Obama, Stimulus and the 2010 Election

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The “gang of three” — liberal Republican Sens. Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins — who handed President Obama the stimulus bill he so desperately needed, apparently sacrificed billions in tax cuts during final negotiations over the measure in order to reduce its cost.
Though Republicans who crossed party lines apparently got rewarded. The New York Times reported Thursday that Sen. Specter got $6.5 billion for medical research. The Senator is ailing from cancer. Questions is what did the other two SELL OUT for?
All three should be removed from the Republican Party, one for not supporting the Conservative Republican values and second for doing a smoke filled room deal for their benefit, not the American public.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr1M1T2Y314

Larry of CA 11:26AM February 13, 2009

On Monday the new President went to Elkhart (the R V capital of the world). This visit along with a townhall meeting was the kickoff of Obama's plan to cram his stimulus package down the throats of the tax payer. Obama spoke to a campaign style hand picked adoring crowd. As Obama was getting ready to speak, a chant was started; O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA. Did the man go to Elkhart to run for office? Is this a kickoff for a seven year campaign to run for "King of the World".
Obama now represents the citizens of the USA, it is not just about him anymore. If these hand picked special citizens of Elkhart wanted to chant; shouldn't they be chanting something like; U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A. Or, more to the point, a chant like:
U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A, BAIL-US-OUT, BAIL-US-OUT.
It seems the people of Elkhart think the new President is their friend. Has anyone thought about asking him why the US is not seeking to find and drill for more oil and refine more gas. Maybe the residents and unemployed of Elkhart (The R V capital of the world) are content to wait a few more years and then they can sell campers with real long extention cords which can be plugged into windmills.

Henry Rose of CA 12:29AM February 11, 2009

I'm tired of people down in Washington, DC preaching to us about what we can do. Obama disgraced himself last night. FDR and Ronald Reagan had different economic policies, but at least both of them tried hard to keep the spirits of our country up. Both of them wanted to empower Americans with the opportunity to believe in themselves. Last night, Obama basically said pass my stimulus or else. He isn't inspiring faith in the spirit of the America people, he wants people to believe in his big government policies and him alone. The Republicans had their own disgraces over the past eight years, but if Obama and the ultra-left wing of the Democratic party keep moving too fast, they will undergo the same fate as the Republicans. Immorality on Wall Street will never be cured by central planning and immorality in Washington DC.
As for policy prescriptions - I'd say that the financial markets had too much asymmetric information and some participants didn't quite understand what was going on and were taken advantage of. Then the entire system crashed. The market wasn't the problem - the regulatory and legal structure needed to be brought up to speed to what had developed in the market. Our focus now ought to be stabilizing the financial markets, softening the blow of this recession through a targeted, timely, and temporary stimulus, and then updating our financial regulations and making sure they are enforced. These incursions into healthcare and the rapid implementation of environmental and labor regulations in the middle of the recession are as unwarranted as they are dangerous. The very structure of the economy is adjusting because so many individuals and companies are deleveraging and it will take some time to get out of the recession. Meddling with non-financial markets will crush more businesses and lengthen the recession.
America deserves better than what it had in the past eight years and what it has right now. Unfortunately, I don't see things getting better until 2010 or 2012 when hopefully the Republicans will clean themselves up or the Blue Dogs & New Democrats will become more prominant or a viable new party for the American tradition arises.

Joe C of VA 1:34PM February 10, 2009

By 2010 President Obama will not be able to blame anything on anyone but himself. He can continue to campaign and using speeches like last night's "press conference" that was only filled with generalities and zero specifics, but at some point the American people will wake up to reality. I also think that President Obama needs to look a little closer at history. The President Carter days were a lot worse that anything we have to day. I know he is on the same team and there is no way President Obama wants to give President Reagan any hint of credit for fixing President Carter’s mess, so he just skips over that failure.
Everyone knows that the only way to a sound fiscal economy is to cut taxes AND reduce spending, doing one without the other will equal failure. Reference the last 8 years, tax cuts and spending like a drunk sailor. Now President Obama is going the other direction spending like a drunk sailor and no tax cuts, double trouble. I know some of you will say he is cutting taxes for the little guy, great. But ask yourself this is the little guy going to buy any new trucks for his fleet, is he going to expand his business with a second location that will need machinery, furniture, computers, and so on. Is the little guy going to take a chance with the $500.00 to $1,000.00 savings to start anything of value to the economy? NO! He is going to buy something else he can’t afford or he is going to pay off some of his debt.
It is time for a "TRUE LEADER" to step up and start laying the foundation for 2010 & 2012. The American people are not going to want to hear what he says at first, but after four years of mass spending they will be ready when the time comes to cast their vote.
“Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago”

Larry of CA 11:57AM February 10, 2009

"GOPers might be able to make the argument that the Obamacrats wasted trillions of taxpayers dollars and two months of time."
It's not very hard to make an argument for something that is true.

Kent G. Budge of NM 10:18AM February 10, 2009