GOP Offers Obama Bipartisan Choice

How could the Pelosi team even come close to believing their proposal will not cause a sour stomach to any rational person. See details:
PresidentialBalls.com

Isn’t that funny an offer to show “bipartisanship” out of a group of j-offs acting completely partisan.
lol

GOPers, it’s really not time to put your ideology first. Look at how sick the economy is and how critical it is that we boost aggregate demand now. The best way to do this is spend money on public projects that are ready to go — government expenditure is known to have the biggest multiplier effect — and distribute money through tax rebates or whatever to those who are most likely to spend it (that is, those who currently are already having difficulty making ends meet), not to those who can afford to hoard it. Giving tax cuts to biz, big or small, makes sense only when there is demand out there for their goods and services.
Also, to boost the spirit of solidarity, to keep up working morale and to keep people’s purchasing power as intact as possible, I think someone in the corporate sector or unions should start a wage-cutting-in-return-for-job-saving campaign that encourages corporate chiefs to resort to cutting wages (with steeper cuts for those earning more) rather than slashing jobs. This campaign will have the additional advantage of allowing companies to retain their trained employees during hard times so that when the economy picks up again, companies will be ready to expand production right away.

hint to gop ers : get lots of (8 years worth at least) cheese to go along with all that whine (and crow).
mmmmmmm tasty!

Can the GOP afford to play political hardball when they just lost the White House and more seats in Congress? Not exactly in a great position for leverage…
http://www.political-buzz.com/

LOL see the details at a link to the Presidents Ball? Grow up.

The POTUS has a clear mandate to stimulate the economy… and change things..
I don’t want to try the same old tired policies of the last 8 years.. tax cuts.. tax cuts for the wealthy.. ya those same businesses eat the tax cuts and don’t do nothing. They will not use the money to create jobs.. we all know that..
Same old tired GOP policies of the last 8 years.

The bottom line is that we need a bill that works. I could easily see the bill being weakened by Republicans demanding tax cuts that have been proven to NOT work. Tax cuts only work if people spend the money. Only 22% say they will spend their tax cuts. That leaves 78% of the money not providing stimulus.

Bipartisan involves respectful negotiation and compromise. It appears as if those things are actually taking place for the first time in a long time. Bravo! I hope it stays this way. We truly can’t afford anything less…

“I don’t want to try the same old tired policies of the last 8 years.. tax cuts.. tax cuts for the wealthy.. ya those same businesses eat the tax cuts and don’t do nothing. They will not use the money to create jobs.. we all know that..” O
Would you rather have blind obedience to the president and his plans? Democracy generally doesn’t work that way.
This the the way politics work. Fixing this economy will take a leader who can consider all ideas – not just his own.
By the way, Bush cut taxes for ALL taxpayers to pre-Clinton levels – that’s ALL taxpayers (rich, poor and all those in between), not just the wealthy. Please visit the IRS Website to get your facts before reciting that tired old lie of Bush only cutting taxes for the wealthy. It’s not true and everyone knows it. Just like everyone knows that Clinton didn’t decrease the national debt (visit the Treasury Dept.’s website for proof of that!).
It’s time to take a cue from the new president and look forward instead of backward. Reciting the same old tired propoganda does nothing to solve the very real problems our country is facing today.

This is the way a two-party system is supposed to work. The minority party should not just lay down and say, “Woe is us.” If the Democrats would have done what the Republicans are doinw now we might not be in the mess we are in now.

I can’t figure out how Pelosi and Reid both got their hands up Obama’s rear in order to work his mouth.

O! — You should look up the term “neo con” because you are using it incorrectly – you obviously have no idea what the neo con movement is all about, otherwise, you wouldn’t say things like “you neo cons never learn” – I don’t see any true neo con comments on this message board.

The American people deserve politicians on office that treat OUR money as is it were their own. By this I mean not to spned so easily on what appears MAY work today. I was agianst TARP because making huge plans in haste rarely proves beneficial. Maybe all the politicians can start by not getting paid themselves for the remainder of their time in office. I am sick of GOVT thinking they can do things better. I know that we are in dire straights but can cnyone really name a government run entity that is 100% successful and has overwhelming support from our citizens? I THINK NOT!!!!!

Let’s have more pork in this spending. You know, let’s triple it and spend it like the world is coming to an end. Give money only to Dubai, the banks, Nigeria while we develop alternative energy over the next 50 to 100 years. Let’s not take care of America or Americans, spend more now so we can go out in a flame of glory. OOPS we alrady are because of all the lame flamers in Washington. Give the money to the bannking queen so he can give it to undocumented businesses for purchasisng Japanese and Chineeze banks. Pelosi needs 50 bil just for her state alone, no questions asked. Unbelievable…

Tax cut for those who need it. No tax cut for those who dont need it. All the riches already hide their money in offshore accounts.

How about a GOPer come on here and tell me what worked the past 8 years? If its anyhting substantial then maybe I could consider their input to be beneficial. Corporate tax cuts are worthless, b/c the bottom line is almost always managed down. Corporations will only hire if they want to grow. Put the $$ in the hands of individuals and watch them spend it.

Very poorly written article. There is no such thing as a “marginal tax rate” It is a concept that applies to all tiered tax rates. Are they speaking of long-term capital gains, short-term capital gains? Income Taxes? What taxes?

I’m paraphrasing at best, but wasn’t it the Great One Reagan himself who said deficit spending was a non-issue.
And now repub’s are screaming about how much money Barry wants to spend. Typical hypocrites.

Let’s see, if my income goes down should I increase my spending – perhaps put more purchases on credit cards – so that I can spend my way back to prosperity or should I cut back, reduce spending and live within my needs? Do I want a leader who will spend more money in tight times – borrowing it with no thought for tomorrow – or should I expect politicians to cut back in tight times?

It’s in Obama’s best interest to try and meet the Republicans half way. The Democratic majority won’t last forever and he’ll have to work with the Republicans once Pelosi and Reid get themselves thrown out of Congress.

WOW
most of the comments must be from people without a 402K or IRA, If they do they would see the best way for the money to grow would be to give me a tax break so I could buy the things i want to buy but cannot afford it right now. Seem a tax cut will do more than the estimeted $300 billion from taxing the so called rich.

my letter to state senator:
I wanted to express may opinion on this bailout thingee… There’s alot of suspicion and not much trust that anyone is doing anything for the benefit of the people.
Main street isn’t suffering from a lack of credit, it is suffering from years of overextended credit.
Many wall street insiders point to Japan and say look, they didn’t hand out enough money fast enough and see what happened? The fact that Japan threw billions of yen at their financial debacle and their economy has yet to recover does not, contrary to common wall street arguments, indicate that they didn’t throw enough money, fast enough. Wall street is a fuel line, not the engine, consumer spending is the engine.
The initial tarp installment has had no impact on main street and the stock market has continued to drop while millions of jobs have been lost. We have no idea what these many billions handed out were used for and are continually bombarded with examples of corporate greed and gluttoney. I’m guessing the handout was largely used payroll, bonuses and acquisitions which held little or no benefit for main street. There is no remorse, they all say nobody saw it coming. Bull.
What is needed is relief and stimulation at the consumer level. The next installment of the tarp should be specifically directed at the consumer. That is what will start this engine and is an approach that will allow the people to feel the aim of this bailout is true, not a continuation of a ‘hand the money to wall street and hope their benevolent stewardship will benefit main street’ approach. I don’t want to sound cynical but we’ve seen the ethical fiber of those that reach the top on Wall Street over – and – over.
The remainder of the tarp should be distributed equally to taxpayers. These payments would be required to be used to pay down existing debt. Credit cards, car loans… This will have two effects. First, by freeing the consumer of debt it will enable them to spend. And second, as Americans pay down debt, the cash ultimately flows to the financial companies seeking capital anyway.
I believe this approach is the most honest and forces these organizations to again work for their customers, to develop a working business plan rather than spending all their time trying to win tax protection, subsidies or bailout money, money that only distracts them from operating for the benefit of their customer. Management who spends more time winning the favor of legislators than customers have a pretty short term business plan, unless the subsidy should become a perpetuity, I fear that.

Some of you really need to learn about out political system before commenting. What is this talk about the past 8 years? The Democrats have had the majority in Congress (that is where the laws come from) for two years, not the Republicans. Now with the Democrats in the majority and a Democratic president will you still blame Bush?

Legislation exists that introduces money into circulation by spending it in to circulation to pay for roads and bridges. It’s hard to believe no one has thought to spend the money in in leui of taxation and bonding. It won’t cause inflation because it has the production needed. For more info on this legislation go to wealthmoney.org

We’ve tried greasing the palms of the financial industry. Didn’t work. Obama has talked about a trickle up economy. There’s been much discussion about a fair tax. There’s been much discussion about a stimulus plan that would benefit the consumer. Why are we talking about stimulus ideas that will take years to impact the economy when we need immediate relief? Why not use the $850 billion and the $350 billion to run the government for the next year. In the meantime discontinue the collection of income tax. Both parties get what they want and the stagnant/ declining economy will explode into activity. There will be new jobs and less debt and mortgages saved. When the money starts flowing lending will restart. It’s and brainer to do this first and work on the pet projects over the next year, maybe even work up a fair tax plan. Economic recovery is the key to everything we need to accomplish.

spenditindontlenditin,
I’ve been thinking the same thing. We have roads and bridges that are in desperate need of repair or rebuild not to mention local projects that the feds could help with. Construction workers spend money and that will put people back to work. Giving large sums of money to GM and Bank of America will only help the companies, it won’t put people back to work.
I’ll give our new president every chance to prove himself and I hope he will work with both sides of the aisle. Sooner or later the honeymoon will be over and the right will figure out that he isn’t the anti-Christ and the left decide that he isn’t the messiah after all.
I do wish he would stop listening to Sen. Feinstein. Her leftist record and affinity for a fight are well known. I think she hates Republicans on principle.

The Republicans have had 8 years under Bush – and another 6 under Clinton – to figure out how to “stimulate” the economy. All they have ever done is cut taxes for their fat-cat buddies, give out fat contracts to the same, cut protections for the average American, and generally stick it to the middle class.
And now they want to “instruct” President Obama!
These guys are not even wolves in sheep’s clothing: their style is to pass a law defining that a four-legged animal with gray fur, huge canine teeth, a steely hungry look and a slavering tongue is a “sheep” – and is to be obeyed without question! I say, throw them to the “sheep”!

brian…well said…Obama bashed bush on his tax credits to everyone….even those that made less than 200K a year… sounds like someone talks out of both sides of his mouth. Hey I like his Treasury Sec…the one that voided to pay taxes for 4 years. Nice pick obama…someone to oversee our money that tries to screw the IRS out of 100k of taxes…..and he even got out of paying some of the back taxes and penalities….

“In Debt We Trust.” Bailouts and unthinkable deficit spending are our salvation.

Stop the madness. There is not one shred of evidence or even an acknowledgement that what they are doing by going deeper into debt will fix anything. It’s a bunch of pass the bucker’s trying to pass the buck again. Obama included.

Didn’t we just try to do this with the last economic stimulus package that failed? And when we are worse off after this mistake will we not just keep doing the wrong things over and over? It will come to an end, too bad it won’t be one that we can quickly recover from.

Say no to the GOP tax cuts.. Obama has a clear mandate to change the mess we are in.
Lets play trivia:
What did the last republican president and his 6 years of congress.. do ?
Take a surplus and create a record debt.
How many years of those did the Dems have any say?
Year and half
Whose administration balanced the budget and got the economy out of our last recession?
Clinton Administration
Go home you right wing crazies.. you all had your time.. had your chance.. and it didnt work..
It is time for a change!!!

Jordan,
What does that have to do with fixing bridges and roads? Creating temporary government jobs just creates more deficits and ties up the money for free enterprise. Free markets are the most efficient ways of making true progress, governments need to create an environment for fertile business development not the other way around. Are you a communist?

CommonCents: ” Are you a communist? ”
Such cutting insight from Mr. McCarthy here. I would debate, but I’m not a communist so that argument just completely convinces me now.

I’ll bite N. Park though I’ve never claimed a party affiliation I tend to have a more fiscal conservative leaning than liberal. One of the items that did work under Bush was the across the board tax cuts. While they were small they applied to both the rich and poor and because of this it seemed as though the rich made off better when in reality they received the exact same percentage on the tax break. Additionally, the tax breaks for dividends on stocks and investments allowed many to continue to purchase more stocks and/or goods as they had to pay less in taxes for the gains. As we, the United States, are a consumer based nation the more disposable cash people (as well as businesses) have to spend the more willing they are to use that for purchases thus fueling our economy. Where the problems aroused at was the lack of oversight/regulation and corruptions in our banking/investing industry.
As for your hate about corporations I think it’s more of confusion on the taxes part. As of today the US has one of the world’s highest corporate tax rates which happens to make our market less favorable to run corporations from. One of the most misunderstood functions of corporations is the taxes applying to their operations. In any capitalistic system business costs are always passed along to the lowest level in the chain which happens to be the consumers. If you raise taxes on corporations (or any business for that matter) they will in turn increase the costs of their services and goods to adjust for the additional tax. As prices go up demand will go down due to higher costs and stagnant disposible income levels and in turn causes lower revenues for the corporation. When this happens their stocks typically take a beating as the lower revenue causes investors to worry about the status of the corporation. (A decade ago this wasn’t so but thanks to the advent of electronic trading this has changed things drastically.) As the stocks are dumped the corporation loses investment dollars and risks having their credit rating adjusted, making it harder and more costly to obtain loans, causing the corporation to have to make fiscal adjustments (i.e. layoffs). At some point in this process the corporation has to look at other options if it wishes to survive and that’s when they are most likely to uproot to another area or country. While this is a very simplistic overview it does show why raising corporate tax is bad.

Breaking News Republicans
The country spoke loud and clear on Nov 4, I belive your Pathetic Party is dead now for once in your Pathetic party do something right for the people! Republicans one word for ya JOBS!In this country! now i suggest you play nice with our new President and the Democrats or your Pathetic party will be dead for years to come!

B: “Clinton is the one that started all this.”
Another compelling argument – IT’S CLINTON’S FAULT!!!

I know that President Obama and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel can not say this, but I can, John Boehner and Eric Cantor can go to HE!! and let the door knob hit them in the butt on the way out the door. The GOP ideas is what got us into this current BOOM DOGGLE.

Well, I’m ready to see ole’ Barry perform some more miracles. We all know that “the chosen one” is capable of miracles, after all he did emerge from the cesspool called Chicago unscathed, with the American people blindly pinching their noses to quell the stench.

The gas lines sure are getting long. We are all waiting in line for Obama to pay for our gas while we sit in our homes waiting for him to pay for our mortgage.

You democrats… The problem is not the economy – it’s your absurd belief that the productive should support the unproductive. Socialism at its finest! That’s a great example for our next (Yes we Can) generation – If you get an education, work hard to achieve your goals, and be wise with your money; we’ll punish you by taxing the crap out you.
You want long term economic stimulation? Stop bailing out companies with bad leadership whose only concern is the number of zero’s on their bonus check. Give tax breaks to small/mid size businesses – tax breaks = more money, more money = more jobs, more jobs = more spending (pretty simple actually). Reduce personal taxes across the board – everyone spends money, even those people the government considers “wealthy”.
However, you guys seem to have it all figured out. So when you’re unemployed and unable to pay for your above means lifestyle, thank your government. Don’t curse the economy.

Mia….Wrong guess, minus five.

jhw539 – Pork = wasteful spending or spending on things that have nothing to do with the purpose of the bill/package. Read the excerpts from the article, what does contraceptives have to do with stimulating the economy or putting people to work. In the previous bailout package there were millions of dollars for a company that made toy arrows. the things you mentioned are all valid ways to spend and help create jobs and upgrade infrastructure.

Republicns are once again trying give us the same old same old formula of of snake oil. Theyb are again talking about less taxes for the rich, small government–no regulations–the same stuff that brought us disasters unparrlled in our history. I am shocked how brainless and dogmatic these Republicans really are. I don’t think Mr. Obama cares for this type of dogmatic nonsense that ruined us. Republicans have done so mauch damage to our country, more than all of Americ’s enemy terrorists combined. But they keep mouthing the same old garbage. President Obama has moved beyond such dogmatic nonsense; he’ll settle for what works for America, and pull us our of the hell that Republicans created for all of us!

If it were up to the replublicans, everyone would be making $8.00 per hour, no health insurance, no benefits of any kind. The coorporate world could do anything they wanted. No oversight, no regulations. That works for awhile. Eventually that produces revolutions. Or in the case of the US, it will simply lead to a total collapse of the economy while the country wallows in it’s debt.

Barb, assuming that you’re over the age of 18 it’s a bit naïve to assume that only Republicans were behind the economic mess that we’re in today as a nation. Both parties have had their hands in this mess and for well over the past 15 years so please, enough with the partisan lines. Until we as a nation stop with this partisan elementary school thought that has infested this and all MSM and many other sites we’ll never fully heal and will become victims of a potentially overreaching government.
“Let Obama do what he wants….can’t be any worse than what the previous administration did” Obama’s administration is only officially 3 days old and he can’t possibly do worse than the past 8 years of Bush? You nor anybody on this or any site can make that claim as unless you’ve traveled back from 2015 (assuming that Obama gets a second term) as it’s very premature to assume that a person will completely succeed without any evidence nor without knowing what the future will bring. (Recall the “Mission Accomplished” only months after the US invaded Iraq?) While your enthusiasm about our government succeeding is evident do not ever put blind faith in it (government).
As for the title of the article itself, isn’t that what our political party system was set up for in the first place? It was known all too well by our founding fathers that government, both big and small, needs proper oversight and strict checks and balances. No one party should have uncontested say nor should one party be completely muted because they are the minority. It is these values as well as serving all citizens in their respective districts regardless of social, economic, religious, gender, sex, or political party affiliation that will make the US great again.

Wow, there is a lot of stubborn opinion
out there. The truth is that a business does’nt care who buys it’s goods. As long as they pay. If it were not for the “public sector” there would be no economy right now. The greatness of or country is in the BALANCE. The balance between the Executive, Leglislative and Judicial branches of government. The balance between left and right. The balance between public and private. Just a reminder…the Military is part of the public sector..ships, planes, tanks, guns, uniforms, food, cars and trucks.
All are bought buy the government. The private sector, grand that it may be is guilty of greed and corruption as with the investment bank whose CEO gave out bonuses to top exec’ just as they were asking the government for BILLIONs.

Mia — Isn’t it amazing how government thinks they have to spend a surplus? I understand that to some point the gov’t is not for profit. Same thing happened here in PA. Our state government had a surplus now a deficit and are contemplating laying off state employees. God forbid they just cut spending.

We Will Be In A Depression Within A Year!! We’ll See How You Feel About Our Leaders Then?? This Whole Stupid System Is About To Go The Way Of Rome And The USSR…. TOTAL COLAPSE

In the end we’ll spend money that we really don’t have and one day all our money, everyones, will be worth much less and we and or our kids will be much deeper in debt. If we manage to save the banks without saving the base of our prosperity and that is our jobs and companies ,what good have we done? Cutting taxes, everyones taxes, fica and letting the government print money to function on is a good way to allow we citizens decide who survives and who fails.
Government overreach, overspending and irresponsibilty for a couple of decades has caused this mess and it will not solve it. We have all been caught in a great ponsi scheme.

No spin, Isn’t it amazing that you are crying about spending now after 8 years of debt..
Out of ideas.. out of time and out of power! the sad story of the GOP

Mia — Not crying actually agreeing with you. I think it is a shame that we had a surplus and now have such a huge deficit. I don’t think this issue is a republican or democrat problem. It is all of ours.. eventually they are going to have to get this money back. In the long run we will all pay for the mistakes of our illustrious leaders in Washington.

camp50 | Jan 23, 2009 2:19:20 PM
That’s the problem with elitist in our government. They think that anyone without at least a Master’s degree is ‘unskilled labor’.
PROFESSIONAL construction workers can build bridges and roads that are necessary and build them right. Unskilled labor can be trained in a craft and whose who can’t qualify for training can either remain as unskilled labor or run for Congress.
Skilled construction workers and unskilled labor will pump money into the economy and people too dumb to be trained can’t do much worse in DC than the highly educated people we’ve had in Congress and the White House for the last 230 years.

Small Biz: I agree with you.
Also if you make the wealthy pay more taxes and they go out of business it is going to put the middle class out of jobs. I don’t understand why everyone keeps saying all this about the wealthy because they are the reason you still have a job. And also Obamas main concern is about closing all those prisions where the ones that are a threat to the US are being held. Where are all those prisioners going to go? He does not know yet but he wants them closed! Has anyone read that article about that one prisioner who escaped and now is the second highest person in the Al Quida terrorist group. Are you kidding me. Oh and of course our taxpaying dollars are yet again going to go toward abortions. And those are his main concerns. Yes close Guantanamo Bay and free all the terrorists and provoke those 13-15 year olds to continue having sex because they can just get another abortion.

The company ceo’s and government allowed this mess to happen; dems and repubs. So why should tax payers bail them all out. Let a poorly run business fail as it should. Throwing money at bad business practices (including our corrupt government) will not solve anything. How’s the first 350 billion working out? Not good since no one can account for where or how the money went.

EndCorruptionNow — a men!!!!!

My oh my, everyone keeps blaming the other side. Does anyone ever think thats what dems and repubs want Americans to do? Thats so when one is biatching about the other, that takes the light off of them. For all the “highly” educated people we have running our government, I think its a crying shame that this is the result. Its apparent education has NOTHING to do with qualifications for any government position.

“without having received the vote of a single Republican in the two committees that considered the legislation”
Yeah, that’s a republicans idea of “bipartisanship”, have any of you aholes ever heard of compromise? Your my way or the highway approach is how we got here, remember?

It’s funny to those who want corruption to end. Who did you all vote for?!!! He is from Chicago, the most corrupt are in Chicago. And he wanted if not all of his members to be from Chicago. And I don’t know why they are busting on Blago. They are all corrupt. If anything Blago did some good for Chicago.

What Obama wants…..he wants for everyone (except himself and his crook buddies) to be equal. In other words he wants the people that work hard, to make the same amount of money as those that sit on their a$$es collecting welfare. That is after all fair, right?

“I am sure that these wall street guys are limo driving wine sipping democrat liberals who put themselves above everybody else.” … brian, you’ve been swimming in the Egyptian fiver again, haven’t you? Now Hank Paulson is a “democrat”! …and the farmer hauled another load away!

Lil Me yeah Bush cut taxes, and look at where we are now. Even millionaires are calling the suicide hot lines. Look at all the Rich that swindled the poor, in the get rich schemes. Who has done better under Bush in the last 8 years? I know my wadges have been cut 3 times to the tune of 20% and then my hours. So tell me how I can make all my bills. My Mortgage does not go down 20%, my PG&E does not go down 20%, my Food Bill does not go down. You talk about foreclosures they are not just people who had bad loans, they are people that jobs were cut by outsourcing and no new jobs to be had. Thank God I still have my job.

The Republicans are in no position to make demands of anyone. They destroyed the economy with their failed policies and Americans are sick of their incompetent BS. I’m an independent and, while I may not always vote for Democrats, I will NEVER EVER vote for another Republican for as long as I live.

unholy33, no we should make the country we are in help pay our help.

Eight years of Bush and six years of Republican control of Congress resulted in the largest spending deficits in the history of the United States. Now after 4 days of Obama’s Presidency these same Republicans have suddenly become smart about the ecnonomy and are criticizing Obama’s spending proposals? lol

its long past time to ram some basic american values down some selfish idiots throats (i.e republicans).
newsflash….RAMPANT UNBRIDLED CAPITALISM THAT UNDERMINES THE NATION IS NOT MENTIONED IN THE CONSTITUTION .
now shut up your flapping pie holes and let the adults rule for the next 20 or so years you republican trash you.

PhilBGood – actually it was 12 years of GOP control of Congress. The Republicans’ failed economic ideology destroyed our economy – and now Congressional Republicans are making threats to sink Obama’s bailout? These clowns are on VERY thin ice.

guess what guys all this f ing mess is coming to an end soon,all your money will be worth nothing,there will be no government,there will be no republican,there will be no democrat.it will be each person for himself and all these rich idiots that have been doing nothing but trying to steal as much money as possible will be eaten for breakfast,lunch and dinner. THE END IS COMING SOON!!! MOOWHahaha

I opposed this war in the first place. Why should my money go to a lost cause?
Remember that WE armed Iraq, and that’s why I opposed the war.

Fishman – I stand corrected. Thanks for setting the record straight.

Because of Idiot and Shotgun Boy the nation is on the brink of collapse.
We had no business in Iraq. Saddam Hussein didn’t attack us…and YOU know that.

Socialized medicine doesn’t work?
Hm.
Explain to me why there are long lifespans in nations where there IS socialized medicine.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way ABC only tells part of a story, I believe O’s reaction was to tell the GOP “I won”. Bipartisan promise my rear…when will you guys get your head out of O’s butt and report facts????????

unholy33 — I will take your comments about soldiers as weird sarcasm. Our military might and the men and women serving our country is what guarantees your right to make such comments on sites like this. If anything the men and women in the armed forces deserve a pay raise. I served my country in the military and am proud of it. No one likes war, not even soldiers. When we were called upon to go to war we do so with honor. What soldiers do expect is the support and gratitude of our fellow citizens. The military is not part of the political process, it is not Democrat or Republican therefore should not be brought into conversations such as this.

Better yet, just outlaw the Republican Party.

It’s a matter of commitment, which group in asociety will sacrifice more? The group that is willing to sacrifice more (Repubs,or Dems.) they will ultimately win. Who is willing to die for their cause?? They will and have always won theese sociatal battles……

Amen, Joe!
I love it when I hear: “Paid for by the U.S. Army!”
I go, “U.S. Army? Hell! I paid for that commerical, and I want my money back!”

nospin1600 – wrong. The military does not guarantee our rights. The rule of law gaurantees our rights. The military protects our territorial integrity and gaurantees our physical safety. This is actually quite different. Rightwingers never seem to understand this.
Remember, every tinpot dictator in the world has an army at his disposal. But what makes America unique is our Constitution and rule of law.
Never forget that.

I didn’t care being told that I should leave the country because of my disapproval of the war.
That was Strike One.
Abu Ghrib sickened me.
That was Strike Two.
Haditha…that was the last straw.
I’m done with our military. They waste our money and make America look like Germany in September of 1939.
I want my money back, and THEY can pay THEIR OWN WAY HOME.

Republicans are still promoting their “tinkle-down” theory of economics: they want to keep whizzing on the rest of us.

The conservatives might not be able to effect much legislation but they can constantly and loudly expose and challenge this Marxist regime and its congressional enablers.
Dissent, dissent, dissent.

Heck, I dont care what happens anymore! I’ll be leaveing America soon, good luck to all thoose that stay.

lol it would be something if it would be a legitimate tantrum,, but the GOP should be all glad he is willing to even talk to you all.. guz bush never did. We don’t forget. You want to unite with us, fine. We will let you share.. but don’t act like you run this stuff.
after the GOP implied he was socialist, communist, muslim, terrorist..in the election so please you right wing lunatics .. cry me a river and then drown in it.

“Ever thanked a soldier for the $4/gallon gas?
I did, and he didn’t know what to say.”
+++++++++++++++++++++
Enjoy it while you can dipstick, these times are fleeting and this too shall pass.

These boneheads bankrupt the USA for the last 8 years and NOW they think they know what to do? Sorry – the GOP lacks ANY credibility on spending.

Yeah, right.
You all thought Clinton would fail. He became one of our greatest presidents.

Ynot, we are in a depression NOW.
You can’t cut have taxcuts and an inflated military budget. That’s a recipe for a fabulous disaster.

Obama should pull out his big, black d i c k and beat the Congressional Republicans about their stupid heads with it.
Don’t these clowns realize they LOST the election? Don’t they understand that their failed policies crashed our economy? Don’t they know that Americans hate the GOP now?
I seriously hope these GOP fools keep it up, because they’re going to end up handing the Dems a supermajority in 2010. LOL

First if you haven’t served your country in the armed forces to protect other American rights then you have no right to speak about those that are serving. IF WE HADN’T DONE WHAT YOU DIDN’T HAVE THE COURAGE TO DO THEN WORSE THINGS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED THEN JUST 9/11!! How dare you think our men and women are over there on a vacation and that they should pay their own way home!!! THAT IS PURE IGNORANCE!! Way to support the men and women who are risking their lives for (whether you agree with what they are doing in Iraq or not). You don’t have to support the war but COME ON SUPPORT YOUR TROOPS!! As for the political debate – there are two parties – they each deserve a voice to be heard – just because Obama is now President did you really think all things are going to be BIPARTISAN?? You are naive to think so. The Republicans (as well as Democrats) are elected officials by the people. We all have a right to equal representation. You act as if they asked the minority party to leave (leaving only the democrats) that this country will immediately rebound from its crisis. I hate to tell you this but look at how many Dem’s voted for bills and what not that have put us in this position. It wasn’t just the REPUBLICANS!!

Flavorliscious — Let’s look at this for a moment.. the oath our illustrious President just spoke contains these workds “and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
What every military persons pledges in the oath they must take to enlist: ” that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”
Sounds pretty much the same right? without anyone to defend our rights under the constitution, we have no rights. If we did not have the great military that we have we would not have these rights. The military guarantees the protection of your right to make stupid comments.
Find a WWII vet and make your comment to them. I am sure that the 80+ year old vet will put you on your behind for that comment.
Those who make these stupid remarks about the military didn’t have the courage to join and serve.

heavenislikethis – actually it was OPEC’s decision not to go ahead with production cuts that led to the decline in gas prices. That’s not market forces, that’s policy at work. Duh.

It is Friday and COB on the east cost. I am going to go stimulate the economy.. you can all thank me later.
Thank a Veteran for the rights you have today!!!! If it weren’t for them you couldn’t criticise Bush or Obama without being thrown in jail or shot!!!!!

nospin1600….
Well said, well said!!!

Veteran for the US – actually, according to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, we have EVERY right to comment on anything we want, no matter if we wore a uniform or not.
Looks like you need to re-read the Constitution before you go around trying to tell people what to do, GI jerk. LOL

nospin – I’m afraid you’re simply incorrect.
The only veterans you can really thank for protecting our Constitutional rights are long dead. If you look at modern American history, our rights have never really been threatened in any conflict in living memory. Even WWI and WWII were not existential threats to American freedom.
In all of our lifetimes, it’s been our legal system and the courts that have truly been the gaurantors of our civil rights.
It’s a matter of historical fact.

Tax cuts are the GOP’s answer to everything – now matter how irrelevant they are. The GOP is running on empty, out of fresh ideas and stuck on stupid.
There is no reason to listen to these idiots and their failed policies after the damage they’ve already done to our economy system with their corrupt crony-capitalism.

GOP’s out of their mind. Thats all I’m gonna say about that.

I got bamboozled into voting for Bush in 2000 and I’ve been screwed and out of work for two years now. The GOP does NOTHING for me or anybody else who isn’t rich, so I say SCREW THEM! I was 100% for Obama, and I want to see him tax the HELL out of the rich and make the factcats beg for mercy. Class warfare? You betcha! It’s finally time for the middle class to get up off our knees and fight back!

oonogil. The bill in the State and Senate in Minnesota is for highly skilled construction companies to build and repair these roads and bridges. Somehow I will get word to Barack about this bill. Please visit my husbands website wealthmoney.org. It contains 20+ years of investigation on money and how the Bankers yes the Bankers not the Government have destroyed this nation. There isn’t enough time to explain how that worked so please visit the website. So keep thinking the way you are. Don’t listen to other critics. I am trying to get the word to the President about this bill. It really is the silver bullet that will fix the economy. Descitption of the bill is on the website. Thanks for your support.

Kangol: You are very welcome for the right to continue to comment too!! It’s the men and women in the Armed Services who keep the Constitution alive by protecting Americans at home and abroad. But I don’t expect someone who knows nothing about the military that is protecting their rights to have anything intelligent to say about them.

Texas outlaw -
The Republican party is the party of the rich.
The Democratic party is the party of the Super rich.
Take a look a both party platforms and the voting records of most of the representatives of both parties. Neither party represents the working people of the United States. We aren’t totally liberal like leftist Democrats or totally conservative like right wing Republicans. I hope no one agrees with either party 100%.
We should each have the ability for independent thought and decide for ourselves which candidate best represents what we want and which issues are most important to us. I’ve been a union member since Jan 1976. NRA member even longer than that. Neither tells me how to vote. I can think for myself. I wish everyone did.

Camp50. When you said that Obama said that he wanted unskilled construction workers to repair these roads and bridges did you here it or see it? I need it in print. Can I find that quote somewhere?

Government really wants to stimulate the economy? Then wipe out all credit card debts the banks are strangling people with with their obscene rates of 30% plus. These are loan sharking rates, but because the Republicans have deregulated them, they can charge whatever they want, when they want to. Doesn’t mean anything if you have perfect credit, they don’t give a cow’s rear end. For those that don’t have credit card debt, give them 5 or 10k to spend. Then suspend all mortgage payments for 3 months without penalties or additional interest. Thus the banks would “have used the bailout money” to really help Americans and not hoarding it, paying CEOs millions in bonuses or dividends.

All of the anti- military/ anti-war people here….. You better talk to your boy Obama. He just did a strike into Packistan and killed 20 people, I guess his war in Afghanistan is’nt enough for him. He did agree to send 30,000 more troops there or maybe I just imagined the whole thing??

The military can’t work without the support of the people. Look at what bad policy did to our military. Someone has to pay for the military. People join the military for differnt reasons.
Not all are patriots. It takes us all to make it a country, so give it up on who is protecting who. It should be about Americans protecting people any way they can.

Obama’s tax plan appeals to selfishness in people not their best. People ask what is in it for me even if I didnt pay into the system, I want my check.
That is welfare. What is happening now is Obama supporters are acting like a bunch of selfish teenagers. And please dont tell me about all the terribly poor people in this country. I have been to 3rd world countries and seen poor. I was raised poor, this is NOT poor. We only have 7.3% unemployment, that means 92.7% of people who want a job, have a job.
People that currently receive earned income and will get these new Obama Government Dependency Checks would walk into WalMart and expect to be told, here is you sack of stuff and a $1000 check to spend as you like. The tax-payers who pay taxes now would be told here is your $100 worth of stuff, now pay $1100 + the Obama tax increase cause you worked hard, went to college, started a busines or became successful; shame on you. And oh yeah, you need to pay for the 1st guy we just gave the $1000 check to you selfish man.
Yeah that is American and fair.

onethatknows – wrong. try again. Everybody knows that the GOP is the party of greed and selfishness. Stop lying about Obama. You are a liar. Please don’t lie. Thanks!

Sad Day – back atcha, cracky.
Republicans aren’t saving anyone from anything – all their doing is carrying water for the rich corporate lobbyists who really own them.
Don’t make me laugh by suggesting that the GOP actually gives a crap about the rest of us.
LOL

#1…..The Republicans are talking about the two lowest tiers on the tax table. MEANING…(For all you HATERS drinking Kool-Aide)….that working people making less than $20,000 of taxable income would get their taxes halved.
#2……The Republican tax plan will help the people in the two lowest tax tiers. The people making big money are in the 35% tier.
#3……Alot of liberals in my opinion are so filled with hate and narcissism that they can’t see truth even when given the facts straight.
#4…..I was an independent before this election. However, bacause of the poor conduct of liberal democrats and a liberal media, I am now a hardcore conservative. The mindless unfactual hate spewing from the liberal left is disgusting.
#5……Conservative postings on certain news sites are being deleted, and blocked by brownshirt liberal journalist. Now is censoring okey??? Their is a reason the term Brownshirt Liberal is a common term by many.
#6…….I hope for the good of the country that Obama does incorporate these Republican tax cuts into the stimulus, because it will immediately help the working poor, and middle class.
He strikes me as a pragmatist. So lets see what he does.
#7……If 3% of the population changes it mind about Obama and the liberal Democratic line, then a Republican will come back to power. Obama DID NOT win by a landslide, but he did win, and deserves his chance as President to do good for this country. I hope he leads well, and true.
#8……A conservative, is NOT a Republican. However, the Republican party does more to attract conservatives, than the Democrats.
#9…..To the liberal left spewing unfactual dogmatic hate…..you are well down the road to the destruction of your movement thanks to the conduct of many during this election, and during the Bush Presidency. Keep up the good work, America is becoming even more conservative.
#10…..Facts are facts, and mindless hate is not an attractive attribute.

Sak Pase – the people have already stood up and armed themselves with the facts. That’s why we voted for Obama in the first place – and all your Republican scaremongering and partisan lies aren’t going to change that.
Why don’t you go back to Haiti and see what’s it’s really like without a middle class or a social safety net?

“If it were up to the replublicans, everyone would be making $8.00 per hour, no health insurance, no benefits of any kind.” Posted by: Jo da Puimber
What are you talking about? Republicans have said repeatedly that government should play no role in influencing companies when it comes to pay and benefits – it’s the democrats who want to see pay caps (we have some pretty strong laws in place that mandate minimum pay). Most reasonable people believe that a company’s payscale is an issue that should be dealt with between the employees, the company and its shareholders (that’s you and me and everyone who owns stock in various companies).
As for health insurance – it was McCain who said that people, not their employers, should pick their own health insurance carrier and he had a plan for expanding health insurance to make it easier for people to get the plan they needed outside of their employer’s plan. Face it, you don’t let your employer chose your house or your car, why let them chose your health insurance? Give consumers the power and you’ll see the health insurance industry be reborn (or at least, you would have, won’t happen now).

jon – can the BS. Nobody is buying your Republican lies and nobody believes that you were ever anything BUT a Republican. Own up to your party’s failure and stop lying.

what are you talking about – um, nice try, but the GOP have proved repeatedly that they will always, always, ALWAYS side with the interests of big business over the average citizen. Their legislative history in the last 12 years is rife with examples of the GOP rolling over and giving away the store to business interests at the expense of the commonwealth. That’s the sad truth and all you Republican apologists and liars cannot change that sorry history.

kip winger
thats funny Kippy tell me genius what was the economy like two years ago? You are an idiot. A liberal ignorant idiot

Pandit the Pundit – Have you read the plan? Humor me if you will, what do you think is the best part of it and why do you believe it will work? You seem so confident that the plan, as written, is just what this country needs, that you believe democracy should be put to rest and no one should bother to question or closely examine it. As a rule, we don’t expect our senators and congressmen to blindly follow the president, we expect them to question him and study his proposals, and if warranted, offer contrasting opinions. Isn’t that how a democracy should work?

why do the dreggs of american society feel the need to clogg up these bloggs with their whining and complaining because they have no money?
You have no money because you are LOSERS in a free market society so now you just want to stick your hand out and blame everyone else.
Thank god i would never associate with people like you. Nothing will ever be good enough for people like you unless they hand you your whole life on a silver platter for free.

mike – so are you saying that the Congressional Dems are responsible for tanking the economy? Because I would really like to see you try to make that case. Meanwhile, here in the real world, Bush’s disasterous wartime taxcuts, out of control deficit spending, and Republican-led credit deregulation are widely understood to be the REAL causes of the current financial mess. And until loudmouth Republican dumbf–ks like you realize this and take some responsiblity for YOUR failed policies, nobody is going to take your bloviating seriously, son.
Good luck with that, loser. LOL

Pandit the Pundit – I’m not trying to change your mind, I’m trying to tell you to educate yourself – know the facts and then form your opinion.
Not voting for something because a republican is for it is simply foolish. Basing your opinion on what the media tells you instead of you learning about the issue yourself is foolish. Blindly following anyone – whether it’s a president, senator, etc. – is foolish. If we as a country keep doing that, we get what we deserve – but to you, that’s OK because if your elected official tells you it’s good, well then, it must be good. Just sit back, pay your taxes and let the government do the rest, right?

The GOP had the chance of a lifetime. They had a republican president along with majorities in both houses and they blew it. If they haven’t gotten the message loud and clear, by now, their future is is quite bleak.

Miss Mel : Okay, I will qualify that. “Not voting for something ONLY Republicans want…”.
The fact remains that under George Bush, the national debt has nearly doubled from $5.7 trillion to nearly $11 trillion. Under Ronald Reagan, it nearly tripled, and then almost doubled again in just 4 years under Bush’s daddy.
When Ronald Reagan took office, it was just over $900 billion. 12 years later when Clinton took office, it was about $4.1 trillion, and it then slowly rose to not quite $5.7 trillion – and then sat there for the last full year of his term without increasing. (Actually, it was coming down for about the last three months.)
That is something your Republican friends in Congress and the Senate do not want you to be reminded of!

Jordan – Oh I agree – Republican spending has been out of control for decades (democrats too like to overspend) and I write lots of letters to my congressmen and senators about it. But I don’t think the solution is to keep spending.
At some point, someone has to make the tough decision and say “enough is enough.” It’s hard to be the president that cuts spending and eliminates programs – it takes a true leader to do that and sadly, we haven’t had one in a while (by the way, I’m no George Bush fan either – I’m just waiting for a real conservative to come along).
What I see so far in Obama and this stimulus package is simply more of the same – more spending money that the taxpayers simply don’t have.

Miss Mel – Sometimes the REAL courage is that which can say, “Hey, we have to do this stuff, but we need to PAY for it also!” Republicans like to decry that as “tax-and-spend” – and yet their own philosophy seems to be “spend on credit”. That is why the U.S. owes its soul to the Visa Bank of China and the MasterCard Bank of Arabia. If we do not stop this right now, we could become the People’s Republic of the United States, or the United Caliphate of America.
There are some things we NEED to spend money on right now: clean energy that does not melt Greenland and drown Florida, some serious infrastructure replacements, and obviously some way to get OUT OF DEBT. The Bush tax cuts for the very rich were precisely the WRONG thing to have done: he claimed he was “giving back” but in fact was simply handing the cash to a bunch of robbers.
I don’t know if Obama is going to do this perfectly either: it will take great courage and resolve. But one thing that I DO know for sure: if the Republicans have their way, they will just keep on doing what they have been doing since 1980 – spending on cridit like there is no tomorrow and denying that there is global warming or any other reason not to continue their hedonist orgies.
As I said before, Republicans are not merely wolves in sheep’s clothing: they are big, gray, dog-like animals with big teeth, steely eyes and hungry mouths who will swear on a hundred stacks of bibles that they ARE the epitome of sheep!

this package will not work. all it will do is put us more in debt. isn’t there a deficit???? give the money to those who now work, have jobs, give jobs to others. they’ll know what to do with it.
the gov in washington have one thing in mind…stealing your tax money

Why is the economy in the tank? Gas prices went through the roof and was draining one heck of a lot of money out of the economy. Now that gas prices are down, I guess all that extra money people have won’t have any corresponding effect on the economy. That must be the case because our media never mentions the effect of gas prices except when they are high (because they can blame George Bush for it) and never says a word when they are low (because they might, but probably won’t, have to give some credit to George Bush). I think if gas prices stay down and the housing market levels off or head up the economy will correct itself without a huge stimulus package designed to do nothing but reward Democratic fat cats and interest groups.

How are Republicans “stealing from the workers” when the bottom 40 percent of income earners pay no taxes? The 10 and 15 percent bracket are folks who make slightly more, in the 41 to 55 percent. So Republicans are supporting tax cuts for the middle and lower middle classes, but the left keeps whining about the rich. By the way, how many employees to poor people have? Wouldn’t cutting corporate taxes put people to work? Oh, sorry, I have required rational thought. I now return you to your bumper sticker slogans; “Hope and Change.”

Wonder why ABC does not have this news. Found in online newspaper today:
SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Housing Finance Agency, Freddie Mac’s conservator, will ask the Treasury Department for additional funds of up to $35 billion from the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement, the mortgage giant said in a regulatory filing Friday. Based on a preliminary evaluation of its fourth-quarter operations, Freddie Mac’s management believes that it will need $30 billion to $35 billion to offset the impact of operating losses as well as other items that could affect the company’s net worth. Freddie Mac has already drawn $13.8 billion under the $100 billion agreement.
Now, lets talk corruption. Article found during the presidential campaign:
Top Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008-Office-Party/State-Total
1. Dodd, Christopher J – D-CT-$133,900
2. Kerry, John – D-MA-$111,000
3. Obama, Barack – D-IL-$105,849
4. Clinton, Hillary – D-NY-$75,550
5. Kanjorski, Paul E – D-PA-$65,500
6. Bennett, Robert F – R-UT-$61,499
7. Johnson, Tim – D-D-$61,000
8. Conrad, Kent – D-ND-$58,991
9. Davis, Tom – R-VA-$55,499
10. Bond, Christopher S ‘Kit’- R-MO-$55,400
11. Bachus, Spencer – R-AL-$55,300
12. Shelby, Richard C – R-AL-$55,000
13. Emanuel, Rahm – D-IL-$51,750
14. Reed, Jack – D-RI-$50,750
15. Carper, Tom – D-DE-$44,389
16. Frank, Barney – D-MA-$40,100
17. Maloney, Carolyn B – D-NY-$38,750
18. Bean, Melissa – D-IL-$37,249
19. Blunt, Roy – R-MO-$36,500
20. Pryce, Deborah – R-OH-$34,750
21. Miller, Gary – R-CA-$33,000
22. Pelosi, Nancy – D-CA-$32,750
23. Reynolds, Tom – R-NY-$32,700
24. Hoyer, Steny – D-MD-$30,500
25. Hooley, Darlene – D-OR-$28,750

Why was it that people were so against pork barrel spending, but now are all for a “recovery” plan? Why is it that people really think we can just spend our way out of a recession? Does anyone think that this will all catch up to us eventually, and then we will be in a world of hurt?
Yes people are out of work- me being one of them- but as an individual I cannot go out and max out my credit cards to help myself out of my own financial cituation. Why are we allowing the government to do just that? A few years ago the talk was about our massive deficit and how bad Bush was for getting us there, and now its all about how many trillions it will take to get us out. How about creating loans for the small business man and give them the opportunity to create jobs to stimulate the economy? Those loans have to be paid back, unlike the “recovery plan” that will never get paid back.

IS THE GOP KIDDING? SURELY THEY CAN’T BE FOR REAL?!?!?
The Republican GOP was in charge of Congress 6-of-8 years, and the White House the last 8 years. GOP lead government tried tax cuts for the rich and today we have a disastrous debacle. Now that the people of this country have soundly defeated the Republican GOP and their Bush replacement McCain & Palin, the Republican GOP idiots expect Obama to roll over and accept their same “Bush-Cheney-Rove tax-cuts-for-the-rich” failed policies.
GOP = IDIOTS, IDIOTS, IDIOTS

WAKE UP PEOPLE
it a new day , a new president. Let the man do his job now.I feel he will help ur out of the mess that Bush put us in. as a poor person, I have to have hope that he will.liven on S.S. is no fun,i can just make it each month.Beleive me ,don’t think for a sec. that i can get help, it just dose not happen exsample i get $14.00 a month from food stamps. not alot of help at all. so let the President now do his job.How many of u would like his job now?????
i for one would not want it for all the money in the world.you are in my prays President Obama, God bless you

This mess the country is in, is all our faught, we keep voting in these people who got us in this mess. There should be term limits on our u.s. senate and congress. Just like the president.

This mess the country is in, is all our faught, we keep voting in these people who got us in this mess. There should be term limits on our u.s. senate and congress. Just like the president.
Posted by: garyoakcreek | Jan 24, 2009 8:34:34 PM
************************
I agree!!!!!!!!!!

I remember when Bush kept coming back for money and no one even care why , they just gave it to him and when they found out he was taking the money and putting us further in the poor house they gave him more no complaints, this has got to be the worst I’ve seen our nation ever, and once again there is a mess and not everyone wanted this job because they know it would be a challenge and on certain people with belief are willing to try and I said we should give him a chance, because if it had been anyone but the now President or Hilary it aint no telling where we would be. I think that all government welfare should have been offer to all at least a one time offer for people that need to eat and extentions for bills, everyone is feeling this recession, I mean everyone but Bush he is still spending monies, hummm I wonder where he got it , Lord knows he didn’t work for it. If they want to boost the economy they need to give out enough money to pay our bills and have some left and we will surely spend it , that would boost the economy, money was passed out and look what the banks and car company did , the banks wouldn’t give loans and the car companies are making cars that start off at 25000.00 Joke right