Charlie Rose

galise  01/20/2013 10:02 AM Report

This interview was Charlie at his worst. He was constantly interrupting and showing off how much he knows. Axelord could barely finish before Charlie asked another question, which he often answered himself.

NeilMacCallister  01/17/2013 03:03 AM Report

David Axelrod, ..the early years:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hAOwr6PfF4

NeilMacCallister  01/17/2013 01:32 AM Report

America is DEAD.

See the tired look in David Axelrod's eyes up above?? ..looking like Tommy Lee Jones towards the end of 'No Country for Old Men'??

Axelrod is so TIRED of pulling BILLIONS of dollars out of our government's money sewer, ..that President Obama has now allowed him to "Sit back at this 'Foundation' that I have funded for you at U. Chicago"..

.."Just sit back, eat your cheese, drink your wine -- there is now so much G. damn money available to steal today, that we can do it all on our own now."

"But, thanks David, ..we wouldn't have had all these Trillions without you."

Max83  01/16/2013 01:11 AM Report

Thank you Bill Moyers.

Mr. Rose please forward this letter to Mayor Bloomberg and Warren Buffett and any other benevolent and patriotic billionaire or multi-millionaire you know.

Thank you.

Link: http://www.democracyjournal.org/27/an-open-letter-to-patriotic-philanthropists.php

''Issue #27, Winter 2013

An Open Letter to Patriotic Philanthropists

Bill Moyers & Arnold Hiatt

Dear Fellow Citizen,

Shortly before the election last fall, The New York Times ran an editorial about the flood of independent money in the campaign. The editors noted, “The business interests behind those hundreds of millions are not going to give up the influence and the power that spending has given them. That’s the reason this unlimited money is so corrupting: win or lose, it binds lawmakers, corporations and special interests ever closer.”

If the Times’s readers could tolerate it, such editorials could run every day—and not just during elections.

Because others in this issue of Democracy are writing about the many dimensions of the problem, we won’t pile on. But we do want to point out that both of us have, for eight decades now, been witnesses to—and proud products of—the American experiment. And in that time we have never seen our democracy so utterly subjugated by the power of well-heeled special interests.

So, what can be done? A lot, is the answer. But here’s one simple idea: Help fund the groups that fight for political reform.

Both of us have been doing so for a long time—one as the president of a small family foundation whose benefactors were devoted to the renewal of democracy, one as an individual citizen concerned for his country. Over the years, we’ve collectively helped reform groups raise millions of dollars. But that’s only a thimble-sized sum compared to the need.

It’s been rewarding to see the many groups we’ve supported do so much with so few resources. But it’s also been painful to see them toil away in a long and losing battle, seriously outgunned on Capitol Hill by the lobbyists who profit from the current system, and outmaneuvered in the courts by the lawyers and justices who deem money the equal of speech.

How much do these reformers spend annually? An estimated $45 million. Only about .01 percent of total charitable giving in America (which was roughly $300 billion in 2011). It’s about one-fourth of what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spends annually (roughly $200 million in 2010), and roughly one-tenth of what Koch-related groups committed to spending in the 2012 elections to promote their agendas ($400 million, according to Politico).

The two of us could list most of the funders of reform on the back of a napkin. Like their grantees, they’re very capable and dedicated people who strive to accomplish much with few resources. Like us, many of them are frustrated that the pool of philanthropists has remained so consistently small over the years. And, also like us, many can’t keep investing in this cause much longer, not for lack of interest but for lack of resources.

Over the years, we’ve encountered various reasons why there is so little investment in reducing the power of Big Money over politics and policy-making: Good-government groups don’t do a good enough job of selling themselves and are too fractured along policy lines; money in politics is seen as a wonky issue that only liberals care about; philanthropy is increasingly focused on short-term “deliverables” and “quantifiable outcomes” and reform is too hard to measure in those terms; foundations are risk averse when it comes to supporting efforts that might be perceived as political. And the list goes on.

All of these are understandable concerns. But none of us can any longer afford to allow such arguments to stifle the flow of money into the struggle to save our democracy. Citizens United and super PACs have brought America to a historic juncture—one path leads toward oligarchy, the other toward representative government. Abraham Lincoln defined the latter as the American ideal. It was the cause of Thomas Paine, the Revolution, and the Constitutional Convention. Today it is the inspiration for good health care and a good education, for fair and competitive markets, for honest government, for a sustainable environment, and for a decent job and livelihood for everyone. For these promises to be kept, the deep pockets of the moneyed class must be countered, because to travel upstream of any major issue facing our country—from Too Big To Fail banks to climate change—is to encounter a small, extremely powerful group of well-connected and well-heeled interests controlling the flow of the stream.

That’s why it’s about time for others who are well connected and well heeled to provide a counterweight. When some people think about philanthropy, they think of building libraries and wings of hospitals, of endowing university chairs and curing diseases, of providing comfort to the afflicted, and preserving pristine lands. All noble goals. But beneath them lies a larger structural problem with the way our country functions, or doesn’t function. Helping solve that problem offers philanthropists a shot at a different kind of legacy—one that would make Jefferson and Lincoln proud.

Now is the time to invest in such a legacy. The tinder of public opinion is dry. In a recent Gallup poll, 87 percent of respondents said that ending government corruption should be a “very important” or an “extremely important” priority for the President. The only priority that ranked higher was job creation.

There are more than two dozen groups working mightily to ignite the popular movement necessary for rekindling the American Dream of justice for all. If patriotic philanthropists fail to meet the challenge, future editorials in The New York Times on money in politics will read less like urgent calls for change and more like obituaries.

Sincerely,

Bill Moyers & Arnold Hiatt''

MisterMittster  01/15/2013 06:56 PM Report

Axelrod is such a boring Twit.

NeilMacCallister  01/15/2013 06:00 PM Report

Golly, ..nobody in America can write a complete sentence.

After tossing out TRILLIONS and TRILLIONS of dollars in teacher and administrative paychecks,..

..no one can complete a thought anymore.

Our President asks us to elect him, ..and then to "hope and dream".

And the people say, "Okay".

SharkswithfrikingLazers  01/15/2013 04:55 PM Report

http://youtu.be/v896_ZvM97Y?t=2m22s

and then again:

http://observers.france24.com/content/20090226-kkk-alive-well-2009-obama-anthony-karen

charliesheep  01/15/2013 10:49 AM Report

MOYERS AND COMPANYP[ THIS WEEK DISCLOSED AMERICA.S PATH ; IS "CORPORATE" PATH TO SAVE -G.E. GOLDMAN SACHS,A.I.G.-CARGILL, BNSF--5.9 BILLION IN TAXES! THIS VIOLATES AMERICA I.E. ALLOWS OFFSHORING BY CORPORATIONS, DOESN'T EMPLOY ONE BLUE COLLAR JOB-- IN AMERICA!- OPRAH -EXHONORATED LANCE; HE SAID THE MONEY DIDN'T WORK AND SOUGHT ABSOLUTION! MAYBE OPRAH WILL SAVE AMERICA?

NeilMacCallister  01/14/2013 09:14 PM Report

Hey, Sharkie, ..can you name ONE GOOD REASON why America is better off with Obama?????

SharkswithfrikingLazers  01/14/2013 04:02 AM Report

Jim Messina is the "Sheldon Cooper" behind the operation and he should be in Italy now after five years of work without a vacation: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Messi

SharkswithfrikingLazers  01/14/2013 04:00 AM Report

Axelrod tells us it is fair to say that Obama does not socialize as much as other Presidents—(Charlie touched a nerve here.) He has young children in the White House. He hasn’t embraced the customs.

Well at least Axelrod was there for the daily midnight call.

Left handed and a night owl too? This and being hated by the other party may make socializing tougher than it has to be.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  01/14/2013 03:52 AM Report

Yes, Obama made many, many deals on Healthcare.

Frontline shows us: http://video.pbs.org/video/1468710007/

"Very aggressive at creating deals."

"At the end of the day it is about deal making."

SharkswithfrikingLazers  01/14/2013 03:46 AM Report

We are told that Obama is always 3 steps ahead of people at meetings. Charlie says Obama is great at making decisions especially on foreign policy.

Michael Lewis told us that Obama is careful not to waste his decision endurance and therefore does not choose his clothes nor his breakfast.

The Brain Series told us we have to eliminate things and eliminating is as important as doing.

To be great requires a balance of doing and not doing.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  01/14/2013 03:40 AM Report

THE ELECTION:

2008 in Ohio only 11% of the electorate were African Americans BUT 15% in 2012.

200K more in Ohio in 2012 and Romney lost by 103K votes in Ohio.

THAT WAS THE ELECTION and that is the fascinating stat.

Perhaps this new Institute of Politics should begin classes there.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  01/14/2013 03:35 AM Report

“Governor Romney could have won up to the very end.” Jim Messina, Campaign Manager.

Yes indeed, it was ever so close. So humility is the word of the four year term.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  01/14/2013 03:32 AM Report

"The heartening news is you can't buy the White House," Mr. Axelrod said. But, "I think there'll be reluctance in the future when Mr. (Karl) Rove and others come knocking on the door, because of what happened on Tuesday.”

Wouldn't that be something to effectively overturn Citizens United just by showing big money can not buy elections?

SharkswithfrikingLazers  01/14/2013 03:30 AM Report

"The Republican Party is going to have some soul-searching to do as to whether they can represent the United States of America as the United States of America is, rather than some 50-year-old model." David Axelrod

SharkswithfrikingLazers  01/14/2013 03:26 AM Report

We are told that the Republican VP choice was narrowing not expanding. To look at this Congress and then say I want the brains behind this operation (a joke and Charlie laughed).

Yes, Paul Ryan is no Sarah Palin (who by the way said Obama was shucking and jiving http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/10/25/shuck_and_jive_meaning_and_history_of_phrase_palin_use d_is_it_racist.html).

SharkswithfrikingLazers  01/14/2013 03:20 AM Report

Richard Wilkinson, a British professor of social epidemiology, recently stated on PBS NewsHour , "if you want to live the American dream, you should move to Finland or Denmark, which have much higher social mobility."

Perhaps this should be taught at the Institute of Politics?

An institute I beg that is not an antagonism to the commitments underlying philosophic inquiry as pursued by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and thus merely focused on persuasive speaking.

ShalomFreedman  01/13/2013 08:56 AM Report

Axelrod gives insight into Obama and the political process. Where I would take exception to him and Charlie Rose relates to their giving super-high marks to the President on foreign policy. Consider the following. The President is not responsible for the involvement in Iraq or Afghanistan. But these involvements despite the tremendous sacrifice have not been successful. The President did not help the protestors in Iran, but encouraged the protestors in Egypt. He now has the Muslim Brotherhood to deal with, and also the collapsing economy of Egypt. Syria is a disaster which is not of U.S. making and perhaps it is right to do so little in regard to it. Perhaps. Pakistan has gotten away with its double- game of supporting terrorists while pretending to be a U.S. ally. Axelrod along with Rahm Emanuel helped form the initial one- sided pressure on Israel line which made the Palestinians do something which seems impossible, become even more intransigent and peace- denying. The President is to be credited with standing up and alone for Israel in its operation against the terrorists in Gaza. And also for supporting Israel at the U.N. He has succeeded in persuading the Europeans to support sanctions against Iran. I do not know how successful he has been with Russia and China and so many others he must deal with. It is a tremendously big and complicated job.

In my opinion he has not been awful and he has not been great. He has been pretty good over all. Let's hope in the second term he will be better.

NeilMacCallister  01/12/2013 10:39 PM Report

"Adaratio ad nauseam"? ..Dasein??? Then, write something definitive!! ..Please!!

zo219? ..frightened of what?? ..really, ..what???

tabs? ..Someday, please, pick a side upon which you will stand. Is our elected President, Barack Obama, a coward acting to "cover his tracks when he screws up"? Or is he your later described hero "standing on his principles"????? ..Is he some beneficent populist sharing a "humility to do the people's bidding", or is he your then described "arrogant and demanding dictator" bankrupting America????? ...Don't you believe, sooner or later, that it is important to decide that matter??????

Max??? ..You throw so much third-party hearsay! ..What do you YOURSELF know to be true???

***

We are now 6 Trillion dollars more in debt under Barack Obama!! What has been the benefit??? Has our national productive growth rate grown?? (..NO!!!) Has our percentage of paycheck earning Americans grown?? (..No!!) Has the decline in American home-foreclosure rates reversed??? (..No!!) Has the cost of college-level job training been reduced??? (..No!!!) Is it now less expensive for an already trained American to open a business and hire a few of his unemployed neighbors??? (..No!!!)

To what benefit has gone that 6 BILLION DOLLARS which this nation entrusted to Barack Obama!!!???

***

Max??? ..Because you do like "external media footage" so much, ..here is a cite to George Orwell's 'Animal Farm':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=ClaNnaMgbF0&NR=1

Please notice the quote at 1:03:40 mins. which happens to EXACTLY mirror Barack Obama's last campaign slogan: "FORWARD, comrades!!!"

(..Of course, Barack Obama doesn't have the courage or honesty to say that "comrade" part!)

By the way, ..why have we never cried as nationally for the murders of Snowball, or Boxer, ..as we once did for the rifle-shot death of Bambi's mother???

***

Revolution is a serious business! ..George Washington weathered a winter in Valley Forge, and stood tallest in a boat crossing the Delaware to fight the deadly Hessians.

But later "revolutionaries" like Hitler and Mussolini chose a cowardly death by suicide -- Robespierre tried that, too!!

By the way? ..Why does the "revolutionary" Barack Obama now want to restrict the firearms of American citizens???

zo219  01/12/2013 08:52 PM Report

Oh hell -- I meant *you* all, not Rose and Axelrod.

zo219  01/12/2013 08:51 PM Report

Frightened White Guys arguing.

How novel, how interesting--not.

tabs  01/12/2013 05:40 PM Report

Presidential Game Plans A, B and C

The truth of the matter about President Barrack Obama is that he is a BS kind of guy. Nothing more clearly shows this than when his old friend Proffessor Henry Louis Gates got all reactive in the face of a white cop at his front door, which resulted in ole Henry Louis getting the cuffs slapped on. When President Obama heard that, the real Obama slipped out during a news confrence that it must have been a racist White Cop beat down on a African American Harvard Proffessor of all things. When it came out that Harvard Proffessor Heny Gates was having a bad hair day and let his fustration out on a POLICEMAN, President Obama did what he always does when he screws up (Benghazi) and that is cover his tracks. So what did President do to cover his tracks this time, he did what he called a "Beer Summit." President Obama it seems has always relied on lofty rhetoric and mediating conflict to get by, and that was how he thought he was going to save the world and be another Lincoln. However what President Obama did not realize is that in the real world there are people who do not want to be saved by Barrack Obama. So President Obama should have had the realization that he had better have a plan B.

In the 2012 Presidential election, President Obama ran his campaign on standing on his principles. Even if those principles were a divisive class warfare of tax the rich to pay for their success. Upon his vindication and affirmation of those principles by the American people in the 2012 election, President Obama had a moment of humility and an overwhelming feeling that he had a mandate to do the peoples bidding. From that moment President has become arrogant and demanding, that it is his way or the highway of 1.6T and no cuts. However being arrogant is not governing, it is being self rightous and dictatorial. That will only go so far before one runs into trouble and then one had better have a plan C.

Dasein  01/12/2013 05:04 PM Report

Adaratio ad nauseam.

Adoratio ad nauseam. When do we get the other side of the spin?

Max83  01/12/2013 04:22 PM Report

I think you misunderstood my point below Neil. I do not consider myself an Oath Keeper. I shared the video below to display how easily good and decent people can get radicalized if economic security and fairness is not available anymore, because a very very few hoard all the monies and wealth and do not share it.

I consider myself a Social Democrat. I am German, but living and married here in the USA.

If you watch the video below about the Oath Keepers, you should pay more attention to what Chris Hedges says in it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hedges and not so much what Alex Jones is saying.

I absolutely agree with Chris Hedges's evaluation of the situation.

NeilMacCallister  01/12/2013 04:31 AM Report

Are you kidding me Max??

Last month you said you were a German living in Germany! ..You have ALWAYS droned-on like a Marxist in Moscow (..or New York City College!) ..and now you are saying you are a TeaParty "Oath Keeper"?????

You have GOT to be kidding me!!

Pick up your socks, Max!! ..Clean up your desk!!! ..For your own good, try to value some small effort of honest observation that will afford you something that you can hold on too for a while!

***

No free-market capitalist has EVER reached into your pocket and taken your dollar from you!

But the government's taxing, and its fiat counterfeiting (.."Counter-fiating"!!) is taking money from your pockets EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!

Capitalism describes voluntary purchases! ..Socialism is a system of FORCED purchase!!

Why would you vote for someone ELSE to make your choices for you???

***

Oh forget it! ..Ice melts when it is left unattended in the kitchen sink, ..and the American Spirit evaporates as long as we have a bit of money left on a credit card somewhere.

We'll see if you still want to pursue your "high-minded Revolutions" after those credit cards start getting turned down.

Max83  01/12/2013 02:55 AM Report

Paul Krugman has done a lot for me personally Neil. I have learned a lot for him for free on economics and politics by reading his New York Times blog.

President Obama has ended the war in Iraq and brought many of America's sons and daughters back home to safety and he will do the same in Afghanistan when the time is right. President Obama has not started another unnecessary preemptive war with Iran that would have cost more American lives and fiscally put even more strain on the budget and debt.

I am not worried about myself Neil. I don't have children and will do fine on my own, not matter what the economic situation is.

I am worried about America as a nation and working class Americans that can't buy their own lobbyists or that do not have their own TV networks and grass roots political actions committees and movements and whose voices are not heard in the mainstream media, other than that they are mentioned as and refereed to as social welfare parasites and lazy free loaders, when in reality they have probably worked harder physically in one year than most billionaires and media talking heads in their entire life.

The exploitation of the less fortunate and economically weak has to stop. The poor are being exploited on a daily bases by the corporate machine and its billionaire and multi-billoniare captains.

The people at the top of the economic pyramid are especially responsible, because America is a capitalistic society and they hold the most power and influence.

Hitler probably did not kill one Jew with his own hands during the Holocaust, he had unscrupulous and sociopathic minions do the dirty work for him, but he was responsible for the entire Holocaust and so is the billionaire class responsible for the economic genocide that is happening in America even if they are not the debt collectors and foreclosure agents themselves. They are the ''Führers'' of this corporate dictatorship that is controlling America and therefore are directly responsible for its outcomes and casualties.

I do not want a second American revolution to happen with many casualties both physically and economically and that is why I support the No Billionaires campaign: http://www.nobillionaires.com/

Violence is not the answer but so many people are so desperate and so confused and feel so betrayed that the only thing they feel they can revert to, to be heard, is violence.

The documentary below was filmed almost 4 years ago, but the message and the emotions in it are still the same for many Americans today. If the Billionaire Elite does not wake up in time, there will be a civil war in the USA.

Mayor Bloomberg should rather spend his money on helping Wall Street regulation and promoting a fair tax code than on gun control, that can happen later down the road. Economic prosperity evenly shared leads to stability and harmony and violence won't be a problem. But if the Billionaires keep taking and taking while pretending to be job creators the situation will escalate with dire consequences for the Nation and the economy.

It is the Billionaire's choice.

''America's 2nd Revolutionary War''

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkJ_ZiX_Tek

'' Published on Jan 10, 2013

Traveling from tea parties in Texas to "Oath Keeper" rallies in Massachusetts, VICE investigates whether the country is actually on the verge of the 2nd Revolutionary War.

--

The Department of Homeland Security classifies them as potential "domestic terrorists"; they prefer to be called patriots. As the economic crisis deepens, a growing movement of Americans is rejecting the two-party system and the mainstream media. They believe a violent revolution is imminent, and they're getting ready for it now. VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy crosses the country to meet the people on the front lines of the struggle. They include Alex Jones, a radio talk show host in Austin, Texas who is waking people up to the dangers of the corporate globalists — and has seen traffic on his websites increase dramatically in recent months. We also meet Sgt. Charles Dyer, a U.S. Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton who has taken an oath to disobey unconstitutional orders and take up arms against the government if it becomes tyrannical — and is training a citizen militia to do the same.''

NeilMacCallister  01/12/2013 02:00 AM Report

Sorry Max, but neither Paul Krugman, David Axelrod, nor Barack Obama has ever cared if you, I, or anyone else ever finds a job.

What have they ever done to suggest that they do care??

Has Paul Krugman ever tutored a student up into success as a CEO?? ..What patent does David Axelrod hold? ..What has EITHER of these two men ever accomplished in America other than the corralling of human voters -- while acting as stewards of "The Union of Welfare Paycheckers Unguided" -- and delivering them on command to that ultimate purchaser of that shipload of gnashing, snarling voters: Barack Obama.

What HAVE any of these men ever accomplished for anyone but themself?? ..Please, be specific!!

Max83  01/11/2013 07:33 PM Report

Full Show: Paul Krugman on Why Jobs Come First

January 11, 2013

The New York Times columnist explains why our top priority should be getting America back to work – if only Washington would stop throwing distractions in the way.

Video Link: http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-paul-krugman-on-why-jobs-come-first/

tabs  01/11/2013 03:50 PM Report

NCP2;

On the Liberal side of the coin America is being led by what amounts to being a bunch of hysterical old woman who are afraid of their own shadows. For reason has been thrown out the door and madness is seaping in.

If one were to step back and view the American social landscape with a calm objectivity rather than an emotionaly charged reactivity one could plainly see that the cause of the recent spate of violent acts by the mentaly ill in American society is due to...

"Here is something that people should consider as being a partial causality of the recent tragedy's. With the current economic malaise and the dysfunctionality of the political leadership in the nation there is UNCERTAINTY in the air which causes stress, fear, and anxiety which trickles on down to the more fragile members of society who are less able to have effective coping mechanisms and as such becomes more reactive to such uncertainty." TABS 12/18/12

So not only are the mentally challenged in America becoming unhinged, but the panic is spreading among the more Progressive on deck as they too are clamouring loudly while running around like ants on a hot tin plate. Thus as the ship of America sinks ever deeper by the head into the water the more insane will Americans begin to sound.

tabs  01/11/2013 02:47 PM Report

Now we come to the Third Book of Barrack Obama's deification. The first two were by Gates and Immelt. For what purpose did Mr Axelrod drop by the Charlie Rose show? To hawk a book, to garner support for legislation or a project he is working on? Or was it just to stop by for a nice evening of chit chat? The answer is that the purpose was the reconstitution and the reaffirmation of President Obamas image as a compent leader of the nation. Was this Mr Roses doing or some concerted effort by the Administration?

Whichever way it spins, it certainly was an unimaginative presentation. One has long said that President Obama does not do well in making "real time" decisions as eveidenced in his response to the Iranian election demostrations,the BP oil spill, the Arab Spring in both Egypt and Libya and lately with 4 dead in Benghazi and aftermath. However given the chance to work through a problem for some period of time the President can come up with a solution. When considering the sagacity of his decison making it is a completely different matter. Here unlike President Obama's role model Lincoln, the President has chosen to be a divisive divider of the nation by demonizing a whole class of Americans, by pitting one against another. Then fresh with the smell of a 2ND term victory in his nose he becomes stridently arrogant by proclaiming as the Neocons of the earlier Bush era did, "It is my way or the highway, I want 1.6T and no cuts." The question then becomes why would he do such a thing? The answer lies at the beginning of 2012 when things were not going so well for the President by following the advice of the more Centerist of the his advisors. At that point WHCOS Daley left the administration and following his wifes advice he chose to follow his own principles as a campaign strategy. With his victory speech one could see the emotional feeling of being vindicated and reaffirmed in his decison to follow his own principles. From this the President has felt that he has a mandate from the American people to enact the visionary program that he proposed during the election and that is make the rich pay a little bit more as a tax on their success. All as a way to help "the middle class grow and thrive" as Mr Axelrod put it.

However there is a fly in the ointment with this view of thinking for it fails to acknowledge that the 1960's heyday of "the Great American Post WW2 Prosperity Boom" is not only gone but even the illusion of prosperity collapsed with the 2008 financial debacle. For the very circumstance that created that Post War Boom no longer exist and for decades the American Middle Class has been put under economic pressure and is shrinking back to a more normative pre post WW2 size. But this isn't the end of the delusion for the administration wants to continue on as before with an expansive govermental role in which the entitlement state is the central feature. Here President Obama fails to realize that 40 some odd years of SS payroll taxes were spent to fund governmental spending. That means that 40 years of money that was meant to be put away to fund SS has been blown in helping fund a government that was living beyond its and the American peoples means. To be realistic the size of the US government for 40 plus years was LARGER and more expansive then the American people were willing to pay for and or was beyond what would keep the American economy healthy. Thus the Obama administraion is not only on the wrong side of history, is living in the past and putting it together it is completley out of touch with the new normal of 2008. The new normal or reality for a Progressive President is that the Progressive era is dead, gone and lies on the scrap heap of history as a failed notion. Which is mostly due to the human failing of thinking that America was so rich that it could afford it all without consequences.

REMant  01/11/2013 01:30 PM Report

I sincerely doubt Tom Brokaw knows a damn thing about the politics of guns. IMHO it would certainly be better if ppl stopped trying to be someone OR do something. We certainly do not need professional schools aimed at turning out politicians, anymore than we do for philanthropy or social work. One of the things wrong with institutions of "higher learning," is that in pursuit of money, they've been turned into job training centers, and not very good ones, not least, because so frequently aimed at the wrong objectives. Education, I'm afraid, is just another of this country's bubbles.

What's really important is for ppl to take responsibility for their own lives and learn to live with others who are trying to do the same. Things don't work with only a chief, a whole bunch of Indians, and a lot of rules and regulations. What you get is primitive society. Any mobility falls in the nomad category.

Of course, there was no free fall in 2008 anymore than in 1929, plus what has happened since is every bit as bad as what happened from 2003 to then. Demand really has nothing to do with it. Our problem is that we long ago stopped saving and investing, with the result that we don't have enough experienced ppl to take the few jobs we ARE creating. Printing funny money can't make up for it, and just makes things that much worse.

I certainly do not think Barack Obama is another John or Bobby Kennedy, or even Abraham Lincoln, and I think if he reflects upon it, he wouldn't want to be either.

Axelrod is so full of platitudes nd panaceas, he's a walking talking point, almost as tiresome as Bill Clinton or Chris Christie, but still I don't think he needs to be led around by the Rose.

What everyone does know is that his campaign was aimed at INCREASING divisiveness among women, Hispanics, gays, blacks, union members and the rest of the population - why else do all that polling and run all those attack ads? - and that the election actually reflected the pecuniary interests of particular urban areas, too long dependent on govt monetary and fiscal measures, the economic statistics actually reflecting fears of increased taxation, shrinking workforce participation, and a growing stock market and real estate bubble, leading to overly optimistic expectations for the Xmas season.

I do not believe Ron Paul's message is either strident or extreme, nor that it's unreasonable to want to keep South Americans, south of the border, where they'd be happy to be were it not for our monetary policies. And certainly libertarians have little more truck with the Bushies than the Democrats, even if they both find the latter's schoolmarming obnoxious.

Frankly, I don't think the president is capable of explaining or debating anything with a qualified opponent and he never confronts facts head on. It's always some version of Disneyland. And he complained about the creases in Romney's trousers!

Dave Barry had the Bin Laden issue about right, along with the president's invertebracy. One of his hallmarks in the Illinois legislature was that he never voted for anything, or against it. He plays politics with everything. And when it comes to dysfunctional polities, Chicago and Illinois seem to be near the top of everyone's list.

Congress, apparently, is no longer willing to make decisions based on majority rule, if it ever was - this country not having a legacy of strong central govt - and I see nothing wrong with that. If this were a parliamentary system it would look like France or Italy, the president and everybody else continually running for office (and ppl like Axelrod getting a lot of work). But that isn't Congress' fault, the ppl elect it, and they get what they pay for.