Initial post-election thoughts
A few quick thoughts before I go record another Google+ Hangout with Aaron and Jay:
- The Dow dropped about 200 points at today’s opening after a decent rally yesterday. Looks like I wasn’t the only one with a gut feeling about Mitt Romney winning the election.
- Can we all just agree on no more nominees from Massachusetts? Romney, John Kerry, Michael Dukakis … the last person to reside in Massachusetts at the time he won the presidency was John F. Kennedy. (On second thought, maybe I should be encouraging the Democrats to nominate Elizabeth Warren in 2016 …)
- With almost all the votes counted, Romney is a little less than 3 million votes off John McCain’s 2008 total — while President Obama is nearly 10 million votes off his own total from four years ago. Those numbers will shrink somewhat, but it’s safe to say that turnout was down and most of those who stayed home were previously Obama voters. These most likely were the folks who still told pollsters they were undecided right up until the election. Romney may have lost the election in part because he couldn’t persuade them to show up and vote for him.
I’ll have more after we get this video done.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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121 comments Add your comment
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
November 7th, 2012
10:10 am
Initial post-election thoughts
My gut is sloshy this morning.
mike
November 7th, 2012
10:15 am
I sincerely hope Kyle’s “gut feeling” is feeling better this a.m. and that he is recovering from his “wishful thinking” virus. Those usually run their course in around 24 hours or less.
Now I know that those of you on the right suspect that I am going to gloat over President Barack Obama’s overwhelming win and mandate. You are wrong. No, I think it’s painfully obvious to even the most dense Republican/Tea Party nutcase: you are out of step with the majority of the American people.
What you really want is a fascist government without democracy. I’m not going to revisit the numerous gaffs and insults and lies and half-truths that alienated the voters. There’s no need to. This should be a gigantic wake-up call to the Republican party. If you allow your party to be shoved to the far right by nut-jobs, prepare to fade into history and obscurity.
MarkV
November 7th, 2012
10:17 am
“The Dow dropped about 200 points at today’s opening after a decent rally yesterday. Looks like I wasn’t the only one with a gut feeling about Mitt Romney winning the election.”
And that had nothing to do with the situation in Europe, had it, Kyle?
Rightwing Troll
November 7th, 2012
10:21 am
Landslide indeed….
saywhat?
November 7th, 2012
10:21 am
MANDATE!!!!!!!!!!!
saywhat?
November 7th, 2012
10:22 am
I love the smell on MANDATE in the morning.
Aquagirl
November 7th, 2012
10:24 am
another Google+ Hangout with Aaron and Jay
Awesome, I’m looking forward to some SANE conservative commentary.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
November 7th, 2012
10:27 am
Kyle, I think your gut is telling you prime rib would be good for dinner tonight.
Centrist
November 7th, 2012
10:28 am
The Charter School huge landslide vote sure exposed that purposely bogus AJC poll for all of its intentional bias. The AJC’s “No” endorsement was totally ignored by at least Cobb, Cherokee, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Dekalb Counties (all I looked at).
Credibility has to be earned, and is more easily lost. The shrinking AJC has done it to themselves.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
10:28 am
Now that Obama has a clear mandate the Republican party must take a good hard look at itself.
Just appealing to southern white racist is not going to win anymore. The demographics have changed.
………………………….
Also how about those polls. They were really skewed towards the Democrat werent they.
LOL.
Once again the poll that missed it the most was Rasmussen.
I look forward to the weeks and months ahead of excuse making by the GOP.
On a sour note the Charter school amendment passed.
This means in Georgia tax pay dollars will fund private school educations and Christianity will be slowly worked into the curriculum.
Sad day as Georgia takes yet another step back.
MarkV
November 7th, 2012
10:30 am
Remember the predictions?
Romney 308 electoral votes, 52.8% popular vote
Obama 230 electoral votes, 46.3% popular vote
Fringe candidates 0 electoral, 0.9% popular vote
.Romney wins by a larger margin than predicted.
I’m now calling it for Romney in a landslide victory. You’ve heard it here first.
Good show Ragnar, Rafe , Del
mike
November 7th, 2012
10:30 am
Colorado legalizes marijuana.
zinc
November 7th, 2012
10:30 am
And the sun came up again this morning. Life moves on.
Curious if you will commit on the following in the coming days: 1). Accuracy of polls despite the cries from the right;. 2) Issue of overconfidence on the right that they had this in the bag; 3) How the Republican party lost an easy election (just like the D’s in 2004); 4). Where are new Republican voters going to come from; 5) How Republicans can stop excluding people and listening to the will of the people to develop their platform (see also ME, WA, MN, MD, CO votes last night).
JF McNamara
November 7th, 2012
10:31 am
The Dow is down because of Europe. Bad news on Germany. The market is up 70% under Obama. I don’t think they are mad he won.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
10:31 am
The shrinking AJC has done it to themselves.
I wouldn’t say the AJC is shrinking. Its called the internet.
Every bodies circulation is down. But they have a good web presence and seem to be doing just fine.
Peadawg
November 7th, 2012
10:34 am
“Initial post-election thoughts”
Republicans can only blame themselves. The rape comments, gay marriage, etc…leave it alone. It’s time to love like God preaches, not discriminate. The farther right y’all go the worse it will get. Stop thumpin’ that Bible.
Will
November 7th, 2012
10:34 am
Do you think all those republicans who hooted about Nate Silver’s prediction model will now concede that the man knows what he is talking about?
Me neither.
While we are at it, have you ever seen anything like the show Karl Rove put on last night on the republican television network (and the republican network let him bully them into attacking THEIR OWN experts in voting analysis)?
Talk about a poor loser!
This is the same man that boldly predicted a 300+ electoral victory for Governor Romney!!
JB
November 7th, 2012
10:35 am
To win, the GOP is going to have to go young and brown. Rubio and Jindal will have to be the next ticket, but If the next 4 years add up to as bad as the last 4, the GOP might run a pasty old white guy and win…LOL
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
10:35 am
Post election thoughts:
Nate Silver’s quantitative modeling methods > the average GOP pundits gut feeling.
Don't Forget - Obama is a two term president.
November 7th, 2012
10:35 am
Kyle – The Dow dropped about 200 points at today’s opening after a decent rally yesterday. Looks like I wasn’t the only one with a gut feeling about Mitt Romney winning the election.
Yeah, keep deluding yourself. Despite all the polls leaning toward Obama, Wall Street went on a “gut feeling”.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/2012/11/07/eurozone-recession-worse-rebound-slower/wTtzCcBZ6h1gbGmONLdBCM/story.html
The first step to recovery Kyle is to admit you have a problem.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
November 7th, 2012
10:36 am
How’s that voter suppression working out for you, Cons?
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
10:36 am
“To win, the GOP is going to have to go young and brown. Rubio and Jindal will have to be the next ticket, but If the next 4 years add up to as bad as the last 4, the GOP might run a pasty old white guy and win…LOL”
Oh yes, because putting up a minority candidate is all the GOP needs to pull minority support.
You are brilliant, how are you not already a FOX news pundit?
JB
November 7th, 2012
10:37 am
And as for me personally, I’m going dark on news and politics. I’m going to focus on my health, my family, my faith and open up some new avenues of interest.
Bye bye Tea Party
November 7th, 2012
10:37 am
“Romney may have lost the election in part because he couldn’t persuade them to show up and vote for him”. That’s funny. Actually Romney did loose and it was because more people voted for the other guy, because more people believe the other guy’s policies are better for our future. You can make all the excuses you want but the simple fact remains that cutting taxes on the highest earning white christian Americans and gutting the clean air and clean water acts, eliminating all forms of publiclically funded education, and protecting fetusus (but not babies). at the expense of every other possible policy position or issue is simply not a winning strategy. But keep trying.
Hillbilly D
November 7th, 2012
10:38 am
You’ve got the same President and you’ve got basically the same Congress. It’s not likely that the next 4 years will be any different than the last 4.
Producer
November 7th, 2012
10:39 am
Bill O’Reilly said it succinctly last night on Fox News: “The people like their stuff.” Both parties have been buying votes since FDR began social security. This will not end. Ever. Period. Our country will shortly bankrupt itself and literally die. As much of a Republican as I am, it isn’t Obama’s fault. He just did what he needed to do to get elected. People will continue to raid the wallets of the productive to get benefits they do not deserve and have not earned. Stick a fork in us. We’re done.
Cutty
November 7th, 2012
10:39 am
Colorado legalized marijuana and Mitt got smoked!!
I just knew Kyle would go negative instead of looking at the demographic problems in your party. You were wrong w Newt and again wrong w Mitt. Maybe you need more facts to bolster your many wrong opinions.
ObamaLovesChina
November 7th, 2012
10:40 am
Well, at least China is happy with the result. Now I’ve always wanted to learn Chinese
JB
November 7th, 2012
10:42 am
bye bye tea…..He lost by 21/2 mil votes out of 115 mil. I wouldn’t call it Obama mania.
saywhat?
November 7th, 2012
10:42 am
I predict that after four more years, Obama will be toast and no longer president.
Odis
November 7th, 2012
10:43 am
Take that MITTCHES!
commoncents
November 7th, 2012
10:43 am
I think we all lost… Nothing was accomplished at the federal level over the past 18 months due to campaigning, and when it was all said and done, nothing changed. Now we can go back to the status quo of having a do-nothing elected body who cannot think or rationally compromise. More “my way or the highway” debates…
On a side note, I’m ready to become one of the 47%… I would have loved to show up to vote in my pajamas and not worry about how the impending tax increases will affect my governement cheese
gasux
November 7th, 2012
10:43 am
It shows that we are tired of extremism that cost you the election.
It’s the radical, extremist, neo-fascist ideology.
It’s the fact-free, religious zealotry, belief that those of one religion have the right, the duty, to force their religious beliefs on all others.
It’s the bold-faced -isms. Racism, anti-Semitism.
It’s the xenophobia.
It’s the fearful, woman-hating, misogyny.
It’s the corporate feudalism and the venal, corrupt drive to enrich the few at the expense of the many. It’s the corporate kleptocracy.
Republicans represent the very worst of fears and radical extremism.
Republicans represent the very worst of tyrannical, authoritarian, totalitarian desires of one group controlling others.
It’s your rejection of facts, science, and education that is your undoing.
Post-election video chat: Where does GOP go from here, and does Obama have a mandate? | Kyle Wingfield
November 7th, 2012
10:44 am
[...] feel free to keep talking on the thread downstairs as [...]
carlosgvv
November 7th, 2012
10:44 am
Big Business has two choices:
1. They can continue to sit on their huge cash reserves, hold hiring down, and cripple the economy in other ways, all to force the country to vote for their candidates of choice.
2. They can resume hiring and get back to business as usual and do less meddling in politics.
(you didn’t really think Obama has been not hiring and creating jobs, did you?)
Conservative Perry
November 7th, 2012
10:45 am
Does anyone else wonder why there were 10 million less votes for Obama than in 2008 (okay, they weren’t as excited about him anymore which I understand) but there were also 3 million less votes for Romney than for McCain (with this revitalized, excited conservative support) not to mention the defeat Obama movement? This year we had less people voting for the president than in 2004. Our country has grown since 2008. Something does not seem right here. Think about it.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
10:45 am
Down 241.
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
10:45 am
He lost by 21/2 mil votes out of 115 mil. I wouldn’t call it Obama mania.
———————————–
Yeah, now you are reduced to crying about the margin. Let it go. Mitt Rmoney would give his left testicle to have those numbers flipped. I wonder then if you would be saying such things about him?
lefty_316
November 7th, 2012
10:45 am
Kyle it’s time to quit looking for silver linings and take a good hard look at the GOP.
The party is no longer the party of fiscal conservatism. Tom Coburn and others may chirp about such, pretend it is, but the track record over the past 12 years speaks for itself. The party needs to regain that mantle. A good starting point would be taking the lead on a debt compromise.
The GOP is no longer considered the party that champions individual liberties. A good starting point for reclaiming that mantle would be a campaign to do away with the invasive provisions of the Patriot Act.
The party is anti-science, anti-gay, anti-abortion and anti-Planned Parenthood. It’s change-or-die time; those positions are all complete losers. Evangelicals say “we won’t compromise our values.” Hey that’s fine, it’s time for them to go start their own party. Americans neither want nor need a major political party to dictate morality. The evangelicals didn’t turn out for McCain in 2008 and apparently didn’t turn out for Romney either. They’re useless.
A dad
November 7th, 2012
10:45 am
I wonder how those crowing that Obama has “a clear mandate” would react if Romney would have won last night. By their definition, had Romney won he too would have had “a clear mandate.” The actual truth is this country is essentially split in half, so the proper course would be a little bit BO and a little bit MR, but alas, methinks all we’re in for these next 4 years is more of the same. Neither party has a clear majority, which means that neither party’s agenda is supported by a majority of the citizens so unless there is true compromise on both sides, this country is screwed! Will that ever happen? Judging by the derisive comments from both sides on this and Bookie’s blogs, I for one seriously doubt it. One thing you can say as a fact is that rather than being the great uniter as promised, BO has turned out to be the great divider. 50+ years and I’ve never seen such a sharp division in this country. Sad folks, Truly sad. BTW, what is everyone planning to do when the recession returns in about 2 years and unemployment climbs higher and higher? Just saying….
JB
November 7th, 2012
10:46 am
Can’t wait to hear him the next two years as unemployment rises EVERY month and he tells us his plan is working to restore America. Big tax increase and Obamacare coming….and so are pink slips. Those evil rich white guys are still in charge of jobs.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
November 7th, 2012
10:46 am
Conservative Perry, it’s called voter suppression and it works.
Democrats don’t have to cheat to win.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
10:46 am
While we are at it, have you ever seen anything like the show Karl Rove put on last night on the republican television network
Even more telling is the fact that the very same Karl Rove runs the largest Pro Romney super pac this last election cycle.
And yet he sits right there on Fox News.
His reaction to Ohio being called is priceless.
commoncents
November 7th, 2012
10:47 am
gasux
generalize much?
We could come up with a whole list defining the extreme liberals like you just did for the right. Which liberal news group gave you those talking points?
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
10:49 am
Best news of all
Cheesy Grits will now just go away.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
November 7th, 2012
10:49 am
BTW, what is everyone planning to do when the recession returns in about 2 years and unemployment climbs higher and higher?
And the cons are back to looking a their crystal ball which just fails them over and over and over again.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
10:50 am
“recession returns in about 2 years and unemployment climbs higher and higher?”
I dont think it will take that long. Try early 2013.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
10:50 am
Down 259.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
10:55 am
“JB
November 7th, 2012
10:46 am
Agreed. Employers are already replacing fulltime workers with part-time workers in order to avoid HCare and they have the right to do so. Many employees are gonna be thrown into the ObamaCare “pit of hell” for which they voted.
Its gonna get ugly…reeeaal ugly.
Get ready folks…next round of pink slips are being printed…
gasux
November 7th, 2012
11:00 am
@Commonsense:No liberal newsgroup put words in my mouth. I’ve received a good education in Minnesota and the USAF. I was taught to think for myself. How about you?
splavistic
November 7th, 2012
11:02 am
@kyle “maybe I should be encouraging the Democrats to nominate Elizabeth Warren in 2016 …)”
Was this a not-so-subtle suggestion that she would get shot? Nice one, Kyle. Real human of you.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
11:02 am
Down 301.
If you have a good job with a nice salary you better hold onto it like its gold, because now…it is GOLD!
Rightwing Troll
November 7th, 2012
11:03 am
“Get ready folks…next round of pink slips are being printed…”
Ever prognostication you wingnuts have made for the last 4 years has been untrue, why would this be any different?
iggy
November 7th, 2012
11:03 am
Im not wishing it…Im watching it happen.
I hope it doesnt tank. I guess we will just have “wait and see.”
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 7th, 2012
11:03 am
“I wonder then if you would be saying such things about him?”
Most intelligent people would be claiming that is was the squeaker that it actually was, SBinF
Hillbilly D
November 7th, 2012
11:05 am
I’m not big on predictions but one prediction I will make is that the 2016 campaign will kick off, January 22, 2013. God help us all.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
11:08 am
I just hope, that by the time this economic downturn is complete, that Bookman will retain enough cash to keep his toupee’.
Otherwise its just gonna be additional ugliness.
Kyle Wingfield
November 7th, 2012
11:09 am
splavistic: “get shot”? What are you talking about? Did Romney, Kerry or Dukakis get shot? No, they lost presidential elections…
Are you trying to make the link to JFK? Please.
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
11:10 am
Most intelligent people would be claiming that is was the squeaker that it actually was, SBinF
————————————————–
Oh yes, I’m sure you’d be calling it a squeaker if the numbers for Romney and Obama had been flipped. Romney got thumped, that’s it.
JB
November 7th, 2012
11:10 am
Allen West is one reason you can sit and blog this AM. He served in combat. Probably a whole lot more than you sir.
Dunwoody Granny
November 7th, 2012
11:13 am
Notice y’all are suggesting the party go “young and brown”, but no one has thought of WOMEN. Half the electorate and voted overwhelmingly for Obama. You can’t tell us there’s no war on women, it’s just a simple fact that it’s God’s will if a woman conceives after being raped, and then expect us to favor you on the basis of your economic plan. I don’t think it’s coincidence that both Akin and Mourdock lost.
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
11:15 am
Allen West is one reason you can sit and blog this AM. He served in combat. Probably a whole lot more than you sir.
———————————————————–
Great he served in combat. Doesn’t change the fact that he’s a crazy partisan (and now unemployed) hack.
Kyle Wingfield
November 7th, 2012
11:17 am
Dunwoody Granny: There’s no doubt Akin and especially Mourdock had an effect on Romney. Which is ironic, given that Romney was known as a flip-flopper on abortion before Democrats painted him as some kind of abortion extremist. But back to Akin and Mourdock: If you can’t express your support for opposing abortion in all instances without saying something that sounds pro-rape, you probably shouldn’t be running for office. (And no, I don’t think either of them actually is pro-rape, but I definitely understand why women would turn away from them based on those comments.)
Dunwoody Granny
November 7th, 2012
11:17 am
Kyle, if you didn’t mean you wanted a Warren term as president to be cut short like JFK’s, what did you mean by your crack about the last Mass winner was JFK and maybe we should encourage Warren to run? This is a serious question; I really don’t understand your point.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
11:19 am
http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/main?hpt=elec_flippertkr
Scroll down and look at vote by age.
This country is changing very quickly. Its moving to the left and just winning white males no longer will get you elected.
The Republican party is in big big trouble if they dont change and I mean within 6 months.
Peadawg
November 7th, 2012
11:20 am
The GOP needs a face lift. Stop thumping the Bible. Stop worrying about what a woman does with her uterus and what people do in their bedrooms. God said love others and to help the poor.
Right now, the Democrat Party is more God/Christian-like than the GOP is.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
11:23 am
Down 314….
Kyle Wingfield
November 7th, 2012
11:25 am
Dunwoody Granny @ 11:17: The reference was to election losers Romney, Kerry and Dukakis. Obviously, conservatives would like to see the Democrat in 2016 lose. Because I didn’t make any reference to JFK’s assassination, just his electoral victory, it didn’t occur to me anyone would take it that way. Maybe it should have, but it didn’t.
southpaw
November 7th, 2012
11:26 am
Dunwoody Granny @11:17
You don’t suppose Kyle wants an Elizabeth Warren candidacy to go the way of Dukakis, Kerry, and Romney, do you? Note Kyle’s 11:09 observation that they lost elections (maybe like Warren in 2016?), rather than got shot.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
11:26 am
Bachmann going down would have been the cherry on top.
southpaw
November 7th, 2012
11:26 am
Whoops. Kyle made the point before I did.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
11:27 am
Its Hillary in 2016 and 2020
Next shot the Republicans have realistically is 2024 and that’s only if they seriously reform their platform.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
11:31 am
What do you guys think of the polls and Nate Silver now ?
Silver only got 50 out of 50 right this time.
After getting 49 of 50 right in 2008 ( He missed the Obama narrow victory in Indiana )
We heard every excuse in the book for why the polls where wrong.
What say you now ?
iggy
November 7th, 2012
11:31 am
Down 343 and accelerating.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
11:32 am
Down 362 and falling.
Kyle Wingfield
November 7th, 2012
11:33 am
Cheesy @ 11:27: Serious question: Do you think Hillary will run in 2016, at age 69? When she said she isn’t going to? I know people change their minds, and 70 is the new 60, etc., etc. But wouldn’t you guess someone like Cuomo would make a much more compelling candidate?
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
11:35 am
iggy, you’ve nothing to cling to but the drop in the market today?
Sad for you. You realize market is riding at about double what it was at it’s lowest in the recession….
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
11:36 am
Why wouldn’t Hillary run at that age? It’s the age Reagan was when he was elected.
To the greater point, I don’t think anyone on the Right needs to be questioning the Left’s choices in national candidates right now.
Dunwoody Granny
November 7th, 2012
11:36 am
Thanks, I appreciate your clearing that up. Because JFK was the last one you mentioned, I actually read it that way. Didn’t really think you could have meant it that way, but didn’t know what you DID mean.
Kyle Wingfield
November 7th, 2012
11:37 am
SBinF @ 11:35: Honest question: Do you think taking four years to come almost back to pre-recession par (talking about the market) is really that great an accomplishment?
Of course, it’s the same thing with unemployment, wages, etc., so I guess I ought to know your answer.
lefty_316
November 7th, 2012
11:37 am
2016
Chris Christie = yes
Marco Rubio = no way
Hillbilly D
November 7th, 2012
11:41 am
Since the stock market has little to do with the real economy, it doesn’t bother me when it goes up or down. It’s mainly for the institutional gamblers.
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
11:43 am
“Do you think taking four years to come almost back to pre-recession par (talking about the market) is really that great an accomplishment?
Of course, it’s the same thing with unemployment, wages, etc., so I guess I ought to know your answer.”
Considering it was the worst recession in a few generations, yes, I would say that’s pretty good. The problem is no amount of growth would ever be good enough for people of your political persuasion. Every uptick in the economy is greeted by those on the Right with disdain, and a simple, “well yeah, but what else has he done?”
How’s that attitude working for you all this morning?
Kyle Wingfield
November 7th, 2012
11:47 am
For those pooh-poohing the connection between the election results and the stock market: Look at which stocks are down at the moment. Coal companies, oil companies, banks, companies that tend to pay large dividends. Europe’s a factor, but far from the only one. And the losses here are, at the moment, greater than the declines there today.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
11:47 am
SBF…Im just posting the numbers. Make the interpretation that suits you best.
Kyle Wingfield
November 7th, 2012
11:48 am
Hillbilly: It might not reflect the health of the economy, but it reflects the health of a lot of people’s retirement nest eggs.
Alex Jones
November 7th, 2012
11:49 am
Squeaker?
The EC which is what counts was not a squeaker.
Popular vote only counts at the state level. Except for a few states it is winner take all.
I highly doubt if Romney had won with the EC count as it stands that many on the right would be talking squeaker.
Just sour grapes. Nothing more, nothing less
Now What?
November 7th, 2012
11:49 am
I didn’t vote for Obama but the world will not end because he won. Now that we know that ObamaCare is not going away, gays are not going back into the closet, and abortion will not be overturned, can we take on some real issues?
Crushing Debt – Simpson Bowles would be a good start. Another idea, roll back income taxes and raise the gas tax. This would provide for revenue while promoting efficiency and energy independence.
Entitlement Reform – Means test, raise the ages, reinstate the payroll tax. We know its coming. Just do it.
Jobs Jobs Jobs – How about a microloan program for the inner cities? Create some new entrepreneurs.
Education – How about a plan that doesn’t involve hiring a million more teachers to trap into an ineffective system? School choice is supported by a large number or Republicans and Democrats.
Defense – Seriously, more than 10% of the defense budget is pork or wasted. Cut their budgets and let them sort it out.
Iran – They are going to get a bomb. Learn to deal with it. A new policy of ‘Any attack on US soil that can be linked to Iranian fissile material will be treated as a direct attack by the country of Iran’ might have a little deterrent effect.
Israel – Not everything they do is right. At least Obama seems to get that.
China – Obama has this about right. Build up Pacific presence and keep an eye on them as they go through their own growing pains.
Iraq and Afghanistan – Just leave already. In 200 years they might be ready for civilization.
Immigration – Pass the Dream act. Beef up the border. Increase LEGAL immigration. Institute a path to citizenship that includes large application fees / fines for illegal immigrants.
Kyle Wingfield
November 7th, 2012
11:50 am
SBinF: The problem with the growth we have had is that it doesn’t match up to what we’ve experienced after previous recessions. Obviously, enough voters believed Obama deserved more time. But I’ve seen nothing in the past four years that makes me optimistic that growth in GDP, employment, wages, or any other leading indicator is just about to take off. I hope I’m wrong about that.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
11:52 am
SBF…moving from a negative back to zero isnt much of an accomplishment but if it makes you feel secure then thats all that matters.
Hillbilly D
November 7th, 2012
11:52 am
Kyle @ 11:48
No argument with that. The great shift to the 401k hasn’t been a good thing in my opinion. Of course, the 401k wasn’t really intended to be a retirement program, it just morphed into one.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/retirement/world/401k.html
Alex Jones
November 7th, 2012
11:53 am
Kyle
How ironic that some of the same people who have been saying that the Dow was overinflated and or had nothing to do with Obama, now want to blame the reelection of Obama for one day’s drop.
You can’t have it both ways. Well you can, but it is hypocritical at best. The market does react on a macro level to news events, however it also corrects itself on micro level in terms of individual companies. Depending on those corrections on a micro level, it may or may not impact the macro.
Alex Jones
November 7th, 2012
11:54 am
HillBilly D
401ks morphed into one as more and more companies started going away from defined benefit packages as well as individuals putting more money into them.
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
11:54 am
This isn’t like previous recessions. This recession was brought about largely by structural failings in the system. Until we address those issues, you can’t expect anything different unless we address the structural failings. Look at the markets, look at income growth. A small number of people are doing very, very well over the last few decades. It’s painfully obvious, at least in my opinion, that this system where some folks do very well has got to change.
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
11:58 am
You can’t have it both ways. Well you can, but it is hypocritical at best. The market does react on a macro level to news events, however it also corrects itself on micro level in terms of individual companies. Depending on those corrections on a micro level, it may or may not impact the macro.
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Brilliant point you’ve made. Blame Obama for drops in the market, but gains aren’t attributed to him.
Hillbilly D
November 7th, 2012
11:58 am
This isn’t like previous recessions. This recession was brought about largely by structural failings in the system.
That I’d agree with and since all our major institutions (government, financial sector, press, etc) are still corrupt, I don’t look for anything to change.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
12:01 pm
Its Bushs fault.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
12:02 pm
101ST…YES!
Now What?
November 7th, 2012
12:02 pm
Regarding the stock market. yes banking and oil companies are down reflecting that the Dems corporate welfare may not be as generous as the Reps corporate welfare.
The key is not more regulation, it is getting the right structure and letting the market work. Increase the energy tax to promote efficiency, stop trying to pick winners with energy subsidies and tariffs.
Repeal much of Sarbanes Oxley to lower banking burdens but split the banks into deposit / loan and investments so they can’t game the system.
iggy
November 7th, 2012
12:02 pm
“but split the banks into deposit / loan and investments so they can’t game the system”
100% agree.
Hillbilly D
November 7th, 2012
12:07 pm
“but split the banks into deposit / loan and investments so they can’t game the system”
I’d agree with that, too. We had to bail them out because “they were too big to fail”. Here it is 4 years later and basically nothing has changed. They’re still “too big to fail” and if a similar crisis were to come up, we’d be expected to bail them out again. In my opinion, nothing has been learned, at least by those who could do something about it.
Canada came through the great meltdown with a whole lot less pain than we did. They require sound banking practices up there and it paid off.
lefty_316
November 7th, 2012
12:18 pm
Kyle the reason this recession has lingered so long is that there has been no new economic driver come along, which is how the last two recessions were ended. The internet boom, which eventually resulted in a stock market bubble, pulled us out of the recession of the early ’90s. The housing boom, which evenutally resulted in a bubble, pulled us out of the early ‘00 recession. But there hasn’t been a replacement boom/bust cycle come along to create growth.
Which is not to say that Obama policies have helped. Ron Paul (among others) was right on when he said the correct course was government non-intervention in the housing market. Letting market forces dictate prices, supply, and demand would have lead to a much quicker bottom, if in fact a bottom has been reached.
Another issue we must address as a nation that nobody talks about is the fact that 40% of the kids born in this country are born to parents on Medicaid. I don’t know of a solution that doesn’t trample individual rights but…..well call me selfish if you will…….I simply don’t want to pay to raise other people’s children.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
12:25 pm
Brilliant point you’ve made. Blame Obama for drops in the market, but gains aren’t attributed to him.
The same applies to gas prices.
Gas prices go up. Obama’s fault
They go down. Free market working
Hypocrisy…..thy name is Republicanism.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
12:33 pm
So no word on Nate Silver or how accurate the polls were ?
How they weren’t skewed for the Democrats or that there was no media bias in them ?
Figures.
@@
November 7th, 2012
12:58 pm
Nothing surprises me anymore.
If it were a GOP president residing over 7.9% unemployment, he/she would be gone.
What I find most disturbing are the tags applied by left-wing bloggers. Old, white & angry?
It appears they’ve got a problem with our “Greatest Generation”….it’s as if our “Greatest Generation” isn’t/wasn’t good enough to bring this country through. It’s as if they think THEY can do a better job.
Sad, really!
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
November 7th, 2012
1:01 pm
Initial thoughts: Parasites still like their handouts, and thanks to Obozo, there are millions more of them. Their bumper sticker: “I mooch, and I vote”.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
November 7th, 2012
1:04 pm
Excellent points, @@.
The left’s racism is quite disappointing. I thought we had made more progress than that.
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
1:04 pm
Initial thoughts: Parasites still like their handouts, and thanks to Obozo, there are millions more of them. Their bumper sticker: “I mooch, and I vote”.
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Oh yes, continue to denigrate the majority of the country who spoke through the franchise. That’s worked so well for the GOP.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
November 7th, 2012
1:06 pm
Thanks for reminding us that we’ve passed the tipping point and half the country are now moocher parasites.
It’s a real recipe for success.
SBinF
November 7th, 2012
1:09 pm
That’s the spirit. With any luck, that stance will work as well in 2016 as it did in 2012!
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
November 7th, 2012
1:19 pm
Newsflash: Pigs still like slop!
Bye bye Tea Party
November 7th, 2012
1:21 pm
@Kyle at 11:47 AM – all your stock market assessment proves is that the SCIENCE DENIERS (you know – big Oil and Gas) and the WEALTH RE-DISTRIBUTORS (the financial industry – you do know that all the ‘wealth redistribution’ has been flowing directly UP from the middle class to the top of the pile for 35 years, right?) bet wrong and they are being punished for it. The market is very efficient that way. They thought they owned the government and they spent a lot of money to ram their greedy, narrowly focused agenda down everyone’s throat and they lost (competing with the fundy’s and ‘thumpers who were also trying to force their opinions down everyones’ throats, but that’s a different rant). Big finance and big energy tried to buy the government and they lost. Lost. LOST!!
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
November 7th, 2012
1:28 pm
Another issue we must address as a nation that nobody talks about is the fact that 40% of the kids born in this country are born to parents on Medicaid. I don’t know of a solution that doesn’t trample individual rights but…
———–
I do. Stop subsidizing illegitimacy and you’ll get less of it.
Having to pay the bills for the parasites tramples on MY individual rights.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
1:32 pm
Having to pay the bills for the parasites tramples on MY individual rights.
Most of the parasites are your neighbors in the South.
The red states take far more from the Government than they ever send in.
If the freeloading red states would ever get their act together we would be a lot better off.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
November 7th, 2012
1:41 pm
Nice try, Cheesy, but there are more welfare recipients in blue states than in red.
Google it.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
1:53 pm
Not one single comment about Nate Silver and all the polls being right.
Not one.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
November 7th, 2012
1:55 pm
Nice try, Cheesy, but there are more welfare recipients in blue states than in red.
Google it.
Not based on percentages.
The population is a lot higher so of course they have more.
But the fact remains they send in far more money than they get back from the Government in taxes.
The red states take more than they send in.
So in reality the Northern blue states with large economies subsidize the welfare south.
Conservative Perry
November 7th, 2012
2:13 pm
To the comment by Finn McCool about voter suppression:
So the republicans suppressed the democratic voters and the democrats suppressed the republican voters? Is that what you are saying? And I don’t think that I said anything about the democrats cheating. All that I said was that I didn’t think it made sense. Don’t be so easily offended. Now if you ask me if I thought that there was cheating done by the democrats then I would say “yes”. Remember, the president learned from the best, Chicago politicians. When a precinct in Florida does a robo-call to the voters in that precinct telling them that they can vote until Wednesday evening then there is something wrong. I have no idea who is responsible for that (probably just a mistake) but someone was responsible. And some people probably did not vote because of it. It will be interesting when the full details of Benghazi are made known to see who was involved – what they knew – and when they knew it (funny it didn’t happen before November 6th), and the details of fast and furious (how high up in the government did it go), and will the media ever ask the president a difficult question, and even more than that if they do ask him a difficult question will he answer it? Inquiring minds want to know.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
November 7th, 2012
2:57 pm
Obozo may consider introducing a tax on carbon emissions to help cut the U.S. budget deficit after winning a second term
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I guess he didn’t learn much during his first term.
Not going to happen.
bu2
November 7th, 2012
5:53 pm
@SBinF
Neither you or Obama understand the recession. That’s why its taking so long to get out of.
It was a simple real estate bubble, just like we’ve had before and will have again. Nothing structural about that. Real estate got overpriced relative to incomes (or rationality) and collapsed. Construction stopped, throwing people out of jobs. Banks lost money throwing people out of jobs. The stock market followed throwing people out of jobs. Obama got elected and told people things were going to be really terrible destroying any remaining consumer confidence and more people lost jobs. Then Obama drastically increased the deficit on long term “structural” changes that did nothing positive for the current situation. And he did his best to stop foreclosures which further slowed down the recovery. There will be no full recovery until the underwater real estate is put back in circulation.
PROUD NAVY VET
November 9th, 2012
1:46 pm
Kyle, tell the truth. The market dropped due to Germany’s economy slowing and poor earnings report from several companies. That was the reason the DOW dropped. Why can’t you tell the complete truth? You want to paint it as simply the President being reelected. This is the reason getting the country together is going to be hard as heck. The cons refuse to tell the whole truth, you get your followers fired up and they don’t know why. Typical trick of Rush, Rove, Trump, and everybody else who does not tell the truth. It won’t be long before your people wake up and realize those guys are getting rich off of making people mad. Talk radio sucks, both sides. Canada has a law that you can’t knowingly broadcast anything that is a lie or half truth. Wow, FOX can’t broadcast in Canada (surprise). They can only get access through the internet. What does that tell you? Very few people in the U.S. know this, but more are finding out.