Robert Reich responds to 'How do we Occupy Obama?' at OccupySF

Run time: 00:39 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfCvspSAAv8   Posted on YouTube: October 20, 2011 By YouTube Member: arirhodes Views on YouTube: 127   Posted on DU: October 22, 2011 By DU Member: alp227 Views on DU: 4290

 
This youtube channel has videos of a Q&A session that OccupySF had with the UC Berkeley economics professor and Clinton administration Secretary of Labor. In response to this question he basically said that liberals need to get more active in pressuring Obama and Democrats

But just try applying "pressure" to Romney or Perry. Tell Cain or Bachmann that they have to listen to the left. Let's see what's in a Republican administration for progressives.

What have they promised us? ...Instinction and second class status.

Maybe we should protest Obama by staying home next year to teach us a lesson. I'm betting in 2016, we'd vote for Joe Lieberman if he's on the ticket.

These will be seen as "the good old days".

With the widespread OWS protesters pressuring Obama, he has the strength in numbers to act.

John Conyers said long ago that only the people could change things by making their voices heard, & he was only talking about calling or writing those in power. I have to say, Conyers must be pretty thrilled at the OWS protests.

For the most part I have heard folks here on DU say that OWS/we need to "sacrifice Obama" to show everyone we/OWS mean business & teach Obama a lesson...Not pressure him in the positive way. All I can say is if sacrificing Obama is THE PLAN for 2012 then I bet it works as good as or better than when it was tried with Carter & again against Gore via Nader. We Democrats do not have a good track record when it comes to "sacrificing" our own for some "larger" political cause...This could be 3 strikes & Liberalism in America is OUT!

Seriously, this is not scare tactics as some will say but a very real possibility...If the Republicans gain control of a 3 branches then they will lower the unemployment rate by slashing the corporate tax rate to literally nothing, probably lowering the minimum wage, crushing what is left of the Unions, destroying Medicare & SS & folks will be forced to take what job they can get out of sheer desperation! This will be seen by enough people in this country as the Republicans are the job creators...Which could be the death nail for Liberal causes in this country for a long time! To say this could never happen is extremely naive!

OF COURSE WE NEED TO KEEP THE PRESSURE ON OBAMA & EVERY SINGLE DEMOCRAT IN CONGRESS...But at the same time if we come together & show we are together publicly our presence in the streets as a unified force would be very powerful! But if our presence in the streets is seen as nothing but how Obama is so bad even Liberals hate him then the only lesson that will be taught is the same lessons that were taught before in 1980 & 2000...We should have remained solid & willing to fight together against the true enemy THE REPUBLICANS!

There will be two choices for president: Obama & a Republican. And that says it all.

Putting pressure on our president to change our nation's priorities, values, & economic policies is a healthy endeavor.

a good thing & we should! However, where were "WE" or OWS when Obama was criticizing Wall Street & the system back in 2009 and he was being attacked, insulted & called a Socialist on all the major financial networks & in the MSM? Obama did say "Yes WE Can" but once the election was over in 2008 we all just sat back & said "Yes WE Did" instead of publicly backing our President when the Tea Party was just starting to form & were in the public eye! We left our President standing all alone! Most Americans do not pay close attention to politics so when they saw all the Tea Parties out there & heard the vicious attacks on him & nothing was being done to counter the attacks many Americans assumed Obama was really trying to destroy America! OWS is two years late!

Yes WE Can...NOT...Yes HE Can"

that said no such thing.

The fact of the matter is he needs to change his ways if he wants to help the general population of this country. Criticizing someone is hardly asking to sacrifice them. Criticism is exactly what this country needs and is what our democracy is supposed to support, yet on this board it constantly gets misconstrued as "whining" or now "sacrificing Obama". Neither is true.

I feel that you need to get out of the box you are stuck in and see that this is a problem with the entire system. We cannot support Obama in whatever he does no matter who it benefits simply because he has a "D" after his name. We need to pressure him to change. He NEEDS to change. He needs to get Wall Street out of the WH. He is aiding and abetting Wall Street's bad behavior. Almost everyone elected is. It all needs to change. It hasn't yet. So we need to make them change it.

Get money out of politics and change the system so that it represents the people. The politicians can do their job and get on board with that or they can be replaced. I don't much care who the president is if they are going to do the bidding of the people and not corporations. We don't have that now and we desperately need it. If Obama and his supporters want him to be that president then he needs to change and help change the system.

You are either with the OWS movement or you are with the status quo. The status quo does not represent the people.

When I said what I did about sacrificing Obama I was only repeating what folks are saying at OWS!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x627174

Obama is for the middle class & the FACTS support this. Where were "WE" or the OWS when Obama was criticizing Wall Street & the system back in 2009 & he was being attacked, insulted & called a Socialist for trying to implement policies to help the middle class? Where were "WE" when the Tea Party was hitting the streets and brutally attacking Obama for trying to help the middle class with the stimulus & health care reform? SERIOUSLY?

Most Americans do not pay close attention to politics in this country...So when they saw all the Tea Parties across the nation & people screaming in the streets that Obama was trying to destroy America there was no counter to their attacks! And were "WE" or the OWS protest then? Answer..."WE"/OWS were sitting on the couch saying "Yes WE Did" leaving OUR President all alone to defend himself & his policies to help the middle class!

...PLEASE don't say this is not true because it damn sure is..."WE" did not do what "WE" should have done back then...And things could be much different now had "WE" hit the streets two years ago!

Obama is for the middle class & progressive ideas but we have to show solidarity & support him in 2012...You should be fully aware that a President has much more room to change things politically in the 2nd term. So, "Yes WE Can" if "WE" support him!

HONESTLY...If Obama had 60 Progressive votes in the Senate & control of the House do you think we could change this country? ME...OF COURSE! Obama cannot do things all on his own so when he has the Congress he did then he did all that he could with what he had to work with! Folks like yourself who want to place 100% of the blame on Obama for not changing things are the ones "IN A BOX!"

We have to REAL about things & stop with all this blame game crap...Obama is one of us & he will do what is correct if he has the ability to do so.

Yes, money should be out of politics but in the meantime it will take HUGE SUMS OF MONEY to achieve this objective! If you think it can be done another way I am all ears!

OWS wasn't going to go out and rally for Obama since he put Wall Street in the WH.

Where was HE during all those Tea Party rallies? Where was HE when they made up "death panels"? He didn't speak out about it much. HE gave up on the public option, WE didn't. WE are not going to go out and rally for someone who isn't representing us.

Serious questions since you don't think Obama has any fault in anything:

Who MADE him appoint Geithner?
Who MADE him choose Daley?
Who MADE him have secret back door deals with the health insurance companies?
Why isn't he investigating the banksters?
Why isn't he trying to bring back REAL regulations on Wall Street?

None of that is the fault of "We". None of it. If you want "WE" to be on board you need to get that "ME" on board with us, not with the 1%.

You said it there are "FACTS" to back up that Obama is fighting for the middle class. There may be some, but what about the facts in my questions above? What do they show? Not that he is fighting for the middle class, they show that he is beholden to Wall Street. So why are you blaming OWS for his failures? They are against what he has been for since the appointment of his administration.

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for one of my courses at Berkeley. I can honestly say he's one of the most inspiring people I've had the pleasure of meeting and/or learning from.

he consistently explained how he opposed NAFTA but had no influence on the matter. His opinion was overridden by more prominent members of the Cabinet.

I had a long chat with him while we were both on vacation in Truro, Massachusetts a few years ago.
Very impressive guy, and what an intellect!

When we started emailing, I asked him if he preferred "Mr. Secretary" or just "Bob." He said either
one was fine. My kind of guy!

FDR said the same thing to some of his constituents.

"At a fundraising dinner in 2008, in Montclair, New Jersey, Obama told one of his favorite stories about F.D.R. (He told the story apropos of the Israeli-Arab dispute, but it also pertains to gay marriage.) Obama recounted how when F.D.R. was confronted by the civil-rights leader A. Philip Randolph about the racial injustices in the country and the need for the President to use his powers and his bully pulpit, F.D.R. said he agreed but he would only take action when he was forced to do so by a popular movement. “Make me do it,” he told Randolph."

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/06/obama-and-gay-marriage.html#ixzz1bXkgbKO9

The Principal refused to go to town hall with our demands (clean up the asbestos tiles, the mold from the library carpets, lighting for the property to prevent vandalism at night). Of course the taxpayers didnt want to foot the bill, the unions didnt want to allow volunteers to do the work, the superintendant didnt want to use any of his budget on anything but educational material. It was a lose lose for him. What he said was that the parents should go to town hall. Many parents thought he wasn't interested in our concerns. What many of us quickly realized was that, in his quiet, unassuming way, he was telling us that it would be very easy for the superintdant(his boss)to say no to him, but not so easy to refuse the taxpaying parents of the students at school. We were the ones with a real interest and a real investment in the building, not him, and we were the ones they would have to listen to.
I always thought of that quiet gentle man as one of the smartest negotiators I've ever seen. He knew how to get results, and he stepped back and let nature take it's course. We got what we wanted because we demanded it.
Sorry for the rant - but I see the same pattern here, and I'm confident in our President to allow us to join the process, like we should, and get the job done.

So what freakin' good does it do to pressure Obama and the Dems? Pressure them to do what? Oh, I get it..."stand up to the repukes." And what good has that ever done? They impeached Clinton and are dead set on destroying America in their quest to defeat PBO.

record number of filibusters.

Or they could have removed the filibuster when they had the chance.

Reid chooses to be powerless.

And Obama has done nothing to change that.

...he has a degree in constitutional law and understands what is going on. Yes, he used corporate dollars to gain the presidency, but for only that moment he knew he had to.

He is on our side. He sees what is going on. When the ball comes to him, he will run with it and now he's starting to walk faster.

Who else other than him can run with this momentum? Are you going to kick him out? He is for the people! He would be crazy to think otherwise to join the enemy.

He knew what enemy asses to kiss in order to get around obstacles losing three steps to gain four more. It is not a smooth transition to any goal in this country.

There is no doubt this could still happen with some narcissistic liberals out there, but in my opinion we must be careful.

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can give me an answer to that. Please... I'd like to know how he can be for the people and OWS when he installed Wall Street in the WH.