Incomplete and Greatness

1. 78

   Mighty Momposted 11 years ago

   I went to search for projections of what the recession would have been like had it been left to run its natural course (e.g., no stimulus, no bailouts, no homeowner protection, etc.).
   I found this article in the Washington Monthly.
   It's long. It's dense. It's definitely worth the read.
   Opening line: "He�s gotten more done in three years than any president in decades. Too bad the American public still thinks he hasn�t accomplished anything."
   
   http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazi … 035754.php

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   1. 62

      American Viewposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      MM
      
      I read this back in early summer. I found it an interesting read thought there was a lot of slants to the article. I only checked some of the claims and found there to be a bit of spin to it, and some of it was not accurate.
      
      Having never heard of them before, a quick check reveals the following
      The Washington Monthly is grateful to the following foundations
      for their generous support:
      
      The Boston Foundation
      Carnegie Corporation of New York
      The Ford Foundation
      William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
      Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
      Lumina Foundation for Education
      Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
      Nellie Mae Education Foundation
      Rockefeller Brothers Fund
      Spencer Foundation
      The William Penn Foundation
      The publisher is Diane Straus Tucker. She as well as her parents, have always been very involved the Democrat party. No I do not believe in the accuracy of the article it still is an interesting read and an interesting perspective.

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2. 57

   Dame Scribeposted 11 years ago

   Wow, a awesome article it is so very true, time is required before the effects of new policies can be felt. It happens in our own tiny FN communities when gov't ministry interferes but yes, objection and obstruction and plain ignoring the problems, would/will not help the long term. It is uncomfortable to toot one's horn I understand that since pride and boasting, isn't exactly seen as positive traits maybe providing updates of the reforms and polices to the peoples may have helped? For our own tiny community, it's mandatory our chief and council provide a community report or at minimum, our chief again, awesome article. I think it would be horrible to lose all the gains that are just starting to show.

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3. 59

   carol3sanposted 11 years ago

   Well...what a fantastic read!  If only HALF of what the claims of accomplishment are true for Predsident Obama in that article, I say we give him another term.  No doubt, the country is certainly on the right track for recovery and continued greatness.

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4. 0

   HowardBThinameposted 11 years ago

   Doing things - if they're not POSITIVE things - rarely count in a sitting president's favor.
   
   Not too many liked, or agreed with, the scope of the stimulus.
   Ditto on the auto bailout - although GWB started that one.
   Bin Laden - that one is in Obama's favor.
   ACA - already drawing a lot of anger - not a positive by any means.
   Violating the War Powers Resolution - certainly not a positive.
   Multiply the national debt.
   
   
   "You didn't build that." What Obama will ultimately be remembered for.

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5. 90

   peoplepower73posted 11 years ago

   MightyMom:  Thank you for posting this.  I read the entire article. Even though it's called an article, it should be called a compendium of his accomplishments.  The list of his accomplishments on the first page should be hyperlinked to each one of details of his accomplishments.
   
   I agree that he has mada a mulitiude of accomplishments during his time in office and that he does not know how to sell them to the public.  I believe the forum for state of the union speeches does not lend itself to presenting bullet points of accomplishemts.  But he could have done it in the DNC.  Most people can only remember 5 to 7 points at anyone time. Ross Perot used hand held charts to make his points, as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. He needs to use Power Point presentations in this day and age. I blame his PR people for not steering him in that direction.
   
   The other problem is the conservative mouth piece that goes 24/7. Their propaganda is designed  discredit everything that he does and brainwash those who are not criticcal thinkers but react very well to bumper sticker slogans. And thanks to Citizens United they are  funded by big moneyed intersts that are in direct opposition to his agenda.

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   1. 61

      Repairguy47posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      How about these accomplishments.
      
      Contributed more debt than the last five presidents in the shortest amount of time!
      Was incapable of satisfying 90% of his campaign promises!
      Forced a health care bill that at least 60% of Americans hate!
      Told us he wouldn't raise taxes on people making less than 250,000 then raised taxes on everyone via health care legislation!
      There is more but too bored pointing out the obvious to those who don't want to see.

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      1. 90

         peoplepower73posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         It's obivious you hate the man and probably think he was born in Kenya.  Where do you get your statisics? How much have your taxes been raised as a result of health care?  How do you know 60% of Americans hate it? He was unable to fulfull his campaign promises because of blockage by the Republicans, but he did make those accomplishments that are listed in the article in spite of them.  Did you even read the article? How many polictians do you know that fulfill there campaign promises after they are elected?  You know what they say about people who are bored?  They are just not paying attention.

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         1. 0

            HowardBThinameposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I don't hate him, PP73, nor do I think he was born in Kenya. But I do not come close to agreeing with his policies and history will not remember him kindly.
            
            You're right that many politicians do not fulfill their promises once elected - but the American people have EVERY right to call them on it. I think Obama is divisive and that he's made poor decisions.
            
            I still think he was born in Hawaii.

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6. 79

   Wayne Brownposted 11 years ago

   You conclusions ignore the point.  We cannot be concerned with the "intent" but must deal with the "outcome".  Not much Obama has touched has had the desired outcome and he only continues to ignore that fact and drive ahead.  This is not ignorance or stubbornness on his part but just a few more steps along the path he fully intends to execute in his "fundamental transformation" of America.  I do not know of very many Americans who want their country transformed at least not any who are willing to trade their freedoms and liberties in exchange for the utopia that is not yet described.  The mistake the liberal mind makes is to assume the status quo will not be affected and that things will only bet sweeter.  Reality does not work in that way just like governments DO NOT create jobs with or without shovels. If you think like Obama and really believe that rebuilding the roads and bridges of this country will create jobs and stimulate the economy, then you have to believe in "trickle-down" economics...it does not work any other way.  Your work here assumes that homeowners would have walked away or lost their homes in mass...not the case.  Those who walked did so either because of job loss or their plan to buy a house out of their price range was undermined. At any rate, an average home valued at $248K at the end of 2008 is worth, on average, approximately $200K today.  Does that affect a lot of people...certainly. Did they walk away from their mortgage because of it....for the most part, NO...because they understood the whole thing is a gamble from the start...just like buying stocks and bonds or taking a roll of the dice.  We have far too many in this country who are willing to quit when things don't go their way and then they stand around wondering what the government is going to do about them being "victimized".  I, for one, am fed up with it and very tired of the man who is perpetuating it on grand scale...OBAMA. ~WB

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   1. 90

      peoplepower73posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Did you even read the article? it sounds to me like you didn't.  Many of the programs that administrations put into place take many years to come to fruition.  You probably think that Reagan caused the fall of the Soviet Uniion.  But he was at the receiving end of very long campaign of many administrations working towards Soviet Containment.  He was just the last in a long line of administrations.  Do you think that Paul Ryan's Medicare reform will take place right after they are elected? It doesn't even start until 2021. So during that whole period of time are you going to say he didn't fulfull his promise? Conservatives want their country back, but the world has changed and we need to change with it.  But conservatives are afraid of change, because that requires effort and adapting to new rules and they don't want to that. It scares them. Trickle down economics never worked and it won't work this time.  Because it is based on supply side economics, which says you build the products and then go find the demand, but the demand is not there because people can't afford the products, So you have to put them to work first and create the demand. The housing market went bust because of deregulation of the Glass-Stegal Act, which in turn caused the financial meltdown.

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      1. 61

         Repairguy47posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         This is what I like about liberals, the truth always comes out even though its unintentional. Its true that presidents policies have a continuing effect long after they leave. The economy in the 90's is a result of Reagan's policies not anything Clinton did. You bring up Glass-Stegal. It was signed into law by Bill Clinton, or did you forget that? The democrats did everything they could to hide the fact that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were collapsiing why would they do that? I will be very happy to see your heroes kicked to the curb in November.

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         1. 90

            peoplepower73posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            l agree with you totally about Clinton repealing the Glass-Stega actl with Gramm Leach Bliley. It was not the right thing to do. Fannie and Freddie were the symptoms not the cause of the financial meltdown.  Gramm Leach Bliliey was the cause. Clinton had a surplus because of the dot com boom brought in additional revenues with capital gains taxes.
            Regan's national debt was 2.6 trillion. Bush 1 was 4.1 T, and Clinton was 5.6 T.
            
            Be careful what you wish for because you might get it. With Paul Ryan's health care plan, you get $2,300. if you are single or $5,700. with a family per year.  If you have more costs, it will come out of your pocket.  I hope you have deep pockets! I hope you enjoy getting your country back.
            
            I just finished a hub on the national debt.  If you care to read it. Here it is.   http://peoplepower73.hubpages.com/hub/W … he-Deficit

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7. 57

   Dame Scribeposted 11 years ago

   Can you imagine how the scales would change if government leaders contributed one day of pay once a month or quarterly? now, that would be a memorable feat but most likely, never happen they (gov't) feel quite 'entitled' to their monies.

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8. 78

   Mighty Momposted 11 years ago

   Those who walked away did so for a variety of reasons. Job loss, which as we know, has been a widespread problem, exacerbated the problem.
   Compounding it, you had people who bought houses they thought were in their price range because they were told they qualified for loans that probably should have sounded too good to be true, but hey, if they think I can repay this mortgage and are willing to give it to me, who am I to argue? They're the experts.
   Then, you have people buying at the top of an absurdly inflated market.
   When the bottom gets kicked out of the whole house of cards.
   Stock market crashes.
   Jobs disappear.
   Home values plummet (not sure where you're getting that $248 to $200 figure -- maybe in Texas, certainly not where I live).
   So you have a range of people with home loans that are either resetting because they're variable, or they can't refinance (suddenly the money that was falling from the sky is scarcer than hen's teetch, like locking the barn door after the horse has escaped), they have no income (another reason they can't refi).
   
   I disagree that people buy houses assuming they are high risk investments like the stock market. That has turned out to be the case post 2008, however.
   
   So basically you're saying if you got foreclosed on it's all your fault.
   Well, I know a lot of people from a lot of circumstances who either lost their house or got to refi under Obama's HARP plan.
   Which is yet another lifesaving program no one seems to want to talk about!

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