Your opinion on the job that President Obama is doing so far (1 Viewer)

[Statorama]

Woman that questioned Obama at a town hall meeting laid off

Yeah....just a coincidence.

 

[Statorama]

This would help Obama

The Special Assistant for Reality

Obama needs to hear a voice from outside the presidential bubble

A reporter covering the president's trip to Indiana this week said Mr. Obama was visiting the heartland in part to get out of the presidential bubble. I'm sure this was true. Presidents always get to the point where they want to escape Washington, and their lives, and their jobs. But they never can. Because when you're president and you go to Indiana, you take the bubble with you. Your bubble meets Indiana; your bubble witnesses Indianans. But you don't get out of the bubble in Indiana. Once you're in the bubble—once you're in the midst of a huge apparatus, once you have the cars and the aides and the security and the staffers—there is no getting out of it.

You cannot shake the bubble. Wherever you go, there it is. And the worst part is that the army of staff, security and aides that exists to be a barrier between a president and danger, or a president and inconvenience, winds up being a barrier between a president and reality.

You lose touch with America and Americans in the bubble, no matter who you are, or what party. This accounts for some of the spectacular blunders presidents make.

Because of the bubble, successful presidents have to walk into the presidency with an extremely strong sense of the reality of their country. In time, with the wear and tear of things, this sense of How Things Really Are may dissipate, disappear or remain stable, but it won't get stronger. It never gets stronger. High political office is like great affluence: It detaches you. It separates you from normal life.

Once you're president, you're not going to be able to change the features on your famous face; you're not going to be able to escape security, grab a fishing rod, and go sit on the side of a river waiting for normal Americans to walk by, settle in, fish with you, and say normal American things, from which you will garner insights into what normal Americans think.

What a president should ideally have, and what I think we all agree Mr. Obama badly needs, is an assistant whose sole job it is to explain and interpret the American people to him. Presidents already have special assistants for domestic policy, for congressional relations and national security. Why not a special assistant for reality? Someone to translate the views of the people, and explain how they think. An advocate for the average, a representative for the normal, to the extent America does normal.

If Mr. Obama had a special assistant for reality this week, this is how their dialogue might have gone over the anti-TSA uprising.

President: This thing is all ginned up, isn't it? Right-wing websites fanned it. Then the mainstream media jumped in to display their phony populist street cred. Right?

Special Assistant for Reality: No, Mr. President, it was more spontaneous. Websites can't fan fires that aren't there. This is like the town hall uprisings of summer 2009. In the past month, citizens took videos at airports the same way town hall protesters made videos there, and put them on YouTube. The more pictures of pat-downs people saw, the more they opposed them.

President: What's the essence of the opposition?

SAR: Sir, Americans don't like it when strangers touch their private parts. Especially when the strangers are in government uniforms and say they're here to help.

President: Is it that we didn't roll it out right? We made a mistake in not telling people in advance we were changing the procedure.

SAR: Um, no, Mr. President. If you'd told them in advance, they would have rebelled sooner.

President: We should have pointed out not everyone goes through the new machines, and only a minority get patted down.

SAR: Mr. President, if you'd told people, "Hello, there's only 1 chance in 3 you'll be molested at the airport today" most people wouldn't think, "Oh good, I like those odds."

President: But the polls are with me. People support the screenings.

SAR: At the moment, according to some. But most Americans don't fly frequently, and the protocols are new. As time passes, support will go steadily down.

President: I've noted with sensitivity that I'm aware all this is a real inconvenience.

SAR: It's not an inconvenience, it's a humiliation. In the new machine, and in the pat-downs, citizens are told to spread their feet and put their hands in the air. It's an attitude of submission—the same one the cops make the perps assume on "America's Most Wanted." Then, while you stand there in public in the attitude of submission, strangers touch intimate areas of your body. It's a violation of privacy. It leaves people feeling reduced. It's like society has decided you're a meat sack and not a soul. Humans have a natural, untaught understanding of the apartness of their bodies, and they don't like it when their space is violated. They recoil, and protest.

President: But you can have the pat-downs done in private.

SAR: Mr. President, you don't know this, but when you ask for that, a lot of TSA people get pretty passive-aggressive. They get Bureaucratic Dead Face and start barking, "I need a supervisor! Private pat-down!" And everyone looks, and the line slows down, and you start to feel like you're putting everyone out. You wait and wait, and finally they get another TSA person, and they take you into the little room and it's embarrassing, and you start to realize you're going to miss your plane. It's then that you realize: all this is how they discourage private pat-downs.

President: I've wondered if this general feeling of discomfort might be related to a certain Puritan strain within American thinking—a kind of horror at the body that, melded with, say, old Catholic teaching, not to be pejorative, might make for a pretty combustible cultural cocktail. This heightened consciousness of the body might suggest an element of physical shame we hadn't taken into account.

SAR: Mr. President, the rebellion isn't shame-based, it's John Wayne-based.

President: I don't follow.

SAR: John Wayne removes his boots and hat and puts his six-shooter on the belt, he gets through the scanner, and now he's standing there and sees what's being done to other people. A TSA guy is walking toward him, snapping his rubber gloves. Guy gets up close to Wayne, starts feeling his waist and hips. Wayne says, "Touch the jewels, Pilgrim, and I'll knock you into tomorrow."

President: John Wayne is dead.

SAR: No, he's not. You've got to understand that. Everyone's got an Inner Duke, even grandma.

President: What should I do?

SAR: Back off. Say you spent a day watching YouTube. You're not giving in to pressure, you're conceding to common sense. "Free men and women have a right not to be trifled with. We'll find a better way."

President: If I don't?

SAR: Well, every businessman in America already thinks you've been grabbing his gonads. You'll continue that general symbolism.

President: Janet Napolitano won't like it. Drudge is always after her. He'll get all "Big Sis Bows Now." She might quit.

SAR: Oh God, yes. A twofer!

President: I'd look like I got rolled.

SAR: Then look strong. Fire her. She's been a disaster from day one. Now she's the face of the debacle.

President: Won't they think I'm weak?

SAR: No. They'll think you returned to Planet Earth. They'll think ground control broke through to Major Tom. They'll think you took a step outside the bubble.

 

[tommyboy]

that's pretty funny

 

[Statorama]

President injured during pickup basketball game

Unconfirmed rumor has the president declaring a 90 day moratorium on basketball in the united states while this dangerous activity is investigated.

 

[Statorama]

Think you can cut the deficit without raising taxes? Take a look at this fun NY Times game

Solve this puzzle and just sit back in amazement at how HUGE our federal government has become. I was able to wipe out the deficit pretty easily!

So did Arnold Kling and David Henderson

I played the deficit reduction game at the New York Times. I stopped playing when I had already eliminated the 2030 deficit without raising taxes. The choices that did the most for me were capping Medicare growth after 2013 (I love the way that they don't make me explain how I would do that), reducing the tax break for health insurance, raising the Social Security retirement age to 70, changing the inflation index for Social Security, reducing Social Security payments to people on high incomes, raising the age of Medicare eligibility to 70, and reducing troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This was a really fun game. Thank you, New York Times.

Like Arnold and some of his commenters, I found it way easier than I thought it would be to cut the federal budget on the New York Times' interactive site.

After I was done, the Times announced that I had solved the deficit. How did I do so? Entirely with budget cuts, with one exception. On spending, I took all the budget cuts offered, and the most radical version of each, except that I didn't cut Social Security benefits for people with higher incomes. I probably should have. The only exception is that I did increase taxes by having the favorable tax treatment of employers' contributions to employees' health insurance phase out gradually.

And Eureka! By 2015, I had eliminated a projected deficit of $418 billion and changed it into a surplus of $41 billion. By 2030, I had eliminated a projected deficit of $1,355 billion and changed it to a surplus of $329 billion. And these really were relatively small changes: cutting government pay by 5 percent (I've been advocating cutting it by 10 percent), just reducing the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by 2013 (in an antiwar speech I gave yesterday, I advocated getting the U.S. government out of Iraq and Afghanistan), ending a few agencies, cutting aid to state governments by a small percent, etc. What it really shows is just how massive the federal government is.

Here's a prediction: if the New York Times keeps this game up on its site, a whole lot of people are going to be more sympathetic to cutting government and more optimistic that it can be done. One of my objections to Tea Partiers is how uninformed some of them are about the numbers. Now, thanks to the New York Times, they don't have to be.

 

[jon_mx]

Yeah, that's right "independents", look at what you did.You did this.

It's McCain's fault.McCain was a HUGE favorite of "independents".... until he selected "her".

McCain was never up in the polls against Obama until he selected her. McCain ran one of the most pathetic campaigns ever. He had no message. Being a maverick is not a message. He offered no solutions to anything. The moderate Republicans got their dream candidate, and he was a complete flop.

 

[The General]

President injured during pickup basketball game

Unconfirmed rumor has the president declaring a 90 day moratorium on basketball in the united states while this dangerous activity is investigated.

Of all your lame Obama posts this one has to be in the top 10. Congrats!

 

[videoguy505]

This would help Obama

The Special Assistant for Reality

Obama needs to hear a voice from outside the presidential bubble

For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph - a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.

 

[Statorama]

Unconfirmed rumor has the president declaring a 90 day moratorium on basketball in the united states while this dangerous activity is investigated.

Of all your lame Obama posts this one has to be in the top 10. Congrats!

The one time I actually TRY to be funny. sheesh.(I was comparing it to his moratorium on offshore oil drilling if you didn't get the reference)

 

[Statorama]

Potential presidential embarrassment on the way from Wikileaks

This may be the cause of the rush to get START passed. No telling what Obama said in private about the treaty and what it REALLY meant (as underlined below)

After emerging from a basketball game with a split and swollen lip on Friday, Barack Obama was given 12 stitches by a White House doctor.

It was the most serious presidential injury since 2002, when George W. Bush suffered a cut and bruised cheekbone after he choked on a pretzel, fainted and fell off the couch.

But Mr Obama's injury, courtesy of the elbow of Rey Decerega, director of programmes for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, was superficial and compared to the body blow he is expecting at the hand of Wikileaks.

With some 2.7 million communications from the US State Department about to be published online, Mr Obama is bracing himself for revelations that would not only be embarrassing but could also seriously damage his foreign policy.

Thousands of these documents are believed to be diplomatic cables from Washington to the US Embassy in London, including brutal assessments of Gordon Brown's personality and cold-eyed judgements of David Cameron's capabilities.

The ramifications for Mr Obama could be enormous. With his popularity flagging at home, one of his remaining political strengths has been his high standing abroad - assiduously cultivated in a series of speeches in which he apologised for past US actions and promised a kinder, gentler America.

Diplomatic cables are necessarily frank, a mirror image of the bland euphemisms offered up to the public after meetings between world leaders. The Obama administration has continued to play this game, uttering little of meaning to the press while swapping private barbs internally.

Mr Obama's problem over Wikileaks is that he promised to repair American relations with the world while at the same time vowing to change the rules of the game in Washington.

He was the type of American president, apparently straight from a West Wing episode, that Europeans had dreamed off.

The Wikileaks documents are likely to underline that he is still the US commander-in-chief and stands atop a system based on certain enduring American values and policies - and that he operates like most other politicians by saying one thing in public and another in private.

Once European politicians read about the disdain for them felt by Obama aides, and perhaps even Mr Obama himself, a frost is likely to descend on the warm post-Bush relations with Washington.

In the short term, Mr Obama's waning hopes of persuading Republicans in the Senate to ratify a new START treaty could disappear once the White House's own doubts about Russia's intentions are laid bare.

The "special relationship" with Britain could be badly affected. Mr Obama's coolness towards Mr Brown at their first Oval Office meeting in March 2009 was obvious, though strenuously denied by the White House and Downing Street.

His removal of the Winston Churchill bust in the Oval Office, his present of DVDs and the lack of an invitation to Camp David all spoke of a downgrading of the alliance with Britain. A State Department official even described Britain as "just the same as the other 190 countries in the world".

If the Wikileaks documents confirm this picture of a lack of interest in, or even disdain, for Britain then America's most enduring alliance could suffer.

Amongst many Americans, the relationship with Britain has become something of a touchstone of Mr Obama's foreign policy. Tony Blair is still widely admired in and the value of the "special relationship" deeply cherished.

Any suggestion that Mr Obama has been giving Britain the cold shoulder while her troops fight in Afghanistan will play badly in Middle America.

Although Mr Obama cannot be blamed for the fact that a lowly US Army private was apparently able to gain millions of sensitive intelligence and diplomatic documents, he bears ultimate responsibility for the debacle it has produced.

During the 2008 election campaign, a cable written by Sir Nigel Sheinwald, the British ambassador to Washington, was leaked to The Daily Telegraph.

In it, Sir Nigel noted that Mr Obama "does betray a highly educated and upper middle class mindset", that he was "maybe aloof, insensitive" at times and that charges of elitism were "not entirely unfair".

Mr Obama's advisers reacted with iciness. The assessment was relatively kind and the comments about his personality have been borne out over time but the Obama operation despised leaks, was highly protective of Mr Obama's carefully-crafted life "narrative" and extremely sensitive to any criticism. Now the shoe is on the other foot.

Once the Wikileaks release happens, Mr Obama will no doubt offer emollient words and reassurance. Unfortunately for him, however, he is likely to find that the power of his words will now be greatly diminished abroad as well as at home.

 

[Bronco Billy]

One of my objections to Tea Partiers is how uninformed some of them are about the numbers. Now, thanks to the New York Times, they don't have to be.

Odd comment from someone who starts his commentary by admitting how ignorant he was about the effect of reducing government spending. Not surprising in the least, it's completely consistent with many others on the left including many here, but odd nonetheless. Maybe it's the tacit admission that the Tea Party is about 3 steps ahead of him even though he continues to be so dismissive of them at the end.

 

[Bronco Billy]

President injured during pickup basketball game

Unconfirmed rumor has the president declaring a 90 day moratorium on basketball in the united states while this dangerous activity is investigated.

Of all your lame Obama posts this one has to be in the top 10. Congrats!

Geez. Do yourself a favor and consider investing in a sense of humor. That was a funny comment regardless of which side of the aisle you sit on.

 

[Statorama]

Obama finally adopts Cantor's "Pay Freeze" suggestion

Thank God the mid-terms are over and Obama can finally utilize Republican ideas.

 

[Statorama]

Now that the midterms are over, Obama reverses position on offshore drilling

Severe blow to energy independence.

The Obama administration won't allow any new oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico for at least the next seven years because of the BP oil spill, a senior administration official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The area that includes the waters off Florida's coast had been considered for drilling as part of the management plan for the OuterContinental Shelf. Just a month before the April spill, the Obama administration had announced plans to allow drilling in the eastern Gulf.

In light of the BP spill, we've learned a lot and understand the need to elevate the safety and environmental standards, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision hadn't been announced yet. We took a second look at the announced plan and modified it to remove the Eastern Gulf ofMexico from leasing consideration.

Edit to add: Never let a crisis go to waste.

 

[Statorama]

Now that the midterms are over, Obama reverses position on offshore drilling

Severe blow to energy independence.

The Obama administration won't allow any new oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico for at least the next seven years because of the BP oil spill, a senior administration official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The area that includes the waters off Florida's coast had been considered for drilling as part of the management plan for the OuterContinental Shelf. Just a month before the April spill, the Obama administration had announced plans to allow drilling in the eastern Gulf.

In light of the BP spill, we've learned a lot and understand the need to elevate the safety and environmental standards, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision hadn't been announced yet. We took a second look at the announced plan and modified it to remove the Eastern Gulf ofMexico from leasing consideration.

Edit to add: Never let a crisis go to waste.

In a completely unrelated story oil is up almost 3% today

 

[Todd Andrews]

He is doing a good job.

 

[videoguy505]

New spin, courtesy of the New York Times?

The body of Mr. Obama's writing and experiences before he became a presidential candidate would suggest that he is instinctively pragmatic, typical of an emerging generation that sees all political dogma -- be it '60s liberalism or '80s conservatism -- as anachronistic. Privately, Mr. Obama has described himself, at times, as essentially a Blue Dog Democrat, referring to the shrinking caucus of fiscally conservative members of the party.

 

[Todd Andrews]

New spin, courtesy of the New York Times?

The body of Mr. Obama's writing and experiences before he became a presidential candidate would suggest that he is instinctively pragmatic, typical of an emerging generation that sees all political dogma -- be it '60s liberalism or '80s conservatism -- as anachronistic. Privately, Mr. Obama has described himself, at times, as essentially a Blue Dog Democrat, referring to the shrinking caucus of fiscally conservative members of the party.

What is your spin?

 

[Statorama]

Obama makes surprise trip to visit troops in Afghanistan, thanks them for service

Really nice gesture as we approach the holidays. Well done, Mr. President

 

[Statorama]

Offshore drilling moratorium consequences

Jack Gerard warned that the administration’s decision today not to allow offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic and the Pacific in the government’s next five-year drilling plan could result in the loss of tens of thousands of American jobs, billions less in government revenues and an increasing dependence on foreign energy sources.

Government also dragging feet on other drilling permits

While the drilling moratorium technically applied only to deepwater drilling, the Interior Department’s permits for shallow water drilling slowed, too — by 53 percent. The department has yet to pick up the pace. It continues to issue 3.8 fewer shallow-water drilling permits a month than it did the year leading up to the oil spill. No new deepwater permits have been issued since May.

Congratulations Obama voters. Your guy is doing this.Yeah, I guess not having Sarah Palin doing what Joe Biden's doing right now was worth it to you.

 

[Cunk]

Obama makes surprise trip to visit troops in Afghanistan, thanks them for serviceReally nice gesture as we approach the holidays. Well done, Mr. President

True but Henry Winkler wants his jacket back pronto.

 

[Statorama]

White House warns government workers not to view Wikileaks files

These are my favorite kind of Obama stories, as it shows how completely clueless he and his administration are. "Those files that the public can legally view are considered classified so.....don't view them...or something"

WASHINGTON — In a classic case of shutting the barn door after the horse has left, the Obama administration and the Department of Defense have ordered the hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contractors not to view the secret cables and other classified documents published by Wikileaks and news organizations around the world unless the workers have the required security clearance or authorization.

 

[Statorama]

Where are the stimulus jobs?

Study reveals that there are no existing jobs that were created as a result of the Stimulus bill.

The results suggest that though the program did result in 2 million jobs “created or saved” by March 2010, net job creation was statistically indistinguishable from zero by August of this year. Taken at face value, this would suggest that the stimulus program (with an overall cost of $814 billion) worked only to generate temporary jobs at a cost of over $400,000 per worker. Even if the stimulus had in fact generated this level of employment as a durable outcome, it would still have been an extremely expensive way to generate employment.

 

[RCon]

New spin, courtesy of the New York Times?

The body of Mr. Obama's writing and experiences before he became a presidential candidate would suggest that he is instinctively pragmatic, typical of an emerging generation that sees all political dogma -- be it '60s liberalism or '80s conservatism -- as anachronistic. Privately, Mr. Obama has described himself, at times, as essentially a Blue Dog Democrat, referring to the shrinking caucus of fiscally conservative members of the party.

What is your spin?

If Obama qualifies as a fiscal conservative, then it seems we've redefined "fiscal conservative" to mean "human being".

 

[videoguy505]

New spin, courtesy of the New York Times?

The body of Mr. Obama's writing and experiences before he became a presidential candidate would suggest that he is instinctively pragmatic, typical of an emerging generation that sees all political dogma -- be it '60s liberalism or '80s conservatism -- as anachronistic. Privately, Mr. Obama has described himself, at times, as essentially a Blue Dog Democrat, referring to the shrinking caucus of fiscally conservative members of the party.

What is your spin?

I'm just waiting for Obama to say he "was for fiscal conservatism before he was against it."

 

[Fennis]

" pretty good"

 

[LHUCKS]

He's got 12 months to change my mind...he #### the bed the first two years IMHO...and I voted for him.

 

[videoguy505]

TIME mag: Maybe a horrendous act of violence will kill hundreds, even thousands, of Americans and thereby brighten Obama's political future.

'What Obama needs is another crisis to take advantage of'

 

[videoguy505]

Even Obama's Debt Panel doesn't buy Obamacare

President Barack Obama’s debt reduction commission defined tough fiscal choices for Washington, though its members weren’t unanimous enough to force the ideas on lawmakers. But even if they had, the panel pulled punches on healthcare cuts. Reducing that burden may be central to the next presidential election.

...

Yet the biggest stumbling block remains healthcare, which accounts for three-quarters of the U.S. government’s long-term budget woes. A presentation from Medicare’s chief actuary persuaded many panel members that Obama’s recently-passed reform law does less than estimated to reduce future government outlays. Despite this and the legacy of successive administrations’ overgenerous commitments on health spending, the panel danced around the issue in its recommendations.

Democrats in Congress have little desire to revisit the issue anytime soon. Republicans, on the other hand, want to make it a central issue of the 2012 White House campaign so that a positive electoral outcome, if they achieve one, would be a mandate for their plan — whatever it turns out to be. Though Obama’s commission provides useful direction, the endgame for healthcare spending could be more significant for America’s fiscal future.

 

[Statorama]

Number of Obamacare Waivers soars to 222 Companies

Having to issue 222 waivers to companies, lest they cancel current employee coverage, just shows that this unconstitutional law needs to be repealed.

That said, WHERE'S MY DAMN WAIVER

The Obama Administration has quietly granted even more waivers to the new federal health reform law, doubling the number in just the last three weeks to a new total of 222.

One of the more recognizable business names included on the newly-expanded list of waivers issued by the feds is that of Waffle House, which received a waiver on November 23 for health coverage that covers 3,947 enrollees.

Another familiar name was that of Universal Orlando, which runs a variety of very popular resorts in the Orlando, Florida area. Universal was given a waiver for plans that cover 668 workers.

These waivers deal with limited health benefit plans, sometimes referred to as “mini-med” policies, which companies as large as McDonald’s use for some its employees.

 

[videoguy505]

Gonna move this post in here from the "bush tax cut compromise" thread, because it's opinion, and because I've been thinking some more about it:

Everyone's going to read "Obama and the Republicans came to a compromise, but..." and it's going to be game over, and Nancy's going to really make things difficult when the new Congress starts. Finally, a big, public compromise between Obama and the Republican party... that was the story. A win-win for everyone, the middle class included. Now the story becomes: "Everyone was happy except Nancy. She had to get petulant and demand that the rich get soaked for more." So now the Democrats become the obstructionists, demanding higher taxes for more spending... same old cliche tax-n-spend. Everyone looks to Obama and he can't get Nancy under control. What's the point of electing people to compromise if Obama can't get his own party in line? What argument does he then put forth in 2012 for re-election? "Put me back in the White House, but if you want any progress at all, give me a fully Democratic Congress too... we promise not to tax-n-spend like we did the first two years and like just Nancy wanted to do the second two years."

Then the rest of the story. Nancy the witch trying to crash the economy. On Christmas. Just when we were about to either start to turn the economy around or double-dip. That's how the story is going to play and people are going to remember. The 2012 challengers can declare exploratory committees in January. The loony GOP hopefuls that are going to turn out early to grab the media attention as long as they can will sell the story easily, and over and over, leading into the primary season. Obama might face challenges from within his own party... on one side a Nancy disciple, on the other, maybe a governor who has a better record of compromise and more experience managing legislation and an economy. They'll spin the same story to suit their campaign narratives. So easy to just paint the characterizations like that.

New Congress is going to come in and just keep painting Nancy as the problem, and Harry upstairs, doing the same thing. Everything's going to look like a battle and they're going to blow it for their party.

Now, I'm really having trouble with Obama's re-election plan. I mean, put aside all the "Hope & Change!" and "Yes We Can!" stuff, everything basically boiled down to two basic pitches: 1) Obama is not just another tax-n-spend liberal, and 2) he's more competent at the job than Bush was.

I don't see as many people buying both those arguments the second time around.

 

[Orange Crush]

That said, WHERE'S MY DAMN WAIVER

Have you applied for one?

 

[Jewell]

Ralph Nader goes full Statorama: “He has no fixed principles,” Nader said, of Mr. Obama. “He’s opportunistic — he goes for expedience, like Clinton. Some call him temperamentally conflict-averse. If you want to be harsher, you say he has no principles and he’s opportunistic. He’s a con man,” Nader continued. “I have no use for him.”

The guys from Dragnet drop their two cents:

 

[Statorama]

Ralph Nader goes full Statorama: “He has no fixed principles,” Nader said, of Mr. Obama. “He’s opportunistic — he goes for expedience, like Clinton. Some call him temperamentally conflict-averse. If you want to be harsher, you say he has no principles and he’s opportunistic. He’s a con man,” Nader continued. “I have no use for him.”

Hands off my shtick green-party boy.

 

[Philo]

Seeing old slick Willie standing behind the podium, taking charge of things, taking questions, having a plan... I admit, I got a bit wistful for the old days.

I think I'd be OK having him back in as some kind of co-President. It'd be nice to have a adult around while the rest of the brats are all running around aimlessly like they're hopped up on sugar.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Seeing old slick Willie standing behind the podium, taking charge of things, taking questions, having a plan... I admit, I got a bit wistful for the old days.

It's row or sink, I want the country to row. /clinton

 

[Statorama]

Obama continues to ignore jobs, economy....focuses instead on School Vending Machines

...The $4.5 billion measure would expand free school meals for the needy and give the government the power to decide what kinds of foods may be sold in vending machines, lunch lines and fundraisers during school hours....

 

[Philo]

Obama continues to ignore jobs, economy....focuses instead on School Vending Machines

...The $4.5 billion measure would expand free school meals for the needy and give the government the power to decide what kinds of foods may be sold in vending machines, lunch lines and fundraisers during school hours....

The Michelle Obama/nutritional stuff is so hypocritical. The US gov't is probably more responsible for fattening up America than anyone else.

 

[Philo]

Raising children is too important not to let the government take it over. "We can't just leave it up to the parents."

'Parents have the right to expect the government will take care of their kids for them' is another nice one.

 

[Statorama]

Why Republicans should never trust Obama

It takes a lot of nerve to just openly lie like this

"When they expire in two years, I will fight to end them," Obama said. "Just as I suspect the Republican Party may fight to end the middle-class tax cuts that I've championed and that they've opposed."

 

[Philo]

Almost there...

First debate for potential Obama 2012 challengers will be May 5, 2011.

 

[Phurfur]

Raising children is too important not to let the government take it over. "We can't just leave it up to the parents."

'Parents have the right to expect the government will take care of their kids for them' is another nice one.

NUDGE

 

[Statorama]

Obama administration to ramp up "global warming" regulations

The incoming congress should cut the budget of the EPA by about a third. Maybe they'll get the message.

The Obama administration is expected to roll out a major greenhouse gas policy for power plants and refineries as soon as Wednesday, signaling it won’t back off its push to fight climate change in the face of mounting opposition on Capitol Hill.

The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to a schedule for setting greenhouse gas emission limits, known as “performance standards,” for the nation’s two biggest carbon-emitting industries, POLITICO has learned.

Under the schedule agreed to by EPA, states and environmental groups, the agency will issue a draft greenhouse gas performance standard for power plants by July 2011 and a final rule by May 2012. The agreement – which comes after states and environmentalists challenged the George W. Bush administration’s failure to set the standards – requires EPA to issue a draft limit for refineries by Dec. 2011 and a final rule by Nov. 2012.

The White House Office of Management and Budget has signed off on the schedule, according to a litigant in the legal fight.

 

[jon_mx]

Obama sucks more than the Kirby vacuum that kid tried to sell me.

 

[Statorama]

Calm down, there's no Obama "comeback"

I'm getting whiplash trying to follow the Democrats' talking points. First, it was a disaster when Obama agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts. Obama was a wimp. Then it was a horrid error to allow the omnibus spending bill to die (and with it all that funding for ObamaCare). The White House, liberals complained, also blew it on the DREAM act. And now, presto: Obama has mounted a phenomenal comeback!

Not exactly. The sources of the left's delight -- repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" and ratification of the New START treaty -- are irrelevant to the vast majority of Americans. Voters care, as the Democrats should have but refused to learn during the referendum of 2010 (the midterms results were, one wit cracked, "a restraining order" on liberal statism), about the economy, jobs and the growth of government. These are far and away the most important issues in every credible survey, and will be the focus of the Republicans' 2011 agenda.

And if the highlight of Obama's term, according to outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was the "historic" ObamaCare legislation, then the highlight could soon be extinguished. Obama's central domestic achievement is facing judicial scrutiny, a Republican onslaught to repeal, or at least defund, it, and a public that has never "learned" to love the bill.

Only inside the Beltway could the passage of an arms control treaty and repeal of DADT consume so many for so long and result in such exaggerated punditry. Would Republicans have traded wins on DADT and START for their wins on the DREAM act, the tax deal and the omnibus spending bill? Not in a million years.

But liberal media mavens have a narrative that resists "bad news" (i.e. scandals, polling, the Tea Party movement) that suggests trouble for the Obama administration. They also confuse legislative achievement with political success. If passing stuff was the secret to a political comeback, then the Democrats after ObamaCare and the stimulus plan would have had the greatest year ever.

Obama may yet stage a comeback. But to do that, he'll have to do what the left loathes -- cut domestic programs, rework entitlement programs, stand up to foreign adversaries (Obama's legacy is irretrievably ruined if Iran gets the bomb on his watch), cut back on growth-restricting regulations and keep tax rates low. And so long as unemployment remains at historic highs, Obama's chances of re-election remain poor.

But as long as the left wants to succumb to conservatives on the issues that voters care most about -- taxes and spending -- I suppose conservatives should keep mum. So let's keep this just between us.

 

[Statorama]

Ok, NOW Obama will pay attention to job growth and the economy

Well, ok, at least after his vacation in Hawaii that is.

I think we are past the crisis point in the economy, but we now have to pivot and focus on jobs and growth. And my singular focus over the next two years is not rescuing the economy from potential disaster, but rather jumpstarting the economy so that we actually start making a dent in the unemployment rate and we are equipping ourselves so that we can compete in the 21st century.

You sonofa#####. You were out twisting arms for START, DREAM, and DADT...and NOW you want to pivot toward jobs and growth? F you, you selfish arrogant legacy grabbing *******.People are HURTING. They want jobs and food, you gave them a DADT repeal. Great.

Instead of providing incentives for businesses to hire people, you pass people out of work another 13 weeks of checks. Brilliant.

 

[Parrothead]

Ok, NOW Obama will pay attention to job growth and the economy

Well, ok, at least after his vacation in Hawaii that is.

I think we are past the crisis point in the economy, but we now have to pivot and focus on jobs and growth. And my singular focus over the next two years is not rescuing the economy from potential disaster, but rather jumpstarting the economy so that we actually start making a dent in the unemployment rate and we are equipping ourselves so that we can compete in the 21st century.

You sonofa#####. You were out twisting arms for START, DREAM, and DADT...and NOW you want to pivot toward jobs and growth? F you, you selfish arrogant legacy grabbing *******.People are HURTING. They want jobs and food, you gave them a DADT repeal. Great.

Instead of providing incentives for businesses to hire people, you pass people out of work another 13 weeks of checks. Brilliant.

c'mon man- its xmas eve.. give him a break for a while!! go have some eggnog! I am already drunk!!

 

[Statorama]

c'mon man- its xmas eve.. give him a break for a while!! go have some eggnog! I am already drunk!!

Yeah, probably just cranky that I have to work today.

 

[bueno]

Since you're trying to catch me in a contradiction, Bueno, let me make myself clear: there are some things that Obama can do to help, like the C-17s deal, and I highly approve. That's not going to dent the overall percentages, though. Long term, Obama can really hurt our economy by giving into the unions and accepting protectionism. The fact that he has chosen not to do this is very good news IMO. But that's not going to affect short-term unemployment percentages either. There is NOTHING he can do, IMO, that will make those better or worse.

I disagree, and doubt we will ever see eye to eye on this issue. What he is doing that hurts employment is he has created a climate of uncertainty in which business owners are afraid to invest. By contrast, Reagan and Clinton both created an environment of certainty in which business owners weren't afraid to invest. Obama is the worst leader that I have ever seen in my lifetime. He is certainly the most anti-business leader we have ever had.

I have heard this over and over again from conservatives. It gets repeated like gospel and no one bothers to dissect it. It makes little sense to me. Obama would like to impose cap and trade, but he hasn't done it and now he won't. He would like to increase taxes on the top 2%, but he hasn't done it and now it looks like he won't, either. The "uncertainty" argument suggests that businesses would prefer having cap and trade imposed rather than being unsure if it's going to be imposed, which is absurd. It also suggests that, now that Obamacare has passed, businesses would prefer that Congress not tiniker with it- don't want to have uncertainty about what might happen!In any event, I don't really buy that uncertainty over government action or inaction is what prevents businesses from investing. They invest when they start selling their products, and that's when they hire more people as well. For Obama to affect employment in the United States in the short term, he would have to dampen consumerism. I don't think he's done this, and I don't know how he could if he wanted to.

Well, you don't always buy into reality anyway, so I'm not surprised.

 

[Pooch]

Obama pretty much walking all over Mitch McConnell and his butt boys the last couple of weeks. I'd forgotten how easily duped the GOP is. Masterful stuff.