Winning The Future!

[firstandten]

Maxx, you are correct. Unfortunately, it doesn't change the fact that NO!bama is a loser. Where's NO!bama been the last couple of months while protests are going on in Madison, Lansing and Columbus? What did he do in Libya other than possibly drag us into another Iraq/Afghanistan? And without consulting congress. The very criticism he made of Bush's forays. What's happening with budget discussions? Bottom line: NO!bama is in over his head. He's an academic/corporatist elite. His ideas and goals were and are nothing new, unusual and visionary. Nothing remotely resembling 'Change You can Believe In'. The demicans need another presidential candidate. NO!bama will campaign our pants off and then proceed to give away the rest of the house if elected.

As much as I understand where you going with this rant we are not going to see a true progressive get elected to the WH. The Dems aren't going to run anybody against him, a third party candidate can't realistically win and all the Repubs are too far to the right to beat him, and the one that is moderate [[Rommey) can't explain away the fact that "Obamacare" is based on his plan.

I believe Obama would be more progressive if forced to be, but the progessives out there need to have his back. If having someones back means losing one house of congress and almost losing the other house in the last election then I would play it straight down the middle like he's doing.

[1KielsonDrive]

Your use of the term "loser" is perplexing since Obama has a law degree from an ivy league law school, teaching experience from U. of Chicago and work experience at a Chicago law firm. I don't think he'll have to worry about his future employment.

Republicans' concern over the money spent on this operation is hypocritical when they gave Halliburton billions of money to boost Iraq's economy nine of which they can't account for. I don't recall any concern over that money.

MAXX, exactly the point. Thank you. NO!bama has education from the finest, elite, establishment
universities. I'm not knocking education, but people like NO!bama, no matter their race, ethnic and economic background, graduate from these schools with, in most cases, only the viewpoints ingrained in them from their corporate sponsors. If the demicans were so different then the republicrats you'd think they'd have a few common, working class people in their ranks of leaders. You know, people who've learned from the school of hard knocks. Most of the time, hard, blue-collar work is as valuable as education. And they should go hand in hand. The University of Chicago is as strong of a neo-con establishment of right-wing economics as anywhere in the world. In fact, it's where the Friedman [[Milton) school of economics began. You are also correct he never, ever, ever, ever has to worry about employment. That probably has more to do with who he knows than any other factor. These top level politicians can do whatever they like, because no matter the party, they'll be working with and for each other at universities and think tanks for the rest of their lives. NO!bama's a loser! He has no connection to common people anywhere in the world. As far as the Haliburton debacle in Iraq? I don't remember hearing too loud of a protest from the demicans. NO!bama certainly didn't pursue legal actions against the criminal activities of the previous administration. Why? Politicians scratching each other's backs. Don't get caught stealing any lunch meat because you and your family are hungry. You're going straight to jail. Don't pass go. Don't collect a hundred bucks. Go to jail!

[maxx]

No one can be blamed for getting a first-rate education. And who would you advise from the school of hard knocks as a political leader? Obama worked in a poor Chicago community before they sent him to the Chicago lege. And don't start in on the party machine. He made a name for himself in that community first.

And if you don't want a gov. run by the corporations for the corporations, we need to work to get big money out of our elections. Public Citizen is one organization doing that.

[Mikeg]

"Winning the Future" Ain't Helping Obama's Approval Ratings

President Obama's approval ratings among registered voters in the latest Quinnipiac University poll have dropped to the lowest levels yet.

“President Barack Obama’s approval numbers are at their lowest level ever, slightly below where they were for most of 2010 before he got a bump up in surveys after the November election and into the early part of this year,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Only 42% of their poll respondents approve of the job President Obama is doing and 50% say he does not deserve to be re-elected in 2012.

58% of respondents say that Obama has not clearly stated U.S. goals for Libya and 47% oppose America's "kinetic military activity" in Libya. The polling concluded Monday evening as the President was speaking on that subject to a national television audience - which by the way only attracted 25.6 million viewers, continuing Obama’s trend of declining ratings for his issue-oriented telecasts. Despite his Vice President's assertion that Obama is the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, bright and clean, more and more people are simply tuning Obama out.

[Mikeg]

"Winning the Future by lying to Secure America's Energy Future?"

As President Obama rolled out new plans to allegedly cut costly oil dependence this week, he continued to perpetuate the "big lie" that

"America holds about 2 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves" [source: White House transcript of the President's remarks].

That CNN article further distorts what the President actually said, conveniently muddying the waters by characterizing him as having said "America only possesses 2% of the world's known oil reserves".

Catch the difference? Most people don't even know or care about the definition of "proven oil reserves". The fact is that there are two different definitions of "proven oil reserves" and that "known oil reserves" is meaningless by comparison.

In most oil-producing countries around the world, "proven oil reserves" equals the amount of commercially recoverable oil estimated to be in the ground as calculated by the oil industry and totaled up by the government. However, in the USA, "proven oil reserves" is not an industry calculation, it's a legal term that has been defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission:

Proved reserves. The quantities of hydrocarbons estimated with reasonable certainty to be commercially recoverable from known accumulations under current economic conditions, operating methods, and government regulations. Current economic conditions include prices and costs prevailing at the time of the estimate. Estimates of proved reserves do not include reserves appreciation.

Unlike all other countries, the USA starts with the oil industry's estimate of our commercially recoverable petroleum [[~164 billion barrels) and reduces it not only for "current economic conditions" but also for those reserves that are located in areas that are currently off-limits to production because of government regulations, resulting in the United States' narrowly-defined proven reserves of ~19 billion barrels of petroleum. When following the same methodology used elsewhere for measuring "proved reserves", the United States currently possesses ~15% of the world's proven reserves. [source].

Note that because of our limiting definition of "proved reserves", every time the price of oil rises, our "proved reserves" rise, too; likewise when the price falls. Furthermore, as the price rises, the oil producers have a financial incentive to search for and find additional reserves. Finally, because of politically-driven government regulations coming out of Washington DC, much of our proven reserves are off-limits to drilling and therefore not counted.

So not only is our President perpetuating the lie about our share of the currently proven world-wide oil reserves, in his speech he attempted to use it in an apples-to-oranges comparison:

"We consume about 25 percent of the world’s oil. We only have 2 percent of the reserves."

If he wants to talk about our share of annual world-wide consumption, honesty requires that he compare it to our share of annual world-wide production, which is ~10% [source].

Therefore, if the President really wanted to level with the American people, he would have said "Each year we consume about 25 percent of the world’s oil while only producing 10% of it. We currently only have about 15 percent of the world-wide reserves."

But that doesn't sound dire enough to justify massive Federal Government interventions in the energy sector, does it?

[firstandten]

"Winning the Future" Ain't Helping Obama's Approval Ratings

President Obama's approval ratings among registered voters in the latest Quinnipiac University poll have dropped to the lowest levels yet.

Only 42% of their poll respondents approve of the job President Obama is doing and 50% say he does not deserve to be re-elected in 2012.

58% of respondents say that Obama has not clearly stated U.S. goals for Libya and 47% oppose America's "kinetic military activity" in Libya. The polling concluded Monday evening as the President was speaking on that subject to a national television audience - which by the way only attracted 25.6 million viewers, continuing Obama’s trend of declining ratings for his issue-oriented telecasts. Despite his Vice President's assertion that Obama is the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, bright and clean, more and more people are simply tuning Obama out.

I have some problems with the way you characterize Obama'a slippage.

First of all you quote the Quinnipiac poll which is only one of 7 or 8 key polls that measure his popularity. His number in the Quinnipiac poll is 42% however if you take his running average of all the key polls its more like 48% which has pretty much held consistant since 2009.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epo...oval-1044.html

What you did would be like if I took one of the polls that gave him a high measurement and try to make a case that Obama is the most popular president of all time. I would just ignore the other key polls that could bring that average down.

Also maybe there wasn't the interest of a national TV audience to watch a speech about Libya and maybe it had very little to do with him, popular or not.

Finally the Biden statement is way old news. Obama knows he a gaffe machine but he likes him anyway.

[maxx]

Despite his Vice President's assertion that Obama is the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, bright and clean, more and more people are simply tuning Obama out.

And it couldn't be that the Republican/corporatist propaganda machine is feeding into some people's racism and xenophobia because racism no longer exists in the U.S.. Ha! Or maybe a lot of people just prefer a good old boy a$$hole like W who doesn't make them feel stupid by using big words and rational arguments instead of appealing to prejudice and fear.

[1KielsonDrive]

As much as I understand where you going with this rant we are not going to see a true progressive get elected to the WH. The Dems aren't going to run anybody against him, a third party candidate can't realistically win and all the Repubs are too far to the right to beat him, and the one that is moderate [[Rommey) can't explain away the fact that "Obamacare" is based on his plan.

I believe Obama would be more progressive if forced to be, but the progessives out there need to have his back. If having someones back means losing one house of congress and almost losing the other house in the last election then I would play it straight down the middle like he's doing.

Kind of a left handed compliment. Or, more accurately, a kick in the n*^s. Suck me in with understand and give me the old knee with rant. That's trying to have it both ways. I'm saving this post for the next election results.

[firstandten]

Kind of a left handed compliment. Or, more accurately, a kick in the n*^s. Suck me in with understand and give me the old knee with rant. That's trying to have it both ways. I'm saving this post for the next election results.

Not really! With the exception of Obama being out of office I pretty much want the same thing as you politically. Its just that I understand the difference between what I want and whats politically doable.

As far as the next election, based on what I see now I really think what I stated in the post will happen.

[1KielsonDrive]

Not really! With the exception of Obama being out of office I pretty much want the same thing as you politically. Its just that I understand the difference between what I want and whats politically doable.

As far as the next election, based on what I see now I really think what I stated in the post will happen.

And I don't? That's a pretty big statement from someone who doesn't know me or my involvement with politics for over a half century. I comment here based upon my experiences, not others. Not that I don't respond to others - as I'm doing at this very moment. Regardless, if you'd asked posters here who was going to be president of the good ole US of A about 4 - 5 years ago, I doubt anywhere near the majority of posters would've answered Obama, much less NO!bama.

[maxx]

firstandten:

Since "Citizens United" and with the screw-thy-neighbor attitude in a lot of people, what are the chances a real progressive could get elected?

[firstandten]

And I don't? That's a pretty big statement from someone who doesn't know me or my involvement with politics for over a half century. I comment here based upon my experiences, not others. Not that I don't respond to others - as I'm doing at this very moment. Regardless, if you'd asked posters here who was going to be president of the good ole US of A about 4 - 5 years ago, I doubt anywhere near the majority of posters would've answered Obama, much less NO!bama.

If you notice with my statement I made no assumptions about you, or your political experience. What I stated was my understanding. I know from your posts that you did major work for Obama in the last election so I would have to assume that you are active politically especially on the progressive side. However Obama has disappointed you. My only general comment to you regarding Obama is that you should have known what you were getting with him. His political orientation was in both his books, so its not like he did a bait and switch.

I would agree with you on the last statement there is no way I would answered Obama, I really thought Hilary had a great chance and Obama had no chance.

[firstandten]

firstandten:

Since "Citizens United" and with the screw-thy-neighbor attitude in a lot of people, what are the chances a real progressive could get elected?

Maxx

I would think close to zero. Now with the "Citizens United" case organizations can pour millions and millions of dollars just to beat progressive candidates. However I think there are other things at work as well. We are seeing an assault on everything the common man/woman used to get financially ahead in this society ... unions, education, entitlement programs etc. Right wing media has been able to make a case through half-truths, misrepresentations and in some cases out right lies that progressives and progressive thought are the reason the country is in the shape its in.

Unfortunately, right wing media has been able to make that case because we are educationally bankrupt. No one wants to do reseach or be able to sift through two sets of facts and decide which makes more common sense. There's too much of that I'll get my facts from right wing radio or web-sites because they won't lie to me. [[see my post #81 on this thread)

Lastly there is this dream that people have, its a lot like the dream inner-city kids have when they talk about going to the NBA or NFL except this dream is that I going to get rich and the progressives are going to tax me out of my fortune.

[Pam]

I really thought Hilary had a great chance and Obama had no chance.

I didn't think either of them had a chance. I thought Edwards would be the front runner. [[I voted for Kucinich in the primary though.)

[Mikeg]

"Winning the Future by Running for a Second Term"

From Obama's campaign announcement:

All of us know what those challenges are today - a war with no end, a dependence on oil that threatens our future, schools where too many children aren't learning, and families struggling paycheck to paycheck despite working as hard as they can. We know the challenges. We've heard them. We've talked about them for years.
What's stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies and sensible plans. What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics - the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle big problems.
For the last six years we've been told that our mounting debts don't matter.....
Today we grieve for the families who have lost loved ones, the hearts that have been broken, and the young lives that could have been. America, it's time to start bringing our troops home. It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war......
This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams....
That's why I'm in this race. Not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation.

Yeah, those were from his first campaign announcement, made while he was still the junior senator from Illinois. So now, two years into office, how's that "transformer of our nation" doing?

• "a war with no end" - plus Libya, too!
• "families struggling" - from two years of sustained high unemployment [[the US unemployment rate was 5.2% in Jan. 2008 and it remains near 9.2% two years later - and in that same period, the price of gasoline has doubled!). Even more problematic for Obama's re-election chances are the recent statistics on personal income.*
• "the failure of leadership" - what happened to that Executive Order about Gitmo closing and the announcement that the remaining detainees would be given civilian trials? Answer: "In Reversal, 9/11 Plotter to Be Tried by Military Panel"
• "the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial" - two words: "Beer Summit", or perhaps "NCAA Brackets"
• "our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle big problems" - as in his Oct. 2010 admonishment that "We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back!"
• "For the last six years we've been told that our mounting debts don't matter" - Obama's 2009 deficit exceeded all eight years of Dubya's red ink and here's what what Obama plans to give us in future years!
• "no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war" - then why is he risking American lives in Libya?.

Move over Jimmy Carter!
___________________________

* Real disposable personal income fell 0.1 percent in February. Average hourly wages were flat in March, and have grown at a 1.8 percent annualized rate over the past three months, according to the Economic Policy Institute. With inflation running around 2 percent, this means the average American is falling behind, his standard of living dropping. As the Brooking Institution figures things, between October 2010 and February 2011, real hourly and weekly earnings in the private sector fell 1.1 percent.

[firstandten]

Why not sprinkle some good news along with the bad. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.8 % according to the gov't. Mickey D is creating 50,000 new jobs [[I sure that makes conservatives who think that folks should work for little more than minimun wage happy).

Real disposable income has been falling for a while, long before Obama got in office. Our standard of living has been dropping for years and years. The personal debt bubble made things better than they actually were. Now reality has hit. Remember this was some thirty years in the making

So given that we have lost our manufacturing base . What kind of magic wand should Obama wave in front of the WH lawn so we can get back to the good ole days

[1KielsonDrive]

Why not sprinkle some good news along with the bad. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.8 % according to the gov't. Mickey D is creating 50,000 new jobs [[I sure that makes conservatives who think that folks should work for little more than minimun wage happy).

Real disposable income has been falling for a while, long before Obama got in office. Our standard of living has been dropping for years and years. The personal debt bubble made things better than they actually were. Now reality has hit. Remember this was some thirty years in the making

So given that we have lost our manufacturing base . What kind of magic wand should Obama wave in front of the WH lawn so we can get back to the good ole days

I'd like to see NO!bama wave a magic wand and not run again. Or, the demican national corporation dethrone him.

[Mikeg]

Why not sprinkle some good news along with the bad......

Can you give me one example where this president has met or exceeded his 2008 economic or foreign policy campaign promises?

The data points I've provided are the kind of things that directly affect the president's approval ratings with the independent voters who will ultimately determine his election poll results. When those independents walk into the voting booth in Nov. 2012, they aren't going to be thinking about what Dubya did or didn't do.

This president is so ineffectual he can't even make his own Executive Orders happen!

[firstandten]

Can you give me one example where this president has met or exceeded his 2008 economic or foreign policy campaign promises?

The data points I've provided are the kind of things that directly affect the president's approval ratings with the independent voters who will ultimately determine his election poll results. When those independents walk into the voting booth in Nov. 2012, they aren't going to be thinking about what Dubya did or didn't do.

This president is so ineffectual he can't even make his own Executive Orders happen!

Well ! I went to a fact check site and it turns out he kept most of his promises concerning the economy. There were a couple in the works and a couple of compromises and a couple of broken promises. The broken ones especially the first one was because he was being held hostage by the Repubs and I feel that should have been a compromise instead.

I didn't check out his foreign policy promises yet, but I suspect you will see about the same thing.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...jects/economy/

[firstandten]

I'd like to see NO!bama wave a magic wand and not run again. Or, the demican national corporation dethrone him.

Tell you what ! Lets throw ole Dennis Kucinich out there. I like his politics. We could campaign for him 24/7 give him hundreds of millions of dollars. Think he could win ???

[Mikeg]

Well ! I went to a fact check site and it turns out he kept most of his promises concerning the economy. There were a couple in the works and a couple of compromises and a couple of broken promises. The broken ones especially the first one was because he was being held hostage by the Repubs and I feel that should have been a compromise instead.

I didn't check out his foreign policy promises yet, but I suspect you will see about the same thing.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...jects/economy/

He kept most of his promises on the economy? According to the link you provided, of the 20 "economic" campaign promises they tracked, he has only kept 7 of them:

Create an Advanced Manufacturing Fund
Increase minority access to capital
Require economic justification for tax changes
Expand loan programs for small businesses
Create new financial regulations
Raise the small business investment expensing limit to $250,000
Extend unemployment insurance benefits

Exactly how have any of these "promises kept" contributed to getting the economy turned around and putting people back to work?

Don't bother about the foreign policy promises, because it's clear that despite all of Obama's telepromptering to foreign audiences, bowing to foreign dictators and his Nobel Peace Prize, the US is currently held in no higher regard by our allies and enemies than it was during the Bush administration.

[firstandten]

He kept most of his promises on the economy? According to the link you provided, of the 20 "economic" campaign promises they tracked, he has only kept 7 of them:

Create an Advanced Manufacturing Fund
Increase minority access to capital
Require economic justification for tax changes
Expand loan programs for small businesses
Create new financial regulations
Raise the small business investment expensing limit to $250,000
Extend unemployment insurance benefits

Exactly how have any of these "promises kept" contributed to getting the economy turned around and putting people back to work?

Don't bother about the foreign policy promises, because it's clear that despite all of Obama's telepromptering to foreign audiences, bowing to foreign dictators and his Nobel Peace Prize, the US is currently held in no higher regard by our allies and enemies than it was during the Bush administration.

So I guess its all or nothing for you. You don't give any credit " for in the works" or compromises.
understanding in politics you don't always get what you want, basically because you can't. Now appoint me dictator in a banana republic and I guarantee I would keep 100% of my campaign promises every year. LOL

Man, you hold folks to an unbelievable standard

BTW unemployment did go down to 8.8 you failed to mention that.

Not any higher regard than the Bush adm ??? Is that a fact or just your opinion based on what Rush told you

[oladub]

BTW unemployment did go down to 8.8 you failed to mention that.

8.8% unemployment; now that's impressive! All together now, "four more years, four more years" I guess running the country additional trillions of dollars into debt paid off big. 8.8% unemployment; that's wonderful.

[TKshreve]

Tell you what ! Lets throw ole Dennis Kucinich out there. I like his politics. We could campaign for him 24/7 give him hundreds of millions of dollars. Think he could win ???

^^^This here^^^

Kucinich is the man and he doesn't bow to corporate interests. He would also have zero qualms about pointing out exactly who the red tape is that jams up our legislative system and who is working towards progress. I would also take Bernie Sanders in a heart beat. But without the millions of dollars that are needed, it remains a pipe dream. Afterall it is $$$ that runs our country, and not the people thanks to the last 30 years of oligarchical reagonomics.

MikeG: If you want to decry injustice and lack of leadership so much, why don't you point a finger at the Citzens United ruling and its far-reaching implications. It is tranparent rulings such as this that have pigeon holed our country with no sight of "righting the ship".

Your one tune game is to blame Obama for not holding promises, while utterly failing to acknowledge that anybody would have tremendous difficulties getting things done in such governmental stagnation.

This thread is full of blame and lacks any signal of idea creation or problem solving. How does that make you feel?

[Mikeg]

So I guess its all or nothing for you.

You were the one who said he kept most of his campaign promises. After I pointed out that your linked source failed to back up that assertion, you've now agreed that he either failed or compromised away most of his "economic" campaign promises.

Man, you hold folks to an unbelievable standard

No differently than the standards to which most of the posters on this forum held the previous president.

BTW unemployment did go down to 8.8 you failed to mention that.

The Obama administration typically revises the numbers several months later and it's usually in the wrong direction. Besides, the middle class knows the real story and it isn't found in the official unemployment numbers. According to Gallup, the number of Americans that are either unemployed or working part-time but desiring full-time work actually rose from 19.8 percent in February to 20.3 percent in March. If that reality doesn't improve along with the personal income statistics, Obama will be toast, regardless of what the official unemployment numbers are come fall of 2012.

Not any higher regard than the Bush adm ??? Is that a fact or just your opinion based on what Rush told you

Surely you've also noticed that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is still showing Obama his clenched fist; Germany, Turkey and most of the Arab League either walked away or sabotaged Obama's Libyan mini-coalition; Hamid Karzai is as uncooperative as ever and deliberately fomenting murderous anti-American and anti-UN riots; Muslim's are burning Obama 's effigy as we speak......