History will record TARP, stimulus as major successes
The much-reviled TARP — that socialistic, hugely expensive, $700 billion monument to foolish government intervention — will end up costing the federal government a grand total of about $25 billion, the Congressional Budget Office now estimates.
Among other things, TARP also happened to save Wall Street from total collapse, prevented a slide into global economic depression and — oh yeah — helped preserve about a million jobs at Chrysler and GM.
No, it wasn’t perfect. Nothing cobbled together in such haste could have been perfect. But history will note two important things about TARP:
1.) It was an enormous economic success story;
2.) Those who guaranteed its failure, bitterly fought its passage and continue to belittle it have somehow managed to turn their opposition into political gold.
Last week, the CBO also released its latest, legally mandated report on the impact of spending programs and tax cuts in President Obama’s equally reviled stimulus package. In the third quarter of 2010, according to the CBO, those policies:
* (R)aised real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product by between 1.4 percent and 4.1 percent,
* Lowered the unemployment rate by between 0.8 percentage points and 2.0 percentage points,
* Increased the number of people employed by between 1.4 million and 3.6 million, and
* Increased the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) jobs by 2.0 million to 5.2 million compared with what would have occurred otherwise. (Increases in FTE jobs include shifts from part-time to full-time work or overtime and are thus generally larger than increases in the number of employed workers).
Nobody, including the CBO, is arguing that the economy is strong (although it should be noted that holiday sales are up significantly). However, the evidence is overwhelming that the economic situation today would be far, far worse without policies that it has become politically fashionable to oppose.
In fact, seldom have so many politicians who were so mistaken about so much reaped so much benefit from being flat-out wrong.
Job loss or gain in private industry, by month. Red months mark Bush presidency, blue months mark Obama presidency. Stimulus bill was signed into law in February 2009. Source: Steve Benen at Washington Monthly
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383 comments Add your comment
Dusty
November 30th, 2010
2:16 pm
Yeah, Chuck, the shock and awe have disappeared just like 9/11 terrorism disappeared in the minds of liberals. . The next thing to disappear into history will probably be President Obama. Another “something” that liberals find they want to forget.
Paul
November 30th, 2010
2:17 pm
@@
Server’s in Sweden. Assange’s whereabouts are a mystery.
Not to worry. AG Holder said we’re going to be very stern with him. Open an investigation. See if there’s something we can do. He’s been very naughty and he needs to know we’re looking at him.
Hopefully that won’t take as long as figuring out what to do with the 9-11 hijackers….
USinUK
November 30th, 2010
2:18 pm
totally appropos to nothing … I just love watching our dog in the snow … she’s an absolute riot
(it’s currently up to her belly in our back garden – she’s having a ball jumping through the drifts)
Paul
November 30th, 2010
2:19 pm
Doggone/GA
Left out a couple of words, sorry.
“Doggone/GA
You’re not going to take the position that the government of Afghanistan DID NOT enable AQ and was offering them continuing sanctuary to conduct operations, are you?
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
2:19 pm
“McCain could find bin Laden, but he’s not going to tell us where now that we refused to elect him president.”
Hehe…as I said age limits…not term limits. McCain is the Favre of politics…but I sure don’t want those pictures coming out…
Halftrack
November 30th, 2010
2:20 pm
Jay, what is the meaning of success? We only lost XXBanks so far, and hundreds more are on the risky list. Many construction companies are out of business now. The Pres. has called for salary freeze on government workers. Inflation is afoot – - – just go to the grocery store. Why do we have to print more money? Quanitative easing is reducing the value of our dollar. China & Russia have abandoned the dollar. History does not record alternate courses only the outcomes of circumstances. We haven’t reached the end yet. Write another column about this on April 15, 2011.
Mick
November 30th, 2010
2:21 pm
usinuk
Another good thing that happened during bush tenure, his helicopter and motorcade messing up the queens property – well done.
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
2:21 pm
“You’re not going to take the position that the government of Afghanistan enabled AQ and was offering them continuing sanctuary to conduct operations, are you?”
Why not? You said: “We normally don’t hold countries and governments responsible for the nonsanctioned actions of its citizens” – but in the case of Iraq we held both citizens AND the government responsible for something neither of the did. In Afghanistan it was the opposite of what you said, we held the population responsible (by attacking them) for something their government sanctioned.
There was no excuse for attacking Iraq, and I’ve already stated twice what we should have done in Afghanistan.
RW-(the original)
November 30th, 2010
2:23 pm
McCain could find bin Laden, but he’s not going to tell us where now that we refused to elect him president.
Kerry told he us he knew how to end casualties in Iraq too, but when he didn’t get elected he also decided to keep the plan to himself.
Makes one think Governor Moonbeam was right when he briefly left politics
USinUK
November 30th, 2010
2:24 pm
Mich – 2:21 – I missed that one …
s’okay, though – she has LOADS of places she can crash while they’re returfing the garden
Dusty
November 30th, 2010
2:26 pm
Hmmmm maybe Jay would like to compare his military record with that of McCain’s? WHY?? Well, for one thing, no appreciation is shown for our military heroes but plenty of time to dump on them when they are older. Way to go, Jay and JewCowboy!! Show us YOUR medals…
Paul
November 30th, 2010
2:27 pm
Doggone/GA
Have you thought about using examples like Iraq only with people who actually think they had something to do with 9-11 or OBL?
“In Afghanistan it was the opposite of what you said, we held the population responsible (by attacking them) for something their government sanctioned.”
So…. in going to war, how do you propose we separate effects on gov’t from the population?
That limb’s gonna crack….
Jackie
November 30th, 2010
2:28 pm
Does the economic chaos affect the so-called conservatives that have apologised for the suffering of the country as profoundly as other citizens?
Matti
November 30th, 2010
2:28 pm
Shock? Awe? Sure was… to the families and little brown children who were bombed out of their beds during the initial assualt. Why? It’s not like they elected their dictator-tyrant. They had no say in that, nor whether they wanted to be “collateral damage.” They were not hiding the people who attacked the United States, as were the people of Afghanistan, who were given the option of handing the bad guys over before our soldiers went in.
How shocked and awed I am to be reminded once again that some people matter, and some people don’t. (Heh.. by the pro-life brigade, too.) Irony, thou thrivest here.
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
2:29 pm
“So…. in going to war, how do you propose we separate effects on gov’t from the population?”
for one thing, you don’t GO to war when it’s not necessary. And it wasn’t necessary. As keeps being pointed out, one good missile strike would have ended Bin Laden.
chuck
November 30th, 2010
2:29 pm
Doggone/GA, you are a riot. If you think it was as easy as just going in to get him, then why hasn’t Obama done it? That’s like saying, “If I was the President, I would put an END to homelessness.” Suddenly a song comes to mind…If I was the King of the Forrrrrreeeeeest!
Mick
November 30th, 2010
2:30 pm
The word “hero” is totally subjective and used way too loosely these days.
@@
November 30th, 2010
2:30 pm
Sweden, Paul???
It’s a tiny little country. The NYTimes was right when it said Assange was being pursued by turmoil.
I’ll take it to mean they were talking about our over-bloated “intelligence” community.
Matti
November 30th, 2010
2:32 pm
Dusty,
TRUE or FALSE? John McCain campaigned repeatedly in 2008 that he knew how to, could, and would “FIND BIN LADEN.” *theme from Jeopardy plays* Mr. Bookman was correct in his job as a journalist to remind us that McCain — if he was telling the truth — has chosen to hide from our military the information he assured us he had… but was sitting on…. until we elected him.
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
2:32 pm
“If you think it was as easy as just going in to get him, then why hasn’t Obama done it? ”
Because the situation today is not the same as the day we had him “trapped” (yeah right) in Tora Bora
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
2:33 pm
Dusty,
“Well, for one thing, no appreciation is shown for our military heroes but plenty of time to dump on them when they are older.”
I’m sorry…am I only suppose to look at his military career and not what he has done in the 29 years since?
“Show us YOUR medals…”
Well as you know they have this little ban in the military. See if you are a boy and you like to kiss boys…they don’t want you. I applied in 1992 to the Air Force, before DADT, and they asked…and I told.
That’s another place where McCain he has shown he has lost any integrity whatsoever…
chuck
November 30th, 2010
2:33 pm
I saw Assnge on the news yesterday. They were talking about him going somewhere to speak. He definitely needs to be “sanctioned”.
Dusty
November 30th, 2010
2:34 pm
Would someone please stick a pin in Doggone’s pomposity before she makes Guam shift and the blog explode? I mean there’s going to be a big cleanup if something isn’t done.
@@
November 30th, 2010
2:37 pm
jay:
Have you heard of The Tiziano Project?
Team of volunteer journalists wants to train locals in conflict zones to tell their own stories, improve their lives
http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/11/team-of-volunteer-journalists-wants-to-train-locals-in-conflict-zones-to-tell-their-own-stories-improve-their-lives/
It’s kinda kool. They’ve set up shop in Iraq’s Kurdish territory. The Kurdish participants, all in their twenties, have some interesting stories to tell. All about their struggles to survive under Saddam. His ruthless oppression and attempts (with WMDs) to purge Iraq of their (the Kurd’s) desire to be free.
Paul
November 30th, 2010
2:37 pm
Doggone/GA
The objective then was not to take out just OBL, but AQ. The Taliban were given the choice stop providing sanctuary and to hand them over or we’d take them out, too. They refused.
Do you really think that if the Joint Chiefs of Staff thought a couple have missiles would have done the trick they’d have risked the lives of the soldiers with an invasion?
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
2:37 pm
Dusty,
“Would someone please stick a pin in Doggone’s pomposity before she makes Guam shift and the blog explode?”
Be sure not to prick yourself with that pin…
Matti
November 30th, 2010
2:37 pm
Doggone/GA
You’re not really “trapped” if somebody gives you a way out in return for not attacking their country again (as long as they’re in charge).
Recent Grad
November 30th, 2010
2:38 pm
What we need is a banner that says, “Mission Accomplished!” Yeah, that’s the ticket.
chuck
November 30th, 2010
2:39 pm
Sorry Dusty, but McCain was either lying about “knowing how to find him” OR as Matti said, he’s withholding it because he was not elected. I can’t imagine that if he knew what he was talking about, that he would have withheld that info from the government, so I have to assume it was just empty campaign rhetoric. While I would agree with you that he was and is a hero for his MILITARY service, he is a DISASTER in his political service. Arizona Republicans blew it when they failed to elect Hayworth who really IS A CONSERVATIVE.
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
2:39 pm
@@ @ 2.37,
Neat…thanks.
Paul
November 30th, 2010
2:39 pm
jewcowboy
Playing “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” with Dusty?
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
2:41 pm
“Do you really think that if the Joint Chiefs of Staff thought a couple have missiles would have done the trick they’d have risked the lives of the soldiers with an invasion?”
Let me ask you a return question: if the CIC ordered them to invade, do you think they would have refused? And please remember, I *did* say we should have GONE IN and gotten him.
RW-(the original)
November 30th, 2010
2:41 pm
I hope to God our focus isn’t primarily on going after Assange. It’s not like he was the one that failed to safeguard the documents or downloaded the information. After we plug those holes, it wouldn’t hurt to follow the money though
Mick
November 30th, 2010
2:41 pm
chuck
Just what we don’t need – more conservatives. Hasn’t mccain come on over to your side anyway?
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
2:42 pm
Paul,
“Playing “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” with Dusty?”
Nah…Dusty’s is undoubtedly bigger…
Paul
November 30th, 2010
2:42 pm
jewcowboy
Seems 70 percent of the troops don’t care a whit about gays in the military. The 30%? I’d imagine old guys with old attitudes and some super-testosterone groundpounders who aren’t all that sure what manhood means.
What I’m waiting for is how Cons (Reps AND Dems) try to spin they know better than the troops and the President’s chief military advisor.
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
2:42 pm
“You’re not really “trapped” if somebody gives you a way out in return for not attacking their country again (as long as they’re in charge).”
And you’re not really trapped if your enemy has you surrounded, but then backs off and tells someone else to “go get him”
chuck
November 30th, 2010
2:44 pm
Mick, no he hasn’t. McCain is only an election year conservative.
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
2:45 pm
Paul,
“The 30%? I’d imagine old guys with old attitudes and some super-testosterone groundpounders who aren’t all that sure what manhood means.”
I do find interesting the difference in Marines vs. every other service branch in the attitudes.
Paul
November 30th, 2010
2:46 pm
Doggone/GA
The order to invade would have come AFTER the military gave options on how to accomplish the President’s objectives. If they thought a missile would have done the trick, they’d have said so.
“Mr. President, you want us to get OBL and take out AQ. We think some missile strikes will do the trick.”
“Thanks, General, but I think an invasion is needed. So… invade.”
“You want to risk all those casualties when we can get the same results with a couple of missiles?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Okey dokey.”
USMC Dawg
November 30th, 2010
2:46 pm
“History will record George W. Bush, Tax cuts as major successes”
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
2:47 pm
“If they thought a missile would have done the trick, they’d have said so”
How do you know they didn’t advise exactly that?
Mick
November 30th, 2010
2:50 pm
chuck
I used to like mccain when he was a maverick, was hoping hayworth would knock him off also. The reason mccain will go down infamy was his unleashing of palin on us into the national consciousness. Good for her, but a curse on the rest of us…
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
2:50 pm
USMC Dawg,
“History will record George W. Bush, Tax cuts as major successes”
Yeah…they’ve done wonders in the past 9 years…
Dusty
November 30th, 2010
2:51 pm
Jewcowboy, I don’t care about your past military history. You tried but did not serve. I know McCain’s. and it is admirable and he has done nothing to disgrace it but serve in the Congress of the USA since then. If you don’t agree with his policies, that does not make HIM disgraceful. It makes him disagree with you.
I believe that those who serve in our military are worthy of respect at all ages. They have done more than their part for this country. I don’t like it when political preference takes precedence over respect for those. serving our country. .
Mick
November 30th, 2010
2:51 pm
**“History will record George W. Bush, Tax cuts as major successes”**
Nice work of fiction going on there.
Paul
November 30th, 2010
2:52 pm
RW-(the original)
I read a near-hysterical response one a progressive cite when someone said one of Soros’s enterprises gave money to Wikileaks. Response was so typical – attack the messenger, go on and on about “they only asked for money, can’t prove they got any” – then they wove in the WSJ, attacked them…
and completely ignored how Wiki shields its funding from scrutiny.
jewcowboy
And I’ve wondered about that in the context of those who yell loudest to condemn others (like con Reps in bathroom stalls and evangelical preachers) who are then found guilty of the same thing.
But I wouldn’t say that to their faces. I have a finely honed survival instinct.
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
2:53 pm
“Nice work of fiction going on there.”
Still short on plot, though.
Paul
November 30th, 2010
2:54 pm
Doggone/GA
“How do you know they didn’t advise exactly that?”
You’re wandering all around Robin Hood’s barn today, aren’t you?
willie lynch
November 30th, 2010
2:55 pm
TARP was a sound management decision and will be viewed as such once all the emotion leaves the argument.
USMC Dawg
November 30th, 2010
2:55 pm
“Yeah…they’ve done wonders in the past 9 years…”
The same could be said about Comrade Obama and his smokey/backroom deals… i mean “stimulus”.
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
2:55 pm
“You’re wandering all around Robin Hood’s barn today, aren’t you?”
Nope. You DON’T know what they advised. What do you suppose their advice was about Iraq? Take a line through the decision on THAT, to any decision about Afghanistan.
AmVet
November 30th, 2010
2:55 pm
Dawg @2:46,
Highly unlikely but perhaps. And let’s be honest, he’s not off to a scintillating start, by ANY measure.
Particularly in this poll…
“Which of these eleven presidents we have had since World War II would you consider the worst president — Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Senior, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush?”
1. George W. Bush (34%)
2. Richard Nixon (17%)
3. Bill Clinton (16%)
4. Jimmy Carter (13%)
5. Don’t Know/No Answer (5%)
6. Lyndon B. Johnson (4%)
7. George H. W. Bush (3%)
8. Ronald Reagan (3%)
9. Gerald Ford (2%)
10. Harry S. Truman (1%)
11. John F. Kennedy (1%)
12. Dwight D. Eisenhower (<1%)
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
2:56 pm
Dusty,
“I don’t care about your past military history.”
Then don’t bring it up.
“I believe that those who serve in our military are worthy of respect at all ages.”
And I believe ones actions while in uniform and while out is what I will base my respect upon.
“I don’t like it when political preference takes precedence over respect for those. serving our country. .”
I don’t believe that having served in the military is a automatic pass ever after. The fact is that McCain has served longer as a politician than as a member of the armed forces, and I’ll judge him on both.
chuck
November 30th, 2010
2:57 pm
Mick, I couldn’t agree with you more. Palin needs to return to the obscurity she so richly deserves. That was the stupidest VP selection since Sargent Shriver. It is not that she is wrong on the issues. It is that she has NO GRAVITAS. Like Obama, she is an empty suit foisted upon us by political hacks.
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the Liar Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
November 30th, 2010
2:57 pm
Jay, you must be off your meds with this one. The only thing it did was add to the deficit. Even a LIBERAL should be able to see that.
Del
November 30th, 2010
2:59 pm
Gates said that there was resistance to doing away with DADT in the specialty combat arms (he didn’t confine that to the Marine Corps as JCB incorrectly implied). He went on to say that resistance within the combat arms concerned military command and it concerned him as well.
USMC Dawg
November 30th, 2010
3:01 pm
That’s odd AmVet, I came across this poll:
1. Comrade Barak Obama (36%)
2. Jimmy Carter (23%)
3. Bill Clinton (16%)
4. George W. Bush (13%)
5. Richard Nixon (5%)
6. Lyndon B. Johnson (1%)
7. George H. W. Bush (1%)
8. Ronald Reagan (1%)
9. Gerald Ford (1%)
10. Harry S. Truman (1%)
11. John F. Kennedy (1%)
12. Dwight D. Eisenhower (<1%)
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
3:02 pm
Del,
“(he didn’t confine that to the Marine Corps as JCB incorrectly implied”
“At the same time, the report found that 30 percent of those surveyed overall — and between 40 and 60 percent of the Marine Corps — either expressed concern or predicted a negative reaction if Congress were to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, which allows gays and lesbians to serve in the military on the condition that they keep their sexuality a secret.”~ Washington Post
Dusty
November 30th, 2010
3:03 pm
2:42
Well, thank you, Jewcowboy and Paul for trying to start out on Josef’s dirty joke path. Don’t you “gentlemen” know any other way? MCP is getting a bit outdated.
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
3:04 pm
“and between 40 and 60 percent of the Marine Corps”
Amusing, isn’t it, that of all our armed forces it’s those big, tough Marines that will have the most trouble dealing with the repeal of DADT.
Mick
November 30th, 2010
3:05 pm
chuck
It doesn’t seem to matter when there is a democrat in the white house, the right wing echo chamber is at full throttle 24/7, even hillary would be toast by now. However, if obama does cave in to this tax cut, then he will lose much of his base. Regardless of party affiliation, will we ever get a champion of the people?
Southern Comfort
November 30th, 2010
3:05 pm
SoCo – when you finish with it don’t take it near the Airport or you won’t ever see it again.
Got fairly secure parking at work. If someone manages to get it from the job, I’ll be paid anyway once I get finished with the security company.
ATL Guy
November 30th, 2010
3:05 pm
If Obama was a white Republican, he would praised as Reagan come again. But because he’s a Democrat and BLACK, he will be crucified to the end of the world. Republicans are being major stupid right now. Party before country – that’s the Republican mantra.
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
3:06 pm
Dusty,
“Well, thank you, Jewcowboy and Paul for trying to start out on Josef’s dirty joke path”
Your welcome.
TnGelding
November 30th, 2010
3:07 pm
Why would you want to open yourself up for such abuse, Jay? Can’t you see all the soup lines and shuttered banks?
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
3:07 pm
Doggone/GA,
“Marines say privately they know the policy is on its way out, adding that the older officers will take it harder than the younger ones who have grown up in a more open society.
But in the end, Lt. Col. Hackett said, every good Marine follows orders, and “if that’s what the president orders, I can tell you by God we’re going to excel above and beyond the other services to make it happen and be damn good at it.”
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/nov/27/marines-resistant-to-repeal-of-gay-ban/
Gordon
November 30th, 2010
3:08 pm
“Stimulus a Success” = “Mission Accomplished”
We have $787B more deficit. We’ve simply kicked the can down the road with GM.
Regarding the TARP, I looked and looked and couldn’t find any reference to GWB. Just an oversight, I guess.
USMC Dawg
November 30th, 2010
3:08 pm
“Amusing, isn’t it, that of all our armed forces it’s those big, tough Marines that will have the most trouble dealing with the repeal of DADT.”
No doggone, nobody cares what you do in private, but it DOES effect a unit’s esprit de corps. We just don’t want them flying their “Nazi” Gay Flag ahead of the country or the corps.
You have no idea what garbage you are spouting. It’s real easy to sit indoors and play “experiment” with an institution that you know NOTHING about.
Southern Comfort
November 30th, 2010
3:08 pm
AmV @ 1:53
Paul @ 1:56
Nice rides!!!
TnGelding
November 30th, 2010
3:09 pm
You are welcome, too, at my house any time!
ATL Guy
November 30th, 2010
3:05 pm
Ain’t that the truth!
Bosch
November 30th, 2010
3:09 pm
Interesting that in Dawg’s poll it has Obama’s first name as “Comrade” — makes you wonder about the source.
Bosch
November 30th, 2010
3:09 pm
“We just don’t want them flying their “Nazi” Gay Flag ahead of the country or the corps”
Oh. My. Freaking God.
Matti
November 30th, 2010
3:10 pm
chuck,
Look deeply into your 2:57….. I’m beginning to think our whole national election process is a sham, and the things you say are confirming, not refuting, my worst fears. Since Obama has not yet shown himself to be significantly different than his predecessors, (though he touts a handful of compromised “victories” as evidence of change), I suspect that perhaps the men behind the curtain allowed/enabled his election (by way of a VP offering so absurd, even hard-core Repubs had a hard time justifying it) to quiet and pacify the mounting anger over the [perceived] Bush eff-ups which, in retrospect, seem to be deliberate in their result. Crazy? Perhaps. But the evidence doesn’t readily “refudiate” the notion.
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
3:10 pm
“But in the end, Lt. Col. Hackett said, every good Marine follows orders”
Yep…that’s why I said “dealing with” and not “implementing” the repeal of DADT.
Captain
November 30th, 2010
3:10 pm
Let’s not overlook a couple of items the Obama Administration took care of via the TARP program. 1)with the auto bailout, hundreds of automobile dealerships were wiped out by some unknown, yet to be explained method employed by the Obama Admin. What was the method used to choose which dealers to close and thus ruin their family businesses? Hopefully Congressional Republicans can uncover the truth. 2)bond holders and other creditors were eliminated by the Obama Admin when it came time to file for bankruptcy of General Motors. Although Federal Law stipulates the chain of repayment goes to those entities first, the Obama Admin eliminated those note holders while protecting their Union buddies at the UAW. While bond holders and creditors received nothing towards repayment of their loans, the UAW was given interest in GM. When the Obama Administration allowed General Motors to go forward with its Initial Public Offering of stock the United Auto Workers Union cashed in to the tune of more than $2 BILLION. Talk about a political payback of the first order. Those bond holders and creditors got nothing for their billions loaned to GM yet the UAW received over $2 billion for nothing. That is Obama Capitalism. Take care of the Unions.
You Liberals constantly screamed about Halliburton, you made all kinds of wild accusations, are you going to be silent about the Obama Admin giving handouts to the Unions and General Electric? What about the special deals the Obama Admin is working out for Unions to exempt them from ObamaCare? Let’s hear some outrage about these “special deals” from you boys and girls on the left.
chuck
November 30th, 2010
3:11 pm
I think the problem is that many of our politicians start out as “champions for the people” but when the money race starts they lose focus on what got them there. I think that we should push for laws that would eliminate “junkets” and make it illegal to accept ANY gifts of ANY KIND. I can tell you this…2012 is the best chance we have had in a long time to elect someone like that. I can’t say that I hold out much hope for them staying that way.
OH, we also need to make Congress a PART-TIME JOB. I always liked Lamar Alexander’s slogan: Cut their pay and send them home.
TnGelding
November 30th, 2010
3:12 pm
But it’s OK to wave the GOP colors before Duty, Honor, Country?
Mick
November 30th, 2010
3:12 pm
dawg
When you build a “team” that includes everybody, especially if your life depends on each other. I fail to see a problem there.
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
3:12 pm
“We just don’t want them flying their “Nazi” Gay Flag ahead of the country or the corps”
Are you forgetting that they will still be MARINES, first and foremost? Just as they are MARINES now?
Obama 2012
November 30th, 2010
3:12 pm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/29/AR2010112905453.html?hpid=topnews
Jay I am late to the party but no matter how many facts you present to some people, they will never support the policies of our current President. I bet many of them will use Medicare in their lifetime and take advantage of keeping their children on their health insurance past the age of 22 if they graduate from college and can not find a job where they can get get their own benefits.
?- It is funny how President Carter signed the Chrysler bailout in December 1979 and Reagan was sworn in January 1980 and we did not see a “tea party” get formed. Bush started TARP, Obama implemented it and surprise, it worked!
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
3:13 pm
USMC Dawg,
“We just don’t want them flying their “Nazi” Gay Flag ahead of the country or the corps.”
I don’t usually like to call people names, but jeez you are an imbecile when it come to gay people.
Del
November 30th, 2010
3:13 pm
jewcowboy,
I watched Gates on television report the summary. He said resistance exists within the “combat arms”. He didn’t single out the Marine Corps in his report. When you throw out percentages it doesn’t consider that the Marines are much smaller than the other branches. The stick point I think will be concern within the combat arms and the question, would it be wise to move forward with repeal during this time of war. It will be greatly debated in Congress.
AmVet
November 30th, 2010
3:14 pm
Dawg @3:01, that is what I commonly refer to as the parallel reality that some create and live in.
It is made up and only exists in your mind, whereas the poll I listed is factual, can be easily corroborated and is the one used by people living in the sentient universe.
If you don’t like that one, rest assured I can list numerous others…
Yeah, Paul, that 64 Chevy was sweet for its day!
Speaking of reality, McCain was treated worse by the neo-cons in his own party than by the liberals.
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, called an ad criticizing John Kerry’s military service “dishonest and dishonorable” and urged the White House on Thursday to condemn it as well.
The White House declined.
“It was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me,” McCain said in an interview with The Associated Press, comparing the anti-Kerry ad to tactics in his bitter Republican primary fight with President Bush.
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
3:15 pm
Bosch,
“Oh. My. Freaking God.”
To use your phrase, the stupid…it burns.
Atlanta1
November 30th, 2010
3:15 pm
Brought to you by ONN. Obama News Network; syndicated both in papers and televisions around the country.
Nice try.
USMC Dawg
November 30th, 2010
3:16 pm
Mick,
You were in the Coast Guard (which is admirable) as I recall. That is a totally different story.
You don’t just go in and destroy an Institution because of your narcissism.
While we are at it, will we institute a draft for ALL females as well?
Matti
November 30th, 2010
3:16 pm
jewcowboy,
Clearly this man has been traumatized. Perhaps defending our freedom, or (more likely) on the battlefield of love. Don’t be cruel. It’s obviously time for his cookies & thorazine, and a nice nap, bless his heart.
Del
November 30th, 2010
3:17 pm
Doggone as usual weighs in as an authority on the Marine Corps. Of course she’ll do that on any topic.
TnGelding
November 30th, 2010
3:17 pm
“In fact, seldom have so many politicians who were so mistaken about so much reaped so much benefit from being flat-out wrong.”
Blame it on the biased-liberal-media that let the GOP and other seditionists misrepresent the reality.
Doggone/GA
November 30th, 2010
3:18 pm
“While we are at it, will we institute a draft for ALL females as well?”
Why should we? We don’t have a draft for all males.
USMC Dawg
November 30th, 2010
3:18 pm
“Dawg @3:01, that is what I commonly refer to as the parallel reality that some create and live in.”
As long as you say so AmVet.
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
3:19 pm
Del @ 3.13,
See my post 3.07. They will still be Marines…and I have faith in our armed forces that they can be just as professional as the 22 of 26 NATO countries that allow gays to serve openly.
TnGelding
November 30th, 2010
3:20 pm
AmVet
November 30th, 2010
3:14 pm
I hadn’t read your reality comments. Sorry to infringe.
USMC Dawg
November 30th, 2010
3:20 pm
“Why should we? We don’t have a draft for all males.”
Nice dodge doggone. Stick to welfare and handouts as your strong suit.
jewcowboy
November 30th, 2010
3:20 pm
USMC Dawg,
“You don’t just go in and destroy an Institution because of your narcissism.”
Are you implying that Marines are incapable of handling a direct order from their commander?
Mick
November 30th, 2010
3:20 pm
dawg
Why is it different? If you are a soldier and you do your duty how does orientation affect anything?
chuck
November 30th, 2010
3:21 pm
Matti, I don’t know if I’d go that far, but back in the 80’s those of us on the “far right” heard a lot of people talking about the Foreign Relations Committee and the “New World Order”. Bush the Elder was always brought up because of his service in the CIA and his membership in the skull and crossbones society at Yale. Who knows? I will say this though, when McCain made the selection, I was shocked. I told my wife at the time that he was sabotaging his own campaign.
Bosch
November 30th, 2010
3:21 pm
jewcowboy,
“To use your phrase, the stupid…it burns.”
I think I actually got that from stands or USinUK, but please, by all means, use it — especially for something so well appropriate.
Get Real
November 30th, 2010
3:22 pm
Gosh Jay, based on this delusion it is clear you still believe in the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy! It must be wonderful to live in a magical and mystical world of sugar plums and candy canes….