February 11, 2009
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I HOPE HE FAILS
As many of you know, I’m not a big fan of the Bamster. In fact, I think his policies suck and have stated as much publicly and will continue to do so. I haven’t been as aggressive about this on my blog as I have wanted to be–keeping up with the Left takes too much energy sometimes.
Last month, Rush Limbaugh was asked to contribute 400 words on his “hope for the Obama presidency” to which Rush responded, I don’t need 400 words, I need 4: I hope he fails. Ever since that event, I’ve been calling for I HOPE HE FAILS buttons, much like suspoo’s button:
Now, for those of you who didn’t hear about the town hall meeting yesterday in Florida, I’ll hit the highlights for you.
First, there was Henrietta Hughs who had this plea to Lord Barack Obama:
I have an urgent need, unemployment and homelessness, a very small vehicle for my family and I to live in. The housing authority has two years’ waiting lists, and we need something more than the vehicle and the parks to go to. We need our own kitchen and our own bathroom. Please help.
To which Obama responded:
Well…I…listen, I…uh, what’s your name? Ok Miss Hughes, well, we’re gonna do everything we can to help you, but there are a lot of people like you. And wer’re gonna, we’re gonna do everything we can…but, I–I’ll, uh. have my staff talk to you after the uh Town Hall.
So Obama promised her a hand out, not a hand up. Henrietta Hughes is a winner of life’s lottery because she was chosen to ask The Messiah for what she wanted…and he came though…despite the fact that Lord Barack Obama, The Most Merciful was there to flog Nancy Pelosi’s bill.
Then we had a guy ask for full salary on his unemployment check so he’d never have to work again. Lord Obama said he was going to raise unemployment benefits by $100 “wich doesn’t sound like a lot, but that means an extra bill that you can pay.” This unnamed diciple went away sorrowful that Obama wasn’t going to pay him to sit on his ass henceforth at full salary.
Then the pièce de résistance: Julio Osegueda rambles on and on about how he’s worked at McDonald’s for four and a half years and how he wants better benefits.
Lord Obama:
The fact that you are working as hard as you’re working at a job that doesn’t always pay as well as…some other jobs, I think that’s a source of pride for you…we’re going to offset your payroll tax.
BUT JULIO GOT NOT MONEY! He has, however, been given a one-time shot at being a color announcer for the Fort Myers Miracle some 59 days from now when everyone has forgotten all about him.
[For an in-depth analysis of the Q&A at the Fort Myers Town Hall Meeting, check out these links. Also, you can keep up with whatever undisclosed handout Henrietta Hughes' receives compliments of your tax dollars here.]
But Obama’s no answers and burning through taxpayer money isn’t the biggest problem, it’s what he and Congress are trying to sneak into the
stimulusporkulus bill: National Health Care.
No, I’m not talking about the government just spending your money and you getting shitty care, we’re talking about a national electronic database of health records that are used to asses how much treatment for your ailment will cost, divided amongst the life expectancy post-treatment. If you’re above the cost threshold, you don’t get treatment.
This bears repeating: This National Electronic Health Record Database isn’t a separate piece of legislation, it is in the
stimulusporkulus bill.Chuch Schumer thinks that you won’t care:
But I think that you do. I don’t for a moment think that any of my readers seriously think that Lord Barack Obama is going to give them a new house or a new car or a job. I don’t think you’re going to call the White House and ask for a handout.
And I think that you didn’t need this little post to tell you what you already knew. But I do think that you want to vent your frustration and amazement at how lawmakers on the Hill are ignoring your phone calls and emails and letters. I think you want change that you can believe in.
I’m not one to sit around hoping that Lord Barack Obama The Most Merciful gives me a better job or a larger check or some other kind of government handout where I’m going to have to keep voting my meal ticket back into office. I get up off my ass and go to work every day to earn my keep.
And I take initiative and this issue is no exception. I said I wanted my buttons, so I commissioned them. Here’s the prototype:
Now, if you want to have the government decide what kind of healthcare you can and can’t receive, please ignore this post. If you are marching to Washington to get a better job from the President, this isn’t for you. But if you’re already sick and tired of being hoodwinked and treated like you’re too stupid to take care of yourself, then please download this button and put it on your blog. Email it to everyone you know so that it will make a difference. Let those of us who pay the bills in this country have our voice heard.
If you’re against the
stimulusporkulus bill, spread the word.I HOPE HE FAILS.
Note: I’m currently in negotiations to having this be not just some .png graphic, but turned into actual buttons that you can buy from Cafe Press. Stay tuned.
Comments (88)
I’ll link this in my blog as well.
@lizheartshakespeare – Please do.
Naturally, when I have an important post, Xanga’s comments fuck up. I really hate Xanga right now.
Thanks for the rec.
If I could rec a hundred times, I would. I used to watch myself… being careful not to say “I hope he fails”. It’s his policies and socialist ideas I want to fail. But then I realized when you’re the President, you ARE the ideas you are pushing on The People. I hope he fails, because I’m scared for my kids and grandkids if he doesn’t. I’m glad you brought up the Henrietta thing. I am furious over that whole thing. We are teaching this country that whatever you need, your taxpayers will provide.
Hand up, not hand out.
So worth the wait, by the way. I’m anxiously awaiting the button – get that thing made!
@ProfessorTom - yea, comments are being weird. And your welcome
@DirtyAndShaken – Manufacturing takes time and there’s some stuff that Legal has to clear. For the meantime, put this on your blog.
Can we run this charletan out of town on a rail? YES WE CAN!
Hope. Change.
Obama. Obama. Obama. Obama.
i have no idea what he said in that press conference that was so choreographed that even the kremlin couldn’t have choreographed it better. his answers were so long that to answer a question about spend my money bill took 8 minutes. i was listening to reagan when he was signing the 1981 bill. his answers were succinct direct and understandable. even a grammar student could understand what he said. to understand what obama says you need to have a phd in philosophy obama is wrong for this country. i heard that the call to the congressmen are 9 to 1 against the bill. this is exactly like the bush’s bailout bill. it shows how our representatives are deaf to our voice. maybe we should learn sign language. i’m glad that the republicans finally have a backbone. now that they don’t have to defend bush they can do what they do best. they can oppose the liberals.
@supsoo – I’ll start with the buttons. Then I’ll move on to sign language.
@lizheartshakespeare – It was my screwup. Fixed.
*sigh*
He is a socialist…and I sincerely pray that his agenda completely and utterly fails. And I HOPE that GOD will have mercy on the rest of us and spare this nation despite Obama and his Administration.
@firetyger – Do your part. Put the I HOPE HE FAILS button on your blog today!
I do NOT consent to my health care records going into a national database!!! Is there a way I can opt out?
@NightCometh – Nope. This will “affect ALL Americans.”
I don’t share your view of politics. I support Obama, but I didn’t come here to hate. Basically what I’m going to say issss…
Whether or not you like him isn’t what’s important. Your respect the office. Hoping he fails seems (to me, in my own personal opinion) the most un patriotic statement I’ve heard in a while. He fails, WE FAIL as a country. You don’t have to like him, but by damn you better sit back and PRAY TO GOD he is right or gets lucky.
Or we’re in for four years of crap, America will fall apart.
Same as it would if McCain made crap decisions and failed.
@alwaysjessielove – You missunderstand. If Obama fails to pass his socialistic agenda, the country wins. I’m all about this country succeding and being the best it can be. So far, America has proven that people like Obama only hurt her, so I say again, I HOPE HE FAILS.
@alwaysjessielove - Yeah, because everyone respected the office when Bush was President…
I think you misunderstand PT and others like myself as I stated in my previous comment to this blog. I really, really wanted him to surprise me and had hoped for the best when Obama took office. I would never want a President to fail for the sake of failing and ultimately bring this country down. But when he and his administration are pushing for purely socialist ideas and bulldozing the American people to do it? Yes, I want ultimate failure. Because the success of his policies and plans does mean ultimate failure for this country. You can agree or disagree, but the point is none of us are wishing to see him fail just for amusement.
He’s not even trying to be slick or hide his agenda. That’s almost insulting.
@DirtyAndShaken - @alwaysjessielove – Yeah, let me go back and clarify what I’m saying here.
I personally don’t care about Obama’s legacy. Good President, bad President whatever. It’s irrelevant to me. What I care about is the country and so far his plans and policies have been the anithesis of what makes this country great and what makes this country work. I want the stumbling block of my Country removed.
Obama’s the junior Senator from Illinois. Very little is known about him except his extreemly liberal, has always had money and looks down on everyone as inferiors. This isn’t a personality that I think is the receipe for either success or being Presidential.
So again, I feel compelled to say, I HOPE HE FAILS. And by saying that, it’s the most patriotic thing that I can do short of marching on Washington and forcefully removing him from office.
I hate everything about the stimulus bill, and my health care records are going to screw me over – I’m sure they couldn’t care less about treating chronic, incurable, and non-life-threatening illnesses. The gov’ts done little but make me angry the past few days. My only issue…as much as I would like to see Barack fail – because I don’t support his policies – I do not want to see America fail. If we can make one happen and not the other, yay!
I believe his policies ARE going to assist in the United States in failing …. because this country will just become another socialist state with a false sense of republic. So I guess we’re doomed either way. He fails, we fail, because we need effective leadership- his policies succeed, we fail, because we’re socialist. Ugh.
@ProfessorTom - Amen to that. You are right in that a personality doesn’t make or break a President’s success. It was successful in getting him into office, but it won’t be successful in steering this country in the right direction. A teleprompter isn’t even saving his ass these days.
@DirtyAndShaken – And they used to scorn Bush for this.
I’m somewhat alarmed at the allotment being laid out for smart grid technology too.
@my0nlyh0p3 - I think that if he doesn’t fail, America surely will. We will pull out of it if he fails, but we’re certainly doomed if he succeeds.
@my0nlyh0p3 – What everyone is missing here is the fact that America was built on individuals standing up and fighting for what they believe in. If you look at the War for Independence, you will see that everyone understood the gravity of the situation. They realized that when they signed the Declareration of Independence they were were signing their deat warrant. Some of the very people who funded the Revolution died in debtor’s prision because they couldn’t pay their debt at the end of the War and yet, you don’t read about them complaining.
It is this spirit that will be triumphiant in defeating Obama’s socialisitc agenda.
You’re mad? That’s a good thing. I hope that Obama and Pelosi and Harry Reid and Chuch Schumer et. al enrage you every day until you can’t stand it anymore and you take a stand for what you believe in. Now is not the time to be afraid. Now is the time to fight for what you believe in.
@CrunchyMountainMomma – Please, take a button.
I could not agree with you more!
@Vivi_Kitty – It’s good to see you back on Xanga.
Perhaps, Barack Hussein Obama will wildly succeed– Just like George Washington Bush.
@huginn – You mean Walker, right?
@ProfessorTom - I was talking about Barack, not Bill.
@huginn – But you said George Washington Bush. It’s George Walker Bush.
@ProfessorTom - Oops. You’re right.
No, not national heath care! NOOOOOOOOO!
The National Health Care plan is a joke and it’s wrong. People think it will help them but it will only hurt them. I really hope that doesn’t go through, but if it does everyone will see the grave mistake they have made. So many people won’t get helped. So many will be hurting and sick. It’s not a good thing.
you get the cafepress store up…I’ll help promote your store….
for him to fail would mean many of my standards for what’s best in life will prevail. there are def. some things I’d like to see fail.
@heidenkind – It’s in the bill, baby!
@ALovingAdversary – So long as those that voted for him don’t get healthcare and those who didn’t did, we’ll be ok.
@edlives – You’ve got it!
@ilovemy2babyboys – Amen. At the rate he’s going, Hussy is going to get ridden out of town on a rail within six months. Twenty days in office and you’ve already lost 20% approval ratings? Bring it on!
The people who get to ask a ? to the president are hand picked before the meeting by Obama staff. It happens this way for every president lest someone think I’m hammering Obama alone. Did anyone notice how the people who are picked are obviously NOT those with lets say, a political science degree? An economics major? Any citizen who can throw a ? that will spark a discussion that sounds like they have some intellect and first rate concern for this nation–one that has a dissenting voice?
@ShamelesslyRed – Dissention against The Messiah is not allowed. You speak treason!
I hope their policies fail, too. If this so called, “Stimulus Package” goes through, is there any way of ever taking it back? The trouble is that there seems to be no separation of powers. Might the Supreme Court slap it down? I wonder!
Dems are done in 2010! Obama is gone in 2012! The question is how much havoc will they wreak in the meantime?
@romic – I know that Obama wanted to inspire hope, but I don’t think he wanted people hoping that his Presidency would be over within the first month. I also know that he didn’t want you hoping that his policies be rescinded, but hey, that’s life.
Furthermore, I’m assumming that you question about rolling back his polices is rhetorical. The only way to roll them back will be to take over both houses of Congress with some Conservative leadership on the Hill and putting Conservative judges on the bench. As for the Supreme Court strinking this festering turd down, I wouldn’t count on it.
Now then, I’ve done my duty of informing you of what’s at stake, it’s your job to go to the voting booth and get that joker outta there. In the mean time, take a button and spread the word.
All it will take is for the people to do what their constitution allows them to do — To take back the office of President, and fire congress members when they do not uphold the oath of the office. Or when someone forces Obama to stop spending millions of dollars on a legal team to avoid showing his actual birth certificate. Why would someone spend millions of dollars to avoid producing a 12.50 legal document. After 9 plus law suits against him for this reason in more than 8 states, you think it wouldn’t be so much trouble huh?
@ShamelesslyRed – While I agree with you whole-heartedly, I think it calls for a more drastic Constitutional measure: secession. Despite my best efforts here, I do not think that people will be ready to remove the Democrat’s stronghold on Congress in two years nor oust Obama in four. I still like the option of removal from office by force.
Take a button and spread the word.
http://ehowton.livejournal.com/249957.html
I had to stop by again. I can take one of your button pics? COOL!
My husband and I have been discussing the War for Independence quite intently with our children ever since the election. He may be King Obama now, but we firmly believe there WILL be a revolution. I think he fears that. A tyranny fears an armed populace, and he’s trying to remove our guns, our ability to fight. And they are trying to silence the people who feed us pertinent information.
They FEAR us. Good. They need to KEEP fearing us. People are starting to wake up.
@CrunchyMountainMomma – It’s amazing how many people don’t understand the purpose of the Second Ammendment. It isn’t about defending yourself against some thug mugger on the street as much as it is defending yourself against a tyrannical government.
And yes, you can have both of the buttons. Thanks for helping spread the word.
@ehowton – I can’t believe you ran with that for a post. I like it!
@ProfessorTom - I full of all sorts of surprises.
I would have to say my favorite part of all this hype is the creepy chanting songs that everyone is coming up with.. really???
Why would you hope he fails? It benefits you if he doesn’t.
@Fool0nThePlanet – You mean like like this?
Obama. Obama. Obama. Obama.
@suggestivetongue – Because I don’t need a government handout. I am an able-bodied worker and I’m going to work for my keep by God. I don’t need Obama and I don’t want him to ruin the country. I HOPE HE FAILS to implement his socialistic agenda.
@Fool0nThePlanet – btw, I love your avatar!
My response is going to be as measured as I can make it.
Firstly, the proposed health care changes have no place in this bill to begin with. That’s the first major concern, although that’s what a senator put in, without Obama’s input. Tacit approval, maybe, but it’s not what Obama has called for… yet.
Second, yes, the proposal does sound like a bad idea, but look to the UK to see how it would work in practice: although some decisions where made that were unpopular, they CAN be repealed. Although, I think as an idea it should be shot down and left to the medical professionals who have been trained and (in theory) should know best.
Right now, I think Obama is prepared to do whatever it takes in order to get the economy kick-started again. THAT is something that should be addressed.
As far as Obama himself goes, a lot of his ideas are still sound: hope, change and accountability can STILL happen. He needs to be given time, and support and the occasional big kick up the rear-end when he stuffs up. It is refreshing to see that governmental practices are going to be opened up and presented to the people openly so that we can come to our own decisions – as long as this will really happen and is not just an opportunity once or twice as a photo shoot and a pretense of openess.
A general “hope he fails” sentiment is the wrong track to take: yes, this current stimulus bill is not the best of ideas – people should definitely work for what they get, not just be given a handout – but he WILL be in office for the next four years and it is up to the people – remember government is BY the people FOR the people – the ideas need to come from us. We just need to make sure that we can be heard as loudly, clearly and succicently as we can. Politicans aren’t stupid – they wouldn’t get to the place they are now if they were – but they can be slow. We just need to kick-start that process and make them realize what the people want as soon as possible.
That goes further than just decrying one bill out of many because it’s not what we want. It goes as far as suggesting alternatives to be considered.
It’s time for the American people to dig their collective heads out of the sand, and come up with concrete ideas and plans to get out of the mess we are currently in.
After all, this is the land of freedom and innovation, is it not? Time to get back to your roots, America. Help you help each other. Support your President when you can, and let him know when he’s exploring the wrong path.
@cmdr_keen – Support your President when you can, and let him know when he’s exploring the wrong path.
I have done just that. He was on the wrong path long before he was elected President. And let’s not confuse the issue here: this isn’t about one bill. It’s the fact that the American people are being force-fed this tripe that “We need the stimulus bill. America can’t survive without the stimulus bill.”
IT ISN’T A STIMULUS BILL. It’s a government expansion bill. It’s a screw-the-taxpayers bill. It’s nation healthcare disquised as a stimulus bill. It’s everything that Liberals have ever wanted wrapped up into one bill that once signed into law murders the America that I was born and raised in. The only thing it isn’t is a stiumlus bill.
All this talk about bi-partisan politics is horse manure. This isn’t just about core beliefs like tax cuts (which are crucial to growing the economy and it’s NEVER wrong to fight for a core belief). This is about giving Liberals a blank check to screw the country over in one piece of legislation. I don’t support that.
I HOPE HE FAILS.
A key strand to your thoughts is, “give a hand UP, not a hand OUT“. I wholeheartedly concur with this sentiment. You can compare it to two men, one of whom is hungry. While the man who is not hungry can give the hungry man a fish that will feed him for that day, it will not be as effective as TEACHING that man to fish, so he can feed himself for the rest of his life. It’s the same principle.
Now, with regards to this bill: Do you see any benefit in any part of it? One of it’s central aims is to create jobs: that is good, is it not? THAT is giving “hand-ups”, not “hand-outs”. Again, with the tax cuts: it puts the incentive back on the American people to help each other by investing in their economy. That is good, is it not? Providing the means to improve the (aging) infrastructure of this great country: that is good, is it not? That provides jobs, and allows the USA to show the way in state-of-the-art infrastructure to lead the world.
Yes, there is dangerous section to this bill with regards to health care. That is not good. Let’s have a little perspective, however: in this current mess, SOME government investment is required to kick-start the recovery program, otherwise we are in for a long, dark, painful period that could end up being worse than the Great Depression Era.
See here: The Economist leader, February 7th
@ProfessorTom - Is it really? I don’t believe you.
@cmdr_keen - Show me where the job creation is in the bill. Are you referring to the Data Entry people that Obama is going to hire to put data into Big Brother?
Where are the tax cuts? The only thing that I’ve heard Obama talk about is a rebate check which is not a tax cut.
What it does do is kill the richest people in our country. On average, the elderly have more money than naught despite the image that we are given of having to choose between food and prescription drugs. Why? Because they are towards the end of their life and if they have made wise investments for their futures, the are reaping the benefits of retirement plans. They have property and other investments they can sell. Yet, under Daschel’s healthcare plan conveniently rolled up in the porkulus bill, the elderly have a duty to die.
Similarly, by penalizing small business owners by allowing for things like the Employee Free Choice Act, the cost of business goes up. If operating costs go up, the producer passes that cost on to the consumer. But when you try to unionize the entire country, what you really do is terrorize small business owners. If some mom and pop constantly has to look over their shoulder to prevent a lawsuit instead of negotiate with their employees, where’s the incentive to do business.
Sir, I urge you to take another look at this issue. This isn’t just about the dishonesty over the healthcare that has been snuck in the bill; this is about murdering the Great Experiment.
@heidenkind – That’s the right attitude to have. Don’t take my word for it. Go do your own research and find out what it says for yourself. Once you know what’s in the bill, you can make an informed decision and I don’t have to convince you of anything.
THIS is probably the best response I can give at this time.
There are a couple of other points I’d like to make as well:
1) Lawsuits: This is the USA: there’s frivolous lawsuits being filed every day. It’s an attitude and an expectation, and nothing is going to change that. This legislation, or no, there is still the risk of lawsuits from a multitude of pre-existing legislation. That’s not going to change. If employers treat their employees as fellow human beings and respect them as much, they will have nothing to fear.
2) Not all old people are rich people: the majority rely on Social Security for the means to survive, which is already running a deficit after being pillaged by administration after administration. It is a large part of why the country is in so much debt already. Social Security is in desperate need of reform.
I have already conceded that this bill is perhaps not the best way to approach the current dilemma that this great country faces right now. However, I have not heard anything from anyone yet that even remotely approaches an alternative. The best way to debate something is to have an alternative, or support the status quo. Clearly, the status quo in this situation is not helping anyone. Therefore, what we need are alternatives. Why don’t you suggest some?
It is too easy to throw one’s hands up and say “well, THAT wont work!”. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: working through this crisis will take everybody working together to form the foundation of a recovery. Obama highlighted it well: “when a place is on fire, you don’t check party labels. Everyone grabs a hose, or a bucket and helps.” Also, remember Lincoln’s age-old words: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
@ProfessorTom - We tried your laissez-faire approach for 3 years from 1929-1932. It failed catastrophically with 33% unemployment in 1932. I agree that in normal economic times we should keep the size of government low and deficits low (something the GOP failed to do the last 8 years). However, Depressions turn this on its head. The best policy option is to ramp up government borrowing and spending. The New Deal got us down to 10% unemployment in 1936 and then the massive keyenesian borrowing and spending of WW2 got us all the way out. This is standard Chicago School economics 101 here, so stop pretending like Obama is some kind of commie. This is the same line advocated by Milton Friedman, Ben Bernanke, and Alan Greenspan. Are they also commies?
Not to deflect from the point of your post, but you gotta realize, Americans now expect government support.
We expect to get all these things instead of working and saving towards them.
Back (pre-Depression era) in the day, people used to save up until they had enough money to buy whatever they wanted. Now? Loans of all shapes and sizes. Who cares if you default on your loans and you get thrown out of your house? Sign up for government housing, some food stamps, and you’re set.
Personally, I have grown up in the social welfare state that is food stamps and housing, et cetera. And I can attest that there is a certain mentality that begins to grow once you’ve been on government funding long enough. It’s one of complete dependence on the government handouts, and almost a resolve to not go to work and earn your own money.
So, you can criticize Obama (you, I, and others are), but the fact is we chose him because our mentality as a nation now decrees that we need a President who will make all the decisions for us and give us free money.
It’s dangerous times right now. We’re in a precarious state, and any of the decisions we make now better be the right ones, because they’re going to be hard to fix. And I doubt all this “pork barrel” in the “stimulus package” is the way to go about anything.
– Sol
@treelights - interesting points, and I think you’re right. However, if you look at the way the government benefits are handed out, the majority of them go towards African-American and Hispanic communities – particularly those who are here illegally.
Now, I may just be buying into a lot of stereotypes and the media blowing things out of proportion, but that is the impression that I am getting.
Don’t mix up “socialist” with “communist” – they are very different ideas. Nothing that Obama or the Democrats are suggesting equals “communism”
@ProfessorTom - 300 of the 800 billion is tax cuts. A government job is still a job. It will increase economic velocity and get people to stop hoarding cash, which is what is causing this depression in the first place. We tried your do nothing approach from 1929-1932 and it failed catastrophically, with 33% unemployment in 1932. No thanks!
@ElDuderinoCA – No, what fails catastrophically is total dependence on the Government.
@ProfessorTom - Nobody is talking about making us into a socialist government dependant country. We are just talking about a temporary two year spike in spending to get economic velocity back up. Once private citizens stop hoarding cash, the government can draw down again.
@ElDuderinoCA – How do you explain the National Health Record Database in the bill then? When does that get dialed down?
@cmdr_keen - It is a stereotype, but it is a true stereotype in that most urban poverty is among non-White people. And that is what we like to show, especially on the news. Nobody shows rural poverty, which is mostly made up of White people and Native Americans.
I’ve grown up in both conditions, and even though the setting is different, the result is always the same. There are two big differences that I see, however:
1. There is a good chunk of impoverished rural-area people who were laid off or disabled, and cannot get back on their feet. That is why they are in poverty.
2. Many urbanites take jobs with little skill, making them expendable. They also do not have the skills and training to move ahead within their jobs, which is why many are stuck in menial jobs for years.
3. There are a lot of poor people who do work, but cannot make ends meet.
4. A lot young adults who grow up in these situations grow up either a) not working hard, or b) not saving their money and making financially sound decisions.
I mean, if that stimulus bill does get passed, I hope it has a good chunk of it set aside for finance and economic education for our schools. A lot of people are poor because they do not save and spend their money unwisely, on top of making misguided financial decisions.
And that is on top of the “government does everything for me” mentality.
– Soledad
@treelights - Thanks for the insights! I’ve only recently moved to the US so a lot of what over people assume I’m still learning.
It definitely sounds right.
I’m a big advocate of financial management skills being taught in the classroom, probably as a unit in math classes. That way we’re not relying on parents to teach their kids the tools for survival themselves.
I was lucky, but I’ve seen many people who don’t know how to balance a checking account, or know the principles behind compound interest and the rorts that credit card companies like to play.
Thanks for the insights again!
@ProfessorTom - The health record database? 1) That is smart policy – it will facilitate treatment of individuals. If I’m travelling in some other state and get into a car accident I want that hospital to have quick and easy access to my health records to facilitate my treatment. 2) What is that, a few million dollars of spending? You are nitpicking at 0.001% of the stimulus package and using that to justify opposing the whole thing. What we need right now is a large shor-term infusion of cash from the government into the economy to get velocity back up. We can worry about deficits in a couple years after the crisis has passed.
PS: Where was Republicans opposition to deficit spending the last 8 years? You can’t spend 8 years operating on a “Deficits don’t matter” ideology and then all of a sudden oppose deficit spending at the time when it makes the most economic sense.
if he fails, America fails. is that what you want?
@explosive – If Obama fails to implement his socialist agenda (which he just got the bill he watned, so we’re already fucked. I can’t see him not signing it into law.) then the country benefits because we can continue with the Great Expirement.
Do you realize that in the last 8 years, the national deficit grew to 11.5 TRILLION dollars? That’s not very conservative of the conservatives. It’s the largest deficit in the history of the united states and the first time in US history that we’re a debtor nation. The repubicans didn’t exactly succeed…unless their objective was to LOSE money instead of make it. We’re suffering the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and you WANT Obama to fail? Every time we’ve had an economic crisis, a republican was in office and every time, a democrat came into office and fixed it.
@explosive – You need an original idea instead of repeating the tripe in the media.
I’ll grant you that the Republicans on the Hill during the end of Bush’s Administration were not the Conservatives that their constituates thought they were. That having been said, the Democrats have had a majority in Congress since 2006. Yes, there were Republicans that voted for the bailout but it was a Democrat idea. Though Bush was no Conservative, I assure you the only reason that he supported the bailout so fervently was the pitch: “Mr. President, if we don’t prop up the banks, it’s going to affect more than those who can’t pay their mortages. It’s going to affect everyone that has money in the bank.” After much hand-wringing, he made a bad call because he believed that what he was doing was the lesser of two evils.
Obama just added another trillion dollars to the deficit by way of the porkulus bill.
FDR (D GA) prolonged the Depression, not lessened it. Remember he didn’t even want to be involved in the war.
Kennedy gave us the top marignial rate of 90%.
Clinton had nothing to do with the dot com bubble. Instead, he reaped the benefits of people for the first time being able to trade stock in the comfort of their underwear in their own livingrooms. They discovered that if they sold the stock in six months, they could doulbe their money. This continued until after several of the IPOs turned out to not be all they promised.
So yes, I want Obama to fail because his policies will hurt the America I know and love. I care more about the country than his legacy.
Bush passed two bail out plans before he left office. Where is THAT money coming from? The government has to mint more money, which devalues the dollar. How is THAT helping America? How is outsourcing American jobs to people and countries who do not pay federal or state income tax or social security tax helping America? If you’re going to defend Bush on the bail out plans, why are you attacking Obama on his stimulus package? The bail out plan that Bush signed had 450 pages of pork, and he initiated a stimiulus package last year that didn’t work because it didn’t inject enough money back into the economy.
Obama isn’t socialist. He does not support government ownership; he supports the capitalism practiced here in the United States. Socialism is just another buzzword republicans are using to try to strike fear into the hearts of Americans. and it hasn’t worked because they’ve lost all credibility. Spreading the wealth around is good for everyone. And if we are moving toward socialism, it’s because both parties are buying into it. Obama wants to reprivatize some of the programs that Bush socialized. Obama might be Fascist, which is often associated with the Nazi party, but the Nazis took it way too far; fascism is not inherently bad.
a majority of 51 to 49 is nowhere near filibuster-proof and there needed to be sound support from most of congress, which includes almost as many republicans as democrats.
Ah, but he DID want to be involved in WWII but didn’t have the American support, so he provoked the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor, and WWII helped us OUT of the depression. I don’t see how you can possibly say that FDR prolonged the depression. How could you possibly know that? What policies could have been implemented to shorten it? We will never know. It’s only speculation.
Under Clinton, you mean, when the economy boomed?
Obama is trying to restore alliances with the rest of the world; ones that Bush destroyed over the last eight years. His policies I like and support are his foreign policy views on Latin America (more specifically Cuba), Iraq, and Afghanistan and his domestic policy e.g. health care, the much needed National Infrastructure Bank, and desire to repeal Bush tax cuts in wartime. Bush had eight long years of strikes against him, and you already think Obama made a mistake because his policies don’t jive with your own. He hasn’t even signed the damn stimulus package yet, and it’s gone back and forth between the house and senate for days now.
Why are you responding to me when I see several people who disagree with you for the same reasons I do? Or maybe you didn’t even read them yet, because if you did, you wouldn’t be asking ME why I think what I do. I don’t watch the news and I hardly ever read the newspaper, but it doesn’t take a media guru to know and feel the damage that the Bush administration has caused.
i’m like a million years late to respond
just read it today though and i totally agree with you
I HOPE HE FAILS TOO!
he’s a fucking socialist
and he used the fact that he was half black to get into the brains of uneducated blacks and get them to vote for him.
he’s change, but not for the better.
@PrincessYnattirb – It’s never too late to comment on a blog.
I’m glad you feel this way. Please, take a button and spread the word.
Also, if you thought this post was juicy, you should see what I have cooking up. Stay tuned!
Let’s just say that I hope America succeeds…if it does, then President Obama and the Democrats will fail.
The current $$$ bill, only serves to steal money from anyone who has a job of any kind today, as well as those who will be working in future generations.
I am trying to be humble in the face of new appointed and elected authority…but I am having a difficult time remaining quiet when I see this leadership going in the wrong direction.
First they are destroying our freedoms and facilitating our transition into a Nation of Slavery…to debt!!! With this slavery we will find ourselves losing many other freedoms that we never dreamed possible to lose in America.
So how, if I see a person drowning, a person getting abused, a person getting ready to get run over by a truck…how do I stop the bad event from happening, how can I help to save them…how do I keep them from taking me down with them?
This is partially about self-preservation…if I could I would be more than happy to stand by and allow others to experience the consequences of their choices on their own…but when their choices have a drastic affect on my life…am I to stand by and watch quietly?
I wish and hope for the greatest success to America…thus I am wishing, hoping and praying for a huge election revolution in 2010!!! We must do everything possible and LEGAL, to win America back!!!
@freedomfromaddiction - I’m glad you stopped by.
Yes, I too want the American people to fail. As much as I hate for it to happen, if it means giving Obama’s horrendous polices credit for the rebound should it occur, I’ll begrudgingly do it.
The problem here is that for the past eight years, every time there was a news story, the American people were told how bad Bush was. There was a political agenda working against Bush because people thought he stole both elections.
I’m not defending his every action. There are plenty of things that I disagree with Bush over. But I supported him because he put the security of our nation at the top of his agenda, behind the economy. So what happens when you have a guy who runs for office offering HOPE! and CHANGE!? You get a bunch of lemmings that follow him over the cliff. I am not one of them.
You have no reason to be afraid of voicing your opinion. This is America, and you are granted that right under the First Amendment.
Now, I don’t want to see anyone suffer either, but we all know that experience is the best teacher. What it’s going to take to get the change we need is for the people who voted this clown into office to see what a horrible mistake they have made. The only way they will realize this is if Obama enacts all the policies he campaigned on, which, he is successfully doing right now. That is what I hope fails. I hope that the honeymoon ends abruptly and Obama’s run out of town on a rail…followed by angry Americans carrying torches and pitchforks. It wouldn’t hurt to purge Congress too…
About doing that which is legal, I do agree with you in principle. However, once our rights have been taken away with harmful legislation, then I do not think that we have to work within those parameters.
Welcome aboard!
@PrincessYnattirb - Nice post…if your avatar is indeed you, is it safe to say that you are black? Also, I checked out your blog and I got the impression that you are young…under 18.
I state this, to share an example of my own sons, who are 17 and 18. My oldest voted this past election and he did NOT vote for Obama. He endured tons of chants “Racist” and other such chants that were absolutely NOT true.
My son happens to not believe in the policies and views of Obama and the Democrats…yet because he voted against Obama, other students were calling him a racist.
Now, as I mentioned above, you appear to be a young black person…yet, as you stated you do not support Obama.
What are comments that you have made to help support your views against Obama, and how can others who are against Obama, yet who may not be Black, utilize your advice to show that they simply do not support his Liberal views?
For me as an adult, I just blow off people calling me a racist…but for the youth, it appears that there is a ton of pressure to appear non-racist and thus it is easier to cave and support someone of another race than it is to voice an opposing opinion.
Sad to see such fear in America, yet it is real and genuine.
@freedomfromaddiction – It’s all part of the indoctrination that occurs in screwls across America. Kids these days care more about what others think of them rather than if they are on the right side of the issue. To the “Yute of America”, the right side of the issue is the one that causes the least social harm. Their lives revolve around their friends.
@ProfessorTom - it’s interesting to watch…my sons will graduate HS this year and both are accepted to their respective colleges as part of the schools “Honors Program”.
I share this to point out that they have done their part to conform to the rules within the system…but it’s interesting to hear them talk and share their views. They are both the complete opposite to the current liberal government…basically holding true to conservative views and ideology. However when they write papers at school, they write to meet the demands of the audience so that they can get the grades they need to excel.
To me this is funny, they are using a liberal system against them…to put themselves in a position to make a difference, later in life when they have greater influence.
Both are editors/writers on the school paper and both have actually helped the other writers on the paper to spin the stories in order to change the view of the story to fit a much truer representation of the story…which has typically fallen onto conservative views. Both are hoping to become a part of the Media career field so that they can help promote Conservative Journalism.
I’ve learned through a friend of mine, who’s son interviewed with Time magazine…he was told that if Time hired him, he would be in the minority…basically he would be the ONLY conservative voice at the magazine.
I hope this young generation can begin to push back that peer pressure…imagine a social setting where conservative thought is the norm and liberal thought is frowned upon.
I believe that most people are naturally conservative…they just don’t realize it, but rather they get fueled up into a frenzy and run with the mob, which is led by some liberal who knows how to tap into that emotion.
I am proud of my sons for standing up for thier beliefs, while also working the system to advance their own academic lives. I hope that in time, racism will be an issue addressed by those who truly are racist…those who vote for a person because of his/her skin color, no matter which…now that is racist.
@freedomfromaddiction - yeah i am a young black.
i got called a nigger hater
which makes no sense because i’m black.
why would i hate what i am?
anyways.
i told people to look outside of his race.
and see if they really agree with his ways.
then decide whether or not they were behind him.
@PrincessYnattirb - Kudos to you for taking a look beyond skin. We never here a white person who disagrees with a while person being called a “Cracker Hater” -
It reminds me of when I served in the military and I was given the opportunity to shake hands with then President Bill Clinton…I turned it down. People thought I was crazy…but at the time, I disagreed with what I know about him and his political views and thus I didn’t want to be seen as a soldier who supported him.
At the end of the day, I wish I could know about our various politicians, individually. What motivates them, what influences them to make the decisions they do…what choices have they made in their lives (Politically and Privately)?
There is no single politician who would make 100% of the same choices that I or you make…but at the end of the day, President Obama is about as far away from any of the choices that I would make, thus I am not a supporter of the man.
Best wishes to you as you navigate through life and may you be a great and positive influence on those you come in contact with!!!
@freedomfromaddiction - i think if i heard you didn’t want to shake hands with bill clinton without knowing your reason, i would think your crazy too.
but hearing your reason for not doing it justified your action.
best wishes to you to
@PrincessYnattirb – You have to understand that everyone who voted against Lord Barack Obama, The Most Merciful is a racists while those that voted for him are patriots. All we need to know is that he’s black and liberal–a man for our times. He doesn’t need to have solutions, he has HOPE! CHANGE!
@freedomfromaddiction – I would have shook hands with him if there weren’t cameras simply because he was the president at the time. But I totally understand where you’re coming from. Too bad there wasn’t a real man of principal in the White House during your tenure. Thank you for your service to our country.
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