2012 Tuesday: This week, it’s all about Obama
There’s not much percolating in the GOP presidential race right now besides the same old, same old: Texas Gov. Rick Perry all but saying he’s running, just not yet; Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty sniping at one another in what may turn out to be an elimination contest between them in Iowa; Herman Cain still trying to explain his various comments about Muslims as he fades from real contention.
If they’re smart, Republican candidates are letting this week in 2012 politics be about Barack Obama and the nation’s debt.
The president spent weeks insisting it was up to Congress to solve the debt-ceiling problem — which is technically true, although the reality that he has to sign any legislation Congress passes suggests it’s not crazy of the leaders on Capitol Hill to think they should have buy-in from the White House beforehand. Then Obama did get involved, repeatedly describing himself as the only responsible person in Washington and talking about the leaders of a co-equal branch of government as if they were his children.
The primary result, to date, has been to drive said leaders away from his negotiating table to work on a deal — a deal that, as of right now, looks like it will ignore Obama’s central demand of including new tax revenues. That, and to leave Obama giving a primetime address to the nation in an attempt to keep himself relevant in the very negotiations he once wanted no part of.
The president’s speech Monday night also had the ostensible goal of making sure the public blames Republicans in the event of a technical default or a credit-rating downgrade. Which was curious, given that Democrats keep citing public opinion polls indicating the public’s already doing that. Are Obama and his fellow Democrats worried that they’ll actually get too much of the blame?
And what if a deal is struck? By making it clear that his talks with Speaker John Boehner were fruitless, Obama has essentially cut himself out of any credit for a deal. If a deal is struck, it most likely will not be because Obama was able to pull various congressional factions together but, rather, because Congress called his bluff by putting together a deal that wasn’t on his terms.
Some Republican voters might blame GOP lawmakers for a deal that they view as too much of a compromise, but read my lips: That’s not going to make those people vote for Obama next year. Or stay home from the polls rather than voting for his GOP opponent. Who, in all likelihood, will be someone who wasn’t in Congress during this debate. (Sorry, Michele.)
I doubt Obama will get a primary opponent, despite Sen. Bernie Sanders’ laments. But I think it’s reasonable to ask whether liberals will be as enthusiastic about keeping Obama as conservatives are about voting him out, especially when I see poll numbers like these reported by the Washington Post:
The Post-ABC poll found that the number of liberal Democrats who strongly support Obama’s record on jobs plunged 22 points from 53 percent last year to 31 percent. The number of African Americans who believe the president’s actions have helped the economy has dropped from 77 percent in October to just over half of those surveyed.
The last three national elections — 2006, 2008 and 2010 — have been repudiations of the ruling party (in Congress, the White House and Congress again, respectively). The next one is shaping up likewise, and more weeks like this one will make it hard for Obama to buck the trend.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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119 comments Add your comment
Captain Midnight
July 26th, 2011
2:30 pm
@ Rafe Hollister, good to hear from you again, it’s been awhile.
@Miltonman, Obama’s ‘other reverand” Joseph “when white will do what’s right” Lowrey is coming for you bro.
Just Saying..
July 26th, 2011
2:30 pm
Wonder how many Democrats and Independents are giving up on Barack because he continues to treat Republicans as equals?
Kramer
July 26th, 2011
2:32 pm
ATF
July 26th, 2011
2:26 pm
You bet 2012 will be all about Obama. The TeaParty/Republicans don’t have anyone worth talking about.
Oh God I hope it is all about Obama. Let’s see, by the unemplyment at 9%+. Debt at $6 trillion and climbing. New house sales going further down the drain and obamacare on the horizon to add trillions more to our debt. Yep, make it about obama, I dare ya’.
kayaker 71
July 26th, 2011
2:34 pm
ATF,
I was hoping that someone might challenge Bozo in a Democratic primary, maybe Hillary, maybe a moderate Democrat like Sam Nunn,….. perhaps Hank Johnson if he can save Guam from sliding into the ocean. It’s not so much the tax cuts that create jobs….. it’s the uncertainty about government’s stand on future intrusions into the private sector that keeps business sitting on their money. Would I expand my business today and hire additional employees in this kind of environment? Afraid not.
Captain Midnight
July 26th, 2011
2:35 pm
@ gm The 2012 Presidential election is going to be a bigger bloodbath than the 2010 Congressional election and Obama knows it. He’s lost whites, moderate dems and most importantly indepenents.
ie…He’s lost. Yall be sure to sing pretty for former President Obama at the inaguration of the new President the way you did for President Bush.
Captain Midnight
July 26th, 2011
2:39 pm
K71 Hay Jay saving Guam!! LMFAO!!!
Karen
July 26th, 2011
2:47 pm
Rafe they were losing them when he came into office. You guys have Palin(what newspaper do I read), Bachman, lets turn then into straight people. The fact is the Tea Party has a less favorable rating than Obama, and in hearing you talk it’s no wonder why. Intelligent, not even close Rafe and Kayaker!
destin dawg
July 26th, 2011
2:50 pm
you can’t expect Obama to understand business/economics….. he’s never had a real job, run a company, served in the military, etc.. just an unemployed law student…. what the heck is a community organizer ??? can’t be anti business and create jobs…. NLRB ( pro Union ) wants to close new Boeing plant in S.C… while they are in intense competition with Airbus ( French ) for new plane contracts ??? there are high paying jobs !!
Fergie
July 26th, 2011
2:52 pm
All I am saying is; this debt ceiling BS didn’t just start. Apparently, its standard business practice since its been going on so long. Why is it all of a sudden a problem? If I was Obama, I would let these bigots have this mess. They created it. Leave it to a f…dumb white man who thinks just because he’s white that he’s smarter and the better leader to really f…something up.
Captain Midnight
July 26th, 2011
2:53 pm
Destin dawg, WHAT? just an unemployed law student?? Don’t you mean an unemployed law student that can walk on water sir?
Filter
July 26th, 2011
2:54 pm
You guys should save all your “so and so took the other to the woodshed” nonsense. You liked your guy, others liked their guy, end of story. It’s called a self fulfilling prophecy.
In other words, you’re only convincing yourself of what you already knew.
2012 prez
July 26th, 2011
3:00 pm
some of you have bad mouth Obama from the start and will continue until he is voted out. If the next prez is white you all will jump for JOY.. Then sooner or later you will turn on them to. so sad no respect for no one in charge this country is just pityful.
MAYBE THE WHITE MAN/WOMAN WHO BECOME PRESIDENT IN 2012 WILL MAKE YOU ALL HAPPY WHEN THE ELECTION IS OVER IN 2012….I’M SURE THEY WILL FIGHT AND MAKE THINGS BETTER FOR YALL.
Linda
July 26th, 2011
3:04 pm
Yes, it’s all about Obama, who will go down in history as the president of the US who:
* pushed & signed the most expensive spending bill in the history of the world, less than 3 weeks after his inauguration, the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, which was a failure
* promised that the unemployment rate which was at 7.6% when the bill was signed, would not exceed 8% if the bill was passed but would climb to 10% if the bill was not passed
* watched hopelessly as the unemployment rate climbed to 10.2% by 10/09
* holds the record for the worst unemployment rate since 1948 with 30 of the 70 months of unemployment at 8% of higher being the 30 consecutive months of his term, which is 43% of the most severe unemployment in the last 63 years
* cancelled NASA’s Moon Program & placed rocket scientists among the unemployed
* lost the AAA rating of the US due to massive debt
* took government control of the health care of every American from cradle to grave
* added $3.814 T to the national debt in 30 months
* presided over the food stamp recovery
* signed the longest bill in US history
* added the most new regulations in history to the US Register
* watched as gold hit a record high as fears rose over the collapse of the US dollar
Captain Midnight
July 26th, 2011
3:04 pm
Boortz said the day after Obama was elected that ANY critizism of this guy would be labeled racist.
He nailed it as usual.
Filter
July 26th, 2011
3:04 pm
kayaker,
You said ” it’s the uncertainty about government’s stand on future intrusions into the private sector that keeps business sitting on their money.”
Leaving out the Healthcare Bill (because that’s too easy) what intrusions are you speaking about? I’m not trolling here, I want to know what you consider “intrusions.”
Tommy Maddox
July 26th, 2011
3:11 pm
Fergie @ 1:51 – “Why don’t you red necks admit to yourselves that you just don’t want to see this Black President spend money.”
OK – I’ll bite. I don’t want to see this 1/2 Black 1/2 White President continue to deficit spend us into oblivion. After all, it’s not his money.
Rafe Hollister
July 26th, 2011
3:18 pm
Linda
To embellish what you said about NASA’s space flight efforts being grounded. The purpose was so those smart engineers could focus on their new job, i.e., helping the Muslim world to understand all the great things they have done for humanity.
Destin Dawg, you asked what a community organizer does. That is hard to answer, because there are only two that I know of. Obummer and David Duke, the original community organizer.
Fergie, so what you are saying is, that the white half of Obama is the half that thinks it is smarter than the rest of us.
Rafe Hollister
July 26th, 2011
3:21 pm
Filter, I think he means that Dodd=was it Frank? bill that regulated the banks/financial institutions and has imposed so many regulations that no one knows what is legal anymore.
Captain Midnight
July 26th, 2011
3:23 pm
@2012 prez, you sound illiterate. Recent APS grad I’m guessing. Congratulations on your di-poma.
Can we get some more tea please?
Kramer
July 26th, 2011
3:34 pm
2012 prez
July 26th, 2011
3:00 pm
some of you have bad mouth Obama from the start and will continue until he is voted out. If the next prez is white you all will jump for JOY.. Then sooner or later you will turn on them to. so sad no respect for no one in charge this country is just pityful.
MAYBE THE WHITE MAN/WOMAN WHO BECOME PRESIDENT IN 2012 WILL MAKE YOU ALL HAPPY WHEN THE ELECTION IS OVER IN 2012….I’M SURE THEY WILL FIGHT AND MAKE THINGS BETTER FOR YALL.
And here is the mind of a racist liberal. Everything is seen in color and not substance. Ignorance, thy name is 2012 prez.
Filter
July 26th, 2011
3:41 pm
RH,
I’m not certain that the Dodd-Frank bill can be seen as an intrusion into the workings of businesses as a whole. It certainly places more regulation on Wall Street and the banking industry but modifying the Volcker Rule and regulating the way derivatives are handled can hardly be seen as an intrusion on the day to day operation of a business outside of the financial sector.
Filter
July 26th, 2011
3:45 pm
Kramer,
It would be ignorant to say that all criticism of the current President is racist but it would be equally ignorant to say that the converse is true as well. One need to look only at Miltonman’s comment of 1:20 for confirmation of that. Racism is still alive and well and it is the racists who see it everywhere or nowhere at all.
shawny
July 26th, 2011
3:56 pm
That article, also quoted on NPR, considers total wealth including home ownership. Those with less money to begin with have a higher percentage of their fiscal efforts tied up in their house. Therefore, when the housing market goes south and houses lose value, those with less have even less. That is on paper of course. There is the fallacy.
SO, when the housing market turns around and home values increase, will we have a report that says that the poor are getting richer at a faster rate than the rich are? I’ll bet not.
Linda
July 26th, 2011
3:58 pm
Here’s a list of the most famous speeches of all time, the 1st 5 being:
1. MJK, Jr.s “I have a Dream”
2. JFK’s inaugural address
3. FDR’s first inaugural address
4. FDR’s Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation
5. Barbara Charline Jordon’s 1976 DNC Keynote Address
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html
Here’s part of Obama’s speech 7/22/11, “…I told Speaker Boehner, I’ve told Dem. Leader Harry Reid, & I’ve told Mitch McConnell. I want them here at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. We have run out of time & they are going to have to explain to me how it is that we are going to avoid default…The only bottom line that I have is that we have to extend this debt ceiling through the next election…”
VINCENT
July 26th, 2011
4:09 pm
gm = marta train prophet
Rafe Hollister
July 26th, 2011
4:10 pm
Filter
For what it is worth, I saw an article the other day, can’t remember where, that gave figures about regulations added. The Federal Register is where federal government regulations are compounded. The number of pages added under the Obama Regime dwarfs all those added by Dubyah and Slick Willie and he has barely started. They may have to add a wing on the Library of Congress to hold the Obama additions.
Rafe Hollister
July 26th, 2011
4:13 pm
Linda, I liked his “We ain’t going back” speech, I’m sure that one is number 6, right?
Filter
July 26th, 2011
4:24 pm
RH,
I’m going to confine my comments to the Dodd-Frank bill as that is what we are discussing.
True to my libertarian leanings I am normally opposed to any sort of government regulation but there are circumstances in which government has to step in, particularly in situations where there is a large disparity in bargaining power between parties to a “contract” and in situation where an action (or a set of organizational actions) is a danger to the republic as a whole. In terms of the financial market the lack of oversight was endemic to the cause of many, not all but many, of the issues that lead to our near financial meltdown. In situations like these would you prefer to continue to allow the abuses that lead to the crisis to continue in lieu of further regulation
Rafe Hollister
July 26th, 2011
4:41 pm
Filter
If the banks had not had an Uncle Sucker to pass off those bad loans to, they would not have made the loan. They were in a no lose position, make a bad loan and you are guaranteed a profit, by selling it to the Gov. Give Fannie and Freddie more regs and leave the private sector alone, they were just trying to make a buck, while operating in bizaro world.
Junior Samples
July 26th, 2011
4:45 pm
We like our President.
We didn’t think he could fix everything the previous President did overnight. Then the republican grandstanding appeared, fueled by the tea party fringe. You guys laid down with dogs, and now we all have fleas. Great, thanks a lot.
If we expired the Bush Tax Cuts, we’d be back on track already. But no. The republicans stomped their feet and held their breath. If your last guy wasn’t such an idiot (and had to pay everyone to keep them from finding out, i.e.tax cuts), our guy wouldn’t have to bail out everything to keep this ship from sinking. But it’s the new guys fault now… Right, we still remember. Good luck finding anyone worthy of running a close race against him.
So far you got nothing. And that’s what scares you the most.
Tommy Maddox
July 26th, 2011
4:51 pm
LOL!
Stevie Ray
July 26th, 2011
5:05 pm
Not surprising that the country is living well beyond it’s means which seems to be a common cultural theme. If you assume any promise of spending cuts over 10 years will materialize, I personally would not mind paying more taxes as currently, government gets fractional value from every dollar spent, borrowed or not. It’s akin to using one credit card to pay off the balance of another while. In addition the the $14 trillion issue, social security and medicare will require $70 trillion for promises to be kept. Tax increases alone will come nowhere near getting us outta this mess…. All in Washington care about one thing and one thing only….re-election.
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 26th, 2011
5:07 pm
Remember back during the campaign when the Idiot Messiah and his receptacles were bragging about how the Wall Street types were donating more cash to his campaign than to McCain’s?
Haven’t heard much about that lately, have we?
Idiot Messiah: Hypocrite.
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 26th, 2011
5:09 pm
Junior Samples: We like our President.
——————
You might, but Americans don’t.
Still waiting for your Idiot Messiah to fix anything Bush did wrong.
Stevie Ray
July 26th, 2011
5:13 pm
Does assigning blame or allegations of racism contribute to a solution to the issues?
Who knows what the numbers really look like? “The most heated controversies are about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way…”
Politics can fix the problem so I expect things to get worse before better…
gm
July 26th, 2011
5:25 pm
Amazing when George W raised the debt ceiling 7 times, the hypocrites on the right were not concern about the grand kids or the future, when Bush spent 4 trillion not a word, this is why the tea party idiots have no crediblity with the real Americans that love their country.
Most of the Anti Obama haters continue to say he is going to lose in 2012, but you can not name a single Rep candidate you have confidence in thats going to beat him, so stop wishful thinking.
Please stop looking at fox stupid news””””
Repub Jokes
July 26th, 2011
5:27 pm
What a bunch of hypocritical moronic CONS on this blog. They are clamoring for smaller government, budget cuts, and still choose to piss and moan about the unemployment rate. If you have noticed, or if you read/listed to something other than your talking heads, you would see that private jobs have increased, but it the government is shedding jobs. These are your GOOD OL REPUB policies at work! Let’s whittle the government down to nothing, with our already curmbling infrastructure, and see just how many of these job-creating companies exit the US altogether. Your chickens are coming home to roost – so stop complaining.
gm
July 26th, 2011
5:31 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout
I rather have a muslim that pratice Sharia Law living next to me then you and the sean hannity of the world, at least they have respect for their country and their leaders, you and the tea party people are the worst Americans we have had in this country since the Klan was founded.
retiredds
July 26th, 2011
5:42 pm
This makes for an interesting insight into the Republican smoke screen,
House Speaker John Boehner often attacks the spendthrift ways of Washington.
“In Washington, more spending and more debt is business as usual,” the Republican leader from Ohio said in a televised address yesterday amid debate over the U.S. debt. “I’ve got news for Washington – those days are over.”
Yet the speaker, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell all voted for major drivers of the nation’s debt during the past decade: Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts and Medicare prescription drug benefits. They also voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, that rescued financial institutions and the auto industry.
Together, a Bloomberg News analysis shows, these initiatives added $3.4 trillion to the nation’s accumulated debt and to its current annual budget deficit of $1.5 trillion. — Bloomberg, Jul 26
real American
July 26th, 2011
5:48 pm
Rafe Hollister
I guess unemployment and people losing their homes just started under Obama? I guess thats why he fighting for medicade and health ins for the poor because he cares only for his self? you people are crazy ””’
Filter
July 26th, 2011
5:48 pm
RH,
While the lending issues were a part of the problems responded to by Dodd-Frank they were just that, only a part of the problem. A larger issue, one that actually had more to do with the credit collapse was derivative swaps. It’s easy I suppose to point to the ease of which some people obtained loans for which they were clearly not qualified as the bugaboo that made the house of cards fall because its more accessible but the real demon here was unfettered abuse by people in the banking industry and a total lack of oversight from anyone.
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 26th, 2011
6:15 pm
gm: I rather have a muslim that pratice Sharia Law living next to me then you
————————-
You obviously don’t know much about Sharia Law if that’s the case.
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 26th, 2011
6:20 pm
Democrats Suddenly Regret Voting Against Raising the Debt Ceiling Under President Bush
Over the next few weeks, as Congress approaches its next big budget fight — the vote to raise the debt ceiling — many Democrats are going to find themselves in an uncomfortable position. As Republicans threaten to withhold support for raising the ceiling unless the Democrats make spending concessions, Democrats will inevitably climb up on their high horses and exhort them to refrain from playing politics with such an important issue. “This is not the time for games,” some wrinkly old white Democrat will say, then rightly point out that “the entire economy is at stake.”
What he won’t mention is that in March of 2006, under President George W. Bush, when Democrats were in the senate minority, then-senator Barack Obama voted against raising the debt ceiling. So did every single one of his Democrat colleagues.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/04/democrats_suddenly_regret_voti.html
————————————
I guess Obozo only voted against raising the debt ceiling when a white guy was President.
Obozo: Racist.
Linda
July 26th, 2011
6:22 pm
Rafe@4:10, The article you read the other day regarding onerous regulations was probably the site I posted in a comment. It this it?
http://blackfootjournal.com/?p=6739
Linda
July 26th, 2011
6:29 pm
The Dodd-Frank bill did absolutely nothing to prevent another economic crisis. It addressed nothing that was broken.
MarkV
July 26th, 2011
6:30 pm
Linda @3:58 pm:
Linda, are you at least embarrased by the sophomoric stupidity of your comparing Obama’a adress (and really only a small piece of it) with some great speeches? Don’t you think one could find an endless number of inanities in small excerpts of any of your favorite politicians?
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 26th, 2011
6:44 pm
Note that the truly great speeches didn’t require a teleprompter. The speakers were intelligent enough and passionate enough to SPEAK, not READ. Your Idiot Messiah pees his pants and starts talking about “spreading the wealth” when he doesn’t have his crutch to lean on. Makes his handlers nervous!
Rafe Hollister
July 26th, 2011
6:47 pm
Linda, the one I read gave specific pages added by Clinton, Bush and Obama. This one is good as well.
Filter, I agree with you on the derivities, but Dodd-Frank does much more than reign in derivities, much of it destructive to the economy. BTW, read the article in Linda’s post.
real American, no it did not start with Barry, he has just made it worse. Unemployment when Bush was president, was less than 6%, now 9.2%, much worse in minority community.
My work here is done for now, I eating dinner while I can still afford a good dinner. Chow, yall!
MarkV
July 26th, 2011
6:51 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout in an embarrassment to the human race; fortunately, his excretions can be simply ignored..
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 26th, 2011
7:00 pm
You couldn’t.