What he said. pic.twitter.com/cPXyVkModX
— Teddy Goff (@teddygoff) February 18, 2016
I think it’s a good look for Hillary, myself.
***********
Apart from the ongoing battle(s), what’s on the agenda for the evening?
This post is in: Election 2016, Hillary Clinton 2016, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat
What he said. pic.twitter.com/cPXyVkModX
— Teddy Goff (@teddygoff) February 18, 2016
I think it’s a good look for Hillary, myself.
***********
Apart from the ongoing battle(s), what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Comments are closed.
Corner Stone
Ted Cruz is the fucking worst.
Baud
Elections (that I don’t win) don’t matter.
The Golux
If only we could slip Tommy Devito into Cruz’ security detail.
lamh36
https://twitter.com/RalstonReports/status/700447821770547200
JPL
Well I just sent an email to Isakson asking him not to take any votes until the next election, since he thinks Obama shouldn’t nominate a justice.
Eric U.
@JPL: all republicans in the house should only vote for the first year of the session
Corner Stone
I hate the way he hunches his shoulders up and his disgusting face down when he’s delivering some stupid fucking thing he thinks is smart. I also hate the way he does that little heel rise when he’s being his asshole self and rocks down and slightly back as he makes his assholish point.
lamh36
So Donald Trump decides to call the Pope “disgraceful”…welp…guess we’ll see if this does anything for his number…doubt it though
Miss Bianca
Awwww…go, HRC! Way to invoke that righteous vibe.
Matt McIrvin
@lamh36: It’ll help him. Conservatives hate the Pope now.
Trentrunner
I cried twice today at political stuff: The Hillary ad above, and Kasich’s hug to the very sad young man who’d lost so much.
Empathy: It’s what’s for dinner.
Betty Cracker
I’ve spent most of the day dealing with a fucked up laptop, trying to isolate whatever application is causing it to periodically shit the bed. Sometimes I think we’d be better off if we’d stuck to quills, scrolls and carrier pigeons.
Baud
@lamh36: I wonder if the parties will ever get to the point of closing their primaries again to prevent this sort of thing from happening.
jl
Cruz shows an alarming deference to laws and customs of other countries in that video. Who is ‘One World Government’ Ted Cruz, really and anyway?
Nice to have Cruz on the record saying that there is no reason the US should do anything other than what some random other country would do.
jg
Oh Canada Ted,
Other countries around the world have single payer/Univ healthcare. And we dont. So does that mean we should do what the rest of the world does? Replace healthcare with guns, secondary education, family leave. Same answer.
Pompous fckstick.
To add to jl comment.
Peale
Yeah. But Elian Gonzalez. Hillary herself ordered that fiasco.
raven
@Betty Cracker: But then dawgs and gators would never talk!
Baud
@Betty Cracker: Greater access to cat and dog photos make up for the inconvenience of modern technology.
lamh36
@ABCLiz
In @BET interview, Sanders accuses Clinton of cozying up to Obama in order to win African-American votes:
Sigh..of course HRC is trying to win AA votes, of course she “cozying up to Obama”, she’s a Dem candidate for Prez…and Obama has above 80% approval rating in both categories.
Oh, and excuse me, but Bernie’s talking to AA media outfits like BET and Ebony magazine, when he never has before, because….
gogol's wife
@Corner Stone:
I read your description before I watched the video. Spot on.
Davebo
@lamh36: Miranda Hoover needs to go back and take English 101 again.
Reminds me of someone.
Baud
@lamh36: Yeah, I’m not sure how that’s all that different from what the Clintons got in trouble for in 2008 when they lost South Carolina.
boatboy_srq
I really want to know where idjits like Cruz think their domestic staff, field laborers, groundskeepers, food servicepeople, construction workers, physicians, information technology professionals et al will come from if all the deportations happen like they think. They obviously haven’t learned from Nathan Deal and the Great Lost Georgian Crop of 2011. Also, where do they think the staff and budget for all ICE will come from: it’s not as if DHS is remotely capable of immediately deporting everyone not in the US legally.
Sure makes you wonder what he’d say if we offered to ship him back to
CanadaCuba.JPL
@lamh36: Well that’s not good. In other words, holy shit. The Clintons have always tried to raise the income of the lower and middle class.
Ksmiami
OK – JUST CHIMING IN CAUSE MY DAUGHTER IS IN SCHOOL in the five college valley and there are armed gunmen at UMASS – whole school on lockdown. Eff gun rights. I’m done with any candidate that has supported this nonsense…
debbie
Now I understand why his daughter squirmed away from his kiss.
Mike J
@lamh36: So a member of the Obama administration is cozying up to the administration she was a part of?
What a fucking moron.
eemom
I don’t care how much support Cruz has among republitards — I can’t believe he wouldn’t be smashed in a general election no matter who the Dem candidate is. He is a viscerally repugnant human being.
Ohio Mom
@Trentrunner:
Hillary ad made me cry too. She said all the right things.
Did not see the Kasich ad but assuming it would make me nauseous. Please don’t fall for him. He is the only one who can beat Hillary. Yes, he is a dark horse but sometimes those steeds come from behind. He will be the third term of GW. I’m living through him being my governor and that’s enough, thank you.
As for Cruz, Who would Jesus deport?
JPL
@Baud: I think that was different.. Bill thought he was owed and that voting for Obama because he was black, ignored his accomplishments. imo It probably lost the election for Hillary though. I had heard the President speak at GA Tech earlier, so I was already sold.
lamh36
@Mike J:
Right, I mean she worked for him…she was a part of his admin, so maybe, just maybe, she’s cozying up cause how can she not?
debbie
@eemom:
I would love it if Cruz was the final candidate. His loss would so smash the talk radio world.
Brachiator
@Betty Cracker:
Ravens and owls.
Roger Moore
@Corner Stone:
No. There are people just as evil as Cruz who can put a friendlier face on it. They’re worse.
JPL
@Ksmiami: I can’t imagine how difficult this is for you.
debbie
@Ohio Mom:
Even if he is the GOP candidate, Kasich won’t win. The RWNJs hate him — they might be forced to start a third party. Stop worrying.
lamh36
@Baud:
Right, there is “SOME” air between Bernie’s BET interview and the Bill C’s SC ’08 bullshit…but let’s we forget, I mean folks STILL haven’t forgotten that
How does this help him in SC or other states with a large Black votes…smh..
I’m not enthused by either candidate, but damn it dude and his “dudebros” are just exhausting…and I find myself actually defending HRC more than I even care to..smh
singfoom
@Ohio Mom: Jesus wouldn’t deport anyone, but American Christianity(TM) doesn’t truck with Jesus, but with MACHO JESUS.
MACHO JESUS hates the poor and would throw them to the lions. MACHO JESUS will deport everyone, even citizens if they believe in that non macho Jesus.
Baud
@JPL: If Bernie had said that Hillary is cozying up to Obama to win support from Democratic voters, I would agree. I don’t know why he singled out AA voters as particularly amenable to a “cozying up” strategy. Are non-AA voters supposed to be more politically savvy?
JPL
@Roger Moore: Yup.. I’m gonna vote for Trump in the primary.. .
aimai
@Ksmiami: Oh, fuck. My daughter is in Northampton.
That being said–I’m for HRC. Grandma power all the way. I am so god damned ready for her to be president its not even funny.
ruemara
@lamh36: hey, why do you want Sanders to “pander” by discussing black stuff instead of focusing on the real issues, breaking up the big banks which would not have prevented the crisis anyway but whatever, rich = evil.
Also, free Mumia/Snowden!
Now, what watch me tweet crap about Shillary, then decry the extreme rhetoric between liberal camps while saying we need to focus on the real enemy. /shade
It has been an extremely silly day on the liberal wonkernet.
JPL
@Baud: Feel the Bern..
Mary G
After nearly 18 months of remission from my RA, it has come roaring back with a vengeance. My CRP test, where 1-3 is normal, and anything over 10 gives a higher risk of heart attack, is at 60. Monday I am scheduled for a Rituxin IV, keep your fingers crossed for a good result. All the other biologic drugs have stopped working for me.
Betty Cracker
@Ksmiami: Damn, I hope she is okay. I know that feeling; my kid texts me every time her school gets put on lockdown — has happened multiple times over the years. There’s not a more helpless feeling in the world. So far, it has always turned out to be okay. I hope for a similar outcome for you. And yeah, fuck ammosexuals laterally with a dozen oxidized farm implements.
Frankensteinbeck
That Hillary video is beautiful, and I hope the little girl did feel better and Hillary was able to help her family specifically. I feel a little dirty introducing politics, but Trump will probably be the Republican nominee, and all reports suggest the Hispanic community(s) knows how much he hates them, and will vote against him much more actively than other Republicans. It will certainly help to have a candidate that will return the favor and care about their issues.
And it helps ME to be reminded occasionally that the candidate I favor isn’t just competent, she gives a damn about people.
singfoom
@lamh36: I’m curious, I read the tweet but haven’t watched the full interview. I don’t see anything horrible about what Sanders said in the tweet quote.
I also don’t think HRCs “cozying” up to the president is anything wrong either, so….seems like a tempest in a teapot?
Brachiator
@boatboy_srq:
Cruz is just trying to be tough as Trump. And unfortunately, it is not winning strategy to suggest that we need illegal immigrants to do these jobs. The reply will be that illegal immigrants not only steal jobs from Americans, but also that they keep wages low.
The yahoos are too angry to consider compassion or even reality (nobody is going to round up millions of illegal immigrants so that they can be deported). But anger also means that the most rabid Trump and Cruz supporters don’t have to listen to anyone.
raven
@Mary G: Hang in there lady!
retiredeng
@Ohio Mom: Jesus would turn Cruz into a pile of fish.
lamh36
@Baud: I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was asked a direct question by BET, but still…THAT the answer he came up with…
Mike J
@Ohio Mom:
His great^15 grandmother Ruth was an illegal alien.
Betty Cracker
@Mary G: Yikes! Hope the new regimen works for you!
JPL
@Betty Cracker: I’m lucky because when my sons were in school it wasn’t Jeb’s America. I’m not sure that any one person can change this, it takes all of us.
Ksmiami
@JPL: We can have GUNS GUNS GUNS or we can have a free society with law enforcement, but not both. If kids can’t be educated without fear of death, we no longer live in a civilized society.
Baud
@lamh36: Fair point. I’ve seen that happen before when answers are taken out of context.
MomSense
@Frankensteinbeck:
That video is beautiful. It demonstrates exactly the kind of care and concern we should all feel for children who look to us for compassion and wisdom. I’m so beyond disgusted by all the fear, hate, anger, and resentment that too many politicians are peddling for their own gain. Enough.
debbie
@Ksmiami:
They’re considering allowing CCW on Ohio State’s campus. If it passes, then kids will truly be at risk.
MomSense
@Baud:
We are all dancing around the reality of Bernie Sanders and his reticence when it comes to issues of race and gender. I’m not extending the benefit of the doubt. He should know better by now.
MomSense
@Mary G:
Fingers, knees, toes, eyes all crossed for you.
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@Ksmiami:
Oh fuck, that’s terrible. Keep us posted, please. And may we hear from Schrödinger’s Cat? Too many of these things are coming too close to home (by which I mean people I care about).
ruemara
@Mary G: I’m gonna send you all the good health vibes I can conjure. I hope they find something that works for you. Let us know if there’s anything you need.
@singfoom: No, it’s not.
WaterGirl
@Mary G: well, shit. i am crossing everything for you, and then some.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
To me, it’s because of the history of Sanders calling for a primary challenger, at one point talking about being that primary challenger, in 2012.
Baud
@MomSense: I think context matters. For instance, if that was his response to being asked, “How are you doing today?”, I think the response would be much more offensive.
Archon
@Baud:
It’s the, “of course Obama is popular with blacks” argument. Obviously Bernie didn’t say it out of a place of malice like right-wingers, but it’s still an offensive comment.
Matt McIrvin
@singfoom: aka Jeezus, or possibly Jeebus:
http://www.thepaincomics.com/weekly050504.htm
MomSense
@Baud:
The problem is that he and his surrogates have been running against Democrats and the President consistently this whole campaign. He also uses cozying to refer to Wall Street. It’s not helpful to our chances in November to run against the DNC the way he has.
MomSense
@Ksmiami:
Oh no!!!
JPL
@Ksmiami: Keep posting.. that might help. My son had just graduated at seventeen from high school and was near the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics. He was working. Anyway it was before cell phones and it was awful for me until I heard from him. Pace and post.
singfoom
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I guess that’s history for people to be angry about if they want to be, I just don’t see any problem with the words in the tweet.
Seems pretty mild to me. But people remember things that piss them off..
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@Mary G:
Oh Lordy, that’s rough. Hope the new med protocol takes care of things and you are feeling better very soon.
JPL
Phew.. Shelter in Place has been lifted at UMass..
patrick II
@singfoom:
The Clinton’s are very aware of Al Gore’s running away from Bill Clinton in ’00 election. Bill had his problems, but they were personal. His policies, while too blue dog for me, were generally successful, especially economic policies, and were something Al Gore could have built on. Instead, he lost to Bush. Hillary does not want to make the same mistake.
Brent
@lamh36:
Perhaps inartfully stated but I think his point, that he has a lot of respect for the President, but also some criticisms, is not a bad one. His point about Hillary is that her embrace of Obama is driven more from political calculation than any genuine appreciation for his policy. This may be right or wrong but either way, it strikes me as pretty fair in the realm of typical political rhetoric.
I am black and from Nevada and plan to caucus for Hillary in a couple days but Bernie’s comment really doesn’t seem troubling to me at all.
Brachiator
@MomSense:
Reticence on race? I’m not sure about that. Even BET noted:
I’ve got problems with Sanders seeking support from Cornel West, but I don’t think this has anything to do with reticence, and more to do with Sanders’ insistence on sticking to to his economic determinism comfort zone.
I’m not sure how a supposed reticence with respect to gender squares with the support that Sanders is getting from younger women.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@JPL: Good to hear, I was just clicking around looking for an update
Archon
@singfoom:
If that’s all he said that would have been fine, especially since he’s says that all the time, but the first part of the quote (which you omitted) implies that blacks are too caught up in racial identity to see Obama’s mistakes and Hillary is exploiting that.
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@JPL:
Good. Relief.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Jeb’s America.
lamh36
gwangung
Sanders’ comment is puzzling given the decades of involvement of the Clintons with the black community. Trying to paint her as a Jonni come lately may work for the novices, but nit for those who have deep knowledge.
Mike in NC
It was recently reported there could soon be about 100 flights per day from the US to Cuba. I’m willing to chip in to buy Cruz a one-way ticket.
lamh36
@Brachiator:
Hmm…over the past year since he started running for President. So, he may be doing different type of “pandering” than HRC, but pandering it still, is.
singfoom
@Archon: Yeah, I don’t agree with the implication. Here’s the part of the quote I omitted earlier:
You said
I disagree that he’s implying they’re blinded by racial identity, just that he’s popular which is true. Your mileage may vary.
Cheers.
MomSense
@lamh36:
His response to the Killer Mike controversy is …interesting.
lamh36
@Brent: here’s the thing…I’m not saying it “offends” me as a Black person, I’m not reading it that “deep”… In fact, it doesn’t “offend” me at all, but that answer makes no sense, as a reasoning, because even prior to PBO the Clintons have a connection to Black voters but as I said, Blacks are a large important voting block for ANY Dem candidate…and a Dem candidate should want and court their votes…they are both doing so, but in different was.
Bernie can’t “cozy” up to PBO, not in his nature, but also, he is on record saying how he planned to primary PBO in ’12. So he can’t “cozy” up to PBO without folks eye rolling…
lamh36
@MomSense: yeah, I just saw that…but of course…I didn’t comment on Killer Mike and I won’t really, but my reaction to Killer Mike’s comments were…”oh you mean to tell me, some random rapper isn’t the best surrogate”
I’m shocked, shocked I tell ya
Roger Moore
@Baud:
I don’t know. What could it possibly be about Obama that would make somebody think cozying up to him would help with black voters?
lamh36
ICYMI: Bernie’s comment to BET on Killer Mike’s comments.
Hmmm…is Chris Hayes…reading to much into this?
@chrislhayes Christopher Hayes Retweeted Benjy Sarlin
This is perilously close to “how come there’s no white history month” territory.
gwangung
Well, remember this is a man who thinks he’d be better at racial unity than Obama.
boatboy_srq
@Brachiator: Agreed that “needing” illegal labor isn’t a winning argument. But (again) there have been attempts to remove the undocumented labor pool from the job equation, and they haven’t ended well: Georgia is just one example of a market segment shot to H3LL because the segment could not find enough legal labor to fill the need.
The problem here is that all these magical high-paying jobs assume two things: 1) a sufficiently educated workforce and 2) a supplemental workforce willing to do the less-magical lower-paying jobs that go unfilled when the existing labor market skills up. Education has been the Right’s whipping boy for decades, so we can’t expect much on the first assumption. For the second, the Teahad isn’t prepared to improve the minimum wage or make working while raising a family remotely comfortable, and they’re determined to keep Those People from getting anything like a worthwhile job (that kind of employment is their Just Due after all). So my question stands: where do they expect to get all the workers for the jobs they no longer want, for work that is still necessary, and for which they’re not prepared to pay anything meaningful or allocate resources for childcare/eldeercare/etc to assist? Are they volunteering to pick vegetables, or clean hotel rooms, or prune shrubbery or any of the thousand jobs that still need doing in the modern economy? (No? Thought not,…)
Flipside to this: skilled labor isn’t cheap, and businesses wooed by Reichwing tax breaks aren’t especially grateful long term. Indy is reeling from Carrier’s recent announcement that their plants there are being moved to Mexico. This means a loss of 2000-plus jobs – including some Indiana persuaded Carrier to relocate to Indy with tax incentives and other accommodation. And the new plants in MX will pay workers at most a third of what their US counterparts make. Whining over “jobs” is a Reichwing meme, but they say nothing about how few jobs their policies bring will actually last. Every time you hear some Teahadi recite the “jobs, jobs, jobs” cantrip, remember that those “jobs” are smokescreen for giving some favorite business tax dollars to do just whatever the fvck it pleases – so even if better-paying jobs are immediately on offer through new policies, there’s no certainty whatever that those will translate to higher standards of living or a career.
boatboy_srq
@Ksmiami: Wow. Hope all turns out well. Where did all these school “incidents” come from? Twelve years in US schools, and 6 consulting to multiple school districts and I can’t remember anything like this.
Smiling Mortician
@MomSense: Case in point: Robert Reich has been posting multiple FB videos every day in support of Bernie. Yesterday, he put one up about The Choice that Democrats face. He ends by saying that if you believe in our tired old system of government, vote for Hillary. If you wanna tear the whole thing down and start over, vote for Bernie. And I just keep thinking, and then what? Who’s gonna work with you? Within what system?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Charlie Pierce is watching the Katich campaign:
I could almost give Katich credit for that, but then there’s all the stuff Pierce mentions, and Katich is, AFAIK, still a devotee of trickle-down tax cuts, a union buster and a hard core “pro-lifer”. And the hug story notwithstanding, I think he’s just kind of a jerk.
I saw some SoCaro voters being interviewed on MSNBC, one Katich supporter had to be reminded of his name, and another pronounced it “Kasishe”. Like wordpress, people don’t quite know who he is.
boatboy_srq
@Mary G: Best wishes for an effective treatment and speedy remission.
Brachiator
@lamh36:
Politics is about pandering. It’s about whether you do it with style or you look rank and cynical.
In Southern California, there are politicians who regularly deal with the black community. There are other politicians who show up at the black church on Adams a week before election day and say “vote for me.” People know who is who.
And let’s be blunt. HRC has generally had good relations with the black community. But in 2008 she presumed incorrectly that the good will that people felt toward Bill automatically accrued in full toward her as well. And on top of everything, Bill got snippy. Big mistake.
Sanders is neither hostile nor indifferent towards people of color. This in itself counts for a lot. He may not always say things the way that people would like them said, but this is not the same thing as being a hypocrite or uncaring. And this gives Sanders some room to move to reach out towards black people and other groups.
boatboy_srq
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The think about Kasich is that he’s the kind of old-school GOPer who could be elected, believing and desiring all those things, but still govern with some remote semblance of responsibility and tolerance of the opposition. The GOP hasn’t valued that approach for at least the last seven years. I wouldn’t be the least sanguine with a Kasich pResidency, but I wouldn’t be scared quite as sh!tless as I would be of any of the rest of the pool.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
so… Reich is proposing a new Constitutional Convention? I’m on board for remodeling the Senate, open to other ideas. Is that the new Sanders campaign, or is Reich going rogue?
lamh36
Welp…I have no problem with this critic, but…the Clintonistas will be livid.
@BernieSanders, asked about Bill Clinton’s recent criticism, slams former president’s record
gwangung
@Brachiator:
I’m not that convinced that he’s that interested in doing so; he’d be glad if they came to him on his terms, but I don’t think that he feels the need to customize his message to fit the concerns of blacks and other people of color.
Smiling Mortician
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He’s not speaking on behalf of Bernie officially, but he’s on it pretty much 24/7. Here’s the video I’m talking about.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@boatboy_srq: I don’t disagree with anything you wrote. We’d all be a lot better off is Kaisch were more typical of the Beltway GOP. I just don’t like the way the media defines moderate down.
One advantage of a Katich nomination (which I think is one of the longest shots in either primary, maybe only Carson is a less likely nominee at this point– though I honestly can’t quite recall who’s still in it on their side), I think, is that he wouldn’t hide the ball. I think he genuinely believes in tearing up the New Deal, and thinks he can sell it. I’d love to have an honest, clarifying election on that, and a few other issues
Brachiator
@gwangung:
If Sanders is inflexible on this, it’s his loss. But this is not the same thing as either reticence or indifference. And in some circumstances, it may be preferable to people who have a good message, but who do nothing. And note that I am not saying that HRC is someone who does nothing. I think that she is doing more to reach out, and is even aware of some of the unnecessary hard feelings generated back in 2008. And around the South Carolina primary.
But I think that Sanders can surprise people. Some of it is up to the voters, but the majority of what may be possible is up to Sanders.
Jeffro
@MomSense: Yes, it is an amazing vid…brave on the part of the girl, brave (for which she will get no credit) on the part of HRC.
I have to say, it’s great to see both Hillary and Bernie (and frankly most Dems these days, whether elected officials or just people you talk with at work and what not) standing up for Dem values. Long overdue.
Brent
@lamh36:
Make sense? No, not really but only in the way that 80% of political rhetoric makes no sense. I feel like Sanders is basically speaking the millionth variation of “Hey my political opponent is saying what people want to hear just to get votes while I am a fearless truth speaker.” Sure, its bullshit but also pretty much bog standard politics the type of which Clinton is also, I am quite sure, also guilty.
Roger Moore
@boatboy_srq:
Repeal the Thirteenth Amendment. That’s where this is really going.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
so much unintentional comedy in these tweets
I still can’t imagine Bloomberg doing the work of campaigning beyond being willing to receive the electors come to offer him their support. And Bloomers is gonna save us from the special interests being mean to Wall St. Guess he hasn’t gotten the Sanders message that HRC is signed, sealed and delivered for his cronies.
gwangung
@Brachiator: Well, I’m not convinced of that, given what I’ve seen of his management on the campaign trail. He’s making several unforced errors, approaching Republican levels of clumsiness. I do not have the confidence that he can change and be flexible in general; he may listen, but I am not convinced that he will make any changes after getting a message.
DCF
@Frankensteinbeck:
I take it the little girl wasn’t a native of Guatemala?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I admit, I thought she might ditch McConnell about this.
And of course, there is no such tradition.
El Caganer
@debbie: This is the kind of thing public universities in TX have to put up with: http://www.texastribune.org/2016/02/17/ut-austin-president-fenves-issues-campus-carry-rul/ Theys should set up a specific room where everybody can check his/her piece; maybe call it the “Charles Whitman Memorial Hall” or some such.
Joel
I’d wish we could deport Cruz, but I want to maintain a good relationship with Canada.
gene108
@lamh36:
I see those criticisms a lot from Sanders supporters and I guess now Sanders himself, with regards to Wall Street deregulation, welfare reform, etc.
What irks me is they act as if Obama’s the 43rd President of the United States.
At the end of the day, Clinton left things in pretty good shape for any incoming President.
There was a budget surplus.
Unemployment was at record lows.
Real incomes for most workers, were actually rising for the only time, since the 1970’s.
There were some issue under the surface, such as Enron, Wolrdcom-MCI, etc., but with low unemployment, a budget surplus, etc. the tools existed to tackle these problems.
The surplus could’ve been plowed back into the economy for infrastructure, instead of given away with a huge tax cut.*
Anyway, here’s a list of Bill’s liberal accomplishment from a 1995 article:
Link EDIT: There’s more at the link.
* In the 2000 campaign, Bush, Jr.’s first round of tax cuts was proposed to “give the people their money back”, as there was no reason the government should take in more money than it was spending and any surplus should be given back to the people. He stated, if he’s elected everyone would get $300 back from the government.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: ach, forgot that what made Murkowski mad at the GOP was what she saw as weak support from the national party against a Tea Party challenger in 2010– Joe “Palin” Miller, and she had to run a write-in campaign, which means she’s running for re-election as we speak.
boatboy_srq
@Roger Moore: The trick is to make them say that.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@boatboy_srq: Trust me, he hasn’t governed with any kind of responsibility while a Governor. He’s just quieter, until he gets pissed off, which will happen as his skin is somewhat thicker than Trumps, but in the same standard deviation.
Ruckus
@boatboy_srq:
You really should be scared of Kaisch as much as any of the others. His “strength” comes from his not quite as ruthless, fuck you talking. His policies are every bit as bad as any of them. IOW if you have never heard of him and all you know is listening to them all, he does sound not as rabid as the others, which leads to your comment of not being as scared of him. But it’s his style that is not quite as offensive, not his policies. That’s what makes him dangerous, his backstabbing you while smiling. The rest of them have lost or thrown away the veneer of “decency” that republicans tried to hide under for the last 40 yrs. His is still somewhat intact. Which is one reason he isn’t as well viewed by current repubs, they really wanted the shit underneath but accepted the outside to get it. But now they don’t need to do that anymore.
J R in WV
@lamh36:
Just maybe Hillary likes President Obama, maybe. Did anyone think of that? Bernie, I’m talking to you, Senator Sanders!!
geg6
@Brachiator:
What???? First, Pell grants are fucking grants, not scholarships. They are strictly based on financial need as calculated by federal methodology to determine EFC (expected family contribution). They aren’t directed toward any particular schools, but only toward particular students, regardless of what Title IV school the student may be attending. As long as the student meets the EFC requirement and the school qualifies for Title IV funding, the student gets it, regardless of race or whether the school is majority white, black, brown or green. If this is what Bernie is selling, he’s either totally ignorant about federal student aid and how it functions or he’s a fucking liar. Either one is disqualifying, IMHO.
Anne Laurie
@Mary G: Oh dear. I’ll keep you in my thoughts!
J R in WV
@Roger Moore:
They are no longer Republicans, loyal to the United States of America and followers of their oath to defend the constitution. They are Confederates, seeking to destroy the United States of America, traitors to their oath to defend the constitution, and despicable vile sub-humans seeking mastery over others.
People think I’m so calm, but really, I’m over the top with these people. Where did these ideas come from in today’s world?
DCF
@J R in WV:
The Clintons (historically) intensely dislike PBO…ironically enough, HRC is now holding Obama as close as conjoined twins…hmmmm….
geg6
@DCF:
I sure hope this is sarcasm.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
hmmmm….. you heard some gossip eight years ago, now the facts are at odds with the gossip you heard….
….hmmmmmm…. indeed. Deep stuff, man, deep.
Kay
An anti-privatization-of-public-lands person! I hoped they existed, and they do :)
Ohio Mom
@retiredeng: then Cruz would finally serve as useful purpose, maybe. I can’t help but imagine he’d be too rotten to eat.
@Mike J: Wow. Nice to know. Hope that little piece of history gets widely disseminated.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@boatboy_srq:
All those lazy bums on welfare, of course!
boatboy_srq
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): @Ruckus: I don’t want to see Kasich in the WH as anything but a guest. I’m just more dumbfounded by the wingnuttery on display from the rest of the primary – and by how well that wingnuttery is selling to the Teahad.
boatboy_srq
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: I think Roger Moore is closer to the truth here. Unfortunately.
Ohio Mom
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s pronounced kay-sick.
And yes, he “won’t hide the ball.”
Gvg
@Brachiator: I am not aware of any Federal scholarships at the undergraduate level. Grants are need based. Misusing the terminology confuses things.
Darkrose
@lamh36: I don’t think so. It’s dismissive and condescending, which more and more seems to be par for the course for Bernie when talking about anything other th an economic inequality. The idea that paying attention to race, gender, orientation or identity means the same thing when applied to a privileged group as to a non-privileged group is awfully tone-deaf, especially coming from someone who already has perceived issues with regards to race and gender.
lumpkin
That fucker is more disgusting than chewing on gum that was stuck to the bottom of your shoe. I hope his bible is accurate about hell and who goes there.
mclaren
Single biggest reason why none of these clowns will become president.
Read Cruz’s crazy tax cut proposal. It’s budget-busting. Look at Trump’s lunatic mexican wall scheme. Where does the money come from? Study Jeb Bush’s absurd deficit-exploding tax-cuts-for-the-billionaires proposal. It’s insane, like Dubya on LD-50 doses of LSD.
The economy’s still in the shitter and people are scared. Back in 2000, America had a massive budget surplus and the economy in the middle of the dot-com bubble and everybody felt fat and happy and smug, so who cared if we elected a guy whose tax cuts would cost a lot of money?
Today, things are different. People are not gonna elect lunatics whose budgets will blow up the economy merely so some billionaires can get yet more tax cuts.
Kitty
Thanks Ted! Our country’s voracious insatiable drug consumption has turned hers into a living hell hole but consequences! So sad too bad.
DCF
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Once again, your ignorance is on full display…YES, there is a significant amount of animosity between the two parties…if you bothered to stay informed (for the last eight years), you would know that…but once again, you eschew content for reactive drivel….
DCF
@geg6:
It isn’t…oh…Hope (Arkansas)…punny….
Paul in KY
@lamh36: That dastardly Hillary! (shakes fist in Northeasternly direction)
Paul in KY
@debbie: Feel sorry for her & any siblings.
Paul in KY
@debbie: I’m not so sure. He can do a good fake-moderate. Somewhat like a dorkier Dubya.
Paul in KY
@Mary G: Hope you get some good news!
Paul in KY
@Mike in NC: I do not want to damage relations with Cuba! Maybe a one way ticket to the moon?
Paul in KY
@boatboy_srq: Americans will not work the jobs the poor Mexicans do unless said job gets a significant raise in pay.
satby
@Peale: I hope that’s snark because that’s ridiculous.