President Barack Obama - Term 1 and 2 Thread

[RossValoryRocks]

I agree. I got into an argument with my best friend a month or so ago about that very thing. She loves BO and all she could say was [*insert whiny voice*] "he's trying". Since my hubby had been unemployed for a few months, that answer didn't give me much comfort. Fortunately, he is now back to work.

Speaking to your point about unemployment, I agree. he didn't do enough. he still has time though, to really get the numbers moving the other way and fast..they have started to already, just a bit slow.

As for your husband being on unemployment, thank your lucky stars the Democrats are in charge. How many times did the GOP come to the floor with the presentation of ending jobless benefits? See Jim Bunning, -KY. There's a point right there that proves the GOP doesn't give a single shit about USA Main Street. They care only about Wall Street.

The Health Care Bill can be an issue, unless the Gov't can make people see that it is really a worthwhile piece of legislation. The republicans will run on lies against it, make up falsities of unsubstantial claim, and IMHO, it won't amount to much.

As for your Tea party question, LOL, I'll abstain from that debacle.

This post absolutely proves you are a liar who will say ANYTHING to try and "prove" you are right...Bunning didn not say he a word about ending jobless benefits...but making sure they are PAID FOR with reductions somewhere else, because GASP, that's what the democrats put in place...a PAY AS YOU GO LAW, except for when they want to just spend, then that is covererd....and isn't TWO YEARS long enough to be on unemployment??? Unemployment is supposed to be a safety net...not a fucking way of life.

The Healthcare Bill is a disaster...it will fuck up our country almost as fast as if you and OHSherrie were in charge.

HOW ARE WE GOING TO PAY FOR IT?! Tell me that...come up with a plausible way for us to pay for the Healthcare bill, that won't destroy our economy (worse than it is I suppose) (Oh and a tax increase will wreck our economy fast right now)...just tell me that...you can't because the cost over the first 10 years (2014 to 2024) will double our National Debt while GDP will (maybe) grow about 30%.

[RossValoryRocks]

The republicans will run on lies against it, make up falsities of unsubstantial claim, and IMHO, it won't amount to much.

That's all they've got. Have you heard them offer any alternative proposals to any of the things they've been saying "NO" to for the last year and a half? They want to go back to doing exactly what that party has been doing since Reagan; pandering to the corporate barons, Wall Street moguls and military contractors while the rest of the country goes to hell in a handbasket.

Probably right...just as the Democrats have tried to get every last breathing American on the government tit with one program or another, and when that didn't work they want to let the "imported help" become citizens so they get a boost.

Of course Wall Street and such are the ones who lend the money to small and medium sized business to HIRE people and create jobs, but I am sure you are ok with destroying that further (If Bush and Obama didn't do it already) so WE ALL HAVE TO RELY on the government.

[RossValoryRocks]

They don't like it because the news articles on there are the plain, un-spun truth instead of wingnut BS propaganda like Faux News.

I don't listen to Fox or any other cable news program, I don't listen to Rush Limbaugh, or Hannity...I actually READ the news from Reuters and AP and form my own opinion thanks..

The economy began being set up for this recession in November of 1999 with the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act. Yes that happened on Bill Clinton's watch but it was a rethug bill passed by a rethug congress at a time when they were bludgeoning Clinton over a blow-job because they couldn't find a damn thing on him that was truly a crime after spending $70 million trying.

Really? Lying under oath isn't a crime how??? Hmmmm...I am sure that the Arkansas Bar took away his law license in a fit of pique over not being able to find anything.

He signed it because he agreed with it, and has said so on those occasions when he was asked about it.

The vote on the final bill was 90-8 in the Senate (Didn't know the Republican's had a 90 seat majority at the time), and 362-57 in the house with 15 abstentions (Wow the Republicans had a huge majority there)...and it was signed in November of 1999 some 9 MONTHS after the impeachment was over, so yeah wow...they blugeoned him.

When Bush came into office and started the wholesale selling out of American jobs with his tax breaks to companies that sent jobs overseas and to Mexico, that was the beginning of the end for the middle class in this country and that's what ultimately brought the economy to it's knees.

Utter bullshit. Not even worth rebutting.

If I had the time and inclination and thought they would pay any more attention now than they did then I'd go dig up some of the posts from a few years ago when I predicted this recession based on those very things.

Please do...I need a comedy break...

They turned Wall Street into a casino for the corporate barons and put Main Street on the unemployment lines. How the hell did they think the economy could be held up by a house of cards built out of credit card debt, bad mortgages and derivatives? The people of this country were losing their jobs, homes and health care benefits while Washington and Wall Street made out like Madoff.

Where is the responsibility of the people who decided to get themselves in the debt in the FIRST place??? Sure...you only make $42k/year but you can have the $500K home...what RATIONAL person would believe that horseshit?

Know what's really sick? They haven't learned a damned thing. They're still hoping the people of their red-neck base who are getting shit on will keep thinking it's the economy trickling down and vote for their gun rights and religion instead of the good of the country.

Yeah I am sure you are right...while the pinko-commie-progessive-liberal-class warfare loving-race bating-religion hating-nut jobs like...uhh...YOU...insist TRICKLE UP economics works.

You cannot TAX the country into prosperity...though Obama is DAMN SURE going to make a try of it...

They also seem to conveniently forget that it was Bush who started the bank bail-outs that were supposed to solve the problem. At least the stimulus money went to the people instead of the hedge funds. The stimulus package kept many thousands of teachers, law enforcement officers, fire fighters and paramedics all over the country from losing their jobs. I know that for a fact because I belong to the National Sheriff's Association and work with federal, state and local government offices and law enforcement agencies. I know that's only a drop in the bucket compared to the jobs that Bush sold out, but at least the money didn't go to the crooks who caused the problem like the Bush bail-out did.[/quote]

[donnaplease]

Obama playing golf over the weekend the BP guy yatching... does that mean the OIL spill crises has been adverted and the world is saved??? just saying...

Remember... during the campaign, he already told us he could do 2 things at once. That's why the Wall Street disaster/Stimulus deal was no biggie. Is this another case of him not letting his personal goals (election/golfing) get in the way of his responsibility to the American people (economy/oil crisis)? Dunno. Just sayin'...

[artist4perry]

I want popcorn..........watching the Dems and the Reps argue it out is like putting a humidifier and a de-humidifier in the same room and watch them battle it out.

[Rockindeano]

I want popcorn..........watching the Dems and the Reps argue it out is like putting a humidifier and a de-humidifier in the same room and watch them battle it out.

It's not even a fair match. The right has had their collective asses handed to them. They only post shit that they themselves believe in, not what is factual. Look at a TNC or 7 post and then contrast that with a LieFinder c/p. See the difference?

[artist4perry]

I want popcorn..........watching the Dems and the Reps argue it out is like putting a humidifier and a de-humidifier in the same room and watch them battle it out.

It's not even a fair match. The right has had their collective asses handed to them. They only post shit that they themselves believe in, not what is factual. Look at a TNC or 7 post and then contrast that with a LieFinder c/p. See the difference?

Deano I still think it will be a tit for tat match. You guys each believe your sources are better than the other guys sources. Truth be told it always comes back to ones ideals and background. They have been fighting for a long time, with neither party listening to the other. And I am one who still macroeconomics or not, beleives it would be best to cut waste, and think before spending. We get into too much of a hurry and waste so much. These problems have been around a long time. It will still may not even work, then what? Keep borrowing? When is it too much? When do we hurt more than we help? I mean look what these morons (congress as a whole) spend on a hammer or comb for crying out loud! I could go to Sam's club and get them in bulk for little to nothing compared to what they give contractors. And what about Pork projects? Bridges to nowhere, study of earthworms under shock treatment, etc. It is just amazing how stupid some of the slipped in projects and back door deals that go on. That is both sides Dean.

[RossValoryRocks]

I want popcorn..........watching the Dems and the Reps argue it out is like putting a humidifier and a de-humidifier in the same room and watch them battle it out.

It's not even a fair match. The right has had their collective asses handed to them. They only post shit that they themselves believe in, not what is factual. Look at a TNC or 7 post and then contrast that with a LieFinder c/p. See the difference?

Yeah...FactFinder has sources and runs on facts...your troop has martching orders from the DNC/Obama Press Office and every left wing blog out there, and runs on emotion not objective reality.

I hope you didn't pay much for the Washington State degree...because you are certainly using it for toilet paper lately.

[slucero]

Just in case ya'll "missed it"....

Stu, the opposite is true.

While we rely on government websites, raw data, and factually correct information, the conservatives on the board - exclusively - cut and paste from highly unreliable sources, most of them op-ed pieces.

You couldn't be further from the truth (again).

In a report released on Jan. 13, 2010, the president's Council of Economic Advisers estimated that between 1.77 million jobs and 2.07 million jobs were created or saved by the stimulus through the fourth quarter of 2009.

Separately, the council's report cited four independent analyses of the same question. These estimates were by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, as well by three private-sector economic-analysis firms. Here's what those groups found:

• CBO: Between 800,000 jobs (low estimate) and 2.4 million jobs (high estimate) saved or created.

• IHS/Global Insight: 1.25 million jobs saved or created.

• Macroeconomic Advisers: 1.06 million jobs saved or created.

• Moody's economy.com: 1.59 million jobs saved or created.

interesting how as of Jan. 13, 2010, the governments own data shows unemployment rising... through the 4th quarter of 2009..

thats a great trick.. "creating or saving" jobs while the Bureau of Labor Statistics own data shows job loss increasing in the same period

(hint) you want the U-3 and U-6 data... http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?ln

[RossValoryRocks]

Just in case ya'll "missed it"....

Stu, the opposite is true.

While we rely on government websites, raw data, and factually correct information, the conservatives on the board - exclusively - cut and paste from highly unreliable sources, most of them op-ed pieces.

You couldn't be further from the truth (again).

In a report released on Jan. 13, 2010, the president's Council of Economic Advisers estimated that between 1.77 million jobs and 2.07 million jobs were created or saved by the stimulus through the fourth quarter of 2009.

Separately, the council's report cited four independent analyses of the same question. These estimates were by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, as well by three private-sector economic-analysis firms. Here's what those groups found:

• CBO: Between 800,000 jobs (low estimate) and 2.4 million jobs (high estimate) saved or created.

• IHS/Global Insight: 1.25 million jobs saved or created.

• Macroeconomic Advisers: 1.06 million jobs saved or created.

• Moody's economy.com: 1.59 million jobs saved or created.

interesting how as of Jan. 13, 2010, the governments own data shows unemployment rising... through the 4th quarter of 2009..

thats a great trick.. "creating or saving" jobs while the Bureau of Labor Statistics own data shows job loss increasing in the same period

(hint) you want the U-3 and U-6 data... http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?ln

Yeah and the "gains" since are temp census worker jobs...just in time FOR GASP...the election...and when they are done...back into the shitpile they go...but they will be able to collect another 2 years of unemployment so it's all good!

[The_Noble_Cause]

So you're saying both parties want their groups to be more extreme, in order to get back to their 'roots'? Basically, if I understand it right, you're saying that the dems want BO to be more liberal, and the republicans want republicans who are more 'republican' (figure that one out, I dare ya! ), and that's why the tea party has sprung forward.

Yep. Just look at Beck - recently he's been saying that the last truly fiscally conservative president was Calvin Coolidge. And when he's not worshipping Coolidge, he's talking about the Founders. The 9-12 Teabaggers are as enthralled with their idealized view of the distant past, as libs are with FDR.

Now, about this Wall Street comment... I thought he was the "Main Street" candidate and the republicans were all about Wall Street...

That may have been the PR spin, but Obama took more Wall Street cash than McCain. Liberal candidates that tried to point this out were blacklisted. Wall Street puts their money on who has the best shot at winning. The economic crash, plus Iraq, made 2008 the Democrats' election to lose.

[donnaplease]

edit: although for some damn reason TNC is making a bit of logic here tonight..

I've been pulling it out of him... It's actually been a good conversation. TNC is my new BFF!!!

[slucero]

Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, is expected to leave his job later this year after growing tired of the "idealism" of Barack Obama's inner circle.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... House.html

"Idealism" my ass.... The White House is doing damage control:

Rahm Traded Favors with Blago: Report
While a congressman, Emanuel asked for trades with embattled gov.
By JOHN O'CONNER
Updated 1:10 PM CDT, Mon, Jun 21, 2010

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-be ... z0rY781Svr

President Barack Obama's chief of staff, then a congressman in Illinois, apparently attempted to trade favors with embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich while he was in office, according to newly disclosed e-mails obtained by The Associated Press.

Emanuel agreed to sign a letter to the Chicago Tribune supporting Blagojevich in the face of a scathing editorial by the newspaper that ridiculed the governor for self-promotion. Within hours, Emanuel's own staff asked for a favor of its own: The release of a delayed $2 million grant to a school in his district.

The 2006 discussion occured with Blagojevich's top aide, Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk, and doesn't appear to cross legal lines; Emanuel couldn't speed up the distribution of the funds. But it offers a peek at ties between two high-profile Illinois politicians — one now the president's right-hand man, the other facing years in prison if convicted of political corruption.

Discussion of the exchange could come up at Blagojevich's corruption trial, currently under way in Chicago. Blagojevich, who is accused of plotting to profit by selling an appointment to Obama's former Senate seat, also tried later that year to use the school grant in an extortion attempt against Emanuel, according to

The Obama Touch

Authorities say he ordered Tusk, who told the AP he is scheduled to testify in the case Monday and couldn't comment, to get Emanuel to compel his Hollywood agent brother to host a political fundraiser before the grant was paid.

White House spokesmen did not respond to requests for comment.

The favor unfolded in January 2006, according to e-mail exchanges released under the Freedom of Information Act. Blagojevich was 10 weeks away from a Democratic primary challenge in his quest for a second term and a federal investigation into his administration's hiring practices was well known.

The Tribune ripped him for claiming he was too busy governing to campaign for the primary, while plastering his name on taxpayer-financed projects such as the new automatic-pay toll highway system and a health care plan for children.

"Why be a chump on the stump when you can make taxpayers campaign for you?" the newspaper chafed.

Tusk, currently a consultant to the Republican candidate for New York state attorney general, tapped Emanuel, who had remained friendly after winning Blagojevich's former seat in the U.S. House in 2002.

Tusk wanted someone defending the governor for merely publicizing his own good programs, according to the e-mail exchange. A proposed 180-word letter to the editor followed.

"Would you be willing to send something like this to the trib in response to today's editorial?" Tusk wrote Emanuel on Jan. 11, 2006.

Emanuel agreed. Later that day, the congressman's chief of staff suggested that someone contact the state employee overseeing the grant that Emanuel wanted released to the Chicago Academy, a teacher-preparatory school in Emanuel's district which wanted to build athletic fields. The grant, promised months earlier, still hadn't been paid.

On Jan. 16, 2006, a modified letter appeared in the Tribune over Emanuel's name. Despite the "packaging" of Blagojevich's programs, it said, "It's wrong to suggest it's the triumph of form over content. Look inside those packages, and you'll find real and lasting progress for the people of Illinois."

The money, however, didn't follow as quickly, and Emanuel appeared agitated.

"What the hell is holding up the school funding? This is a real problem for me now," Emanuel wrote on Aug. 28 when a contractor on the school project stopped work. "I am getting killed."

When Tusk repeatedly promised to call, Emanuel responded, "Just e-mail and tell me first will this happen in my lifetime. Second if yes then when. Real simple."

Phone records show Emanuel called Blagojevich on four successive days in late summer 2006. One message indicated the subject was the school. Repeated phone calls between Emanuel's and Blagojevich's staff followed the next week.

Shortly thereafter, the money started flowing, and the $2 million was paid by December. There was never a fundraiser.

[7 Wishes]

You guys call me when the shuttle lands.

Slucero - all those firms are quite conservatively managed and tend to support GOP candidates for political offices.

What you're not understanding is that had the stimulus bill NOT been passed, ALL those jobs would have been lost. The jobs created by the bill that would NOT have been otherwise created - in other words, the unemployment rate would have been much higher (and we might very well have faced another Depression, thanks to Dubbya) IF the bill had not been passed.

What about this don't you understand?

And LiePaster, NixonFan, and Stuart Little...I don't even know where to begin. Look back at ALL your posts from the past three weeks. They're all extrapolated from op-ed pieces! Give it a rest. And try to be aware of the facts before you start ranting and raving.

[7 Wishes]

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-be ... z0rY781Svr

The 2006 discussion occurred with Blagojevich's top aide, Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk, and doesn't appear to cross legal lines.

Anyway, this kind of shit has been happening since the first Neanderthal ran for Mayor of Clovis. It doesn't mean I defend it or like it.

Compare this with, say, Cheney and Bush creating energy policy behind closed doors with naught save executives from the Seven Sisters (Big Oil), gas, and coal industries! Take your Xanax, and get back to us in the morning.

[slucero]

You guys call me when the shuttle lands.

Slucero - all those firms are quite conservatively managed and tend to support GOP candidates for political offices.

What you're not understanding is that had the stimulus bill NOT been passed, ALL those jobs would have been lost. The jobs created by the bill that would NOT have been otherwise created - in other words, the unemployment rate would have been much higher (and we might very well have faced another Depression, thanks to Dubbya) IF the bill had not been passed.

What about this don't you understand?

And LiePaster, NixonFan, and Stuart Little...I don't even know where to begin. Look back at ALL your posts from the past three weeks. They're all extrapolated from op-ed pieces! Give it a rest. And try to be aware of the facts before you start ranting and raving.

So now the governments (BLS) own data is flawed? I'm using government data... not some private, GOP supporting, independent entities whose estimations are between 800k to 2.4M... that's really accurate...

One would think that a 3 MILLION PERSON INCREASE in an economy that has just lost 8 MILLION JOBS.. would be reflected in the governments own unemployment data... yet it isn't.

Your own words:

"While we rely on government websites, raw data, and factually correct information, the conservatives on the board - exclusively - cut and paste from highly unreliable sources, most of them op-ed pieces."

... refute your point...

[slucero]

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-be ... z0rY781Svr

The 2006 discussion occurred with Blagojevich's top aide, Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk, and doesn't appear to cross legal lines.

Anyway, this kind of shit has been happening since the first Neanderthal ran for Mayor of Clovis. It doesn't mean I defend it or like it.

Compare this with, say, Cheney and Bush creating energy policy behind closed doors with naught save executives from the Seven Sisters (Big Oil), gas, and coal industries! Take your Xanax, and get back to us in the morning.

I'm not comparing or condoning it.. But BO ran on a platform of open and transparent government... he painted himself with that brush... so by hiring someone like Emmanuel, and any others who are not above reproach.. he's diminishing himself and his administration in the eyes of those who voted for him expecting and believing what he was promising...

[7 Wishes]

I hear what you're saying with respect to the latter post. I'm quite disappointed with the Obama Administration in many ways.

Without the stimulus package, all those jobs created as a direct result of the stimulus package would never have been created (nor would they have been created in the normal ebb and flow of an economy if the status quo had remained). THAT is what those generally conservative firms are saying. The overall unemployment numbers would have been much WORSE without the stimulus package.

[slucero]

..'nother one is bailing... 1st the Chief of Staff.. now the Budget Chief....

http://www.cnbc.com/id/37839218

White House Budget Chief Orszag to Step Down
POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, WHITE HOUSE, BUDGET, PETER ORSZAG
CNBC staff and wire reports
| 21 Jun 2010 | 11:28 PM ET
White House Budget Director Peter Orszag plans to step down from his job in July, making him the first senior member of President Barack Obama's economic team to leave.

A senior Administration official told CNBC that the move was expected.

"Orszag wanted to get out for a while," the official said. "Too many mouths to feed."

A sourced report in the New York Times, said Obama had urged Orszag to stay but the drafting of the next budget will begin soon and Orszag never planned to stay more than two years.

Many past budget directors have left the job after two years, and news of Orszag's wedding in September increased has increased speculation about whether he would stay on.

Potential successors include Laura D'Andrea Tyson, an economist of the University of California at Berkeley, and Gene Sperling, counselor to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Both are former White House economic advisers who served in President Bill Clinton's administration.

Another candidate is Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

© 2010 CNBC

[slucero]

I hear what you're saying with respect to the latter post. I'm quite disappointed with the Obama Administration in many ways.

Without the stimulus package, all those jobs created as a direct result of the stimulus package would never have been created (nor would they have been created in the normal ebb and flow of an economy if the status quo had remained). THAT is what those generally conservative firms are saying. The overall unemployment numbers would have been much WORSE without the stimulus package.

Fair enough... my contention is that there is no "job creation or saving" if the estimation varies so widely... and the supposed creation or savings are not seen in the governments official data.

[ohsherrie]

Nice try Stu but I'm not even going to waste time trying to break it all down and reply. You basically proved my point that you cons haven't learned anything from what you caused.

[Gin and Tonic Sky]

[quote="ohsherrie"]Nice try Stu but I'm not even going to waste time trying to break it all down and reply. You basically proved my point that you cons haven't learned anything from what you caused.[/quote]


LOL Im just wondering what Stu caused Heck I guess we can run around saying Its Stu's fault to everything?

[7 Wishes]

I think she was referring to the deregulation pushed through by Dubbya that led to this catastrophe happening in the first place. With tighter, Clinton-esque controls, this never would have happened.

[Michigan Girl]

Taking matters into our own handsShreveport Times
Governor Bobby Jindal
June 21, 2010

"We are fighting a war. There is no doubt that the ongoing BP oil spill is a full frontal assault on our Louisiana way of life...

The war against this oil spill continues today, and our commitment to winning this war has only grown stronger. We will not wait on bureaucracy or wishful thinking. We will continue to move forward on our own to implement our own ideas for protecting coastal Louisiana, even when BP and the Coast Guard don't agree with our plans.

I know we can do this because of the many heroes we have fighting in this war alongside us — our coastal parish presidents, our National Guard troops, the fishermen who are laying out boom and the communities that are banding together to help one another in their time of need. We will protect our people and our communities and industries that make Louisiana the greatest state in the world.

And we will not rest until every drop of oil is off of our coast and out of our marshes and our water — and our seafood and our coastline are 100 percent whole again."

[7 Wishes]

...says the dame Dittohead who, intially, pushed for an INCREASE in offshore drilling even as the specter and scope of the spill was becoming apparent...

[Rockindeano]

Oh now the right has resorted to posting pictures. Rock solid debating skills you clowns possess.

The thing is LieFinder, Obama is an intelligent guy. No one disputes that. He makes mistakes but no one will confuse him with that idiot who just left office.

[Angel]

Oh now the right has resorted to posting pictures. Rock solid debating skills you clowns possess.

Oh yes, because there have NEVER been stupid pics of Bush posted on here....never.

[Rockindeano]

Oh now the right has resorted to posting pictures. Rock solid debating skills you clowns possess.

Oh yes, because there have NEVER been stupid pics of Bush posted on here....never.

Spare me. For serious debates, not one of us on the left posted a pic of that stupid sonofabitch.

[Angel]

Oh now the right has resorted to posting pictures. Rock solid debating skills you clowns possess.

Oh yes, because there have NEVER been stupid pics of Bush posted on here....never.

Spare me. For serious debates, not one of us on the left posted a pic of that stupid sonofabitch.

OK, Dean, whatever you say......go on livin' that dream.

[Rockindeano]

Oh now the right has resorted to posting pictures. Rock solid debating skills you clowns possess.

Oh yes, because there have NEVER been stupid pics of Bush posted on here....never.

Spare me. For serious debates, not one of us on the left posted a pic of that stupid sonofabitch.

OK, Dean, whatever you say......go on livin' that dream.

You're just pissy because everyone is going to get health care.