A recent poll has given President Obama an out on his mishandling of the economy. But, it won't do him any good to take it.
Fifty percent of the respondents in an AP-GfK poll taken last month believe that the president has little to no effect on the American economy. The poll consisted of telephone and cell phone interviews with 1,007 adults across the country.…
Article comments
26 - Igor
@24 - Sidney and Riley: but Obama DID get OBL. Why would you say otherwise?
Obama didn't get him. He was located through the efforts of several intelligence services,...
It's been known for years that OBL was in Pakistan. Bush failed to pull the trigger when he had a chance. Your statement is just wrong:
But, Bush would have done it also.
But he DID NOT. In fact, Bush demonstrates failure of nerve on several occasions before that, for example when he let the Bin Laden family out of the USA after 9/11, and when he failed to squash OBL in Tora Bora.
I'm still waiting to see that famous left-brain go to work!
27 - Sidney and Riley
We'll have to agree to disagree. We do think your earlier comment, unleash your left-brain, was very funny. We'll use it sometime!!
28 - Costello
Dan, I don't see where in this thread anyone said Obama didn't say those words, so not sure why you bring it up other than to continue to distract. The point was you presented a portion of what Obama said to alter the context. Glenn might not see what you and other conservatives were doing, but it's crystal clear for anyone to see.
Apparently, the dogs have a magical crystal ball because no one can guarantee what Bush would have done, not even Bush himself. He may well have given the order, but there's no telling what other factors would have occurred at the time he had to make decision. It's like people stating what Pres. Gore would and wouldn't have done.
29 - Igor
@27-S&R: I don't have to agree to anything. I think you're wrong and now you're trying to weasel out of it.
We'll have to agree to disagree.
30 - Igor
@28 - Costello: Dan changed the text to be what HE thought the pres should say. Go back and read Dan's article on his blog again. I posted a rejoinder there.
31 - Dan(Miller)
re #28 -- In comment #16, you ask, "why use the talking point going around that makes it look like Obama said people didn't build their business?"
Because that's what he said:
If you’ve got a business __ you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.
It seems to me to be in pretty clear English.
32 - Dan(Miller)
In re #30 -- Igor, I did not find your comment at the article. I looked in the SPAM filter, found something there from Boeke and marked it as "not SPAM." It's now with the article.
Obviously businesses use roads, canals, ports and other infrastructure -- built with taxes they and others pay or with bonds which their taxes repay. Were it not for those taxes, those public infrastructure projects could not be built. As I said in the portion of the article dealing with what I think President Obama should have said,
Your tax dollars and the tax dollars of those who preceded you allowed your State and Federal governments to spend on roads, bridges and other projects; without your money earned through your own work and initiative and on which you paid taxes, that would have been impossible.
33 - Dan(Miller)
Of course, some people do achieve success they haven't earned. Here's a picture of one of them.
34 - Costello
Yes, Dan. That's what Obama said. And yet he also said a sentence before that one mentioning roads and bridges, which is what the "that" was referring to. And you know full well omitting it changes the meaning of the sentence.
I can see why you don't write here anymore. Most political hacks on both sides prefer to post in echo chambers where their dishonest claims don't get called out because everyone is too busy trying to score points for their side. This lack of integrity is one of the things that's wrong with America
35 - Igor
@32 - Dan: No! All those public projects were built with General Obligation bonds, issued by the government and binding on ALL the people of the nation, or state, or municipality. NOT on businesses. They were NOT financed by companies. Companies did NOT provide funds to build them.
The government did NOT assess businesses for funds for construction.
Projects were NOT pre-funded by monies from business.
In all cases businesses were the beneficiaries of PUBLICLY funded projects. They were financed by the Full Faith and Credit of the US citizenry, high and low.
I'm surprised that you attempted this clumsy attribution of historic public projects to current taxes.
36 - Igor
@34-Costello: Yes, I see what you mean. I guess Dan couldn't stand the heat so he got out of the kitchen. Retired to his comfortable rightist lounge in Panama, or wherever. That's alright, he can lean back in his Barcalounger and snooze thru the day in front of a TV football game.
37 - Dan(Miller)
In re #34 -- I customarily resist the small temptation to respond to ad hominem remarks such as in your second paragraph. This time, I will yield to it only to suggest the existence of a clever but inexpensive device commonly available in many stores. If it's of any comfort, perhaps the Government made its sale there possible. It's called a "mirror." If you don't have one, you should consider buying one and using it. If you don't use one that you already have, you should consider doing so.
38 - Igor
If you read Dan's blog you'll see that it is VERY comfortable if you're a radical rightist. I can see why he likes it. How flattering to ones vanity that everyone agrees with you and cheers you on.
39 - troll
...ah - a chance to test my psychotic abilities:
without peeking I'm guessing that Dan's piece is a stale ode to individual achievement that more or less ignores the interesting question of heritage that Obama raised
40 - Igor
You can read it for yourself, I posted the URL in 38.
Your assessment is correct.
Basically, their reasoning goes like this:
-the government can't do anything right
-all good things come from capitalism
-the transcontinental Lincoln Highway was good, the predecessor to the interstate highway system
-therefore the Lincoln must have been privately financed and built by taxes levied against business.
Of course, they're wrong, but that doesn't stop them from saying it.
41 - Dan(Miller)
In re #36 -- I can lean back in his [my] Barcalounger and snooze thru the day in front of a TV football game.
You, Sir, are spewing typical leftist untruths with no factual support whatever. I don't have a Barcalounger or anything even remotely resembling one. I do not snooze at any time "in front of a TV football game." U.S. television programs are not available where I live, and that includes football games. Were they available, I would have no interest in watching them.
In fact, I have watched only one TV football game to completion during my seventy-one years of life thus far, and it involved a match between the Washington Red Skins and the Miami Dolphins many, many years ago. The general manager of a Miami TV station and I had made a bet on whether my partnership or his employer would pay for our dinner at the next NAB convention in Las Vegas. I don't immediately recall who won the bet, but assume that one of us did.
Rather, I spend most of my days reading the news and writing -- I even go to Daily Kos, Huff 'n Puff and begging e-mails from the Obama Campaign received in my SPAM filter -- prospecting for interesting stuff about which to write. Sometimes, I even visit BlogCritics for amusement. Sometimes, I write just for the fun of it, witness this comment. So there! (giggle, giggle; snort, snort.)
When my seconds determine who might be your seconds, they will call upon them and demand satisfaction; probably chocolate cream pies at thirty paces.
Scurrilous defamation of the sort shown in Comment #36 ill becomes a "liberal," one with an open mind but not an empty head. It is common, however, with Libruls, those with closed minds and empty heads.
42 - Igor
Well I see what your problem is Dan: you read Kos and Huff! And probably a lot of other opinion crap. Maybe even National Review.
Stop reading that stuff! You can make up your own opinions. Read facts, numbers, history. Otherwise you'll just develop prejudices and waste all your efforts defending them.
You CANNOT learn the truth by listening to two liars argue. You have to find out for yourself.
And when someone agrees with you, you should feel uncomfortable, not comfortable.
QED
43 - Clav
U.S. television programs are not available where I live...
You're lucky. US TV is a waste of electricity, particularly the "news" programming, whether from the left or the right.
44 - Igor
Dan(Miller)s blog is an echo chamber, and a part of the greater rightist echo chamber. I found this:
echo echo echo
Reblogged this on ...
...
I’m reblogging Dan Miller’s reblog of this because Dan’s commentary is just as important as the post itself.
Reblogging?
Is there an echo in here?
45 - Dan(Miller)
In re # 44 -- In view of your commendably high standards for authors here and elsewhere, and the lamentable paucity of articles appearing in this section, you should seriously consider writing articles for publication here. Doubtless, Messrs. Florman and Nalle will be delighted with them and with the insignificant effort required to render them publishable.
At the top of the BC Politics page on the right you will find an invitation: "Write for Blogcritics. Find out how." Just follow the link provided and you, too, can become a respected member of the "sinister cabal of superior writers."
Don't be bashful! Just do it! Yes, you can! The world awaits your sterling efforts.
46 - Zingzing
Great. I hope we can expect a moment of silence for Richard Jewell and a moment of hissing for Eric Rudolph in 2016. Terrorism is terrorism, right?
47 - Dan(Miller)
In re #46 -- if you wish to organize them, I suppose we can.
48 - Zingzing
What if I think paying lip service to past tragedies is just so much political pandering, brought on by political pressure for those who would really like to do nothing more than have a wank over the corpses and spit in the face of millions of people not one bit responsible for what they are pretty much celebrating, adding another moment to their moments of silence that will never truly satisfy them until they have so much to "mourn" they'll do nothing but look somber and bow their head for the rest of their stupid, fake lives.
49 - Zingzing
Ahem... What if I think that's a waste of time?
50 - Igor
@45-Dan: I think my writing style is boring. When I've run across an old post of mine I thought it was flat and dull. Maybe if I could figure out how to work in 'wanking' and 'spitting' it would be more interesting.
51 - Igor
194 of President Obama's Accomplishments! With Citations!
Let's talk about President Obama...
If you're one of those people who thinks President Obama is a "disappointment," condolences for not getting your unicorn. And it's time to grow up, get over it. We have four months to go before an election that will feature more political ads than you have ever seen before in your life. We're not just having to beat Willard Romney; we also have to beat Citizens United. There will be TWO choices for president. You can either work for Obama and every other Democrat (yes, including Blue Dogs), or you can sit back and watch Willard Romney complete the job of taking apart the social fabric of the country that was begun by Ronald Reagan.
What makes the "disappointment" argument even more irritating is that it's simply not true. He's done nearly everything we elect a president to do, and he dd it all with little support from the left, and massive obstruction from the right. .
Is he perfect? No, he's human. Does he deserve some criticism? At this point, it really doesn't matter.
What does matter is that this president has compiled a STELLAR record. If you can look at this list of the president's accomplishments after three years, and not be excited, you have a serious problem with perspective.
Pass this list around to everyone you know. And don't be afraid; unlike many such lists, every item includes a link to a citation supporting it.
He Returned The Executive Branch To Fiscal Responsibility After the Bush Debacle
1. Within his first week, he signed an Executive Order ordering an audit of government contracts, and combating waste and abuse. audit
2. Created the post of Chief Performance Officer, whose job it is to make operations more efficient to save the federal government money. ...
3. On his first full day, he froze White House salaries. froze salaries
4. He appointed the first Federal Chief Information Officer to oversee federal IT spending.
5. He committed to phasing out unnecessary and outdated weapons systems. To that end, he also signed the Democratic-sponsored Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act, which attempted to put a stop to waste, fraud and abuse in the defense procurement and contracting system.
6. Through an executive order, he created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
He Improved the Economy, Preventing a Bush Depression
7. Pushed through and signed the Democratic-sponsored American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as “the stimulus package.” The bill passed, even though only three Republicans voted for it. In a major departure from the previous administration, he launched recovery.gov, a website that allows taxpayers to track spending from the Act.
8. The Bush-led Great Recession was costing the economy nearly 800,000 jobs per month by the time President Obama took office. But by the end of his first year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created and sustained 2.1 million jobs and stimulated the economyby 3.5%.
9. Not only did he completed the massive TARP financial and banking rescue plan, he also leaned on the banks and others, and recovered virtually all of the bail-out money.
Read all 194 with citations.
52 - Igor
Here's more of the 194 list:
10. He created the Making Home Affordable home refinancing plan.
11. Oversaw the creation of more jobs in 2010 alone than Bush did in eight years. jobs
12. Along with Democrats, and almost no Republicans, implemented an auto industry rescue plan, and saved as many as 1 million jobs. jobs Many are of the opinion that he saved the entire auto industry, and even the economy of the entire Midwest. This resulted in GM returning to its place as the top car company in the world. Willard Romney, on the other hand, advocated for the entire industry to go belly-up.
13. Doubled funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which is designed to improve manufacturing efficiency.
14. Signed the Democratic-sponsored Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act giving the federal government more tools to investigate and prosecute fraud in every corner of the financial system, and create a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial fraud that led to the economic meltdown.
15. Signed the Democratic-sponsored Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, which was designed to to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive credit card practices.
16. Increased infrastructure spending after years of neglect.infrastructure
17. Signed the Democratic-sponsored and passed Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, expanding on the Making Home Affordable Program to help millions of Americans avoid preventable foreclosures. The bill also provided $2.2 billion to help combat homelessness, and to stabilize the housing market.
18. Through the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, he and Congressional Democrats provided tax credits to first-time home buyers, which helped the U.S. housing market recovery.
19. Initiated a $15 billion plan designed to encourage increased lending to small businesses.
20. Created business.gov, which allows for online collaboration between small businesses and experts re managing a business. (The program has since merged with SBA.gov.)