USA Politics

Let's not pretend this isn't a tradition from both American parties. I'm not even going to go back and say who started it, because I don't really know, but presidents lie to their people. That seems to be a fashion of late. Be it a personal lie - Clinton - or a big ol' whopper that declares war - Bush. A broken promise to not raise taxes - Bush - or embargoing Iran - Reagan. I dunno. Who was the last actual president with personal integrity. Was it Ike? It might have been Ike.
 
I think people are more forgiving on the FP front ans it is assumed that is just generally a dirty business and it is expected. This seems like a bigger deal as it is supposed to be his signature accomplishment and unlike most other things, it affects everybody in a big way in their daily lives.

But, even if you want to lump him in with the rest of the lies, so much for Hope and Change, huh?
 
bearfan said:
Hope and Change
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it will be impossible for someone to run under this banner for a generation. Sadly, I have felt this way about Obama. There's a lot of places where he has been more of the same. Some stuff he has done well.

I'm still not entirely sure how much to blame him for Obamacare being colluded - remember, he did not drive the solution from the White House insomuch as he pushed it to the Senate and Congress to run. Maybe it would have been different if he pushed it harder. Maybe it would have resulted in a better bill, I don't know. But man, the government in general is so afraid of their people that they lie. They lie every time they open their mouths.

It's fine to be afraid for your jobs, but I don't think that's what it is.
 
That is correct ... that banner is retired for some time and why I think Christie has a shot next time around, he is the anti-Obama (not politically so much, but in personality and style). Dem or GOPer, whoever wins in 2016 is going to have to do it by campaigning on competency and less "loftyness". An "I can make the trains run on time" (though less tainted) type slogan
 
I'm not sure Christie can survive Bridgegate. I'm not saying he won't try, but I think it'll be hard to sell that in the states he needs to win. So far, though, I'm sure he has the best chance of any possible Republican candidate. Sadly, I think he has a better chance of winning the general than he does of winning the primary.
 
That is one nice thing about running against Hillary, it is hard for her to put a scandal tag on anyone else. If not Christie there are a fair amount of governors that could win. Walker, Martinez, Sandoval, Kasich, etc. Even though I like Paul, someone for a governorship is probably the better move.
 
I don't know if I like Paul so much. He's a little too libertarian for my point of view. It will be a really interesting race, anyway.
 
Alaska was called for the GOP making it +8 in the Senate with a runoff in LA to go which could make it +9

2008 Election -- Senate 60-40 Dems (counting the Inds that are essentially Dems as Dems), House 255 Dems-179 GOP
2014 Election -- Senate 53 (probably 54 when it is over) GOP - 46 Dems, House 244 GOP- 184 Dems (7 races to be called or going to runoffs, will probably end up 249-186)
 
Wow.

It Only Takes 175 Words for this Canadian to Lay an Epic Smackdown on Idiot Americans Who Rejected Obama for the GOP

If you listen to right-wingers complain, it would give one the impression that America is under the thumb of a brutal dictator who slaughters Christians in the streets. However, in Canada, there exists quite a bit of confusion as to what, exactly, the problem is with our President. Under President Bush, we lost the respect of the world at large. Because of his policies, the massive debt accumulated by an illegal war, and a number of other factors, our country entered into a sharp decline that only began to turn around after our “socialist dictator” began to rule with an ‘iron fist.’

Richard Brunt of Victoria, British Columbia, penned an open letter to Americans following the embarrassing midterm elections, in which we essentially handed the car keys to the equivalent of the drunk guy at the party who spent the night spouting racist screeds, beating up the gay guy, and running around slapping women’s rear ends while screaming incoherently about socialism and Satan — and Republicans, the embodiment of “that guy,” are poised to drive the car into a telephone pole.


“Many of us Canadians are confused by the U.S. midterm elections. Consider, right now in America, corporate profits are at record highs, the country’s adding 200,000 jobs per month, unemployment is below 6%, U.S. gross national product growth is the best of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries,” Brunt wrote.

“The dollar is at its strongest levels in years, the stock market is near record highs, gasoline prices are falling, there’s no inflation, interest rates are the lowest in 30 years, U.S. oil imports are declining, U.S. oil production is rapidly increasing, the deficit is rapidly declining, and the wealthy are still making astonishing amounts of money,” he continued.

“America is leading the world once again and respected internationally — in sharp contrast to the Bush years. Obama brought soldiers home from Iraq and killed Osama bin Laden,” Brunt added.”So, Americans vote for the party that got you into the mess that Obama just dug you out of? This defies reason.”

“When you are done with Obama, could you send him our way?” Brunt wondered.

And he’s right. Apathetic and delusional voters alike allowed Republicans like hog-castrating psychopath Joni Ernst to rise to a position of authority, Mitch McConnell to keep his job, and a majority that seems to believe the best and only solution to our nation’s problems is to rid itself of the Affordable Care Act.

Unfortunately, the midterm elections will prove to be a hard lesson for voters: You get what you ask for, and sometimes you ask for total destruction.
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Well said, Canadian!
AMEN to that! :notworthy:

What on earth is more important than the stuff he wrote, that makes one still vote against Obama? Amazing.
 
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Meh. All the stuff that guy says is true. Politics is about making people forget that. If I were Obama, I'd have run on that record hard in the midterms. Both sides have been excellent at making the other side forget what their strengths are.
 
Really you buy that?

Let's go through his claims.

Unemployment going down. Yippee ... but he fails to mention the labor participation rate being very poor. Some people are finding jobs, but many are flat out dropping out of the work force, moving back in with their parents, etc. Just giving up on finding work. Not good. How much of this recent job growth can be tied to the moment when unemployment benefits stopped being extended ad nauseam and suddenly long term unemployed shocking found work?

What are these new jobs paying, not much. The inflation rate is low, but when was the last time inflation was an issue in the US (hint, the early 1980s) and wage increases are barely covering that.

GDP growth, nice but not all that impressive. how much of that is a function of other countries doing poorly (same reason the US dollar is doing well, how much of that is the Euro Zone having to waste billions propping up its weaker members?). Add in the price of oil is tied to the USD, so yeah, better dollar, lower gas prices.

united-states-gdp-growth.png



Add to that, how much credit or blame does a President really deserve for the economy

Look at the factors of what got us into a recession. Housing Market Crash ... the seeds for that were sown over many administrations until it reached a perfect storm of stupid policy, some bad lenders taking advantage of that stupid policy, and a slew of stupid home buyers. Does Bush deserve some blame for that, sure. But so does Clinton. Does Obama deserve credit for the cleanup ... maybe some, but most of that was just the market hitting bottom. Add on the tech bubble bursting at the end of the 1990s which fueled much of the housing rush, toss in terror attacks and the economy goes in the crapper... but recovers over time as always.


Feel free to fist pump off some cherry picked numbers that all probably have little to do with Obama (or whoever the current President it).
 
Yeah, Obama only should be mentioned when blaming him about something else besides the economy. Then only he deserves mention (and not credit of course).
 
If you want to take the ramblings of whoever wrote that as a fact, go ahead. Most people who actually live here disagree the economy is good at all and most do not care for Obama and his policies. it is real easy to sit somewhere else and say how another country should live. Canada has plenty of its own problems, maybe the Canadians should worry about themselves
 
bearfan said:
Most people who actually live here disagree the economy is good at all
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On which basis? I surely find it hard to believe anymore that most people in your country know what they are talking about, especially when it comes to economy. They'd say it just to have something to beat Obama with. Seriously. The bias in US politics is so dominant that people are blind for what's going well, only because they don't have the President of their party. If a Rep was President, right wing people would not not attack him for results during his presidency.
bearfan said:
and most do not care for Obama and his policies. it is real easy to sit somewhere else and say how another country should live. Canada has plenty of its own problems, maybe the Canadians should worry about themselves
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Ah, there we go again. We don't live in the States so it's easy. Well, it's easy indeed to notice that other factors influence these elections. But when it comes to facts and comparable figures (you are mentioning sidelines which are apples comparing with pears): It's still 10-0 for the Canadian and his article.
 
People know about their own lives and their own financial situations ... but they should listen to some guy who does not live here and realize how wonderful they have it. Typical "if people do not agree with me, they are 100% idiots" same as every girl who turns down and advance must be a lesbian kind of thinking

Washington (CNN) -- Americans' view of the economy is increasingly dour -- though a majority expect things to turn around next year, a new poll shows.

Just 38% of Americans believe the economy is in good shape, a CNN/ORC International poll of 1,018 adults, conducted Oct. 24-26, found. That's down from 42% in September -- and it could hurt Democrats' chances of holding onto the Senate in the Nov. 4 midterm elections.
 
That's a lot of ignorance among these people indeed. On the other hand: a crappy way of asking questions as well. Without giving context to the topics, people won't be able to see how they are doing compared to other countries, or compared to previous presidencies.
 
The question is exactly on point, what is the effect of the economy on people's lives .... good, bad, or indifferent. If you are hurting for money, who cares if someone in Poland is hurting for money more or less?
 
Forostar said:
a crappy way of asking questions as well. Without giving context to the topics, people won't be able to see how they are doing compared to other countries, or compared to previous presidencies.
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It's a perfectly normal poll question. They have the same type of poll questions in Germany, and I'm sure also in The Netherlands.
 
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