Obama Presidency Discussion Thread

[Blitz187]

I dont know the fine details, but I did hear about his decision on the news. Is he planning to withdraw all the troops at once? Or is it going to be in stages? I think they need to be weary of consequences though... As YSSMAN said this country has not had stable leadership in who knows how long... Just leaving Afghanistan behind would lead to utter chaos according my logic.

 

[FoolKiller]

I dont know the fine details, but I did hear about his decision on the news. Is he planning to withdraw all the troops at once? Or is it going to be in stages? I think they need to be weary of consequences though... As YSSMAN said this country has not had stable leadership in who knows how long... Just leaving Afghanistan behind would lead to utter chaos according my logic.

He is adding 30,000 more troops, and then setting a date to withdraw them all. Basically, he made everyone angry. The antiwar folks wanted to end it as soon as possible and the people who want to win it at all costs think we should have sent in more like 80,000 troops and not given any sort of date.

 

[Blitz187]

He is adding 30,000 more troops, and then setting a date to withdraw them all. Basically, he made everyone angry. The antiwar folks wanted to end it as soon as possible and the people who want to win it at all costs think we should have sent in more like 80,000 troops and not given any sort of date.

Oh ok, so he's going to throw away even more money over this needless conflict... And either way with situations like this no one will be happy... I also find it funny that there are still a lot of people that want to "win." I dont think there is anyway to "win" this war at all anymore... The only reason I believe those troops are still there is because they all know the country will inevitably fall apart again if they werent there. So all in all its just a lose/lose situation no matter how you look at it. I hope they do find a good solution to solve all of this in the end though... one that will unleash the least consequences in the end and benefit Afghanistan in some way.

 

[Northstar]

According to Barrack Obama, Barrack Obama gets a B+ for the first months.

Link

I would say it's closer to the C- range.

 

[YSSMAN]

It all depends on how you want to look at it. I'd rate it a solid B- personally, but I believe my perception has more to do with the idiots in congress than what Obama has actually done.

 

[Joey D]

I'd give him a C for being average. He's done some good, some bad, and some that doesn't really affect me. He's no different than any other president I can remember in my life time.

 

[Dotini]

I give him an "incomplete", but it's not looking good.

My least favorite Presidents in history: McKinley and Kennedy.
Favorite: Tyler

 

[FoolKiller]

I am giving him a C at best.

He has failed on many of his promises. Some of those fall right on his head, like his transparency promises to make every bill available on the White House website for three days before he signs them so that he can hear input. Others are partly Congress' fault, but if he imagines himself as a leader he must lead. Leading means that if you have an agenda you create a proposal for Congress to go over or you call leaders from both parties in and you sit them down to find out how you can work on this at the beginning. You do not demand it of Congress as some sort of ultimatum, which he has no powers to do, and then set stupidly short time lines. And you don't then show a leadership role by bringing in those on your side when it looks like you are about to fail miserably.

And that brings me to his leadership abilities. He leads like some masters grad in a CEO position. Give an order, expect it to be done when and how you say it, and walk away. It doesn't work for the CEO, and he has the power to fire those people. The President's actual power over Congress is nill. For every request he made they could have just laughed at him if they wanted. To lead you must act like a leader and lead the discussion. A quarterback that just takes the call from the coach and never does anything to inspire his team will get sacked, a lot. A quarterback that takes the call from the coach but shows an ability to competently change the call at the line and then works with all his teammates to push them to do more can lead a team to a championship while barely getting touched on the field. I am not surprised to see that his approval ratings are dropping and his own party is not staying on board with his idea for health care at this point.

And as for being a leader in a hostile environment; you do not say you are open to all suggestions on the economy and health care, but then brush those off and comment on a consensus of economists, especially not when hundreds sign a letter in national newspapers informing you that you are wrong. It shows conceit and ignorance and only makes those who disagree with you more hardened in their determination to stop you.

And as for keeping his oath to uphold the Constitution, he only gets any kind of passing grade here if he defines general welfare as an open door and ignores all the limits of power in the Constitution.

He has an opportunity now to stand up and show his leadership skills. DC is legalizing gay marriage and this must get through a few steps to be finalized. It is a polarized issue and he can walk in and tell people that this is the right thing to do. He should approach it without slick talk and his best for all of us soothsayer stuff. He comes off like a hippie commune leader trying to convince us that his way is wonderful. Take a stand like you have a pair and declare that you are supporting the equal rights. Ideally, he would point out that government has no place in marriage of any kind (that ends all debate of any kind of marriage), but asking a politician to remove government power from anything is futile.

So yeah, like Joey said, no different than any other president in recent time.

 

[FoolKiller]

This is priceless.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldne...-if-health-care-costs-are-not-reigned-in.html

President Obama: Federal Government 'Will Go Bankrupt' if Health Care Costs Are Not Reined In
ABC's Karen Travers reports from Washington:

President Obama told ABC News’ Charles Gibson in an interview that if Congress does not pass health care legislation that will bring down costs, the federal government “will go bankrupt.”

The president laid out a dire scenario of what will happen if his health care reform effort fails.

Gibson Obama “If we don't pass it, here's the guarantee….your premiums will go up, your employers are going to load up more costs on you,” he said. “Potentially they're going to drop your coverage, because they just can't afford an increase of 25 percent, 30 percent in terms of the costs of providing health care to employees each and every year. “

The president said that the costs of Medicare and Medicaid are on an “unsustainable” trajectory and if there is no action taken to bring them down, “the federal government will go bankrupt.”

“This actually provides us the best chance of starting to bend the cost curve on the government expenditures in Medicare and Medicaid,” Obama said.

Watch Charlie Gibson’s interview with President Obama tonight on World News and check back on ABCNews.com for the full interview.

Obama told Gibson that anybody who says they are concerned about the rising deficit or worried about tax increases in the future has to support this health care bill.

“Because if we don't do this, nobody argues with the fact that health care costs are going to consume the entire federal budget,” the president said.

Obama is facing an increasingly skeptical American public when it comes to his push for health care reform.

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll found that support for the health care reform package, while never robust, is now at a low ebb and opposition has been steadily growing stronger in intensity.

For the first time, a majority of those surveyed disapproved of the president’s work on health care (53 percent) and oppose the health care reform package making its way through Congress (51 percent, compared to 44 percent approval).

That seven-point margin for opposition is its most to date -- indeed statistically significant for the first time -- and the differential in intensity of sentiment has grown since September.

So, the healthcare will do it? Not the bailouts, handouts, stimulus, or wars? The health care? By itself? We can't find any other way to avoid it other than forcing every man, woman, and child (at the parent's expense of course) to buy something whether they want it or not?

He will also have to excuse me if I doubt his math, especially after the whole "pass the stimulus to keep unemployment below 8%" debacle. Sorry, Mr. President, but your doom and gloom scenarios were a blatant rip off of Bush's war arguments.

And as the president is discussing this threat of bankruptcy Congress is raising their debt ceiling. You know, maybe a bit of fiscal responsibility and understanding how exactly a budget works is what is necessary, not some Frankenstein's monster of a health care bill.

Which reminds me:
Do you want these people teaching your children about financial responsibility?
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalp...o-improve-high-school-financial-literacy.html

Obama Administration Seeks To Improve High School Financial Literacy
December 15, 2009 5:03 PM
ABC News' Mary Bruce and Matt Jaffe Report:

In the wake of the worst financial crisis in generations, the Obama administration today announced a new campaign to promote financial education for high school students nationwide.

The joint effort by the Treasury Department and the Department of Education stems from a new survey by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation that showed that young adults had much lower financial literacy than prior generations. Respondents with higher levels of financial literacy were more likely to plan for retirement, have emergency "rainy day" funds, and avoid high credit card fees and interest rates.

The first step in this effort, the administration said, will be the National Financial Capability Challenge, a national award program designed to encourage financial education in schools nationwide. The administration will boost resources to support the program's implementation and increase its reach to focus on poorer communities, which the survey said suffer the most from little access to financial education.

Starting today teachers, schools, school districts, and youth groups can register online to participate and early next year a teacher "tool-kit" will be sent out to all registered teachers. The Challenge exam will be offered in late March of this year.

"The reality is that all children don't know the basics of saving and investing," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. "It's a skill they need to be successful in our economy. The initiative we're announcing today with the Department of Treasury is a step in the right direction." Duncan has worked closely with financial literacy programs in the past. In 1996 Duncan helped launch the Ariel Community Academy, a public elementary school in Chicago built around a financial literacy curriculum.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner added that the administration is not solely focused on financial regulatory reform in the wake of the current crisis, but increasing financial education as well.

"We must also do a better job making sure our students graduate from high school with a better understanding of basic economics, basic finance, and the benefits and risks associated with debt," Geithner stated.

Geithner also pointed to a lack of financial education as one of the many causes of the economic crisis.

"The failures that led to this financial crisis were many. Banks and investors took on large risks, risks they did not understand. Washington allowed those risks to build up unchecked. And in communities across the country, Americans borrowed too much in part because they did not understand how to save prudently, how to borrow responsibly, and they did not understand fully that pension values and house prices, equity prices will not always rise," he told reporters today.

Earlier this month the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation released a report conducted by the Census Bureau that showed that more than a quarter of all US households – a total of about 60 million American adults – have little or no access to banking services.

The FDIC report said these unbanked or underbanked households are disproportionately poor and minority. 71 percent of these households earn under $300,000 a year, the report found.

So, the same people that brought us ever increasing debts want to teach kids about financial responsibility? Seriously? The Education Department, which must be burning cash in the furnaces to heat the schools in order to spend that much, will be put in charge of teaching financial responsibility to kids?

In case you couldn't tell, I am laughing. Hard. It's like a Three Stooges episode.

 

[Joey D]

This comes to mind, courtesy of FedEx:



Doomed I tell you, DOOOOOOOMMMMMEED!

Oh and this

"The reality is that all children don't know the basics of saving and investing.

Really kids have no idea how to save? They might not know anything about investing or whatever but I think schools, tv shows, video games, etc. teach kids that if you want something you need to save your nickels and dimes.

 

[Tornado]

I thought the premiums were going up because the bill might pass.

 

[Feschka]

Deeply disappointed, the Nobel Peace Prize a tragic joke. Deploying more troops with an "exit strategy": geez did you ever see wars with an expiry date before? Not even Dubya came up with a **** as big as that.

 

[Omnis]

So, the same people that brought us ever increasing debts want to teach kids about financial responsibility? Seriously? The Education Department, which must be burning cash in the furnaces to heat the schools in order to spend that much, will be put in charge of teaching financial responsibility to kids?

In case you couldn't tell, I am laughing. Hard. It's like a Three Stooges episode.

Or instead of spending billions, every parent could just buy this book for their kids:

 

[Duke]

Earlier this month the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation released a report conducted by the Census Bureau that showed that more than a quarter of all US households – a total of about 60 million American adults – have little or no access to banking services.

The FDIC report said these unbanked or underbanked households are disproportionately poor and minority. 71 percent of these households earn under $300,000 a year, the report found.

OK. I walked down to my local grocery store, which has a Citizens Bank branch right inside that is open about 10 hours a day 7 days a week.

I took about $350 in random cash, checks, etc. for our Girl Scout troop, and I started a no-fee checking account that includes an ATM card. It took about half an hour and was absolutely no hassle whatsoever.

Why exactly do 25% of American households have "no access to banking services"?

Because they're 🤬 idiots?!

 

[FoolKiller]

Why exactly do 25% of American households have "no access to banking services"?

Because they're 🤬 idiots?!

I am assuming, based on the fact that they are disproportionately poor that they are failing credit checks. And honestly, that should be expected. At best they are making due without having any savings, and at worst are in horrible debt.

I am curious how disproportionately poor, and 71% are under $300,000 households are related. My household is under $100,000 and I am in no way poor. It may be that they are two separate facts placed together awkwardly, but I have no clue what that has to do with anything. Unless saying under $50,000 households shows a statistic that is much less impressive than 71%.

 

[Omnis]

Maybe it's a typo for 30,000? I think mostly everyone in america makes under 300k.

 

[Dotini]

Or instead of spending billions, every parent could just buy this book for their kids:

I like this!
The school system we have is not working, by unanimous consent of all present. Therefore, end the present costly and ineffective system. There should be no requirement for all children to go to school. Only those who want to go should go. The others can go into agriculture, trades, arts and crafts, sell their organs or otherwise just drop out. Perfect balance and order.

 

[Duke]

Only those who want to go should go. The others can go into agriculture, trades, arts and crafts, sell their organs or otherwise just drop out. Perfect balance and order.

...assuming, of course, that we also end welfare at the same time. 👍

 

[Dotini]

...assuming, of course, that we also end welfare at the same time. 👍

Absolutely, brother Duke!! End welfare, end the school system as we know it, end the whole effing civilization if you like. Other than the Constitution, motor racing, and this website, it hasn't produced much of value for decades.

 

[FoolKiller]

I am not sure if this belongs here or in the health care bill thread, but:



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/06/eveningnews/main6064298.shtml

CBS) President Obama wants the final negotiations on health care reform - a reconciliation of the House and Senate versions of the bill - put on a fast track, even if that means breaking an explicit campaign promise.

"The House and Senate plan to put together the final health care reform bill behind closed doors according to an agreement by top Democrats," House Speaker Nanci Pelosi said today at the White House.

The White House is on board with that, too, reports CBS News political correspondent Chip Reid. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stressed today that "the president wants to get a bill to his desk as quickly as possible."

During the campaign, though, candidate Obama regularly promised something different - to broadcast all such negotiations on C-SPAN, putting the entire process of pounding out health care reform out in the open. (That promise applied to the now-completed processing of forging House and Senate bills, too.)

Back when Republicans controlled Congress and George W. Bush was in the White House, it was Democrats who angrily complained about secret backroom deals.

Now the roles are reversed.

"The negotiations are obviously being done in secret and the American people really just want to know what they are trying to hide," said Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga.

Even with no cameras and no Republicans in the room it will be a tall order for the House and Senate to resolve their differences - especially on abortion coverage and how to pay for health reform

Even so, top Democrats in both houses say they hope to have the final bill ready for the president's signature in time for his State of the Union address - less than four weeks from now.

Change.

And people wonder why I am cynical and suspect of government in general.

 

[Duke]

And WHY exactly is he so freaking hot to trot on this issue?

Actually, strike that. The more he tries to ram it down our throats, the better a chance that it will fail. So push PUSH PUSH, Mr. President!

 

[YSSMAN]

Well, they did show committee hearings, markup and voting on the bill. The anger is over the meetings they have had to help formulate the bill (which they did televise early on the in the process), and the compromises that have been made outside the camber(s) in other meetings. Personally, its a whoopdy freakin' doo in my opinion, because no matter what actually happened, promises or not, everyone would have been pissed either way.

 

[FoolKiller]

Well, they did show committee hearings, markup and voting on the bill. The anger is over the meetings they have had to help formulate the bill (which they did televise early on the in the process), and the compromises that have been made outside the camber(s) in other meetings. Personally, its a whoopdy freakin' doo in my opinion, because no matter what actually happened, promises or not, everyone would have been pissed either way.

Perhaps it is because Candidate Obama made many transparency promises that President Obama has failed to meet, and then the results of these non-transparent dealings have been poorly thought out plans that don't get remotely close to achieving their intended results.

Now, this same behavior can be seen in all presidents. What that tells me is that when a new President takes office he learns some very important information:


Executive power is AWESOME.

 

[Duke]

I said it many times in the summer of 2008: Anybody who buys the whole CHANGE shtick is a sucker and an idiot. Obama should have run exactly the same campaign except make his slogan be I'M NOT BUSH. He could hardly have failed to be elected, except that way he wouldn't be breaking campaign promises now that he's in the White House.

 

[Danoff]

Obama should have run exactly the same campaign except make his slogan be I'M NOT BUSH. He could hardly have failed to be elected, except that way he wouldn't be breaking campaign promises now that he's in the White House.

You sure about that? He certainly is toeing the Bush line so far. Might as well be Bush as far as I can tell.

 

[Duke]

In terms of deficit spending amounts, same as always. What he's spending it on is pretty different, and what he'd like to spend it on is more different still.

 

[FoolKiller]

While I can't speak for Obama, Mr. Gibbs can certainly dodge attacks like Bush.

Bush dodging shoes


Gibbs dodging questions


And the next day: "We covered this yesterday"

 

[DK]

The school system we have is not working

Well, what do you expect when some states teach creationism to children as fact? And often, certain schools would resort to traumatising children with vivid images of Hell and say, "That's where you go if you believe Darwinian Evolution is correct." Or they just beat them senseless and say that this is an all-loving, all-forgiving God doing this to them.

 

[Joey D]

Well, what do you expect when some states teach creationism to children as fact? And often, certain schools would resort to traumatising children with vivid images of Hell and say, "That's where you go if you believe Darwinian Evolution is correct." Or they just beat them senseless and say that this is an all-loving, all-forgiving God doing this to them.

It's not just that though, my aunt is a kindergarten teacher in Grand Rapids and the stuff she tells me the state "encourages" them to teach is ridiculous. She showed me the latest math lessons they are trying to push on kids and I didn't understand it at all, something to make addition easier. Whatever happened to if you have 4 apples in a bag and put 2 more in how many apples do you have?

We got all this new age crap to make learning easier for kids and all we are really doing is making them stupid.

 

[Duke]

Well, what do you expect when some states teach creationism to children as fact? And often, certain schools would resort to traumatising children with vivid images of Hell and say, "That's where you go if you believe Darwinian Evolution is correct." Or they just beat them senseless and say that this is an all-loving, all-forgiving God doing this to them.

Citation needed. And also on your anti-Walmart rant in the other thread.

We got all this new age crap to make learning easier for kids and all we are really doing is making them stupid.

+ many many. I put 2 kids through the public elementary system, in what was by most standards an excellent public elementary school. They were taught all manner of crap I had to undo.

Seriously, I got the concept of "equation" when I was in first grade. I didn't need to be taught that it was a "number sentence" first and then re-taught later that it was actually called an equation.

And they had the kids measuring the length of things in dimes and pennies. You were literally supposed to line up coins from edge to edge across something and count how many there are, then see what the difference is. A dime and a penny are not that different in size, they are a pain in the ass to use as a ruler, and they are a unit of an entirely different form of measurement, not length.

Concepts are grapsed easily when they apply to something. How about applying a damn ruler to its intended task, and then discussing the difference between inches and centimeters? That might actually have some valid purpose.