterforCongress.com - www.paulhodesforsenate.com
www.nikitsongas.com - www.devalpatrick.com

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Sun Apr 11, 2010 at 07:25:59 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

One of many things people should read before they listen to Judd Gregg: (4.00 / 2)

Krugman on Greece, deflationary spirals and inflation's cure for debt:

Yes, Greece is paying the price for past fiscal irresponsibility. Yet that's by no means the whole story. The Greek tragedy also illustrates the extreme danger posed by a deflationary monetary policy. And that's a lesson one hopes American policy makers will take to heart.

...

So how did the U.S. government manage to pay off its wartime debt? Actually, it didn't. At the end of 1946, the federal government owed $271 billion; by the end of 1956 that figure had risen slightly, to $274 billion. The ratio of debt to G.D.P. fell not because debt went down, but because G.D.P. went up, roughly doubling in dollar terms over the course of a decade. The rise in G.D.P. in dollar terms was almost equally the result of economic growth and inflation, with both real G.D.P. and the overall level of prices rising about 40 percent from 1946 to 1956.

...

What worries me most about the U.S. situation right now is the rising clamor from inflation hawks, who want the Fed to raise rates (and the federal government to pull back from stimulus) even though employment has barely started to recover. If they get their way, they'll perpetuate mass unemployment. But that's not all. America's public debt will be manageable if we eventually return to vigorous growth and moderate inflation. But if the tight-money people prevail, that won't happen - and all bets will be off.

Okay, that's my three fair-use paragraphs, but go read the whole thing.

The point, essentially, is that just as we have to worry about the debt in the medium term, we have to worry about deflation in the short term, and inflation can help fix debt in the long term.  Also, unlike Greece, we have our own monetary policy to deal with these things, so stop with the chicken little-ism.

Unemployment is a lagging indicator, give it time.  Washington needs to take a deep breath, extend unemployment benefits, widen the highways, build the trains, and start going back to the moon.

--
"Act as if ye have faith and faith shall be given to you." -Aaron Sorkin

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 17:53:29 PM CDT

One thousand "4"s for this. n/t (4.00 / 1)

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by: Dean Barker @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 17:55:08 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Adding: (0.00 / 0)

I've long been concerned about Reaganism's wild expansion of the debt, but those of us who care about this issue need to keep in mind that the current national debate on the debt has been substantially tainted by a partisan campaign to paint President Obama as irresponsible on everything--hence the title of my post above.

--
"Act as if ye have faith and faith shall be given to you." -Aaron Sorkin

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 18:25:15 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Much of the agitation over health care was (0.00 / 0)

actually designed to preempt Obama's agenda before he got to the really sensitive part--regulating the financial sector.  

Insurance companies send dollars to Wall Street to invest.  Presumably, anything they pay out in claims is covered by the interest/profit their investments earn.  If one segment, such as health insurance, is cut out by the federal government funding it directly, then there's that much less money for Wall Street to play with and control.  
So far, Wall Street can count on a continued flow, but somewhat less volume.  (Keep in mind that even CEO pay gets invested).  However, if they don't shape up, then the same thing that happened to the student loan program will happen to the health care funds. We'll go to direct deposit--from the feds to the doctors.  There will be no detour to Hartford and Wall Street.

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by: hannah @ Sat Apr 10, 2010 at 03:56:30 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Next stop, financial regulation (0.00 / 0)

Support the Consumer Financial Protection Agency

http://www.democracyfornewhamp...

The yapping about the national debt is basically dishonest because Wall Street wants to lend to the federal government and be assured of a steady trickle of interest on bonds that streams into their coffers non-stop.

The preferred alternative to "tax and spend" is "lend and spend."  We evidence from the last eight years that there's no reluctance to spending.  Taxes are a negative because the process is direct (pay-go)--i.e. nothing for bond-holders to collect.

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by: hannah @ Sat Apr 10, 2010 at 03:45:47 AM CDT

[ Parent ]