George,

I guess I'm a "lefty", if that means that I'm not just disappointed with Obama's apparent willingness to extend the outrageous transfer of wealth via capital gains and income breaks to the kleptocracy, but furious.

If we are going to talk about "briar patches", let's not talk just about a turbo-QE2, but serious institutional and structural changes.

The "compromise" position seems to be nothing more than the same old, same old, and then take a middle position. Where are the ideas that lie at the base of the Democratic Party since the New Deal, at least: decent livelihoods for all Americans, and avoid class-warfare and democratic malaise as a bonus.

Rich Collins (Electronic mail, December 7, 2010)