"Democrat Is No Longer A Brand"

Huffington Post



Fineman is saying that politics today boils down to the marketplace. Each political group or party strives to create a recognizable "brand name" which helps to sell their ideology in the competitive world of advertising. There is no doubt that well-financed ad campaigns have been very effective in reaching "consumers," often swaying the way people vote in elections. He who has the best ads wins.

The things that liberals have traditionally stood for -- the middle and working classes, the regulation of the marketplace, the role of government in improving people's lives, keynsian economics, etc.-- are now being assailed.

My father used to say to us, "The Democrats are for the common man. The Republicans are for the rich." Needless to say, he was a Democrat.

While President Obama was highly successful in creating his particular brand of "hope," he now seems to want to move the party to the center and portray himself as a pragmatist. The president, and part of the Democratic party, are apparently afraid that if they are not more right wing in an extremely conservative country, their agenda will fail time after time.

The fact is, Obama won in practically a landslide, largely because of liberals, young people and new voters who had previously been complacent about voting. He is now alienating his base in order to try to become more popular with the American people.

The truth is, no matter how moderate and reasonable Obama appears, the right will never, ever, support him and will continue to fight dogmatically every piece of legislation he, or the Democrats, propose.

It's Republicans in Congress, and not necessarily the American people as a whole, who have been key in trying to thwart all initiatives that are in any way liberal. There is no hope that they will change, especially when the new House will have a Republican majority in January.

One reason the health care bill is unpopular with both the left and the right is because the right finds it insufficiently conservative and the left finds it insufficiently liberal. The same is true of the recent tax break deal.

I personally would like to see the president grow a spine and be willing to side more firmly with his base. If he continues in his present appeasement at any cost he will lose both the conservatives and the liberals and thus the election in 2012.

So, what has the tax plan created? More taxes. That is right, taxes are going to go UP for those on the low end and slightly down for those at the top.

So, who is going to be blamed for this debacle? Who has control of both branches of government I wonder?

Elections matter I guess.

Yep, this congress has been the most successful in passing legislation in my age time frame. Of course with things like Patriot Act II, the Interpol's immunity, the creation of the US districts for FEMA and the 10 governing areas, the Destruction of the Health Care industry, the Creation of the Too Big to fail bill, the Consumer Protection Agency under the purview of the Federal Reserve (a private corporation) which will NOT be regulated by the government, the forced sexual assault of travelers, the non enforcement of our sovereign borders, the attempt to begin a Cap and Tax system to redistribute the labor of the US to around the world, etc etc etc.

Looks like the leftists got EVERYTHING they wanted, more and more control by the government that has systematically stolen EVERY dime from Social Security, Medicare and the future of an entire generation of people.

Glad to see the Dems and the leftists are so happy with their party's success.

Politics have been about branding or lifestyle marketing as long as I have been alive.

Who you vote for or campaign for has far more to do with the image you want to project than anything else.

This nation has been run like a reality TV show for at least half a century now.

reply to post by Sestias


Obama lost his base be cause he lied and because he ticked off a lot of categories of people.

SMALL BUSINESSES
Small Businesses hire 50% of the labor force. Obama and the DemiRats ticked off the small business people with the 1099 tax rule hidden in Obamacare.

An all-but-overlooked provision of the health reform law is threatening to swamp U.S. businesses with a flood of new tax paperwork.

Section 9006 of the health care bill -- just a few lines buried in the 2,409-page document -- mandates that beginning in 2012 all companies will have to issue 1099 tax forms not just to contract workers but to any individual or corporation from which they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year.... money.cnn.com...

That and the mandatory healthcare for 50 employees and over is going to anger not only the business owner but many of his employees...

Joe SixpackHey boss I just got back from Timbuktu, the Holiday Inn was full so I had to stay at the Marriot The bill was $620 dollars...

Boss: Sorry Joey you didn't stay at the designated hotel. I will remburse you for $599 as I told you before you left. I am NOT filling out anymore $%^&^% paperwork for the IRS...

Boss I am sorry guys. I know I normally hire your kids during the summer vacation but that puts me over the 50 employee limit so I will no longer be able to hire employee children.

FARMERS AND ORGANIC CONSUMERS
Passage of S-510 the Food Safety Farce was passed by attaching it to the budget. This is looked on by farmers as down right underhanded. As food prices soar, farms bankrupt and so do their associated businesses Democrats will really cursed.

According to the 2002 Ag Census:
For my state all farms except for 171 are family held. That is 53,759 family farms with $3,145,202,000 spent on supplies and $617,679,000 spent on labor. A total of $3,762,881,000 added to the states economy. Then add in the Horse Population of 256,000 horses with a Total Economic Impact: $ over 704 million and you get 4.5 BILLION. A real healthy chunk of change.

According to a PEW report I read local farms have a multiplier effect of 7 so that is a total impact of 31.5 BILLION for one state. Corporate farms have little local impact according to the same report and do not add to the local economy.

Oh and do not forget the codex alimentarius tucked into that bill. You can start saying good by to your Vitamin and mineral supplements.

The Codex Alimentarius Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Supplements are a joint attempt by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to formulate one single standard governing the sale of food supplements that can be applied throughout the global market. Under the guise of free trade ‘harmonization’ the Guidelines are being drawn up by the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU), where vitamins and minerals are defined as foods. This committee meets in Germany once every year, usually in November.

Although the Guidelines have gone through several revisions over recent years it is now becoming increasingly clear that their eventual effect, once completed and implemented, may be to remove large numbers of the most effective forms of nutrients from the global market; set restrictive upper limits on the dosages of all permitted nutrients; and prevent the sale of all supplements for curative, preventative or therapeutic purposes without a doctor’s prescription. As a result, the Guidelines would continue to ensure that the sale of curative, preventative and therapeutic products remains the exclusive province of the pharmaceutical industry.

As this article will show, the Codex Alimentarius Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Supplements are now without question the most serious of all the various threats currently facing the global natural products industry....
www4.dr-rath-foundation.org...

The FDA has already stated it plans to HARMONIZE its regulations...

Believe me I am going to be standing out side the stores telling people WHY food prices sky rocketed and people can no longer buy supplements and I am suggesting others do so.

If we also get Cap and Trade that is going to tick people off even more of the common people as they see their energy costs sky rocket and the average Joe gets saddled with more regulations, higher and higher costs and no rise in wages.

And then there is the doubling of the money supply in the first three months of 2009. This will eventually translate into halving our savings.

reply to post by saltheart foamfollower

I wasn't aware that taxes for the middle and working classes will go up more than a little, although I follow the news pretty closely. If it is true that there will be big increases, then of course the middle class will be paying for most of the spending and be screwed once again, as they have been during the Bush and Reagan eras. Another reason why the Democrats have disappointed me.

To be fair, SOMEBODY has to pay for the ever-increasing cost of Social Security and Medicare Part B and also the enormous cost of two wars that seem never to end. I think everybody will have to suck it up a little, though from what you say the top 2% will get a break. Thank the Republicans for that.

reply to post by crimvelvet

I am also disappointed in the present administration. However, I support the mandatory health insurance for companies over 50 employees.

Businesses are not hiring more employees because the economy is so bad they are having a hard time even selling what they currently produce. Without consumer demand there is no need for more help. That's always the reason for hiring freezes. Of course, all businesses want to make additional profits by cutting employee salaries and benefits to the bone. Better that than giving up their executive perks and private planes and such. But they always do that, good economy or bad. In the end, the average worker always gets screwed.

The Walton family of Wal-Mart fame are multi-billionaires. I think they can afford to provide health insurance for their employees without too much suffering on their part.