If Obama continues to displease the voters, his summer of Hope and Change may well turn into his Winter of Discontent.
President Barack Hussein Obama rode into the White House on what some have termed a “tidal wave” of popularity. His electoral numbers, while not a landslide, were certainly impressive: he garnered 53% of the popular vote, and 365 electoral college votes (270 were needed to win).…
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Article comments
126 - Cindy
haha I need to edit my posts. how silly...
127 - Jeannie Danna
Wait a minute! I wrote #125 before I read #122!
I guess I shouldn't be bitching...
OMG LOL WTF 3@#@!! :0
128 - roger nowosielski
Bigger ears than grandma? A big bad wolf and little red riding hood.
129 - Jeannie Danna
I want to trust the internet. Now that's silly!
130 - roger nowosielski
Trust it as far as you can throw it.
I'm gonna watch a movie now. Later.
131 - Jeannie Danna
I have to go make a correction comment now.:(
132 - Cindy
I looked up your name in bing Jeannie. It is also putting things you said in this thread under that article name.
Half the time I am looking for something someone said in blogcritics., I go to search with the few words I remember even with google advanced search it brings up some other unrelated article.
The internet is like a brain. Sometimes subject to random assignment of data.
133 - Jeannie Danna
I don't like these search engines Cindy. In my mind it is a person writing those things, but it's not is it?
I left you a MSG on FB! Read it OK?
134 - roger nowosielski
It's like in
" . . ,every step you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you"
135 - Jeannie Danna
The police? or just Sting...
136 - roger nowosielski
What do you think? Remember now what Chris said. You've got to let go of . . . you know what.
137 - Jeannie Danna
Wow, that was strange! My comment just disappeared into thin air.
138 - roger nowosielski
Will talk later, Jeannie. I'm just waiting for an edit re: my submission.
139 - Clavos
Jeannie #74:
[Had to take my wife to several doctor's appts. today -- just finished all the mundane stuff, time to give some responses]
You say:
President Obama is the most inclusive president we have ever had...
Not sure what you even mean there, but in any case I don't think I addressed it.
President Obama does not want to force this country to change from "business as usual.
Jeannie, he already has. Here are a few instances for you: AIG, GM, Chrysler, mandates limiting executive pay, bailouts, giving (yes, giving) a big chunk of an American auto manufacturer to a European one, screwing invesators in the takeovers of both GM and Chrysler, and on and on -- it's far from over.
President Obama does not want to stand between you and your health care providers.
He promises to save money while insuring an additional 50 million people. If you believe he can do that, I've a beautiful bridge in Brooklyn for sale. How do you think he'll do both? By cuttiong services -- there's no other way to effect the kind of savings he promises. If he doesn't cut services (and he may not due to the hue and cry), he will spend so much money we'll never get out of debt. That part he's already started -- he "bailed out" GM and Chrysler with billions upon billions of our money and they are still declaring bankruptcy and laying off tens of thousands of workers.
If GM hadn't destroyed the EV1-Electric car, America would be at the for-front of the Automobile industry instead of having to file for bankruptcy.
Jeannie, the troubles of the US car industry go back a lot farther than the EV-1 (for which, BTW we still don't have adequate batteries. Current news reports indicate we're negotiating with Asians to provide us with batteries because their technology is so much more advanced than ours). But back to the fall of the US auto makers: for decades, Jeannie, they built shitty cars, while the Japanese quietly moved into our market with sturdy, reliable autos which also cost (at first) a lot less than the American cars. They gave away the store to the UAW, which raised their costs even more, and now they are having to support and provide health insurance to over a million people who don't even work for them -- they're retired. Ford woke up a few (very few) years ago, and began to emphasize quality -- it's a major reason they're not looking for handouts from the government, but even Ford's cars don't yet measure up to the Asian product, which now includes Korean cars as well.
Who says this is just a honeymoon?
140 - Clavos
Jeannie #94:
I am often confused by Clavos! It seems to me that he does share my political point of view in some areas.
That's because I probably do.
I've tried to point out repeatedly on many of these threads and for a long time, that I hold both liberal and conservative views -- it's the reason why I reject attempts to pigeonhole me as a Republican or even a conservative.
On most social issues, I'm quite liberal, even more liberal on some than most Democrats or self-styled liberals. I'm conservative on fiscal matters, I'm against big government (the biggest reason I don't support Obama), and big spending.
In short: I'm an independent with views that both agree and disagree with both liberals and conservatives, depending on the issue.
141 - Clavos
Horace #90:
You ask:
Clavos, I'm wondering why you call the change Obama is trying to usher in "His private vision" afterall we had a issue orientated champagne where the canidates expressed their positions - then an election where voters voted for the positions/visions they shared. You sound like you Share some of Obama's view so why call them private?
You're right in that we did have a fairly clear-cut, issues-oriented campaign season which, on the surface at least, appeared to give the voters clear choices, and you're right, they voted accordingly.
Or so they thought.
Why do I say this? That's the point of my article: much of what Obama has been doing since he took office is beginning to lose him the support of the very people who put him in office, as I demonstrate in the piece. thus, there appears to be a disconnect between the candidate the voters thought they were voting for, and the President they actually got; the polls seem to indicate that they are beginning to see this and pull away. If his vision is beginning to turn off the voters, it's because it is not their vision, hence it has to be his "private" one.
There is, according to news reports, dissension not only among the voters, but among some Democratic politicians as well -- further evidence that he is marching to his own drum.
i think the evidence shows that Obama's vision is increasingly becoming private. Or, it may have always been; the platform he espoused during the campaign may have been tempered by the pragmatism necessary to get elected.
Only Obama knows that for sure, but we can all see the discontent brewing in the ranks, and that's what I tried to point out.
142 - Bliffle
Clavos:
"He promises to save money while insuring an additional 50 million people.... How do you think he'll do both? By cuttiong services -- there's no other way to effect the kind of savings he promises."
Not at all.
Do the math.
If we currently insure 200million people for $2.2trillion/year in the private insurance companies, and we propose to increase the head count by 50million people (about 25%), then cutting the Ins. Co. overhead rate from 40% to 3% (medicare overhead rate), we get the following:
new annual cost for existing 200million people = $2.2T * (1 - 0.40 + 0.03) = $2.2T * 0.63 = $1.4T
add in the new 50million people, 25%:
cost for 250million people = $1.4 * 1.25 = $1.7T
for a net savings of $0.5T/year.
Do the math.
143 - Clavos
Sorry, Jeannie, I failed to close a tag back there, and part of my reply to you didn't post. You asked:
Who says this is just a honeymoon?
As I pointed out in the article, it's a concept invented by the press many years ago, to give a name to the period at the beginning of a new president's tenure when they (and the voters) refrain from criticizing him while they wait to see how he'll work out. The length of a honeymoon varies widely, according to how well the new chief executive does in everyone's eyes.
Obama's seems to be just about over.
144 - Clavos
Way too simplistic, bliffle. Among other things, ignores the current $60B a year in Medicare fraud, which will inevitably skyrocket when Medicare is covering everyone.
You also overlook the historic inability of the government to do anything inexpensively, from road building to rocketry to buying hammers or wheelchairs.
The services will be cut, bet on it. people like my wife, who cost a lot of money and contribute nothing to society (because they can't work), will inevitably be denied anything beyond palliative (hospice) treatment and warehoused.
145 - Cindy
Clav, Dan(Miller),
Here is the latest on your subject matter.
(and now I bid you adieu)
Europeans pressure Iran to end protest crackdown
AMSTERDAM â€" Europe has stepped up pressure on Iran to end its bloody crackdown on street protests, feeling less constrained to speak out than President Barack Obama â€" who has made engagement with the Islamic Republic a keystone of U.S. foreign policy.
But like Obama, European leaders have tempered their reaction, wary of crossing a line that could make matters worse for the dissenters in Tehran and undermine efforts to contain Iranian nuclear ambitions.
146 - Ruvy
The services will be cut, bet on it. people like my wife, who cost a lot of money and contribute nothing to society (because they can't work), will inevitably be denied anything beyond palliative (hospice) treatment and warehoused.
A national health care system has to go along with a number of other things that most European countries have, but which America lacks. One of them is a sufficient system of benefits for those "unable to contribute to society (because they can't work)". Europe has some of these benefits, though the Europeans have paid for all their benefits by having few kids, and cutting their replacement populations, creating a labor shortage and what is now known as "Eurabia". They've made a pact with the devil and are now paying him his due.
However Israel, which has not cut its replacement population, does have such benefits. It would be worthwhile for any advocate of universal health care in the States to look carefully at the Israeli system and package of social welfare benefits.
However before any American administration looks at such things, it would be healthier to get America back on the road of fiscal responsibility and stability. This, the sitting administration of the United States refuses to do. Therefore it has persuaded ABC News to do its propaganda work for it, and produce an extended infomercial pushing its version of health care from the White House in the guise of "news". Thus, the sitting administratio admits that the task of restoring fiscal responsibility is the impossible one. Therefore the only questions are when will hyper-inflation start to kick in world-wide, and when will Obama's popularity really fall?
147 - Horace Mungin
Clavos, I don't think that there is a change in our shared vision, that is (slightly) lowering the president's rating, but rather the difficulties he's running into trying to deliver on our shared vision - patience is required here, but this is something we liberals are short on its been so long since we've had a chance to move the country forward. Plus, we want so much to make up for the wasted last eight years - gosh, the guys only been president for 5 months and 3 days. He can't reverse the failures of the last eight years in that short a time - lets give him a full year, and if he can't do it in a year, then start the impeachment movement. (Only joking)
148 - Bliffle
I call BS , Clavos. Where do you get this $60billion figure?
"144 - Clavos
Way too simplistic, bliffle. Among other things, ignores the current $60B a year in Medicare fraud, which will inevitably skyrocket when Medicare is covering everyone."
Says who?
Way too simplistic.
"You also overlook the historic inability of the government to do anything inexpensively, from road building to rocketry to buying hammers or wheelchairs."
What are you talking about? The transnational road system was built by the government (under Eisenhower, a Republican) and has performed magnificently, both to unite the country and to promote commerce.
The government sent rockets and even astronauts to the moon.
And if you think that private companies don't buy overpriced hammers and whatever it just proves you've never worked in the engineering department of any major electronics company.
"The services will be cut, bet on it. people like my wife, who cost a lot of money and contribute nothing to society (because they can't work), will inevitably be denied anything beyond palliative (hospice) treatment and warehoused.
#"
Feeling guilty, Clavos? Afraid your fortuitous sweetheart deal with Humana will end? You know, the one where you get $70k of benefits every year for a $11k premium?
149 - Baronius
"his vision and proposals are and have been bold, perhaps excessively so in some instances"
Clavos, I can accept the word "bold" in reference to their size and speed, but all of the policies I can think of have been intellectually timid. His energy and education policies were born in the 1970's; his health care policy is right out of the Clinton years. His economic and budgetary policies are big, but you can't call them original. They've followed the Democratic script. The most distinct aspect of his foreign policy, his outreach to Muslim nations, is just a replication of Carter's attitude toward Communism.
150 - Clavos
I call BS , Clavos. Where do you get this $60billion figure?
Call BS all you want, bliffle, your calls don't mean anything to me anyway. We've already been round and round on this one on other threads, and I've given you citations, including from FBI reports, for that figure.
What are you talking about? The transnational road system was built by the government (under Eisenhower, a Republican) and has performed magnificently, both to unite the country and to promote commerce.
As usual, your reading comprehension is sub par, bliffle. I said ""You also overlook the historic inability of the government to do anything inexpensively, from road building to rocketry to buying hammers or wheelchairs." The operative word is inexpensively.
And the road system you say "has performed magnificently, both to unite the country and to promote commerce, is the chief reason for urban sprawl and the decline of most of our central cities. It also is a prime contributor to our dependence on foreign oil, by forcing most of us to commute large distances to work. Urban sprawl has also impeded racial integration.
The government sent rockets and even astronauts to the moon.
At enormous expense for relatively little gain -- it was a PR stunt more than anything. However, as I've said in the past, NASA is one of only a handful of government agencies that is not totally inept.
And if you think that private companies don't buy overpriced hammers and whatever...
If (not when) they do, they aren't spending taxpayer's money.
Feeling guilty, Clavos? Afraid your fortuitous sweetheart deal with Humana will end?
Guilty? Absolutely not, I have nothing for which to feel guilty, and Humana makes lots of profit, even paying my wife's bills. Afraid Obama and his plan will put Humana out of the health insurance business? You bet.
151 - Clavos
Baronius,
Agreed. I didn't say he's innovative or a trailblazer; his boldness lies primarily in the way he's spending money.
152 - Bliffle
I don't see any FBI report that says "...$60B a year in Medicare fraud...".
You've never even given a bad citation.
I'm calling you out Clavos: show me a citation for that FBI report.
Otherwise you're just full of BS.
153 - Clavos
I already cited it for you on another thread a few days ago, bliffle.
Not my problem you didn't read it.
You want it, go back and find it.
154 - roger nowosielski
A must-see on the Iranian resistance.
Don't forget the featured Utube video.
155 - Zedd
What is more significant with regard to Iran is who Obama is. Interesting and seemingly comprehensive viewpoint on Fresh Air today(Understanding Iran's Turmoil: An Expert Weighs In
).
156 - Jeannie Danna
Clavos, In case you missed The Health Care Conversation I thought President Obama made a very clear argument as to where the money to pay for Health care will come, by cutting out the wasteful spending!
To counter your assertion that the batteries have not been developed yet, I beg to differ. The most successful EV ever made, the Toyota RAV4-EV on the right, is still active in California in fleet and individual use, still running on the original pre-2002 Nickel Metal Hydride batteries and still retaining a range over 100 miles, even though Toyota is not providing replacement batteries. All the other EVs produced under the prodding of the ZEV Mandate, including the 1997 EV1 on the left, were NEVER SOLD OR OFFERED FOR SALE, and all have been destroyed by permission of CARB when, in March, 2003, CARB surrendered to the petroleum industry and the Bush regime. It appears to me that the big oil companies and their supporters are the demise of GM,not the UAWU!
He's still on his honeymoon
157 - Bliffle
There's no citation to an FBI report saying there's $60billion in fraud.
158 - Bliffle
Now here is an FBI citation to an attempted fraud:
FBI fraud report
An ATTEMPTED fraud of $1.1million, but the perps were caught.
159 - Clavos
Jeannie,
You need to read more carefully. I didn't say that batteries haven't been developed yet, I said "BTW we still don't have adequate batteries. Current news reports indicate we're negotiating with Asians to provide us with batteries because their technology is so much more advanced than ours."
Even now, there is only one American battery maker that even comes close to the Asian level of expertise, and even they are facing enormous challenges in trying to catch up with the Asians.
160 - Clavos
I thought President Obama made a very clear argument as to where the money to pay for Health care will come, by cutting out the wasteful spending!
Sure, Jeannie. You need to take a look at that bridge I have for sale up in NY. You'll love it.
Obama, the President who is spending more than any other in history is going to cut spending? Uh huh.
161 - Jeannie Danna
Yes Clavos, That's what the link I provided says.
My point is to say it was not the UAW that brought GM down. It was the oil companies and GM pulling back on research and development of the batteries and then destroying the EV1 that is at fault here.
If we had stuck to it we wouldn't need help today.
162 - Clavos
The oil companies had nothing to do with the demise of GM. Bad management for more than forty years did it; the built shitty cars for decades because management took its eye off the quality ball and let the Japs steal a march on them.
Management also caved to every demand from the UAW without a thought for the future of GM, conceding incredibly liberal benefits that a first year economics student could have told them would break the company, but they were cowards and afraid of the UAW, so they caved.
You build shitty cars and don't control your costs for decades and you will go down.
I'm old enough to remember when "Made in Japan" meant junk. Since the sixties "Made in the USA" has meant junk in the car biz.
The real irony is that it was an American, W.Edwards Deming, how to do business with Americans.
Now, the Japanese are over here, still building better cars more economically and with American workers, while GM and Chrysler fade into the sunset of their history.
163 - Jeannie Danna
Clavos, You just don't want to admit it....Big Oil controls this country. From the plastic bags we accept in the grocery stores to carry food, to the the toys our children play with, even the makeup products our women wear!
It's all petroleum-based
and it's causing cancer...
164 - Bliffle
I explained how, in #142, US healthcare could be extended to the 50million people who have NO healthcare, while reducing the total overall cost of US healthcare. In simple math. And yet, none of the worthies of BC have even attempted a refutation.
So I assume that my proof stands.
165 - Clavos
Sure, bliffle, assume what you want -- enjoy!
166 - Cindy
Jeannie,
Are you quite sure that is the right link? I don't see anything there about petroleum based products like cosmetics and vaseline causing cancer. I would be very surprised to hear that.
167 - Jeannie Danna
Cindy, Your right, this is not the right link. I can't find it this morning but I will later!