I don’t want to use the word disappointment — and not just because it is still early in his presidency. I don’t want to use the word because it implies that the president somehow is letting down liberals. The reality is, of course, that he’s only doing what he told us he’d do — tack as much to the center as he could, while substituting bipartisanship for a principled commitment to a political philosophy.
So, as Ian Welsh says on Open Left, “no one” should have “expected anything else,” and those who continue to expect Obama to be a liberal lion, a la Ted Kennedy or Paul Wellstone are “the living definition of denial.”
He remains better than most of the alternatives, but he’s still not a lot different than the leaders who have come before him.
Hank Kalet 
Obama is nothing more than an opportunistic Chicago machine politician. When his lips move, he's lying. JUST like any other politician of either side of the supposed aisle. The guns of gooferment are too dangerous in ANY politicians' hand. Power corrupt; absolute absolutely. We need to cut the beast down to the absolutely minimal size to protect us from force or fraud. And, not a smidge more. They have really feather their own nests at our expense. Champion? Please!
And who, prey tell, is going to protect us from the corporate beasts, some of whom have more economic clout and power than some small nations?
That's easy. We protect ourselves. We control who we buy from. The consumer is king. The gooferment is in bed with the entities it supposedly regulates. \”Regulatory capture\”. We HAVE to break up the whole swindle. Consumer Reports and Underwriters' Laboratory are far more effective than the FDA and all the other supposed \”regulators\”. Argh! Look how many people refuse to shop at WalMart. Nike took a hit on sweat shops. We apply the market discipline.
The consumer is king? No, he's not. What's my choice for electricity and gas? PSE&G or PSE&G? Or I have to move to another state. In many cases, one or two companies have a monopoly of a certain type of business or there is often price fixing and collusion between corporations. That is certainly true of the private for profit health insurance industry.What the hell is some poor working stiff in West Virginia supposed to do against giant coal mining corporations that are polluting the water, soil and air of their neighborhoods? Oh yeah, they have the option to move from their homes where they may have roots going back generations. We have no choice about how the energy is transmitted to our abodes. The only way to deal with these great polluters is through the power of the government or the legislature. We need a trust busting Theodore Roosevelt and an army of Upton Sinclairs to take on all these giant corporations which are raping the environment and our wallets. Corporate America has too much power, they are unelected but they control the media and have undue influence over Congress and our legislatures, (local, state and federal).We need strong unions to give workers a voice and to level the playing field.
>The consumer is king? No, he's not. What's my choice for electricity and gas? PSE&G or PSE&G?OK, let's take PSEG. Who gave them a monopoly? The Gooferment. So aim your ire at the \”state\”! That's why you don't have a choice.Even when given a monopoly, that still doesn't completely insulate the monopoly service provider. Comcast was the monopoly. Then, came DirectTv. Then, Dish. Then, Verizon FIOS.>In many cases, one or two companies have a monopoly of a certain type of business or> there is often price fixing and collusion between corporations.There is NO monopoly without GOOFERMENT. Competition disolves \”natural monopolies\” in a few years. Everyone always cites the Rockyfeller oil monopoly which lasted (I think) THREE years before competitors came in and took percentages.>That is certainly true of the private for profit health insurance industry.There is NO such industry. The Federal and State Gooferments regulate EVERYTHING about healthcare. AND, those companies LOVE it. It prevents competition. \”Regulatory capture\”, restriction on suuply, mandated coverages just make it expensive.>What the hell is some poor working stiff in West Virginia supposed to do against giant coal >mining corporations that are polluting the water, soil and air of their neighborhoods? Where's the Federal and State EPA that are supposed to be preventing that?!? In fact, the gooferment is the biggest polluter. (Check some of the DOD and DOE sites.)If you had a fair judicial system, then they'd have a recourse. Read Healing Our World by Dr. Mary Ruwart. http://www.ruwart.com/Healing/chap14.html>Corporate America has too much power, they are unelected but they control the media> and have undue influence over Congress and our legislatures, (local, state and federal).It's called Facism. Where the State and Business become \”bedfellows\”.>We need strong unions to give workers a voice and to level the playing field.Yeah, right. Like the UAW, Teachers Union, or SCIU are weak. Please, don't make me laugh. They are AS corrupt as the politicians. So who's going to save you now?The answer is we have to rescue ourselves. It's our thinking that needs to change. We have to demand freedom and liberty. We can start by voting out EVERY incumbent. Call it voter imposed term limits. Demand TRUE deregulation. No licenses, no permits, no gooferment oversight. Liberty will protect us.