To those who voted for President Obama, seeing the current state of
the United States, are YOU happy with or regret the choice that you have made? Why? Why not?You really must learn some degree of objectivity as your vitriol to collapse all of The Obama Boogeymans domains is quite clearly a subjective rant of exasperation to gain some validation.
Let the attacks begin.
Ironic LOL! "The end of America" started with Reagan the snake-oil barker for the reactionary right!
Nice to see you again, Innersmiff.
Did you say, “Impossible challenge?”
It is not an impossible challenge for the well informed. Folks opposed to the current administration need to realize that their negative views about the President are not shared by all, and to a much larger measure, not even by most.
The CBS News exit poll following the President’s re-election in 2012 revealed…
- “Sixty percent of voters who cast ballots on Election Day or earlier said the economy was the most important issue in their vote.” {1}
- Eighty-eight percent of Obama voters saw the economy was getting better.
- 27% of all voters said their family finances were better on Election Day than four years earlier.
- 42% of voters said Mr. Obama's response to Superstorm Sandy was a factor in their vote.
- 74% of Obama voters said the U.S. economic system favors the wealthy.
- 44% of all voters wanted to expand the Affordable Care Act or keep it as is.
- Only 9% polled thought that President Obama favors the rich.
The Pew Research Center adds even more knowledge…
- Since 1980, more than 56% of the Hispanic vote had been cast for the Democratic candidate. In 2012, the advantage was 71%, four points higher than in 2008, and almost matching President Clinton’s 72% in 1996.
- Among all voters, 65-percent said illegal immigrants should be offered a chance to apply for legal status.
- About 60-percent of all young voters supported President Obama. {2}
Some reasons, Innersmiff and Mr. Fiorito, why American voters favor Barack Obama without referring to Mitt Romney, Republicans or the Tea Party. In the final analysis, Obama bashers feel better when they ignore that governments are neither all good nor all bad but, rather, they are always some of both. To demand perfection is ludicrous. To only see the bad and to ignore the good is to choose to live half blind and in partial darkness.
{1} http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-575 … top-issue/
{2} http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/11/07/l … -election/Hello, Innersmiff. When you do not get the results you hoped for, change the rules!
The original “Impossible challenge”:
”Write an argument in favour of Barack Obama without referring to Mitt Romney, Republicans or the Tea Party”
I did that by showing you why American voters preferred Barrack Obama in 2012 but you choose to reject the public’s opinion as “not compelling” enough for you. How convenient!
So now you revised the challenge. “The left has found it extremely difficult to support the claims that "the economy is getting better…Can you actually present a compelling argument, with evidence? That's what I'm asking for.”
Here are “compelling arguments, with evidence,” without arguing “around how the Republicans would be worse,” that “the economy is getting better"…
… Dow and S&P 500 achieve new historical peaks on Aug. 1, 2013. The Dow rose from 6627 in Mar. 2009 to 15247 in Aug 2013. {1}
… US Unemployment rate has declined steadily from 10.0% in Oct 2009, from 9.0 % in Feb. 2011, from 8.1 % Apr. 2012, to 7.4% in Jul. 2013! July’s 7.4% is the lowest since Jan. 2009! {2}
… US Total YTD Domestic Car Sales (excluding imports) increased 10.1% over the same 7 months in 2012. {3}
GM, Ford, Chrysler Group, and Toyota, the nation's four largest automakers, had their best July since before the 2007 recession.
… New Privately Owned Housing Units Started in the United States during the first quarter of 2013 was greater than the same quarters in 2010, 2011, 2012 by 19% or more. {4}
… New Home Sales surged 8.3 percent in June 2013, the highest in five years, bringing the year to date percentage change to 28.4 % over 2012! {5}
… Retail Trade and Food Services: U.S. Total - Seasonally Adjusted - Sales reported in May 2013 exceeded every month going back to Jan. 2009! {6}
{1} http://www.djaverages.com/
{2} http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000
{3} http://wap.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_30 … autosalesE
{4} http://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/ … etions.pdf
{5} http://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/ … ssales.pdf
{6} http://www.census.gov/econ/currentdata/ … t=GET+DATA
Howdy Mr. Brown. So nice to hear from you once again.
I am not in a sad state of mind, Mr. Brown. Your unsupported criticisms in the face of documented facts speak to your state of mind and not mine.
What you call “twisted” statistics are merely uncomfortable facts that can not be ignored. When uncomfortable facts are ignored, misperceptions become a distorted reality. If the data I furnished is wrong, correcting the errors is more constructive then denying the truth.
I have noticed how “trainwreck” has become the favorite term of most critics without facts. Most Americans realize the “trainwreck” was the Great Recession of 2007-2008 and the country has recovered in most sectors under the guidance of the present administration. Those who refuse to acknowledge this recovery have only themselves to blame for their negativity.
I do not view the Obama administration with rose colored glasses. All is not perfect and many things could use some improvement. Still, I can see enough to know that it is not as bad as its worst critics claim that it is.
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday August 9 shows 48% of likely U.S. Voters approve of President Obama's job performance. {1} This fact must put a burr under the saddles of most Obama critics. If nothing else, it should cause some to question their perception of reality.
In addition, with all of the energy some spend bashing the current administration, these same folks seem to ignore a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that found 83 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing in Washington, an all-time high in the poll. Just 12 percent approve of Congress' job, while 57 percent said they would replace every member of Congress if they could. {2}
It appears that President Obama’s approval rating is significantly better than the GOP majority in the House of Representatives! I think about these facts every time I hear someone blame President Obama for all of the ills in this country.
Thank you, Mr. Brown, for sharing your opinions with us.
{1} http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ … cking_poll
{2} http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/2 … 42480.html
Howdy Retief. I hope you are enjoying your summer. Any vacation plans? I will be staying close to ye ole homestead this year.
I thought I might just jump in here to clarify a few of the omissions in your post above. Clearly, your posts are not in favor of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). To be honest, I really have no desire to change people’s opinions about the act but I care very much about the facts and the truth.
The healthcare delivery system in this country has not been destroyed and there is no reason to proclaim that it has. Some hospitals are reporting rising revenues due to a decline in self-paying admissions especially in blue states that opted to expand Medicaid.{1}
The negativity directed at the ACA often ignores all of the positive data coming from researchers, the insurance industry and the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office. They are, after all, in the best position to actually know how the ACA is really performing. Sadly, most complainers (not all) do not give any indication that they reference any of these resources.
For example, take this statement:
“there are millions of people who had insurance who no longer have it.”
Well, data gathered by the Rand Corp indicates this claim is not even true.
The Rand Corp. researched the overall net improvement in the number of uninsured persons after the close of the initial enrollment period on March 28, 2014. Regarding the “millions” that “had insurance who no longer have it,” the study found the number was actually less than one million and truly very small.
“Less than 1 million people who previously had individual-market insurance became uninsured during the period in question. While the survey cannot tell if this latter group lost their insurance due to cancellation or because they simply felt the cost was too high, the overall number is very small." {2}
Perhaps you know of another study that had other results.
As for the bigger picture, this study also documented the success of the ACA up to that point: “overall, the authors estimate that 9.3 million more people have health care coverage in March 2014, lowering the uninsured rate [nationwide] from 20.5 percent to 15.8 percent.” {3}
The negative statements continue but they are rarely accompanied by facts to support them. We have all heard the anecdotes about cancelled policies but as Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” Please tell us where you found data that says “millions who were able to get medical care through a provider who can no longer treat them.” Do tell us, please, how many “millions” were actually counted.
The final claim is the most difficult to logically justify.
“When a reform results in more problems not fewer, how it was all worth it eludes the thinking person.”
With all due respect, Retief, I must admit that the “thinking person” reference smacks of pure elitism. Surely, you can not believe that every “thinking person” who has considered the pros and cons of the ACA must agree with you. Who, exactly, determined that the ACA results in more problems and not fewer?
While I surely see problems, I see fewer problems then before, not more. Further, the fewer problems that I see have been tallied by the Rand Corporation. I see 9.3 million and ultimately 38 million fewer Americans starting in 2014 who are unable to have a primary care physician because they are uninsured. I see 9.3 million and ultimately 38 million fewer Americans starting in 2014 who will not receive regular wellness visits, tests, and screenings because they are uninsured. I see more than 5700 hospitals in the US {4} receiving benefit payments from insurers instead of having to write-off uncollectable bills from uninsured patients. Those who see more problems than before the ACA may just not be considering all of the problems that existed before. Just maybe.
Finally, your ultimate uncertainty is “how it was all worth it eludes the thinking person.” I submit for your consideration one answer from the bipartisan CBO net revenue statement for the ACA covering the decade 2015 - 2024: “The current projection is for a reduction in the [federal] deficit of $152 billion.”{5}
Always a pleasure to exchange facts with you, Retief. Stay well and never have to use your healthcare insurance.
{1} www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2014 … l?page=all
{2} http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR656.html
{3} Ibid
{4} http://www.aha.org/research/rc/stat-stu … acts.shtml
{5} http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/ … Column.pdf p.22yvw
Thank you for the link.
The Republican junkyard-dogs always hear their master's whistle . . .
http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/27/ronald … -speeches/
Rick Perry: "Let's get America White again!"
Gee, GA, did my Karma run over your Dogma again?
GA, as much as you seem convinced that "The Truth" is whatever you happen to be thinking at the moment, I'm still not quite sure why you've made it your mission to insult my postings—unless, of course, they get under your skin because they subvert your own propaganda and self-important opinions—to which you are of course entitled.
So thank you for your criticism and I will try not to be so "cute" in the future.
Thank you for your snark, and for your smug challenge, GA, but I have no interest in wasting my time mincing words with yet another self-satisfied ideologue who likes to boast about how well informed he is. However, if you'd care to learn Photoshop and challenge me with your own original attempts at political cartooning, I'd certainly welcome the encounter.
It might even help with the obvious problem of verbosity in your writing.
Thanks for the recognition of skill, GA, but satire is satire and if you appreciated my "thinking," I wouldn't be doing my job.
The fact that you, as you claim, "challenge" my views (or "thinking" as you put it) speaks to the cartoons' efficacy to subvert your own (which you obviously feel are sacrosanct), and it seems, get under your skin, somehow. I don't expect you to admit to this, of course.
Nevertheless, and unlike you, I don't criticize you for holding or expressing your own views and opinions—as I mentioned above, it's your right and I respect that. You don't accord me the same deference.
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