How is Obama doing?
Posted by SnowQueen690 on Jan 28, 2010 · Member since Jun 2005 · 1569 posts
My dad hate's Obama. He is convinced that he is going to lower the standard of living for future generations, such as his younger children, and my son and going to make the economy worse before it gets better.
My dad is also facing his business failing after it has been very prosperous for the past 8 years due to higher taxes and the horrible economy, he is loosing his customers.
I am not so crazy either as I think he is spending way too much money and my son and other children of today are the ones who are going to have to pay for it, and I am really worried about that.
What is your opinion?
i think obama sucks, but is the economy his fault? no, that's silly.
Considering the economy was already going to hell in a handbasket before he got elected, I fail to see how its his fault.
Given the present circumstances, Obama is doing well. I think people are blaming too much on him. Most people are just fusterated and have to blame someone. Obama has no direct control over leving taxes. That is done by the Congress and Senate. He can suggest tax bills to be introduced. But it is up to the House to introduce or vote bills into law.
As for the deficit, this is definately not his fault. The Bush adminstration went from a 20 billion dollar surplus to over 3 trillion in debt in 8 years. Why aren't people pointing the finger at the right people?
I don't agree that the government is or should operate like a business or household. They should not be tighting their purse-strings when the economy is stalling. This will only futher the recession and hurt those effected by it. The deficiet can be payed back in less than 5 years - we've done it before - when the economy starts to grow, employment increases and incomes rise.
what is he doing well? sorry, but as soon as he re-signed the patriot act and didn't get a shelter dog he totally and completely lost me. he's just another jackass politician with money coming from the wrong places (corps.). he's just a face that most people are good with so that we don't revolt.
i enjoyed watching "the obama deception" on youtube.
I think you are confusing Hilary Clinton with Obama. Over half of all his campaign funds came form individuals that donated less than $200. It purposely tried to not be obligated to corporations by not taking their contributions. Obama isn't perfect. Most of the mistakes he has made was taking on too much too early. It is easy to assume during a campaign that you can turn everything around overnight. Once he saw things from inside, he realized that things like the war and economy were not so clear cut. There is quite a bit of information, especially on national security,that is only available to the president and his immediate staff. He probably had to make tough decisions that are in opposition of his moral and political postition.
It is true that the strugling economy is not his fault. He has to go through a process to get legislation passed. Also, most of the stimulus money was directly given over to states to manage. CA is still waiting for some state offices to give okays to fund already apporved projects.
As for his character, it is obvious that he is neither malicious nor oblvious to everyone's problems. He seems to honestly care about people. The legislation that he has proposed is for the benefit of the middle and lower class. Unfortunately, much of this has been stalled in Congress. Remember the seperations of powers, he does not have the ability to levy taxes, inact spending legislation or instate laws. Only Congress can do this. He can propose reform but it is up to other gov't bodies to put reforms in place. If they don't agree with it, it will not happen (i.e. the recent Supreme Court decsion on campaign spending).
So, give him a break. Use information from respected news sources to make a descision.
Y'all probably know where I stand on this issue, and to avoid being flamed by hippie liberals I'll keep my trap shut.
awww i want to hear mdv's views. am i the only one that will open up and say obama sucks?
I've said it before but many Americans will never understand the extent to which Obama is repairing the USA's international reputation. Many of you, especially the Republican voters, clearly consider him borderline socialist but by British standards he's actually rather conservative.
A president's hands are frequently tied by Congress. Congress are, for the most part, older white men who tend towards old money, conservativism and maintaining the status quo. They frequently have their paws in big business cookie jars. Faced with Congress as a constitutional balance, Obama's tendency toward bipartisanship is actually pretty counterproductive; that would be my main reservation about him although it's a necessary evil to keep Congress from revolting. In the meantime, despite this, he is trying very hard to offer a better standard of living to an awful lot of people. I find it fucking disgusting that the country with the highest GDP in the world - almost double that of the next highest country - has no national healthcare. It's not your president who's trying to block access to basic free healthcare.
Additionally, as dl-bailey intimated, he is taking on a vast legacy not only from the last guy but from all the presidents before him. I'm struggling to see how saying he "sucks" is a valid or sophisticated critique.
but his health care bill he proposed wasn't even close to something like the french system, which we know is the best in the world. (ok dustin is readng over my shoulder and says sweden or switzerland is.. whatever.. not close to those either.. nm, he's wrong anyway, it is france), it was just some crap system that made it seem like everyone was going to have coverage... and not at all equal coverage.
i agree with you about him being conservative.
overall, i just do not see him as "change" which so many of his promoters do. i see him as another crony that is supporting a lot of interests OTHER than the people (mostly the interests of those his money came from).
i don't know that much about how he has actually repaired international reputation, but that was the one thing that I was happy that he won for. i did figure he would be good for that.
but his health care bill he proposed wasn't even close to something like the french system, which we know is the best in the world. (ok dustin is readng over my shoulder and says sweden or switzerland is.. whatever.. not close to those either.. nm, he's wrong anyway, it is france), it was just some crap system that made it seem like everyone was going to have coverage... and not at all equal coverage.
i agree with you about him being conservative.
overall, i just do not see him as "change" which so many of his promoters do. i see him as another crony that is supporting a lot of interests OTHER than the people (mostly the interests of those his money came from).
i don't know that much about how he has actually repaired international reputation, but that was the one thing that I was happy that he won for. i did figure he would be good for that.
You seem to be arguing that he should bring in a healthcare system based upon the Anglo-French model in his first year of office. Understand the landmark achievement that even an improved system of subsidies would be. The US model of insurance and so on is currently just not equipped for the kind of radical overhaul needed to produce something like the NHS. This is going to be decades-long progression even IF he can fight it past Congress.
He was never going to represent "change" on a level which some people seemed to believe. That's just naivete. The US political system, as I mentioned above, does not allow for one individual to press through vast, sweeping changes and for good reason. The UK system doesn't either. The German system is particularly federal and unstandably very cautious about offering one person too much power. If your major problem is that he seems to be a "crony", well, welcome to your political system. The only reason you didn't notice before is that the last guy in office was much more aligned with the prevailing views in Congress, and part of the squeaky-wheel Republican party to boot.
oh, believe me, catski, i noticed. i just think that people don't realize that obama is THE SAME. don't see the goverment improving or being for the people at all anymore.
i also agree that one person isn't going to do much/obviously can't in our system.
I think he's doing a fair job considering the near ruin the economy was when he took office.
The press, particlarly Fox News, aren't really giving him a fair shake. In some ways he is just another politician. In other ways he's kept or is working on many of his promises. The economy is in better shape. But the news would have him dubbed a total failure whose accomplished absolutely nothing and whose broken all of his promises.
I do think he charmed a lot of naive people and promised the impossible. His victories have been small.
I also think the congress is a do nothing congress and has been for the majority of my adult lifetime. The last 10 years have seen the worst congress in American history.
I think that Obama strives to be "for the people", for example in fair and equal health care but is stifled. He's passed a hates crime bill, and is striving to end sexual discrimination in the Army.
Big sweeping changes...no.
Dismail failure, doing nothing? No.
I believe with all my heart, and I'm not a liberal hippie freak, and I respect everyones right to their opinion, that a republican administration following what the last republican aministration did to this economy would have been a disaster of epic proportions. Maybe they can take over in November, since Obama is so unpopular, but I hope they take some serious lessons learned and don't ruin the economy yet again. My 401K has recovered nicely after devastating losses during the Bush years, and I would like to retire one day.
1. Democrats in general are failing to provide strong leadership in Congress, which makes Obama appear weaker.
2. Obama's bi-partisanship approach isn't helping anything.
3. Health care reform is going to be a gradual thing. We're not going to get a huge overhaul. Realistically, all we were ever going to get were a few minor changes. With the tone of Congress now, I should add - minor changes, if even that.
4. If you study recessions, not spending money during a recession puts the economy into a tail spin. Without the spending, we'd have a deeper tailspin and a longer recovery.
5. I don't think the country would be better off with McCain & Palin.
6. It's all about what each person is specifically interested in. Repealing "don't ask, don't tell" is as important to me as health care, so if Obama can remove that and make a few improvements to health care, I'll be happy.
7. It's nice that our image is improving internationally.
8. Small business owners like to blame everyone and everything for their lack of success when it's more likely the way they've structured their products and/or services, ignoring that businesses fail and especially so in a poor economy. I'm absolutely sick of the whining.
I don't plan to vote for a Democrat again. Even if they're in office, they don't get anything done. But my opinion is based on Congress' performance, not Obama's.
Brutally concise summary, HH. I concur! Especially number five. Oh, do I agree with number five.
I think he's doing as well as he can given all of the mess that he inherited. He gets a lot less flak in European media than in the American one, but that is to be expected.
Everyone seems to forget that Clinton left office and the government had a surplus of money for the first time in 20+ years and what a mess was made of the budget after that point.
As an American living in Europe, I can tell you right now that America would have been a laughing stock if McCain/Palin were elected. Obama is considered fairly conservative by Dutch standards!
Holland has private insurance, but the overall system is socialized insuring that you don't pay too much. We pay about $100 a month for health insurance here including dental. We have no co-pays - not on essential medicine, not doctor visits, nothing.
I find it so ironic that the only people in America who are against the idea of a nationalized health plan are the ones who have good insurance coverage.
I have a $3000 scar on my chin from falling when I worked for a small company that didn't have to offer insurance and I couldn't afford to pay for it on my own. The Dutch are literally lost for words when I tell them how it happened. I had two emergency c-sections here after complicated pregnancies including specialists, you name it...I never paid a dime or even saw a bill. Yes, you have a wait time for non-emergent things, but I think it's worth it if everyone is covered.
Where is Obama getting the money to pay for the stuff like the health care bill?
Where is Obama getting the money to pay for the stuff like the health care bill?
The same place every other President got money from to pay for their various bills and whatnot?
Where is Obama getting the money to pay for the stuff like the health care bill?
The same place every other President got money from to pay for their various bills and whatnot?
Where is that?
Where is that?
If I recall my government classes correctly, most money for government spending comes from taxes, and loans from other countries.
The more that I think of it, the more I wonder why people are making such a big deal about the deficit. We always cycle in and out of deficit depending on the state of the economy, wars and so on. Our current debt should be payed off in the next few years when the economy gets going again. All this talk about overspending seems more of a political ploy the conservatives are using to get back into power and stall legislation. (Funny they weren't upset over massive military spending and tax cuts the previous 8 years.)
I agree with HH, cutting back on gov't spending is the last thing we should be doing during the resession. CA is dealing with a governor and legislator that has been making massive cuts for the past several years in the name of growth. Has it helped? No. Our economy keeps getting worse.
Catski and NL, I often think about how why I am considered a liberal just because I vote mainly Democrat, support social programs and against war. In many ways, I consider my self more on the conservative side.
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