The Politics Thread

[Darcy]

What part of the country are you from?

I found both poll results a bit surprising. However, my problem with the Zogby poll was that there was no back-up or detail about it (what was asked? who was asked? what were the exact percentages?) and also the explanation of why the numbers went down (high expectations and things are not moving fast enough) which makes little sense based on several previous polls where large percentages were willing to be patient and did not have high expectations that things would improve right away or even this year. I would like to know what questions were asked to draw that conclusion. Also, although it seems a lot longer, the President has only been in office 2 months and 3 days.

[Roman]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/24/lkl...cain/index.html

Guess she wasn't asked about the polls either.

[Roman]

You know, no matter what, some just love to complain.

Is he doing a perfect job? No. Is he doing a much better job than the previous president? Yes.

[SteveFrame]

I am from Tennessee so it should not be a surprise. Tennessee is one of the states where McCain won over Obama by a huge percentage. Nashville is actually the only city/county in our area where Obama got a significant percentage of the vote but everywhere else in this part of Tennessee McCain won. It has always been a Republican state but none of them has beaten the Democrat as bad as McCain did Obama here.

But even with that more of it is has to do with the current Democratic Governor than it does with McCain or Obama. We have our first Democrat as Governor in a long time and overall Tennessee is disgusted with him and thus the Democratic party gets blamed.

I will say this the best move that Obama ever made was passing on Bredesen as a member of his cabinet even though it would have been good for Tennessee to lose him as Governor but it sure would have been bad for the country.

[Roman]

Nobody has patience today.

None at all.

[Greg's GL]

I have much I want to say but don't have the time right now.

I will leave it at this until my return.....

<SIGH>

[Greg's GL]

The thing is ....

1. It's very interesting how Republicans always want Dems to be "open-minded" and non-judgemental when it comes to their president (YES - GWB) giving away 700 BILLION dollars with no oversight (the little there was included was because of the Dems in Congress, thank you very much) to the banks.

2. I'm feeling a bit deceived. And yes, I'm calling you out Brian. Because it's funny how the Repubs always want the Dems to be open-minded and non-partisan. Now I see in writing from Brian's earlier post how he is very partisan. Hmm. NICE. So....let me get this straight. I'm supposed to give a president that started an illegal war with Iraq and squandered a budget SURPLUS some extra lee-way, but you can't give a president that's been in office a little over 60 DAYS any lee-way?!?!?! That seems a little fucked up to me. Brian - can you say DUPLICITOUS? But I guess it's unfair for me to pin this all on Brian. All Repubs are this way. Just look at the postings by the other conservatives - they aren't willing to give President Obama a chance regardless of the state of the union he inherited after their president left office.

3. All the complaining from the right about the budget is hypocritical. President Bush would submit the annual budget WITHOUT the costs of the Afhgan and Iraq wars included. Then (very slyly, of course) he would turn around and request some "special funding" for his wars. No wonder his budgets were never as expensive as the one President Obama turned in - but they would have been if GWB would have been forth-right in his!

4. During the Presidential Press Conference tonight, President Obama fielded some very tough questions from the press corps and I would dare any right-winger to claim differently. GWB was always lobbed softballs during his press conferences and hmmmmmm......he damn sure didn't have 2 of them within 65 days of assuming office! Oh wait...silly me. That's because of the "liberal press" mmmm hmmmm. RIGHT.

5. At least President Obama is WORKING HIS ASS OFF trying to get the county on the right track. No one in this thread can say that he's been resting on his laurels. Compare that to GWB (who created this mess with his 8 years of horrendous governing) that did NOTHING other than give the big banks 700 BILLION dollars with no oversight. I would honestly like to see his actions defended. GWB knew how fucked up the country was and was more than happy to hand over his [!@#$%^&*] up to a Democrat.

Finally, I believe President Obama is off to a fine start. Is it perfect? No. But what is? GWB's reign certainly was not. His father's governship was far from perfection. [!@#$%^&*], Ronald Reagan's time in office was no where NEAR it. So whom are they to complain when members of their own party have fallen short? GMAMFB.

Like y'alls hero GWB would say "Bring it on". You can't defend yourselves or your treasonous way of treating President Obama.

[SteveFrame]

As an Independent what I don't understand is why we can't ever discuss the issues.

the majority of the posts in here (even many of mine) are not discussing issues but just BLAME. Or even worse arguing about which of the f*uck ups is a worse f*uck up.

Oh gee all of them from Reagan on down have been f*uck ups. And if we won't to go to issuing blame there is enough to go around from the Democrats who were the original ones that pushed some of the Fanny Mae & Freddy regulations that were too lenient to the Bush's esp. GWB and his liberal spending. The mess that this country is in wasn't done by one man, one party, etc. - they all did it. And we as Americans for the most part sat back and let it happen. And as we said many of us took advantage of the liberal or lax regulations on getting loans and took out loans for houses we knew we couldn't afford and took advantage of the lax lending rules and got credit cards with huge limits and built up them and then can't pay them.

There are some innocents out there who have just been victims of bad situations. Many in the last few months due to the bail out plan that should have never gotten through with the lack of regulations that the money was given to those folks. Again Bush had the approval over there and he shares the most blame for letting it happen but so does Congress and the elected officials there who pushed it through without putting those regulations in place.

Most of America didn't want it in the first place.

As I have said before I am sick and tired of all of them. And I am really sick and tired of the blame game that I even fall into from time to time. But it is all our political system has given in to these days. Instead of either of them taking responsibility for what they have done, lets just constantly pass the buck and put the blame somewhere else. And worse yet we will just say well at least I am better than Bush or as the Republicans did at least I am not Clinton.

At this point I could give a flying f*uck about who is better or who is worse.

All I know is we just came off of 8 years where everything was Bush's fault. And all I can say is Democrats it is your turn to sit on the firing seat. You blamed Bush for everything for 8 years, so now you might as well get ready everything that is wrong for the next 4 years (most likely 8) will be Obama's fault. It is the way our political system works. Even when a Republican does something good, it is the nature of the beast that a Democrat is not going to acknowledge it (with some exceptions) and vice versa Republican's do the same to Democrats.

I just like being an independent. When I play the blame game I get to blame both of them.

[Roman]

GGL, right on. Thanks for saying what needed to be said.

Decrease font Decrease font

Enlarge font Enlarge font

Editor's note: Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and CNN political contributor, was a political consultant for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992 and was counselor to Clinton in the White House. For a rival view, click here

Paul Begala says Americans are looking to President Obama to solve problems left by the Bush administration.

Paul Begala says Americans are looking to President Obama to solve problems left by the Bush administration.

(CNN) -- I love Alex Castellanos. Heck, somebody has to. Truth is, we've been known to break bread after our CNN gigs. He is engaging and amusing and whip-smart.

But when he said Tuesday night on CNN that President Obama is already looking like a one-term president, he's full of more beans than a burrito at Matt's El Rancho back home in Austin, Texas.

Obama inherited an ungodly mess: a $1.2 trillion deficit, an economy that was careening from recession into depression, a collapse in effective demand, the disintegration of the real estate market and a financial meltdown that spanned the globe and brought multibillion-dollar institutions to their knees. That's not to mention Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea and the Mexican drug war.

If this were "Sesame Street," the announcer would be saying, "This program brought to you by the letters G, O and P." None of the crises the president is addressing were of his creation. All of them were created or worsened by the Republicans who ran the House of Representatives, Senate and White House for years.

And so the American people turned to Obama to bring change -- and change he has brought. He's moving on all fronts: addressing the housing foreclosure crisis, the banking crisis, the unemployment crisis. Did I mention that all of these crises were courtesy of the Republicans who ran this country for years? Good.

Now the Republicans have what we Texans call the chutzpah to criticize Obama for doing too much. Maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to be fixing so many problems if the Republicans hadn't created so many problems.

The Republicans are like an arsonist who complains that the fire department is wasting water. Obama is trying to handle an immediate crisis while also laying the foundation for long-term growth. The Republicans are doing neither. They have no plan to stop the loss of jobs or to get capital markets functioning properly -- and they certainly have no plans for health care, education or energy, which are the keys to both long-term economic growth and long-term deficit reduction.

All the energy -- indeed all debate -- is on the progressive side of the aisle. The Obama administration's only intellectual challengers are on the left, where economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and others are offering a vigorous critique and proposing alternative solutions. But where are the Republicans? Doing nothing but complaining. Unless and until they do offer an alternative, they really have no right to whine about the president. For now at least, GOP stands for "Got 0 Plans."

[SteveFrame]

Wow Talk About Mixed Reactions:

Poll done on TV Guide

What did you think of President Obama's news conference?

Liked it

38%

Didn't like it

29%

Didn't watch it

33%

[MichaelGL]

I actually liked it, he stated exactly what I've been trying to say all along, that it's going to take time for things to start turning around.

GGL you make some very valid points as do you Steve about the past few presidents.

[GoldenDogs]

The thing is:

1. I have been quite judgemental of George W. Bush. I've expressed my disappointment in his presidency more times than I can count. But apparently not enough times for you to have read it, Greg.

2. You haven't figured out my political persuasion yet? Again, I have hardly kept that secret. Why would you be deceived by the blatantly obvious, Greg? Describe my "duplicitous" nature... I'm curious. If need be, quote me from previous posts.

3. I have repeatedly complained about how George W. Bush handled the budget during his time in office. Again, I have done so here in this forum repeatedly. How you could have missed those posts, Greg, is beyond me. But, if you like, I can state it again: President Bush failed on many levels in office. If need be, I'll send you a private message echoing those statements.

4. I agree that Obama fielded tough questions. The media is no longer handling him with kid gloves. I say this because even THEY are uneasy right now about Obama's performance to date. Read the papers, Greg.

5. I agree that Obama is working his ass off... problem is, his priorities have been out of whack. And, in many cases, he's doing things nobody wants him to do.

Greg, you're acting as if nobody actually reads the posts here... I mean, you call me out for things I haven't said or done. Of all the people who post here who are clearly partisan, I frankly feel as if *I* have been generally fair-minded about things. I trash Republicans when they are behaving foolishly, just as I do Democrats. I have been VERY harsh with Republicans here in the forum. However, I have also acknowledged, unlike you, that Democrats are as responsible for the budget crisis as Republicans. As disappointed as I am with George W. Bush, it is clear that Democrats, too, have contributed to our economic plight.

It isn't just me who is not pleased with Obama... search the headlines, my friend. The world is unhappy with our President, too.

But all that aside... how you been buddy? I've missed chatting with you!!! Email or IM me so we can catch up!!

B

[TC]

[TC]

People might have questions, I know I do, but there is no comparison between now and then. We have an intelligent statesman who inherited a problem from a bumbling fool.

And Barack Obama is not fearful of saying he does not have all the answers yet.

[GoldenDogs]

Well, TC, at least the bumbling fool kept us safe from attack for seven years. I hope Obama can continue that policy...

B