Is the Stimulus Working?

I am still laughing about this topic. Of course it isn’t working. You can’t throw money on a burning pile and expect it to be worth anything.It’s all about issuing in socialism into our lives and making people dependent on the government. It’s all about power.

Poll numbers for the president are down even more today. It ain’t working.

6 months Obama, times up! Let’s put the republicans back in charge.

How’s that “Hope and Change, Change and Hope” woring out for you?
Obama called this recession the “worst since the Great Depression” to get elected. How can the administration now say they did not know how bad things really are?
The stimulus was a huge waste as it had nothing to do with immediate measures. It was to spend for the sake of spending. Look to whom he delegated it, Nancy Pelosi. She’s oblivious. Good choice.

The answer to this hostile question is in your silly piece, Tapper. A fraction of stimulus money has been spent, but more is quickly being distributed.

Concerned: just read that on the DrudgeReport Michelle carrying a $6000 purse.. plus yesterday photos of her in that yellow dress..You can tell she’s eating good on our tax dollars with the way she’s spreading out
50 Black teens attack a white family that is enjoying the 4th of july. Teens screaming “THIS IS BLACK AMERICA” this hate crime not reported by ABC CBS NBC
White Teenage girl attacked on Train by 7 black youths.. Agian not reported by media..If 50 whites had attacked a black family you BET it would be on the news..With Race baiter Al sharpthen leading the way… Hows that stimulus working? Got jobs? is DeputyDawg Biden still tracking every dollar spent LMAO Stand up Chuck ..Stand up

matt says: “The answer to this hostile question is in your silly piece, Tapper. A fraction of stimulus money has been spent, but more is quickly being distributed.”
Huh. This is a hostile question? “Is the stimulus working?” You seem pretty defensive Matt. Wasn’t the stimulus supposed to be all about jobs? Why has most of the money that’s been distributed not gone to infrastructure projects, like repairing bridges, etc… instead of going to AIG and GM (among others)? They didn’t save any jobs at either place, it was just corporate welfare. Seems like a reasonable question to me.

IT IS WORKING. The Democrat-Communist Party wants to destroy our economic system and to put all business control in the hands of the federal government. They’re succeeding.

What is wrong with this scenario? Posted by: not buying the bull | Jul 9, 2009 11:09:31 AM
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Oh, I don’t know… how about “I never got a job from a poor person?”
He’s making the same mistake with the housing crisis. He’s bailing out all the wrong people. I was ready to downsize for retirement but could not. I have a job, good credit and pay my mtg and bills on time. If I could have got a tax credit to move, I would have. Now it is too late. I’m under water by 30 grand and don’t qualify because I’m overqualified. If Obama had rescued me and others like me when we moved, home sales would have picked up stimulating durable goods purchases. Not that I wanted the bailout anyway but at least he would have been bailing out the right people.

I am getting an uncomfortable feeling when I see the current First Family “go Hollywood” by flaunting high end items such as expensive Hawaiian vacations, given as a gift, expensive clothes and accessories, that even a family on 6 figure salary would not purchase I know from experience, expensive pet, given as a gift…who knows what else….when I see people around me who have lost their jobs and can’t afford to make rent or utilities..It demonstrates an arrogant attitude, poor judgment and taste for ANY elected official, who makes the rules that we all have to follow, to behave in such a manner in these troubled times..This is suppose to be a Democracy not a Monarch…

Is it working?
Go ask some of those 400,000+ who lost their jobs last month!

The ‘stimulus’ was nothing more than a goody bag of programs Congress wanted yrs ago but was threatened with a Bush veto.
Obama is Carter redux.

Regarding Michelle’s $6,000 purse:
The Obamas have the right to spend as much of their own own money as they want on whatever they choose.

Regarding Michelle’s $6,000 purse:
The Obamas have the right to spend as much of their own own money as they want on whatever they choose.
Posted by: mad | Jul 9, 2009 12:30:23 PM
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Absolutely, and the press has the right to report on it. And the talk show hosts should bring her on their show – after all, they brought her on and made a big deal about her JCrew outfit during the campaign. They should now bring her back so she can talk about her expensive purse. Fair is fair.

I am getting an uncomfortable feeling when I see the current First Family “go Hollywood” by flaunting high end items
Posted by: Parallex View | Jul 9, 2009 11:36:39 AM
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Search for L.E. Ikenga and read…

I am getting an uncomfortable feeling when I see the current First Family “go Hollywood” by flaunting high end items
Posted by: Parallex View | Jul 9, 2009 11:36:39 AM
_________________________________
Search for L.E. Ikenga and read…
Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | Jul 9, 2009 12:54:48 PM
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People make such a big deal about Obama having a motorcade, about Obama wearing suits, about his kids wearing nice clothes, about them going on dates, etc.
It’s disgusting that when past Presidents do these things… nobody bats an eye.
But when Obama does it, it’s considered “flashy” and “excessive” and “above his station.”
Why is it wrong for him and his family to dress like past occupants of the White House?
It’s a sickening double standard. But it says everything about the deep-seated biases of many Obama critics.
We have a long way to go as a country.

It’s disgusting that when past Presidents do these things… nobody bats an eye.
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Oh, people have been batting eyes for half a century at least.

It’s a sickening double standard. But it says everything about the deep-seated biases of many Obama critics. Posted by: borneo | Jul 9, 2009 1:26:14 PM
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The Obamas campaigned on being part of “the common people” and “feeling our pain.” Truth is they are not. Some of this came out when Michelle Obama made statements like sacrificing to her was deciding if her kids should have piano lessons or not. Of course, it was covered up by the fawning media.
The media also made a big deal about her “affordable fashions” she wore but now that the campaign is over and she is in the WH, the expensive stuff is making its way out. And the perception with the clothes, the date nights and all that stuff is that they are above it all while the country suffers.
They are hypocrites.

You can try to gin it up into some sort phony populist outrage…. but the fact is that Republicans haven’t cared about the common people for years. My whole life the GOP has stood in favor of outsourcing, the rights of businesses over their workers, and tax cuts for rich people.
Obama is someone who worked very hard to achieve great things. Of course he is rich, now. When was the last time we elected someone who WASN’T rich?
It’s the way our political system is. If you want to live in a country where more ordinary people have the opportunity to thrive, improve themselves, and get into politics… you have to support candidates who support poor and working people.
Sure, I’d love to elect some hobo off the streets to work in Washington. And, I bet most hobos would do better than the people we have in Washington right now.
But for the time being, our political choices are limited to rich people who despise poor people and rich people who care about poor people.
In your worldview, the only good candidate would be the rich guy who hated poor people… because at least he wouldn’t be a hypocrite.
But I would much rather have a rich hypocrite who loved poor people, because at this point, it is the best shot that poor people have at making things better.

Traffic Cop Timmy:”And borneo, what President goes into the Oval Office and puts his feet up on a 200 year old piece of history like it’s a barrel or something? ”
Actually sounds like a classic Reagan move.

People put their feet up on desks all the time.
You USE furniture. It’s a piece of furniture. It’s not a museum piece. I’m quite certain that other people have put their feet on that desk. I’ve certainly seen pictures of children playing under it. It’s not the Shroud of Turin.
It is so strange that you would get so hung up on the sacred aura surrounding an object. It’s a congenital flaw in the conservative worldview… you worship the symbols as quasi-mystical things… But when it comes to actually living out the principles that make those things sacred you fail miserably.
Your leaders pass laws to protect marriage, but in practice, do not LIVE good marriages.
Your leaders pass laws to protect the Ten Commandments, but in practice, break those commandments religiously.
Your leaders pass laws protecting the flag, effectively nullifying the very radical freedom that the flag itself represents.
Your leaders want “constitutionalist” judges, but pass laws that diminish the various freedoms spelled out in the bill of rights.
Your leaders praise Jesus, but ignore his teachings by getting hung up on a loveless, rigid, and ultimately cruel fascination with the letter of the law in the Old Testament.

By the way, George W. Bush and Gerald Ford have both been photographed with their feet on the desk in the Oval Office.

borneo: “a congenital flaw in the conservative worldview”?
I can’t even read the rest of this. Sorry I even mentioned furniture. If we “worship the symbols as quasi-mystical things”, why are there so many museums throughout the world? Good grief! Think of it more as a talking point. You’ll sleep better at night.
Shouldn’t you be working or something?

Based on what? What makes you think that Obama doesn’t care about this country?
People said the same thing about Bush.
It doesn’t make it right.
The fact is that Obama is actually in line with some well-established American traditions.
He walks softly… Who knows if he carries a big stick. Certainly, the right was unhappy with his talk about the pirates, but I must say, he managed to wield the stick pretty effectively there.
He’s treading softly with Iraq and Afghanistan, but his policies, apparently, are far too aggressive for the pacifist left. So, who knows.
The future is yet to be written with Iran and N. Korea. So far, he’s walking softly.
As far as the deficit. It’s a good point. He is a big government kind of guy. But on the other hand, his fiscal policies and those of his predecessor are not as far apart as people like to imagine. Certainly, the socialist are totally disappointed by Obama’s policies.
The guy is a moderate. You can try to trump the whole thing up into some “sky is falling, Obama is Hitler” hysteria… but you’d just be engaging in self-indulgent and hollow rage based on some superficial quality… rather than some existential threat to America.
It’s no different than carping about Obama’s feet on the desk… in most respects, he’s a pretty typical, middle of the road politician…. puts his feet on the desk like the other guys, too.
I’m not going to freak out and act like America is doomed based on some fraudulent email forwards and some hyperventilating radio rants generated by people paid to shill for the GOP.

It’s interesting how the comments on most article completely go off subject, not discussing Mr Obama and his stimulous plan, but flogging dead horses, such as the subjects of Bush and Palin etc.

jhw539 asks: “Hang on – are the Republicans whining about the “waste of money” AND it not being spent fast enough?”
No, I am completely opposed to the stimulus, and I will point out the waste of money that the whole thing is while at the same time pointing out that the intent was to save or create jobs. The only way to save or create jobs right now so unemployment doesn’t get even worse than what they projected it would if there was no stimulus at all is to spend a lot of money right now on things like road construction and bridge repair. The sad part about the stimulus is of the $56,000,000,000,000 spent is that most of that went to AIG and GM, neither of which has saved any of the middle class and lower class jobs that are disappearing.

I don’t know. It’s a moot point to talk about GM now, because GM didn’t vanish and millions of auto-parts suppliers haven’t lost their jobs.
It’s easy to sit around and say we would be better off if we hadn’t saved GM.
But it is hard for me to imagine what WOULD have happened had we just let it go belly up. It is true that other companies would have filled the void. Notably, KIA has been increasing its market share very rapidly.
In the grand scheme of global capitalism, red in tooth and claw, it would be “good” to let GM die and let growing companies like KIA and Tata rise to fill the void. And if the auto parts suppliers in the US were to go bankrupt, it would have created a killer opportunity for Asian auto parts suppliers.
So in this sense, the federal intervention in GM is “unnatural” and “anti-capitalistic.”
But, on the other hand, a precipitous decimation of the U.S. auto and related industries would have had potentially catastrophic social effects (I’m talking about riots and possible insurrections) and would have also had some really profound geo-political effects as well… rapidly lifting asian economies and plunging the U.S. economy even further down than it is already. Consolidating a major part of the world’s industrial capacity in a region that, in my opinion, is already emerging as a potential obstacle to US dominance.
With Obama’s policies, we are trading some future prosperity for security…. but it is the kind of security that is worthwhile.

I read all of the comments above and I am amazed at all of the bashing, and pettiness. Who cares if the guy smokes, puts his feet on the desk and what clothes anyone is wearing?
Jeez, what do you expect in any President elect? If we are to gain any kind of control of America, remember, it was all of the historical events and plus’ and minus’ that made this country what it is!
If there was any one message that defined the Obama campaign from the beginning, it was his promise to rise above the petty politics of division and unite the country. But now comes reality. The newly elected Congress will be left of center, particularly the old liberal bulls that chair committees and form much of the leadership of the House and Senate.
If we are to come together as a nation once again, conceived in the thought of liberty, then let the man do his job, stop the pettiness and let congress back him up!

Folks it is not going to get better we are tipping the falls of the actual cost of the New Deal government has promised more than it can deliver or tax. At full employment most European countries see 10% unemployment as a goal or full employment. And this group we elected just wants to spend more fire meet gasoline. Glad I live in Texas. Eric

Obama on the ecomney: I defer to Nancy Pelosi..Got Jobs? anyone anyone
Obama 1 word: antibusiness

He is the worst president I have ever seen. He messed up the stimulus and now all he does is travel around the world at taxpayer’s expense.
Dumb limousine liberals stuck us with this loser when we could have had Hillary.

Borneo, of course I took notice when you wrote, of President Obama of all people, “The guy is a moderate.” That’s the funniest thing I have heard all day. You made me laugh. Thanks!
you weren’t serious, were you? You can make an argument that the president is a pragmatist. You make make an argument that he is a realist. But you cannot make a serious argument that he is a moderate.

THIS IS THE “NEW DEAL” ALL OVER AGAIN – DEALING ALL OF US POOR SLOBS OUT THE THE LOOP WHILE MR. WONDERFUL CAN JAM THROUGH HIS “FEEL GOOD” PROGRAMS THAT HAVE PROVED A DISASTER IN EUROPE.

THE ONLY WAY ANY STIMULUS PACKAGE CAN BE SUCCESSFUL IS TO STIMULATE PRIVATE ENTERPRISE. IT IS ONLY PRIVATE ENTERPRISE THAT CAN CREATE ECONOMIC VALUE WHILE PULLING THE CART THAT ALMOST EVERYBODY ELSE IS RIDING IN.(The cart keeps getting a lot fuller with each additional government program).
THROWING MONEY AT MAKE WOK JOBS AND PROPPING UP STATE GOVERNMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN IRRESPONSIBLE IS JUST BLOWING INTO THE WIND AND WILL ONLY SADDLE OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN WITH TRILLIONS IN DEBT.

Danita, I think Borneo makes a good argument that Obama is a pragmatist. However, Obama is a pragmatic liberal. Is there something wrong with that?
To say Obama is not a liberal is to ignore much of his foreign policy emphasis (nuclear disarmament, for example) and his approach to domestic economic policy (throw government money at it) and to social problems (get the government more involved).

Timmy . ..
You insult the President and his family at every occasion, you come here day in and day out to ridicule and attack the man day out, you do not take a fair nor balanced approach pointing out good points and bad, you simply smear and attack, and you spout extreme right wing garble non-stop without a second thought. Nice reaching out. Again – you live in a fantasy world if you think this is how bridges are built.
You create your own world.

I HAVE BEEN IN ACADEMIC SETTINGS WHERE THERE WERE LOTS OF “OBAMAS.” VERY NICE PEOPLE WITH GOOD FEELINGS AND INTENTIONS TOWARDS OTHERS. PROBLEM WAS THAT THEY NEVER GOT BEYOND ACADEMIA IN THEIR BELIEFS. MOST PEOPLE EVENTUALLY ACQUIRE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WORKS, HOW IT WORKS – AND WHAT DOESN’T WORK. SOME DON’T ACQUIRE THAT UNDERSTANDING AND I HAVE TO PUT OBAMA IN THAT GROUP.

Nice reaching out. Again – you live in a fantasy world if you think this is how bridges are built. You create your own world. Posted by: danita | Jul 10, 2009 12:38:33 AM
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Actually, danita, if you could find my first few posts you would find that they were fairly tame. Then I experienced the likes of you, jhm and Ryan_C piling on so I struck back thinking “ok, if this is how it’s gonna be on this site, I’ll act like they accuse me of.”
I might have reacted differently if you had responded to my first few posts by “reaching across the aisle” – as Obama would want you to. borneo for example, and some others, have been relatively decent and I have tried to react in kind and apologize when I am wrong.
As far as my view/comments about Obama, I share many of the same opinions about him as others. You react the way you do because you disagree with me and you and others like Ryan_C are determined to drive opposing opinions off this site. I know you say you are fighting the lies and smears but that is only part of it.
My opinions cannot ALL be wrong or misguided but you attack every one of them. You literally search me out on this blog to ridicule me with your sarcasm. So I have responded to you in kind.
I’m sure you think you know all about me but none of us on this blog really no anything about each other – just what we choose to reveal. I’ve revealed a few things about myself that are actually true. But you have already formed your opinion of me so you are blind to these. Your constant harping on me about “tell me more about the rapture” is one example. Until the moderators started removing your taunts, you did it every chance you got. You assumed I was some sort of religious extremist or something because of one off-handed remark I made weeks before. This was your version of an honest and open discussion?
I still say that “your team won” and it was up to you to make the first effort. You did not. Because of others, you made assumptions about me and the rest is history. In my opinions, you are a poor example of Obama’s Hope and Change.

To add to what Traffic Cop Timmy stated, I would not consider someone who was mentored for 5 years as a teenager by Frank Marshall Davis (a known Communist); who later studied under the principles of Saul D. Alinski (a known Communist); and then spent 20 years listening to and being mentored by the radical Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., a moderate.

I think Obama is doing a real good job.
He refuses to allow my nation to be held hostage by big oil and corporations who have enjoyed tax breaks and failed to provide job growth.
President Bush had a 1% growth rate after catering to the wealthy, making a bigger divide between classes than at any time in my country’s history.
He’s made mistakes and he’ll make more during the next seven and one half years.
He did a good job with th apology tour, after Bush turned the world against us with the ignorance that is Iraq.
President Obama was not saying he was sorry for America, he was telling the world that he was sorry that we had a policy and administration like lil Bush’ that nearly crushed our economy and and tried world division.
Wow, I am glad to see a prez who actually thinks America has a future.
And, I’m glad to see the moaning and crying from the republican party.
I hope that during each of President Obama’s eight budgets that he’ll continue to raise taxes on the top 1 and top five percent of earners.
I suggest that we make fat-cat raises mandatory.
I like to hear the crying republicans, I really do.

Vanhoopcoach wrote: “I hope that during each of President Obama’s eight budgets that he’ll continue to raise taxes on the top 1 and top five percent of earners.”
First of all, based on the latest IRS statistics–2006–the top 5% of the nations wage earners are those making at least $153,542. So to raise taxes on the top 5% would (again) break President Obama’s promise that those making less than $250,000 would have no tax increases–”not any of your taxes.”
The wealthy changed their spending habits due to then candidate Obama’s rhetoric. And look at how many jobs were lost because of that rhetoric. When Congress actually raises the income tax on those making at least $250,000 even more jobs will be lost. So will it really please you to have consistent job losses for the next eight years? Punishing the wealthy will actually hurt the middle class and the poor even more. If you continue to overtax those making over $250,000, eventually many will chose to no longer make over $250,000. That will result in even less revenue for the federal government, which will in turn mean less benefits for the poor.