Obama General Discussion, vol. 4

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I think that's just semantics. Most people still feel like they're in a recession, and still live like they're in one.

As for Social Security disability I'm sure that's been abused for years. I don't know what Obama has done to make it easier for people to get on it, I don't know anything about it. I do know of someone who got it years ago, I believe during the GWB administration, because of her post divorce issues and being afraid to drive on a highway. So my guess is that you might be able to get certain doctors of psychology to provide the required "proof", if you're so inclined. I don't even know what the requirements are.

Just as with anything else, I think the govt should crack down on abuses of that.
 
congratulations for having him on your ignore list? i don't see how this contributes to the discussion at all. but you missed the point anyway and don't seem to even want to have a discussion and would rather just point the finger at obama. if you don't see how bush's actions affected obama's presidency and how clinton's actions affected bush's presidency, etc., then i don't know what to tell you. the problems that existed on 1/19/08 existed the next day and didn't crop up overnight. thus, they can't go away overnight either.

So it's okay to blame past administrations when the current one fails? Okay then, i will remember that when Romney gets elected and you guys are having a go at him. Until then, lets try and remember who is running here; Obama and Romney (not Bush).

Obama ran on HOPE & CHANGE. He won with 70 MILLION VOTES. So the public must have felt very confident that he was going to fix everything. I suspect he knew that in this interview:


FLASHBACK: Obama: My Presidency Will Be 'A One-Term Proposition' If Economy Doesn't Turn In 3 Years - YouTube

As you can see in the second part of that video, Mr. Obama himself seems to realize it's not working out as planned. Suddenly he's not going to fix everything overnight, next week. So what Changed? Did people just give up Hope? Or did Mr. Obama get to Washington and realize that things are really different than they seem?

If the 2006 mid terms were seen as a referendum on Bush and the Iraq war, then its fair to say that the 2010 mid terms were a referendum on Obama and Obama-care. In 2008 McCain lost big even as polls had him close to Obama at times, even leading at one point.

I don't personally think Mr. Obama is a bad guy, just someone who's in over his head. I still find it quite odd that a guy goes from a community organizer to a senator to President. That's kind of like saying because i once sat in a flight simulator, so now im ready to fly to the moon.

But hey.. we've got this big messy tough democracy thing here...and that's the great thing about America is...because we have all this contentious ideas that are out there..

its great isn't it? :D
 
:| You have terrible heuristics.

This sums up a big portion of the electorate. And that's true for all sides actually. I would say that the majority of people in this country vote very short sighted.

Some vote because of their own wallet.

Some vote because of color of skin.

Some vote because of their religion.

Some vote because they've been taught to hate the other person.

None of these are reasons to vote.

All of these reasons throw out all logic, are short sighted, and won't help the big picture. We're a very short sighted, short attention span, immediate satisfaction type of society; and this is the reason that our elected officials campaign and for the most part preside with very immediate thinking and actions.

We have to start thinking long term or this will just continue.

Any policy that will result in an overnight rebound will more than likely fail us in the longterm. Long term thinking and policy might hurt in the short term. We've seen this time and time again, and for those of us not paying attention to these cycles you're damning us to repeat them all over again.

By no means has Obama been perfect, there is a lot I've disagreed with regarding his presidency, but one thing I do like about him is that he has done some things that are long term thinking regarding energy, healthcare, and economically speaking that haven't won him many immediate points with people. It's been awhile since we've seen that. I don't see Romney, or really any Republican currently that has any real long term ideas, in fact some have some very regressive ideas.

Listen, everyone knows certain things need to be fixed. For example: everyone knows that our safety nets are being abused(you're a fool to think that anyone is blind to this or that this is what anyone wants) but you're being short sighted and ignorant to think removing or cutting the safety net will solve anything. It will make the issue worse. You fix the bigger problem before you fix the safety net. This is just common sense, a common sense that is becoming foreign to a big portion of the electorate.
 
So it's okay to blame past administrations when the current one fails? Okay then, i will remember that when Romney gets elected and you guys are having a go at him. Until then, lets try and remember who is running here; Obama and Romney (not Bush).

Obama ran on HOPE & CHANGE. He won with 70 MILLION VOTES. So the public must have felt very confident that he was going to fix everything. I suspect he knew that in this interview:

I ask you, as a rational person, what opposition politician runs on a platform of "Let's Have More of the Same!" Every campaign operates under some form of "hope & change" narrative.

And I don't think any politician promises to fix everything. If voters thought Obama was going to do that, it's their fault for projecting impossible expectations on him. On election night, he also tried to dampen those expectations by cautioning people that change wouldn't happen in one term, but two.

We'll see what happens. :shrug:
 
I ask you, as a rational person, what opposition politician runs on a platform of "Let's Have More of the Same!" Every campaign operates under some form of "hope & change" narrative.

And I don't think any politician promises to fix everything. If voters thought Obama was going to do that, it's their fault for projecting impossible expectations on him.

It shocks me that this is so oblivious to so many.

Why has "hope and change" become such a phrase to harp on? And they started it during his campaign. It's baffling.

Like you said, EVERY politician runs on a similiar message. When I see people fall in line and start harping on this I can't help but wonder when they checked out, when did they place the blinders on in their life?
 
ch.gaschart


:| You have terrible heuristics. I assume starting a giant financial crisis was a great George W. Bush policy because it made gas prices crash? Maybe Obama should do it?

Also hope you don't complain about Mid East policy. Guess what motivates American bad ideas overseas? Keeping gas prices low...

Never fear, home prices are at their lowest since 2002, unemployment numbers are still high at 8.2% with only 120k jobs created last month, and there's the matter of Obama's $5 TRILLION in debt. I will give you this much, gas prices have gone down a bit over the last few days, which is possibly because of bad economic news. So there's that...

The $5 Trillion Man: Debt Has Increased Under Obama by $5,027,761,476,484.56 | CNSNews.com

(CNSNews.com)- In the 39 months since Barack Obama took the oath of office as president of the United States, the federal government’s debt has increased by $5,027,761,476,484.56.

Although he has served less than a term, Obama is now the first American president to see the federal government's debt increase by more than $5 trillion during his time in office.

During the full eight years that George W. Bush served as president, the federal government's debt increased by $4,899,100,310,608.44. (Rising from $5,727,776,738,304.64 to $10,626,877,048,913.08.)

The $5,027,761,476,484.56 that the debt has increased during Obama's presidency equals $16,043.39 for every one of the 313,385,295 people the Census Bureau now estimates live in the United States.

Hope everyone in America likes the return on our $16,043.39 investment (and counting)



And as for the middle east policy, whats not to love? We currently have wonderful peace and prosperity in all corners of the world especially in the middle east. Nobody wants nukes, nobody's firing any shots, no protests or uprisings, everyone loves their borders and is quite happy with everyone else's' religion, etc.

Obama didnt lose a drone in Iran and secretly tell Israel to wait until after the election to strike Iran :D

Israel to delay strike on Iran until after US elections? - Israel News, Ynetnews

Obama insisted that any attack on Iran should be postponed until after the US presidential elections in November, possibly even until next spring. The source revealed that Netanyahu consented to delaying a strike, but wished to know until when. “The question is how much time,” he reportedly said

Iran says copying US drone, reveals 'codes' - FRANCE 24

AFP - An Iranian military commander on Sunday said the Islamic republic is building a copy of a US spy drone captured in December 2011 and revealed what he said were "codes" gleaned from the unmanned aircraft.

"I am giving you four codes so the Americans understand just how far we have gone in penetrating the drone's secrets," General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' aerospatial division, told state television.
 
I ask you, as a rational person, what opposition politician runs on a platform of "Let's Have More of the Same!" Every campaign operates under some form of "hope & change" narrative.

And I don't think any politician promises to fix everything. If voters thought Obama was going to do that, it's their fault for projecting impossible expectations on him. On election night, he also tried to dampen those expectations by cautioning people that change wouldn't happen in one term, but two.

We'll see what happens. :shrug:

Hey Bo, clearly in the video I've posted you can see Mr. Obama saying that if change didn't happen in 3 years that we would be looking at a one term proposition.

And then on the other hand, you have actors such as Matt Damon who are bashing this president for selling out to the establishment to get re-elected.

Matt Damon Rips Obama - Would Prefer A 'One Term President With Some Balls' - YouTube

Clearly watching the entire video, there are some interesting points. Left side of the corporate robot versus right side of the corporate robot...46% of the people dont have anything to vote for, etc.

So yeah, we'll see what happens i guess.
 
In a debate over what a President may or may not have control or influence over, given your position in said debate, I'd suggest leaving the drone out of it?
 
Hey Bo, clearly in the video I've posted you can see Mr. Obama saying that if change didn't happen in 3 years that we would be looking at a one term proposition.

And then on the other hand, you have actors such as Matt Damon who are bashing this president for selling out to the establishment to get re-elected.
I'm not sure I understand your point. Bo asked you to tackle this rationally. What does Obama saying in that interview have to do with what Damon is saying in the other?

Change has occured, now we can argue if it's enough, but Obama didn't clarify that in that interview.

Damon represents those on the left that thought they were going to get more of a progressive president. The fact that they are frustrated shows that the Tea Party people have it wrong.

There will always be frustrated sanctions in this country. How many pro-life people were upset that Bush didn't end abortion? Did they still vote for him? Yes.

Really? Why?

I disagree....the drone should be talked about.

Why? I would think most rational people would understand how this works. Would president's be blamed for prisoners captured during wartime?
 
Toying with Medicare to fix elex
By BENJAMIN E. SASSE & CHARLES HURT
Posted: 10:45 PM, April 22, 2012



Call it President Obama’s Committee for the Re-Election of the President — a political slush fund at the Health and Human Services Department.

Only this isn’t some little fund from shadowy private sources; this is taxpayer money, redirected to help Obama win another term. A massive amount of it, too — $8.3 billion. Yes, that’s billion, with a B.

Here is how it works.

The most oppressive aspects of the ObamaCare law don’t kick in until after the 2012 election, when the president will no longer be answerable to voters. More “flexibility,” he recently explained to the Russians.


Postponing the pain: The administration is temporarily restoring funds to Medicare Advantage so seniors don’t lose coverage before the election.
But certain voters would surely notice one highly painful part of the law before then — namely, the way it guts the popular Medicare Advantage program.

For years, 12 million seniors have relied on these policies, a more market-oriented alternative to traditional Medicare, without the aggravating gaps in coverage.

But as part of its hundreds of billions in Medicare cuts, the Obama one-size-fits-all plan slashes reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage starting next year — herding many seniors back into the government-run program.

Under federal “open-enrollment” guidelines, seniors must pick their Medicare coverage program for next year by the end of this year — which means they should be finding out before Election Day.

Nothing is more politically volatile than monkeying with the health insurance of seniors, who aren’t too keen on confusing upheavals in their health care and are the most diligent voters in the land. This could make the Tea Party look like a tea party.

Making matters even more politically dangerous for Obama is that open enrollment begins Oct. 15, less than three weeks before voters go to the polls.

It’s hard to imagine a bigger electoral disaster for a president than seniors in crucial states like Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio discovering that he’s taken away their beloved Medicare Advantage just weeks before an election.

This political ticking time bomb could become the biggest “October Surprise” in US political history.

But the administration’s devised a way to postpone the pain one more year, getting Obama past his last election; it plans to spend $8 billion to temporarily restore Medicare Advantage funds so that seniors in key markets don’t lose their trusted insurance program in the middle of Obama’s re-election bid.

The money is to come from funds that Health and Human Services is allowed to use for “demonstration projects.” But to make it legal, HHS has to pretend that it’s doing an “experiment” to study the effect of this money on the insurance market.

That is, to “study” what happens when the government doesn’t change anything but merely continues a program that’s been going on for years.

Obama can temporarily prop up Medicare Advantage long enough to get re-elected by exploiting an obscure bit of federal law. Under a 1967 statute, the HHS secretary can spend money without specific approval by Congress on “experiments” directly aimed at “increasing the efficiency and economy of health services.”

Past demonstration projects have studied new medical techniques or strategies aimed at improving care or reducing costs. The point is to find ways to lower the costs of Medicare by allowing medical technocrats to make efficient decisions without interference from vested interests.

Now Obama means to turn it on its head — diverting the money to a blatantly nonexperimental purpose to serve his political needs.

A Government Accounting Office report released this morning shows, quite starkly, that there simply is no experiment being conducted, just money being spent. Understandably, the GAO recommends that HHS cancel the project.

Congress should immediately launch an investigation into this unprecedented misuse of taxpayer money and violation of the public trust, which certainly presses the boundaries of legality and very well may breach them.
If he’s not stopped, Obama will spend $8 billion in taxpayer funds for a scheme to mask the debilitating effects on seniors of his signature piece of legislation just long enough to get himself re-elected.

Now that is some serious audacity.

Benjamin E. Sasse, a former US assistant secretary of health, is president of Midland University. Charles Hurt covers politics in DC.


President Obama’s Medicare slush fund—Benjamin E. Sasse & Charles Hurt - NYPOST.com
 
Mrs. Garrison said:
Really? Why?

I disagree....the drone should be talked about.

Why? I have no idea how the President would be at fault? Does he fly the things? Also, you could argue that his influence in relation to this was a positive. Obama is known as Drone Fan # 1. You could argue its situations like this that highlight their value. Shit like this happens from time to time, but now, there's not the added issue of a US pilot or two in a prison in Tehran. So, thumbs up?
 
So it's okay to blame past administrations when the current one fails? Okay then, i will remember that when Romney gets elected and you guys are having a go at him. Until then, lets try and remember who is running here; Obama and Romney (not Bush).



don't worry, i'll still continue to blame Bush and the Republican congress. the reason we have $5T in debt is because we have a revenue problem, not a spending problem, thanks to the Bush tax cuts. of course, his endless wars and prescription drug handout didn't help things. it shocks me to see people blame Obama for Bush's debt.

however, i fully expect Romney to pick up where Bush left off. cut food inspectors. cut Social Security. cut Medicare. cut Medicaid. cut education. cut the FBI. cut food assistance for poor mothers. cut veteran's health care. keep and expand tax cuts for millionaires. keep deductions for yachts, planes, vacation homes. keep loopholes that let GE pay no tax last year. and increase defense spending so we're left even further in debt and dealing with wider income inequality and a war in Iran.
 
Michael Savage takes credit for being the first to draw attention to this drone story, and he's the one that started making this an Obama issue. Although he takes it a step further and says it was given to them by spies that Obama planted in the White House. What this story is leaving out is that even if they really have this drone(and in working condition) and actually have the ability to replicate its technology(both pretty big ifs) they dont have the software or the OS designed to control it.
 
Yeah, be it Obama or Romney or whomever, nobody is going to be able to clean this mess up in a few short years. The Bush administration left us with a long-term mess we have to clean up in all sorts of areas. Ten years from now we'll probably still be cleaning up the mess from 2000-2008 in some form or another, unless a serious miracle occurs.

Obama deserves criticism for the areas where he's failed to change what Bush has done, where he hasn't worked harder, and so forth. Absolutely. He's not free from blame here, either.

But anyone expecting this to be fixed in the short term, Obama included, was being very optimistic, which is certainly nice-a positive attitude should be a good motivator to get people at least starting to take care of things. However, they were also very, very naive.
 
also, as for housing prices, let's all remember that housing from 2003-2007 or so was HUGELY inflated due to a bubble. remember that bubble? i do.
 
BoMac said:
I ask you, as a rational person, what opposition politician runs on a platform of "Let's Have More of the Same!" Every campaign operates under some form of "hope & change" narrative.

And I don't think any politician promises to fix everything. If voters thought Obama was going to do that, it's their fault for projecting impossible expectations on him. On election night, he also tried to dampen those expectations by cautioning people that change wouldn't happen in one term, but two.

We'll see what happens. :shrug:
exactly. there's only so much he can do if the senate is going to act how they've acted, and it's unrealistic to expect someone to undo something that took eight years in just about half that.
 
Irvine511 said:
don't worry, i'll still continue to blame Bush and the Republican congress. the reason we have $5T in debt is because we have a revenue problem, not a spending problem, thanks to the Bush tax cuts. of course, his endless wars and prescription drug handout didn't help things. it shocks me to see people blame Obama for Bush's debt.
yep. each president inherits the good and bad of the one before him, so it's a bit much to expect change and a complete reversal overnight.

and for anyone who says he's been president long enough now, see my previous post. if he gets reelected and in 2016 things are still total shit and never got better? then fine. but until then it's not a fair comparison.
 
say what you want
but he made short work of that surplus, (quite an accomplishment for those that want less government)
 
You know of all the truly stupid criticisms of Obama (and there are fair ones, which I've pointed out here, like the ACA being a crappy piece of legislation open to constitutional challenge, like Geithner not being fired, etc), the gas prices has got to be one of the stupidest.

Since when do prices of oil per barrel fall under the control of the US president?? I mean did we all wake up and suddenly OPEC disappeared? Strife in the middle east no longer existed and impacted gas prices? Demand in the developing world vanished?

Just too stupid for words, honestly.
 
Why? I have no idea how the President would be at fault? Does he fly the things? Also, you could argue that his influence in relation to this was a positive. Obama is known as Drone Fan # 1. You could argue its situations like this that highlight their value. Shit like this happens from time to time, but now, there's not the added issue of a US pilot or two in a prison in Tehran. So, thumbs up?

No need to get testy with me, im a big fan of drones myself since we began deploying them in action back in 2001.

However....and yes stuff does happen....a president is judged not only on the economy but also foreign policy. As Commander in Chief of the military you are responsible for what goes down on your watch, Good Or Bad. Remember Abu Ghraib?

So yeah, we need to have this discussion. They have in their possession one of our top secret stealth drone aircrafts...they are flaunting this and they apparently have no intention on giving it back.....that's kind of a big deal. Second time this administration has lost something like this...thinking of the helicopter in the Pakistan raid.
 
Yeah, be it Obama or Romney or whomever, nobody is going to be able to clean this mess up in a few short years. The Bush administration left us with a long-term mess we have to clean up in all sorts of areas. Ten years from now we'll probably still be cleaning up the mess from 2000-2008 in some form or another, unless a serious miracle occurs.

Obama deserves criticism for the areas where he's failed to change what Bush has done, where he hasn't worked harder, and so forth. Absolutely. He's not free from blame here, either.

But anyone expecting this to be fixed in the short term, Obama included, was being very optimistic, which is certainly nice-a positive attitude should be a good motivator to get people at least starting to take care of things. However, they were also very, very naive.

So Bush owns 2000 - 2008 yet somehow Obama is not accountable for 2009 - present?

:D
 
And this can't be good!

:angry:

..

North Korea issues unusually specific threat


North Korea's military vowed a new and unusually specific threat to its neighbors, saying it would reduce South Korea "to ashes" in less than four minutes.

The statement, released Monday when programming was interrupted on North Korea's state TV by a special report, comes amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Earlier this month, North Korea was unsuccessful in a long-range missile launch, prompting worries that North Korea may conduct another nuclear test. South Korean officials say new satellite images show that North Korea has been digging a tunnel in what appears to be preparation for a third atomic test.

According to the Associated Press, the statement from North Korea was unusual in promising something soon and in describing a specific period of time.

The North Korean military threatened to "reduce all the rat-like groups and the bases for provocations to ashes in three or four minutes, (or) in much shorter time, by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style."

For months the North has castigated South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and the conservative administration for insulting their leadership and criticizing a new cruise missile capable of striking anywhere in the south.

South Korean officials responded, urging North Korea to end the threats. "We urge North Korea to immediately stop this practice," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk said, according to the Associated Press. "We express deep concern that the North's threats and accusations have worsened inter-Korean ties and heightened tensions."

Meanwhile, in a meeting Sunday with a North Korean delegation in Beijing, China's senior official on foreign policy praised the leadership shown by North Korea's new young leader, Kim Jong Un.

The meeting follows the April 13 launch of what the United States called a disguised ballistic missile test by North Korea. The rocket disintegrated minutes after launch.

-- With reporting by Ron Recinto

North Korea issues unusually specific threat | The Envoy - Yahoo! News

Ive posted before in another thread about my experiences in South Korea, and how much they had grown even from 1992 - 1997 when i returned. I seriously hope this is just more of the same old sabre rattling from the North, hoping to get some food aid or something like that. If they ever did launch something it would be utterly devastating and a complete disaster for the entire region...and i suspect we would be right smack dab in the middle of it all.

So much shit goes on over there that we don't hear about...so something like this is specifically alarming.

Lets hope people come to their senses...
 
No need to get testy with me, im a big fan of drones myself since we began deploying them in action back in 2001.

However....and yes stuff does happen....a president is judged not only on the economy but also foreign policy. As Commander in Chief of the military you are responsible for what goes down on your watch, Good Or Bad. Remember Abu Ghraib?

Yes, a president is judged on foreign policy. Take a look at where the presumptive Republican nominee stands on foreign policy and then ask yourself if that would really be an improvement. And if we're going to compare losing a drone to Abu Ghraib, well, I'd rather lose 10 drones then have another Abu Ghraib incident.

Second time this administration has lost something like this...thinking of the helicopter in the Pakistan raid.

Wait, what? They lose a helicopter (which they destroyed before leaving) while executing an extremely high-risk stealth operation that ended in the successful capture and killing of Public Enemy #1, and you're busting Obama's balls for the chopper?
 
And this can't be good!

:angry:



North Korea issues unusually specific threat | The Envoy - Yahoo! News

Ive posted before in another thread about my experiences in South Korea, and how much they had grown even from 1992 - 1997 when i returned. I seriously hope this is just more of the same old sabre rattling from the North, hoping to get some food aid or something like that.

Given how spectacularly their last missile launch failed, I'd go with the sabre rattling.
 
Second time this administration has lost something like this...thinking of the helicopter in the Pakistan raid.

It's like we're reaching new levels of ridiculousness.

Did the crew of that helicopter not DESTROY it after it was damaged in a "hard landing"? Can you imagine if this kind of criticism was leveled against Bush? We'd all be accused of being terrorist-sympathizing haters of the troops.
 
As Commander in Chief of the military you are responsible for what goes down on your watch, Good Or Bad. Remember Abu Ghraib?

Abu Ghraib, the discussion was about how far up the chain of command were these orders made and allowed to happen?

Losing a drone comes down to a technical defect(Obama didn't design the drone) and/ or a faulty pilot. From what I've read, it was both.

So how are these the same?
 
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