Summers: This Crisis Will End

“Polling data show that Mr. Obama’s approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001. Rasmussen Reports data shows that Mr. Obama’s net presidential approval rating — which is calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve — is just six, his lowest rating to date.
“M.E. CohenOverall, Rasmussen Reports shows a 56%-43% approval, with a third strongly disapproving of the president’s performance. This is a substantial degree of polarization so early in the administration. Mr. Obama has lost virtually all of his Republican support and a good part of his Independent support, and the trend is decidedly negative.”

Fascist hyena, you must be a die-hard drudge fan. America will not fail, America will rise again. I am outside the United States and the World loves our President again. Obama will make it through.

The crisis will be prolonged by the excessive planned tax increases. They have planned ,capital gains tax increases (not that there will be any) top tax rate increases of 4%, social security tax (fica) of 7.5%, cap and trade programs which will apply to businesses and charge for emissions but will ultimately be passed to all consumers in the way of higher energy, heating, gas, and all products we buy costs.
Rahm was heard to say energy costs are too low.
Theses taxes will discourage investments and make life more difficult if there is some sort of recovery it will not be felt by “we the people” who will experience the predicted inflation involved with these plans.

Again, Obama is out of his league. It almost seems like he is purposefully putting in place a plan that will not only prevent a recovery but is designed to permanently destroy our economic base.
Posted by: Finster | Mar 13, 2009 11:29:31 AM
———–
I agree, although it really is inexplicable unless you view this through the lens of his social programs. His plans will lead to very high taxes for all. Social programs will become increasingly necessary. He will find more willingness to subject ourselves to
HIGHLY RATIONED HEALTHCARE
(which includes all undocumented US residents)
Cap and Trade tax programs which don’t address global warming (even if you believe in it) but will raise costs for everyone, especially heating.
Increases in welfare, however well disguised as tax breaks.
Everyone will be poorer, not just the rich, but the dems by virtue of these programs will cement control.
These programs have failed in every country with demographics akin to ours.
Only countries, such as sweden , which severely restrict immigration have even limited success with national health care programs, and they still pay up to 70% in taxes.
This is a plan to fail. There is no success here, even if there eventually is some economic stabilization.

I like alot of the ideas coming out now. Limit the uptick rule and the short buying. Have an agency like a consumer protection division to regulate financial products to ensure that they’re legit and not smoke and mirror ripoffs camouflaged as good investments. Have an aggressive SEC and regulatory watchdogs that are insulated from political agendas. America is still a powerhouse economy with a great work force you just have to clean this up and put safeguards in to greatly lessen the possibility that unregulated Wall Street cowboys can wreak havoc. Remember what John Houseman said in that old ad: “We make money the old fashioned way- we earn it!”

Just in another treasury candidate withdraws…Number 4 now
Yep that Obama administration is really impressive.

I find it amazing just how lazy certain arguments have become.
What is a Socialist? And for what reason should I regard it as a bad thing.
If you aren’t prepared with answers to those questions then you should either stop using the word or accept the fact that you really have nothing worthwhile to say.

Fascist Hyena – Cherry picking points to try to prove one. This was also included in the WSJ article, but somehow left out of your post. Go figure.
“Finally, what probably accounts for a good measure of the confidence and support the Obama administration has enjoyed is the fact that they are not Republicans. Virtually all Americans, more than eight in 10, blame Republicans for the current economic woes, and the only two leaders with lower approval ratings than Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are Republican leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner.”

You people are absolutely vile. This President is taking on more than anyone has ever had to deal with in the history of this Country. He is absolutely the best leader we have ever had and will ever have. He is actually a thinking, working leader. The last 8 years drove this country to near depression and all you can offer is criticism. How sad. Hopefully it won’t get better for you that sit around and spew vial remarks for someone willing to risk his whole career to help you.

John Smith — No, we are not vile. We have brain. We don’t simply bow down to the great Obama and think he is wonderful simply because he exists. We don’t automatically say “yes,” when he speaks.
He has key positions unfilled. He promised TG would have a plan — that was a month ago — and then TG did not. The markets, not surprisingly, tanked.
Yes, Obama has taken on lots of things, and most of them are not going so well. Guess what! I don’t want nationalized health care. What he mostly is prposing is massive increases in government spending and — not coincidentally — massive increases in debt. Way, way, way more debt than the previous administration which — by the way — I was not fond of. Don’t blame Bush for the mess Obama is making. He’s doing a really good job of driving us all into the ditch on his own. Maybe if he wouldn’t push his own personal remaking of America and would concentrate just a little on the economy, I could afford to let my daughter go back for her sophomore year of college. Right now, it’s looking pretty grim.

Don’t blame Bush for the mess Obama is making. He’s doing a really good job of driving us all into the ditch on his own. Maybe if he wouldn’t push his own personal remaking of America and would concentrate just a little on the economy, I could afford to let my daughter go back for her sophomore year of college. Right now, it’s looking pretty grim.
****************************************
Hmmmm…….. So you honestly believe that the mess we are in was caused by Obama? Really now?
He has concentrated on the economy where have you been? He has pointed out that our energy policies have cost us, lack of education has cost us, Health care has cost us, even Big Business agrees with that, it is a package.

Hopefully it won’t get better for you that sit around and spew vial remarks for someone willing to risk his whole career to help you.
———–
He is doing his best to protect his career, not risk it. He is giving gift after gift to the Unions by way of legislation, support for card check, and as his VP Biden said to a meeting of the AFL-CIO at a posh resort in Miami: “you dance with the one that brung(sic) you. It’s time to start dancing. You want unions, you got unions.”
Then there were all the special interest (payoff) projects in the debt/pork stimulus bill. Such as billions to “community groups” read ACORN, and so on and so on.
In addition, his timing of tax increases, cap and trade tax trickle down from businesses, all seem to hit in non-election years. For example cap and trade would kick in in 2012, but the trickle down higher energy and other costs to the public will kick in the following year, after he is up for re-election.
The increased welfare, by way of tax credits to those who pay no taxes guarantees those people will vote for Obama , otherwise they risk losing these welfare payments. The stimulus contained the greatest expansion of welfare since Clinton reformed it back in 1996 (give or take).
They are moving quickly to pass all the very costly debt ridden, earmark, pork ridden bills now so that the public will hopefully forget by the time the midterm elections roll around. It is the reason every new adminstration pushes so hard in the first few months. This group is just particularly inept.
Protecting Obama is job one. It certainly isn’t the economy.

“Guess what! I don’t want nationalized health care.”
Well, don’t worry about THAT — what you’re gonna get is the same murderous system, enhanced with some dope-dealing “public” health entities controlled by impenetrable non-profit hahaha corporations, plus federal control of medical records.

“Guess what! I don’t want nationalized health care.”
Well then you shouldn’t worry about Obama’s health care reform proposals. This is from Politifact.com, refuting a claim made by Tom Coburn simliar to the one you made below:
“In fact, Obama’s plan leaves in place the private health care system, but seeks to expand it to the uninsured. It increases eligibility for the poor and children to enroll in initiatives like Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and creates pools for individuals to buy their own cheaper insurance. It also outlines strategies to rein in costs for everyone, such as electronic medical records and preventive care.
“I think most of us would agree that if we want to cover all Americans, we can’t make the mistake of trying to fix what isn’t broken,” Obama said at a health care conference he hosted on March 5. “So if somebody has insurance they like, they should be able to keep that insurance. If they have a doctor that they like, they should be able to keep their doctor. They should just pay less for the care that they receive.”
Would Obama’s plan result in closer regulation of the health care system? Very likely so. It includes provisions that require health insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions and disclose more information about how they treat patients. Obama’s plan also calls for evidence-based health care standards, so that government can stop paying (through programs like Medicare) for treatments that don’t get good results. But the plan is very different from some European-style health systems where the government owns health clinics and employs doctors.”

@Fascist Hyena
And today, Rasmussen’s net approval rating for Obama is +9 and his overall approval is 57-52, v. the +6 and 56-43 noted in Rasmussen’s article. Polls go up and go down. That’s the problem with writing a column based on a snapshot of a single day.
Rasmussen consistently showed hire approval ratings for Bush than other pollsters and now consistently shows lower approval ratings for Obama than other posters. (eg, Gallup’s daily tracker today has Obama’s ratings at 62 approve, 27 disapprove) Could be because of his polling methods. Could be because he’s a right winger. I don’t know….but in both cases, he was/is out of synch with almost every other pollster. (He did, however, nail the 2008 presidential election results.)

Even Europe and China are expressing that Obama’s big government spending plan is a disaster they won’t follow.
Interesting also this snippet that didn’t make MSM headlines. I wonder if this contributed to the crash of the economy with Fannie/freddie to be bought into government control.
FYi Fannie/Freddie are costing the economy more than all private bailouts combined.
“Starting last summer, China’s big state-owned banks — including Bank of China and Bank of Communications — began dramatically reducing their holdings in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt. In September, as what began as a U.S. problem began to spread around the globe, Ha Jiming, chief economist for the China International Capital Corp., warned in a report that Chinese government officials have realized that it’s a “bad idea to put all their eggs in one basket.” At that time, China had held a fifth of its currency reserves in Fannie and Freddie debt”

obama has been a bigger fearmonger about the economy than Bush even was at the end. For Obama to lecture “we have to stop causing fear is a joke.”
A couple weeks ago Bill Clinton gave Obama advice to be more optimistic. I know a lot of people can’t remember things a couple weeks ago but those of us who can know Obama’s lecture about “reducing fear” is an insult considering Obama raised the fear factor several fold.

Cryos – I’m sure the Washington Post would appreciate a mention of the paragraph you lifted off their WEB site. Cherry picking articles in an attempt to manufacture “global support” for your opinions can be problematic as in that very same article was this:
“Despite China’s public comments, however, the government has continued to hold on to and even increase its overall U.S. Treasury holdings since the U.S. economic problems began. In September it surpassed Japan as the No. 1 overseas holder of Treasuries, which, because they are backed by the U.S. government , are widely considered safer investments at a time of global economic uncertainty.
And at the end of last year, China held about $696 billion in U.S. government securities; that’s 46 percent more than at the end of 2007.
Wen said as much on Friday when he emphasized that despite his concerns he believes that “our foreign reserves in general are safe.”
Doesn’t really speak to that “disaster” scenario you are touting….

“single most important priority is bringing about economic recovery and ensuring that the next economic expansion, unlike it’s predecessors, is fundamentally sound and not driven by financial excess.”
So once more- why is Obama shoving everything else in the world down our throats and NOT fixing what’s broken?

drjohn-
If he shoves everything down our throats now, he can ensure people don’t have enough money to indulge in financial excesses.

drjohn,
Obama is working very hard. He has done more in 50 days than any other president. Obama inherited this problem and he needs time to fix it. It is impossible to fix this mess in 50 days.
What is the republican plan for solving this mess? TAX CUTS for corporations.
Am sorry but we`ve tried it already under Bush.

If they want people to save instead of spend, then they need to raise interest rates. Plus, they need to let the first $100,000 (or more) grow tax free.
At the other end of the spectrum, they need to quit rewarding people who lived beyond their means ala the Stimulus Bill.

Biden-Obama certainly are NOT dancing with who brung em — masses of the impoverished hornswoggled into voting for hope/change.
Posted by: Pants on Fire | Mar 13, 2009 1:37:47 PM
———
We the people cannot contribute nearly as much to his campaign as the unions, sponsor advertising, or for large get out the vote (acorn fraud) programs and so on. As far as they are concerned, and those were Bidens own “dance” words, these are the people that matter, and the ones who will pay to keep dems in office.
In fact, now that Arlen Specter is likely to face a primary challenge of some difficulty, the unions are offering to help him if he votes for “card check”. That is how these unlimited peripheral donations to campaigns corrupt, on both sides.
However we have never seen anything like payoffs/paybacks the likes of what Obama and the dems are doing in their legislation and spending bills. This is chicago thug politics on a massive scale.

The great Gibbs is back at it. How long CAN this guy last?

” In any event they are getting payouts, in the form of credits, that is simply an attempt, as Obama has said, to redistribute income.”
Hmm.. that means Reagan believed in wealth distribution too.
Regan signed the EITC bill into law and called it “the best anti-poverty, the best pro-family, the best job-creation measure to come out of Congress.”

“Obama inherited this problem and he needs time to fix it. It is impossible to fix this mess in 50 days.”
Our GDP is in the realm of 14 Trillion a year. How much will 170 Billion a year actually impact the economy? It’s very little. Government doesn’t have the funds to drastically impact the turn around of the economy. The fact you say “he needs time to fix it” is complete folly. He, nor the government, can fix any economy. The engine of any economy is the consumer. They are the only ones that can fix it, and they have to fix it in mass.
We are all along for the ride. The only thing government can do is influence this with the “thought” of stimulus. The error Obama is making and many on these forums are making is they think the actual stimulus will change things, it won’t folks. Its the thought of a stimulus influencing people to go out and spend. Verdict isn’t in yet, but it doesn’t seem that the stimulus did the job of influencing consumers, partly because Obama has told everyone to wait until the stimulus kicks in. That just simply isn’t going to get people out spending again. As long as consumers think that their money is in danger, they’ll hold it and not spend it. The politics of fear only encourage that behavior. As long as people fear putting their money out there, the economy will continue to decline or at best, stagnate.
This is what people are talking about when they criticize Obama. He actually believes that the stimulus itself will work when he misses the whole point of what a stimulus does to an economy, it influences consumers.

“However we have never seen anything like payoffs/paybacks the likes of what Obama and the dems are doing in their legislation and spending bills. This is chicago thug politics on a massive scale.”
Yes, it certainly is … and it’s unlikely that anything the Republican Party will ever do can 1. deal with public corruption OR structural poverty or 2. undo the stranglehold the “Obama” organization has on the hijacked former Democrats.
Will people turn out en masse to dis-elect every Democratic Central Committee in the country, councils which presently do little but serve as cheerleaders for office holders elected mostly by big $, rather than by the party rank and file? The ground-level party committees ARE subject to election, but very few of them ARE actually elected.

“It’s too bad that so many apparently have such little self esteem that they assume they’ll be better off with the “government” supplying their every need than they will if they work to secure those things themselves.”
A bit extreme – I don’t think very many people believe that, but if you want to go that route – next time you need the postal service, want to check out a library book, need police assistance or heaven forbid, the fire department – just say no thanks I’ll “secure those things” for myself…….

The newly-unctuous Gibbs is even more repellent than the hatefully dismissive Gibbs.

OGLiberal: “You do realize that many people who don’t pay income taxes do pay other taxes, like payroll tax, sales tax, gas tax, property tax (either directly or passed on through their rent), etc.”
But the tax credits are coming from the Federal Income Tax pool which they aren’t paying into. It’s especially disturbing that the Democrats have no problem with further weakening the Social Security/Medicare systems by apparently being comfortable with giving “credits” because someone paid into those. And let’s be honest – down the road it’s the middle and upper classes who will see their SS payments or Medicare benefits shrink, but never the poorest among us.
It’s fine with me if the non-payers get a tax credit, but please quit using this “they pay other taxes blah, blah, blah” as an excuse for giving them one.

Posted by: Ryan C | Mar 13, 2009 2:04:32 PM
Hey Ryan
What part of embyonic stem cell research was banned?

“Have an aggressive SEC and regulatory watchdogs that are insulated from political agendas.”
Hahaha: riiight. Where do THEY come from, Switzerland? Cuba? India?

Posted by: Concerned in OH | Mar 13, 2009 2:12:14 PM
I can’t find anything on that. Where did you read it?

John Smith:
President Obama is a calculating,
conniving, PHONEY!
He claims he’s against Lobbyists in the
Federal Govt and then appoints
several to his cabinet.
He says he’s against “earmarks” and then
signs two bills with thousands of
“earmarks”,the $787 billion dollar
stimulas bill and the $410 billon dollar
omnibus spending bill
Obama by way of Larry Summers says we
should tone down the “fear” rhetoric
regarding the economy yet it has been
the president who for weeks now has called the economy the worst since
the “Great Depression” and that it is
a catastrophe!
So far Mr Smith Obama is the biggest
Fraud in U.S. History!

“While middle-class families have been playing by the rules, living up to their responsibilities as neighbors and citizens, those at the commanding heights of our economy have not.”
———–
How is that? They pay more taxes than the entire rest of the population put together.
Obama is demonizing those who earn money.
———-
I agree with Dr. John’s point on the top paying the most. However they are not the ones who will be most hurt by this. Obama enjoys using the super-rich as examples. That group derives the bulk of their income from their investments (although maybe not this year). They are not so damaged by increased social security and income taxes because those are not applied to investment.
It is the bootstrap, barely over the 250,000 who will be the most hurt. The group that is working hard to get ahead, and will be subjected to the punitive tax rates.
This will be a blip to the super rich.
Any one with a small business, any one who did the hard work of climbing the ladder, they will pay through the nose. This is the group that will be penalized for playing by the rules.
No where in all this before Obama and now, have the “middle class” ever been penalized for playing by the rules.

The real question is DID THE OBAMA SPENDING SPREE HELP THE ECONOMY or HURT it in the long run

The market is poised for a upward closing for the fourth day in a row. Of course that will be for some other reason than the economic stimulus and bank rescue.

“demonizing those who make money?” Are you ######## me? It is way past time those who make more than 250K pay their fair share. I am sick of their whining and complaining.

Wrangler,
had it not been the Ambar awakening, the Surge would not have worked.

mnm: if you think $250K per year is “middle class,” you are sorely mistaken. What do you think the median income is in this nation? It is something like $53K; half above, half below. That does not make the middle anywhere near $250K.
———
I was not claiming they were middle class. Re-read the post. My point was that they are the lower end of what Obama is calling “rich”.
The point was they will pay through the nose more than any other group.
The middle class has not now, nor has it ever, contributed any sort of support or subsidies to the lower end “rich”.

Posted by: MNM | Mar 13, 2009 2:53:37 PM
The top ten percent of earners pays 70% of all taxes. I pay more than my fair and I pay your fair sare as well.
It seems to me that you don’t come close to paying YOUR fair share.
Cowboy up!

Posted by: Paul Dirks | Mar 13, 2009 2:30:00 PM
EARN.
Obama could install a net worth tax and care out chunks of the Gates, Kennedy and Kerry fortunes.
They don’t earn money other than passive income.

Posted by: MNM | Mar 13, 2009 3:02:01 PM
Was not aiming at you.

I wished the Mr. Summers would explain his actions (previous to the Bush Administration) and tell us how they impacted the current situation.

Marylou says ” is that the best you can do? Did you lift that argument from Al Franken or did you come up with it on your own?”
Not a fan of Al Franken.
The whole “socialism” argument you put forth is bunk. People throw that around because they either have no understanding of socialism or just find it easier to try and dupe people with politically frightening ideas.

“Kind of like if you disagreed with Obama’s viewpoints you were nothing but a racist. Well, that worked for them; maybe this will too.”
I saw very little of that in earnest although it made good fodder for the right wingers. However, you have mastered fear and smear quite well.

Oh, so the Bush-Paulson bailout worked?
Oh, that’s right. That’s impossible. Only $ doled out under The One could work.
It’s different money you know. Economics 101.