The Obama Administration thread

[SLCPUNK]

He just beats around the bush and starts a speech..  And then tells us how Bush fucked everything up with Tax cuts...  Tax cuts didn't put us here.. how about corruption or the housing market or price of oil?

How did the tax cuts relate to the national deficit?

How did the tax cuts create more jobs? (Trickle down?) Or did they ship overseas instead ?

How did tax cuts make any kind of fiscal sense (cents) while simultaneously waging two wars ?

How did borrowing money from China while cutting taxes work out for us ?

 

[SLCPUNK]

The Chuck Todd deal...  I mean, jeez...   Obama had some good answers, but these reporters blow.  Total doushes... Obama takes a simple question, turns into a 5 minute speech.

We are living in a time that requires rather detailed answers. There is plenty to address.

[SLCPUNK]

Pork pork pork. 

Sad, I was hoping Obama would be different.  Oh well.

Define "Pork."

Mostly I see GOP piggies squealing about AIDS programs and rebuilding infrastructure. I don't particularly take issue with that.

Also, many people are not taking into consideration the art of compromise. When reaching a settlement (ask a lawyer-and most of these guys are lawyers) most pack in as much as they can, understanding they will receive a counteroffer for much less. Usually the opposing side understands that the person(s) making the offer are willing to accept half of what they are asking for in the first place.

[freedom78]

The Chuck Todd deal...  I mean, jeez...   Obama had some good answers, but these reporters blow.  Total doushes... Obama takes a simple question, turns into a 5 minute speech.

So...it's bad that he thinks and gives multi-faceted answers? 

I don't get it...we just had the dumbest President in our history, who couldn't talk his way off a telemarketing call, and people complain because we have a President who actually tries to be thoughtful.

Pork pork pork. 

Sad, I was hoping Obama would be different.  Oh well.

Define "Pork."

Mostly I see GOP piggies squealing about AIDS programs and rebuilding infrastructure. I don't particularly take issue with that.

Also, many people are not taking into consideration the art of compromise. When reaching a settlement (ask a lawyer-and most of these guys are lawyers) most pack in as much as they can, understanding they will receive a counteroffer for much less. Usually the opposing side understands that the person(s) making the offer are willing to accept half of what they are asking for in the first place.

People don't actually know what pork is, which is why they buy into all the BS about it.  Can't have pork without earmarks.

[JuicySwoos]

Pork pork pork. 

Sad, I was hoping Obama would be different.  Oh well.

Define "Pork."

Mostly I see GOP piggies squealing about AIDS programs and rebuilding infrastructure. I don't particularly take issue with that.

Also, many people are not taking into consideration the art of compromise. When reaching a settlement (ask a lawyer-and most of these guys are lawyers) most pack in as much as they can, understanding they will receive a counteroffer for much less. Usually the opposing side understands that the person(s) making the offer are willing to accept half of what they are asking for in the first place.

I define it as any spending project unrelated to the bill at hand.  If you want aids programs, put a bill on the floor....if you want more infrastructure, put it on the floor.   The beauty of this scenario for the politicians, is now everything can be argued as a "stimilus", so now its not pork....


Oh, and this is not a partisan issue.  Republicans are an absolute joke in this regard.  They are whining about this stimulus package  when most of them voted a similar pork riddled one when a Republican was in office.   I guess they only act like "fiscal conservatives" when they don't have power.  Democrats no different, now its not considered pork when they are in power, its a stimulus.

Dont attach crap and it and sneak it in under the guise of the world if going to end if a stimulus package is not signed.

This art of compromise you speak of, is arguably what got us into this financial mess to begin with.  How do you think many of the evil Bush's tax cuts and military spending bills got passed?  How do you think Reagan got his agenda passed with a Democratic congress?   

And if my definition of pork differs from Freedom's texbook definition, I will call it bacon from now on.

[Mobenrad]

I, for one, think it's absolutely ridiculous that conservative media outlets use Obama's persona against him. i.e. how he doesn't always wear his overcoat, how he bends forward and rests his arms on his knees, how he stays up late working. God Forbid a normal, working-style man (notice I just said he's got the style of one) takes the head office of our country.

Sorry if he's not as proper as you'd like! But then again only 2% of the damned country is!

[crazycheryl]

I love that I decide to make my first post in a while in this thread. The reason I haven't posted in a while is because I'm trying to do the best at my job and as much as I can to avoid being laid off while it still remains a real possibility.

I really like Obama but this bill addresses putting money into construction - well what will the rest of us who do not work in construction do? Sure that covers some industries but what about corporate america? And there is the question of giving certain brackets of american people a tax break - well what if I am so afraid of losing my job that I won't spend the money you give me? What if the money isn't even enough to cover a bill? What about the  mortgage I am paying for a house that may never go back to the value in which I bought it at? Where is my break for not defaulting? Although it may happen if I lose my job. What about oil companies bailing out the auto corporation? It is automakers that use much of their product anyway. And what about banks going to other banks for help as well? Let's see if they get the money as easily as they have from the government. I can't remember which news show (maybe 60 minutes, or Dateline,) where they asked Stein why the CEO's and so forth couldn't see to give up some of their money considering americans are losing jobs and getting pay cuts left and right and he said that what they have become accustomed to and they are not giving up one thing because they fought hard to get to where they are - well so the fuck have I! But because I am satisfied with just making my family happy I stand to lose everything!!!

Sorry had to rant a bit. I just don't see how this bill is going to work. I'm not against it but there should be more for the american people in this bill. Shit the rate of pay you receive for unemployment is poverty level - I know, I've been there four times in the past 7 years. U cannot support a family on unemployment even if you didn't have a house. Why not increase the money people receive?

I know all this is complicated and I would love to start another political party (LOVE TO) but whoever said the cards are stacked against us is right. Although if Obama fails to change anything for the positive - it might just be possible.

[Smoking Guns]

He just beats around the bush and starts a speech..  And then tells us how Bush fucked everything up with Tax cuts...  Tax cuts didn't put us here.. how about corruption or the housing market or price of oil?

How did the tax cuts relate to the national deficit?

How did the tax cuts create more jobs? (Trickle down?) Or did they ship overseas instead ?

How did tax cuts make any kind of fiscal sense (cents) while simultaneously waging two wars ?

How did borrowing money from China while cutting taxes work out for us ?

 

If Obama says it, it must be right... How did Reagan fix a situation that was worse than this?  Not EVERYTHING Obama does is right... See the people he has nominated so far as evidence.  Obama will be a stud, but lets be somewhat objective, the campaign is over, so you don't have to try so hard anymore.   We are not going to spontaneously combust if this bill doesn't past, unlike what we are lead to beleive.

[AxlsMainMan]

The jobs losses will only continue though, but who cares so long as you're not affected, right?

[SLCPUNK]

He just beats around the bush and starts a speech..  And then tells us how Bush fucked everything up with Tax cuts...  Tax cuts didn't put us here.. how about corruption or the housing market or price of oil?

How did the tax cuts relate to the national deficit?

How did the tax cuts create more jobs? (Trickle down?) Or did they ship overseas instead ?

How did tax cuts make any kind of fiscal sense (cents) while simultaneously waging two wars ?

How did borrowing money from China while cutting taxes work out for us ?

 

If Obama says it, it must be right... How did Reagan fix a situation that was worse than this?  Not EVERYTHING Obama does is right... See the people he has nominated so far as evidence.  Obama will be a stud, but lets be somewhat objective, the campaign is over, so you don't have to try so hard anymore.   We are not going to spontaneously combust if this bill doesn't past, unlike what we are lead to beleive.

Where did I say anything about Obama?

[pilferk]

If Obama says it, it must be right... How did Reagan fix a situation that was worse than this?  Not EVERYTHING Obama does is right... See the people he has nominated so far as evidence.  Obama will be a stud, but lets be somewhat objective, the campaign is over, so you don't have to try so hard anymore.   We are not going to spontaneously combust if this bill doesn't past, unlike what we are lead to beleive.

Apparently, on Thursday September 18th, there was an "electronic run" on the banks....something to the tune of 500 billion on Money Markets.  That's in the day or so after Lehman Bros tanked.  We were, potentially, HOURS away from our entire economic system (and probably the global economy) going down in flames. 

The Fed, the Treasury, and Congress stepped in, pumped a hundred billiion or so into the system, and upped the insurance limit/guarentee on those accounts to 250k, and that stemmed the tide.  But from the recounts I've seen now...the run started around 11 AM and if they hadn't acted quickly, by 3 PM we would have been up a creek without a paddle.  That's pretty fucking dire. 

Point being:  Don't assume everything is as "hunkey dorey" and stable as you seem to assume it is.   So...yes...fast action is likely something we want.

Edit:  The main source to all this is Rep. Paul Kanjorski and his appearance on C-Span.

[freedom78]

If Obama says it, it must be right... How did Reagan fix a situation that was worse than this?  Not EVERYTHING Obama does is right... See the people he has nominated so far as evidence.  Obama will be a stud, but lets be somewhat objective, the campaign is over, so you don't have to try so hard anymore.   We are not going to spontaneously combust if this bill doesn't past, unlike what we are lead to beleive.

Apparently, on Thursday September 18th, there was an "electronic run" on the banks....something to the tune of 500 billion on Money Markets.  That's in the day or so after Lehman Bros tanked.  We were, potentially, HOURS away from our entire economic system (and probably the global economy) going down in flames. 

The Fed, the Treasury, and Congress stepped in, pumped a hundred billiion or so into the system, and upped the insurance limit/guarentee on those accounts to 250k, and that stemmed the tide.  But from the recounts I've seen now...the run started around 11 AM and if they hadn't acted quickly, by 3 PM we would have been up a creek without a paddle.  That's pretty fucking dire. 

Point being:  Don't assume everything is as "hunkey dorey" and stable as you seem to assume it is.   So...yes...fast action is likely something we want.

Edit:  The main source to all this is Rep. Paul Kanjorski and his appearance on C-Span.

If that's true, then it certainly demonstrates how fragile (and, IMO, stupid) this system is. 

[SLCPUNK]

Downright scary shit.

[SLCPUNK]

Obama Has Upper Hand in Stimulus Fight

Obama?s 67% approval rating on the stimulus is more than twice that of Republicans


PRINCETON, NJ -- The American public gives President Barack Obama a strong 67% approval rating for the way in which he is handling the government's efforts to pass an economic stimulus bill, while the Democrats and, in particular, the Republicans in Congress receive much lower approval ratings of 48% and 31%, respectively.

These findings, based on Gallup Poll interviews conducted Feb. 6-7, underscore the degree to which Obama appears to be maintaining the upper hand over his opponents from a public opinion perspective as he and congressional leaders wrangle over the precise form and substance of a new economic stimulus plan. (Recent Gallup polling also shows that a slight majority of Americans in general favor the idea of passing a stimulus plan of around $800 billion, a sentiment that has stayed constant over the last several weeks.)

Obama will address the stimulus issue before a nationwide audience on Monday night with his first prime-time news conference. He will also conduct town-hall meetings this week in Elkhart, Ind., and Fort Myers, Fla., as part of his efforts to help sell his view of the urgency of passing a stimulus package. The new Gallup data certainly suggest that these public relations efforts will find a generally receptive audience.

The data in particular show the sharp divide between the public's views of how Obama has handled efforts to pass a stimulus bill and its views of how the Republicans have handled this -- a divide that quantitatively produces a 36-point approval gap.

Some of this difference may be attributable to pre-existing views of the entities involved in the stimulus plan wrangling. President Obama's overall job approval rating (64% as of Sunday, Feb. is very close to his approval rating on the stimulus, while Gallup's last measure of favorable ratings for the Republicans in Congress (in December 2008) was 25%.

These relatively positive sentiments toward Obama were reflected in recent Gallup polling that asked Americans whether their confidence in Obama's ability to improve the economy and manage the government had gotten better or had gotten worse since his inauguration. At least half of Americans said their confidence had increased, while only 17% to 18% said they had less confidence.

Critically Important?

Obama's recent efforts to create a sense of urgency that a new bill be passed would appear to resonate with at least half of the American public. The new Gallup Poll shows that a majority of Americans (51%) say passing a new economic stimulus plan is "critically important" for improving the nation's economy, while another 29% say it is important. Only 16% say it is "not that important."

More:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/114202/Obama-Upper-Hand-Stimulus-Fight.aspx

[Mobenrad]

He just beats around the bush and starts a speech..  And then tells us how Bush fucked everything up with Tax cuts...  Tax cuts didn't put us here.. how about corruption or the housing market or price of oil?

How did the tax cuts relate to the national deficit?

How did the tax cuts create more jobs? (Trickle down?) Or did they ship overseas instead ?

How did tax cuts make any kind of fiscal sense (cents) while simultaneously waging two wars ?

How did borrowing money from China while cutting taxes work out for us ?

 

If Obama says it, it must be right... How did Reagan fix a situation that was worse than this?  Not EVERYTHING Obama does is right... See the people he has nominated so far as evidence.  Obama will be a stud, but lets be somewhat objective, the campaign is over, so you don't have to try so hard anymore.   We are not going to spontaneously combust if this bill doesn't past, unlike what we are lead to beleive.

Who said Regean fixed anything to begin with? The very reason we're in debt right now so badly and why the economy sucks is because Regean lifted the restrictions of private banks, so with these loosened restrictions, the banks had out loans they can't cover, which puts our economy in the dumps.

[pilferk]

If Obama says it, it must be right... How did Reagan fix a situation that was worse than this?  Not EVERYTHING Obama does is right... See the people he has nominated so far as evidence.  Obama will be a stud, but lets be somewhat objective, the campaign is over, so you don't have to try so hard anymore.   We are not going to spontaneously combust if this bill doesn't past, unlike what we are lead to beleive.

Apparently, on Thursday September 18th, there was an "electronic run" on the banks....something to the tune of 500 billion on Money Markets.  That's in the day or so after Lehman Bros tanked.  We were, potentially, HOURS away from our entire economic system (and probably the global economy) going down in flames. 

The Fed, the Treasury, and Congress stepped in, pumped a hundred billiion or so into the system, and upped the insurance limit/guarentee on those accounts to 250k, and that stemmed the tide.  But from the recounts I've seen now...the run started around 11 AM and if they hadn't acted quickly, by 3 PM we would have been up a creek without a paddle.  That's pretty fucking dire. 

Point being:  Don't assume everything is as "hunkey dorey" and stable as you seem to assume it is.   So...yes...fast action is likely something we want.

Edit:  The main source to all this is Rep. Paul Kanjorski and his appearance on C-Span.

If that's true, then it certainly demonstrates how fragile (and, IMO, stupid) this system is. 

It's the account the honorable Congressman gives, almost verbatim, on C-span.  I'm not sure if it's "out there" anywhere....

Whether he's accurate or not, I don't know.  But I haven't heard anyone correct him, yet, either.....

And I agree: scary shit.

[SLCPUNK]

Who said Regean fixed anything to begin with?

I was kind of wondering if somebody was going to address this.

What did he "fix" ?

[freedom78]

Who said Regean fixed anything to begin with?

I was kind of wondering if somebody was going to address this.

What did he "fix" ?

One meaning of "fixed" is "neutered".

[Smoking Guns]

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. (Thomas Jefferson, US President; 1743 - 1826)

[Smoking Guns]

America is dying. It is self-destructing and bringing the rest of the world down with it.

Often referred to as a sub-prime mortgage collapse, this obfuscates the real reason. By associating tangible useless failed mortgages, at least something 'real' can be blamed for the carnage. The problem is, this is myth. The magnitude of this fiscal collapse happened because it was all based on hot air.

The banking industry renamed insurance betting guarantees as 'credit default swaps' and risky gambling wagers were called 'derivatives'. Financial managers and banking executives were selling the ultimate con to the entire world, akin to the snake-oil salesmen from the 18th century but this time in suits and ties. And by October 2008 it was a quadrillion-dollar (that's $1,000 trillion) industry that few could understand.

Propped up by false hope, America is now falling like a house of cards.

It all began in the early part of the 20th century. In 1907 J.P. Morgan, a private New York banker, published a rumour that a competing unnamed large bank was about to fail. It was a false charge but customers nonetheless raced to their banks to withdraw their money, in case it was their bank. As they pulled out their funds the banks lost their cash deposits and were forced to call in their loans. People now therefore had to pay back their mortgages to fill the banks with income, going bankrupt in the process. The 1907 panic resulted in a crash that prompted the creation of the Federal Reserve, a private banking cartel with the veneer of an independent government organization. Effectively, it was a coup by elite bankers in order to control the industry.

When signed into law in 1913, the Federal Reserve would loan and supply the nation's money, but with interest. The more money it was able to print, the more 'income' for itself it generated. By its very nature the Federal Reserve would forever keep producing debt to stay alive. It was able to print America's monetary supply at will, regulating its value. To control valuation however, inflation had to be kept in check.