While there are a lot of people who are upset with the President, he will be re-elected. He is more mature, he is more experienced, he has some positive programs in place ( student loan rates, ACA, The Dream Act, troop reductions, veteran's benefits,) and there are many who will benefit. If Romney and Ryan are elected the people of the country will see a huge reduction in services in every profession, and on all levels of local, state and federal government.
The voters and non-voters in this country, regardless of party affiliation, have benefited greatly from the mortgage rescue to keep bank from foreclosing on homes.
Real jobs HAVE been created, admittedly slowly and not to the extent desired, but , nevertheless jobs have been created, jobs brought back to the USA.
Homes have been saved due to legislation--- to allow mortgage refi's------- iniated by the President.
A woman's right to choose has been protected------ and Planned Parenthood has survived to provide care to those who are in a quandry over critical reproductive decisions.
The strides made by the Obama administration have been applicable to a huge segment of the population and if they are not eliminated by the Republican voter ID requirements, they will vote Obama back in to finish building a future we can live secure, productive and healthy lives.
Unlike the previous administration's 2 wars of choice and irresponsible tax cuts, this President has proposed ways to pay for the programs he led through and to make taxes more equitable. President Obama recognizes that unless the middle class is made whole again, there can be no consumer driven spending recovery for this country. He has built a solid base upon which to launch the secure future of our economy FORWARD.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePast midnight in Aussie but I do have a little to say here. Although not a lone voice you are blowing into the wind and can expect some turbulence later today I suspect.
ReplyDeleteFrom way down under the Pres is seen as a man bound up by Congress which appears to be pushing an agenda to enable a change in November. There is little of the goodwill across the isle of the sort Tip O’Neil was so good at. I often think of Abe and his "House divided against itself" speech.
It seems obvious to an old bloke that time is running out for playing party politics and that to effect progress, there has to be unanimity in all three houses; it probably matters little which sides has the power. Government will reflect the wishes of those who elected it and true democracy can and should be no other way.
Cheers from Aussie
Kingston, as a reminder, we are not a "true democracy," we are a "republic" thank goodness.
DeleteCheers.
1773-2009 Split the baby with a progressive you ask? Yes, you still end up with a dead baby. Of course as a "subject" of the Queen it would be difficult to understand our perspective.
William Martin. My thanks for the reply. I have previously been reminded of the "Republic” error. I know you to be, and think of you as a Democratic Republic with great constitutional emphasis on the "Democratic" rights of the people and functions of government. However the error was mine and not for the first time I admit to it...
Delete"As a subject of the Queen I should not be expected to understand your perspective". This I find more difficult and framing a response is a bit tricky.
At school I was made to study British, French, Dutch and German history. American history was added as an afterthought for one semester in high school.
I had to wait until about thirty years ago before embarking on a study of American history with a much later look at American Politics. Understanding has been made easier by many American friends; some here on this thread who have assisted with Political studies. For the history I refer to my fairly extensive library. So I guess I have a little idea of your system. I certainly believe you have a better chance of success with the checks and balances of the congress than the even more cumbersome Westminster system which exists in Britain and throughout the British Commonwealth. I personally am a Republican and have long since left the country of my birth in search of the freedom to be found in Australia. As a subject of the Queen I feel nothing, we have long been totally autonomous and the trappings of the past are about as relevant here as the flags carried by the protagonists during the civil war.
Cheers from Aussie
King, Interesting thoughts and thanks for the response.
DeleteBut,,,at the end of the day, you remain a subject,,I remain a free man. Whatever the fan dance the present politicians want to play.
Ask the Northern Irish, who by geography are not as fortunate as you to live half a world away, about their "subject" status when push comes to shove.
1773-2009 Don't Tread On Me.
"The strides made by the Obama administration have been applicable to a huge segment of the population"
ReplyDeleteAnd yet Carol, the messiah never polls above 47%. HUGE?
This is a major problem. But I'm really glad he is a mature individual now.
1773-2009
We're living in the "post-truth" era of politics. Repeat some bullshit as often and as loudly as you can and it shapes the discussion. Our media is complicit & we're complicit.
ReplyDeleteEither Obama will be Prez or Romney will be Prez. As long as money rules our electoral politics, I don't think it really matters.
As long as our elected officials have to be fundraisers first & lawmakers second, it's gonna be, "Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss."
pfunky,,now you're scaring me. You sound like a Tea Party member!
Delete1773-2009 Limited government.
We are headed towards an economic collapse faster than people realize. Obama's policies get us there faster. You wont be able to buy food at the store. The government will nationalize food production. The government will "let" you purchase ten gallons of gasoline a month because no foreign country will sell gas to us. You will get shot if you step foot on any private property because people will be afraid that you are going to steal their food or worse. If you think talk about the Zombie Apocalypse is joke, it's not except in reality those zombies will be living, starving, sick people fleeing the cities for their survival. Trash service will stop, garbage will pile up. Rats will carry the palague. So yeah! Gonna be really ugly.
ReplyDeleteSo you think that if Obama is re-elected we'll all be living in Thunderdome? And Romney is the only one who can save us from the enivitable zombie apocalypse?
DeleteWow, LS. I don't even know what to say to that.
We have problems, serious problems that'll require serious people to make grownup decisions, to sacrifice, to compromise, in order to solve them. Our problems have developed over a period of decades and will likely require a similar amount of time to solve them.
The good news is that our problems our man-made and can therefore be solved by man if we have the political will to do so.
The bad news is that as long as money corrupts our political system, the political will to really fix anything will remain an elusive pipe dream.
Romney is the other candidate pfunky. "He" can't save us either, but he may be the one to help get Congress back to work. When that happens, and after 4 years of it, I think we'll be beter off
DeleteIt hasn't made a bit of difference yet, TD. What makes you think it will this time?
DeleteThe de-industrialization of the U.S. has been going on since the 60s - muscle labor is gonna go where muscle labor's cheap. The attack on labor has been going on since the 70s, coinciding with the stagnation or drop in middle class wages in real dollars. Globalization has been going on hardcore since the 80s. Healthcare costs have been skyrocketing far faster than the rate of inflation since the 90s, same with education. Our defense budget is ridiculous, and has increased to $.50 of every tax dollar spent, even since the end of the Cold War.
I figure all that stuff covers a time frame of about sixty years and none of this is a surprise - there have been many sounding the alarm over that time frame. That's many Presidents & many Congresses, all of whom had the opportunity to solve or contain the problems. None of them have. Many, in fact, in the interests of lobbyists & donors, have made it worse - in some cases, much worse.
Why do you think a Romney presidency & a new Congress will be any different?
History does not support your assumption.
Pfunky ..you are so right..we are at the end of the Industrial age..and as with most transitions..it is bumpy and trying..but we will get through..and life will go on...
DeleteNo zombie apocalypse?
DeleteYou mean I can start eating my garlic necklace and fire off my silver bullets? I spent many years and many dollars collecting my anti-zombie arsenal.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JVWrVCLs8ms
Delete;-)
What a magnificent thread for the sharing of views. For once everyone appears to be going in the same direction even though some walk on opposite sides of the street.
ReplyDeleteCan I sum up the debate from far away where the picture is not so badly distorted by myopic vision?
Yes without a doubt Politics have been corrupted by money, not only in America but throughout the developed world. This state of affairs however is only replacing changes brought about by armed revolution. For instances of the latter look to the Middle East , South America and the African continent
The changes in industrialisation began soon after WW2 when Japan learnt that Americans and British engineers could be persuaded to share their secrets and the Japanese could then copy and undercut prices. Other countries followed, Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan led the way for China to take over and become potentially the leader in the manufacturing and financial worlds.
While all of the above was happening, America was busy being the world’s policeman and glorying in the knowledge of being the cleverest and richest country in the world. You saw your jobs exported, your currency diluted and your debit grow to the stage where nothing can ever repay the borrowings other than complete collapse of the world’s currencies as we understand them.
As just about all on the thread have pointed out, we understand the problem; our difficulty is in arguing about the solution.
Cheers from Aussie
Nice thoughts on the modernization of the world culture. I would like to think that the majority of the world will begin to solve their problems with each other without resorting to bloodshed.
DeleteLike you and Pfunky, I believe that we have had many years of build up to our current issue with economics. This issue is a creation of the minds of people. The answer lies in the creativity of the minds of our best and brightest. Let's hope that these minds also have a heaping dose of humanity. We can actually be good to each other, but we have to overcome many of the animalistic survival instincts that we are born with.
The big problem, as I see it, is that any real long term solutions are gonna require that the groundwork be laid now - that the sacrifices be made today, and that the fruit of those sacrifices may not bloom for an entire generation. That's gonna require a real understanding of the issues, a real debate about who we want to be as a people, qualitative & quantitative analysis, and a real grasp of nuance. It's gonna require real leadership and real political will.
DeleteGiven the current state of our sound-byte loving, stick-it-to-'em, gotcha, poo-flinging politics, with a good measure of anti-intellectualism and a worthless media thrown in to the mix, on top of powerful moneyed interests able to spin the message any way they want, I just don't see it happening barring some radical change or traumatic circumstance.
Let me pose a genuine question: Is the debt as big a problem, in the near term, as many say it is? Stormy & Nohelp have brought up some interesting points before regarding this issue I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on that.
Oh, and Kingston, please don't take any indictment I make of Romney as advocacy for Obama. My whole point was that I don't believe that there's much difference between the two.
DeleteJust a point of clarification.
Paul Ryan has a detailed plan to lay that groundwork pfunky, Obama and Reid have continuing funding mechanisms.
DeleteIf Obama is elected, will his budget, the one that was defeated 97-0 by the senate, be resurrected?
1773-2009 http://www.usdebtclock.org/
pf222, I never said there would be any difference between the 2, just that O will win.
DeleteFrom here it looks like a toss up. Whoever wins Florida is likely to take it all. I notice that Romney is already saying Obamacare isn't that bad.
Delete@DI
DeleteIn my my view, Ryan lacks credibility as a "Deficit Hawk" 'cuz he doesn't cut any defense spending. His plan, in fact, calls for an increase in the defense budget.
The big three, Medicare/aid, SS, and Defense make up almost 90% of the Federal budget. He's gonna gouge the social programs, lower the tax rates, and INCREASE defense spending? And that'll balance the budget in a couple of decades?
Sorry, if you want me to take you seriously as a "Deficit Hawk", you have to cut from where the money is actually spent. As I mentioned in a previous post, $.50 of every dollar spent out of the Treasury goes towards the Pentagon.
There's no fat to be trimmed there anywhere? Seriously? This is the groundwork for the future? Oh, please ...
Ryan's budget sounds like a neo-con's wet dream to me ...
On the other hand we can stay with Reid and Obama and continue to borrow at a rate of 1,000,000,000,000 per year. But I agree, we need to cut across the board.
Delete1773-2009
You're presenting a false choice, DI. Reid and Obama aren't the only alternative to Ryan's plan.
DeleteSorry pfunky spending on the military is actually as of 2010, 20% of all spending.
DeleteMedicare, medicaid, 23%
Social Security 20%.
Around 65% today, not 90%
Please remember we have not had a budget in over 3 years, that means there is an automatic 7.5% increase in every department every year. That's why Obama is spending close to a trillion more this year than when he took office.
I wonder what will happen if the Pres is re-elected and the balance on the Hill remains the same as presently. Would the Senate refuse to pass budgets and would they continue to obstruct the president and the House?
ReplyDeleteWe saw the childish charade recently with the recall election in Wisconsin. This was preceded by the mass exodus of Democratic State Senators for a purely procedural matter. There is much for us foreigners to admire in your system (Federal and State) but there is much which leaves us wondering if the monkeys are being elected by the people rather than the reverse with the monkeys being the enfranchised members of society.
Cheers from Aussie
K,
DeleteThere is no reason to pass a budget as illustrated in the last 4 years.
Pass a budget and you take responsibility for spending which the Democrats in the Senate have effectively avoided.
ReplyDeleteCarol is convinced Obama will win, which I suspect she has felt all along. I don't think her predilictions are in doubt.
Obama is 'more mature' now she says. May I ask 'more mature' than what? Is that her criteria for something?
Other than enact things designed, like the Dream Act, to give benefits to certain population segments---with no expected voting bonus, of course, what is so wonderful about his accomplishments?
And please educate us on how he has arranged to pay for them. Suimply stating that he has so arranged doesn't convince anyone. What is the funding source for the ACA, for instance? Other than the billions from Medicare, that is.
Should Obama be re-elected, this will most likely be our future.
ReplyDeleteRead it, you'll agree as the facts are accurate.
Jim Powell
This article appeared on Forbes.com on September 13, 2012.
In an Obama second term, there will be much more hammering on investors and private sector job creators. Obamacare taxes and mandates will take effect, making it more expensive and difficult for employers to hire people. Unemployment will almost certainly go up. Spending will skyrocket since Obamacare did much to subsidize demand for health care services and did nothing to reduce major factors driving up healthcare costs, like the prohibition of inter-state health insurance competition. By cutting reimbursements to health care providers, Obamacare creates more incentives for these people to find other ways they could earn a good living, which means long queues and health care rationing for the healthcare providers who remain. Bureaucrats, not patients, will make more decisions about treatment. Altogether Obamacare will be highly disruptive for people's lives and for the economy.
The Dodd-Frank law, with its hundreds of regulations and additional bureaucracies, will have a greater impact in an Obama second term. It impairs the functioning of the nation's financial system, promotes government allocation of credit and sanctions too-big-to-fail financial institutions — which means more and bigger bailouts.
That's not all. Expect more restrictions on coal-fired power plants. The administration is already tightening regulations on fracking that has been a key factor responsible for the natural gas boom. Like India, we could find that unexpected stresses on the power grid lead to brownouts and blackouts, making it harder for businesses to function and encouraging more businesses to locate operations offshore — contributing to higher U.S. unemployment.
As the government is already financially-stressed, it's vulnerable to unforeseen events that could trigger a crisis. While there has been much talk about state bankruptcies that would lead to huge federal bailouts, a Mideast war that would mean a surge of military spending, a cyber attack on critical U.S. assets like the power grid and communications networks — nobody knows when such things might happen. The government doesn't have a crystal ball. That's why U.S. intelligence officials were surprised by the 9/11 attacks, and Federal Reserve officials were surprised by successive financial bubbles. Moreover, when there are multiple crises simultaneously, which happens from time to time, the consequences could be overwhelming.