Is America better off or worse off in the FIVE YEARS under the

1. 83

   gmwilliamsposted 10 years ago

   
   Obama administration?  Why?  Why not?

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      Kathryn L Hillposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Great picture.
      A. Time will tell.
      Thats the truly glorious thing!

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      rhamsonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I guess it depends what you measure it by. Could we have gone into a great depression as in the 30's is a good start. We seem to be adjusting to the inflation (unreported) and just paying more for our groceries, gas and the like. How many people are unemployed either by whatever they lack be it training, skills or just giving up? Could McCain or Romney have done a better job? We will never know. We are out of one war and the other is trying to end and it will keep going until Karzai figures out how to extract the last amount of money for his stash so we will have to wait and see. We are settling into the new normal as the haves and have-not's count their blessings in their prospective roles. The whole thing is a mess but what else is new?

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2. 61

   Zelkiiroposted 10 years ago

   In all technicality, we are better off than we were in 2008...

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      wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I would agree with that.  Whether or not that can be attributed to Obama, or his administration/congress, is debatable.
      
      He spent trillions we did not have, buying our way out of trouble - was it necessary or helpful in ending the recession?  If it was, were there better methods?  I can't answer either one.

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         Zelkiiroposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I'd say the answer to both questions is 'yes.' Yes, the various stimulus packages and bailouts did help to keep us afloat and kept the recession from being as horrifying as it could have been, and yes, there most certainly could have been better ways to go about it; one example would be gutting the currently outrageous military spending and using that money to instead work on fixing our ailing infrastructure, which would require a lot of workers, which means more jobs, which would lead to more money to go into the pockets of workers and, inevitably, back into the economy, which is always a good thing to help stave off a recession.

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            wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Umm.  You're forgetting that gutting military spending will put thousands/millions out of work.  Either the soldiers that will have to find new jobs or the workers that were building the new planes, ships and guns.
            
            However you look at it, cutting the military is taking money away from someone, somewhere.  Money which, just as you say, was needed to help stave off a worse recession.  The net affect of cutting military spending is likely to be zero as far as helping the recession.
            
            Now the infrastructure I would agree with 100%.  The country is falling down all around us and desperately needs an influx of money that just isn't forthcoming.

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   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   It depends on who you think are the "important" people in the US.  Some are better of, some worse, many like myself basically the same.

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      rhamsonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      My lot turned worse as my business has struggled to stay afloat in this economy. Do I blame Obama? How can you pick one reason for the downturn when left with so many problems with congress and their lack of addressing the issues? I am pleased that you have weathered the downturn well and I hope your good fortune continues.

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   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   Yes I was thinking specifically about regime-related things.  Like if you are gay in the military or wanting to marry, there have been wins that would probably not have occurred under a Republican president.

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      rhamsonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      True, very true.

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   maxoxam41posted 10 years ago

   Better? In what way?

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6. 66

   maxoxam41posted 10 years ago

   How can you ever propose "better off"as a possible alternative? We are moving our military bases everywhere possible in the world. Our government still borrows from the FED enslaving us. All the industrial complexes (not only the military one) are thriving...etc.
   Now at least, we know that both parties work for the same ideology capitalism. The new idea that came from the mouths of our leaders is the new world order conglobing the world in feudalism. The West plunged in a pseudo-democracy and the East in Radical Islam. It means one way of thinking, a controlled one. Why does the US prefer Radical Muslim at the heads of Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria... If not to control people. Afghanistan was the perfect example. Unique thought. Unique currency. Europe wants to get out of the Euro but we are still pushing the agenda, WHY?
   
   Since we DON'T decide anymore (if we ever did), why to vote? What will happen to our polyarchy if the number of abstention in an election is superior to the scores made by the main candidates? Will the people win?

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      rhamsonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The lack of caring for the governing of this country is just beginning t rear its' ugly head. People who refuse to examine and question those who make huge decisions are going to reap the rewards of their ignorance. Trading away the jobs and beating the war drum has been a quick way to increase manys wealth. In the process we are blinded by the short term economics and military dominance and find out what we have lost when its too late. The sheeple only busy themselves with the business of their microcosmic world while the wolfs of society take a bigger bite out of those that sleep in their own ignorance.

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   Ewentposted 10 years ago

   The definition of "better" is relative to most individual Americans' points of view. If you ask the men and women who board buses every day for Wall Street if things are better off today than in September 2008 when they were terrorized by the Financial Meltdown, they'd say "100% better off."
   
   Conversely, if you ask the 6 million who have been unemployed since the first 10,000 employees lost jobs in a single day in 2008 to the bankrupt Shearson Lehman, they'd tell you it's worse.
   
   Personally, I never judge better or worse as a total picture. There are too many devils in the details. I choose to go "placidly amid the crowds" in my own little endeavors seeking accomplishment and contentment.
   
   What I do see around me are too many Glum Goth Americans unable to stiffen their spines to the realities that if they want to achieve, they have to work at it as hard as they can. All human beings are survivors because the alternative, death, is not a "better" solution.
   
   The other reality today I find disconcerting is the acceptance of pseudo power in all the wrong decision making hands. If you live and breathe, you make your own decisions contrary to the commands of the great autocratic wall of obstructionism. The only obstacles in our way are also accompanied by stalwart, resolute options. If you know your options at all times, you know no one but you can move forward, onward and upward. Just my opinion.

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