Anyone jumping off the Obama train yet?

[venkman]

More than a few self proclaimed moderate conservatives voted for Barry. I said right off the bat he'd go left, although many disagreed with me. Here's how I see it:

Spending: makes Bush look like Ebenezer Scrooge by comparison. The non-stimulus stimulus package hasn't worked. Now Obama says he didn't know how bad it was. This is a flat out lie and I don't know how he gets away with this. All we heard was we're on the cusp of a great depression and if we don't pass this "stimulus" RIGHT NOW, we're all doomed!!

Health care: His "government option" can really only lead to an eventual complete government takeover of health care. For him to assert otherwise smacks of naivete or dishonesty. He's on record saying if he had to start from scratch he'd go with a single payer system, so my vote is for the latter. I don't think people realize just how fundamentally a "socialized medicine" system will alter the unique character of this nation if we ever get there. This thing may pass.

Under the radar: The House is voting on Cap and Trade THIS FRIDAY! Another area where I was right and SU unfortunately was wrong. He said global warming was dead as an issue because of the economy; I said, shitty economy be damned, they're going for it anyway. This will be a huge blow to the economy as a whole and the personal economies of millions of American families. As Obama has stated "privately" to lib groups in San Francisco, this will dramatically increase energy costs. According to Jason Chaffetz, the House will pass this Friday unless the people raise some hell. Still hoping SU is proven right.

Then there's his union payback / rape of Chrysler bondholders...

For the life of me, I can't see how people can still claim he's being a centrist, unless the center has moved way to the left.

I'm very discouraged.

[JohnnyLingo]

Minorities get a free pass from the left.

Just how it is.

[venkman]

Minorities get a free pass from the left.

Just how it is.

The press is not doing it's job anymore. Rush is calling them the "state-run media" now. He's right.

[il Padrino Ute]

More than a few self proclaimed moderate conservatives voted for Barry. I said right off the bat he'd go left, although many disagreed with me. Here's how I see it:

Spending: makes Bush look like Ebenezer Scrooge by comparison. The non-stimulus stimulus package hasn't worked. Now Obama says he didn't know how bad it was. This is a flat out lie and I don't know how he gets away with this. All we heard was we're on the cusp of a great depression and if we don't pass this "stimulus" RIGHT NOW, we're all doomed!!

Health care: His "government option" can really only lead to an eventual complete government takeover of health care. For him to assert otherwise smacks of naivete or dishonesty. He's on record saying if he had to start from scratch he'd go with a single payer system, so my vote is for the latter. I don't think people realize just how fundamentally a "socialized medicine" system will alter the unique character of this nation if we ever get there. This thing may pass.

Under the radar: The House is voting on Cap and Trade THIS FRIDAY! Another area where I was right and SU unfortunately was wrong. He said global warming was dead as an issue because of the economy; I said, shitty economy be damned, they're going for it anyway. This will be a huge blow to the economy as a whole and the personal economies of millions of American families. As Obama has stated "privately" to lib groups in San Francisco, this will dramatically increase energy costs. According to Jason Chaffetz, the House will pass this Friday unless the people raise some hell. Still hoping SU is proven right.

Then there's his union payback / rape of Chrysler bondholders...

For the life of me, I can't see how people can still claim he's being a centrist, unless the center has moved way to the left.

I'm very discouraged.

I'm calling it right now for the reasons you stated above:

We will long for the economy day under Bush II.

[wuapinmon]

[il Padrino Ute]

I should have used this instead of asking why you're fretting about Romney.

I blew it.

[wuapinmon]

I should have used this instead of asking why you're fretting about Romney.

I blew it.

I'm sure I'll give you ample opportunity in the near future. I'm boring that way.

[venkman]

Not much on the cap and trade vote in the news. I did find this: it looks bad.

http://planetgore.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MWVjMDU4NTRmYmYzNDhjNDQyZWU4YmZkYmU4MDBjNDA=

[il Padrino Ute]

I'm sure I'll give you ample opportunity in the near future. I'm boring that way.

We're all the same in that regard. Except maybe Lebowski. He's the Dude.

[il Padrino Ute]

Not much on the cap and trade vote in the news. I did find this: it looks bad.


http://planetgore.nationalreview.com...ZkYmU4MDBjNDA=

I'd really like to know why this isn't bigger news than it is. Anyone?

[YOhio]

I'd really like to know why this isn't bigger news than it is. Anyone?

Probably because Barack Obama is black. Am I right Lingo?

[il Padrino Ute]

Probably because Barack Obama is black. Am I right Lingo?

Or the media is now state run.

[venkman]

I'd really like to know why this isn't bigger news than it is. Anyone?

They've apparently figured that we're paying attention to Mark Sanford or health care or Jon and Kate and can just sneak it in. Call it misdirection or sleight of hand. The media either hasn't clued in or is in on it.

[RobinFinderson]

Ok, so you list a few things that Obama is doing. I don't think they are necessarily 'liberal.' I think conservatives (the people, mind you, not the politicians (or at least not many of them)) could go along with these things. Here you go:

Spending: The idea that either party is honest when it comes to spending is no longer the issue. Both parties are in the grip of multinational corporations, and both parties represent their interests. The taxpayers are being bilked no matter which side is in. In some ways the Republicans are the worst bilkers, because they best represent the interests of the military industrial complex. Nobody bilks better than the company that says that without its products, your freedom is going down the crapper. Anyone serious about getting the debt and deficit down will first have to deal with the fact that money buys policy, and neither party feels like it needs to fear a voter revolt.

There are advocates for transparency (on the left) and cost cutting (on the right) who are continually marginalized as unrealistic crackpots. But it is only transparency and cost cutting that will get us out of this mess. So we really have to stop marginalizing the Bernie Sanders and Jeff Flakes. Those guys need a bigger soap box, not a smaller one.

Anyhow, rant aside, the reason spending isn't a traction getting issue at the moment is because of the economy, and because the majority of people actually want single payer health care at the moment, and so do a lot of businesses for whom the burden of providing insurance is too big. People thing the spending is necessary, and though they hope not to go overboard, no one has any idea what 'overboard' even really means.

Health Care: As noted above, this simply isn't the issue it used to be. But now the current health care system isn't working for a majority of Americans, and increasingly, as doctors feel trapped working for HMO's, even they are beginning to feel like the status quo is not meeting their own expectations for why they became doctors in the first place. Quite simply, the country is on the verge of health care revolt.

Cap and Trade: This really isn't a liberal issue. This is a reasonable proposal to anyone who thinks the environmental concerns that have come to a head in recent years are real. If they are real, this seems like a reasonable way to allow market forces to help get things under control. The policy would also create lots of new business opportunities, and who knows? Maybe the US is poised to take better advantage of the new cap and trade landscape than other countries. Cap and trade on its face is no boogie man.

Chrysler bond holders: I have no serous opinion on this, but I did enjoy THIS Slate article, and thought it made decent sense to a lay person.

At the root of all of these problems is the fact that corporate interests are pulling more strings in Washington that constituents. We need a citizens' movement, where government gets focused more on meeting the needs of citizens over corporations. That isn't a leftist idea.

[byu71]

What do you make of the poll that said 83% of Country is happy with their health care?

I am interested also in fixing the health care system for the 17% who are unhappy and probably rightly so.

Perhaps we can bring the 83% down to where they are not happy with their health care but aren't happy either. In doing that we can bring the 17% up from being unhappy to where they are also neither happy or unhappy. That might be able to be done cost neutral. Take from those that are happy and give to those that are unhappy and make everyone the same.

Of course we could spend a ton of money and try to make everyone happy. Do you know where we will get the money to do that or is it just a good idea and we will worry about the costs later.