Lots of stuff...

Obama's American Jobs Act: Too little, too dead in the water. And tax cuts don't work. That said, payroll tax cuts are the least objectionable kind, which is why most Republicans don't like 'em.

The Republicans are also trying to make the case that businesses won't hire because they are over-regulated, which is ridiculous. They never point out any actual regulations that exist now that did not exist in 2003 or 1997. Business won't hire because the customers aren't there.

Will progressive bloggers determine Obama's fate? That's what Peter Daou says. I certainly don't have that sort of power; if I did, Obama would not be in office.

Recent polls (including Gallup, which shows a double-digit decline among liberals) indicate significant erosion of support for Obama among groups who propelled him to victory in 2008, reinforcing the idea that reality is catching up with netroots criticism. This crumbling of support is typically attributed by pundits to the poor economy, but the problem is more complicated: it’s the poor economy coupled with the sense (fair or unfair) that Barack Obama has no convictions, no moral center, nothing for which he will take an unwavering stand.

Obama's recent moves to the left are too cautious and too late. A little bit of Krueger can't make up for a whole lotta Summers and Geithner. Obama has alienated Hispanics; pretty soon, a sizable number of black people will be ready to confess that the first black president has done nothing for them.

I like lambert's response:

If Obama doesn't go down, there's no left. It's really that simple.

Obama has also lost Al Gore. I don't think we should see Gore's recent column (entirely) in terms of a possible challenge. Gore seems genuinely pissed off about Obama's attacks on the EPA.

Earlier this year, the EPA’s administrator, Lisa Jackson, wrote that the levels of pollution now permitted -- put in place by the Bush-Cheney administration-- are “not legally defensible.” Those very same rules have now been embraced by the Obama White House.

Any time you want to jump into this thing, Al, we'll be behind you.

(Remember 2000, when freaks like Michael Moore were trying to con you with the idea that Gore and those awful, awful Clintons were terrible sell-outs who could never be supported?)

Russ Feingold is also pissed off at Obama. Feingold, you may recall, runs Progressives United, which has a very unfortunate set of initials. They want the attorneys general of various states to say NO! to the Wall Street settlement offer which Obama is pushing. This is from the mailing I got:

It shows the power of the banks that they have attorneys general from so many states -- and the Obama administration itself -- pushing for a nice, big gift to them: legal immunity for potentially defrauding homeowners and investors, and pennies on the dollar back to us for their misdeeds.

It shows how the winds have shifted when mention of Obama's name triggers hissing in progressive circles.

Any time you want to jump into this thing, Russ...

The war for hearts and minds:  I must agree with Daou's recent tweet...

I hate to admit it, but considering the mindset of America today, the top tier of the GOP #2012 field is electable and dare I say, strong.

A frightening statement, when you consider that the top tier includes Michele Batshit. But that only raises the question: How did the mindset get that way?

Brad Friedman did remarkable work in getting a secret audio record of Republican notables -- including NJ governor Chris Christie -- speaking at an exclusive Koch Brothers event...

...where hundreds of wealthy patrons were urged to open their wallets for what Charles Koch described as "the mother of all wars"—the effort to unseat President Obama.

Christie went on to explain how he'd convinced the state's Democratic majority leaders, against the wishes of most of their caucus, to help him slash public-sector pensions and benefits. And he drew a bead on his next major target: public-school teachers and their union. "That's where we head next," Christie said. "We need to take on the teachers' union once and for all, and we need to decide who is determining our children's future, who is running this place. Them or us? I say it's us."

He presented his accomplishments in New Jersey as a model for curing the nation's ills: "We know the answers. They're painful answers. We're going to have to reduce Medicare benefits. We're going to have to reduce Medicaid benefits. We're going to have to raise the Social Security age. We're going to have to do these things. We're going to have to cut all types of other government programs that some people in this room might like."

I say we should make the Republicans run on that platform openly, not in secret. Speaking of secrecy: Interestingly, Rick Perry spoke at this conference even though his official schedule contained no indication of his being there.

Looks like the next presidency will be an ultra-libertarian Koch-controlled affair.

Greg Sargent:

It’s simple: Keep making noise, regardless of the facts, and hopefully with a big assist from the major news orgs, until the other side caves from sheer exhaustion, in order to make the noise go away.

He goes on to cite an egregious example in which the right-wing machine has taken a quote from labor leader Hoffa (whose name already carries all sorts of unfortunate associations) to make it seem as though he had called for violence, when in fact he had called for votes. The goal there is to make Hoffa apologize for something he did not do -- or to force the White House to distance itself from labor, over pure bullshit. This trick usually works. And even if it doesn't, it'll help the conservative core stay mired in rage-gasm.