Liberals urge Obama to go after Wall Street harder (Hussein's economic message is muddled)

Liberals urge Obama to go after Wall Street harder
By JOSH LEDERMAN | Associated Press – Wed, Jun 20, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Message from liberals to President Barack Obama: Your economic message is muddled, go after Wall Street harder.

With the November election looming, some of the president's most ardent backers are fretting that the incumbent Democrat isn't successfully making the case for a second term at a time of economic turmoil. And they argue that he should sharpen his message by taking a firm stand against the financial sector's excesses.

"If he really took on Wall Street big time, if he told the story of how Wall Street are villains, made them the enemy, we could take them down," Paul Sasso, a 47-year-old liberal from San Diego, said this week. "To me, that could win him the election, I'm sure."

It was a sentiment similarly expressed by more than a dozen other self-described progressive activists attending this week's Take Back the American Dream conference in Washington.

WATCH 'TAKEBACK TV'

Two years ago, the corporate-backed Tea Party didn’t just win an election. It won the argument. Conservatives defined the agenda that we’ve had to fight against ever since.

This year, to save the nation, progressives must get back on offense and drive the agenda. We have to win not only in November … but also in December.

The first step to victory: The June 18-20 “Take Back the American Dream” conference.

At Take Back the American Dream, Van Jones, Paul Krugman, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ai-jen Poo, Sandra Fluke, Gov. Howard Dean, Melissa Harris-Perry, Chris Hayes, Katrina vanden Heuvel and many more shared ideas and helped forge the strategy to make sure that the 99% is heard.

We had leading activists from Rebuild the Dream, MoveOn.org, Occupy, 99% Spring, labor unions, civil rights and women’s rights groups who know how to win on the ground.

It's About November — and December

In November, we have to win the White House — and win a big progressive majority in Congress. It won’t be easy, but the American majority is coming together.

Then in December, watch out.

The extreme right is already promising to hold the country hostage once more over raising the debt ceiling in order to force a “grand bargain” — gut Social Security and Medicare, cripple everything from food stamps to food safety, and accept mass unemployment as a grotesque “new normal.”

How do we stop this? Drive the debate. Mobilize our grassroots army. Make us impossible to ignore.

We will demand a “jobs first” strategy for recovery.

We will send the bill to those on Wall Street whose excesses made the mess we’re cleaning up.

We won’t ask working people to sacrifice when they’ve already swallowed needless cuts. We will insist on sacrifice from the multinationals still gaming the system, and the military still spending almost as much as the rest of the world.

We need you to bring the vision. You will shape the plan. And all of us will get it done.

The June 18-20 Take Back the American Dream conference was the first step toward making victory possible.

We are the 99%. If we organize, if we force the debate, we can win not only the election but the argument. Not only November, but December.

We can do this. We just need you.

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