New Dems, ConservaDems, And Blue Dogs Are Damaging The Democratic Brand

At some point soon in the future the Democratic establishment along with the White House had better figure out that stuff like this is what is going to give the Republicans back the House and possibly the Senate if its allowed to keep happening. Right now we are allowing a small group of Republican light members of Congress to bring all of our legislation so far to the right as to not resemble mainstream Democratic thought. And I can promise you that those select few won't be the ones who really catch hell behind it, it will be the overwhelming majority of elected Democrats who rely on their base to come out in big numbers to vote for them in midterm elections. I truly believe that New Dems, ConservaDems and Blue Dogs wouldn't really mind if the Republicans took over Congress again so long as they keep getting money from their corporatist backers.

If somebody doesn't reign them in soon and stop "compromising" with them on issues that should amount to common sense and DEFINITELY amount to mainstream Democratic thought, we really will have a blood bath next year, no matter how bad the GOP screws themselves. When these folks start getting threatened of being stripped of seniority and or chairmanships then we will see how beholden they are to special interests. Until that day you can expect to see more of this kind of obstruction within our own party.

It is what it is.

The Negotiator In Chief

I don't know how true this story is (its from Jake Tapper after all and chocked full of anonymous sources) but if its even close its a pretty damn good start for President Obama.

According to sources inside the room, President Obama just played peacemaker in a spat between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China.

In the finaly plenary session among the G-20 leaders, Sarkozy and Hu were having a heated disagreement about tax havens.

France and other European nations have been pushing for rules and regulations to apply to various tax havens; Germany's Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck has said "these tax havens are also places where unregulated financial market deals are made."

But Chinese leaders fear a crackdown would hurt banking centers in Macao, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Other countries agree, though they are less outspoken publicly.

The exchange between Sarkozy and Hu got so heated, said a source -- who is not a member of the Obama administration -- it was threatening the unity of the G-20 leaders' meeting.

snip

Sarkozy specifically was pushing for a list from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to be included in the G-20 Leaders' Statement.

Headquartered in Paris, the OECD has 30 member countries -- all capitalist democracies.

China opposed any such list being included in the final Leaders' Statement.

"China tends to have a problem endorsing the documents of organizations like the OECD that they're not a party to," the senior administration official said.

But Mr. Obama, according to this account, stepped between the two men, urging them to try to find consensus, and giving them a "pep talk" about the importance of working together.

The senior adminstration official said that Mr. Obama pulled Mr. Sarkozy aside, took him to a corner, "and discussed possible alternatives," the senior official said.

Once they arrived at one, President Obama "sent a message to the Chinese" that a counter-offer was on the table. The Chinese spent some time considering the offer. But they took a few minutes.

So Mr. Obama, with the assistance of translators, suggested that he and Mr. Hu have a conversation as well. They, too went to the corner to talk. After a few minutes, Mr. Obama called upon Mr. Sarkozy to join them.

"Translators and sherpas in tow, they reached an agreement," the official said. "There was a multiple shaking of hands."

I wonder if he got them to hug it out after it was all said and done. Nicely done, Mr President.