Obama reelection 2012

[Judge Jude]

Biden may have muddied the waters in mid-2009

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jul/09/eric-cantor/Cantor-and-other-republicans-say-obama-promised-s/

"In the past week, the administration has acknowledged its projections were wrong.

"The truth is, we and everyone else misread the economy," Biden said. "The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures in most of the blue chip indexes out there. ... And so the truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited."

with a bottom line from Politifact of:
"it's difficult to empirically prove whether they're right or wrong. We're certainly not going to try here. What we can rule on, however, is whether the Obama administration "promised" that unemployment rates would not rise above 8 percent if the stimulus were passed. We could find no instance of anyone in the administration directly making such a public pledge."

they originally called it "barely true," then changed it to "mostly false."
basically, a projection vs a promise.

[Lucky]

Well, that's been my thing all along. It's stupid to call it a "promise" or a guarantee of certain results, even if he did use the actual words eight per cent. The point was clearly, to anyone actually listening, that these measures should allow the economy the breathing room it needed to get going again, which is how jobs are created. A reduction in unemployment was a predictable side effect of that...a prediction of what the result should be. The only way you can call it a promise is if you consider as promises all the crap other presidents have said, such as "I will get Osama bin Laden". Was that a broken promise? Or a goal that didn't quite work out?

[nots]

Not a free pass, but an acknowledgement that #1--he was saddled with the biggest financial crisis since the great depression and has been cock blocked by the GOP at every turn during his 1st term.

You guys dug the hole, forgive him if it was deeper than he first though and if you really want the right to bitch-- Pick up a damn shovel and help.

You guys? Lol. I realize any criticism of President Obama is frowned upon by the cheerleaders in the room, but A cursory reading of this thread would reveal I have problems with both parties. Because I think President Obama has been very mediocre on financial issues (plus Gitmo and the war in Afghanistan) doesn't mean I embrace the Bush era or Mitt Romney. In fact, I have said many times I wouldn't be voting for Romney (or anyone else in the GOP field save Huntsman).
He passed an enormous stimulus and at best it created a lot of jobs that cost a ton of money per job. Time to own that.

[Lucky]

It's true that nots has been fairly balanced in his commentaries on both sides.

I would have to say that saving the auto industry was a positive thing, though. Obama caught tons of heat for that, but you don't hear many people admitting they were against it. Romney has even taken credit for it.

[GwynnInTheHall]

You guys? Lol. I realize any criticism of President Obama is frowned upon by the cheerleaders in the room, but A cursory reading of this thread would reveal I have problems with both parties. Because I think President Obama has been very mediocre on financial issues (plus Gitmo and the war in Afghanistan) doesn't mean I embrace the Bush era or Mitt Romney. In fact, I have said many times I wouldn't be voting for Romney (or anyone else in the GOP field save Huntsman).
He passed an enormous stimulus and at best it created a lot of jobs that cost a ton of money per job. Time to own that.

I was responding to the string of comments by some of our more right leaning posters, yours just happened to be the last and the one I quoted, srry for lumping you in.

I haven't been a cheerleader at all have I? No, I've been very critical of what I believe he's failed on as well. You just asked why he gets a Pass on failed predictions-- I didn't say he should, but rather that along with the criticism, should come the acknowledgments of the situation he inherited.

I look at the finacial situation thusly:

Obama is a Doctor, who got a patient from Bush--Cancer riddled, with a form of the disease no one had experienced in 80 years-- he had little to no time to do something or this patient was going to die. So he devised a surgical plan which he hoped would stabilize the patient and keep the guy above ground. Give he and his team of surgeons the time to study this Cancer, see how the patient responded to the original treatment and implement a more specific regime as to rid the man of the cancer and return him to his previous good health.

Now of course he's going to be as optimistic with this patient as possible and of course there are going to be setbacks along the way in dealing with this unprecedented situation. So, IMO, you can't #1 call it a failure because treatment isn't over, #2 there's no wrong in hoping for the best and #3 as I mentioned before--If you take into consideration the situation he inherited and the FACT few in the other party helped at all (though they did everything to block any and all of his fiscal reform legislation).


So again, if people are going to complain about this-- they either need to help fix it or GTF out of his way and let him do it.

[Lucky]

I like the way Doig hides his true feelings between the lines, making the reader sort it out for himself.

[nots]

It's true that nots has been fairly balanced in his commentaries on both sides.

I would have to say that saving the auto industry was a positive thing, though. Obama caught tons of heat for that, but you don't hear many people admitting they were against it. Romney has even taken credit for it.

I have no problem saying I was wrong on the auto bailout and the President was right. In fact, it has been the highlight of his first term by a long shot. He called the play, Rattner executed it and America is better for it. I'm surprised he doesn't focus on it more in his ads because it was such an unqualified success--a lot more so than some of these other accomplishments his team seems to laud.

[revo]

Unreal:
"An electronic billboard in Caldwell, Idaho that compares President Obama to James Holmes, the 24-year-old man accused of killing 12 people in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater on July 20, has sparked outrage in the community, reports The Idaho Statesman.

The giant sign on Franklin Road and North 21st Avenue features a photo of Holmes with the words, "Kills 12 in a movie theater with assault rifle, everyone freaks out," written under his picture, juxtaposed to a photo of Obama with the words, "Kills thousands with foreign policy, wins Nobel Peace Prize," written below."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/28/idaho-billboard-compares-obama-to-aurora-shooting-suspect_n_1713895.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

What's a Jewish?:
"Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has been forced to scrap a $50,000 per plate fundraiser scheduled to take place during his visit to Jerusalem because the date coincided with a solemn Jewish day of mourning.

The fundraiser, which was supposed to be a "a small meeting, but a big fund-raiser," according to a source quoted in the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, was set to take place on July 29, amid the Romney campaign's first foreign policy tour.

But July 29 is also Tisha B'Av, a Jewish day of fasting in some traditions of the religion, in which catastrophic events like the destruction of the First and Second Temples and the Holocaust are mourned.

Jonny Daniels, a leading Republican political strategist in Israel, told The Huffington Post that the campaign had been aware of the date of the holiday when it scheduled the fundraiser. The campaign thought it could hold the event in a way that would not offend, he said, but was taken by surprise at the ferocity of the public outcry over the timing."

Granted, not many have heard of this holiday, so I can't blame the guy.....but if they did know about it, they should have scheduled it on another day....

[onejayhawk]

I like the way Doig hides his true feelings between the lines, making the reader sort it out for himself.

Just like an actor. Does he have any experience in theater?

J

[onejayhawk]

Unreal:
"An electronic billboard in Caldwell, Idaho that compares President Obama to James Holmes, the 24-year-old man accused of killing 12 people in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater on July 20, has sparked outrage in the community, reports The Idaho Statesman.

The giant sign on Franklin Road and North 21st Avenue features a photo of Holmes with the words, "Kills 12 in a movie theater with assault rifle, everyone freaks out," written under his picture, juxtaposed to a photo of Obama with the words, "Kills thousands with foreign policy, wins Nobel Peace Prize," written below."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/28/idaho-billboard-compares-obama-to-aurora-shooting-suspect_n_1713895.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

What's a Jewish?:
"Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has been forced to scrap a $50,000 per plate fundraiser scheduled to take place during his visit to Jerusalem because the date coincided with a solemn Jewish day of mourning.

The fundraiser, which was supposed to be a "a small meeting, but a big fund-raiser," according to a source quoted in the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, was set to take place on July 29, amid the Romney campaign's first foreign policy tour.

But July 29 is also Tisha B'Av, a Jewish day of fasting in some traditions of the religion, in which catastrophic events like the destruction of the First and Second Temples and the Holocaust are mourned.

Jonny Daniels, a leading Republican political strategist in Israel, told The Huffington Post that the campaign had been aware of the date of the holiday when it scheduled the fundraiser. The campaign thought it could hold the event in a way that would not offend, he said, but was taken by surprise at the ferocity of the public outcry over the timing."

Granted, not many have heard of this holiday, so I can't blame the guy.....but if they did know about it, they should have scheduled it on another day....

They knew and tried to take steps. It is not a universal thing after all. When that did not work, they cut their losses. Not good, but it could have been a lot worse.

J

[GwynnInTheHall]

Just like an actor. Does he have any experience in theater?

J

Electrolytes.

[onejayhawk]

Electrolytes.

Not lime lights. I was worried.

J

[Mithrandir]

"The President could propose a new WPA, modeled after the Depression-era jobs program that hired hundreds of thousands of jobless Americans to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, or a new Civilian Conservation Corps.

He could suggest permanently exempting the first $25,000 of income from payroll taxes, and making up the lost revenues by eliminating the ceiling on income subject to it. He could propose resurrecting the Glass-Steagall Act and breaking up the big banks, so Wall Street doesn’t cause another financial collapse."

So the belief is that if Obama did these three things he would lose votes? Aren't there millions of voters who would love to see Obama enact these things? And if there isn't, why the f**k not?

[onejayhawk]

Neither candidate has a plan to fix the economy, according to Robert Reich:

http://www.salon.com/2012/07/30/the_terrible_economy_and_the_anti_election_of_2012_salpart/

Interesting article and highly worth a read.

That first miss step is a doozy.

The worst economy since the Great Depression

It would be laughable if I didnt know he was serious. Why he is taken seriously is a mystery.

J

[onejayhawk]

"The President could propose a new WPA, modeled after the Depression-era jobs program that hired hundreds of thousands of jobless Americans to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, or a new Civilian Conservation Corps.

He could suggest permanently exempting the first $25,000 of income from payroll taxes, and making up the lost revenues by eliminating the ceiling on income subject to it. He could propose resurrecting the Glass-Steagall Act and breaking up the big banks, so Wall Street doesn’t cause another financial collapse."

So the belief is that if Obama did these three things he would lose votes? Aren't there millions of voters who would love to see Obama enact these things? And if there isn't, why the f**k not?

The CCC required that 1/2 of the person's pay had to go to their family. Try putting that provision in today.

J