The Note: Obama Waits on Change for January

Penny Pritzker is gone???? I thought he nominated her for commerce.

Why is the President-elect being held responsible for the current mess? Why can’t the CURRENT PRESIDENT DO HIS JOB?

President-elect Barack Obama will not move for months, and perhaps not until 2010, to ask Congress to end the military’s decades-old ban on open homosexuals in the ranks, two people who have advised the Obama transition team on this issue say.

Obama’s Attorney General Wants to Regulate Internet Speech.
“The court has really struck down every government effort to try to regulate it. We tried with regard to pornography. It is gonna be a difficult thing, but it seems to me that if we can come up with reasonable restrictions, reasonable regulations in how people interact on the Internet, that is something that the Supreme Court and the courts ought to favorably look at.” – May 28, 1999 NPR Morning Edition
Pardon me, but I’m looking at the First Amendment, and I’m a bit confused. Where in this statement does it say that the government has the authority to impose “reasonable restrictions” on speech?
Congress shall make NO LAW respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech. That appears rather clear. It doesn’t authorize “reasonable restrictions”, or “reasonable regulations”, or what Holder really wants, “reasonable federal censorship.”
We apparently will have an incoming administration blissfully ignorant of the Constitution they will swear to defend. Barack Obama couldn’t articulate a coherent statement on gun rights despite his supposed status as a Constitutional scholar, Joe Biden couldn’t figure out what Article I actually establishes, and now Eric Holder hasn’t read the First Amendment. Maybe we should pass out more of those Robert Byrd Pocket Constitutions during the transition, and hold a test before Inauguration Day.
Anyone want to guess what form those “reasonable restrictions” might be? Perhaps, say, regulating content in the blogosphere? I’m guessing that will be Target One for the Holder-run DoJ.

Still don’t understand the Clinton appointment, assuming the reports are correct. She’s not exactly among the steady hands I assumed Obama would tap.
Announcing the financial team on Monday will be a good move, however. Assuming management of the bailout plan will be the immediate challenge.

Nothing will improve in January, if anything, it will get worse. Pelosi, Reid, Franks, Dodd and now Obama and his joke of an administration are all a recipe for disaster.
Obama and all his “yes men” set the bar so high during the election that now they are coming out and telling everyone to lower their expectations. They know Obama isn’t really the Messiah they packaged him as to get elected.
Obama is hiding from the economic disaster because he has no idea what to do.
Obama supporters are suckas!!!

The economy is tanking seemingly as if no bottom in sight. There is absolutely no leadership, anywhere, to be seen.
You certainly cannot expect George W. Bush to come up with a great idea; after all, he is incompetent and a lameduck. The Congress of Pelosi and Reid has done nothing for two freeking years, except promoting their Affirmative Action candidate, ridiculing and ignoring correct solutions by people like Hillary Clinton.
Our Greatest Smartest Changest Leader, Pres. 0bama, took his first “present”, to have got his corned beef in answering a question about the economy, rather than taking an future leadership role and telling the american people what he is going to do.
Does he know?

Mr. Obama addressed the nation and internet on Saturday to update us and to reassure us that he and his wise councelors are workiing on a two-year plan to provide jobs and to strengthen our economy at the same time. He can official do nothing until he is officially president. Mr. Bush is in the driver’s seat. Instead of trying to help us, he is ignoring us, waiting until he can official run away on January 20th. Before he leaves, he will dig our ditches even deeper with his “midnight” regulations.

If it turn out that Obama is not American citizen, and was born in Kenya, he can not take the presidental office,Who will be the president ? Joe Biden ?

For those who are still blaming Bush in today’s blog…A little tiring after 8 years, ain’t it? What are you going to do after January 20th, 2009? You got into such a habit of blaming Bush for everything, that I have to remind you to refrain yourself from saying such giberrish as, after January 20, 2009, “Look what mess Bush made for Obama clean up!” For there is no end of this from you, even until 2012 when Obama is voted out of the White House, and the Democratic Challenger? No other than the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. I am not saying that she will win though. For those Bush haters, watch out for your tiring language, we don’t like to hear broken record like yours. Retire your rhetoric, would you? I am looking for “CHANGE” in your usual blaming game.

reaganfan: “With Dashle, Richardson, and
Hillary leading the way it’s more like
‘Back to the Future’!”
Lol, the Republican ability to spin has really been diminished, hasn’t it? I guess the whole party has been Palinized.
Anyway, let’s go through this again. Change doesn’t mean appointing a bunch of folks no one ever heard of. The president sets direction and his administration, which consists of appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president as well as career civil servants, works to execute that presidential guidance.
Consider a professional football team as an analogy. A new coach can promote a new playing style – say going from a running attack to a West Coast offense. That coach, however, isn’t going to attempt the new playing style with a bunch of players who had never before been in the NFL.

Oh give me a break! Obama isn’t going to fix anything! How is he going to cut costs when his first plan of action once he gets into the Whitehouse is to tear out the bowling alley and build a gym so he can play basketball! What a waste of tax money!

Paul:
The Only Spin I see is coming from
you Obama Cheerleaders waving your
Pom Poms!
Obama said he was going to change the
way things are done in Washington!
It won’t happen with the Washington
Insiders he is choosing for his
Cabinet!
He is already backing off his proposal to
withdraw our troops in Iraq in his
first 16 months as president!
He’s backing away from the tax cuts
for 95% of the country that he promised
and is backing away from the pledge he
made to increase taxes on people
making more than $150,000, $200,000, or
$250,000 a year(hard to tell which is the actual figure).
Just another liar like all the rest.
Obama went from “change you can believe
in” to you can’t believe a word I say!

The seething, spittle-filled rants in this comment section just makes me giddy. I guess you guys are still reeling from November 4th, when you got trounced.
Obama’s nowhere to be seen? Oh, except for the weekly video addresses and daily updates from his change.gov website. Remind me again where our CURRENT president is making weekly statements about all this? Oh, that’s right, the last address he made was in April.
I used to donate to the campaign every time I saw a hate-filled rant with no reason or intelligence behind it. Since I can’t do that anymore, I’m just going to laugh at you instead.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

Michael,
Good luck, and good night.

Why is the President-elect being held responsible for the current mess? Why can’t the CURRENT PRESIDENT DO HIS JOB?
Posted by: SG in PG | Nov 21, 2008 9:56:22 AM

Paul,
Do not try to deceive by talking about a different subject, as our Greatest Changest Leader always does.
I was talking about preventing it from going down more than ONE YEAR AGO.
You are talking about bringing it up after our Greatest Leader has equalized 95% poor and 5% rich by more than 50%.
They are different as you are well aware of. It is much easier to fall than climbing up.

fatcat: “Do not try to deceive by talking about a different subject, as our Greatest Changest Leader always does. I was talking about preventing it from going down more than ONE YEAR AGO. You are talking about bringing it up after our Greatest Leader has equalized 95% poor and 5% rich by more than 50%. They are different as you are well aware of. It is much easier to fall than climbing up.”
True enough, but I’ll add that the markets were over-valued a year ago and had to come down, as this economy has been hollowing itself for years and perhaps decades depending on your perspective – rising public debt, diminished manufacturing base, etc.
The band-aids Clinton proposed were just that. My concern is that even the level of reaction Obama is talking about may also may prove to be just band-aids.
So, I guess I’m saying my original point is still valid.
By the way, why do you say it would be easier to keep the markets propped up than it would be for investors to raise them now? Is that from an econ 101 book or just something you made up?

fatcat – I think looking at the Dow or other market indices as a daily referendum on the president elect is a little silly.
Further, as an investor I’m much more concerned in business fundamentals than governmental action when choosing my purchases or sales. For instance, I think Christmas sales will have a greater impact on stocks as a whole than would the question of whether it was Obama or McCain or anyone else preparing to take office.

socalindep – if you’re buying options I’d say you’re not an investor. That’s trading territory.
I did sell about half my long positions more than a year ago. Fundamentals were turning south when oil started to sky rocket, and anyone who wanted to see it knew what was coming. I don’t claim to have foreseen the extent of the crisis we now find ourselves in – at least not occurring this soon – but seemed obvious to me the markets were heading for correction.
I had this conversation with a co-worker a while back. I still have a yellow sticky stuck to my office wall, with the numbers 14,198 and 11,358. The high number was the Dow that day, and in response to my prediction that we could be looking at a 20 percent drop, he wanted to hold me to that – so the low number was written.
The connection between Christmas shopping and the markets is well established. And while I’m not sure you’re numbers are correct, let’s say they are. Then retailers are now valued with that 5 percent decline factored in. Anything above that, and those equities will rise in value.
As an experienced “investor” I’m sure you know it doesn’t matter for the short term whether you make or lose money, so long as you beat estimates.
For the long term, we still have some serious problems. We don’t produce much as a nation. We are having trouble servicing our public debt, and at least one of the big three creditors has suggested the U.S.’s AAA rating might be in danger. Our individual families are carrying additional debt and haven’t been saving – being good ‘patriots’ they’ve been spending their money on more and more crap. And now credit is tight to non-existant.
And, oh by the way, the baby boomers have started to retire. While most people note the public strains that causes because of social security and medicare payments we can expect making, also consider what happens when that demographic bubble stops putting into its 401(k) and starts taking out.

People who are saying Obama is asking washington insiders to serve with him must be stupid!!!!!!
Where do you want him to pick these individuals???
Maybe pick guys off the street?

I need some leftover change Barry.