Worst US President of the last 50 years (1 Viewer)

[Mario Kart]

Obama has been great for 1% of America.

He's been good for ~20% of America.

He's been terrible for ~25% of America.

Not many people I know find much to like and I am with Democrat's 99% of my time.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Worst US President of the last 50 years

we haven't run a poll like this in a while

Well Righetti looks like you were way ahead of your time.

President Obama has topped predecessor George W. Bush in another poll, but not one he would like.

In a new Quinnipiac University Poll, 33% named Obama the worst president since World War II, and 28% put Bush at the bottom of post-war presidents.

"Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Ronald Reagan topped the poll as the best president since World War II, with 35%. He is followed by presidents Bill Clinton (18%) and John F. Kennedy (15%).

Obama received only 8% in the best presidents poll.

The Quinnipiac poll also reports that 45% believe the nation would be better off had Mitt Romney defeated Obama in the 2012 presidential election; 38% say the country would be worse off with a Romney presidency.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/07/02/obama-george-w-bush-quinnipiac-poll-reagan-clinton/11985837/

This thread was last 50 years; the actual poll is last 70 years, which goes back even further.

A-mazing.

You're obviously a smart dude - how can you read a poll like this and actually put any weight on it?

 

[Stinger Ray]

Worst US President of the last 50 years

we haven't run a poll like this in a while

Well Righetti looks like you were way ahead of your time.

President Obama has topped predecessor George W. Bush in another poll, but not one he would like.

In a new Quinnipiac University Poll, 33% named Obama the worst president since World War II, and 28% put Bush at the bottom of post-war presidents.

"Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Ronald Reagan topped the poll as the best president since World War II, with 35%. He is followed by presidents Bill Clinton (18%) and John F. Kennedy (15%).Obama received only 8% in the best presidents poll.

The Quinnipiac poll also reports that 45% believe the nation would be better off had Mitt Romney defeated Obama in the 2012 presidential election; 38% say the country would be worse off with a Romney presidency.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/07/02/obama-george-w-bush-quinnipiac-poll-reagan-clinton/11985837/This thread was last 50 years; the actual poll is last 70 years, which goes back even further.

A-mazing.

You're obviously a smart dude - how can you read a poll like this and actually put any weight on it?

 

[matuski]

Worst US President of the last 50 years

we haven't run a poll like this in a while

Well Righetti looks like you were way ahead of your time.

President Obama has topped predecessor George W. Bush in another poll, but not one he would like.

In a new Quinnipiac University Poll, 33% named Obama the worst president since World War II, and 28% put Bush at the bottom of post-war presidents.

"Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Ronald Reagan topped the poll as the best president since World War II, with 35%. He is followed by presidents Bill Clinton (18%) and John F. Kennedy (15%).

Obama received only 8% in the best presidents poll.

The Quinnipiac poll also reports that 45% believe the nation would be better off had Mitt Romney defeated Obama in the 2012 presidential election; 38% say the country would be worse off with a Romney presidency.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/07/02/obama-george-w-bush-quinnipiac-poll-reagan-clinton/11985837/

This thread was last 50 years; the actual poll is last 70 years, which goes back even further.

A-mazing.

Same poll puts him #4 on best Presidents ever.

Oops.

It's not "ever" - it's in the last 70 years.

Further up you will see I have him ranked right around there also (last 50 years), 4-5th worst (which out of 11 presidents is pretty much in the same tier of mediocrity, with Bush Jr. and Ford).

Point being, the same poll that has him "worst", has him 4th in votes for best.

All this pool tells me is partisanship is at its highest.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Things I like about Obama's presidency:

...

Handling of Mexican oil spill...

...Without the Iraq War, Bush is average for me. ...And then there's Katrina. ...

About this.

Mexican oil spill? Which oil spill was that? Do you mean the oil spill by British Petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast? That oil spill? The Mexicans had nothing to do with it. Locally people feel that the response was slow, highly politicized and the claims process has been a joke. If you want a counterpart to Brown at Fema see Oynes at MMS and the absolute incompetence that was going on at that agency under Obama (which sounds a lot like the VA situation today actually). About Katrina: there's probably a thread a thousand pages long on this, old burning topic, but to give you some context to what you are talking about, these were our local government "leaders" in charge at the time: our mayor (D) convicted and headed to jail, our IT director in charge of getting our communications back on line convicted and in jail, the director of blighted housing (D) convicted and going to jail, the president (mayor) (D) of the neighboring flooded suburban parish convicted and in jail, our US Rep (D) convicted and in jail (used Nat Guard troops to go get his cash out of his freezer, seriously), our governor (D) who resigned in disgrace because she basically froze in action when the #### was going down, and I think two councilmen (D&D) at the time of Kat were convicted and jailed too. Fema was a joke getting cranked up but then the BP response was (is) pretty absurd too. Meanwhile federal agencies and rescuers from the Coast Guard to the National Park Service to special forces saved so many people the debt can never be repaid. People outside NO usually are unaware that the storm passed us and the levees broke after a delay in time; the feds rushed to where the storm did hit, and meanwhile our governor (D) took her sweet time and refused to sign over National Guard troops to Bush. I will add that LBJ (D) promised to fix our fouled up levees in 1965 after Betsy and that sht still wasn't done by 05. It was our crappy federal levees that broke in over 50 places, if you want to talk failed government incompetence start there.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

...

...
Well Righetti looks like you were way ahead of your time.

President Obama has topped predecessor George W. Bush in another poll, but not one he would like.

In a new Quinnipiac University Poll, 33% named Obama the worst president since World War II, and 28% put Bush at the bottom of post-war presidents.

"Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Ronald Reagan topped the poll as the best president since World War II, with 35%. He is followed by presidents Bill Clinton (18%) and John F. Kennedy (15%).

Obama received only 8% in the best presidents poll.

The Quinnipiac poll also reports that 45% believe the nation would be better off had Mitt Romney defeated Obama in the 2012 presidential election; 38% say the country would be worse off with a Romney presidency.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/07/02/obama-george-w-bush-quinnipiac-poll-reagan-clinton/11985837/

This thread was last 50 years; the actual poll is last 70 years, which goes back even further.

A-mazing.

Same poll puts him #4 on best Presidents ever.

Oops.

It's not "ever" - it's in the last 70 years.

Further up you will see I have him ranked right around there also (last 50 years), 4-5th worst (which out of 11 presidents is pretty much in the same tier of mediocrity, with Bush Jr. and Ford).

Point being, the same poll that has him "worst", has him 4th in votes for best.

All this pool tells me is partisanship is at its highest.

You're right. Partisanship is at its highest. And look at Clinton, he's ranked pretty highly, and guess what he worked with Congress (despite you know what). We could argue over whether repealing Glass Steagall, tax hikes. cutting back welfare, etc., was good or bad but you know what people liked him for it and still do. Obama was extremely popular when he came in and (IMO) one (maybe the) major reason was that he ran on bipartisanship. Nowadays we have him essentially saying he will spend the rest of his presidency acting without Congress (and he already has been for a while). He has passed one major piece of legislation which was 100% partisan. Blame the GOP fine but the fact is this is the most partisan and divided the country has ever been; he came in promising the opposite of what he has done. He has arguably been the most steadfastly partisan president the country has ever seen and not surprisingly he is currently ranked the worst president since WW2, and the 4th best, but obviously at 33% saying "worst" and 8% saying "best" it's a lot more (4X as many) saying worst than best.

ETA - but actually it's not just partisanship. Further up I posted a poll (NBC/WSJ) in which more people rated Bush as competent (50%) even after Katrina and Iraq than Obama right now (46%). That's where Obama is right now.

 

[Sabertooth]

I think a lot of the bipartisanship can be traced right back to Limbaugh and Beck and Maddow. People have brainwashed themselves listening to these hack on their commutes over and over and over again. There is so much hate spewed by these #######s. And people absentmindedly listen to that crap day in day out.

Heck I have good friends whose parents were illegal immigrants who hate immigrants. Most people hate without even giving it a thought because they are told to hate every single day.

Me, I'd rather listen to Katy Perry singing about bringing out the big balloons.

 

[matuski]

...

...
Well Righetti looks like you were way ahead of your time.

President Obama has topped predecessor George W. Bush in another poll, but not one he would like.

In a new Quinnipiac University Poll, 33% named Obama the worst president since World War II, and 28% put Bush at the bottom of post-war presidents.

"Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Ronald Reagan topped the poll as the best president since World War II, with 35%. He is followed by presidents Bill Clinton (18%) and John F. Kennedy (15%).

Obama received only 8% in the best presidents poll.

The Quinnipiac poll also reports that 45% believe the nation would be better off had Mitt Romney defeated Obama in the 2012 presidential election; 38% say the country would be worse off with a Romney presidency.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/07/02/obama-george-w-bush-quinnipiac-poll-reagan-clinton/11985837/

This thread was last 50 years; the actual poll is last 70 years, which goes back even further.

A-mazing.

Same poll puts him #4 on best Presidents ever.

Oops.

It's not "ever" - it's in the last 70 years.

Further up you will see I have him ranked right around there also (last 50 years), 4-5th worst (which out of 11 presidents is pretty much in the same tier of mediocrity, with Bush Jr. and Ford).

Point being, the same poll that has him "worst", has him 4th in votes for best.

All this pool tells me is partisanship is at its highest.

You're right. Partisanship is at its highest. And look at Clinton, he's ranked pretty highly, and guess what he worked with Congress (despite you know what). We could argue over whether repealing Glass Steagall, tax hikes. cutting back welfare, etc., was good or bad but you know what people liked him for it and still do. Obama was extremely popular when he came in and (IMO) one (maybe the) major reason was that he ran on bipartisanship. Nowadays we have him essentially saying he will spend the rest of his presidency acting without Congress (and he already has been for a while). He has passed one major piece of legislation which was 100% partisan. Blame the GOP fine but the fact is this is the most partisan and divided the country has ever been; he came in promising the opposite of what he has done. He has arguably been the most steadfastly partisan president the country has ever seen and not surprisingly he is currently ranked the worst president since WW2, and the 4th best, but obviously at 33% saying "worst" and 8% saying "best" it's a lot more (4X as many) saying worst than best.

ETA - but actually it's not just partisanship. Further up I posted a poll (NBC/WSJ) in which more people rated Bush as competent (50%) even after Katrina and Iraq than Obama right now (46%). That's where Obama is right now.

You seem to have chronic diarrhea of the keyboard. Long ### posts to make what should be a fairly simple and concise argument. Every time.

The last two sentences would have covered it.

ETA - also recency affects these numbers.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

...

...
Well Righetti looks like you were way ahead of your time.

President Obama has topped predecessor George W. Bush in another poll, but not one he would like.

In a new Quinnipiac University Poll, 33% named Obama the worst president since World War II, and 28% put Bush at the bottom of post-war presidents.

"Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Ronald Reagan topped the poll as the best president since World War II, with 35%. He is followed by presidents Bill Clinton (18%) and John F. Kennedy (15%).

Obama received only 8% in the best presidents poll.

The Quinnipiac poll also reports that 45% believe the nation would be better off had Mitt Romney defeated Obama in the 2012 presidential election; 38% say the country would be worse off with a Romney presidency.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/07/02/obama-george-w-bush-quinnipiac-poll-reagan-clinton/11985837/

This thread was last 50 years; the actual poll is last 70 years, which goes back even further.

A-mazing.

Same poll puts him #4 on best Presidents ever.

Oops.

It's not "ever" - it's in the last 70 years.

Further up you will see I have him ranked right around there also (last 50 years), 4-5th worst (which out of 11 presidents is pretty much in the same tier of mediocrity, with Bush Jr. and Ford).

Point being, the same poll that has him "worst", has him 4th in votes for best.

All this pool tells me is partisanship is at its highest.

You're right. Partisanship is at its highest. And look at Clinton, he's ranked pretty highly, and guess what he worked with Congress (despite you know what). We could argue over whether repealing Glass Steagall, tax hikes. cutting back welfare, etc., was good or bad but you know what people liked him for it and still do. Obama was extremely popular when he came in and (IMO) one (maybe the) major reason was that he ran on bipartisanship. Nowadays we have him essentially saying he will spend the rest of his presidency acting without Congress (and he already has been for a while). He has passed one major piece of legislation which was 100% partisan. Blame the GOP fine but the fact is this is the most partisan and divided the country has ever been; he came in promising the opposite of what he has done. He has arguably been the most steadfastly partisan president the country has ever seen and not surprisingly he is currently ranked the worst president since WW2, and the 4th best, but obviously at 33% saying "worst" and 8% saying "best" it's a lot more (4X as many) saying worst than best.

ETA - but actually it's not just partisanship. Further up I posted a poll (NBC/WSJ) in which more people rated Bush as competent (50%) even after Katrina and Iraq than Obama right now (46%). That's where Obama is right now.

You seem to have chronic diarrhea of the keyboard. Long ### posts to make what should be a fairly simple and concise argument. Every time.

Yeah I know, I stink at that. Will work on it. - More concisely, I was just trying to say that the American people want bipartisanship and competence and they feel they are getting neither from President Obama.

 

[matuski]

I think a lot of the bipartisanship can be traced right back to Limbaugh and Beck and Maddow. People have brainwashed themselves listening to these hack on their commutes over and over and over again. There is so much hate spewed by these #######s. And people absentmindedly listen to that crap day in day out.

Heck I have good friends whose parents were illegal immigrants who hate immigrants. Most people hate without even giving it a thought because they are told to hate every single day.

Me, I'd rather listen to Katy Perry singing about bringing out the big balloons.

And recency has an effect. Obama is in office, so his numbers on worst and best are going to be inflated. We just escaped GW so his worst numbers will drop over time.

 

[DocHolliday]

Maybe America is waking up.

 

[jon_mx]

I think a lot of the bipartisanship can be traced right back to Limbaugh and Beck and Maddow. People have brainwashed themselves listening to these hack on their commutes over and over and over again. There is so much hate spewed by these #######s. And people absentmindedly listen to that crap day in day out.

Heck I have good friends whose parents were illegal immigrants who hate immigrants. Most people hate without even giving it a thought because they are told to hate every single day.

Me, I'd rather listen to Katy Perry singing about bringing out the big balloons.

You know what a tiny fraction of people actually watch/listen to Limbaugh/FoxNews/MSNBC? Very few. And besides people who listen are not mind-numbed robots, they are people who are passionate about politics and listen to such sources because they already agree in most part with what is being said. It is an extremely small percent who have their mind changed by such sources, they might get stirred up some more. Tim may be an aberration on how heavily he is influenced.

 

[Insein]

Worst US President of the last 50 years

we haven't run a poll like this in a while

Well Righetti looks like you were way ahead of your time.

President Obama has topped predecessor George W. Bush in another poll, but not one he would like.

In a new Quinnipiac University Poll, 33% named Obama the worst president since World War II, and 28% put Bush at the bottom of post-war presidents.

"Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Ronald Reagan topped the poll as the best president since World War II, with 35%. He is followed by presidents Bill Clinton (18%) and John F. Kennedy (15%).

Obama received only 8% in the best presidents poll.

The Quinnipiac poll also reports that 45% believe the nation would be better off had Mitt Romney defeated Obama in the 2012 presidential election; 38% say the country would be worse off with a Romney presidency.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/07/02/obama-george-w-bush-quinnipiac-poll-reagan-clinton/11985837/

This thread was last 50 years; the actual poll is last 70 years, which goes back even further.

A-mazing.

The intangibles are amazing. He possesses all the qualities that make him a top candidate for the title. His stats over his short career confirm what we all saw on film though. Hes well on his way.

 

[Green and Gold]

It's pretty sad when the only President on the list that was forced to leave office due to being a criminal is at worst (best?) the third worst of the group.

Prior to this Presidency I would have voted Nixon with no hesitation. Nixon was an arrogant, power hungry, paranoid, constitution shredder. Of that there is no doubt. Imperial presidency indeed. But he actually did do some good. Detente with Russia. Opening China. Getting us out of Vietnam. He sounded conservative but often seemed to do traditionally liberal things. His stances on the environment are way different than this current crop of conservatives. He wasn't bad on Civil Rights. And he did some liberal seeming things economically. So except for the lying, cheating, and stealing....At any rate with this current president we get the arrogance, the power hunger, the paranoia and the constitutional shredding with none of the payoff. He wins.

How about a guy who committed treason to get elected?

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21768668

In short, he sabotaged peace talks in Vietman so that Humphrey wouldn't ride a late-election season wave into the white house. My apologies if this was discussed already in this thread, as I just joined the party. Nixon was the only person on this list to sacrifice American lives in order to get elected, which in my mind makes him the worst president in the last 50 years....easily.

 

[Bronx Bomber]

Serious question and I'll admit that I'm purposely ignorant to politics. If Obama is getting votes for worst does that also mean that we have the worst Republicans in Congress in history? Seems like half the issues I read/hear is that they prevent him from doing anything. Again, I'm not sure how accurate that is as I usually avoid news/political talk.

 

[lod01]

When they run the poll in 2018 or so, you want to know who the worst president since WWII is going to be? It will be the sitting president.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Serious question and I'll admit that I'm purposely ignorant to politics. If Obama is getting votes for worst does that also mean that we have the worst Republicans in Congress in history? Seems like half the issues I read/hear is that they prevent him from doing anything. Again, I'm not sure how accurate that is as I usually avoid news/political talk.

In full disclosure Congress' approval ratings are awful, so they were for the all-Demo Congress before and for some time now.

It's not a good state of affairs for our country, people are disgusted with Congress and the president. They are disgusted with our government.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

When they run the poll in 2018 or so, you want to know who the worst president since WWII is going to be? It will be the sitting president.

Actually Clinton did just fine popularity-wise. Guess what, he worked with Newt Gingrich and a GOP Congress. Take away the bj from the unpaid pizza delivery girl and who knows how he would rank.

 

[avoiding injuries]

Serious question and I'll admit that I'm purposely ignorant to politics. If Obama is getting votes for worst does that also mean that we have the worst Republicans in Congress in history? Seems like half the issues I read/hear is that they prevent him from doing anything. Again, I'm not sure how accurate that is as I usually avoid news/political talk.

In full disclosure Congress' approval ratings are awful, so they were for the all-Demo Congress before and for some time now.

It's not a good state of affairs for our country, people are disgusted with Congress and the president. They are disgusted with our government.

The only reasonable thing to do is expand it.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Serious question and I'll admit that I'm purposely ignorant to politics. If Obama is getting votes for worst does that also mean that we have the worst Republicans in Congress in history? Seems like half the issues I read/hear is that they prevent him from doing anything. Again, I'm not sure how accurate that is as I usually avoid news/political talk.

In full disclosure Congress' approval ratings are awful, so they were for the all-Demo Congress before and for some time now.

It's not a good state of affairs for our country, people are disgusted with Congress and the president. They are disgusted with our government.

The only reasonable thing to do is expand it.

Yeah, government? Right, people hate it so give `em more of it.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Serious question and I'll admit that I'm purposely ignorant to politics. If Obama is getting votes for worst does that also mean that we have the worst Republicans in Congress in history? Seems like half the issues I read/hear is that they prevent him from doing anything. Again, I'm not sure how accurate that is as I usually avoid news/political talk.

In full disclosure Congress' approval ratings are awful, so they were for the all-Demo Congress before and for some time now.

It's not a good state of affairs for our country, people are disgusted with Congress and the president. They are disgusted with our government.

We have always had a love hate - mostly hate - relationship with our government. I really believe that the 24 hour constant news cycle just finally shows us what has always been true. Somene mentioned above that it's all the fault of hate talk radio. But we've always had that - Thomas Jefferson started a newspaper while part of the Washington Administration whose sole purpose was to attack the Washington administration. Imagine that now? The Secretary of State starting a cable news station to attack the President on a daily basis. But that is what happened back then.

I know times are different but I really just don't think that we are.

 

[Politician Spock]

When they run the poll in 2018 or so, you want to know who the worst president since WWII is going to be? It will be the sitting president.

Actually Clinton did just fine popularity-wise. Guess what, he worked with Newt Gingrich and a GOP Congress. Take away the bj from the unpaid pizza delivery girl and who knows how he would rank.

Clinton without a doubt worked well with those accross the ailse despite how much they disagreed with each other. After 8 years of the divisiveness Bush caused, a key part of Obama's campaign was how he could restore the environment in DC that Bush destroyed. Didn't happen. He's as bad as Bush, if not worse. His constant finger pointing and deflecting blame will be hard for a lot of people to forget. "I inherited this mess" should be put on his tombstone.

 

[lod01]

When they run the poll in 2018 or so, you want to know who the worst president since WWII is going to be? It will be the sitting president.

Actually Clinton did just fine popularity-wise. Guess what, he worked with Newt Gingrich and a GOP Congress. Take away the bj from the unpaid pizza delivery girl and who knows how he would rank.

Don't you think things are different 2 decades later? The parties can't work together anymore. Congress approval rating is worst ever and I don't ever see it improving either. No matter who is in the other party will not approve of them. It's the way it is now. This is why we need to rid the country of these 2 parties. Of course that will enver happen. Smart people are like dinosours in the country. They are being replaced by fat, dumb and lazy....which the 2 parties are quite happy to see. It keeps them in power.

 

[TobiasFunke]

When they run the poll in 2018 or so, you want to know who the worst president since WWII is going to be? It will be the sitting president.

Actually Clinton did just fine popularity-wise. Guess what, he worked with Newt Gingrich and a GOP Congress. Take away the bj from the unpaid pizza delivery girl and who knows how he would rank.

Clinton without a doubt worked well with those accross the ailse despite how much they disagreed with each other. After 8 years of the divisiveness Bush caused, a key part of Obama's campaign was how he could restore the environment in DC that Bush destroyed. Didn't happen. He's as bad as Bush, if not worse. His constant finger pointing and deflecting blame will be hard for a lot of people to forget. "I inherited this mess" should be put on his tombstone.

I love the idea that the difference between Clinton's relationship with the GOP Congress and Obama's relationship with the GOP Congress is all on the presidents and has nothing to do with the tone and attitude of the members. You must have missed every single Sunday talk show and campaign and State of the Union address of the last several years.

 

[Politician Spock]

When they run the poll in 2018 or so, you want to know who the worst president since WWII is going to be? It will be the sitting president.

Actually Clinton did just fine popularity-wise. Guess what, he worked with Newt Gingrich and a GOP Congress. Take away the bj from the unpaid pizza delivery girl and who knows how he would rank.

Clinton without a doubt worked well with those accross the ailse despite how much they disagreed with each other. After 8 years of the divisiveness Bush caused, a key part of Obama's campaign was how he could restore the environment in DC that Bush destroyed. Didn't happen. He's as bad as Bush, if not worse. His constant finger pointing and deflecting blame will be hard for a lot of people to forget. "I inherited this mess" should be put on his tombstone.

I love the idea that the difference between Clinton's relationship with the GOP Congress and Obama's relationship with the GOP Congress is all on the presidents and has nothing to do with the tone and attitude of the members. You must have missed every single Sunday talk show and campaign and State of the Union address of the last several years.

It would be weird to put "I inherited this mess" on congress' tombstone.

 

[avoiding injuries]

Losing has consequences.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I love the idea that the difference between Clinton's relationship with the GOP Congress and Obama's relationship with the GOP Congress is all on the presidents and has nothing to do with the tone and attitude of the members. You must have missed every single Sunday talk show and campaign and State of the Union address of the last several years.

Did you miss that Clinton was impeached?

 

[TobiasFunke]

I love the idea that the difference between Clinton's relationship with the GOP Congress and Obama's relationship with the GOP Congress is all on the presidents and has nothing to do with the tone and attitude of the members. You must have missed every single Sunday talk show and campaign and State of the Union address of the last several years.

Did you miss that Clinton was impeached?

I did not. Sorry, I should have said the "perceived difference." My bad.

It's all revisionist history and partisanship.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Serious question and I'll admit that I'm purposely ignorant to politics. If Obama is getting votes for worst does that also mean that we have the worst Republicans in Congress in history? Seems like half the issues I read/hear is that they prevent him from doing anything. Again, I'm not sure how accurate that is as I usually avoid news/political talk.

In full disclosure Congress' approval ratings are awful, so they were for the all-Demo Congress before and for some time now.

It's not a good state of affairs for our country, people are disgusted with Congress and the president. They are disgusted with our government.

We have always had a love hate - mostly hate - relationship with our government. I really believe that the 24 hour constant news cycle just finally shows us what has always been true. Somene mentioned above that it's all the fault of hate talk radio. But we've always had that - Thomas Jefferson started a newspaper while part of the Washington Administration whose sole purpose was to attack the Washington administration. Imagine that now? The Secretary of State starting a cable news station to attack the President on a daily basis. But that is what happened back then.

I know times are different but I really just don't think that we are.

Well funny you should mention that - the original system was a VP who was the number 2 vote-getter and he was the real President of the Senate, not just a guy who showed up for key tie votes.

Maybe if Gore had been in Bush's Cabinet and maybe if McCain had been in O's we'd have a little more cross communication going on.

We've also changed rules about direct state representation in the Senate, the number of Reps in the House, and the apportionment of taxes and spending between the states. Maybe the system is broken because we broke the system.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Serious question and I'll admit that I'm purposely ignorant to politics. If Obama is getting votes for worst does that also mean that we have the worst Republicans in Congress in history? Seems like half the issues I read/hear is that they prevent him from doing anything. Again, I'm not sure how accurate that is as I usually avoid news/political talk.

In full disclosure Congress' approval ratings are awful, so they were for the all-Demo Congress before and for some time now.

It's not a good state of affairs for our country, people are disgusted with Congress and the president. They are disgusted with our government.

We have always had a love hate - mostly hate - relationship with our government. I really believe that the 24 hour constant news cycle just finally shows us what has always been true. Somene mentioned above that it's all the fault of hate talk radio. But we've always had that - Thomas Jefferson started a newspaper while part of the Washington Administration whose sole purpose was to attack the Washington administration. Imagine that now? The Secretary of State starting a cable news station to attack the President on a daily basis. But that is what happened back then.

I know times are different but I really just don't think that we are.

Well funny you should mention that - the original system was a VP who was the number 2 vote-getter and he was the real President of the Senate, not just a guy who showed up for key tie votes.

Maybe if Gore had been in Bush's Cabinet and maybe if McCain had been in O's we'd have a little more cross communication going on.

We've also changed rules about direct state representation in the Senate, the number of Reps in the House, and the apportionment of taxes and spending between the states. Maybe the system is broken because we broke the system.

I wholheartedly agree with that.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Maybe the system is broken because we broke the system.

I wholheartedly agree with that.

And class...in which way did we MOST break the system?

 

[RCon]

Maybe the system is broken because we broke the system.

I wholheartedly agree with that.

And class...in which way did we MOST break the system?

The 18th, obviously. Luckily, we figured that out and rectified it.

 

[tommyboy]

Maybe the system is broken because we broke the system.

I wholheartedly agree with that.

And class...in which way did we MOST break the system?

giving women the right to vote

 

[timschochet]

Saints, re Katrina: you were there, I wasn't. I can only go by what I read and saw on TV. But it strikes me that every time Bush gets criticized over Katrina, some conservative will rush in and point out the incompetence of the mayor and the governor. I don't give a crap about the mayor and the governor and how corrupt or incompetent they were. I care about what the Presidrnt and his people did or did not do. Bush hired a complete idiot with no experience as head of FEMA, and this was on purpose because Bush did not believe in FEMA. Bush then refused to get involved for several critical days because that was his management style. For these things I blame him.

By contrast, Obama's reaction to Hurricane Sandy, his immediate take charge attitude, the high level of competence of the people he installed at FEMA: all of these demonstrate what a true leader should be, as Chris Christie attested to.

 

[tommyGunZ]

When they run the poll in 2018 or so, you want to know who the worst president since WWII is going to be? It will be the sitting president.

Actually Clinton did just fine popularity-wise. Guess what, he worked with Newt Gingrich and a GOP Congress. Take away the bj from the unpaid pizza delivery girl and who knows how he would rank.

Clinton without a doubt worked well with those accross the ailse despite how much they disagreed with each other. After 8 years of the divisiveness Bush caused, a key part of Obama's campaign was how he could restore the environment in DC that Bush destroyed. Didn't happen. He's as bad as Bush, if not worse. His constant finger pointing and deflecting blame will be hard for a lot of people to forget. "I inherited this mess" should be put on his tombstone.

As bad as Bush? WTF are you talking about?

 

[timschochet]

It really is hard for me to any of the blame for the lack of bipartisanship on Obama. From the beginning of his Presidency, it seems like we have seen the same pattern over and over:

OBAMA: This is what I want.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, how about this then?

GOP: No.

OBAMA: OK, I'll give you this, if you give me this in return.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, tell me what I need to do to make a deal.

GOP: we don't want any deal. We don't want to work with you at all.

OBAMA: Fine then I'll do it all on my own.

GOP: The imperial President! Refuses to compromise!

Honestly I can't think of a single major domestic issue which hadn't followed some variation of that pattern.

 

[RCon]

It really is hard for me to any of the blame for the lack of bipartisanship on Obama. From the beginning of his Presidency, it seems like we have seen the same pattern over and over:

OBAMA: This is what I want.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, how about this then?

GOP: No.

OBAMA: OK, I'll give you this, if you give me this in return.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, tell me what I need to do to make a deal.

GOP: we don't want any deal. We don't want to work with you at all.

OBAMA: Fine then I'll do it all on my own.

GOP: The imperial President! Refuses to compromise!

Honestly I can't think of a single major domestic issue which hadn't followed some variation of that pattern.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Maybe the system is broken because we broke the system.

I wholheartedly agree with that.

And class...in which way did we MOST break the system?

 

[timschochet]

It really is hard for me to any of the blame for the lack of bipartisanship on Obama. From the beginning of his Presidency, it seems like we have seen the same pattern over and over:

OBAMA: This is what I want.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, how about this then?

GOP: No.

OBAMA: OK, I'll give you this, if you give me this in return.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, tell me what I need to do to make a deal.

GOP: we don't want any deal. We don't want to work with you at all.

OBAMA: Fine then I'll do it all on my own.

GOP: The imperial President! Refuses to compromise!

Honestly I can't think of a single major domestic issue which hadn't followed some variation of that pattern.

Well, then name a situation that went differently. I can't think of one.

 

[tommyGunZ]

It really is hard for me to any of the blame for the lack of bipartisanship on Obama. From the beginning of his Presidency, it seems like we have seen the same pattern over and over:

OBAMA: This is what I want.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, how about this then?

GOP: No.

OBAMA: OK, I'll give you this, if you give me this in return.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, tell me what I need to do to make a deal.

GOP: we don't want any deal. We don't want to work with you at all.

OBAMA: Fine then I'll do it all on my own.

GOP: The imperial President! Refuses to compromise!

Honestly I can't think of a single major domestic issue which hadn't followed some variation of that pattern.

You can roll your eyes all you want, but Obama came into office seeking compromise, and Mitch McConnell stated from day 1 that the Republicans top priority was to make Obama fail.

 

[RCon]

It really is hard for me to any of the blame for the lack of bipartisanship on Obama. From the beginning of his Presidency, it seems like we have seen the same pattern over and over:

OBAMA: This is what I want.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, how about this then?

GOP: No.

OBAMA: OK, I'll give you this, if you give me this in return.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, tell me what I need to do to make a deal.

GOP: we don't want any deal. We don't want to work with you at all.

OBAMA: Fine then I'll do it all on my own.

GOP: The imperial President! Refuses to compromise!

Honestly I can't think of a single major domestic issue which hadn't followed some variation of that pattern.

Well, then name a situation that went differently. I can't think of one.

How about Obama's "I won" mantra at the beginning of his administration, literally three days after inauguration? When he had the votes, there was no effort to include the GOP. Only after he lost in 2010 did he suddenly want to compromise.

How about his "grand bargain" where he constantly complained about the GOP's refusal to compromise, but never once made an actual proposal of his own? How could the GOP compromise on a non-existent proposal (they might well not have, but there wasn't any there there, to quote a phrase)?

Obama's standard operating procedure is to complain to the media about the GOP's refusals to compromise before there's any attempt on either side.

 

[RCon]

You can roll your eyes all you want, but Obama came into office seeking compromise, and Mitch McConnell stated from day 1 that the Republicans top priority was to make Obama fail.

Pretty much any of those covers it.

 

[Insein]

It really is hard for me to any of the blame for the lack of bipartisanship on Obama. From the beginning of his Presidency, it seems like we have seen the same pattern over and over:

OBAMA: This is what I want.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, how about this then?

GOP: No.

OBAMA: OK, I'll give you this, if you give me this in return.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, tell me what I need to do to make a deal.

GOP: we don't want any deal. We don't want to work with you at all.

OBAMA: Fine then I'll do it all on my own.

GOP: The imperial President! Refuses to compromise!

Honestly I can't think of a single major domestic issue which hadn't followed some variation of that pattern.

If only he had a majority in the Senate and House for most of his term.

 

[timschochet]

It really is hard for me to any of the blame for the lack of bipartisanship on Obama. From the beginning of his Presidency, it seems like we have seen the same pattern over and over:

OBAMA: This is what I want.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, how about this then?

GOP: No.

OBAMA: OK, I'll give you this, if you give me this in return.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, tell me what I need to do to make a deal.

GOP: we don't want any deal. We don't want to work with you at all.

OBAMA: Fine then I'll do it all on my own.

GOP: The imperial President! Refuses to compromise!

Honestly I can't think of a single major domestic issue which hadn't followed some variation of that pattern.

Well, then name a situation that went differently. I can't think of one.

How about Obama's "I won" mantra at the beginning of his administration, literally three days after inauguration? When he had the votes, there was no effort to include the GOP. Only after he lost in 2010 did he suddenly want to compromise.

How about his "grand bargain" where he constantly complained about the GOP's refusal to compromise, but never once made an actual proposal of his own? How could the GOP compromise on a non-existent proposal (they might well not have, but there wasn't any there there, to quote a phrase)?

Obama's standard operating procedure is to complain to the media about the GOP's refusals to compromise before there's any attempt on either side.

Well your first point is not a specific example, so I can't respond to it. As to your second point: I have now read 3 separate accounts of the events of the summer of 2011 (Double Down, The Center Holds, and Dan Balz's book) and in all 3, Obama made several specific proposals to Boehner, which were variations of 70-80% spending cuts vs 20-30% revenue enhancements. And regarding the latter, he even offered no tax hikes, merely a closing of loopholes. The GOP refused every offer and made none of their own. So I don't know where you're getting your info, but it appears not to be valid.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Obama isn't doing anything different than FDR did. Seriously - we need to get over ourselves this current generation. We aren't that special or important. Our polity has been so much worse in the past and we don't even understand how.

Our Secretary of State has not started a cable news network to attack his/her President while sitting in office. But that's happened before.

The Chairman of the GOP has not come out and stated that the sitting President is mentally ill and should be institutionalized for his own good (and not just hyperbole but really meaning it). But that's happened before.

The President has not said that he doesn't like the Supreme Court standing in the way of his policies so he is going to increase the amount of Justices until he gets what he wants.

The Vice President has not murdered the Secretary of the Treasury.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has not tried to take over the reigns of the White House.

And on and on and on and on. This Obama stuff is ridiculous. So he has signed Executive Orders. You know who else did? Every single President, some more than others. How about President's who had to end run Congress somehow because Congress didn't work with them? Hmmm, I can name about 40 guys who did that prior to Obama. Some more than others. Many more than Obama. For as much as I love him and support him, Abraham Lincoln did stuff through and without Congress that would make people's heads explode today.

But all we hear constantly is how bad it is now. Go back and look at any political threads from 2003 when this board went active - oh my god, everything is so bad its the worst its ever been. And on and on it goes. We are so self centered and myopic in this generation that we can't see the past and learn the lessons of history. God do we suck sometimes.

 

[timschochet]

Good post Yankee. You've made the same point before and quite often in the past I have been guilty of failing to study the past and uttering the most absurd hyperboles as a result. You have changed my thinking on this.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

You can roll your eyes all you want, but Obama came into office seeking compromise, and Mitch McConnell stated from day 1 that the Republicans top priority was to make Obama fail.

Pretty much any of those covers it.

I wonder if tgZ keeps them on when he goes to bed...

 

[lod01]

It really is hard for me to any of the blame for the lack of bipartisanship on Obama. From the beginning of his Presidency, it seems like we have seen the same pattern over and over:

OBAMA: This is what I want.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, how about this then?

GOP: No.

OBAMA: OK, I'll give you this, if you give me this in return.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, tell me what I need to do to make a deal.

GOP: we don't want any deal. We don't want to work with you at all.

OBAMA: Fine then I'll do it all on my own.

GOP: The imperial President! Refuses to compromise!

Honestly I can't think of a single major domestic issue which hadn't followed some variation of that pattern.

If only he had a majority in the Senate and House for most of his term.

Everything would probably be totally ####ed up. It's best to have gridlock.

Look at the deficit. With gridlock it's projected to be $492 B. this year.

Of course, this is hilarious:

http://theweek.com/article/index/264151/obamas-greatest-failure-the-rapidly-falling-deficit


Ever since 2009, when the recession and the stimulus package pushed the annual budget deficit to a peak of nearly $1.5 trillion, it has been falling steadily. Last year it came in at $680 billion; this year it is projected to total $492 billion.

This is an absolute disaster. It is President Obama's single greatest failure, representing the fact that he, and the rest of the American government, did not adequately respond to the Great Recession. It means that millions of Americans were kept out of work, that trillions in potential output was flushed down the toilet, and that the American economy was very seriously damaged, probably permanently, for no reason at all.....

 

[tommyboy]

It really is hard for me to any of the blame for the lack of bipartisanship on Obama. From the beginning of his Presidency, it seems like we have seen the same pattern over and over:

OBAMA: This is what I want.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, how about this then?

GOP: No.

OBAMA: OK, I'll give you this, if you give me this in return.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, tell me what I need to do to make a deal.

GOP: we don't want any deal. We don't want to work with you at all.

OBAMA: Fine then I'll do it all on my own.

GOP: The imperial President! Refuses to compromise!

Honestly I can't think of a single major domestic issue which hadn't followed some variation of that pattern.

Well, then name a situation that went differently. I can't think of one.

How about Obama's "I won" mantra at the beginning of his administration, literally three days after inauguration? When he had the votes, there was no effort to include the GOP. Only after he lost in 2010 did he suddenly want to compromise.

How about his "grand bargain" where he constantly complained about the GOP's refusal to compromise, but never once made an actual proposal of his own? How could the GOP compromise on a non-existent proposal (they might well not have, but there wasn't any there there, to quote a phrase)?

Obama's standard operating procedure is to complain to the media about the GOP's refusals to compromise before there's any attempt on either side.

Well your first point is not a specific example, so I can't respond to it.

actually it is a specific example, you just are ignorant of this fact: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17862.html

 

[timschochet]

It really is hard for me to any of the blame for the lack of bipartisanship on Obama. From the beginning of his Presidency, it seems like we have seen the same pattern over and over:

OBAMA: This is what I want.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, how about this then?

GOP: No.

OBAMA: OK, I'll give you this, if you give me this in return.

GOP: No.

OBAMA: Well, tell me what I need to do to make a deal.

GOP: we don't want any deal. We don't want to work with you at all.

OBAMA: Fine then I'll do it all on my own.

GOP: The imperial President! Refuses to compromise!

Honestly I can't think of a single major domestic issue which hadn't followed some variation of that pattern.

Well, then name a situation that went differently. I can't think of one.

How about Obama's "I won" mantra at the beginning of his administration, literally three days after inauguration? When he had the votes, there was no effort to include the GOP. Only after he lost in 2010 did he suddenly want to compromise.

How about his "grand bargain" where he constantly complained about the GOP's refusal to compromise, but never once made an actual proposal of his own? How could the GOP compromise on a non-existent proposal (they might well not have, but there wasn't any there there, to quote a phrase)?

Obama's standard operating procedure is to complain to the media about the GOP's refusals to compromise before there's any attempt on either side.

Well your first point is not a specific example, so I can't respond to it.

actually it is a specific example, you just are ignorant of this fact: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17862.html

It was a general statement for political and negotiating purposes, but it didn't refer to any specific proposals which is why I didn't respond to it. When it came time for Obama's first real proposal (the stimulus package) he included $300 million in tax cuts as a means to gain some bipartisan support. He didn't get any. So perhaps it is you, not I, who is ignorant of the facts here.