Next US President?

[Dante]

Try too hard?

[chatfsh]

I thought that the sarcasm in my first comment was apparent.  Obviously that was not the case.  The second attempt was reeeally obvious to make point. *sigh*

[Dante]

Careful, if you try any harder you'll pull a muscle.

[Andrew]

Can we get back to Obama bashing and how he is responsible for the current recession?

Obama Warns of Dire Consequences Without Stimulus

Obama is crying" the sky is falling!", and wants to print lots of money the USA hasn't had for decades.

[Obama] conceded what skeptics have already said: that the government has already spent a lot of money to turn around the economy with little apparent result.

LOL, lets spend more money! If $1 trillion has no affect, lets spend more! Bailouts for everyone!

[Dante]

I can't say I'm aware of all the intricacies at work here, but it seems that investing more in schools and self-sufficiency is a good method by which to prepare for the future. More than throwing money at flagging companies, anyway.

[chatfsh]

Ok, ok I got one

[Edric O]

Spending large sums of money on public works projects to put people back to work and kick start the economy is a tired and true method of getting out of recessions. It's called a Keynesian stimulus. It's what ended the Great Depression (whether it was the New Deal or WW2 that ended it is irrelevant here; the point is that it was ended by the government spending huge mountains of cash and creating loads of new jobs, and it doesn't really matter if they were military or not).

So Obama is simply trying to use the same solution that worked before. The only thing is, a Keynesian stimulus is supposed to involve spending money to create public sector jobs, not spending money on private companies who may or may not use that money to create jobs. So far there seems to be no indication that the auto companies or any of the other bailout recipients have plans to hire more people. And if they don't, then the bailout money was completely wasted.

[Andrew]

So far there seems to be no indication that the auto companies or any of the other bailout recipients have plans to hire more people. And if they don't, then the bailout money was completely wasted.

But the CEO and top management get to keep their high paying jobs. The trickle down economics will solve the rest of the problem. ;)

[exatreide]

What does Barack Obama, George W Bush, and the Viet Cong all have in common?

They all beat john Mccain!

zing

[Andrew]

Obama picked a person to be the Treasury Secretary who did not pay taxes, and hired an illegal immigrant (work visa expired).

Obama team defends pick for treasury secretary

Change we can believe in!

EDIT:

Obama backed same-sex marriage in 1996

Of course during the presidential debates he was not for same sex marriage. Did this to try to not alienate religious groups and homophobes.

Obama flip flopped.

[exatreide]

I never considered changing your opinion over time as you gain new information a flip flop.

Hell I'm sure edric was a capitalist at one point, and Dante didn't hate mankind.

These things changing, doesn't mean they flip flopped

[Andrew]

I'd say his opinion changed for the worse.

For same sex marriage, and now against it? It would be political suicide for the president to be for same sex marriage. That is all.

I guess he looked at the evidence of Canada allowing same sex marriage and how we have turned into a barbaric state. Same with Europe. Bunch of savages we are. ;)

Now in Canada there are two sisters who have lived together all their life, but do not get the same rights as married people. But if they decided to have sex, then they could get the rights. Kinda silly. Two people want the same rights that every other couple in Canada can have. Since they are sisters and can't get married, they don't get the same rights (financial) as others. Which I kinda find odd, because I thought "common law" designation covered the financial aspects of two people living together. But apparently as soon as one of them dies, they do not receive the pension benefits(?) of the other person.

[Dante]

Political suicide for a presedential candidate, perhaps. I'm curious to see whether as president his opinion changes again. Being indecisive is not a positive attribute in a politician, but being economical with the truth in order to get into office and then proceeding to do some good in the role... I could forgive that.

[chatfsh]

It

[Dante]

Doesn't it make sense that a dinner with rivals would last longer, with more to discuss, than with supporters, who mostly agree with each other?

[chatfsh]

Well sure, but the timing of the second meeting appeared orchestrated, like Obama was just throwing the liberal media a bone to keep

[Dante]

If you choose to read that into it, perhaps...

I choose to believe he was saving the best for last. It makes just as much sense.

[chatfsh]

Obama meeting with the liberal media is hardly a newsworthy event, probably happens all the time.  The fact that Obama attended this clandestine meeting with his adversaries and quickly turned around to hold a brief public meeting with his supporters is so staged.

[Andrew]

Presidential Gatling Gun-Equipped Suburban Badder Than New Cadillac Limo

Love how heavy military equipment is needed to protect the president on inauguration day. Why not get the Messiah his own pope mobile?

[exatreide]

That has been around for years.

I love how conservatives throw out the "Liberal Media" tag left and right like it's an excuse for why their guy didn't make it. Republicans had their shot at the past 8 years, failed harder then any president except maybe Hoover, now its the dems chance.

Get a stiff upper lip and grow from it, dont play the blame game.

[chatfsh]

Moi?  McCain was by no means my guy and he certainly did not get my vote (neither did Obama).  Furthermore, discussing the liberal and conservative media was not an attempt to lay blame for anything. I was only making a point concerning the unexpected moves that Obama is making despite having already won the election.

Who knows? Maybe he

[Edric O]

Obama meeting with the liberal media is hardly a newsworthy event, probably happens all the time.  The fact that Obama attended this clandestine meeting with his adversaries and quickly turned around to hold a brief public meeting with his supporters is so staged.

Wait... Obama turns out to be a slick backroom-dealing politician like the rest of them in Washington and you're surprised? Of course that meeting was staged. Obama (or his PR chief) is a master of propaganda. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. I'm just saying you shouldn't expect him to be the wide-eyed puppy-loving idealist that his carefully orchestrated public image makes him out to be. I expect him to be a cunning politician who just happens to be playing the populist card at the moment.

I never considered changing your opinion over time as you gain new information a flip flop.

Hell I'm sure edric was a capitalist at one point, and Dante didn't hate mankind.

These things changing, doesn't mean they flip flopped

I agree with that, as a general rule. People can - and often do - change their minds about various political issues. Sometimes they completely switch from one ideology to another. It's silly and ridiculous to talk about "flip-flopping" as if you're supposed to choose an opinion and never change it for the rest of your life, come what may.

However, it's legitimate to be suspicious when people appear to have changed their minds out of the blue, for no reason at all, and when their new opinion happens to be more popular with the voters (but changing your stance in the direction of being less popular is not suspicious, for obvious reasons).

And yes, there was a time when I was a social democrat and bitterly opposed communism. But I grew older and wiser since then. ;)

[chatfsh]

Yes, I must admit that I was  caught off guard by this development.  I really didn

[Dante]

It's all about competition with you people... Like there's something wrong with working towards a common goal.

Obama has been sworn in! I'm listening to his speech right now. It's nice to hear optimism for once, even if it is a bit saturated with patriotism.

[chatfsh]

Watching