President Obama and the Debt Crisis: Detached, Alone, and Passive
None of the plans being debated today have the imprimatur of the Oval Office. At a moment when presidential leadership is so vital, President Obama has been passive. Passivity also was the hallmark of his approach to his other signature blockbuster initiatives: the TARP bailout, ObamaCare, and the financial services initiatives.
This of course makes perfect political sense for Obama. The only currency here in Washington is political currency. In Washington, make-believe numbers over dollars and cents are the tradition of both parties.
So as a stalemate approaches, the only question of substance is: Who lost America’s credit rating? The president can answer that Congress did, or the Tea Party did, or Speaker Boehner did. But the truth is there is only one president of the United States. There is only one national leader. And at the end of the day that’s how he will be judged.
There is also the overt politicization of the debt crisis. In February, the president coyly asked to raise the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion through 2013. The timing was not an accident. It was designed to allow the credit limit to expire after the next presidential election. Clearly there also was the stink of politics behind the timetable.
Economists have estimated that if our indebtedness continues on its current glide path, the debt ceiling will balloon to $26 trillion by 2020, or 100% of our gross national product.
Presidential leadership is essential at a moment of high peril.
Certainly high unemployment, a disastrous housing market, and a stagnant economy are national tragedies that occurred on the president’s watch. But these economic woes may be footnotes in the face of a debt-swollen government that ultimately kills American creditworthiness and long-term prosperity.
Americans wanted Obama.
They got him!
And there is a very strong possibility that he will reelected.
That means that you ain’t seen nothing yet.
You think he will be reelected? In the USA? Do tell, how would this happen?
Chicago style. He spends over a billion dollars in lies through the msm.
Lots of dead, insane, imprisoned, ficticious, retarded, sociopathic welfarites cast votes for him; some several times. And thats not counting the places where illegal aliens and 6, 000 out of 4,000 registered voters go for him.
Last time around young voters and females put him over the top. He will again appeal to the ignorance and emotional instability of that base. He will manipulate the stats to show that he has solved all our problems. His “1984 doublespeak” will fill the airwaves. 25% of the population have moronic, isiotic or imbecilic IQs and cannot understand the issues. They are all in his bag. Now he just needs 34% of the remainder to win.(51% of the total).
And he buys them with false promises. He is a pathological liar, and quite experienced. He even believes himself, due to his self deification as the moslem mahdi, about to dictate the Grand Caliphate/New World Order.
He is a modernday Nero; bread and circuses to the unwashed masses(44 million on food stamps), while burning Rome(debt ceiling) and blaming the Christians(Republicans) for it. He will avoid the facts, offering vague, undetailed, ambiguous plans instead. He will contradict himself frequently, and not be troubled by the contradictions. And the morally bankrupt will do their best to make this certifiable psychopath into the most powerful man in the world.
I hear everything you are saying but am still hopeful that the independents will amend their vote in 2012. Many voters did not show up in ’08 because John McCain was such a weak candidate and was totally uninspiring. Palin was an unknown entity. Joe Biden was chosen for his name recognition and obvious pro-union leanings. The turnout in 2012 is going to be huge. I don’t think he will be re-elected with the unemployment and the inflation that we are about to encounter. Have a little faith. Nero was murdered by his own mother.
I hear all the reasons you give for BO winning 2008. And I agree, McLame was a worthless pos candidate with a doomed campaign, even though Palin added spark too little too late. BUT, the fact is, the black skin dazzled, end of story. Partner the black skin with the usual Democrat fraud squads, and no one nor any thing could have overcome it to win. And BO’s handlers knew it when they picked a “clean” black man to take down America. Any push back from anyone = RACIST. And they knew Americans are so intimidated by that charge, they’d choose for America to go into the trashbin rather than risk that label, which is what they did.
Thank you, Americans, for electing a nation wrecker. What were you thinking?
What were we thinking when we voted for Obama? The same thing you ideologues were thinking when you voted for the worst, most idiotic and stupid man to hold the office in decades: George W. Bush.
And to the writer of this article. You are more stupid than people should give you credit for.
Before you go out and blame Obama for the default, read the Constitution and figure out who has the authority to increase the debt ceiling, who is in charge of the governments money? CONGRESS. People don’t buy the drivel this author is selling.
I may not like Obama, but people should write the truth in these little Tea Party like articles, not lies.
People will blame both Obama and Congress for not getting this done, but more on the REPUBLICAN HOUSE.
Take that to the bank.
Can you explain why The Left rants that “Clinton balanced the budget,” and “Clinton left Bush with a surplus”? Do people REALLY blame/credit Congress for anything?
So that we all are on the same page here, let me point out that BHO didn’t have an obstructionist “Republican House” until January, 2011. Up until that point in his administration, his party had control over both branches of the legislature, yes, the one that has the ability to tax and spend. The most transparent administration in history was widely trumpeted. How many of us had the opportunity to read all 2200 pages of the Health Care Reform bill? How many of us benefited from the “Stimulus” packages? Here in Oregon we are facing over 15% unemployment in most counties, the state budget, as it is in all of the west coast states, is in the red, the government manipulates the unemployment figures by not including those who have already collected their entire (extended) benefits, and I live in what the AP 2009 story’s 17th worst county in the US for bankruptcy, foreclosure, and unemployment, and it is not getting better.
Who was in charge of this debacle during this period? Our wholly Democratic Congress and White House, and our nearly wholly Democratic state house and Governor.
Facts are facts.
Real estate prices are still falling, which means that the economy will shrink even further. Unemployment will get higher. And it really doesn’t matter what they do in Washington. Even if they lower taxes, it wont be enough to offset the effect from the collapsing housing market.
Obama is going to hold speeches from now and until November 2012 trying to defend his policies. And the situation is just going to get worse, no matter what he does for the next two years. It’s gonna look like his policies are failing.
He has no chance of getting reelected. Actually there is a high probability that he will lose in all states, or close to all states.
I’m hoping Fast and Furious will end his reign.
What might help defeat him at the lowest cost is to target the Black Neighborhoods of the Swing States with Radio trucks trumpeting the fact that Obama, the son of an Arab and raised by white folk, used $10 billion of his wasted stimulus money to buy assault weapons for Mexican drug lords who target black families for destruction which guns funneled by Obama, killed Americans. “Obama is a tool of Soros. Wake up to the new slavery being chained on to you. Sell yourself to one party only and you will never shake off your chains.” Stuff like that could swing enough votes to gaurantee those swing states. Even if they don’t think of the publicity!! It might wake up alot of people. And he did it (sold guns to the worst type of foreign drug dealers on our porous border) in order to weaken the Second Amendment of our Bill of Rights, immediately after taking an oath to up hold and defend the Bill of Rights (and the rest of our Constitution). What an evil man, dripping in evil. Yuccch!
If Obama is not impeached, will be the legacy of all elected officials for allowing him to do it!!
the current occupant of the oval office is without a doubt the sorriest excuse for a president this nation has ever had the missfortune of having to suffer with.james earl carter looks like a very brilliant president in comparison,if this man was working for me I would have fired him yesterday,
RP accurately portrays, “. . . a debt-swollen government that ultimately kills American creditworthiness and long-term prosperity.”
But where is any evidence that this is not precisely what this socialist and his handlers seek to achieve in the “fundamental transformation” of America into an autocratic socialist state? That requires the destruction of our economic and individual freedoms, and they have made enormous progress in only 2-1/2 yr. Since winners write the histories, the hard left will proclaim RP’s deep concern–the destruction of capitalism (upon which our individual freedom is based)–to have been a major triumph.
The speech by the president on Monday night was pathetic. He keeps talking about “compromise,” yet he always threatens the people he negotiates with and refuses to compromise himself. He acts as if the election of 2010 never happened and that the mandate the Republicans received to reduce the size of government, reduce spending, and reduce taxes never, ever, happened. And like most soviet propagandists, he figures that if he keeps repeating lies long enough, people will start to believe them. So blame the Republicans, blame their leadership, blame everybody but himself. If he really wants “compromise,” maybe he should just accept “Cut, Cap, and Balance” and see what happens? If it succeeds, he can take credit for the grand compromise. If it fails, he can always blame it on the Republicans. After all, it was their bill, right? Nope, this president is petrified that a Republican idea may actually work, proving how big and bloated our Federal government really is. Time for YOU to COMPROMISE, Mr. President.
Can’t Obama sue and get some judge to restore the AAA rating?
Maybe he could, but it would be easier to just pretend it never happened.
Given the rating agencies’ performance during the great toxic-mortgages/derivatives debacle, as well as during TARP, Porkulus, and ObamaCare, who listens to them anyway? If we’ve learned anything from the past few years, it’s that the credit rating agencies and all those rulers in D.C. are not the brightest CFLs in the box.
You mean the liberal history book writers will not apply liberal deconstruction or neurolinguistics, or whatever they are calling their witchdoctering these days, to put the blame on anyone but the liberal at the helm of the Titanic when it sinks? I find that hard to believe. Being a liberal means never accepting your side is wrong.
This president is deserving of being described in the harshest terms, he is stuck on stupid. It appears he has never wanted to be the president of all the people and the only ones he goes to bat for are the tax eaters. (his peeps) Barry feels superior to most of us because he has gotten to middle age without ever having had a real job, I feel sorry for him.
The way he and Timmy have created a storm around the tax crisis and then said no to every plan other than the one in his head is ridiculous and perhaps pathological. I think he’s had the crack-up David T predicted on this board. Barry may yet tempt fate and do something that leads to charges of impeachment. 2012 cannot come quickly enough.
The President, and the Democratic leadership, don’t explain what his plan, and theirs, is, because they’ve finally realized that they don’t dare to. That is because it’s the same plan their party has pursued for the last fifty years;
1. Raise taxes on “the rich”; that term is never really defined, to allow them to raise taxes on everybody one way or another. (When taxes go up, everybody pays, especially poor people- usually at the grocery store and the gas pump.)
2. Borrow more money. From whom, is irrelevant. As is the concept that someday people will stop lending to them, just as banks don’t lend to bad risks- unless of course they are forced to by government fiat. (See “Community Reinvestment Act”, “Fannie Mae”, “Freddie Mac”.)
3. Promise spending cuts, or reductions in the rate of increase, or balanced budgets. Just never deliver on the promises. (They conflict with the progressive dogma of “Government must become ever larger and more powerful.”)
4. Launch newer, bigger, “better” spending programs on the social dogmas they love. Never mind that they will use up all the gains in revenue from the taxes and borrowing, even before the money actually arrives in the Federal Treasury. (If, in fact, it ever does.)
5. When the inevitable deficit appears- go back to (1) and start over again.
If Obama, Reid, et al., were honest, they would say, “Look, this is who we are. This is how we govern. We do it this way because it gets us what we want- power over you. We deserve it, because we are better than you are. So shut up and hand over your wallet. And your kid’s too, while you’re at it. But don’t worry- we’ll have a program to take care of you.”
The fact that they don’t tells me they know it wouldn’t sell to the American people. Not even the ones on the dole. (See [1].) People can still do math, in spite of half-a-century of dumbing down public education. And when they do the math, the likes of Obama and Reid look like either idiots, or crooks.
But they really aren’t either one. They’re just progressives. Who can’t understand why their watertight theories never work in the real world.
Answer; because it’s real. Fantasies of power tend not to work outside of dreams, novels- and faculty lounges.
The progressives are at least smart enough to realize that if they exposed their true level of contempt for the rest of us, they’d be out of power forever. And power is a drug they are as addicted to as the average cocaine addict is to nose candy.
On the other hand, the people who are opposing them now (cf. Boehner) aren’t perfect. In fact, they’ve been part of the problem for a long time, by acquiescing to whatever the progressives demanded, on the principles of “collegiality” and “compromise” and “having a seat at the table”.
All of which really means “we give them everything they want- and then they demand more, and we give them that, all to avoid them calling us names”.
Boehner and company have finally realized that, if you give the school bully your lunch money to avoid being beaten up- he’ll beat you up anyway because he likes beating people up to prove that he has power. And he’ll do it again tomorrow for the same reason. No, he doesn’t have “low self esteem”- he’s an egotistical, narcissistic nut job.
The only way to cure a bully is to beat HIM up. And for the “progressives”, especially the likes of Obama and Reid, it’s about half a century overdue.
clear ether
eon
I’m so tired of people calling them “progressives.” Why don’t we just call them what they are – Communists – and be done with it?
Progressive cancer is still progressive to the end.
Reid is not a Progressive or liberal. He is actually a fairly moderate Democrat. However, he puts politics above all else.
Reid is the most to blame for anything which occurs. He could make a deal with the House. They could pass a bill and dump it on the President’s desk. He would be forced to sign it. Reid wants to, but the appearance of caving to the Republicans would hurt him with the base. He wants Obama to provide cover, which Obama will not do. Obama does not provide cover for you. You provide cover for Obama.
In the end, Reid will make a deal. He’ll have to, because the political damage from doing nothing will exceed the political damage of doing the right thing. Hopefully, they will pass Coburn’s plan. Reid will tell Obama to just sign the damned thing or really own what happens. Game over.
Yea! But maybe a century overdue; ie, the establishment of the Fed in 1913.
The man’s stubborn, intransigent insistence on higher taxes on the 53% of us who already pay 100% of income taxes is his Marxist attempt to continue spreading the wealth. Everything he does is redistributive in nature from Obamacare to the auto bailouts to his support of the unions. The man loathes capitalism and the freedom of individual choice. He’s dangerous and absolutely must be defeated for the nation to survive as founded. If we continue down this path the nation will split in two with the parasitic, Leftist, liberals on one side and the liberty loving rest of us on the other. It may not be an amicable split either.
The most disturbing things is that there are millions of obamacrats who continue to militantly support him. Read any big city newspaper and his adorers are legion. The letters to the editors of the brain dead democrat union members continue to blame Bush and call for confiscation of the wealth from those who these losers deem who have too much as if this is the way to solve the staggering economic crisis brought on by Obama and Pelosi. The dim witted cannot see past their own stupidity to comprehend what dire straits into which this country has been put.
This would certainly NOT be the first default by US govt, there have been several;
Just after US revolutionary war, the US govt defaulted on just about all its debts to repay nations and creditors that extended credit to fight the War…mainly France. This default also precipitated the french revolution, as the default added to France’s economic mess and tipped France into the terrors of its own revolution.
Then in the Mid 1930, the US defaulted on ALL of its Gold obligations, which also added pressures during great depression as creditors reacted to US Governments Default.
In between were several defaults by entire regions of the US, as many as a dozen states would default their obligations at the same time.
The Audit of US Federal Reserve recently uncovered 10+Trillions in yet undeclared “loans” to Foreign entities the Fed made from 2007-2010, and refuses to disclose recipients. This will add to current woes as Wall street and creditors react to this information.
It is the US Citizens Responsibility, and the Citizen ALONE, to maintain Vigil over Congress and President. Since 1971 the US citizen has been oblivious, watching US presidents and Congress destroy the US dollar, US manufacturing, US control of its own economy without protest or even acknowledgement.
The US deserves the govt it has, for no other reason that watching it collapse day by day since 1971 when Nixon abrogated US treaties with rest of the world and revoked Gold backed US dollars and replacing them with worthless Petro Dollars. This is the source of all the bell aching, allowing every president and Congress since to spend without accountability.
Enjoy the view, your paying for it.
The real mockery here is the bloc of voters who put him in office. Millions of immature and intellectually lazy voters put this jerk in office, and millions of others have merely watched this slow train wreck in action. The rest will end up footing the bill for it all.
Affirmative action raised this klutz farther up the academic and political ladder than his natural character could ever have taken him. It’s not surprising, then, that he’s been further carried along by those with an agenda (namely, socialists) who identified with his low character and hitched their wagon to him for their own fleecing of America.
As you point out, when the chips are down, passivity is the order of the day with this POTUS. It seems one of numerous signals that he has been in over his head from day one. Never has a president appeared so consistently unpresidential. The man will prove to be history’s most towering example of arrested development.
I am not surpised by anything this POTUS does, or actually does not do. Remember, as a state senator, he voted present a good many times. He is a follower, not a leader.
BTW – New foreclosures are not at their highest level ever. They peaked in the second quarter of 2009 and in the firt quarter of 2011 (latest data available) are 35% off the peak
Obama’s presidency, coupled with the disastrous Pelosi-Reid Congresses, may prove to be the bitter tonic necessary to steer the country away from ever-growing entitlement addiction we’ve been on for so long. The recovery will be long and not always pleasant, but is the only way forward to avoid the collapses happening in Europe. A second Obama term, and another Supreme Court appointment or two, may very well be the final nail in the coffin of the American experiment.
There is only one reason for this crisis: Obama’s re-election.
Obama is not interested in the well-being of the US or Americans; he will readily allow the US to go into default (which it won’t because there is enough monthly tax revenue to cover its basic commitments)…while he holds the American people hostage to his agenda: re-election.
Obama needs to stave off any discussion of his statist economics, his Big Government which sucks the money from private business to ‘redistribute’ to Obama’s key voting bloc: the unionized public service which has increased under his tenure; the dependents on social security and unemployment which have increased under his tenure…the illegals working but not paying taxes.
This set is Obama’s basic support population. Note that the salaries, benefits and pensions of the unionized public service are shielded in large extent from taxation – and the rest of Obama’s base pay no taxes but are recipients of government funding.
Obama wants no hint of harm to come to these people during his election campaign.
Obama is not a leader, not an executive, not an intellectual, not a developer of programs and policies, not a patriot. He is one thing only: a clinical narcissist with a focus only on his own aggrandizement and power. And his need to control other people has expanded as he moved from the relatively harmless role of community organizer to the presidency.
Obama needs to protect the income of his base – which income all comes from the taxpayers. That’s what he’s fighting for now – desperately refusing any hint that this situation would be debated, discussed, voted on…even for a month..during the time to 2012.
Obama doesn’t care that this will harm the US economy, will harm the private businessman, the small businesses which Obama is seeking to destroy by his focus on their money and his desire to increase taxes. He just wants to win the election…and go golfing. He’ll blame anything and everything on the GOP or anyone else. But, he’ll be President. He has no interest apart from this.
And I suspect that Obama wants the extra taxation, which he now calls ‘revenue’ to hide that it’s the govt taking from the private citizen..I suspect that Obama plans to offer bonuses or special cheques during his re-election campaign to his electoral base..and others. He needs the extra money.
So, this entire situation is about one thing only. Obama’s re-election.
#17 ETAB:
“And I suspect that Obama wants the extra taxation, which he now calls ‘revenue’ to hide that it’s the govt taking from the private citizen..I suspect that Obama plans to offer bonuses or special cheques during his re-election campaign to his electoral base..and others.”
GAAAAHHHHH!!!! I hadn’t thought of that, and now it’s seared, seared! into my memory! When he tries that, the parallels with late Rome should be obvious, but won’t be to those who will think they deserve the handouts. Oh, another “classical” allusion to Dead White European Males.
And just when I have enough by which to be appalled, you have to go and make this astute observation …
EPIC FAIL
I agree with Mr. Pollock’s analysis, but for two words. He writes: “The president gingerly approached the debt crisis as he has approached other issues: intellectually, coolly, passively, and with great detachment.” Obama appears incapable of viewing anything “intellectually”, as everything he does and says is grossly partisan and with an eye to the next election. Most every word he says is beyond a distortion, but diametrically opposite reality. Like in Alice in Wonderland, his words mean what he means them to mean at any given time. And “coolly”? He has not shown cool during this process, just arrogance and pique, like a little brat who does not get his way on the schoolyard so he takes his ball and goes home.
“like a little brat who does not get his way on the schoolyard so he takes YOUR ball and goes home.”
Watch the Democrats use the MSM to pin it on the GOP.
Bet they get away with it.
only with the hopelessly brainwashed ..welfare types …and food stamp people ..ohh and generally students.
“…he knew his economic legacy was on the line. Historians will judge him for his economic stewardship.”
But the mantra will persist that a “racist America” held him back and forced him to do things he didn’t want to do, and that it was all Bush’s fault”.
Oh how I wish the hippie generation never came, least of all ten years ahead of me. It’s like a giant sore that itches and won’t go away and everyone can see it. “What’s that on your face?”, they always ask. “Oh, it’s the hippie generation. It really bugs me but the doc says there’s nothing I can do for it. I have to wait for it to go away on its own.” And always the same reaction, “Dude, that thing is nasty…Can’t you cover it up?”
“Well, anything I do just makes it worse. I tried heat, cold, drying ointments, all kinds of things. All it seems to do is react badly and get worse. It’s nasty alright. I wouldn’t mind it so much except it’s always there and it itches, daring me to scratch it. And if I do, it gets bigger. If I leave it alone, it gets bigger, but at a slower pace. Seems to be parasitic, but no matter what I do, it persists.”
Just like the hippies. We all have to wait until that portion of the population of the bell curve dies off and we can get back to normal. Problem is, I had hoped to avoid all this. When they start dying off, then I have ten years before my turn comes. It has sucked to live my life having to be behind them the whole trip. Everything they’ve touched has turned to crap and when I got there, they used all the paper towels, left s*** everywhere and didn’t clean up.
Thanks.
The way that I see this is that both sides are not telling us the truth. The question then becomes which side is telling the larger whopper? We are hearing constantly out of DC all about how either side is screwing all of us at any given moment. I am deeply concerned that we are truly heading for a depression and neither side is really willing to deal with this reality. We have an overly bloated military budget, three wars and a ton of illegals that are on the tax dollar roles as receiving money that they are not entitled to. Yet, our wonderful Congress has time to keep playing playground politics as usual. Where is this runaway train going to stop?
“We have an overly bloated military budget, three wars and a ton of illegals”
All of these things fall under the executive branch. The money for border enforcement was allocated in ’06. Neither Bush nor Obama have wanted to build the fence. Congress cannot end wars; only the President can. Defunding wars is playing politics with wars.
“The way that I see this is that both sides are not telling us the truth.”
False. The Republicans are doing exactly what they were elected to do. They passed 2 budgets this year, and the Senate killed both of them along Party lines. Republicans have passed any number of bills to fix certain things, and they all go to die in the Senate, along Party lines.
The Dems have specifically stated they will not offer a budget. They want the Republicans to pass a budget with all the hard choices. They want to demagogue the choices made to improve their own election prospects.
The Republicans are actually trying to solve the problem, but they lack the power to do so. The Dems have the power to do something but won’t. The Dems have the power. Theirs is the culpability. Theirs are the lies.
The Pubs are doing their jobs and are telling you the exact truth. You just do not want to believe them. I am betting you are an unhappy Dem who just does not want to blame the Dems, so you default to “both are to blame”, so you do not have to put the full blame where it belongs, on your own Party. I have a buddy just like that. Said the exact same thing to me Friday.
OTOH, maybe it is what liberal Media is peddling these days: “both are to blame”. I dunno, since I do not follow the liberal Media. Could be either, but it is just dishonest, either way.
The Dems have the power, and have done nothing to fix the problem. All the solutions proffered have come from the Republicans. The Dems are the problem.
I am thinking the idea of raising the debt limit is based upon there being a BUDGET from the U.S. Senate for the coming year. Now seriously does anyone really think the Senate will propose a budget? And just think the Senate will need to have another budget next year…before the 2012 election.
Since the democrats in the senate will not make any cuts to the following: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid ,Obamacare, education, IRS, high speed rail….and on and on…Trillions and Trillions of deficits as far as the eyes can see…
Those are just some of the reasons the Senate does not want to propose a budget.
Since we know the Hose has a budget, the House should just say to the Senate when you get a budget proposal get back to us, we will be on the golf course with Obama.
Obama’s rant was a farrago of lies, demagoguery,distortions and petulance;in brief: THE MENDACITY OF A DOPE!
Keep playing that violin while Banks are about to burn.
Not if but When the US gets down graded watch the effect on banks who supposedly hold direct obligations. When asked to post additional collateral they will fold and the ripple effects will be enormus
I read an article today that likens Obama to a college student who is put into a group to solve a problem but does none of the work and only says the work of others is no good. He has not out forth his own plan with specifics. He has access to the best and brightest minds to come up with a plan to solve this problem, and yet he doesn’t take advantage of them. He is only interested in his own reelection. God help this country if he is. Read his books to find out his thought process. Look at the company he keeps. It will scare the hell out of you if you believe in freedom. It is time for the democrats to run a primary challenger to this egotistical maniac.
The emperor has no clothing. His loyal handmaidens of the press will continue to remark on the crease in his pants, the fine tailoring that accents his trim physique but the truth is there for all the world to see. He has no clothing. Nothing.
Remember the threat when President Obama said as he walked out of the meeting with Congress discussing the debt early on “Eric, don’t call my bluff”something of the sort.Very unprofessional, street talk.
Maybe President Barack Obama really wants to “drive us over the cliff”-also remember his joke about Republicans having to sit in the backseat..
Actually,he may believe his friends and followers will not be hurt, or not hurt very much-whereas his “enemies” will suffer greatly.
Just thinking…
“This of course makes perfect political sense for Obama. The only currency here in Washington is political currency. In Washington, make-believe numbers over dollars and cents are the tradition of both parties.”
The billions wasted and nothing constructive is accomplished,rather, quite the opposite results occur.
I think the word you’re looking for is “histrionics”. These are more commonly found in the daily television soap operas of the past century. And just like them, Obama has passed his popularity.
However, when I think of government, I think if it as I do all relationships. A marriage even. And one of the biggest problems in marriages is disagreements over money. So it’s no real wonder why I want a divorce from this iteration of our government and get back to responsibly tending to the finances. It’s been a problem for a long time. Some administrations have been able to ignore it, some have decreased the problem and some, like right now have made it a phenomenal example of irresponsibility.
Whether it’s a plan by Captain Zero or due to ineptitude makes no difference. He may be the captain of the USS Debt Disaster but he has a full crew of able-crewmen who are more than happy to steer it to the shoals.
Any disinterested bystander, when asked, “If you had X amount of dollars and you could spend it on needed things or give it to people who would expect you to give them more, what would you do with it?” But then, the socialists get all in a tizzy about that word “needed things”. They firmly believe that the EPA, the DOE and so many other bloated agencies are “needed”. That these agencies were originally devised for simple oversight and have now grown multiple limbs and are now all about control is immaterial. Big government is good, unless a republican is president. When the EPA shows up at a socialist’s house and tells them they have to remove the lead-based paint on the porch, and a republican is president, they are “Nazis”. But when the EPA shows up for the same reason with Zero as president, they are “happy to do their part for Gaia”. Funny how it’s the same with the TSA.
This moral relativism is the basis for most of our problems. It’s 1969 and the parents are on one side of the table and the angry teenagers on the other who are mad because they were told if they didn’t do their homework they couldn’t watch Laugh-In. Moving to 2011, the teenagers are in some degree of power in our government and they are mad at the adults who told them to quit spending their allowances on crap. And no, you can’t have the car keys and you can’t have any more money. You bought the cassettes and that’s how you chose to spend it. No more til next month and oh, the garage isn’t gonna clean itself. If that’s not done, no allowance.
It’s really easy. Socialists have warped all that into the parents being “mean” but they have never learned the hard lessons in life. They want to spend and spend and spend…then they want more money from that never-ending “resource” you and I call taxes. Combine that with their belief that Europe did it right and you have the makings of a sitcom. Oh, wait, that was “All In The Family”. And we’re still living it.
Obama does not lie, he just speaks his own coded language for his own purposes. For example, “balanced approach” means to keep the blame game beneath his office. “More perfect union” means big government with central planning. “Folks” means you peasants. “Transparency” means limited access with a glossy media review. “Shovel ready” and “a bump in the road” that the folks are the butt of his jokes. The Obama plan means to guess what he might be thinking. It is not possible to unravel his delusions, and to translate his candor obtusively, is to begin to make sense of his madness.
“Winning the future” is about reconciling with with his past, and so on until no one wants to pay him more attention.
The national debt didn’t start today. What happened after Clinton left?
Who caused the foreclosures mess?
Why bailout unethical banks?
Why are the rich getting richer?
Don’t tamper with Social Security and Medicare, cut the Defense budget big time.
“The national debt didn’t start today.”
Hey LameO. As if existence began post Clinton?
So, what’s your point? Boooossshhh did it, too? That makes it okay for the Dems to do it on steroids? That makes Obama’s proposed budget okay, when he proposes to double the current debt in less than 10 years?
“Your guy is an armed robber, so therefore, it is okay for my guy to be a serial killer.”
I am sorry to see you have returned, vivo. You were not missed.
“Don’t tamper with Social Security and Medicare, cut the Defense budget big time.”
Brilliant. Yes, let’s cut the one thing that actually IS the Constitutional job of the federal government.
Keep it up Vivo! You’re our hero here. You even make other trolls look good.
“Don’t tamper with Social Security and Medicare, cut the Defense budget big time.”
Do you know–does ANY liberal know–that these entitlements cost TWICE what national defense costs?
Does ANY liberal bother to check actual figures anymore?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2007.png
You could zero out the entire defense budget, and we would still have a major debt problem caused by the skyrocketing cost of entitlements. Americans are living longer; the average life expectancy now is 78, with many Americans living longer than that. If someone lives to be 90 years old, they’re going to be collecting retirement benefits for 25 years. That’s simply unsustainable.
When FDR enacted Social Security in 1937, he set the SS retirement age at 65. Here’s a puzzle for you: Why did he choose 65?
And the next time you want to post something, first make sure you know what you’re talking about.
“I actually believe my own bullshit.”
– Barack Obama as quoted in Renegade.
Is this a confession of his true calling ? Copying the pattern of Charles Rangel’s successful forty year debate experience is quite tempting when your training provides only glorious hypothetical closing statements for consumption by undergrads and absolutely no solutions to real world problems. His is only a continuation of the spoiled brat attitude that has brought him this far into rabbit hole of parasite creditors where credit rating has been given priority over hemoglobin transfusion by both his subordinate appointees and lessor parasites waiting for another cascade of cash for their harvest pleasure.
Is this a confession of his true calling ? Copying the pattern of Charles Rangel’s successful forty year debate experience is quite tempting when your training provides only glorious hypothetical closing statements for consumption by undergrads and absolutely no solutions to real world problems. His is only a continuation of the spoiled brat attitude that has brought him this far into rabbit hole of parasite creditors where credit rating has been given priority over hemoglobin transfusion by both his subordinate appointees and lessor parasites waiting for another cascade of cash for their pleasure.
“Certainly high unemployment, a disastrous housing market, and a stagnant economy are national tragedies that occurred on the president’s watch. But these economic woes may be footnotes in the face of a debt-swollen government that ultimately kills American creditworthiness and long-term prosperity.”
Isn’t that exactly what the socialist/environmentalists/Marxists want? Isn’t that what Cloward-Piven calls for? Wasn’t that what 0 said he would do back in 2006-7? This President isn’t all that difficult to understand. He is doing pretty much what he said he would do, and believes he can get away with it. That is part of the reason he is so petulant when others disagree with or actively oppose him.
What do you do with Emperor Nero?
In his address last night Zero also prattled on about how important bipartisanship was in getting things done – and done well – and bemoaned the lack of ‘cooperation’ in this debt crisis. I think he forgot how well that worked when we got his health care program shoved down our throats.
So now it’s time “to eat your peas” Mr President. Adults are taking over this process and you can’t ‘move the goalposts’. You can accept or reject – it’s all the say you’ll have. You’ll be getting a bill or two crossing your desk in the next few days or so that addresses the problems that you and your spend-free dems (and yes – many Repubs too! I’m not forgetting you RINOS) have created in the first place- sign it if you’re smart. And I pray to God that one of those includes an amendment to our Constitution for a fool-proof ‘hand-cuff’ – a balanced budget amendment that ties spending and taxes to a percentage of GDP. Many of the states will be on that like a fly on a turd.
I was asked by a friend to describe Obama in a single sentence.
I said “crass mendacity”.
That sent sent another friend scurrying for his dictionary. He came back with a “that about describes him.”
Legacy?
The debt crisis coupled with the pie-in-the-sky budgets he’s proposed, Gun Walker, “we did it for the unions”, the utter sloppiness of the Health Care Act (how NOT to have legislation written), ObamaCare itself, … et cetera.
One could probably ask, what ELSE is lurking inside the Dept. of Justice.
When I was in school, Tammany Hall was taught as the epitome of the “art” of corruption. There was also some President back in the 1800′s who was generally regarded as the most ineffectual of the insignificant. I can’t remember who. (heh)
A century from now, Barack Obama will have a special place in the history books. It will NOT be insignificant.
If by that time, America’s black community as a whole has reached the level of Martin Luther King’s dream, it will almost inevitably look back upon this “first black” President with regret. He and Holder are screwing their own people.
This administration couldn’t care less about the “long term prosperity” of America, it is an administration driven by ideology, marxist ideology. And, for a marxist, America is THE enemy of any plan to build a new international order based on socialist principles. For a marxist, the weaker America becomes, the better.
For a marxist, there is no “political” game, there is only a real war between the forces of the revolution and the forces of capitalism. Period.
If we don’t understand this, we cannot understand the maneuvering of this administration.
PS And the marxists know that they have relatively little time left: the take-off is happening in the four corners of the world and soon they will no longer be able to move large masses of desperadoes, there will be a middle class of hundreds and hundreds of millions of human beings.
They must stop the growth, fast.
That’s where the “global warming hysteria” comes from, that’s where the insane policies of this insane administration come from.
Many are upset about our President, myself included, however we should be more upset with those in Washington that are suppose to keep the Pres. in check.
Our backup system is as corrupt as the one “leading” us.
Purge them all. Term limits, and no retirement benefits.
Jail time for Obama and all czars and those supporting them.
Progressives shatter tradition. Obama is a progressive.
The tradition of being President included competence at executive tasks.
Obama never realized that he needed to be competent at executive tasks, including knowledge of economics, budget preparation, and how to use subordinates in decision-marking.
Obama CANNOT act, even if he wanted to because he never acquired the competencies executives rely on.
Thus: “Passivity also was the hallmark of his approach to his other signature blockbuster initiatives: the TARP bailout, ObamaCare, and the financial services initiatives.”
Mr. President,
Your lease to our house is up in January of 2012, and I’m afraid that for you and your family renewal will not be an option. You may feel free to break the lease and vacate anytime between now and then.
Sincerely,
The People
You’re one year off, unless there is an impeachment.
“Politico’s Thrush identified this key vulnerability on Sunday when he wrote:
Can anyone envision a more devastating line than “Barack Obama, the man who lost America’s AAA credit rating — and brought you 9 percent unemployment”?”
What a load of stinking horse crap.
Every move the marxist has made and every lying word that has slithered out of his mouth is DESIGNED to cause a default.
The global sovereign debt bubble is the mother of all bubbles. The only road that does not lead to a total collapse of the economy is to take a large (15%?) contraction in GDP, start building a real economy (one not based on easy credit) and begin living within our means as a nation. No one, politicians and voters alike, wants to do what is necessary. BHO has not the slightest understanding of what is at stake. All he understands in the mushy dogma that passes for his supposedly superior intellect.
And no, we can not grow the GDP fast enough to resolve this dilemma within the next 10 years unless drastic measures are taken sooner rather than later. Even Ryan’s road map won’t get us there and that is the best plan put forth to date.
…. stepping off soapbox …..
Bob Hope on Zombies and Democrats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a6YdNmK77k
“Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.” George Washington
I do NOT believe Obama is deliberately out to destroy the country. Because lots of other decent Americans believe in liberalism. Paul Krugman is further to the left than Obama is on some things, but he really believes those things are best for the nation.
What’s happened is that liberalism has, as Margaret Thatcher put it, “finally run out of other people’s money.”
The liberals in my parents’ time were strong proponents of economic growth. FDR created the Tennessee Valley Authority, Hoover Dam got built on his watch, JFK pushed the manned space program, etc. These liberals knew that the only way to finance all their social programs was with an expanding economy.
What killed liberalism was when it embraced no-growth environmentalism, and began emphasizing conservation over production. Today, Hoover Dam–which was dedicated by FDR himself–would never be built, because the Natural Resources Defense Council would kill the project.
Today’s liberals are stunned that all their environmental and conservation regulations have come back to bite them. Most of those “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects in the stimulus package never got off the ground, because they ran right into today’s regulatory environment, in which it can take years just to get all the paperwork done, hold the public hearings, deal with NIMBY, etc.. Obama sheepishly admitted they weren’t as “shovel ready” as he thought.
And so, without economic growth, the rising cost of entitlements is driving America into bankruptcy.
Your idea of no economic growth is wayyyy offff target. The US Economy is not a local economy. Many large companies do their business, manufacturing and everything else in other countries. They sell lots of suff overseas. That’s where the growth is now and also permits them to avoid taxes that belong to the US economy, like the Ponzi scheme called Social Security. 82% of Americans believe and support SS. It’s one of the few great ideas. It’s a necessity, specially now that people over 50 cannot get well paying jobs. The only people who can avoid Social Security are the current 20-year-olds that can start saving for themselves. Baby boomers are counting on SS and Medicare. What’s the difference between animals and human beings?
Can I award 0bama an “FU”?
Yes you may and I will also send you a certificate of the FU Authentic Certificate with a Seal and everything Authentic looking and suitable for framing in an 8X10″ frame…hurry while supplies last an Official FU Certificate for the worst president ever!
IT seems as if though Obama has graduated from one tactic to another. At the beginning of the financial crisis of 2008 it was ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste.’
Now it has turned into ‘Never wait for a good crisis when you can create one’.
And to those who will most assuredly cry ‘BLASPHEMY! BLASPHEMY’ I say this: we are 4 trillion more dollars in debt and what have we bought with it!? We now have evidence that his cronies in the FBI, the DOJ, the ATF, and the DHS were responsible for trafficking arms into the hands of cartels and criminals! HE used this crisis (one he could very well have created himself) to pass gun laws by way of executive fiat. He now blatantly refuses to agree to a bipartisan plan (which isn’t good, I don’t agree with it but that’s another comment for another time) on the grounds that it will leave him unable to RAISE TAXES?
So he holds a gun to the country’s financial good name for the sake of being able to RAISE TAXES?
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot mate? What the hell are you damn doing!? Even 13 and 14 year olds know to stop a drunk bus driver when their lives are at stake. Now he demonizes the voters for giving him a ‘divided government’!?
Congress should enroll in “Free Credit Score .com”. And “LifeLock” too.
Well, maybe not “LifeLock”. Who’d want to steal an identity of a thief.
We need to start considering the “Null” case. That is – B.H.Obama got himself elected to bring down our great nation! I believe this is the case. It is time to stop running in circles and crying the “the sky is falling”. It is time to IMPEACH THIS IMPOSTER. His “high crime and misdemeanors” / – TREASON.
I understand how white tiger’s point of view can work for 2012 for bho. But as for me, I think even women and the young will come to their senses and pass on voting him back in as president. I just have a feeling the nation is on to him now.