Change that No One Believes In Anymore

Barack Obama owes Anthony Weiner a not so small favor. Weiner's wiener temporarily filled the boxer shorts of the media's attention span. I'll turn the metaphor generator off now. Weiner may have ended his career and he almost certainly sacrificed his most dear ambition. He is very unlikely to be mayor of New York. From Obama's view, that was a small price to pay for distracting the media for a few days from the very bad no good news about the economy.

Maybe the President should have sent SEAL Team 6 after Weiner. Here is some news from a CBS poll.

President Obama's approval ratings fell to below 50 percent for the first time since his ratings spiked following the news of the death of Osama bin Laden last month, according to a CBS News poll released on Wednesday.

Just 48 percent of respondents approve of the way he is doing his job, compared to a 57 percent in the days immediately following news of bin Laden's demise.

Obama's approval numbers hovered in the range below 50 percent for most of the past year, though they spiked after the early May announcement that a team of elite Navy SEALs had captured and killed the al Qaeda…

The U.S. economy added just 54,000 jobs in May, the fewest number of new workers in eight months. And the unemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent from 9.0 percent in April. No president has been re-elected since Franklin Roosevelt when unemployment was above 7.2 percent.

Putting election forecasts aside for the moment, it's pretty clear that no one has any confidence in the President's leadership. Some of that loss of confidence is directly related to the present economic situation. A lot of it, maybe most of it, reflects a general awareness of the fiscal crisis that is looming and about which the President is doing nothing and proposing nothing.

So here's the question: if Barack Obama is reelected, will he suddenly become an effective leader? Will he produce a plan for restoring Social Security, Medicare, and the federal budget in general to fiscal solvency? Will he and Congress even start passing budgets again? As Samuel Johnson said of second marriages, that would be the triumph of hope over experience.

Comments

[Stan Gibilisco]

If we re-elect Obama, I will seriously consider emigrating to Canada.

[Billl Fleming]

Where they have National Health care, and Nationalized Oil, right Stan? Good plan.

[Billl Fleming]

pretty sure Obama will be reelected. GOP is in total disarray with all candidates' poll numbers far more dismal than BO's. besides, just because some Dems tell pollsters they're not happy with Superman, doesn't mean they're even remotely interested in voting for the Jokers that made the mess in the first place.

[Stan Gibilisco]

Bill, yes, exactly. In Canada they pay for socialized medicine, and they get it, fair and square. Here, we will pay for socialized medicine, but we will not get it; we'll get a hodgepodge even worse than what we have now.

And there will be civil unrest, perhaps even martial law, civil war, or a military coup, as the government drives the country headlong toward economic Armageddon.

Canada, with all its socialism, would at least offer peace, and perhaps places where one could hunt and fish and trade for food and shelter. Here, there will be bread lines ...

I did not want to believe the alarmists, and still don't "want" to believe them. However, I am increasingly of the opinion that this administration is run by radicals who want to destroy the freedoms we have and impose something between Euro-socialism and Soviet-style communism.

In fact, I am beginning to wonder if, within the next ten years, we will look wide-eyed at one another and ask, "Will American troops actually fire on American citizens? Will we ever see another free election?"

[duggersd]

Yes, Bill. BHO will be re-elected because the Republicans are so in disarray. However I was reading the other day Mitt Romney is leading BHO right now. What will be interesting is whether BHO will follow the path of Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter in the coming election. The way he is going and with his ineptitude, I suspect he is following the Jimmy Carter path to re-election. In 2013, BHO will probably be back to community organizing. BTW, might I remind you the Democrats were in such disarray in 1992 that every contender pretty much dropped out and a pretty much unknown named Bill Clinton whose claim to fame was a rambling convention speech was their contender?

[Billl Fleming]

Dugger, given the chance, Republicans would vote Bill Clinton back into the White House in a heartbeat. You know it, and. Know it.In fact, the only person in politics right no who could seriously give Obama a run for his money is Hillary. talk about some positive poll numbers, you should take a look at hers. The only one who even comes close is... Well, Michelle Obama. Go figure.

Stan, when did you become delusional? I took you for a rational guy. What happened. Did Jimi get to ya?

[Billl Fleming]

(man... Gotta slow down on this iPad... That last post is atrociously typed. if I did something like that at the office, I'd have to fire myself :-)

[Billl Fleming]

(man... Gotta slow down on this iPad... That last post is atrociously typed. if I did something like that at the office, I'd have to fire myself :-)

[Jimi]

Bill,

"and Nationalized Oil"

Once again...that's not correct. Just because you keep saying it, doesn't make it true.

[Jimi]

Bill,

"GOP is in total disarray with all candidates' poll numbers far more dismal than BO's"

Again...That's incorrect. Romney is poliig higher than Obama, and Pawlenty is almost neck and neck with Obama. If Christie were to run, polling shows that he can't lose. Cain and Bachmann poll just below Obama.

[duggersd]

Bill:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/generic_presidential_ballot/election_2012_generic_presidential_ballot
If only this "Generic" guy would run. And no, I do not believe most Republicans would take Bill Clinton in a heartbeat. Clinton benefited from having a Congress that refused to let him spend. You know that, I know that and facts are hard to dispute.

[Jimi]

Bill,

"doesn't mean they're even remotely interested in voting for the Jokers that made the mess in the first place"

Oh please tell us who made the mess in the first place? And exactly how they did that?

[Bill Fleming]

Piffle, Romney can't even get a majority vote in his own party.

And Christie's a dead duck after his little helicopter ride, Jimi.

Who else ya got? In the aggregate, don't see anybody beating Obama here:
http://pollingreport.com/wh12gen.htm

Do you know what an "outlier" poll is, Jimi?

[Bill Fleming]

Jimi: George Bush. Tax cuts, two unfunded wars, and an unfunded Medicare increase.

[Stan Gibilisco]

I'm surprised that only one person called me "delusional" as a result of my last post!

In 1978-79, I suspected that the USA would see a mass migration -- and I do mean mass, like in the tens of millions -- to the South because the North would become unlivable as a result of the "energy crisis." Did it happen? No. I did move to Miami, though, and I can't say I regret it. Has some fun down there, and got the subtropics and tropics out of my system early! (Did a lot of skin damage too, and the interest on that loan is now coming due, but that's a topic for another rant.)

In 1999, I suspected that the Y2K computer glitch might well cause a utility grid meltdown on the mainland USA. So I moved to the Big Island of Hawaii, where they didn't even use computers to run their power grid. Did the great Electric Armageddon take place? No. As I watched the big ball drop in New York at around 6:00 p.m. Kona time, I actually experienced a pang of disappointment when the screen didn't go black. But I don't regret my year and a half in Hawaii. Some cool folks out there, brah!

Now, I suspect we might be headed for a Great Depression even worse than the one in the 1930s. I fear the possibility of civil unrest in the cities, mass bank failures with no FDIC backup, and all the rest, culminating in something like Glenn Beck's "Bottom up, top down ... WHACK!" Will this horrible stuff happen? I hope not. I hope you're right, Bill. I hope my last post constitutes a bout of delusional thinking! I'd love nothing better than to see Barack Obama usher in a new American prosperity, where faith and generosity replace fear and greed.

[larry kurtz]

Ken, I confess to your brilliance at spoonfeeding your party's message to bozos like Barnes and Meidinger. You are very good at this.

[Bill Fleming]

You'll be okay, Stan. Hang in there brother. ;^)

[Jimi]

Bill,

"George Bush. Tax cuts, two unfunded wars, and an unfunded Medicare increase."

Sounds nice when you say it.....but let's see the math? In other words.....Once again you are incorrect....it's just Pathetic!

[Donald Pay]

Obama's election is not going to be decided by an overall national poll number taken in June 2011. The election is going to be decided in a few swing states, and it's here that Republican overreach is going to kill them. Obama is not going to be blamed for a less than stellar economy in state like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin, where Republican governors have alienated the middle class by giving lots of benefits to the rich. By election time several of these governors will be gone and the state Republican Parties will be in complete disarray. Republicans are running away from previous support for ethanol, so kiss Iowa goodbye. The West is a toss up, but Republican xenophobia is going to bring out more Hispanic voters than they can intimidate away from the polls. Unless Romney is nominated, rational business people will vote for Obama. All the Republicans have left are the crazies.

[Donald Pay]

And, if Romney gets the nomination, you have to wonder if some Tea Party candidate will run, and split the vote on the right.

[duggersd]

Donald:
The chairwoman of the National TEA Party says they will support any GOP nominee, including Romney. Of course she does not speak for everyone, but that gives you an idea of just how much they want a change from Obama. http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/06/04/tea-party-back-any-gop-nominee-including-romney
The fact is Obama has proven himself to be completely inept. He has no idea of what to do about the economy. Everything he has done has been a disaster, including his purchase of a major auto company or two. He claims they have paid back everything, but only if you figure using money borrowed from the treasury is paying everything back.
And you are right that polls in June 2011 are not going to tell us what the Democrat disaster will be in 2012. Those swing state WILL hold Obama responsible, with the possible exception of Michigan. And if Romney is the nominee, Michigan is definitely in play. This IS the Obama economy. After that "stimulus" disaster in which he said things would be going well, well how did that work out? I predict LANDSLIDE if things keep the way they are.

[Bill Fleming]

Okay, Jimi, here's a little chart for you, brotherman.
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/US-National-Debt-And-The-Presidents-Responsible.png

[larry kurtz]

Starting with looting the treasury of its projected surplus, W loaded a plate with feces, put a gun to the President's head and told him to eat it. My guess is that Mr. Obama's mission, should he decide to accept it, will be returning the favor by gathering the evidence of Bush crimes, putting the previous administration on trial, then loading up the whole kit and kaboodle to the first trip to Uranus.

[Jimi]

Bill,

That chart is in "Nominal Dollars" not adjusted for inflation, and it makes no reference to GDP (without governemnt spending) which is the important part of analyzing an economy. But that's not the point...the point was what got us in this economic mess? Any belief that this type of economy came from only 8 years of one presidency, and is not being influenced by current policy is ridiculous. Obama owns this economy!

Democratic economic philosophy since WWII led to the collapse, they are the same Barack Obama advocates. It is what seperates Democrats from Republicans. It is true that Republicans spent more than they should have when they had the majorities. Is it comparable to what Obama and current Democrats are spending...Not Even Close!

Obama was given a bad economy and made it worse. Not one Obama or Democratic economic policy has worked, and they have no plan to fix it, and the reason why is simple.

They intended on digging out the foundation of the Capitalist System and redistributing it's wealth, leaving Americans with a much lower standard of living, less Liberty, and the intended expansion of the Federal Government and it's power....it is the make up of their entire Ideology. The problem is.....that's not what America is about...that's what Europe is about.

It is not me you have to convince....the American people know it to be ture, and they have the evidence in the policy and the legislation. Only people who are Idealists and easily manipulated buy into the Socialilst Utopia, and any student of history already knows how this ends.

[Dave]

Newts campaign self-destructs, and the GOPer faithful won't nominate anybody that isn't spitting distance from bat guano crazy. But you're complaining about somebody you didn't vote for...

Priceless...

Do you have any solutions that don't include tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, or deregulating everything under the sun?

Didn't think so...

[Dave]

Bill,

Jimi's argument is that if the economy were doing better, like just a few years ago when "W" was at the reigns, this amount of debt would be OK, just like it was when "W" was breaking the bank.

[Donald Pay]

Bringing the economy back from George Bush's depression with massive Republican obstruction on everything you do is now considered "inept?" I'd say it was pretty freakin' amazing. Lots of mistakes, sure, but most of them due to having the Republicans standing in the way of better economic policy.

[Stan Gibilisco]

Donald and Larry:

I'll agree that George W. Bush holds responsibility for the crash of 2008 and its immediate aftermath. He was our President then, the CEO of the USA. The crisis evolved and broke on his watch.

But he has not occupied the White House for two and a half years. Barack Obama must now take the reins and the responsibility, if in fact he wants to solve this crisis.

Does he, though?

I wish they'd put W on trial. Oh man, I really do. It would backfire in a way that reminds me of those old Huckleberry Hound Dog cartoon shows, you know, where the rifle with the finger in it blows up and leaves the trigger dog sheepishly smoldering. Between a Bush trial and Weiner hanging on in such a way as to make Khadafi green with envy, the fallout would be good for Republicans.

I do wonder along with Donald, however, about The Other Donald (Trump) splitting off and running as an independent, guaranteeing an Obama victory. I fear that Trump might actually have the ego to do it.

[Billl Fleming]

Jimi sounds like the kind of guy who, because he had a $200k a year job, would go buy a million dollar house and run up another half a mill in credit card debt, then quit his job because he figured he already had everything he wanted. That is, in essence exactly what GWB did, ran up expenses cut income and took a powder, leaving a big mess to clean up for the next guy.

Then everybody's surprised when the mess can't get cleaned up right away. Earth to Jimi, you don't get to vote on the way things are now. You already did. Cause and effect, Jimi, cause and effect.

[Billl Fleming]

Jimi sounds like the kind of guy who, because he had a $200k a year job, would go buy a million dollar house and run up another half a mill in credit card debt, then quit his job because he figured he already had everything he wanted. That is, in essence exactly what GWB did, ran up expenses cut income and took a powder, leaving a big mess to clean up for the next guy.

Then everybody's surprised when the mess can't get cleaned up right away. Earth to Jimi, you don't get to vote on the way things are now. You already did. Cause and effect, Jimi, cause and effect.

[Billl Fleming]

reviewing the chart I posted, notice that in EVERY case, the shape of the curve on the GOP administrations goes up. EVERY case.

[duggersd]

Sir William:
When Bush campaigned on cutting taxes, it was because there was a surplus caused by a Congress who refused to let a certain other President spend to his little heart's content. Welfare reform never came about until he was told that to veto it would bring a loss in his next election. At the end of that certain President's term, we were entering a recession. Then just as the tax cuts were beginning to turn around the economy, we were hit with 911.
Contrary to what some of you on the left contend, the dollars to the Treasury actually started to increase. The problem was not a problem with revenue. It was a problem with SPENDING. I complained all 8 years of the Bush Presidency about his lack of cutting spending. However when the new guy came into the White House, he blew the cap off spending and made the Bush Presidency look miserly. And you cannot claim that Bush was responsible for the first Obama budget since the Democrats in the Congress refused to pass a budget until the new President took office. This is now his economy. He told us how to fix it and he is responsible for what has happened. And yes, someone will have to clean up the mess created by the next guy (or gal).
Stan, I am not so sure the Donald pulls all that many Republican votes if there is a good Republican candidate nominated. He really looked foolish with the birther thing. I don't believe he will be a factor like Perot. I suspect he will be a little factor like John Anderson in 1980.

[Bill Fleming]

Good article for Stan G. here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/opinion/08friedman.html?_r=2&src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB

[Stan Gibilisco]

Good article for everybody there, Bill.

If my memory serves, a Native American warned us more than a century ago that, unless we (i.e., the "white man") changed course, we would eventually "suffocate in our own waste."

Can't buy food nowadays without wondering what poisons it may harbor.

Water smelled funny this morning. Was it chlorine or benzene? Or just my delusional imagination?

Humanity cannot sustain endless growth. I hope we can put a lid on it without resorting to totalitarianism.

[larry kurtz]

Stan: it seems improbable that starting the trials with Paul Wolfowitz wouldn't lead to a cascade of evidence against the rest of the Bush regime. The 2012 elections will turn the House mostly back to Democrat control where the hearings would convene. The torture memos are just the smoking gun.

[larry kurtz]

It would behoove the President to initiate the proceedings just before the general election. Why do you think Ken is out ahead of the message now?

[Jimi]

"a cascade of evidence against the rest of the Bush regime"

Suggesting What?

[Jimi]

Bill,

Get a clue....the housing bubble originated with democrat policies well before GWB ever took office.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were established back during FDR & Johnson. The spending during the Bush Years is nothing compared to what is happending now, and Bush's deficits were decreasing not increaseing when he left office. He is not repsonsible for the 2009 Budget, Democrats did not pass the budget Bush wanted when he left office. The reason Coprorate America is stalling is because of Obama's Financial regulatory scheme, ObamaCare, uncertainty of the tax strucutre, and a lack of confidence of leadership.

GDP was above average during the Bush years, and revenue to the government grew every year. The Financial Crisis was set in place to devastate well before Bush even took office. Bush warned about the collapse as early as 2003, and Democrats refused to do anything about it. Democrats had Carte Blanche to do whatever they deemed necessary to recover and grow......they own it!

Do a little research so you don't sound so foolish!

[larry kurtz]

Start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Dossier

[larry kurtz]

If Democrats own this recession we should elect more of them to fix it. If W saw the financial meltdown coming and looted the treasury as a stimulus, why did it not work?

[Jimi]

Bill,

Bush Largets Deficit was $426 Billion Dollars (adj 2005). He is not responsible for 2009 deficits for several reasons. The Demcorats did not pass the 2009 Bush Budget, they added to it, and TARP I was a loan payed back with interest not normal spending. If you consider that the real deficit spending Bush is responsible for in 2009 to be the same as 2008 or $422 Billion (adj 2005), then Bush's deficit spending for the eight years he was in office equals $2.56 Trillion (adj 2005).

Obama's deficit spending for just 2010 and 2011 leaving out 2009 totally, leaving Obama's deficit spending for two years more than the total deficit spending of the entire Bush Presidency equaling $2.64 Trillion (adj 2005).

Bush years total per year contribution to the National Debt =
$4.46 Trillion (adj 2005) or $558 Billion/year

Obama years total per year contribution to the National Debt =
$2.90 Trillion(adj 2005) or $1.45 Trillion/year

There is no comparison between the two...it's Apples and Oranges!

[Jimi]

Larry,

"If W saw the financial meltdown coming and looted the treasury as a stimulus, why did it not work?"

He didn't loot the Treasury. Giving a Tax Cut doesn't cost the Government anything, it creates growth, which brings more Revenue into the Government.

TARP I has mostly already been payed back with interest. TARP I was not designed as "stimulus," it was designed to balance the books of the financial system to prevent a contagion, and it did work. The reason the economy cannot recover is because of the massive government expansion, ObamaCare, the Financial Regulation legislation, and Enviromental regulation.

"If Democrats own this recession we should elect more of them to fix it."

Why so we can collape the Capitalist System lose our credit rating, and give up the dollar being the world reserve currency......Aesome Plan...Way to think it though!

[Jimi]

Larry,

What does the inaccuracy of the WMD in Iraq have to do financial breakdown of the U.S.? The cost of War in Iraq and Afghansistan over the entire Bush Presidency isn't even as large as one of Obama's single years deficit's??????

[larry kurtz]

You make a great point. Even from the grave, Osama bin Laden is winning the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq by breaking the bank. NATO is out of bombs, according to a panelist on Diane Rehm this morning. W must have known making more would stimulate the US economy; he must be a genius.

[Jimi]

Larry,

Can you quit using the code speak please? Is it possible for you to make a clear point?

"Even from the grave, Osama bin Laden is winning the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq by breaking the bank."

What in the Wide World of Sports is that supposed to mean? Pull the bong away away from your lips for just a second, so that I can understand your insanity.

[larry kurtz]

Shaka, when the walls fell. Kira at Bashi. Kiteo, his eyes closed. Kiazi's children, their faces wet. The beast at Tanagra. Uzani, his army with fists open. Uzani, his army with fists closed.

[larry kurtz]

Here is the news from tomorrow: http://www.smh.com.au/business/empire-in-decline-really-could-do-with-american-cando-20110610-1fwlg.html

[Stan Gibilisco]

Excellent link, Larry. I recommend that everyone read that article, all the way to the last paragraph. Then read the last paragraph again, all by itself. Then write it on the bathroom mirror.

[Dave]

Is there web access at the old state hospital in Yankton? Jimi?

[Dave]

Sorry, forgot to ad the LOLs...

[William]

That IS a good article!