Why hasn't President Obama used his huge email list for message control before the stimulus debate started?
By John Amato Monday Feb 02, 2009 6:30pmMuch was made of President Obama's massive email/Internet list that he collected on the way to a huge presidential victory in November. Many said in the political world that this would be a great tool for him to use the grassroots and the WEB to help him continue his extraordinary run and to push through his policies after the disastrous Bush years. Well, Obama has based much of the success of his Presidency on the economic stimulus plan that he's trying to get passed through Congress with his big bipartisan outreach plan to Republicans.
So far Republicans in the House have spit in his face as usual and not one member of the Republican HOUSE voted for Obama's plan. Like rats running back to their sewers after making pit stops made of cheese on cable TV, I say again, Not One Republican in the House voted with him. And after he went to Capital Hill himself to reach out his hand to show a real commitment to his bipartisan stance during the campaign.
I have a question for the Obama staff. Why was the Democratic Party so miserable in trying to explain your stimulus plan to the American people when the mass media finally gave them some air time? Why did you let the messaging get away from you? Why wasn't this LIST immediately implemented to take the lead on the messaging of his economic plan? Don't you think it's a little late to remember that this LIST existed?
President Barack Obama Monday called on millions of backers to lobby friends and neighbors on his stimulus plan, in an early sign of how he may use his formidable campaign machine in government.
The president told his army of supporters that "the economic crisis is growing more serious every day, and the time for action has come" as the Senate took up an 888 billion dollar version of his recovery package.
"It's not enough for this bill to simply pass Congress. Americans need to know how it will affect their lives," Obama wrote in the message, addressed "Dear Friend."
The blogosphere can put the media on notice to try and stop them from using Republican talking points when discussing the plan, but why wait till now? The David Broders will never criticize Republican behavior and only blame you so please get it together.
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Because he's now in office and can do whatever the eff he wants with no ramifications. That's our government.
Sorry, I'm just bitter rightnow.
all are. Our whole way of life is crumbling before our eyes, and no one seems to know what to do about it. I have to say though, since this crisis has gotten worse, I have been getting in on a lot more discussions on C&L lately. I guess it's just to vent my frustration.
Can anyone at C&L explain why the stimulus package is a good thing?
Do you know where the money is going to come from?
You think we need to stop the correction? Why would you stop a correction from correcting?
Why do you think trying to artificially re-inflate our flat tire economy with massive dollars is good when there is a huge hole in the tire?
We could have bought every distressed mortgage in the country several times over with all the liquidity that has been injected into the system and yet we are still retracting. What makes you think investing money we don't have in our infrastructure is going to work?
Has not the corruption and misuse of the first $800 billion not raised enough alarms for you yet? How many executive massages, vacation parties, new private jets must we endure before enough is enough?
If you think I'm just blowing air, well I have futilely posted on this a lot.
Here is a trail of my futility
Krugman ISN'T RIGHT
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/amity-...
It means dead in storage (Sterilized Dollars in China)
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/amity-...
That's right, there is not enough gold
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/amity-...
A little history of how we got here
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/amity-...
Kondratieff knew this was coming
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/amity-...
Susie yeah it is silly to think that
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/amity-...
Why doesn’t Paul Krugman ever explain...
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/p...
No Krugamn does NOT! That's what is scary!
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/p...
I know many at C&L think we need to do something now. Take action? OK, but wouldn’t it be wise to make sure the action you are taking isn’t driving nails in our coffin? Some times the best action is no action. I’ll argue it should have been done on the trip up leading to this moment. Rule 101 in investing never catch a falling knife, wait for it finish, then step in.
Nuts,I asked a 20 year old the other day if he could tell me what part of the goverment is thr Fed Res is in. He said he would half to think on it. He was sure it was part of the federal gov but did not know what part. the Fed Res Act was the biggest CON JOB on the American people our elected people did to our country.
The FED is not even a government agency, it is a private company and has no oversight, it answers to no one. It’s largest holder today is JP Morgan Chase, the FED has never been audited and is tax exempt.
Why are we letting them NOT tell us where $2 trillion went? Why are we letting them do anything! End the FED!
My take on Obama's ineffectualness is that his roots are as a communiuty organizer. He's used to, and has tremendous talent as, effecting change when he DOES NOT HAVE POWER. Now that he's got it he does not seem to know how to wield it. As much as Rahm kinda gets it, at least evidenced by his statement about not letting this crisis "go to waste", his boss is still acting like Barry from the block.
But I am glad you are asking questions and providing a forum for finding out. Good Post.
that you bring up John. I personally am a firm believer in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy. I don't know why Pres. Obama would back away from something that helped him win the presidency.
He backed away from it because it is just another example of his taking his "base" for granted. In his zeal for bipartisanship he has acted like a Heartbreaker from Hell. Speaking for myself, I've felt like I was mugged by a friend and I don't like it much.
You know what bipartisan means to the Thugs:
"Our way or the Highway"
As for the Dems, as a Thug you just have to drop the word 'filibuster' and they're all "Yes, dear. Whatever you want dear." Even when they control the Congress. And the White House.
I think Obama needs to go all LBJ on some mofos. We know he can do it. He smacked Joe around...
The Johnson Treatment
Talk about getting in their face.
I did not recall that LBJ was the majority Leader in the late 50's. Hey, I was six years old, give me a break.
Could you even start to compare him to Harry Reid? Iron men and wooden ships, indeed.
he's got a deep authoritative voice, and he really can control himself, from what I've seen. Johnson was downright threatening and rude, screaming and deriding friend and foe alike.
That's what worked for him, the threats, rudeness, screaming, and deriding friend/foe who resisted his agenda. Sometimes, that's what it takes. I'd like to see some in Congress today pee in their pants if an LBJ got after THEM!
I wish they never would have compromised on the House version of the Bill. They didn't get any votes off it anyway. It's too bad they couldn't rewrite it exactly as they want and then pass it again. I hope Obama has the strength to realize when people are not friends or do not have the same goals in mind as him.
I can respect differing opinions working on the same goal, but you can't respect someone's opinions if they are trying to sabotage the things and Country you hold dear.
that's the big issue. Look, it's now being said that some Democrats are going to vote nay with the republicans in the senate. I completely agree with you, these guys on the right don't want to be bi-partisan. They are trying to figure out a way to be populist so that they can take power back, they would rather sink the country and make Obama look bad. These guys won't give an inch on anything, that's why it's so disappointing to see Democrats running to their side all the time.
Republicans kick and scream about content of the economic stimulus bill. The Democrats weaken the bill to appease Republicans. The Republicans vote against it anyway, and then blame the democrats when and if it doesn't work. That is a losing strategy. Huffington Post has a good write up on it.
I'm going over to check it out now.
"I really hope they have enough political courage to cut those who don't negotiate in good faith out of the discussions, and advance the strongest bill possible. We're told elections have consequences. It is time for Democrats to prove that they understand this."
That's from the Huff. Po. Spittin some truth there. These right wingers are not decent people and they do not care what happens as long as they can use it to portray themselves in the best light possible. When they say jump and we say how high, then we ask them to please jump and offer them the equivalent of a political hammer to beat us over the head with and they string us along then say F-You at the last moment. Our side needs to do a serious gut check and get on the airwaves and sell this shit. It's time to crack knuckles and start brawling these bastards. Enough is enough, now is the time to stand up and shine the light on their little charade.
They are completely in it for themselves. That is their thing. Bush and Cheney were evidence of this. Why try to negotiate with people who do not care about the well-being of the country. These people are enemies not legislative allies. Oh how I wish Democrats would stand up and put a stop to this charade.
Gee, I got an email about this. Is everyone else NOT on his list?
I'm on the Obama mailing list. I don't know if that is the same list John is talking about. But he wants us all getting together for house parties coming up. I'm just glad he isn't asking us to pay of Hillary's debts.
Obama is just another GOP operative posing as a Democrat. His voting record as Senator is right-of-center.
Why else has Obama and the Democratic Leadership been so busy appeasing the extreme right and pointedly ignoring those that voted for him?
Now he's appointing Gregg as Commerce Sec but only after another Democratic sellout promises to replace his Senate seat with a right-winger, solely to ensure the Republicans can continue to filibuster every single bill in the Senate!
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. So much for Change. The only change I see is the speed at which the ruling class turns America into a third-world dictatorship.
I had thought about this and thought that maybe he was so overwhelmed with crap, that maybe he just didn't think about it.
(I hope.)
But maybe now that someone has brought it up, maybe he will use it. I think that he could be more effective, but I also think that there has been so much crap since he's taken office that maybe he's just trying to get his footing.
Unfortunately, in this environment, he better do it fast if he wants fast action from congress. They have now shown him their true faces. As his buddy Oprah says...when someone shows you who they really are...believe them. Time to stop being Mr Nice Guy, and go in swinging for the cheap seats.
I'm hearing so many people second guessing everything that's coming out of the Oval Office right now, and a LOT of them are Dems (not on line, but my personal life). It's hard to believe that it's only been two weeks since Inauguration. GWB left us this mess in 8 years....two weeks is barely enough time to find your feet, I'd guess.
I also keep thinking....what the hell happened to Dickey's Shadow Government? Do you think he took it back home with him? I'm just curious what people think about this. Personally, I don't believe that all of Dickey's boys and girls went back home with him, or that they are following orders from Our New President.
Those a$$holes were in power to stay, and I can't believe they let a little thing like an election and an inauguration put a monkey wrench in their little Coup d'etat. Remember that Rummy had an office in the Pentagon long after he was fired......so where is he now?
Just some thoughts.
(for the record, I am not blaming all of Obama's mis-steps on a shadow government...I'm just saying...I think there are agent provacatuers in place to gum up the works if needed.)
it's just a matter of footing, but it's looking worse and worse every day. I mean I was cynical about politics before Obama came along, but if turns out that it was all just smoke and mirrors, man that will be hard to swallow. I was donating money to his campaign as I was working myself out of a job. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt though, I just wanna see him get bare-knuckle on these obstructionist assholes.
Unfortuantely, I am on the Obama email list, and I think I'd rather have root canal than receive another one of their messages. It's either Barack, Michelle or David Poof telling me how fortunate I am to live in America and why I should send another $5 to make America great by sending them more cash. The messages are nonsense or just plain annoying.
The notion of the internet is that it's supposed to be a two-way street. We are supposed to share ideas. However, the Obama email machine seems to think that it can lead people around by the nose by directing them to do this or that -- volunteer on Xmas, send them money, go wobbly with another sob story, whatever.
I am happy that Obama won. I look forward to him doing the country a lot of good, but the point of this campaign was not to create a cult of personality. (Do I sound a little grumpy?)
Obama's need This overwelming need for Bipartianship is being used By the Gop for their advanage, He needs to ignore them. He better step Up Like this and at a faster rate from now on . He should of done this from the start But I bet that Need Stopped him.
I mean he had them over to the White House wooing them and all. But hell, you would've had to have been living under a rock for the last 8 years to think that these guys would reciprocate any good gestures. Offer them an olive branch and they offer us Poison ivy.
What I have tried to do at my own website is lay out a plan where we, the People, can finally come together using the internet to represent the Peoples' voice. At The National Online Party, three organizations are created, one left, one independent, one right, to give the People a voice, to allow them to speak and to be accurately heard no matter what their political persuasion. That's it. No spin, no flag-waving, no donations, just the voice of the People unfettered by partisan political spin.
I was hoping Obama might set up a similar structure online, with effective deliberative groupward, that would allow his 13-million member strong e-mail list to have their OWN voice, to allow them to speak and to be accurately heard. In any case that was what I suggested to Organizing America.
Strangely. I never got a reply.
ex animo
davidfarrar
im not into anything "OMNIBUS" except decreasing the US defense budget significantly and freeing Palestine.
As for this stimulus" break it up and make sure its being done right. christ they still have 300 million plus to spend out of TARP.
It seems it didn't take Obama long to show that he too is an enemy of the Constitution and justice. Bush should be imprisoned and it seems our new and dear leader wants to follow him.
Rendition. Change you can disappear on.
Obama preserves renditions as counter-terrorism tool
Under executive orders issued by Obama just two days into his tenure, the CIA still has authority to carry out what are known as renditions, secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that cooperate with the United States, the Los Angeles Times reports.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washi...
where were you when bush was conducting HIS WAR crimes.
I was calling and demonstrating for Bush's impeachment as well. ANy President who thinks he has the authority to kidnap, torture and murder people without due process is a criminal, pure and simple. A criminal.
To answer your question. I am still calling for the arrest and prosecution of Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Yoo, Bybee, Myers... all of them including their Democratic counterparts.
This is me before I was interviewed by a local newspaper calling for the prosecution of Bush and Cheney.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fus...
Now is not the time for politics. now is the time to restore the rule of law and justice. The Constitution has been destroyed and this new President cares not for you or I. He is a globalist just like the Neo-Cons. It's time we understand the Establishment would never have allowed his election if he was not in agreement with the globalist movement.
Think about it. They think we're all fools. They are sadly mistaken.
FWIW, maybe Obama's email list isn't nearly as large as it was. Some people have withdrawn their support from Obama and asked to be removed from his mailing list, though I don't know how many, of course.
He's googling monkey porn.
The Wingnuts have already begun a massive ad campain to get control of Congress or at least get back some of the seats that they lost. Corporate America is scared, they have gambled the economy down the tubes and now the progressives have control. They cannot let popular opinion to get behind the Democrats and lose more seats in next years election. They risk losing the dolar tree that the neocons established, labor getting back what Reagan took from them, regulatory agencies hauling their asses off to prison, the debt being paid down, and most certianly cannot afford for the US to realize that we really never needed fossil fuels at all, that we can use the same Hydrogen converters that NASA has been using since the appolo missions to power our cars and homes and simply power up from water.
Neo-Cons will blow up the capitol before they allow that.
Obama has to take the weapons out of the hands of the wing nuts, by making the legeslature keep out of the pork and play by the book just as the public thinks that they should. The political payoffs will just have to wait. He is going to have to rule from the center.
I applaud Maddow for holding the Dems feet to the fire, but Obama will have to take this fight to the people by email TV radio and late night talk shows, they same methods that got him there, take it tothe people, before the Wingnuts take control of the media circus.
and I'm not even American. It's similar to Adware. The Daily Show's website is making fun of it. OK, you ran for election Obama promising this, this and that. Now that you are elected, you are emailing for money, and for your base to have house parties and decided what should be done. Well, if you have no clue, you are supposed to have an administration that does. What happened to the big "All Star" admin of the best of the best? And why is his "base" supposed to keep giving him money? For what? Those bank bailouts not big enough yet? If you don't know how to fix the economy, ask economic experts like Krugman.
Well, to all of you who voted for the A-HOLE, now you are finding out that your "messiah" is no better than any other crooked politician!
He's been back-stepping since inauguration day and it will assuredly only get worse.
Number one, the masses were fooled by a well-schooled crook with Muslim backing and special interest/LIBERAL money behind him.
Number Two, CAN you REALLY, TRULY believe ANYONE RUNNING FOR OFFICE?
For the REAL LOW DOWN on Obama, Sotero, Dunham or whatever name he decides to go by next week, Google the following:
1. Obama Would Fail Security Clearance and read the article by Daniel Pipes for the Jewish World Review.
2. Mysterious Shadow Code Name Obama and read the article from Pravda.
3. US Army College Issues Apologia for Hamas.
5. Concentration Camps in America (look for the article on Haliburton receiving $480 million dollars to build MORE camps in the US-(WE ALREADY HAVE 800 FULLY STAFFED AND READY TO GO)!
4. Check out the Legislation on GUN CONTROL in Congress now which he wants to tie as a "RIDER" to another bill he knows will pass. Won't be long folks, Shariah Law and Concentration Camps are coming!
The LAST thing American taxpayers need to be burdened with is another TRILLION dollar bill! WHAT exactly does anyone seriously thing another stimulus will do for this economy??? WE NEED JOBS, not $500 to pay off this month's grocery bill!
Bush gave us all $600 and what good did it do? We were still piss poor broke the next day.
We need to petition Congress to STOP OUTSOURCING AMERICAN JOBS!!! Bring back the factories and blue collar jobs. THAT is how America will rebuild itself, if it is at all possible!
QUIT BUYING FROM CHINA!
by the Obama administration's inability to get their message out.
Our country is at what is only the beginning of an economic catastrophe. Job #1 for the Obama administration is to get their stimulus plan up and rocking. Otherwise when we reach the middle of this mess, we'll keep sliding towards the bottom.
We have an extremely popular history-making president. He ran the most technology and media savvy campaign ever. We have majority in both houses. We have some of the best minds working on the problem.
And somehow he can't get anyone on TV to sell the stimulus package in a timely manner? Or correct GOP lies about the CBO analysis & the stimulus package as a whole? Where are the surrogates? Where are the editorials?
It's weak. Very Weak
Meanwhile Republicans hammer away using the tried & true GOP formula: Lie. Obstruct. Lie. Repeat.
-AF
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