By Britt

Nov 20, 2009 9:07am

Friends, in Need: Obama Faces Backlash on Jobs, Economy

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: Maybe health care is the easy part. Not quite easy, fine. But getting 60 votes on Saturday is, at the moment, among the least of the worries for an administration that’s left on the lookout for its friends. President Obama is back home now — and feeling kind of lonely. On Afghanistan, on the economy, on the stimulus, on Fort Hood, on Gitmo, and maybe even on health care, the administration doesn’t have the allies it needs in the numbers it needs. Congress is venting. Lawmakers are speaking up on a front the public has long expressed worry about — a disconnect between public assurances and private sentiments on whether things are getting better. Alarm bells are going off over the administration’s handling of the economy — as support for the administration’s positions crumbles in worrisome directions. It all has much to do with trust: Saying your policies are working is easier when the numbers back you up. Somewhere between double-digit unemployment and those million “saved or created” jobs that no one can really technically locate, that’s a tough one. “Growing discontent over the economy and frustration with efforts to speed its recovery boiled over Thursday on Capitol Hill in a wave of criticism and outright anger directed at the Obama administration,” Brady Dennis, Zachary A. Goldfarb and Neil Irwin report in The Washington Post. “Episodes in both houses of Congress exposed the raw nerves of lawmakers flooded with stories of unemployment and economic hardship back home. They also underscored the stiff headwinds that the administration faces as it pushes to enact sweeping changes to the financial regulatory system while also trying to create jobs for ordinary Americans.” “Political frustration over the rescue of Wall Street and high unemployment erupted in the House Thursday,” Sudeep Reddy and Damian Paletta write in The Wall Street Journal. Fitting it together — with the public driving the Congress: “The most troubling problem for the Democrats may be that government interventions into the economy — meaning the bailout and the stimulus — are increasingly perceived as having failed, which in turn increases skepticism about government intervention overall, in health care and other areas,” Nate Silver writes at FiveThirtyEight.com. It’s all complicated by the fact that, in what would typically be the end-of-year lull, there’s a lot of turkey on the table. “A president’s job is always busy. But Obama’s plate is piled so high that Thanksgiving seems to have come early at the White House,” the AP’s Chuck Babington writes. Calls for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s head (so eight months ago, right?): “Echoing comments made by a Democratic lawmaker Wednesday night, two Republican members of the Joint Economic Committee today called for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to resign,” ABC’s Matthew Jaffe reports. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, to Geithner: “For the sake of our jobs, will you step down from your post?” Replied Geithner: “I agree with almost nothing in what you said, and I think that almost nothing in what you said represents a fair and accurate perception of where this economy is today.” He continued: “You gave this president an economy falling off the cliff….” ABC’s Bianna Golodryga, on “Good Morning America” Friday: “It was anything but your typical Capitol Hill hearing.” “The administration is 100 percent behind Tim Geithner,” George Stephanopoulos reported on “GMA.” “What you’re seeing from those members of Congress right there — they’re trying to get ahead of the stampede.” Rallying, from the left: “Rep. Peter DeFazio, one of the most outspoken Democratic critics of the White House economic team, said he plans to press the 27-member Congressional Populist Caucus to back his call for their ouster,” Roll Call’s Tory Newmyer reports. Said DeFazio, D-Ore., of his press to oust Geithner and Larry Summers: “I see it as helping the president get rid of the losers on his staff that America doesn’t need.” Paul Krugman, on the AIG bailout: “By making what was in effect a multibillion-dollar gift to Wall Street, policy makers undermined their own credibility — and put the broader economy at risk. … And the bitter paradox is that this play-it-safe approach has ended up undermining prospects for economic recovery.” Krugman continues: “Government officials, perhaps influenced by spending too much time with bankers, forgot that if you want to govern effectively you have retain the trust of the people. And by treating the financial industry — which got us into this mess in the first place — with kid gloves, they have squandered that trust.” Why this firestorm will be tough to put out: “It is a call [for Geithner to resign] he is likely to hear again and again as next year’s election campaign heats up,” Bloomberg’s Robert Schmidt and Lorraine Woellert report. “While Democrats have generally defended Geithner’s handling of the economy and the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, some are beginning to blame President Barack Obama’s administration for not doing enough to help Main Street voters.” For the defense, David Brooks: “The evidence of the past eight months suggests that Geithner was mostly right and his critics were mostly wrong.” When Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., team up and win a vote in committee — something’s up: “In an unprecedented defeat for the Federal Reserve, an amendment to audit the multi-trillion dollar institution was approved by the House Finance Committee with an overwhelming and bipartisan 43-26 vote on Thursday afternoon despite harried last-minute lobbying from top Fed officials and the surprise opposition of Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who had previously been a supporter,” Ryan Grim reports for Huffington Post. “The vote was the latest blow to the central bank, which has been become a lightning rod for politicians responding to popular anger that Wall Street was bailed out while the public wasn’t,” per The Wall Street Journal. Hill scrutiny for Recovery.gov: “The government watchdog overseeing economic stimulus spending said Thursday that, in its rush to take credit for saving hundreds of thousands of jobs, the Obama administration was overly confident in its job-counting and did not acknowledge significant errors in the figures,” the AP’s Matt Apuzzo writes. “After conceding the fact that the $18 million government Web site tracking stimulus funds doesn’t accurately track U.S. jobs data, the chairman of the Obama administration’s Recovery Board told Congress today that he wasn’t surprised by the mistakes found on the Web site listing non-existent congressional districts,” ABC’s Elizabeth Gorman reports. Said Earl Devaney: “In reality this data should serve in the long run as evidence of what transparency can achieve.” “The government watchdog in charge of tracking stimulus dollars said he can’t be sure how many jobs the $787 billion program has created, admitting it ‘could be above or below’ the 640,000 jobs the administration touts,” Kara Rowland reports in the Washington Times. “Republicans said false numbers amount to ‘propaganda’ and that the uncertainty should cool Democrats’ talk of passing a second stimulus bill.” Another economic issue that needs an administration answer — Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., in a CNN op-ed: “The path of least resistance that we have trod for so long is the path to national weakness. If you have the same people and the same process, you are going to get the same results. For this reason, I will vote ‘no’ on raising the debt ceiling unless Congress adopts a credible process to balance our books and eliminate the red ink.” Recalibrating some messaging — and some policy-making: “For the first time, Democrats are talking seriously about going back and rechanneling portions of their $787 billion stimulus bill to help jump-start job-creation initiatives — such as a long-delayed highway bill,” David Rogers reports for Politico. As for health care — the push for 60 is looking mighty expensive. ABC’s Jonathan Karl reports that a two-page section applies to exactly one state — Louisiana — where Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is a critical vote. “How much does it cost? According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.” Your shepherd: “Now it is Senator Harry Reid’s health care bill,” Carl Hulse reports in The New York Times. “Should Mr. Reid shepherd the measure successfully through the Senate and meld it with the House version into final legislation that President Obama can sign, it would be the biggest accomplishment of his career. Should the bill fall victim to the complex political, procedural and substantive fights raging around health care, it would be a stinging defeat for him, his president and his party — all while he faces a tough re-election fight at home.” The final press, in the run-up to the vote at 8 pm ET Saturday: “A platoon of top strategists — including pollsters Mark Mellman and Geoff Garin, incoming White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Jim Messina — met with Democratic Senators Thursday afternoon to impress upon those who might be wavering that everyone’s political fate is now joined with the success of President Obama’s top domestic priority,” Time’s Karen Tumulty reports. “The White House team also pledged whatever support the Senators might want, including visits to their states by Vice President Biden and making Administration officials available for interviews with home-state media.” Zero Republicans will vote for the motion to proceed: “As it stands, [Sen. Olympia] Snowe said she is not happy with Reid’s package, and has informed him that he will not have her vote Saturday,” write Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray of The Washington Post. Still to get worked out — the abortion debate: “The White House is on a collision course with Catholic bishops in an intractable dispute over abortion that could blow up the fragile political coalition behind President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul,” Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar writes for the AP. Plus, immigration: “In my view, if [undocumented immigrants] use their own money to purchase insurance without any taxpayer subsidy, it would make a lot of sense,” Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said Thursday on ABCNews.com’s “Top Line.” Why the ban? “A forensic study would show it all leads back to Rahm Emanuel and the White House,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., tells Politico’s Jonathan Allen. Allen writes: “Whether or not the CHC members are pointing their frustration in the right direction, the perception that Emanuel is pushing policies that they see as harmful to their communities for the political advantage of the president or moderate Democrats in Congress could cause the White House problems with the CHC in future negotiations.” On the heels of the mammogram recommendations: “New guidelines for cervical cancer screening say women should delay their first Pap test until age 21, and be screened less often than recommended in the past,” Denise Grady of The New York Times reports.
And what about eliminating wasteful procedures? “Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius did a marvelous job this week of undermining the move toward evidence-based medicine with her hasty and cowardly disavowal of a recommendation from her department’s own task force that women under 50 are probably better off not getting routine annual mammograms,” Steven Pearlstein writes in his Washington Post column. Thank goodness this has nothing to do with the CBO scoring of health care reform: “The House overwhelmingly approved a physician repayment bill to permanently fix the way doctors who cover Medicare patients are reimbursed,” The Hill’s Molly K. Hooper reports. “Despite a vow to offset any new spending, the Democratic measure would cost $210 billion over 10 years but does not include a ‘pay-for’ in the bill.” New ad from MoveOn.org — airing in Maine and Arkansas. “Tell Congress: No triggers. Real health care reform means a strong public option — now.” Checking in on that Fort Hood hearing: “For those waiting for the new White House to make good on its vow to bring transparency to the executive branch, it was another disappointing brush with Obama opacity,” The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank writes. Tying up a loose end from the Asia trip — ABC’s Jake Tapper and Clarissa Ward: “First the Chinese government refused to broadcast live on state-run television President Obama’s town hall meeting with university students in Shanghai. Now some US media are saying the government is blocking access to an interview President Obama did in Beijing with the relatively progressive newspaper Southern Weekly, which in the past has pushed the limits of Chinese censors’ delicate sensibilities with actual journalism. But the truth may be more complicated than that.” More woes for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. ABC’s Cynthia McFadden sat down with Doug Hampton, in an interview that will air Monday on “Nightline.” Hampton says the $96,000 he got from Ensign’s family was a severance package, not a gift — which would make it a violation of campaign-finance laws: “Crystal clear,” Hampton said. “I took notes. I’ve shared those notes. They’re well documented. They were clearly what he deemed as severance.” Plus, Hampton tells McFadden that Ensign was knowingly help him break the “revolving door” regulations by setting him up in a lobbying practice after he left his Senate employ: “John Ensign was perfectly aware that it was going down exactly how he wanted it to go,” says Hampton. McFadden: “So there is no doubt in your mind that John Ensign understood that ethics laws were being broken.” Hampton: “There is no doubt.” As for Democrats with ethics woes — with leadership push to oust Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., and Defense Appropriations Chairman Jack Murtha, D-Pa.? “What many House Democrats would clearly prefer is for Murtha and Rangel to announce that they won’t seek re-election, thus avoiding the bloodletting that trying to oust them would cause,” Charlie Cook writes for National Journal. “So the question is whether the Democratic leadership feels it should risk taking no action against Rangel and Murtha; should try to take away their gavels; or should give them a hearty thank-you for their long years of service — a thank-you accompanied by a big push toward retirement. If Rangel and Murtha signal that they are headed for the exit, they might make themselves less appetizing targets for ambitious prosecutors seeking to nail a politician’s scalp to the door.” At the Republican Governors Association meeting — a spring in some gubernatorial steps: “Thrilled with twin victories this month, Republican governors are looking to lead a party-wide resurgence in 2010 and shape the GOP for years to come,” the AP’s Liz Sidoti reports. “Republicans boast of a strong crop of gubernatorial candidates who could be future party leaders, $25 million in the bank a year before the elections and a difficult environment for Democrats, particularly in financially ailing swing-voting states like Ohio and Iowa.” The roll call from this Palin-free zone: “On hand were possible presidential candidates like Barbour and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota as well as Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Mitch Daniels of Indiana. Govs.-elect Bob McDonnell of Virginia and Chris Christie of New Jersey attended, as did the GOP’s top recruits for 2010 races, including John Kasich, a former congressman, in Ohio and Attorney General Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania.” Social issues, anyone? “What was most striking about the Republican governors was not simply their sense of optimism — a sentiment that would draw no Democratic quarrel these days — but exactly how they saw their road back to power and unity,” The New York Times’ Adam Nagourney reports. “The talk here was of the health care plan being debated in Congress, increased spending under President Obama, the climbing deficit and concern among Americans about jobs and the education of their children.” Have they been near the Hill lately? “Republican governors Thursday urged GOP candidates competing in 2010 elections to not harshly attack President Barack Obama, citing polls that show his personal popularity remaining strong despite unease over his policies,” Peter Wallsten reports in The Wall Street Journal. Rudy’s ruminations: “Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani has decided not to run for governor next year after months of considering a candidacy, according to people who have been told of the decision,” Danny Hakim writes in The New York Times. “Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who many Republicans have been pushing to run for governor in 2010, is instead leaning more toward a run for U.S. Senate, according to two party advisers,” the AP’s Michael Gormley reports. Or: “Rudy Giuliani doesn’t have to run for governor, or senator, either, because he’s already got a bigger voice and bank account than most elected leaders,” the New York Daily News’ David Saltonstall reports. “That’s what some of Giuliani’s closest aides were whispering Thursday as speculation spiked that the former mayor had decided against a run for governor but was still mulling a U.S. Senate bid against Kirsten Gillibrand.”
In Texas — on the air: “I’m going to do everything I can to stop the government takeover of healthcare. And it’s why I’m staying in the Senate through the primary, at risk to my political future,” Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison says in a new TV ad. “I cannot walk away while this is pending in Congress.” From the Palin chronicles: “Fort Bragg on Thursday changed its mind about banning the media from Sarah Palin’s public book signing Monday. The change was announced late Thursday after protests by The Fayetteville Observer and The Associated Press,” Henry Cuningham reports in the Fayetteville Observer.
The Kicker: “In a way they are not unequivocally bad.” — Earl Devaney, chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, of the errors found at Recovery.gov. “I don’t know of anything that disqualifies her.” — Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss., on the spot and never quite answer Chris Matthews’ question about whether Sarah Palin is qualified to be president.
For up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note’s blog . . . all day every day:
Intern for the ABC News Political Unit: The ABC News Political Unit is now seeking full-time spring 2010 interns in Washington, D.C. The paid internship begins Monday, Jan. 4, 2010, and runs through Friday, June 4, 2010. Political Unit interns attend political events and contribute to stories for the politics page of ABCNews.com. They also help ABC News by conducting research, maintaining our calendar of upcoming political events, and posting stories to ABCNews.com. In order to apply, you MUST be either a graduate student or an undergraduate student who has completed his or her first year of college. The internship is NOT open to recent graduates. You also must be able to work eight hours per day, Monday through Friday. Interns will be paid $8.50/hour. If you write well, follow politics closely, and have some familiarity with web publishing, send a cover letter and resume to Teddy Davis, ABC News’ Deputy Political Director, at teddy.davis@abc.com, by Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009, with the subject line: “INTERN” in all caps. Please indicate in both your cover letter and the body of your email your student status and the specific dates and hours of your availability.

User Comments

When are these fools going to admit that they are at fault V.P. goes on tv and says its the citicens fault for the horrible reporting of the so called jobs that were saved in non exsisting districts and islands that arent there, as always with this bunch its someone elses fault, MY THREE YEAR OLD ACCEPTS MORE RESPONSIBILITY.

Posted by: earl | November 20, 2009, 9:26 am 9:26 am

I hear the tarp money left over is now being used for pet projects. How about giving back to the treasury to pay down the debt??

Posted by: Jim Rod | November 20, 2009, 9:34 am 9:34 am

After a period of time, it becomes apparent, that all that talk, is just that, a lot of talk.
People start looking for results, and the results are not there.
The honeymoon is over.

Posted by: Rick McDaniel | November 20, 2009, 9:36 am 9:36 am

Biden was on comedy central. This whole administration is comedy central. Peolsi, Dodd, Frank and Rangel could be co-stars. Oh yeah, the stimulus oversight Cszar as well.

Posted by: jamescbuilder | November 20, 2009, 9:37 am 9:37 am

You’re absolutely right! Obama is in trouble! He will probably be impeached before the end of the year! All Democrats will resign and Republicans will take over Congress! Bwaa-ha-ha-ha!
LOL.LOL.LOL.LOL.

Posted by: matt | November 20, 2009, 9:38 am 9:38 am

Tricky Timmy tried the “Bush’s fault” card again. Wow, these guys are something else. Today marks their 10th month in office and even with the super majority, no major legislation has been considered. They will bankrupt us with the health care bill though.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 9:40 am 9:40 am

Again I ask for some news organization…
(ABC are you up to the task) to look into
where our money went that was this
job stimulus program. Don’t be afraid
of learning the truth. No matter what
turns up, the public deserves to know.

Posted by: wis134 | November 20, 2009, 9:48 am 9:48 am

What is that LOL LOVE OBAMA LESS or some other loss of ??

Posted by: earl | November 20, 2009, 9:53 am 9:53 am

At least I felt safe when Bush was in office… things are just plain scary right now!

Posted by: Shane | November 20, 2009, 9:58 am 9:58 am

We need a little Peter Schiff logic applied to the economy. Obama’s borrow/print and spend policies will ultimately destroy the dollar. Just my opinion of course.

Posted by: Huh | November 20, 2009, 10:02 am 10:02 am

While I have been critical of Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla. in the past, I have to give him kudos for his co-effort with Rep Ron Paul to get an amendment to force an audit of the Fed. It is the money of the people, and we deserve a reasonable accounting of where it is going.

Posted by: deanbob | November 20, 2009, 10:06 am 10:06 am

President Obama is back home now — and feeling kind of lonely. On Afghanistan, on the economy, on the stimulus, on Fort Hood, on Gitmo, and maybe even on health care, the administration doesn’t have the allies it needs in the numbers it needs.>>>>>> THANK GOODNESS that some have really woke up to this CRUEL President. I do mean CRUEL president. He has used his presidential power to PUNISH America because he doesnt like America. He goes aorund the world saying he is sorry instead of talking about the greatness of this nation. He excuses the abuses of forgien dictators and bows to them in a subserviant lowering the stature of this great nation. As he GOLFS and flies around and fails to get anywhere in any country. As Iran, China and Russia laugh at us and our unemployment goes SKY HIGH after he promised it would not. I wish he could be impeached for abuse of powers but nothing has risen to that level. If terrorists attack New York because of his bad judgement call on the GITMO detainees will that be ENOUGH to impeach Obama? What if they attack jurors? I THANK GOODNESS he is alone.

Posted by: ChicagoBob | November 20, 2009, 10:07 am 10:07 am

lfrichar | Nov 20, 2009 9:40:41 AM….There are 2 default “blames” – Bush and racism. The responsible adult takes responsibility for his/her actions. The narcissist ….. ?

Posted by: deanbob | November 20, 2009, 10:11 am 10:11 am

In Reid’s plan, their will be an ‘abortion premium’ in the government plan.

Posted by: deanbob | November 20, 2009, 10:15 am 10:15 am

As an American citizen I feel tortured by this administration on a daily basis. I feel Obama should be compensating me for the pain and suffering I endure on a daily basis because of the mental torture I have endured due to his policies. Will the ACLU represent me in my lawsuit against this unrelenting torture?

Posted by: Downwithsocialism | November 20, 2009, 10:17 am 10:17 am

The constituion started out as 4 pages and has grown to 17 – to run this country for 200 years. 2000 pages for the healthcare? I guess it takes that many pages to say how the government is going to control so many aspects of our life.

Posted by: deanbob | November 20, 2009, 10:17 am 10:17 am

Anyone with a modest amount of common sense knew these numbers were bogus. This is business as usual in D.C. not the change we were promised. The more I watch this administration the more I’m convinced they are the most corrupt group ever. I think the people the President has close to him have an agenda of their own and the President is too willing to take the advise of those around him and unwilling to trust his own instincts. The tail is wagging the dog.

Posted by: hkdakota | November 20, 2009, 10:22 am 10:22 am

Bring the health care bill in and you will see Frontlash(new term) & Backlash.

Posted by: Freedom | November 20, 2009, 10:26 am 10:26 am

Yes, please audit the Fed. Such a move is harmless and will (very briefly I’m sure) quiet down the tin hatters.

Posted by: jhw539 | November 20, 2009, 10:26 am 10:26 am

I hear the tarp money left over is now being used for pet projects. How about giving back to the treasury to pay down the debt??
Jim Rod | Nov 20, 2009 9:34:55 AM
Really? You heard that from… who exactly? Care to provide a cite for that allegation, or just pushing rumors into the echo chamber?

Posted by: jhw539 | November 20, 2009, 10:27 am 10:27 am

Again the MSM is busy dwelling in tactics than overall strategy. Once things turn, people mouthing off the demise of the President’s policies will be left in the dust. What matters strategically now is the Senate vote on Healthcare Saturday.
We cannot survive as a Nation when we keep thinking in 2-year cycles based on congressional elections. Any entity needs to have a long-term focus to survive.
For example, while the GOP is using Climate Change bill to make political points, other nations are investing in greener technology. The result in 5 years will be our auto companies lagging way behind foreign competitors.

Posted by: New Wave | November 20, 2009, 10:28 am 10:28 am

deanbob—- Oops! I stand corrected!

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 10:30 am 10:30 am

“”"”"The result in 5 years will be our auto companies lagging way behind foreign competitors.”"”"”
Posted by: New Wave
Funny you should mention that. I own a 2010 Fusion and 2007 Escape. Both are best in their class. The Fusion has higher fuel economy than Honda and Toyota. The Escape was best in class for small SUV’s and the best fuel economy of any SUV on the planet. I am not fan of Chevy, but the new Chevy coming out is actually going to rate higher than the Fusion. Just figured I would point out the actual facts.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 10:34 am 10:34 am

Good news:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 27% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -14.
Today’s results match the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President and it’s the third straight day at -14. Prior to these three days, Obama’s ratings had fallen to -14 on only one day since taking office.

Posted by: Beth G | November 20, 2009, 10:35 am 10:35 am

New Wave—- Obama did say he had a 10 year green plan, but he has yet to unfold it. If he takes as long on that decision as he has on others, we might be waiting a while.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 10:35 am 10:35 am

Obama….
The constant lying.
The childish whining.
The disgraceful bowing.
The staggering arrogance.
The poisonous radicalism.
The dangerous narcissism.
The astounding incompetence.
Obama wants to put as much of the private economy under government control as possible to create his nanny state utopia where he is the boy king.
Let’s continue to stand strong against Obama in every way and get Congress out of the hands of the insane Pelosi and Reid in 2010.
Obama is a smug, smirking con man. Nothing more.

Posted by: Jackson | November 20, 2009, 10:36 am 10:36 am

CALL ALL DEMOCRATIC SENATORS today. Ask them how much their vote is worth. I mean if they are all for sale we should know how much we need to pay to get government TRILLIONS. REID paying off senators. DOES ANYONE SEE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?

Posted by: ChicagoBob | November 20, 2009, 10:42 am 10:42 am

“”"”REID paying off senators. DOES ANYONE SEE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?”"”
Posted by: ChicagoBob
Hell yes!

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 10:44 am 10:44 am

Even before Bush left office, there were projections that the economy might not recover until late 2009 or 2010, and that unemployment would certainly lag behind the recovery as it always does.
It seems that things are on track and both the Bush and Obama Administrations did major actions that prevented a Depression. It must really frustrate many Republicans who, like Limbaugh, would rather see the President fail than see the country recover – especially with so many state and Congressional elections next year.
If the recovery goes as projected, the unemployment rate will begin to drop a couple of months before most primary elections next year. I wonder if the rate at which the stimulus is being released was calculated to have just that effect.
Then, the Dems can claim, “We heard your complaints and responded. The country is back on track in spite of the roadblocks the GOP tried to put in front of us.”
I don’t know how true any of that would be, but you know the politicians – they’ll take credit for anything and pass all blame to others.
In any case, I’m guessing it’s going to be like streets getting repaved just before the local elections or the letters from Congressmen, who use their franking privilege to send mail for free, that only arrive just before elections and tell you how wonderfully they’ve done.
I think things will look much more positive next spring.

Posted by: The_Mick | November 20, 2009, 10:47 am 10:47 am

Obama is poison.

Posted by: Moniq | November 20, 2009, 10:47 am 10:47 am

Where are the libs today? Is anybody happy anymore? What a failure BO is.

Posted by: JJJ | November 20, 2009, 10:49 am 10:49 am

Oh sorry jwh539 I didn’t see your post. Are you happy today?

Posted by: JJJ | November 20, 2009, 10:50 am 10:50 am

Where are the jobs that Obama promised?
He has been in office one year and 1 out of 10 people are out of work. Obama is all TALK.

Posted by: CW | November 20, 2009, 10:51 am 10:51 am

Posted by: Jackson | Nov 20, 2009 10:36:22 AM
_______________________
This is the 3rd time in the last 2 days I’ve seen this exact post. For a few of these posting folks, the earth never changes.
no evolution.
no rationalizing.
no learning.

Posted by: gus amaral | November 20, 2009, 10:52 am 10:52 am

Obama is mentally ill with a severe form of narcissism. He truly believes he is above any criticism.
The best thing in the world is to ratchet up the criticism of him. And things like SNL ridiculing him and the Olympic slap in the face are extremely helpful.
Obama will destroy this nation to preserve his ego. Dems MUST go in 2010 if this nation is to survive the destruction of Obama and the spoiled children, Marxists and anti-American hacks throughout his administration.

Posted by: Larreau | November 20, 2009, 10:55 am 10:55 am

lfrichar: I agree that the Ford products are very good. They are results of strategy put in place at the company many years ago. Note though that past results never guarantee future successes.
Let us take that to the national level and see what we can do to always be on top. Looking at everything in terms of how it will play in the next election is not healthy.
A local example here in TX, there was a rush to ban Gay marriage and campaign on that issue. Now we learn that language in that passed bill makes ALL marriages in TX illegal(including that between a man and a woman).

Posted by: New Wave | November 20, 2009, 10:55 am 10:55 am

For example, while the GOP is using Climate Change bill to make political points, other nations are investing in greener technology. The result in 5 years will be our auto companies lagging way behind foreign competitors.
New Wave | Nov 20, 2009 10:28:28 AM
Nonsense! It is liberal tree huggers like you who kept saying the US auto industry would be harmed by continuing to rely solely on huge, inefficient SUVs to stay in business and they’re still around, right? While Toyota must be almost bankrupt since they’re selling that unpopular ugly Prius at a huge loss just for the PR.
(I may be a few years out of date, but surely that’s all still true – conservatives were incredibly sure of it.)

Posted by: jhw539 | November 20, 2009, 10:57 am 10:57 am

Obama is so smart he cant even figure out how to deal with troops at his command in harms way. What is going on in Afghanistan?? How do you think those guys feel being left to die while Obama flies around the world BOWING.

Posted by: ChicagoBob | November 20, 2009, 11:01 am 11:01 am

The_Mick — The big question is, did either of Bush’s or Obama’s stimulus’s affect the recovery? Or, did it put money in the pockets of Wall Street and big banks? We have recovered from many recessions before without $1.5 trillion being dumped nto businesses “too big to fail”. The housing debacle is what really hurt this recovery. Would we have recovered without stimulus? We will never know, but we do know the GOP will say it was their $700B and the Dems will say it was theri $787B, or should I say OUR MONEY?

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 11:02 am 11:02 am

BO will have an approval rating in low 40′s by the end of the year. It will go to 35 in april when everybody’s taxes are due and they don’t get as big a refund as they are used to. It will fall to 20 if they get health care through and people find out they have to pay premiums. He will resign by 2011 and become the worst president in history. Just my predictions. I also said Clinton would never have a second term either, so I could be wrong.

Posted by: JJJ | November 20, 2009, 11:04 am 11:04 am

Oh sorry jwh539 I didn’t see your post. Are you happy today?
JJJ | Nov 20, 2009 10:50:36 AM
Actually yes. Quite busy though – I have to get up to speed a new hire at the office. A refugee from downsizing at Chrysler, she’s pretty quick and should do well for us. My little girl is over a nasty, but thankfully brief, fever, my pregnant wife finally got a swine flu shot, and I’m heading off for a Thanksgiving vacation in Puerto Rico next week.
You see, like the majority of Americans I have a job and feel incredibly blessed to live in the most prosperous free nation mankind has ever known. Where I may be in the minority is that I feel America should continue to evolve and improve such that it can maintain that title in a rapidly improving world.

Posted by: jhw539 | November 20, 2009, 11:06 am 11:06 am

New Wave— I think alot of the problems have to do with “rushing” the issue. Gays want to rush it and Obama wants to oblidge. Health care is being rushed for some reason which can only result in loopholes and fraud later. For some reason, Obama is not rushing on Afghanistan, which is erally where a decision has to be made. Timing just seems a little off.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 11:06 am 11:06 am

dream on, the economy is recovering, the money loaned out in the bailouts is being paid back-tax payers are making a profit-Geithner has done a fantastic job with this mess created over the previous 8 years by the bush administration, and lets not forget clintin left of with a budget surplus –after pulling us out of the last fiscal mess republicans left us in under a bush admin. Republicans have proven time and again..they are not capable of running this country-anyway but in the ground..and history and facts back that up..so you can spout all the rehtoric you want..it does not change the truth…it will be decades before you see another republican administration..

Posted by: cowgirl | November 20, 2009, 11:08 am 11:08 am

Amazing the Republicans are berating anyone about unemployment…As I recall..they voted NO on EVERY jobs creation bill….Do they really think people are so stupid to not remember this….

Posted by: DirtyShame | November 20, 2009, 11:09 am 11:09 am

jhw539:Nov 20, 2009 10:27:38. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. I hear the tarp money left over is now being used for pet projects. How about giving back to the treasury to pay down the debt??
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Jim Rod | Nov 20, 2009 9:34:55 AMReally? You heard that from… who exactly? Care to provide a cite for that allegation, or just pushing rumors into the echo chamber?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has come up with a proposal (to spend any TARP profits before they can be returned to the taxpayers.) Last Friday, Frank introduced the “TARP for Main Street Act of 2009,” a bill that would take profits from the program and immediately redirect them toward housing proposals favored by Frank and some fellow Democrats……Hmmmm maybe the American people who are footing the bill for this might want to get a little of this money back. But then again this is the Democratic party who tell you that the expiration of a tax cut is not a tax increase! Really ?

Posted by: He said What? | November 20, 2009, 11:09 am 11:09 am

Duh! People are finally realizing what a scam artist dumBO is. The porkulus was used for nothing more than paying off the votes for for the presidency. Health care is the next ponzi scam, and look out for cap and trade (bait and switch)

Posted by: Todd | November 20, 2009, 11:09 am 11:09 am

What is going on in Afghanistan??
ChicagoBob | Nov 20, 2009 11:01:01 AM
Our Afghanistan forces have received a record number of reinforcements this year, including thousands more support troops just last month, and currently enjoy the strongest backing in seven years. The number of troops has doubled and the new commander rammed into place is highly respected. For the first time, the commander in chief is finally working out a real long term strategy that will likely include an exit strategy – something that, after multiple tours, our troops deserve.

Posted by: jhw539 | November 20, 2009, 11:10 am 11:10 am

TARP under Bush was a loan and is being paid back. In fact they want to put it back into the general funds to SPEND IT.
Obamas $787BILLION Stimulus is pure spending. Not a loan not ever coming back.
I thought democrats used to cry about the Regan and Bushes debt and deficits? How times have changed. Not a word about Obama adding almost a trillion to the debt. Must be because its their IDOL. Hows that change working for everyone? 10.2% unemployment and we lost another 500,000 jobs this week.

Posted by: ChicagoBob | November 20, 2009, 11:10 am 11:10 am

“”"Where I may be in the minority is that I feel America should continue to evolve and improve such that it can maintain that title in a rapidly improving world.”"”
Posted by: jhw539
While I am also thankful I believe we all want to prosper and evolve. The “difference” is in how we go about it. Obama is in a tough position right now and I believe his next few months will make or break whether he has a 2nd term or not.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 11:10 am 11:10 am

“”"”the commander in chief is finally working out a real long term strategy that will likely include an exit strategy “”"”
Posted by: jhw539
“Exit Strategy” is a term used to throw people off. We have an exit strategy, but the problem is you can’t put a date on it. War is not an exact science and our “exit strategy” is when the Afghani troops are trained to uphold their country, we will withdraw, just like we are supposed to be doing in Iraq right now (Obama said 16 months). On a lighter note, I am going to San Diego for the return of one of my nephews tomorrow. He’s had 2 Iraq tours and 1 Afghan with the Marines. Gotta be proud!

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 11:16 am 11:16 am

Obamas $787BILLION Stimulus is pure spending.
ChicagoBob | Nov 20, 2009 11:10:27 AM
Really? You call $288 billion in TAX BREAKS “pure spending”? By your definition of “pure spending” should we count the other 70%+ of the economy that is not paid to the government as “spending” too?

Posted by: jhw539 | November 20, 2009, 11:19 am 11:19 am

It will take longer than 1 year to clean up the mess caused during the bush/cheney years. People around the world already have a much better opinion of the USA. Let’s be patient and keep moving forward.

Posted by: pt | November 20, 2009, 11:22 am 11:22 am

jwh539 you better call Recovery.gov and let them know you hired someone. Make sure you tell it’s 1 person so they don’t confuse it with 1 hundred thousand. They tend to exaggerate alittle. Your the first happy lib I’ve heard of.

Posted by: JJJ | November 20, 2009, 11:22 am 11:22 am

Health care is being rushed for some reason which can only result in loopholes and fraud later.
lfrichar | Nov 20, 2009 11:06:36 AM
It’s pretty silly to say that health care is being rushed (they’ve been working intensively on it since the March 5th summit kickoff, and arguably since the election). And it is awfully hard to say the public has not had time to get engaged and make their opinion heard – this is already the most debated, argued, researched, fact checked and analyzed piece of legislation I’ve seen in my life. And debate hasn’t even started in the Senate yet!

Posted by: jhw539 | November 20, 2009, 11:23 am 11:23 am

republicans had an opportunity to head off this massive collapse of the economy and job loss-which began several years ago…WHAT did they do???? they gave every american 300-600 dollars and said go spend it..YOU call that an economic policy???? thats all you have for an idea-then you got nothing…and the american people were left holding the bag..if you think republicans are going to get yet –another–chance to destroy this country-get us into more wars around the world and borrow more money, while their friends in big business line their pockets at the expense of americans-forget it..I haven’t heard one solution from any of you pin heads that is worth repeating

Posted by: cowgirl | November 20, 2009, 11:27 am 11:27 am

I honestly do not know anyonoe who thinks Obama is doing a good job leading our country. He’s all style over substance. He does not care what Americans want or need..case in point is govt healthcare which the majority of Americans are against but he doesn’t care. It’s all about Obama.

Posted by: melsg | November 20, 2009, 11:29 am 11:29 am

Really? You call $288 billion in TAX BREAKS “pure spending”? By your definition of “pure spending” should we count the other 70%+ of the economy that is not paid to the government as “spending” too?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tax breaks to who? You mean the $10 we all got a week that tax break? ROFL. That really did some good didnt it? And isnt Obama giving us all a huge tax increase by allowing the Bush tax cuts to lapse? Get serious we are going to paying 1000′s of new taxes from ever area of our lives.
As I have described before business does not PAY TAX the people that buy their product (that would be you and me) do. So when that box of cereal is a little more expensive and your overall basic expenses go up thank Obama and his SPEND SPEND SPEND until we are bankrupt and under his BOOT. This is a CRUEL President abusing his power to over throw the American independent way of life.

Posted by: ChicagoBob | November 20, 2009, 11:31 am 11:31 am

republicans had an opportunity to head off this massive collapse of the economy and job loss-which began several years ago…WHAT did they do???? they gave every american 300-600 dollars and said go spend it..YOU call that an economic policy???? cowgirl >>>>> Now thats funny right there. This coming form the Cash for clunkers disaster president. He gave rebates on foreign cars? And Toyota and Honda sold more than GM. The program actually cost 21,000 per car? HOW is that anything but utter failure. He gave our DEBT away to foreign companies so they get stronger. OBAMA = CRUEL President and a complete failure.

Posted by: ChicagoBob | November 20, 2009, 11:36 am 11:36 am

“”"this is already the most debated, argued, researched, fact checked and analyzed piece of legislation I’ve seen in my life. And debate hasn’t even started in the Senate yet!”"”"
Posted by: jhw539
And it still has the majority of Americans against this legislation. The majority of Americans want health care reform, but not this bill. That hasn’t changed since they began forming the bill. You don’t believe health care is being rushed? Obama wanted it on his desk by August. Reid wanted it done by the end of summer. Same with Pelosi. If our government is going to fundamentally change the way our insurance system is going to function and affect 16% of our GNP, the last thing I want to hear is get it on my desk. I think you are the only person I have met that doesn’t believe this is being rushed. On the other hand, I believe he is taking too much time on Afghanistan and Iraq.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 11:37 am 11:37 am

“”"”"while their friends in big business line their pockets at the expense of americans-forget it..I haven’t heard one solution from any of you pin heads that is worth repeating”"”
Posted by: cowgirl
First, no reason to be calling names, have a little respect. 2nd, Obama’s stimulus went directly into big business, do you not get that? You camplain Bush gave the actual consumer a break, but the consumer and small business make up a huge part of our economy. Obama’s stimulus has done nothing for neither. Think about that for a moment.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 11:40 am 11:40 am

chicagobob…where were your lungs when the bush admin was borrowing money from the chinese at a massive rate to fund his fun and games in Iraq? where was your outrage when he said…deficits were not important??? Did you think, we could just continue to borrow with out having to pay the piper? is that the way you live your life? are you up to your earlobes in debt, with no way to pay it back because you don’t have a job? Thank your republican friends for that and quit expecting the democrats to give you a hand out..take responsibility on yourself-and quit complaining ad-nauseam.

Posted by: cowgirl | November 20, 2009, 11:45 am 11:45 am

Really? You call $288 billion in TAX BREAKS “pure spending”? By your definition of “pure spending” should we count the other 70%+ of the economy that is not paid to the government as “spending” too?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tax breaks to who? You mean the $10 we all got a week that tax break? ROFL.
ChicagoBob | Nov 20, 2009 11:31:56 AM
The extensive tax breaks, equaling $288 billion of the cost, are fully detailed in the publicly available bill. That you appear completely ignorant of them does not make your argument stronger. Do you really think a $10 per week tax INCREASE would be easily laughed off and raise $288 billion per year? Well then, you’ve discovered how to pay for health care three times over for a laugh!
Calling the stimulus $787 billion of “pure spending” merely shows your partisan opinion is not based on facts, and your reply seems to indicate you do not care.

Posted by: jhw539 | November 20, 2009, 11:47 am 11:47 am

Obama should face backlash, and lots of it.
When you ram a bill through to “prevent 8% unemployment” and to fund these “shovel ready” jobs.
Truth be told there was no jobs saved or created and just those on unemployment is now at 10.2% – Obama failed.
The extremely low number of jobs created cost us how much per job? Yeah…
Then Obama tells the world that the healthcare bill won’t cost a dime of deficet. (Look up the exact transcript)
And it will not have any government money going to abortion. Looks like Obama lied again.

Posted by: Kate | November 20, 2009, 11:50 am 11:50 am

2nd, Obama’s stimulus went directly into big business,
lfrichar | Nov 20, 2009 11:40:41 AM
What? About $230 billion of it was tax cuts directly to individuals. Another $80 billion was handed out as direct aid (the largest chunk being unemployment benefits, which were recently extended again by a unanimous vote I believe). So about 40% went directly, unequivocally to individuals. (I think that is enough to make the point so I’m not going to bother with things like the $100 billion for Medicaid and COBRA premium subsidies or teasing out things like rebate programs for energy star hidden in some of the other outlays.)

Posted by: jhw539 | November 20, 2009, 11:53 am 11:53 am

: cowgirl | Nov 20, 2009 11:08:23 AM
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
that was a great fantasy Piece! How about a little reality…Unemployment continues to rise, Deficit hits ne record highs Dailey, Geithner has a 43% approval rating Obama is not far behind and Congress is in the 20′s. A Democratic controlled congress by the way and now Obama mentions the term “double dip” recession. China Rips apart Obama on spending and healthcare, yes that is right China is ripping Obama apart for his irresponsibility. So spin it how you like but Dumbocrats are going down cowgirl. I will give you this it took Bush 8 years to screw things up, Obama has been able to make it 4x as bad in just a little over 10 months.. Nobama Nobama. I wont have to pay my mortgage, put gas in the car, give me some of that Obama money…..the only problem is Obama is making monopoly money a stronger currency….See you in 2010 & at the Republican inaugural address in 2012.

Posted by: nobama12 | November 20, 2009, 11:55 am 11:55 am

The health care debate began back in the Clinton administration…Where were you when it was discussed for years..It was discussed between Hillary and Obama for 2 years in the run up to the election…are you holding us responsable for your lack of attention while this was going on? We needed a health care bill 16 years ago…/get up to speed

Posted by: cowgirl | November 20, 2009, 11:59 am 11:59 am

“”"”"quit expecting the democrats to give you a hand out..”"”"”
Posted by: cowgirl
Wow! Dillusional? Is your definition for “hand out” the same as mine?

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 12:00 pm 12:00 pm

WE can ask all the questions we want about the stimulus and tarp money but Obama and his cronies won’t give us any honest answers. Obama knows that he is spreading the wealth out to his special interest cronies that he worked with while he was a community organizer but we can’t say we know that. Obama is a bad man.

Posted by: John Demeter | November 20, 2009, 12:01 pm 12:01 pm

“”"”About $230 billion of it was tax cuts directly to individuals. “”"
Posted by: jhw539
You mean the tax witholding trick? Check your taxes at the end of the year and tell me it was a “cut”. Kind of like CA withholding 10% more of income. It makes it look like they have raised cash for their deficit, but the end of year reality is they were borrowing it.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 12:04 pm 12:04 pm

“Green jobs” were coming so strong during the summer. But autumn came quickly, the green leafs turned yellow and felt off… Now everyone could see that those were just empty promises.

Posted by: H1N1hysteria | November 20, 2009, 12:04 pm 12:04 pm

NoBama…You forgot to mention that only 23% of americans…now…identify themselves as republicans…you aren’t winning anything..there ore only a handful of rats left on the ship. and don’t even think about coming over to independants…we don’t want you

Posted by: cowgirl | November 20, 2009, 12:05 pm 12:05 pm

John Demeter | Nov 20, 2009 12:01:32 PM….He’s proably is good person, father and husband. But are his policies good for the USA? I don’t think so.

Posted by: deanbob | November 20, 2009, 12:07 pm 12:07 pm

jhw539 and cowgirl—– you both can believe what you wish about this administration, but they are spending too much with too little to show for it. If you do not believe that simple term, you are dillusional. For the amount this adminstration has spent already, we should have seen some major returns. The “economy on the brink” speech by Obama worked to get his stimulus passed, but hasn’t shown any fruits of the labor. Stimulus advisor to Obama, “the 2nd and 3rd quarters saw the majority of the stimulus effect there will be very little affect if any in 2010″.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 12:08 pm 12:08 pm

Lots of green jobs in oregon, windmills going up, jobs to manufacture them here, stimulus money created alot of highway projects, employed people, and kept more businesses from going under=we would have had 20% unemployment instead of 10% if it wasn’t for the stimulus projects…sorry- but it helped here….

Posted by: cowgirl | November 20, 2009, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm

Cowgirl:
Conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in 2009, confirming a finding that Gallup first noted in June. Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group. ………………………
Independents Inch to the Right
Changes among political independents appear to be the main reason the percentage of conservatives has increased nationally over the past year: the 35% of independents describing their views as conservative in 2009 is up from 29% in 2008. By contrast, among Republicans and Democrats, the percentage who are “conservative” has increased by one point each.
As is typical in recent years, Republicans are far more unified in their political outlook than are either independents or Democrats. While 72% of Republicans in 2009 call their views conservative, independents are closely split between the moderate and conservative labels (43% and 35%, respectively). Democrats are about evenly divided between moderates (39%) and liberals (37%).
Look at politico, gallup, Rasmussen They all tell the same Story Democrats and Liberals are fading fast..

Posted by: nobama12 | November 20, 2009, 12:11 pm 12:11 pm

You mean the tax witholding trick? Check your taxes at the end of the year and tell me it was a “cut”.
lfrichar | Nov 20, 2009 12:04:11 PM
No. Beyond the basic explanation of the rebate (it was just like the $300-$600 checks Bush mailed out, but spread out over each paycheck) IF IT WAS JUST A WITHOLDING TRICK IT WOULD NOT HAVE ‘COST’ $166 BILLION. Geeze. Think!

Posted by: jhw539 | November 20, 2009, 12:12 pm 12:12 pm

Obama and his minions are a total failure. The voters were duped. Thanks to Acorn, SEIU, AFL-CIO, ACLU and legions of others, America was led down the path of destruction.

Posted by: cfiman | November 20, 2009, 12:12 pm 12:12 pm

When you ram a bill through to “prevent 8% unemployment”
Kate | Nov 20, 2009 11:50:43 AM
Please provide the citation for the quote you attribute to the administration above. Obama never said it, and to my knowledge it only appeared in a whitepaper that VERY clearly defined the uncertainty and likely error with a half page disclaimer just before that section.

Posted by: jhw539 | November 20, 2009, 12:14 pm 12:14 pm

Why does Reid have to “buy” his own Democratic votes in the healthcare bill?

Posted by: deanbob | November 20, 2009, 12:14 pm 12:14 pm

“”"Lots of green jobs in oregon, windmills going up, jobs to manufacture them here, stimulus money created alot of highway projects, employed people, and kept more businesses from going under=we would have had 20% unemployment instead of 10% if it wasn’t for the stimulus projects…sorry- but it helped here..”"”
Posted by: cowgirl
See, you are saying all of this and no proof. Do you really think if you have windmills going up they were “planned’ because of the stimulus? It takes more time than that to plan those projects. Yes, some roads and bridges are being worked on with absolutely no way to prove the planning was strictly stimulus money (just check the web site). 20% unemployment instead of 10%? That’s just the biggest lie we’ve seen yet. The rate was not supposed to hit over 8% with the stimulus’ passing and it soared way over that estimate. Would you like more numbers from your great leader, because I have many, and the facts to back them up (without calling you names).

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 12:19 pm 12:19 pm

Washington will collect money for 10 years to pay for 6 years of healthcare overage (I doubt it will be deficit neutral). How are they going to pay for it after that? How is this going to be different from Medicare? In 1965, Medicare was projected to cost $12B in 1990, but actually cost $100B.

Posted by: deanbob | November 20, 2009, 12:20 pm 12:20 pm

You want to know how brain washed Cowgirl and jhw539 are they believe Pelosi when she tells them the expiration of the Bush Tax CUTS on the middle class is not a Tax increase. Enough Said. it is official Democrats are Stupid.

Posted by: nobama12 | November 20, 2009, 12:20 pm 12:20 pm

It’s all Ronald Reagan’s fault with all his supply side economics (Voodoo).

Posted by: Demandside | November 20, 2009, 12:21 pm 12:21 pm

anyone who expected the stimulus plan to be like winning the lottery…is just plain delusional and not thinking rationally..our economy was being held together by a housing bubble…clear and simple..that will be slow to come back..there are a glut of new homes on the market, the loss of construction jobs associated to that is responsable for a large portion of unemploynent..when those people lost jobs, consummer spending went down and business began to suffer across the board..then when the stock market, banks and investment companies tanked, the middle upperclass and retirees lost their investments..What this admin. did-saved us from going off a cliff into a full blown depression-they extended unemployment benifits, otherwise you would have seen homeless camps and foodlines a mile long…YOU have’nt a clue of where we were headed..they stabilized the free fall-this stimulus wasn’t somekind of a welfare check to you republicans, a lottery winning with immediate cash in your hand.. a quick fix-this is a long process out of this hole and we are making progress…the end result will be a stronger economy less likely to be a bubble waiting to happen again..I am willing to wait it out unlike my whining countrymen.

Posted by: cowgirl | November 20, 2009, 12:23 pm 12:23 pm

“”"”IF IT WAS JUST A WITHOLDING TRICK IT WOULD NOT HAVE ‘COST’ $166 BILLION. Geeze. Think!”"”"
Posted by: jhw539
$166 billion our government stopped “withholding” from our checks. At the end of the year, your taxes on you wages will be the same and you will see less of a return of more of a payment (depending on your exemptions). Yes, the government handed out the money in a way they are sure to have it returned by tax time. Our government will get back $166 billion by April 15th and you will pay the exact same in taxes as you did last year.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 12:25 pm 12:25 pm

your reading retention is horrible..note the word..OREGON…we have counties that ARE 20 % unemployment..we ARE over 10% unemployment, I have worked on stimulus projects this summer and know EXACTLY first hand what I am talking about..you just pretend to.

Posted by: cowgirl | November 20, 2009, 12:28 pm 12:28 pm

Posted July 2nd, 2009 at 11.58am in Enterprise and Free Markets–”"”"”The President’s economic advisors predicted that unemployment would rise to 9 percent by 2010 if Congress did not pass the stimulus bill, but that with the stimulus unemployment would stay below 8 percentage points.”"”"”"

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 12:28 pm 12:28 pm

“Our government will get back $166 billion by April 15th and you will pay the exact same in taxes as you did last year.”
And they called him DumBo. Pretty smart: get the money out when it will boost the economy, get it back to pay for the troop surge in Afghanistan. Too bad Bush didn’t pay for his adventures.

Posted by: Amy in Maine | November 20, 2009, 12:28 pm 12:28 pm

jhw539:
In January, President Obama pressed for an $800 billion economic “stimulus” package to turn the economy around. Though the bill largely consisted of increased spending on traditional liberal priorities, the President claimed that it would “create or save” 3.5 million jobs. The President’s economic advisors predicted that unemployment would rise to 9 percent by 2010 if Congress did not pass the stimulus bill, but that with the stimulus unemployment would stay below 8 percentage points

Posted by: nobama12 | November 20, 2009, 12:30 pm 12:30 pm

Congress passed the stimulus bill in February 2009 and the President has repeated his claims. President Obama recently said that the stimulus bill has already created or saved 150,000 new jobs and that it will “create or save” another 600,000 jobs by the end of the summer. Asked when the public should begin to judge the effects of the stimulus, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said “I think we should begin to judge it now.”

Posted by: nobama12 | November 20, 2009, 12:30 pm 12:30 pm

cowgirl: anyone who expected the stimulus plan to be like winning the lottery…is just plain delusional and not thinking rationally
……………………………….
So you admit that Obama is delusional and not thinking rationally?

Posted by: nobama12 | November 20, 2009, 12:33 pm 12:33 pm

AS USUAL..AMERICANS ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR HAND OUT FROM THE GOVERNMENT!!!!THE GOVERNMENT NEED TO FIX THEIR PROBLEMS. HOMELESS…OVERSPEND..TRIED TO LIVE BEYOND MY MEANS…BUY WHAT YOU CAN’T AFFORD.. MAX OUT CREDIT CARDS AND ACN’T PAY..YES THE GOVENMENT NEED TO FIX THIS!!

Posted by: Marcella | November 20, 2009, 12:33 pm 12:33 pm

cowgirl —- The best thing this stimulus did was extend unemployment benefits. Obama’s “on the brink” speech made a believer of Democrats (like they had a choice, Pelosi and Reid are unchecked). We recover from recessions on a cyclical basis and it is we the people and small business working out of it over time, which this administration didn’t do enough initially for small business. Whether we were “on the brink” will never be known, but I am a firm believer some of those mismanaged banks should have failed and allowed better management to take them over. Maybe we needed well run smaller banks to grow. You can guess all you want, btu the truth is we got very little return for spending so much money.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 12:34 pm 12:34 pm

Amy in Maine
“Too bad Bush didn’t pay for his adventures”
I think the brave men and women who have died in Afghanistan or Iraq or the families of those soldiers would call it an adventure?
It is called war and people die and war is h*ll on earth. Typical lib show some respect!

Posted by: nobama12 | November 20, 2009, 12:42 pm 12:42 pm

“”"”I have worked on stimulus projects this summer and know EXACTLY first hand what I am talking about..you just pretend to.”"”"
Posted by: cowgirl
That’s kind of like saying “I was in the military and know every tactic there is”. You can skew numbers all you want. I will be happy to give you facts compared to your “exactly what I’m talking about” rhetoric. When you want to deal in facts, please show us.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 12:43 pm 12:43 pm

It makes no good sense for anyone to oppose healthcare reform. It seems some are more worried about Insurance companies being crowded out due to competition and lower costs than the Health of the people, some who will surely die. Some are more concerned for the bottomline of the Insurance Companies than the small businesses (who they Pretend to care about) who have to pay high premiums for their employees, forcing some out of business, some to offer no health insurance, or some to set up shop elsewhere other than the United States! Small businesses will not be forced to offer health insurance for their employees but employees will have the option to buy their own affordable healthcare from a public option! And why do we have so many kinds of crises in this country????
It is too bad that we have a certain group — the Party of No and Fear — who are Advocates of Can’t, Won’t, Shouldn’t, Distortion, Fear, Hatred and Divisiveness. They are a dark group, a bitter group. For too long we have been spoon-fed a bunch of lies and fears by these powers who want to immobilize us, paralyze us and confuse us and to keep us circling the Yellow Brick Road! Again, why do we have so many crises in this country???
And, It is a sad fact that the Afghanistan War is also a false war and a false choice. These terrorists do not stay in one place or in one country, they are all over. We are not at war with any one country, this is a fallacy. WE are in a “struggle” with an ideology, yes or evil, yes, but we are not at war with any country. Since, we have terrorists in our own country who are not Muslims, does this make us at war with the United States?
OH, if we only had a Brain….., Courage….., Heart/LOVE!

Posted by: Angellight | November 20, 2009, 12:44 pm 12:44 pm

There was a time when the government would put con-men behind bars. Now they are Presidential appointees as czars, etc…

Posted by: TX_MBell | November 20, 2009, 12:46 pm 12:46 pm

“”"Pretty smart: get the money out when it will boost the economy, get it back to pay for the troop surge in Afghanistan. “”"”
Posted by: Amy in Maine
You say “pretty smart” I say “slight of hand trick”. Obama gave th impression of a tax break all the while knowing it was a cheap slight of hand. It is a deceptive move which causes one to question his credibility, but I guess you don’t see it that way?

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 12:46 pm 12:46 pm

lfrichar | Nov 20, 2009 12:43:09 PM
check out Cowgirls 12:23 post!
She admited that Obama is delusional and not thinking rationally?

Posted by: nobama12 | November 20, 2009, 12:47 pm 12:47 pm

Amy in Maine 12:52:33PM:
Know that is an educated well thought out response. You think of that all by yourself…

Posted by: nobama12 | November 20, 2009, 12:59 pm 12:59 pm

Replied Geithner: “I agree with almost nothing in what you said, and I think that almost nothing in what you said represents a fair and accurate perception of where this economy is today.”
He continued: “You gave this president an economy falling off the cliff….”
_________________________________________________
When are they going to get off the pity pot! We “inherited” this, Bush did that, blah, blah, blah.
Here’s the deal. Yes, the economy, war in Iraq, etc. weren’t the best of choices by the Bush administration. As I’ve said before, very few conservatives I know will deny that. Everyone knows the previous administration did some harm. BUT this new president needs to just shut up about it and move on. He didn’t “inherit” anything. He ASKED for it. Yeah, ASKED for it. When he decided to run for President of the United States, he KNEW what kind of shape things were in. He wasn’t FORCED to take the office. He WANTED it. He RAN for it. He GOT it. And all that came with it.
He was the one who said he could fix it, make it better, “transform” the country, make the poor rich and the rich poor, and on and on and on. He has no right to whine about his “inheritance”. It was his choice to take it on, so either do something about it or shut up.

Posted by: Shoe | November 20, 2009, 1:00 pm 1:00 pm

Amy in Maine — I also took your post as disrespect for our troops. I spent 4 years in more sandboxes than you could think of and we do this in the defense of our people and way of life. I didn’t vote for Bush because of his handling of the war, but we swore to uphold our constitution and carry out the orders of our CiC. My 20+ years of military experience told me Obama was not experienced enough to run the country and to this day I still believe that. I still have a military commitment for the next 4 years under Obama and will do all that is asked of me. Bush and Obama have to make the ultimate decision any President can make and I will respect them both for it. Your opinion may differ from mine, but at least we can both have an opinion.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 1:03 pm 1:03 pm

@jhw539 I find it curious that you feel for our country to “evolve and improve” it needs to increase the tax burden of it’s citizens and increase government’s involvement in our lives.
The road this government is going down is financially unsustainable. Enjoy your vacation…I have property taxes to pay.
Rather insensitive comment from a liberal when so many of us are suffering financial hardships…so typical. Have a latte for me okay?

Posted by: wow | November 20, 2009, 1:05 pm 1:05 pm

Shoe — May I piggyback on that? Obama spent over 2 years campaigning, surrounded himself with advisors and gave us numbers, time frames and actions. Whenever you do that, most normal people have expectations and expect them to be fulfilled. He thought he knew what he was getting into and maybe “bit off more than he can chew”, but he did so knowingly and of his free will. You are right on when you say he “inherited’ nothing, but that is a Democratic catch phrase they can’t get out of their heads.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 1:08 pm 1:08 pm

It’s been almost a year since Bush left offie – so leave that one alone (not that I liked him either). Its now the end of 2009 and we are finding that things aren’t really much different that they were when we got a new President.
Well, some things are different – unemployment is way over 10.2% and climbing, we are approaching what will be the worst retail year in half a century, banks aren’t lending much of anything, and they are back to their old trick with investment vehicles. Oh yes, and let’s not forget that this country is over $2 trillion more in debt than it was a year ago. Sorry, but you can’t blame Bush for that one.
Obama, however is only partially to blame. Congress has fueled the fires of nonsense – proposing all these stupid proposals, getting nowhere, partisan infighting and egos abound. Obama is guilty mostly of being a weak and ineffective leader – one of all talk and very little substance. He starts talking about the future of raised taxes on day one – the absolute WORST thing to do in a presidency. He could have kept his mouth shut and let policies be dictated by the times, but he had to keep on talking – like he always does.
He talks (and even proposes) to tax the “rich” – but lots of people know that the “rich” can or will include them. Lots of other people know that they are next – you can’t make the wealthy pay for everything, after all. In short: the man is shaort on substance and action, but he is big on words. That’s how he got elected. We all were desperate for a leader at a time when we really needed one. The Republicans offered nothing acceptable in return. So we took the man on his word and elected him. The big trick is to remember that in 2010, and in2012 when it is time for Obama to seek a second term.
A Republican in the White house in 2012 would really not be the thing that the country needs. What we need now is for the Democrats to get together and find someone to oppose Obama in the primaries – or for them to convince the man not to seek another term. The one good thing is that I think Obama is honorable enough to do the right thing – that is – if he can get from underneath his ego and realize he is way over his head as president.

Posted by: JonF | November 20, 2009, 1:14 pm 1:14 pm

cowgirl: Lots of green jobs in oregon, windmills going up, jobs to manufacture them here, stimulus money created alot of highway projects, employed people, and kept more businesses from going under=we would have had 20% unemployment instead of 10% if it wasn’t for the stimulus projects…sorry- but it helped here….
What a load of cr@p! I also live in Oregon, third highest unemployment rate in the US. My county is at 26% unemployment. We were 6% before the prokulus this bafoon has given away to his crooked croonies.

Posted by: Todd | November 20, 2009, 1:18 pm 1:18 pm

The Chi-Coms played obama like a chinese violin. They know he is unpopular at home and is a one termer.
They don’t take him serious. Chinese media coverage in China and the USA was sparse considering that it was the president of the United States. He accomplished nothing but he did get a photo op with the US troops in S.Korea. China respects strenght of character, wisdom and humility when one is in power. obama has none of these. His lack of experience dealing with the Chinese was obvious. He looked very uncomfortable.

Posted by: mike | November 20, 2009, 1:20 pm 1:20 pm

Todd, i am sure you realise-the whole west coast plus arizona benifited with the housing bubble..that is why–we have been hit the hardest by the housing collapse-there are no carpenter jobs, because there are no houses being built..there are houses sitting empty everywhere

Posted by: cowgirl | November 20, 2009, 1:37 pm 1:37 pm

“I also took your post as disrespect for our troops.”
Sending our troops to Afghanistan to unseat the Taliban, then diverting them to Iraq to knock Saddam Hussein, all without considering what would happen in Afghanistan/Iraq after we smashed their governing systems, was one of the worst “mistakes” ever made in the history of warfare and a complete misuse of the strongest army ever assembled on this earth. I say “mistakes” because what happened in Iraq was foretold by the Bush I administration, which was the reason they did not topple Hussein after the Gulf War. Junior, however, thought it was a great idea.
I have no patience with the guilt trip rightwingers try to put on those who criticize Bush’s war adventures, accusing Democrats of not supporting the troops. It’s hogwash. It’s about time someone called you out on your lies, slander, ideological baloney and general rightwing nastiness.

Posted by: Amy in Maine | November 20, 2009, 1:38 pm 1:38 pm

todd, I am guessing if you can’t see the correlation, you are not from oregon and are one of those sitting on your butt waiting for a job to fall into your lap

Posted by: cowgirl | November 20, 2009, 1:48 pm 1:48 pm

“”"”"I say “mistakes” because what happened in Iraq was foretold by the Bush I administration, which was the reason they did not topple Hussein after the Gulf War. “”"”
Posted by: Amy in Maine
You say “nastiness” and “lies” and you write one big huge lie in the same post. I did not say you don’t support our troops (and I am not right wing), I said your post showed disrespect. Now, to the lie at hand. Bush Sr. did not topple Saddam for the simple reason that our objective was to “liberate Kuwait”. We liberated Kuwait, insured Kuwait was strengthened and left, that mission was accomplished.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 1:54 pm 1:54 pm

I have no patience with the guilt trip rightwingers try to put on those who criticize Bush’s war adventures, accusing Democrats of not supporting the troops. It’s hogwash. It’s about time someone called you out on your lies, slander, ideological baloney and general rightwing nastiness===================And I have no patience for dumBO lemmings that can not see through their kool aid colored glasses. The democratic congress overwemingly approved the war in Iraq. dumBO is sitting on his hands while our troops are in danger in Afghanistan so that he can pass the ponzi scheme called health care. Poor excuse for a leader. dumBO make Jimmy Carter look like a hero.

Posted by: Todd | November 20, 2009, 1:59 pm 1:59 pm

cowgirl: todd, I am guessing if you can’t see the correlation, you are not from oregon and are one of those sitting on your butt waiting for a job to fall into your lap======================Wrong on all counts. Born and raised in Oregon and a small business owner. I have had to lay off over 1/2 of my employees because of dumBO’s porkulus. The companies I deal with across the US all say the same thing. They are not buying, expanding, or hiring because they know what tax implications are coming because of the dumBO policies.

Posted by: Todd | November 20, 2009, 2:06 pm 2:06 pm

Amy in Maine: May I suggest you call it Bush’s mishandling of the war instead of “adventures” the way you say it is disrespectful to the troops. maybe you did not intend it to be disrespectful but perception speaks volumes.

Posted by: batesba74 | November 20, 2009, 2:09 pm 2:09 pm

“Poor excuse for a leader. dumBO make Jimmy Carter look like a hero.”
Jimmy Carter did not send troops to invade Iran because we would have lost the hostages and killed about twenty thousand Iranians in a failed mission.
In the end, the hostages were freed. Jimmy Carter is a credit to the United States and a true Christian. Rightwingers who salivate over waging war make me sick.

Posted by: Amy in Maine | November 20, 2009, 2:25 pm 2:25 pm

I am respectfully telling you, frichar, you’re wrong.
go to You Tube, search Cheney 1994 and watch him explain why Bush I did not push on to Bagdad and topple Hussein.

Posted by: Amy in Maine | November 20, 2009, 2:29 pm 2:29 pm

Amy in Maine —- I was in Iraq for both 1 and 2 and I am telling you we accomplished the objectives set out which were to liberate, strengthen and depart Kuwait. There was NEVER ANY mandate to push through and topple Saddam’s regime. I can guarantee that no matter what Cheney said. Our objective was complete and the media stirred up whether we would push through to Baghdad or not, our military and our commanders never brought it up. You can respectfully disagree all you want but I spent 6 months there and we never had any contemplation of removing that regime.

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 3:09 pm 3:09 pm

gary —- So if Bush was wrong, Obama cn be wrong all he wants? Great thinking there braniac. What good are those stats doing for us? Lefties need to get off the past and see where we are headed. We know (well, maybe not Obama) what was left over by the previous administration and you would parrot that instead of looking forward? Anyone that doesn’t know Bush had problems is kidding themselves, but this is Obama’s bus now and he has not taken the wheel yet. His leadership skills have proven to be talk and travel. His direction for health care, deficit neutral, no pre-conditions and cover those not currently covered. His Democrats are frantically trying to scrape a piece of junk together disguised as a health care cost lowering bill. he hasn’t even shown leadership in his party, nevermind our country. Example: I will support either withdrawing from Afghanistan or sending in an overwhelming force, but I won’t support 3 months of wavering. His military leaders gave him different plans and he finds NONE of them acceptable? How much military background does Obama have?

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 3:21 pm 3:21 pm

505,000 new first time unemployment apps filed last week. That’s an average monthly rate over 2 million. We’re so lucky to have a savvy administration that has created so many new jobs and saved so many more. Were it not for BHO this nation could soon be in trouble.

Posted by: mmonroeliveson | November 20, 2009, 3:21 pm 3:21 pm

lfrichar
My point, and I do have one, is that the problems caused by taking out Saddam were not, or should not, have been much of a surprise to Bush II, since the Bush I administration specifically decided not to topple Hussein, for the reasons put forth by Cheney in 1994. I never said the army did not achieve its objectives in the Gulf War.

Posted by: Amy in Maine | November 20, 2009, 3:28 pm 3:28 pm

CW | Nov 20, 2009 10:51:10 AM
“See Dub’ya”; You said; … “He (President Obama) has been in office one year and 1 out of 10 people are out of work. Obama is all TALK.” …
_______________
I am personally EMBARRASSED for you and the rest of the Hard-Right-Edge-Radical-Wack-O-WingNuts. You NOT ONLY Lie to keep the Uninformed, Un-Educated,Under-Educated and Illiterate TOTALLY MISINFORMED – You ALL either Create Your Own (incorrect or misunderstood) Numbers, or you are REALLY DEFICIENT in Mathematics.
President Obama has been in office since Jan. 20, 2009. That’s 304 of 365 days in office. That’s 83.3% of One Year. Being 16.7% OFF ON A CALCULATION is the NORM for a Sub-Par student of math. Most would understand; that’s In Line with what seems to be YOU Hard-Right-Edge-Radical-Wack-O-WingNuts – ABILITY TO PROCESS INFORMATION to Draw an ACCURATE CONCLUSION on anything.

Posted by: bobj72 | November 20, 2009, 3:37 pm 3:37 pm

bobj72 — Yours was a long post. I would have just said Obama has been in office exactly 10 months today. How’s my math (and short post)?

Posted by: lfrichar | November 20, 2009, 3:40 pm 3:40 pm

Isn’t this debacle an omen of what will happen with health care reform if passed? The fraud, missinformation, and poor oversight is typical of government involvement.

Posted by: TX_MBell | November 21, 2009, 12:27 am 12:27 am

Instead of wasting billions on worthless bogus projects why not use portion of remaining stimulus to extend cobra medical assistance to millions of American families who will soon see their premiums tripled!

Posted by: JimmyCush | November 21, 2009, 10:56 am 10:56 am

Thanks for the post and for sharing the very resourceful information here.

Posted by: Tga44 | November 23, 2009, 6:18 am 6:18 am

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