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President Obama was asking for it
Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 | 2:02 a.m.
Regarding Robert Hall’s letter, “Obama inherited nothing but woes,” it’s time the overused word “inherited” is recognized as bogus. Obama aggressively sought, campaigned and bought his woes without performing due diligence. So stop the whining.Discussion: 37 comments so far…
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Remember that Obama was running Congress for two years before he took office
January of 2007 Democrats took over Congress; the House with Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank; the Senate with Obama, Biden, Harry Reid, and Chris Dodd. This was followed by the elevation of Obama to president in 2009.
This is a singular turning point in American history with the social and economic morass that followed. Obama, Reid and Pelosi have been on a path to implement the Liberals Entitlement Manifesto. One where a powerful Central Government control all activities and directs people's lives.
Remember the failed Stimulus Obama, Reid, and Pelosi passed in the summer 2008.
Remember the failed TARP that Obama, Reid, and Pelosi passed in October 2008.
So it only make sense the Obama, Reid, and Pelosi Congress was at fault under Bush in 2007 and 2008.
After Obama, Reid, and Pelosi took over Congress in 2007 they have presided over a loss of a net 5.5 million jobs.
http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsata...
Clinton January 2001 Employment number 137,778,000 million
Bush December 2007 employment number 146,273,000 up a net 8.5 million jobs since Clinton.
Obama 2012 Total employment - 140,790,000 million jobs down a net 5.5 million
Right on, Frank! The left just can't help themselves. Like little children, they whine and cry and throw tantrums when they don't get their way. Ignore their rants and eventually they'll curl up in their cozy "blankies," suck on their thumbs and take a nap.
USA USA USA USA Republicans are against America, American products and American workers.
Amen!
Did you hear/see President's Obama's comment to Matt Lauer: With time, he's getting better at being president.
4 OJT.
Carmine A. DiFazio
bush/cheney were so incompetent that the american people elected Obama in a landslide. like rick santorum says, if romney or gingrich get the nomination it will be Doomsday for our nation.
You're dancing Dennis. The article simply says that President Obama asked for it now fix it. No excuses. Is this to hard for the liberals to understand?
Seen an interview last night with the President and he actually said that the Constitution gets in the way of him being able to solve problems. Go figure.
chuck333, can you provide a link to a video or tell us what show you were watching? I'm sure that many besides me would like to read a transcript of the interview and get the full context.
Yoda says: Whine we must. Afterall, we're democrats.
chuck; it took bush 8 years to screw it up, you want it fixed when? yesterday? tomorrow?
Dear Frank
Stating fact is not whining.
Stating fact is not bragging.
Stating fact is not looking for excuses.
Here are the facts:
1. We were losing 750,000 jobs per month when Obama took office.
2. The economic trend was heading down, not up.
3. We had $3.5 trillion of debt from the wars and Medicare Part D, THAT WAS NOT ON THE BOOKS.
4. Bush still wielded the veto pen until 2009, and conservatives still outnumbered liberal and moderates from 2007 to 2009. Democrats controlled both houses in number, but not actual votes.
5. The filibuster was the reason conservatives successfully blocked any real meaningful progressive fix to the problems caused by conservative policies.
6. The Bush tax cuts created a net of zero new jobs. I fault the democrats for not repealing those tax cuts from day 1.
7. Since 2011, conservative run states have cut over 500,000 government jobs, adding to the unemployment crisis.
8. Conservatives blocked any additional funding to state and local governments to provide funds to stop these layoffs.
9. Conservatives blocked the removal of tax breaks for companies that shipped jobs overseas as a condition for paying for additional jobless benefits.
10. Conservatives blocked language in the stimulus that said all money spent had to be 100% American made. The same language China, Japan, and all the European countries used in their stimulus packages. (FYI: China's stimulus was larger than ours.)
Ten facts is enough. It is amazing what has been accomplished by this President given the obstruction and the catastrophe left by the conservatives.
And the Rs, recklessly drive on, oblivious to the crashes caused by their bad driving -- all the time blaming - and hindering -- the cleanup crews.
This letter starts and ends no where, says nothing, another no brainer from the compassionate (ha-) conservative (ha).
"We were losing 750,000 jobs per month when Obama took office."
Actually that is not a true fact
There is no "Per month" loss. We did not have months of losses before and after that month at that level. Just not true.
Yes that was a single month loss and it quickly dropped by June of 2009 -before the Squandered Stimulus even kicked in.
Makes one refuse to accept any and all promises and representations campaigners make about what they'll do when elected. Just seems to indicate those running do NOT comprehend what they are running for. A bit of rational thought and the campaigner might say REALISTIC things about what can be done and when. If any of them know so much about how to fix it, WHY AREN'T THEY DOING IT?
Another false fact by Taylor "2. The economic trend was heading down, not up."
Really fact 2 is false.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The GDP declined 6.8 percent in the last quarter of 2008 under Bush
GDP heading back up 1.9 percent (to -4.9 percent) in the first quarter of 2009 and went positive in May 2009, when the recession was declared over.
This left Obama a clear shot to stimulate the economy but it never happened. While it increased at 5 percent at the end of 2009, since then we have dipped back to a dismal 2 percent range. The $861 billion stimulus was squandered on payola to favored consitutants.
So Obama inherited an economy already moving up every single quarter of 2009.
It'll be fun to watch President Obama wipe the floor with Willard Romney, the guy who strapped his family dog to the roof of a car and drove 600 miles to Canada.
What kind of person does such a thing?
There you go again, Future. There is absolutely no relevance to the one number you keep hanging your hat on, "Bush December 2007 employment number 146,273,000". He was President for another 13 months after that. Use the January 2009 number: 142,187,000 (well, that's the number from the chart you get your info from). That's almost 4.1 million jobs lost in Bush's last 13 months. Four million jobs lost in Bush's last year!!
Furthermore, Obama was a freshmen senator who was not "running Congress".
No matter how often you say something that's not true, it's still not true.
Whether the Stimulus was failed or not is up for debate, but that was Bush's bill, not Obama's. And anyone with half a clue knows that TARP was an overwhelming success that saved this country. And, it could have been even more successful if the Republicans had as their singular goal "American success" versus "Obama failure".
Would love to have an intelligent, fact-based debate with you. But you make that impossible with your fictitious drivel.
@boftx: It was an interview that aired on Hannity show last night.
Dennis did he or did he not say that he would fix this mess in his first term. Did he or did he not say if he doesn't then he should be a one term President. Did he or did he not say that un-employment would be under 8%. What is it that you don't get here. I never said that it should have been done by now. What I did say was that he took on the responsibility, made these statements and has not fulfilled what he said he could get done. Simple isn't it?
Future:
In December, 2008 we lost 802,000 jobs.
January, 2009 we 620,000 jobs.
I was just averaging the last two months.
The point being is that we were losing jobs at an astronomical pace.
Monetary policies take at least one year to take affect.
Fiscal policy usually takes 2-5 years to affect any measurable change.
What we were seeing was the cumulative effect of conservative monetary and fiscal policies along with the disastrous trade policies Clinton went along with to further his conservative credos.
Future:
By your own admission, GDP declined 6.8% in the last quarter of 2008.
That is a downward trend.
Every valley has a floor and every mountain has a peak. The first quarter in 2009 you said was -4.9%. That is still a downward trend.
Sorry. But I just have to make sure all the "defenders of the middle class" see this.
(CBS News) Just before Christmas, American workers got a rare gift from Washington politicians - the current payroll tax cut would be extended for two more months.
But there's something the politicians weren't bragging about - the fact that they're paying for the two-month tax cut with what has turned into a brand new fee on home buyers.
The new fee is a minimum of one-tenth of 1 percent on Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed loans, and is likely to go much higher.
It will be imposed for the next 10 years on most mortgages and refinancings and it lasts for the life of the loan.
For every $200,000, it amounts to an extra $15 dollars a month.
It's bad news for Patty Anderson, who's buying a home in Virginia.
Anderson will save a couple hundred dollars from having her payroll tax cut extended but her mortgage broker told her the new fee would cost her almost $9,500.
"I was absolutely startled that it would add up to that much," she said.
The $35.7 billion collected in fees won't go into the Social Security fund to replace the lost payroll tax. It goes to the general treasury where Congress can spend it however they please.
Bill Burnett, Anderson's broker and president of the Virginia Association of Mortgage Brokers, said you won't see Congress' new charge in the paperwork, but it's there.
"It's actually built into this [interest] rate. You would never see the fee as a cost to you," he said.
Burnett said the fee will affect a "very large number" of homeowners.
"Your pocketbook is being raided in order to pay for a tax policy issue decided at the last minute by probably people who didn't understand fully what they were legislating on."
CBS News went to Capitol Hill ask what Congress was thinking when they passed the mortgage fee hike. Boehner pointed the finger at the Senate.
"As you're well aware, this bill came over from the Senate. I don't know how they justified it. We would rather have offset that two-month extension with reductions in spending," he said.
One congressman, Florida Republican Allen West, said he tried to blow the whistle on the whole thing before Christmas.
"I read the legislation and raised the flag. Unfortunately nobody paid attention to what I was saying at the time," he said, calling the fee a backdoor tax increase on the middle class. "It absolutely is because you're talking about the homeowners - when you're talking about the people that are gonna be using the Fannie Mae, the Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises -it is absolutely a tax increase on them."
Patty Anderson only knows that for the next 30 years, she'll be haunted by the Washington ghost of Christmas past.
"I think it just looks like Washington grabbing more money," she said.
TEA: Ya think?
"Did he or did he not say that un-employment would be under 8%."
Chuck,
Please quote Obama promising this. In fact, he did not.
From Politifact:
"First, we could find no instance of anyone in the administration directly making such a public pledge. Rather, it comes via a Jan. 9, 2009, report called "The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan" from Christina Romer, chairwoman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, and Jared Bernstein, the vice president's top economic adviser."
"But what we saw from the administration in January 2009 was a projection, not a promise. And it was a projection that came with heavy disclaimers."
"It should be understood that all of the estimates presented in this memo are subject to significant margins of error," the report states. "There is the more fundamental uncertainty that comes with any estimate of the effects of a program. Our estimates of economic relationships and rules of thumb are derived from historical experience and so will not apply exactly in any given episode. Furthermore, the uncertainty is surely higher than normal now because the current recession is unusual both in its fundamental causes and its severity."
"There's also a footnote that goes along with the chart that states: "Forecasts of the unemployment rate without the recovery plan vary substantially. Some private forecasters anticipate unemployment rates as high as 11% in the absence of action."
The "Obama promised unemployment wouldn't rise above 8%" is a talking point borne on Fox News and the Free Republic, and it is false. It would behoove you to do your own research before repeating everything you hear from talking heads.
chuck; you sound like that girly man karl rove complaining about clint eastwood saying the right words of how we cant be knocked down by one punch, americans keep getting back up. its half time in america, chuck, and im not going to argue with clint eastwood.
Obama is the biggest narcissist I have ever witnessed hold the oval office. His arrogance knows no bounds. His most recent interview with the liberal "journalist," Matt Lauer (sp), proves it.
BTW...I was beginning to wonder why all the die-hard Obama supporters weren't crowing about the recent unemployment #'s. Is it perhaps that even they are accepting the manipulation?
Last week, the White House claimed that unemployment dropped for the fifth consecutive month to 8.3 percent -- the lowest it has been in nearly three years -- after adding 243,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But financial experts are saying the figures may have been manipulated -- and that the significant drop in employment was because of the fact that the federal agency charged with computing key economic data has significantly decreased the number of Americans in the workforce.
The same Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report that showed unemployment dropping to 8.3 percent showed total workforce participation -- the number of people either working or looking for work -- declining by 1.2 million people in one month.
THAT'S 1.2 MILLION PEOPLE IN JANUARY WHO HAVE GIVEN UP ON THE "RECOVERY WINTER."
One analyst who is stridently critical of the BLS numbers is TrimTabs.com CEO Charles Biderman. His firm uses what he considers a more modern and timely measurement, actual tax receipts to the IRS, to calculate employment.
By his firm's calculations, the economy added only 44,000 jobs in January, not even enough to keep the unemployment rate from growing.
God help us.
@LastThroes...
"It'll be fun to watch President Obama wipe the floor with Willard Romney, the guy who strapped his family dog to the roof of a car and drove 600 miles to Canada.
What kind of person does such a thing?"
Mittens 'Griswold' Romney.
National Lampoon's Canadian Vacation; The RomneyCare Research Project.
In an odd twist of life imitating art, The Mittens man played a classic Mormon version of Clark Griswold.
Imagine Clark as President...
bumbling and stumbling around the White House
I can see Chevy playing Willard Romney!
So far as I can tell Kevin is quoting from this story: http://www.politifact.com/virginia/state...
One should go and read the full story for themselves. Politifact does rate the claim as "Mostly False" (originally "Barely True" but they have since changed the name of the rating system) but has plenty of comments about it along the way.
Taylor seems to want to disprove his own facts saying:
---In December, 2008 we lost 802,000 jobs.
---January, 2009 we 620,000 jobs.
So in every bodies math that is an improving situation that Obama got
---Last qtr 2008 GDP was - 6.8
---First qtr 2009 GDP was - 4.9
So in every bodies math that is an improving situation that Obama got
Well, well...it does appear as though the "blow with the wind" POTUS has changed his mind on "corporations are not people."
(CNN) - In a change of position, Barack Obama's reelection campaign will begin using administration and campaign aides to fundraise for Priorities USA Action, a super PAC backing the president.
Obama has been an outspoken critic of current campaign financing laws, in particular a Supreme Court ruling that allowed the creation of super PACs. Until now he has kept his distance from Priorities USA Action.
But...here is Obama in 2007.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsc8Cl5Rh...
Dennis come on girly man? Name calling doesn't suit you. You're losing your argument. Whenever you resort to that you lose respect.
Actually never been called that one before. Try for a better one please.
Tea...
The National League has no Designated Hitter.
Major League Baseball may decide to impose the D.H. rule on the National league, against the wishes of many players, management and fans of the traditional National League game.
Do you suppose that some teams will play without a D.H. anyway, even though it would put them at a distinct disadvantage? They would certainly not be obligated to use a D.H...the Pitcher could still bat.
yawn!
Mr. LVNOFACTS101, I suppose you think your childish behavior is funny. I fail to see the guys on you end smiling much anymore. I think there is going to be a lot of crying and snibling from the right. The only inherited facts you have for your arguments are lies. The job creators, what a joke.
I found the Hannity segment referred to by chuck333.
Hannity is using clips of an interview Obama gave to the NBC Today show. You can find the segment here:
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/20...
The actual quote is this: "What has frustrated people is that I have not been able to force Congress to implement every aspect of what I said in 2008. Well, you know it turns out that our founders designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change than I would like sometimes." - President Obama
I must admit that I'm not entirely pleased to hear Obama say that. It is worse because he has a Constitutional law background and should know full well why our Constitution says what it does.
I understand that probably every President has made that same complaint. FDR tried to get around it with an attempt to add more Justices to the Supreme Court.
The Constitution may not be perfect, but it has been highly workable and resilient. All things considered, it is an outstanding document as evidenced by there having been so few changes in over 200 years.
I'm glad that Presidents (and Congress) might have to jump through a couple of hoops before making drastic changes.
Is Gogo's racist, ugly diatribe at 3:19pm what passes for "elevated" discussion on the Sun's site nowadays?
No, it is not.
Washington Post/ABC News Poll:
In a general-election test, Obama leads Romney 52 to 43 percent among all Americans.
The public, by 53-36 percent, a 17-point margin, thinks Obama better understands the economic problems people are having.
Obama leads Romney by 55-37 percent in trust to better protect the interests of the middle class.
Obama leads Romney by 10 points, 52-42 percent, in trust to handle taxes.
Uh Oh! Maybe republicans should compare the number of people Romney fired to the number of terrorists Obama has had killed and make a case for Romney on the Commander-in-Chief issue.
Just a thought for a party grabbing at straws.
The gogo guy is always posting about race. Although it is rarely, if ever, brought up by anyone else. As sargeant Schultz always said........
Veeeeerrrry interesting.
gmag....
Is there no mountain of hypocrisy too high for you to climb?
woops...sorry. I meant the simmons guy.
gogowhitesox,
It looks like the moderators do, I have seen at least three of Frank's comments removed today. :)
Comment removed by moderator. - -
Comment removed by moderator. Move back to the topic of the letter.
Comment removed by moderator. trolling
Does any president expect to be called a liar, Marxist Kenyan, commie, socialist with a deep seated hatred for white people. The answer is no. Any reasonable person would not believe that this behavior still exists in America.
I must disagree with Mike Kerns.
Any reasonable person should be able to anticipate the kind of negative behavior that he lists. That said, most reasonable people would not engage in such.
Given Mr. Obama's life history and the fact that he was a member of Congress, he would have to be incredibly naive to not have anticipated what he has received.
Every President, with the possible exception of Washington, has had to deal with such in one form or another.
Boftx
You seem to have an expansive knowledge of political history. Can you show me any other president in the modern era who was called a liar in a state of the union or how about having his place of birth be questioned by the birthers? How about the filibustering record Obama has faced as president? I most respectfully challenge you to prove me wrong.
Just about every President has had to deal with detractors and accusations of some kind. This is nothing new for our time. Look at some of the political campaigns of the 1800s. FDR and Ike had to deal with it, as did JFK and Clinton. I probably shouldn't mention George W. Bush since I suspect you feel he deserved whatever he got.
Having to deal with the "birther" issue is little different than being accused of having illegitimate offspring or having a prostitute for a wife (both of which occurred in the 1800s.) I'd like to hear what Jefferson would have to say, too, given the facts surrounding him.
In any event, my contention was that Mr. Obama, and others, knew full well what kind of opposition he would face and you should not be surprised in the least. Given all the crap that was thrown at Bush (rightly or wrongly) it was a sure thing that Obama would face the same.
Why don't you find an example of a President who has not faced what could be considered inappropriate criticism in his day?
On a side note, why did you become so defensive when I took issue with you on this? Do you think Mr. Obama is the only President who has had to deal with the displeasure of the opposing party?
Boftx
I was not and am not offended nor do I feel I was defensive. I was just asking for a example of another president in the modern era that has faced the same magnitude of insults and obstruction that Mr Obama has faced. And you will not find in my comment history leveling personal insults against George W Bush. I have legitimately pointed out his failed economic and foreign policies and that is reasonable and fair grounds. And I am surprised that you think I was being critical of you.
Parse it any way you like...
The voracity with which the extremists of today's right hate our President (by comparison to that of the left of G.W. Bush, or by any other measure) is contemptible.
Anyone that believes that it ALL emanates from their disdain for the President's political policies is either willfully ignorant or unwilling to see through their blinders.
Some of the abject hatred of President Obama is not commensurate with what rational people would consider 'diverging political philosophies'.
I seem to recall MANY on the left that disagreed with 'W's policies admitted he was 'the kind of guy you'd like to go out for a beer with, but not presidential material'.
Mike,
My main issue was with this statement by you: "Any reasonable person would not believe that this behavior still exists in America."
We have had examples of inappropriate, indeed shocking behavior throughout our history towards our Presidents and even their spouses. It is perfectly reasonable to think that it will continue, and naive to think it wouldn't. But as I said the first time, most reasonable people will not engage in such.
I might be wrong, but your response gave me the impression that you felt that Mr. Obama should have been immune from this happening.
Mr. Bean.....
YES, President Obama campainged for the bush
mess and he's FIXING THE BUSH MESS!
LIVE BETTER/WORK UNION!!!
And he'll do even better when we
VOTE THE REPUBLICANS OUT OF THE HOUSE!
It's the policies, stupid.
Boftx
I will accept your point as any reasonable person should be aware that we have a caustic environment in our government and of course our political system was set up for dissent. But I am sticking to my original premise that no president in the modern era has faced the amount of ridiculous unsubstantiated accusations or obstructive behavior from his opposition. I believe I am being reasonable in recognizing that in a country of 310 million people not everyone will agree with my argument.
Mike,
I'll concede that the quantity is higher.
But I think that other than the "birther" attacks the nature of the personal attacks are not all that different than in past times, even the recent past.
I'll also grant that the motivation behind the attacks has the added factor of racism mixed in, which probably accounts for the higher quantity, but all of the usual motivations are there as well. What is different is that the racism factor is being used by the defense as being the primary motivation for any criticism of the President, which I think is unreasonable.
Most Americans understand that Dubya destroyed our economy and that it is now recovering thanks to Obama!
Boftx
Agreed.
Jaun thinks Obama lost election when he tried to make the Catholic nuns perform abortions on innocent young girls. bad Man ! (heard this on Hannity)