Shout out to the neoliberal corporatist third-way identity politics DLC neo-con wing of the party!

[think]

16. The part you're quoting is an excerpt from Politico that the author was countering

That quote came from this article:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/new-dems-plan-assertive-new-presence-in-house-121208

That was not the author's view but rather the view he was countering.


As for all the minutia, I care about issues and that's why I do not support many of the issues that Third Way supports controversial including their stance that Social Security and Medicare needed to be cut:

Wall Street Agitates for Social Security Cuts

BY RICHARD ESKOW - Posted: FRiday, 23 November 2012

The anti-Social Security propagandists should’ve thought this one through a little more carefully: On the same day that Goldman Sach’s CEO issued his “balanced” demand for Social Security and Medicare cuts, the Wall Street-funded group called “Third Way” published the results of a poll which precisely reflected the wishes of Goldman Sach’s CEO.

Coincidence? I report, you decide.

It certainly doesn’t look good when the poll in question contains misleading questions, is deceptively presented, and includes sentences like “Questions 50 to 55 held for future release.” Any remaining shred of credibility disappears in the face of numerous other polls which directly contradicts Third Way’s claims about these results.

Oh, and we almost forgot: Two of that group’s board members worked for that CEO.

Read more:
https://www.laprogressive.com/social-security-cuts/

Elizabeth Warren Fires Back at Centrist Dems on Social Security

ERIKA EICHELBERGERDEC. 9, 2013 6:00 AM

Last week, the president and vice-president of the centrist think-tank Third Way accused Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) of ignoring what they call Social Security's "undebatable solvency crisis." In an interview with Mother Jones, Warren fired back, countering the charge, and elaborating on how Social Security could be expanded.

"If we made no changes at all to Social Security," Warren said, "it would continue to make payments at the current level for about 20 years," meaning there is no immediate crisis facing the program, which assists some 58 million Americans. "Modest adjustments," she added, "will make certain… we could increase benefits for those who need it most."

~Snip~

President Barack Obama, along with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, have proposed trimming the program to rein in the deficit. Each year, the Social Security Administration increases benefit payments to keep up with inflation. The president and lawmakers have suggested using a new, supposedly more accurate formula to calculate inflation, which would make monthly Social Security payments increase more slowly. In a speech on the Senate floor last month, Warren said this new formula is far from accurate, and that Congress should not balance the budget on the backs of the elderly. (Budget negotiators, who must reach an agreement by mid-January, have since decided against including Social Security cuts in the deal.) Warren's floor speech prompted the Third Way op-ed.

A coalition of liberal advocacy groups, including the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, have also lashed out against Third Way. The organizations called on their members to ask congressional Democrats affiliated with the think tank to disavow the op-ed...

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/12/elizabeth-warren-expand-social-security-third-way