Obama sold his soul a long time ago. The only thing that will be strengthened will be Corprorate CEO and their golden exit plans.

Note the two other articles on Obama asserting otherwise.

This Cat is just another bought and paid for empty suit.

Huck has a "plan" for sure, but oddly didn't bother mentioning what it is. Ralph Nader? Bob Barr? Ron Paul? Lou Dobbs? It's time for Wendy's to come back from the advertising crypt and remind us to be asking, "Where's the beef?"

Obama can start were Kennedy left off, (if he really loves this country and realizes the hard economic times to come for all), by getting rid of the Federal Reserve

Daniel has a plan: vote for Obama and get MORE OF THE SAME.

Y'all need to cut this shit out. Which of you thought Obama was going to bring the socialist revolution? Or that voting for president would bring forth radical change in this country? That's now how it works. If you want change, get up off your ass and work for it: organize. All this bitchin' about Obama is unproductive. He is what he is: a liberal alternative. It beats having a reactionary in office. If you're not convinced recall the last 7 years. An Obama presidency represents a political opening in this country so the left can do its work (and trust me, I'm a a good deal farther to the left than the overwhelming majority of the people that post on this site). So quit your whining about Obama not being a progressive. At least, he's not a right wing lunatic.

I'm with Adewole on this. One thing is the presidential election, and another thing is the real work that needs to be done. And Obama is what he is. Anyway, Adwole said it better than I can.

Thank you, Ajagbe Adewole. I don't know what planet people are living on where they expect to get a President who shares all of their views. The entire country only gets ONE President, who has to somehow represent all of us and gather all of us into some kind of common vision.

What we should be looking for in a Presidential candidate is intelligence, thoughtfulness, compassion, an ability to relate to all kinds of people, integrity, leadership. Fortunately, in this election, the candidate (Obama) who demonstrates those qualities is also relatively liberal, as Presidents go. Do I agree with all his positions? No. Do I think he has a chance of being a better President than any I've seen in my 43 years? Yes. Will he be better than McCain would be? Hell yes!

The desire to have a President who believes in everything you believe in is not all that different from wanting a President with the same skin color or gender as you.

Gimmesometruth: just for the record Obama "shares" none of my views. Your presuppositions are misguided tripe.

Obama was against the war and then funded it since his election to the senate. In other words: he never seen an Iraq spending bill he did not like.

Obama's environmental plan is written by lobbyists he now says he abhors: namely, Bio Fuels, and Nuclear, both are inimical to our Earth Mother. Do some frigging research.

Obama's economic plan is written by corporations. Also check out opensecrets . com to see who is funding his campaign.

Obama claims he is a "new" politician doing things "differently" and then puts forth nothing but inside the belt way politicos for his VP selection group. A group by the way, like Johnson, who just resigned because of corporate insider knowledge.

Wake Up, People.

McCain or McCain light: do you really think either is going to provide the courage to take on the most important issue this world faces? Namely Climate Change!

A vote for McCain or McCain light will solve nothing.

Talbott: "Obama has not taken any money from corporate interests or lobbyists"

This is the Big Lie that Obama has told and Talbott now repeats. If you doubt his mendacity, see Pam Martens' research on his campaign funding; or better still, go see for yourself on Open Secrets. I guess half a million dollars from Goldman Sachs isn't a "corporate interest" and, to boot, one of those Wall Street interests that Obama says he'll be regulating.

Obama is the man. Repug demonizers are here among the dissafected, to divide and conquer.

What some people classify as anti-Obama is merely pointing out the realities of the situation. Regrettably, the sad truth is that many Americans want nothing more than the false comfort of being able to revert to previous illusions and hypocrisy about their country, its governance and its place in the world. In that case, don't worry. You'll get your wish.

Suggested reading: The progressive delusion.

These are the pseudo-mystical incantations and slogans of hypnotic hucksters. Talbott has a warehouse full of shitty books to sell, and Ombama has the rotting leftovers of the Chicago school of Eeek!-conomics to pawn. They both chant eeek!-conomic mush like the neocon-libs who defined all problems as a way to placate their base and then proceeded to implement a better kind of wrongness. We have the resources, we have the knowledge. We also have no political leadership imbedded with the Demublican-Reemocrat party-goers, who are all themselves completely outside of the democratic process. Hard work and job training to create more useless good and services is no solution at all. Busyness for erecting a hedge of personal wealth throws more dust into the polluted atmosphere.. Vote for Obamacain, it's the drug that will ease your pain! Or, read Jacque Fresco's work on a resource-based economy.

The sheeple have two mandates: McCain or McCain light.

For those who still believe in the power of FREEDOM OF CHIOCE you can cast your lot in with Nader as a PROTEST vote against the Single Party System we now have.

re: Mr. Talbott's credentials: How do you get to be "the best-selling author of a forthcoming book?"

Huck,
That worked real well in 2000 eh? Look at the movement taking hold. Your protest vote made all the difference. I guess Gore was just "Bush light" right? He would have launched an ileagal war in Iraq too, right? No. Of course he wouldn't have. My point is that our crappy two party system sucks, but there IS the lesser of two evils availible to you. Can you imagine what a difference a Gore presidency would have been to Bush's? In no way am I suggesting that Nader was responsible for Gore's loss, I know about Florida. BUt if the Nader vote did go to Gore, the world would be a slightly better place at this moment and there is no way you can deny that. Not nearly as good as with Nader for President I will admit. But there is something to be said about "small steps" in the right direction. I hold no illusions that Obama is a progresive liberal, not matter how much I wish he was, and no matter how much of his speaches would indicate it. But it is all to clear that he is far better than McCain on almost every issue and to risk a third Bush term is beyond moronic at this point. I hope you will consider this point. The only way to ever get a Kucinich or Nader to the white house is to shift Americans to the left, this will only be done through small steps and time.

eyesclosed: go weep on some one elses shoulder.

Have you been living in a vacuum, eyesclosed?

Maybe you have not noticed but the Dims have funded the Iraq war since 2001 and despite their promises to end it in 2004.

The Dims gave us Alito and Roberts instead of a fillibuster.

The Dims took IMPEACHMENT OFF THE TABLE.

The Dims joined with Repuds and suspended Habeas Corpus

The Dims took away pesonal rights by allowing agencies to look into your personal records without warrant.

Wake Up, Lad.

"Y'all need to cut this shit out. Which of you thought Obama was going to bring the socialist revolution? Or that voting for president would bring forth radical change in this country? That's now how it works. If you want change, get up off your ass and work for it: organize. All this bitchin' about Obama is unproductive"

Agreed....

Wow, some pragmatic pro-Obama comments today on CD. What gives? these anti-Obama/pro nader people on this website remind me of the spoiled kids who own the ball on the playground. "I wanna play by all my rules or I'll take my ball home. whaaaa!" In this case the ultra left wingers on CD don't even own the ball. They go home every 4 years anyway. whaaaa!

CD Pro-nader/ AntiObama people remind me of cicadas: they appear every 4 years, make some noise, then disappear yet again.

Huck, no YOU need to wake up. Nader cost the 2000 election and that resulted in Iraq and Bush. There is not a chance in hell Gore would've invaded Iraq no matter how much you say Dems and Reps are the same. Wake up!!

First, note how item #1 totes Obama's connnections (strings attached) to Wall St. as a good thing.

Note also it says nothing about how he'll do it. The easiest way would be to cut back on Pentagon spending, but Obama is promising to raise that much much higher.

When a politician touts this sort of nonsense, without saying anything specific about how they'll do it, intelligent people should either laugh or be very alarmed.

#2 again ... notice the lack of details. And we are supposed to just ignore the basic fact that it was Bill Clinton and the Dems and their close ties to banking and wall st that were the ones who deregulated the banks and caused the problem in the first place. And since Obama's campaign is just flooded with Wall St money, you'd have to be pretty gullible to think that Wall St is putting all that cash behind someone who's going to get tough with them. Yeah right.

#3 goes into the Obama is an outright liar category. Obama is taking millions from Wall St and corporate interests. The fact that Obama lies to your face while taking money in hand over fist should scare anyone.

#4 is just a bunch of hot air that doesn't say anything.

The one thing we know for sure by now is that voting Democrat is not the answer.

I love the way the Democrats always assume they already own the votes. Somehow they think the deal is that they get to put up their pro-war, pro-corporate candidates, and somehow we are all obligated to vote for them.

Nothing in the world could show better how the Dems have completely lost the notion of this being a government of the people. According to the Dems, an election is not about citizens voting for the candidate they think will best serve them and the nation. Nope, according to the Dems they already own the votes and its just a matter of sending their enforcers out to try to make sure no one gets any other ideas.

People, step one towards turning this country around is to STOP VOTING DEMOCRAT!

People like Kman thinks the world owes him something. Here is your wake up call, Kman: I owe you nothing, zip. If you need someone to hold your hand for you, maybe the Obama campaign has some volunteers ready and willing.

To all concerned:

Obama is not the solution. Obama is also not the problem.

McCain is more reasonable than anybody the Repugs have put forth is a while. That's the good news, it's also the bad news (for Democrats).

Obama is more liberal than anybody I had expected to get the Democratic nomination. That's the good news, although it's kind of like damning the Dim's with faint praise.

The problem is that America has only two parties, and they're not a conservative party and a liberal (or labor) party. They're mildly differing flavors of an exceptionalistic nationalistic jingoistic party. No candidate of either one is ever going to say that America has screwed up at any time in its 232-year history. (Kind of like pitching 232 consecutive no-hitters. Statistically incredible. Politically inevitable.)

America is becoming increasingly irrelevant in the world. To the extent that we have any impact at all, it's negative. To the extent that it can, the rest of the world is forming an operating consensus to neutralize our negative impacts. Our only hope of changing that situation is to (1) recognize that we're a nation among other nations, representing perhaps 5% of the world's population, but qualitatively no different from anybody else, and (2) find a way towards real democracy. The first step towards the latter must be to break the Repug's and Dim's collective hold on the electoral process, so that a third (and, maybe, fourth) party becomes viable. Until that happens, elections will be determined by who has the most money (and most effective ads) to convince the populace that the other candidate is the spawn of the devil. Thus, until that happens, no candidate need present well-considered solutions. Thus, until that happens, nothing gets better.

In public school civics class, I was taught that the US system of democracy (2 parties, checks and balances, all that) was the best system of governance (alternatively, the worst system except for all the others). However, if you look at the judgment of history (as evidenced by the choices every succeeding democracy has made), our model is a flop. No one has chosen to follow our lead. Rather, the parliamentary model is the standard everywhere except the US. Wake up and smell the java.

does the author also believe in the tooth fairy?

Jerry D. Rose: you are precious! Made my day!

i don't think the big us corporations want the dollar to strengthen....that is why we are mired in a mudhole....prices up on everything all of a sudden.....by design...they did it because they could.....

A few truths, and a lot of bombast. Obama's econ plan continues BAU with a twist here and a contortion there. This should surprise nobody. Something rather interesting is going to push where the economy goes, as revealed in the chart noted here. That chart could be extrapolated to include other household costs, such as food and energy other than gasoline. If you overlay that chart with one showing electoral votes, it becomes easier to see why the BAU continuance is being proposed, and not something else. Now, I want something else, as most here know from my comments. From the evidence that Germany's economy continues to humm...even though gasoline there costs $11.50/gal, we can understand from the chart that for events to drive change, $6-7 gas will be the minimal threshold, IMO. Yes, many will suffer from that and the related rising of other costs. But unless ALL the poor come out and vote third party, there will be no addressing their problems until they start to really impact the areas in blue on that map. And that will take time. Climate change is currently devastating Iowa and its neighborhood. That will contribute even more to rising food and energy costs, and looks to be an even bigger disaster than Katrina.

Pragmatism will win the presidential portion of this election, and the Pragmatic candidate is Obama. This shouldn't stop us from electing candidates more to our values to other elected positions. And those officials are often more important than the president.

Ajagbe-

Here in lies the problem. Obama has been deemed a progressive on this website, by the articles and the commentators both. Do you know how much energy is wasted within his campaign(which does not represent their interests)? It would be hard to pin an exact amount, but that energy would be better spent organizing, like you said, for some sort of direct action. But it is hard to organize when everybody is so caught up in Obamania. It would seem he is the opiate of the left, not the catalyst.

Kman-
By ultra left wingers, are you referring to the majority of the population that supports impeachment and single payer health care? Those bastards who believe in democracy!

Oddly enough, your illustration of people who just show up every four years and then go away seems to be more appropriate of the general voting public. Most "ultra leftists" I know are involved with day to day interactions trying to organize, change minds, and figure out a better tomorrow. The run of the mill Republicans and Democrats I know have not the slightest clue of their political surroundings, and criticize Obama for being "most liberal in the Senate", or having a "crazy pastor", or whatever else the corporate media tells them is an issue. It is hard in non-election years to talk politics with them. Sad.

This article is so detached from reality that I am wordless.

"In public school civics class, I was taught that the US system of democracy (2 parties, checks and balances, all that) was the best system of governance (alternatively, the worst system except for all the others). However, if you look at the judgment of history (as evidenced by the choices every succeeding democracy has made), our model is a flop."

rjmart01,

The US system is not a democracy, it is a representative federal republic. We have representatives that are supposed to represent us. Democracy may be an ideal, but it is not in our constitution.

Having said that, there is one key ingredient that 99.9 percent of all posters on CD overlook: The people have abrogated their responsibilities as citizens and others have moved in to take over the power we are supposed to be using. I rarely get responses when I mention this because (I imagine) very few actually want the responsibility and work that goes along with our form of government and our ideal.

Voting is a very small part of our form of system. It is what we do on the other 364 days that really makes a difference.

Now you can go back to arguing about which titular figurehead should or should not rule our country - after all, it's so much easier. Oh, and one more thing: If we don't lift a finger to make a difference, then we are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the people are not involved, it can be neither a representative republic nor a democracy.

It's time for each of us to look in the mirror.

Voting for McCain is voting for more Robert's, Alito's and Scalia's on the Supreme Court. If you like habeas corpus, don't vote for McCain.

Charley Reese reminds us clearly:

"The president can't raise or lower taxes; can't legislate on any matter, including Social Security and health care; can't declare war; and can't make treaties or appoint Supreme Court justices without the advice and consent of the Senate... The last duty to be listed says he may "recommend certain measures" to Congress."

IOW, it's "our" Congress who has actually been doing the robbing and raping and pillaging, and they will continue unabated w/BO at the helm, whether he "recommends" they cease and desist or not. And, based on who's been filling his coffers, he'll continue to squawk like a populist... with a wink to his paymasters.

Let's try for just a minute think back to F.D.R. he was by no means a liberal as the Gov. of New York during the crash and after. He put his ass in front of the progressive movement, That movement PUSHED him to the left, and as he is famously noted as saying when he was asked to force some legislation thru, he told the person requesting "You'll have to make me do it.". We get out of this system just what WE PUT IN!

It does appear that circumstances will push people to action...president or poor workin sob. Our economic problem is systemic. Pools of money flow where profits can be had. I bet our pension funds are feuling the commodity bubbles as we speak because it is their job to make money for the funds. What's ironic is they are taking the cash from our pockets now to fulfill their obligations to us later with more worthless dollars. Truth is not much can be done until the system crashes and then we can pick up the pieces and try to put Humpty together again.

Huck:

Ha weeping? Don't be an idiot, I'm just trying enlighten you to the facts of what the REAL choice is here. Your idea sucks and won't work, get it? Mine may not either but atleast it's something worth trying. I am not, nor will ever be a Democrat, I am aware of everything they have done (or haven't done) to this point. The party disgusts me regularly (except Dennis K.), giving them my vote make me even sicker. You and I are rooting for the same non-existant team. But until a larger percentage of the population is on board and aware that democracy has been hi-jacked by this two party corporate loving system (or one party system in many reguards), a 2 or 3% vote for a third party option won't raise intrest by the public or ignorant media. So right now we got two people that our vote actually counts (maybe...diebold). If you don't see the logic of the Obama vote, of the 'small steps in the right direction', then cast your vote to the trash can, it is your right as an American and I can respect that. (Are you an American... Lad?)

Nice book exerpt, but it's pure propaganda. Read the article by Naomi Klein on Obama's embrace of the Chicago school of economics (basically, the neocons). Here's the link: Obama's Chicago Boys.

Obama's biggest campaign contributor is the Goldman Sachs investment firm, which also was Bill Clinton's top funder (see OpenSecrets.org here). Economic shock will be our lot under Obama. It's class warfare - and yes, you're the target. It's just business, after all.

It's the Supreme Court, stupid! Sad to say, but this is the main reason to vote for Obama. As mentioned above, we don't need another Scalia clone. If he's embraced neocon/neoliberal international economics it could be very bad.

Repealing Bush tax cuts won't make the banks and brokerages solvent or return the homeless to their homes and jobless to their jobs. If you don't think too deeply about it, it will inspire "hope".

Obama isn't going to return stability to the "global banking system". He's not Jesus Christ Superstar. He will take his marching orders from the global elite to help impose a new global system, owned and operated by the same global elite. After a quick surreptitious recent visit to the latest Bilderburgh gathering, he's got his orders.

He's not going to end corporate lobbying because he can't do so under the Constitution. And what is this nonsense about not being beholden to corporate money? This "individual" donors only claim is bs. Check www.opensecrets.org to assess this claim.

So far as the minimum wage and the social safety net is concerned, an earlier reference to Charley Reese by Frank1569 reminds us the Congress fulfills a President's dreams. And Congress might just do that to head off a building insurgency in the population. Obama will pursue a buy-them-off policy with the help of a compliant Congress.

But Obama will do nothing at all to return our nation to its full sovereign status under the Constitution, or reduce the unconstitutional power of the executive, repair the damage done to the Bill of Rights, downsize the imperial war machine, or challenge the power of the globalizing corporatist elite. He will assist in the continuing destruction of the American national identity in the name of the collectivist, globalist ideal he never mentions.

This is just fine with Ajagbe Adewole, above, and all Obama supporters. It's the only game in town, friends, unless, of course, you'd like to invent your own.

Vote security or vote your conscience. The choice is clear.

Kman says:

"If you want change, get up off your ass and work for it: organize."

Huck replies:

"People like Kman thinks the world owes him something."

That's a rational rebuttal?

How about nationalizing the energy business? Is this too radical for American liberals to visualize?

The real Obama econopic 'plan' is probably to just print more paper dollars... Full troops ahead, too, no doubt... More welfare for the multi-nationals.

What change? More delusions by liberals is the plan. It's like leading sheep to the slaughter.

Raplph Nader has consistently remained on target with his economic and corporate positions from 2000 and before. Has any democratic candidate ever found any corporation too corrupt and spoke out against them before the corporation's collapse? I don't thing so.

The democrats say, 'Impeachment is off the table by the democratic party and we can't just withdraw from Iraq.' That is why I don't support the democrats (even if McCain will win).

My potential candidates, Ralph Nader and Green Party Cynthia McKinney are both in agreement on the need to impeach the war criminal Bush. And so should anyone who wants to see justice in America.

"Obama believes that a country cannot be prosperous and grow unless all of its citizens are engaged and working."

This would be hilarious if it were not so very wicked. The elites dangle a new puppet (O'Bama) onto the stage to "inspire" (hypnotize) a new generation of cogs in the machine to "engage and work" like the previous generation of cogs, ehh? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Vote third party progressive in all your exchange/association. See if that doesn't throw a badly needed monkey wrench into the machine.

"Obama believes that a country cannot be prosperous and grow unless all of its citizens are engaged and working."

"prosperous and growing"? The premise is fundamentally whacked. The pursuit of prosperity and growth at all cost are the two pursuits that the elites managed to istill in the US population resulting in near catastrophic enslavement and plunder today. It must be that O'Bama puppet has been instructed to court the right wing authoritaran followers. His masters believe they have progressives in the pocket. They have another thing coming. The Demoks as a party simply might not survive November. They might need to consolidate into the Repuk party for the elites to have any hope to survive their self-induced implosion.

Ajagbe, you are absolutely correct. Obama is far, far better than McCain, the only real alternative. Yes, we will need to work to nudge him from time to time and build a popular consensus for a progressive agenda. But to bash him because he is not, by our lights, the perfect candidate only helps McCain. We need to get progressives and moderates fired up and out in force on election day.

MLK-I have a Dream
Obama-Pipe Dream

Notice through slight of hand one of the biggest consumers of our tax dollars, the Military Industrial Complex isn't even mentioned.

We spend more on our military than almost the entire planet put together. Obama wants to increase it. He calls for adding another 100,000 troops. He wants to shift troops from Iraq to Afghanistan not really bring them home.

From his website:
"He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda."

It is very clear al Qaeda is leaving therefore Obama will keep many, many tens of thousands of troops in Iraq, fighting and dying for Big Oil and Big Profits Inc.

Hey John R. Talbott why don't you write about where Obama stands on the Military Industrial Complex? Wouldn't get elected if he did? Right, in order to get elected you must do exactly what Obama is doing, selling out.

Dump the Democrats! We all need to unite under a new party. The discredited Democrats have done nothing but cave in to the Republicans. When enough of us say enough is enough and refuse to vote for the Democratic-Republican Party then we can begin to take our country back.

There are some hucking crazy people scribbling on these boards.

Obama is so far superior to McCain it's entering the realm of the absurd. Look at the basics....his family. Married to the same woman and a father of two young kids he fears they may not see glaciers when they grow up. He's a bright "everyman" and he exemplifies a calm and thoughtfulness unseen in decades on the world stage. It's gonna be a landslide in November. I'm predicting the Repub's will ditch McCain and go with someone else due to Johnnies poor and morbid performances and well detailed flip-flops on all major issues.

safiyyah June 15th, 2008 1:16 am

"How about nationalizing the energy business? Is this too radical for American liberals to visualize?"

safiyyah,

There are only a hand-full of "economically-minded" liberal Americans left in this country who can visualize such a radical concept; we also know that as long as the global central bankers control governments and monetary policy, nationalizing energy in the U.S. will remain the "impossible dream".

In fact, some of the largest global banks have been infiltrating the energy market. The following link is a continuation of the grim realities we've been witnessing over the past 12 years:

http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/willie/2008/0613.html

"McCain is more reasonable than anybody the Repugs have put forth is a while."

'Reasonable?' The guy who sings 'bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran'? The guy who scares Republicans who've worked with him? The guy who goes out and says "the surge has worked"?

When people start posting about the Bilderburgers -- the old John Bitch Society bugaboo -- you know what you're dealing with.

The same weird merging of certain forms of left & rightwing beliefs that developed in Russia is developing here.

True change never comes from the top down, but from the bottom up. If Obama is pulling a bait & switch, he's very foolish to attempt it, because this is not hte 1990s, and people won't accept Clintonian bromides & equivocations in lieu of actual abandonment of the old University of Chicago nonsense.

Wow, kman, just spoiled kids on the playground because they don't support your zealotry? Let's speak truly about Obama and not fanatically. Sure many of us are desperate for 'change,' but we must not plunge headlong into it with eyes wide shut.

Obama would do well to consult with Nader-- perhaps Nader and John Edwards together--and discuss practicalities and populist needs. Presently, it may be that Obama has good intentions, but will soon fall into corruption if we do not keep him honest, though unbiased evaluation.

Many here seem to have made him into a savior or saint. He is not. Accusing Obama critics or disparaging them without seeing whether what they say is true or not will guarantee more of the same. Obama, like any other presidential candidate must be held accountable. Accountability seems to be in such rare supply today, especially in politics.

"At least, he's not a right wing lunatic."

We are also praying he's not a left wing lunatic.

Jerry D. Rose June 14th, 2008 11:52 am

Right! And since when isn't the University of
California or Harvard not Corporate interests?

MiMiCcS June 14th, 2008 7:50 pm

Couldn't say it better myself. This isn't a plan, its a wish list pander. But aren't most plans, discarded immediately after the elaection when reality sets in?

Please note the error at the very end of the article:
Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot at CEPR, the Center for Economic and Policy Studies, predicted the housing budget before Mr. Talbott.

After the November elections, which hopefully Sen. Obama will win, we will see the U.S. ruling class throw the rest of the population to the wolves. Sen. Obama has not yet, nor unfortunately will he try and mobilize the working population to the extent any leader would need to to seriously take on the current class structure.