Congratulations, Mr. President

[BDBoop]

It's January 20th, 2009. You have just been sworn in as President of the USA.

You have inherited a disaster. Keep in mind that you are whatever candidate you voted for, and you have the House and Senate he had on that date.

Hopefully you know enough about what was going on at that time that I don't need to refresh your memory. Unemployment was 7.8%, the big banks had just come undone, and the auto industry was one step from the tank.

What would you do.

This should help refresh your memory.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/28/markets-credit-crunch-banking-2008

 

[Old Rocks]

Ah, but you must remember, he has been President all of two minutes now, so it is all his fault, and has absolutely nothing to do with the policies put in place by the previous administration.

 

[BDBoop]

Ah, but you must remember, he has been President all of two minutes now, so it is all his fault, and has absolutely nothing to do with the policies put in place by the previous administration.

Please. Can we make this a real thread. I don't want this to be about Obama, unless you voted for him, and then what would you have done.

I know there are minds on both sides of the aisle. Nobody needs to knee jerk react.

What would you have done.

 

[MuadDib]

He didn't inherit a disaster; he asked for it. Then made it a worse disaster.

 

[uscitizen]

What would I have done?

Not have been stupit enough to want the job in the first place.

 

[uscitizen]

He didn't inherit a disaster; he asked for it. Then made it a worse disaster.

IN all fairness when he first started going for the job the current leadership was saying that it would be over soon and was just a little adjustment.

He and most of america were gullible enough to believe that too.

 

[BDBoop]

Okay. I'll wait for the adults. It's Saturday. I have all day.

 

[BluePhantom]

Well that depends. Do I still have a Congress that is made up of Democratic super-majorities (or very near it) in both houses or do I have a Congress that will do what I say to do? That's important because if I have the same Congress he had then there's nothing I will be able to do because they will refuse to pass any of my plans.

 

[BDBoop]

Well that depends. Do I still have a Congress that is made up of Democratic super-majorities (or very near it) in both houses or do I have a Congress that will do what I say to do? That's important because if I have the same Congress he had then there's nothing I will be able to do because they will refuse to pass any of my plans.

Yes. You have the Congress that he inherited.

But what would you do in the face of that? You can't just sit there for two years. You have to have a plan for how to circumvent them, or even use words and the public to make your case heard. What would you be trying to pass.

And thank you, you were on my short list of people I knew who would be up to the task.

 

[BDBoop]

Well that depends. Do I still have a Congress that is made up of Democratic super-majorities (or very near it) in both houses or do I have a Congress that will do what I say to do? That's important because if I have the same Congress he had then there's nothing I will be able to do because they will refuse to pass any of my plans.

I feel like Mighty Mouse just swooped into my thread. "Oh, look! She needs an adult. 'Here I come to save the day!'"

 

[BDBoop]

Also - he appointed two new justices to the SCOTUS, yes? So that would put the court at what v what for liberal v conservative judges, should any of your decisions go there.

 

[BDBoop]

By the way; this was not my idea. Some transcript I read *I'd love to give credit but my memory spaghetti sauce* had the question, only aimed at President Romney (I flipped it to McCain).

 

[Old Rocks]

What would I have done? The auto bailout for sure. I would have reached across the aisle twice, the second time my hand was slapped away, I would have gone into the fighting mode. Instead of trying to reach out to the Republicans, the President should have concentrated on keeping the Democrats in line, using the Johnson arm twisting method, and got us a real Health Care System. He should have ended the Bush tax cuts. All of them.

And he should have then, and should now, hit hard on how the wealth of this nation is increasingly being taken at the top, with the people creating it getting a smaller share every day.

He needs to come out strong on the scientific evidence for the changing climate, and what it means to the citizens of this nation. And the preperations we need to make for the consequences that are already in the pipeline.

While he has emphasized the importance of education, he needs to hammer on the GOP on their lack of support for the education of our populace, at the very time that other industrial naitons are investing far more of their wealth into the education of their citizenry.

We need to drastically reduce the amount we spend on defense. There is no reason that we should be spending more than the next 14 nations combined on defense. Half that would be adaquete.

Social Security can easily be fixed in several ways. One, made the 6.2% that we pay apply to all income. Then the system is adaquetly funded forever.

A Universal Health Care system paid for through an income tax, would eliminate both Medicare and Mediaid. And save the nation a good deal of money. We have the example from all the other industrial nations. Less costly per individual with better results.

Increase the federal gas tax, and repair our Interstates. That wonderful system of highways should not be allowed to fall into the disrepair that is it's condition today.

Rebuild our nations electrical grid, using the same method that we did for the Interstate System. Users pay x amount per watt they put on the grid to the customer. And take that grid into the places where the wind, solar, and geo-thermal is plentiful.

Just a few things off the top of my head.

 

[BDBoop]

What would I have done? The auto bailout for sure. I would have reached across the aisle twice, the second time my hand was slapped away, I would have gone into the fighting mode. Instead of trying to reach out to the Republicans, the President should have concentrated on keeping the Democrats in line, using the Johnson arm twisting method, and got us a real Health Care System. He should have ended the Bush tax cuts. All of them.

And he should have then, and should now, hit hard on how the wealth of this nation is increasingly being taken at the top, with the people creating it getting a smaller share every day.

He needs to come out strong on the scientific evidence for the changing climate, and what it means to the citizens of this nation. And the preperations we need to make for the consequences that are already in the pipeline.

While he has emphasized the importance of education, he needs to hammer on the GOP on their lack of support for the education of our populace, at the very time that other industrial naitons are investing far more of their wealth into the education of their citizenry.

We need to drastically reduce the amount we spend on defense. There is no reason that we should be spending more than the next 14 nations combined on defense. Half that would be adaquete.

Social Security can easily be fixed in several ways. One, made the 6.2% that we pay apply to all income. Then the system is adaquetly funded forever.

A Universal Health Care system paid for through an income tax, would eliminate both Medicare and Mediaid. And save the nation a good deal of money. We have the example from all the other industrial nations. Less costly per individual with better results.

Increase the federal gas tax, and repair our Interstates. That wonderful system of highways should not be allowed to fall into the disrepair that is it's condition today.

Rebuild our nations electrical grid, using the same method that we did for the Interstate System. Users pay x amount per watt they put on the grid to the customer. And take that grid into the places where the wind, solar, and geo-thermal is plentiful.

Just a few things off the top of my head.

Thank you so much. I think he made some humdinger mistakes, in his attempt to 'work as a team,' that sort of had a domino effect of ugly. However, that's like the Butterfly Effect, and I don't know how an untaken misstep could or would have played out.

 

[Mac1958]

What would I have done?

Not have been stupit enough to want the job in the first place.

It's not stupidity, it's ego.

I don't think it's possible to accurately gauge the size of the ego of the average national-level politician.


.

 

[BluePhantom]

Well that depends. Do I still have a Congress that is made up of Democratic super-majorities (or very near it) in both houses or do I have a Congress that will do what I say to do? That's important because if I have the same Congress he had then there's nothing I will be able to do because they will refuse to pass any of my plans.

I feel like Mighty Mouse just swooped into my thread. "Oh, look! She needs an adult. 'Here I come to save the day!'"

Well I am going to respond but it's going to take some time. I am busy writing out my plan. As usual it will probably be long.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

What would I have done?

Not have been stupit enough to want the job in the first place.

It's not stupidity, it's ego.

I don't think it's possible to accurately gauge the size of the ego of the average national-level politician.

....Or, sobriety.....

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2RloNSp8tc]GOP House Leader A Lazy Drunk? - YouTube[/ame]

*

August 2, 2010


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6etf_z60pM]Boehner Makes Fool Of Himself On Fox News - YouTube[/ame]

Note To Boner:

Tax Cuts Don't Boost Revenueshttp://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1692027,00.html

"....the tax cuts enacted during the past six years have not paid for themselves--and were never intended to."​

 

[BluePhantom]

Yes. You have the Congress that he inherited.

But what would you do in the face of that? You can't just sit there for two years. You have to have a plan for how to circumvent them, or even use words and the public to make your case heard. What would you be trying to pass.

And thank you, you were on my short list of people I knew who would be up to the task.

Oh no worries. It's a great question actually. God forbid I defend Obama but I hear a lot of bitching from both sides yet it's pretty rare that I hear anyone offer an alternative plan. Well you have to address several things and with a Democratic Congress there's going to have to be a lot of give and take. My goals would be:

A) Create an environment in the United States that is conducive to the establishment and growth of business and industry. So you will need to provide:

I. Short term financial relief for business and industry
II. The ability to respond to changing circumstances
III. The freedom to maximize the use of natural resources​

B) Protects American business from foreign nations who refuse to provide an even playing field and give incentives for American consumers to buy American goods.

C) Protect the job security of the American worker and spur consumer spending.

I. By protecting the worker I mean minimizing job snatching by illegal immigrants and foreign outsourcing.​

D) Move towards energy independence by taking steps to have greater control over both supply and demand and open the door for greater competition between different forms of energy. At the same time we must restrict the same efforts by foreign nations and maintain their dependence on oil and the petrodollar.

E) Address questionable banking practices as well as government cronyism and corruption.

F) Address the financial insolvency of the states in order to allow for a reduction in state taxes and the ability of the states to invest in the development of their resources, infrastructure, and industry themselves.

G) Provide certainty for both industry and consumers in order to solidify confidence in the climate that has been created.




Ok....here's what I would propose (keeping in mind that Obamacare would not exist and I have to toss some bones to the Democrats too) and what what sections of the above they would address:


1) Reform (not completely eliminate) government regulations on business. Anything but the most essential regulations that deal directly with the public health would be gone. (A,C,D)

2) Reduce the corporate tax to a rate that is competitive with the rest of the world and overhaul the personal and corporate tax codes to close down loopholes and simplify it. (A, B, C, G)

3) Suspend the collective bargaining rights for public sector unions to provide long term financial relief for states and federal institutions. (E, F, G)

4) Allow the repatriation of foreign funds on the condition that a significant portion of it is invested in American business and expansion. (A)

5) Impose penalties on the imports of foreign nations that refuse to honor our free trade agreements and actually enforce them. (A, B, C)

6) Offer tax breaks for small businesses that hire and for major companies that build new manufacturing plants in the United States. (A, C, G)

7) Allow home and student loan refinancing for those who actually need it combined with banking regulations that prohibit bundling and generally playing roulette with money the banks don't have. (C, E)

8) Pull the business licenses of companies who hire illegal immigrants. (C, F)

9) Secure the border and deport illegal immigrants. (C, F)

10) Embark on aggressive drilling and conservation. (A, B, C, D)

11) Invest in the development and implementation of supplemental sources of alternate energy (wind, geothermal, tidal, etc), nuclear energy (especially), and ease restrictions on the production of primary and alternate sources of fossil fuels including shale oil. (A, B, C, D, G)

12) Make members of Congress subject to insider trading laws and strengthen laws against government corruption that include real jail time instead of censures. (E, F)


Now some of that addresses short-term issues and some of it addresses long term issues. The real problems are debt and housing. We address debt by limiting our spending and creating an environment where domestic production can go into overdrive with the goal of ensuring that our exports exceed our imports. We address housing by addressing unemployment, wages, predatory lending (which is in part tied to government regulations), and corruption.

To get all that to pass a Democratic Congress I would need heavy pressure from the American people and I would have to compromise and give them some gifts here and there.

There ya go. There's the Phantom Plan.

 

[Amelia]

Focused like a laser on the economy, I hope.

Stimulus applied correctly, workable solution for auto industry, attention to those hurt in the mortgage crisis with follow-through I hope.

Not saying "I get how much the nation is concerned about jobs" and then 2 seconds later following my own agenda which suggested that I didn't get it at all.




Communicate regularly and try to inspire confidence. Try to avoid the perils of both insularity and excessive exposure.

 

[BDBoop]

This is to Blue:

I just speed-read your response and am about to read it again.

What would be your #1 priority coming into office? I know the first thing Obama signed was the LLFPA, and the first big thing he went for was the ACA. What would be yours?