The Obama Haters’ Silent Enablers

[Fitz1980]

Here's a link to a good Op-ed in the NY Times. I do try and avoid the "cut & paste" style of debate often seen around here; but when a "journalist" from Fox News even admitts that he's getting creeped out by his own viewers it bares a mention.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/opinion/14rich.html?_r=2

WHEN a Fox News anchor, reacting to his own network’s surging e-mail traffic, warns urgently on-camera of a rise in hate-filled, “amped up” Americans who are “taking the extra step and getting the gun out,” maybe we should listen. He has better sources in that underground than most.

The anchor was Shepard Smith, speaking after Wednesday’s mayhem at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Unlike the bloviators at his network and elsewhere on cable, Smith is famous for his highly caffeinated news-reading, not any political agenda. But very occasionally — notably during Hurricane Katrina — he hits the Howard Beale mad-as-hell wall. Joining those at Fox who routinely disregard the network’s “Wereport, you decide” mantra, he both reported and decided, loudly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/opinion/14rich.html?_r=2

[jon71]

An eerie warning we really need. I wonder (but doubt) that those most responsible for dailing up the hate and vitriol will respond in any way.

[Croydon]

Here's a link to a good Op-ed in the NY Times. I do try and avoid the "cut & paste" style of debate often seen around here; but when a "journalist" from Fox News even admitts that he's getting creeped out by his own viewers it bares a mention.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/opinion/14rich.html?_r=2

WHEN a Fox News anchor, reacting to his own network’s surging e-mail traffic, warns urgently on-camera of a rise in hate-filled, “amped up” Americans who are “taking the extra step and getting the gun out,” maybe we should listen. He has better sources in that underground than most.

The anchor was Shepard Smith, speaking after Wednesday’s mayhem at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Unlike the bloviators at his network and elsewhere on cable, Smith is famous for his highly caffeinated news-reading, not any political agenda. But very occasionally — notably during Hurricane Katrina — he hits the Howard Beale mad-as-hell wall. Joining those at Fox who routinely disregard the network’s “Wereport, you decide” mantra, he both reported and decided, loudly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/opinion/14rich.html?_r=2
I was having a similar conversation with a friend couple weeks ago. I work for the Smithsonian Museums and I am near the Holocaust Museum. In all honesty, the shooting did not surprise me one bit. The death of Dr. Tiller too did not surprise me.

Since Obama won the election, Republicans have been operating like chickens with their heads cut off. They are SO LOST. They have absolutely no agenda and NOTHING to bring to the table so they resort to insulting and undermining the president. This leaves with many republicans, especially conservatives seething, angry, scared. Their worst nightmare is happening right before their eyes: a black man running the country, an administration that is liberal about abortion, small advancement in gay rights.

The change we are going through is scaring them. With no republican allies in congress to fight their agenda, they are even more scared and angry.

This is why I believe holocaust shooting and the death of Dr. Tiller occurred. These people are so angry and scared that they will take matters into their own hands. I truly believe this will not be the last we hear of such actions.

How does Fox News play in all this. I don't blame Fox for any of this but they do play a role. It fires the fuel. It is the network where angry people can go and listen. Fox confirms their hatred and fuels their hatred. They may not be the ones to pull the trigger but they do push people over the edge.

[Navigator]

Since Obama won the election, Republicans have been operating like chickens with their heads cut off. They are SO LOST. They have absolutely no agenda and NOTHING to bring to the table so they resort to insulting and undermining the president. This leaves with many republicans, especially conservatives seething, angry, scared. Their worst nightmare is happening right before their eyes: a black man running the country, an administration that is liberal about abortion, small advancement in gay rights.

The change we are going through is scaring them. With no republican allies in congress to fight their agenda, they are even more scared and angry.

This is why I believe holocaust shooting and the death of Dr. Tiller occurred. These people are so angry and scared that they will take matters into their own hands. I truly believe this will not be the last we hear of such actions.


Well said Croydon. I couldn't agree more.

The Department of Homeland Security warned America about the violence that is coming from the conservative right. The report is here: http://www.gordonunleashed.com/HSA%20-%20Rightwing%20Extremism%20-%2009%2004%2007.pdf

Bush made the word "conservative" into a dirty word and what's left of the Republican party are doing their best to prove him correct.

Although Obama may get a good portion of the blame, in voters minds, for Bush's messes by the time the mid-term elections roll around, it stretches the imagination to see why anyone would ever again vote for any politician representing the disasterous incompetence of the Bush years.

[nakedstudent]

Since Obama won the election, Republicans have been operating like chickens with their heads cut off. They are SO LOST. They have absolutely no agenda and NOTHING to bring to the table so they resort to insulting and undermining the president. This leaves with many republicans, especially conservatives seething, angry, scared. Their worst nightmare is happening right before their eyes: a black man running the country, an administration that is liberal about abortion, small advancement in gay rights.


First of all, the only reason why the Republican agenda isn't visible is because there has been very little of the "bipartisanship" that the administration expressed a hope for. Republicans were rather voiced in their desire to read the stimulus package before it was voted on. Obama in his campain promised 48 hours before any bill was voted on. That's all Republicans asked for.

Republicans also offered up an alternative budget and several competing stimulus and cost savings plans including but not limited to Federal Tax Holidays, using the Postal Service to conduct the upcoming census (instead of a whole additional corps of temporary employees.) and many other things as well.

These proposals haven't even come up in the mainstream media. Truthfully, I don't even think FOX carried some of them!

Secondly, there is no "undermining" in the 2 party system. Ever since the days of Wilson and FDR, it has been evident that both R's and D's have advocated increased State control over life.

We now have proposals that would allow the State to tell us which kinds of LIGHT BULBS must be put in our own homes! Such programs only save .4% of US auto emissions and .016% of total CO2 emissions. Is it really worth giving up the freedom to pick which light bulb works best for you? John McCain was pro- Cap and Trade during the campaign. How is that any different from the Democratic view?

There really isn't much difference between the two parties on the important issues. The issues that they try to make important do nothing but perpetuate the argument we are having now. It keeps us focused on both of them at the same time and prevents us from realizing what promise the Independent movement really has.

[Sanman]

Well said, Nakedstudent! D and R are all the same.

There's only one man currently in congress that I know of who isn't like the others... Ron Paul. He often will be the lone vote against more taxes and more spending. But now, his recent bill (HR 1207) to audit the Federal Reserve has over half the house co-sponsoring it. The next hurdle is to get Nancy Pelosi (speaker of the house) to bring it to the floor for a vote.

[Croydon]

First of all, the only reason why the Republican agenda isn't visible is because there has been very little of the "bipartisanship" that the administration expressed a hope for. Republicans were rather voiced in their desire to read the stimulus package before it was voted on. Obama in his campain promised 48 hours before any bill was voted on. That's all Republicans asked for.

Republicans also offered up an alternative budget and several competing stimulus and cost savings plans including but not limited to Federal Tax Holidays, using the Postal Service to conduct the upcoming census (instead of a whole additional corps of temporary employees.) and many other things as well.

These proposals haven't even come up in the mainstream media. Truthfully, I don't even think FOX carried some of them!

Secondly, there is no "undermining" in the 2 party system. Ever since the days of Wilson and FDR, it has been evident that both R's and D's have advocated increased State control over life.

We now have proposals that would allow the State to tell us which kinds of LIGHT BULBS must be put in our own homes! Such programs only save .4% of US auto emissions and .016% of total CO2 emissions. Is it really worth giving up the freedom to pick which light bulb works best for you? John McCain was pro- Cap and Trade during the campaign. How is that any different from the Democratic view?

There really isn't much difference between the two parties on the important issues. The issues that they try to make important do nothing but perpetuate the argument we are having now. It keeps us focused on both of them at the same time and prevents us from realizing what promise the Independent movement really has.
Quite misguided I see.

Let's talk about bipartisanship. Unless you were sleeping under a rock, when Obama came into office, he went out of his way to involve Republican leaders in his agendas, especially the stimulus. He publicly made it clear he wants republicans to participate. All while doing this, republican leaders were doing rounds of cable news interview lambasting Obama's stimulus plan and his short weeks as president. Soon after, the media and voters were calling out Republicans because they were doing nothing but talk yet had not offered up any alternative. You can't sit there and get down on the guy if you have nothing to offer. With the help of McCain, John Boehner and Senator Cantor, in a press conference offered up their plan. Their plan was nothing more than tax cuts and very little investment and spending. It was largely laughed at and ridiculed by the media. NO ONE supported the republican alternative, not the press, not American voters, and not even economists. Boehner and Cantor tried to recruit economists to support their plan and they couldn't get one. Their alternative plan was nothing new. It was very similar to the one Bush offered during his tenure and we all know what that did, NOTHING. Stimulating the economy CAN NOT be just tax break. Over 60% of the economy's health relies on spending. That being said, you can not just stop at tax break. The goverment must invest and spend. Investing and spending on the right thing creates jobs and further spending by consumers. The tax breaks are great but when Americans are feeling the pinch, they are more apt to SAVE the extra cash they may get from a tax break.

Despite press having a field day with the weak alternative given by Republicans, Obama met with them anyway to discuss their plan. After their meeting, Obama did listen and scraped some of his initiatives from his stimulus plan and added more tax breaks as requested by republican. Talk about lack of bipartisanship huh nakedstudent?

Bipartisanship is a two way street but Republicans have not embraced that. They have become a party of no to this and no to that. They aren't even considering anything bought to their attention, they answer is just no. They are doing nothing but hurting themselves by publicly rejecting everything and ridiculing the president. It is one thing to reject or say no but when that is all you do and offer NO PLAN, NO ALTERNATIVE, NO INITIATIVE then you can't sit there and complain. I don't blame the democrats for ignoring Republicans and doing things w/o their say or support. When you have someone constantly criticizing and rejecting you, why continue to reach out.

The Republican strategy will either be the smartest thing or the dumbest thing. Right now, it is the dumbest thing. We have a president with a relatively high approval rating (low 60s) and people perceive republicans as getting in his way. Republicans should continue to hope that by 2012 that Obama will fail as president and they can come around and say, "see, I told you so."

[LamontCranston]

I've voted Republican my whole adult life (first one was Gerald Ford against Jimmy Carter) except for my Reform Party vote for Ross Perot in 1992.

I'm not an Obama Hater. I want the soldiers brought home from Iraq. This week they withdrew from the cities and have started to ship home in numbers. Good for the Commander in Chief.

I don't understand what's happening in Afghanistan but instead of more routine patrols and policing, he fired a general and now has a 4,000 strong US Marine offensive underway as of yesterday. If we're going to be there, then do it and get it done. Again, good for the Commander in Chief.

He campaigned on a reform health care platform. Now in office he set a deadline for a bill but let's Congress hammer the details for the most part. That's their job and he's holding them to it.

He authorized the Navy sharpshooters in the Somalia pirate episode. If you have power, use it. I notice we no longer have pirates highjacking American ships.

He has an opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court judge and he picked someone reasonable, not fringe-left.

I don't much like the spending and bailouts and stimulus money on a large scale but his predecessor did the same.

Nope. I'm not an Obama Hater.

I also realize that all the talking heads (from every radio and TV network) are all about controversy and ratings and nothing really about idealogy. Plus, we're heading into the slow news summer season and they need something to keep the ratings up for the advertisers., so they talk about each other. It's lazy and boring really.

[Navigator]

First of all, the only reason why the Republican agenda isn't visible is because there has been very little of the "bipartisanship" that the administration expressed a hope for.

I think you know that Obama has done everything in his power, nakedstudent, to bring Republicans into the legislative process. They insist on refusing to offer any contributions and they insist on voting against all bills as a unified block. Worse...instead of engaging in any bipartisan contribution they filibuster bills almost every day. They are, without a doubt, the party of NO.

Here's a recap of their lack of bipartisanship...despite Obama's repeated requests for their contributions...on the budget which they voted 100% against.

http://chattahbox.com/us/2009/04/03/obamas-budget-passes-both-house-and-senate-without-a-republican-vote/

This article is a recap of the Republican lack of bipartisanship on the stimulus bill which they also voted 100% against after offering up the vague idea of a 3 year spending freeze....something no other country is adopting and virtually no economist, even conservative economists, is suggesting as a cure for the Bush Depression.

http://www.slate.com/id/2210042/

And this little piece of slime is what your extremist-right wing media spokes-people do to any Republican who even tries to be a little bit bipartisan as 8 R's did last week on the Cap and Trade bill. A wanted poster of all things. That's how much the R's actually want "bipartisanship".

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/06/26/the-8-cap-and-tax-republicans/

Thankfully, next week, the R's will take another large step toward irrelevancy with the seating of Minnesota's newest Senator...and the Dem's 60th Senator...which will stop many, if not all, of the filibusters from the extremist right. If the Republicans don't begin to act in a truly bipartisan manner, and contribute at least SOMETHING that's rational and doable, the 2010 elections will make them into nothing more than a regional Appalachian/Ozarks party that is completely irrelevant on the national political scene.

[marko486]

I think you know that Obama has done everything in his power, nakedstudent, to bring Republicans into the legislative process. They insist on refusing to offer any contributions and they insist on voting against all bills as a unified block. Worse...instead of engaging in any bipartisan contribution they filibuster bills almost every day. They are, without a doubt, the party of NO.


Thankfully, next week, the R's will take another large step toward irrelevancy with the seating of Minnesota's newest Senator...and the Dem's 60th Senator...which will stop many, if not all, of the filibusters from the extremist right. If the R's don't begin to act in a truly bipartisan manner, and contribute at least SOMETHING, the 2010 elections will make them into nothing more than a regional Appalachian/Ozarks party that is completely irrelevant on the national political scene.


Hey, I am from the Ozarks originally. I am registered Independent and pretty much agree with you though. Republicans only strategy is to oppose everything and hopes he fails. It is really the only thing they cling to and in reality, the only way they can return to power , since they are devoid ideas and credibility. The deficit is something that will have to be deal with sooner then later and taxes will go up but things will depend greatly on how well and fast the economy will recover. I just find treasonous to want him to fail, all the while, having selective amnesia of the 5 Trillian they ran up during their watch. There are even those Neo-cons who wish for another terrorist attack. I don't believe they represent the majority of conservatives but the rifts have certainly exposed the extreme wing nut cases of which they have done little to disavow.

[nakedstudent]

Quite misguided I see.

Let's talk about bipartisanship. Unless you were sleeping under a rock, when Obama came into office, he went out of his way to involve Republican leaders in his agendas, especially the stimulus. He publicly made it clear he wants republicans to participate. All while doing this, republican leaders were doing rounds of cable news interview lambasting Obama's stimulus plan and his short weeks as president.

The republicans realized after stimulus 1 (which occurred under a Republican administration) that they had gotten too far away from their roots. They were shown this when the vast majority of Republicans up for re-election got their pink sheets. Knowing that America would rather know when a politician is going to be liberal with a vote so strongly for the democratic party (or so weakly for the Republicans), how can you expect a Republican to continue Bush era practices when the visible result was such devastating losses for the party?

The madness of fiscal irresponsibility started well before the Obama administration.


"Soon after, the media and voters were calling out Republicans because they were doing nothing but talk yet had not offered up any alternative. You can't sit there and get down on the guy if you have nothing to offer."

The republican party did offer alternatives. I can't remember who suggested it, but one suggestion was using the 2nd half of Stimulus 1 to account for everybody's taxes for an equal amount of time. It would have amounted to 3 months with ZERO deductions out of your pay check. The Republican party also offered alternatives to nationalizing the auto industry with massive loans. Under the Republican plan, the auto companies who needed bankruptcy would have gone through it far before it wound up happening. Sounds like traditional "pro big government" Republicanism to me.


With the help of McCain, John Boehner and Senator Cantor, in a press conference offered up their plan. Their plan was nothing more than tax cuts and very little investment and spending. It was largely laughed at and ridiculed by the media.

With the recent status of the media (possibly excepting Chip Reid, Jake Tapper, Major Garrett, and.... *SHUDDER* HELEN THOMAS!?!?!) I'd take that "ridicule" as a badge of honor. ABC recently ran an infomercial on Obama's healthcare plan and refused to allow alternative viewpoints. The administration is blatantly trying to control exactly what the media says about him.

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=50445


NO ONE supported the republican alternative, not the press, not American voters, and not even economists. Boehner and Cantor tried to recruit economists to support their plan and they couldn't get one. Their alternative plan was nothing new. It was very similar to the one Bush offered during his tenure and we all know what that did, NOTHING. Stimulating the economy CAN NOT be just tax break.

Let's talk about support:

Support of stimulus 2 as of Feb 09:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/economic_stimulus_package/february_2009/support_for_stimulus_package_falls_to_37

Government in general:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

Proof that support isn't exactly 75% behind the democratic party's policies as some here would suggest.


Over 60% of the economy's health relies on spending. That being said, you can not just stop at tax break. The goverment must invest and spend. Investing and spending on the right thing creates jobs and further spending by consumers. The tax breaks are great but when Americans are feeling the pinch, they are more apt to SAVE the extra cash they may get from a tax break.

So that's your rationalization for the government not providing tax cuts? The government can spend your money better than you (or an average american) can?

I beg to differ.

3 million for a turtle tunnel in Florida?
Many millions to a worthless airport in my own backyard?
How many stimulus checks were sent to dead people?

2 parts of the 4 medicare parts and social security put the US in a combined 100 TRILLION in the hole.


Despite press having a field day with the weak alternative given by Republicans, Obama met with them anyway to discuss their plan. After their meeting, Obama did listen and scraped some of his initiatives from his stimulus plan and added more tax breaks as requested by republican. Talk about lack of bipartisanship huh nakedstudent?

Obama scrapped initiatives only to have the congress slide them back in. Furthermore, voting on a bill without reading it sounds a lot like "Taxation without Representation" to me.


They are doing nothing but hurting themselves by publicly rejecting everything and ridiculing the president.

Well time will tell if this pays off. Once Cap and Trade goes through and the average energy bill of an American increases by 1400 a year, we'll see how public opinion changes. The Republican party will have the pleasure (with a few exceptions) of reaping the benefits of the failure of this legislation.


The Republican strategy will either be the smartest thing or the dumbest thing. Right now, it is the dumbest thing. We have a president with a relatively high approval rating (low 60s) and people perceive republicans as getting in his way. Republicans should continue to hope that by 2012 that Obama will fail as president and they can come around and say, "see, I told you so."

I don't see how anyone hyped so much as "Hope and Change" but then reverts to plain old partisan politics will do anything but fail.

But like I said before, the struggle between R and D keeps our attention on partisan politics and it's all smoke and mirrors. As for me, I'm researching more and strongly supporting independent candidates for the rest of my voting career.

[Croydon]

The republicans realized after stimulus 1 (which occurred under a Republican administration) that they had gotten too far away from their roots. They were shown this when the vast majority of Republicans up for re-election got their pink sheets. Knowing that America would rather know when a politician is going to be liberal with a vote so strongly for the democratic party (or so weakly for the Republicans), how can you expect a Republican to continue Bush era practices when the visible result was such devastating losses for the party?

The madness of fiscal irresponsibility started well before the Obama administration.



The republican party did offer alternatives. I can't remember who suggested it, but one suggestion was using the 2nd half of Stimulus 1 to account for everybody's taxes for an equal amount of time. It would have amounted to 3 months with ZERO deductions out of your pay check. The Republican party also offered alternatives to nationalizing the auto industry with massive loans. Under the Republican plan, the auto companies who needed bankruptcy would have gone through it far before it wound up happening. Sounds like traditional "pro big government" Republicanism to me.



With the recent status of the media (possibly excepting Chip Reid, Jake Tapper, Major Garrett, and.... *SHUDDER* HELEN THOMAS!?!?!) I'd take that "ridicule" as a badge of honor. ABC recently ran an infomercial on Obama's healthcare plan and refused to allow alternative viewpoints. The administration is blatantly trying to control exactly what the media says about him.

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=50445



Let's talk about support:

Support of stimulus 2 as of Feb 09:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/economic_stimulus_package/february_2009/support_for_stimulus_package_falls_to_37

Government in general:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

Proof that support isn't exactly 75% behind the democratic party's policies as some here would suggest.



So that's your rationalization for the government not providing tax cuts? The government can spend your money better than you (or an average american) can?

I beg to differ.

3 million for a turtle tunnel in Florida?
Many millions to a worthless airport in my own backyard?
How many stimulus checks were sent to dead people?

2 parts of the 4 medicare parts and social security put the US in a combined 100 TRILLION in the hole.



Obama scrapped initiatives only to have the congress slide them back in. Furthermore, voting on a bill without reading it sounds a lot like "Taxation without Representation" to me.



Well time will tell if this pays off. Once Cap and Trade goes through and the average energy bill of an American increases by 1400 a year, we'll see how public opinion changes. The Republican party will have the pleasure (with a few exceptions) of reaping the benefits of the failure of this legislation.



I don't see how anyone hyped so much as "Hope and Change" but then reverts to plain old partisan politics will do anything but fail.

But like I said before, the struggle between R and D keeps our attention on partisan politics and it's all smoke and mirrors. As for me, I'm researching more and strongly supporting independent candidates for the rest of my voting career.

Stimulus one was nearly the same thing as the proposed stimulus republicans offered Obama. There weren't much difference b/w the two: tax cuts for corporations and individuals and little investment and spending. I don't think republicans learned their lessons from the first go around if they were offering the same initiative.

Regarding your link and comment regarding the media, I hardly believe Obama has control over media. There are few things that work to his advantage regarding positive media attention: 1) He has a DAMN GOOD PR team. This man has the best and top minds in his PR group. 2) Americans and world are fascinated by Obama and his family because it is a refreshing image away from the Bushes, who everyone hated. It is refreshing to see a young family in white house, a black man, and a president who actually THINKS and is SMART. People like that and want more of it. You can't deny that Obama and his family are fun and all around well liked and they come off as one of us. People like that they can relate. 3) Many of the initiatives Obama advocates are things American voters support and agree with him on: health care, economy, education etc etc. American voters agree with O on these issues..where everyone differs is HOW to make it happen. This guy is constantly talking to the media and keeping voters in the loop and media likes that as the Bush administration was total opposite.

Support of the stimulus package early one was quite low as detailed by your link. Once Obama started to pitch it to voters, it edged up to high 50s. http://www.gallup.com/poll/114577/Stimulus-Support-Edges-Higher.aspx
One thing we all agreed on was SOMETHING had to be done about the economy. What to do was the issue. That aside, it still doesn't change what I said earlier: the republican version of the stimulus was widely panned and ridiculed. They received no support from voters, economist, media and to a big degree, other republicans. Very few people came forward to advocate their plan. It especially showed since McCain, John and Cantor never said a word after fishing it media for few weeks.

As for what the government does with tax dollars. Remember, the government is no different than any big corporation. They invest and spend their money to make more. The model is not all that different. I expect government, like a company, to make good and bad investment. It is a risk. We, the voters, are their share holders. We exercise our power by voting those in office we think do a better job.

[nakedstudent]

Stimulus one was nearly the same thing as the proposed stimulus republicans offered Obama. There weren't much difference b/w the two: tax cuts for corporations and individuals and little investment and spending. I don't think republicans learned their lessons from the first go around if they were offering the same initiative.

Even now, we've only given Stimulus 1 about 9 months to work. Can you honestly say that the 2nd was needed after such short of a period of time?


Regarding your link and comment regarding the media, I hardly believe Obama has control over media. There are few things that work to his advantage regarding positive media attention: 1) He has a DAMN GOOD PR team. This man has the best and top minds in his PR group.

Sure... Good PR is "Save or create X Million Jobs" and also controlling what questions are asked at a freaking TOWN HALL forum.


2) Americans and world are fascinated by Obama and his family because it is a refreshing image away from the Bushes, who everyone hated. It is refreshing to see a young family in white house, a black man, and a president who actually THINKS and is SMART. People like that and want more of it. You can't deny that Obama and his family are fun and all around well liked and they come off as one of us. People like that they can relate.

This means nothing about him being a quality president. People thought the same thing about JFK's family and many conservatives and liberals alike despise him after history.


3) Many of the initiatives Obama advocates are things American voters support and agree with him on: health care, economy, education etc etc. American voters agree with O on these issues..where everyone differs is HOW to make it happen. This guy is constantly talking to the media and keeping voters in the loop and media likes that as the Bush administration was total opposite.

Do you really think that conservatives don't care about health care, the economy, or education? If conservatives didn't care about health care, why would they point out the failures of systems that already exist that Obama wants to pattern our own after? If conservatives don't care about the economy, why are they pointing out the fact that Obama himself promised that cap and trade would force energy rates to "necessarily increase"? If conservatives didn't care about education, why do they point out the success of the DC charter school voucher program that Obama cut funding for? He sends his own kids to these schools but denies that right to choose which school any parent in the lower class can send its child?


Support of the stimulus package early one was quite low as detailed by your link. Once Obama started to pitch it to voters, it edged up to high 50s. http://www.gallup.com/poll/114577/Stimulus-Support-Edges-Higher.aspx

These polls were conducted within days of each other. The margin is huge between the two so one or both of them is obviously biased on a partisan level. It comes down to whether you trust Rassmussen or Gallup.


One thing we all agreed on was SOMETHING had to be done about the economy. What to do was the issue.
Yeah. We should have demanded that the politicians take a 3 month unpaid vacation. They've enacted more laws since WWI than the rest of the history of the country. Common sense tells us that they are miserably failing at enforcing the laws already on the books. Why should we allow them to make any more?


As for what the government does with tax dollars. Remember, the government is no different than any big corporation. They invest and spend their money to make more. The model is not all that different. I expect government, like a company, to make good and bad investment. It is a risk. We, the voters, are their share holders. We exercise our power by voting those in office we think do a better job.

The government is different from a corporation. Corporations provide goods and services. The government is an institution of regulation, enforcement, and protection of the core values of its citizenry. Those are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the US. When a government gets so delusional they can't tell the difference between these two, the bums need thrown out.

[thestrokes44]

lame lame lame...