Obama's list of accomplishes in regards to the economy

[earthling01]

My apologies for messing up the colors in above post.
I regret my html skills are a bit lacking...
Peace!

 

[earthling01]

That was good. The stimulus will kick in any day now and the summer of recovery will follow. Yup we got that memo.

Wow! You got a memo? Some people actually got jobs. Others got credit companies off their backs. Others were able to keep their insurance coverage in spite of pre-existing conditions.

Must be the miracle of Reaganomics...

 

[Oldstyle]

Absolutely.

GDP has been growing since 2009.
The stock market has doubled since 2009.
Americans net worth is up $9 trillion dollars since 2009.
Auto sales are up.
Home sales are up.
Retail sales are up.
Unemployment is down.
We have had 22 months of private sector job growth.
GM was saved and is now the number one automaker in the world.

Bin Laden and Gaddafi are dead, and we are out of Iraq.

Obama has done a very good job.

So what you've done is take the starting point of the Obama Administration which was at the worst part of the recession and credit Barack Obama for anything that is a net improvement, unilaterally deciding that what "he" did was the cause. The fallacy of that approach is quite obvious because recessions inevitably do correct themselves and ANYONE who was in the Oval Office would have seen numbers that were up. Of course sales are up since 2009. Of course GDP has been growing since 2009. Of course the stock market has rebounded. Of course unemployment has lessened. The real question to ask isn't are numbers up but is the economy on track to recover and grow due to the policies of this President and on THAT front, Chris your list of Obama "accomplishments" hits a wall because his policies have left us teetering on the edge of another recession rather than a robust recovery. Rather than give us a laundry list of numbers that are up...give us the Obama policies that you think are leading this country's economy towards prosperity. Do you think ObamaCare is going to be a good thing or a bad thing for our economy? Do you think the inability of this President to submit a budget has been a good or bad thing for the country? Do you think this President's refusal to make cuts to programs or spending is going to be a good thing or a bad thing to the future? What is Obama's energy policy? What's he going to do to keep the price of gas low? What's he going to do with the brewing trouble in the Middle East?

You seem to believe that Obama deserves no credit for this country's successes, yet you have no problem crediting him for all of its struggles. Do you not see the hypocrisy in that?

The so called "successes" that have been listed, Billy would have happened no matter who was in the Oval Office. The American economy is too massive not to come back from a recession...the only question is...how long was it going to take? I'm sorry but I haven't seen this President do much of anything to hasten a recovery. Be honest, he spent most of his time during the first year chasing hard after ObamaCare and that piece of legislation didn't do anything to help us recover from the recession...if anything it hurt the creation of new jobs. Neither did the Obama Stimulus do much to kick the economy into high gear. It basically protected government jobs, extended unemployment benefits and spent billions on shovel ready jobs that didn't exist. So you've got an administration that isn't really doing much of anything to stimulate the private sector (except of course for some high profile green industries that have so far been monumental failures) while at the same time is pushing the EPA, the Department of the Interior and the Justice Department to withhold permits and impose new regulations on green house gasses, drilling and the building or operating of plants that don't use union labor...all things that dampen economic recovery.

The only "hypocrisy" that I see is this President calling for immediate action on HIS so called jobs bill because the people need jobs when his administration's actions killed jobs in the Gulf with the drilling moratorium...in the Midwest with the killing of the pipeline...in South Carolina with the lawsuit against Boeing's plant...in Tennessee with the seizure of materials from the Gibson Guitar factory. If this President REALLY cares about jobs then why does he allow HIS people to keep putting roadblocks in front of those who are trying to create them?

 

[Oldstyle]

So what you've done is take the starting point of the Obama Administration which was at the worst part of the recession and credit Barack Obama for anything that is a net improvement, unilaterally deciding that what "he" did was the cause.

That's right. And what do you think caused that recession? Whose administration oversaw the policies leading up the recession? Hint: It wasn't Obama.

The fallacy of that approach is quite obvious because recessions inevitably do correct themselves and ANYONE who was in the Oval Office would have seen numbers that were up.

No. This was Obama using real economics that stimulate demand from the bottom up, not that 'trickle-down' crap that Reagan invented to wreak havoc on our economy. It is the govt's function to aid the economy when it spirals out of control. The stimulus package was the correct and most effective strategy to address the damage caused by the previous administration's obvious lack of knowledge and concern about it.

Of course sales are up since 2009. Of course GDP has been growing since 2009. Of course the stock market has rebounded. Of course unemployment has lessened. The real question to ask isn't are numbers up but is the economy on track to recover and grow due to the policies of this President and on THAT front.

Yes, the market rebounds when prices are low. But to save the housing market the consequent rise in unemployment is the govt's responsibility. No one likes to shell out huge barrels of cash to fix a broken economy, but perhaps if our leaders would actually implement policies that worked (instead of stuffing their wealthy constituent's pockets), we might not be in this situation in the first place. So PLEEEASE stop blaming Obama for not being able to clean up the pile of shit left behind in just a few short years. That Reaganomics mentality has done irreparable harm to our economy. End of story.

Chris your list of Obama "accomplishments" hits a wall because his policies have left us teetering on the edge of another recession rather than a robust recover

Uh..wrong again. Teetering was where we were BEFORE Obama stepped into office. His job is to infuse some common sense policies that were able to save jobs and stop further damage set in motion by the completely clueless crackpots before him. This stuff make look like an act of God, but it really is an economic reality.

Rather than give us a laundry list of numbers that are up...give us the Obama policies that you think are leading this country's economy towards prosperity.

I believe the OP did that already...


Do you think ObamaCare is going to be a good thing or a bad thing for our economy?

Better question: Do you think NOT implementing Obamacare will be a god or bad thing for the economy? How much further up the ass should we take it from pointless insurance agencies and private corporations?

Do you think the inability of this President to submit a budget has been a good or bad thing for the country?

What do you think the GOP reaction to an Obama budget would be? "Hey, Barak, you've got some pretty good ideas in here..." NOT! They use that stuff for fodder to make him look bad no matter what he submits. America cannot take another good idea destroyed by the GOP.

Do you think this President's refusal to make cuts to programs or spending is going to be a good thing or a bad thing to the future? What is Obama's energy policy? What's he going to do to keep the price of gas low? What's he going to do with the brewing trouble in the Middle East?

Not enough done on any of those fronts, obviously. Maybe one of those GOP brainiacs can make sense out of those issues? Do you really think their ideas are any better? Seriously...? Get real. I can't speak for you, friend, but I would feel better knowing we had a cautious, diplomatic approach to those issues rather than a nut-job like Gingrich making foreign policy decisions.

The Iran sanctions are working. The economic recovery is working. The stimulus is working. Get used to it.

The one thing that made THIS recession so deep and so painful was the housing crash, Earthling. Now you may "want" to paint that as a Republican problem but I think we both know that Democrats were just as neck deep in that mess as Republicans. The push on banks to make sub prime loans to people that never would have qualified for them, the backing of those loans by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the bundling of derivatives was just as much a Democratic endeavor as it was Republican. W. was an idiot on many fiscal matters but you have to give him some credit for warning that housing was heading for trouble and trying to get Congress to address the problems. Neither Republicans nor Democrats would go along with him on that and several years later the whole thing blew up in our faces.

I'm curious to hear from you what "trickle up" economics, Obama utilized to fix the economy? The "previous" administration put TARP into action something that Obama continued once he took office. Why you think Bush's people didn't care or act I find rather amusing. TARP, as unpopular as it was and still is...may have saved us from a depression. The Obama stimlus spent a trillion dollars and didn't really do much. Sorry but when you have to invent a new statistic "jobs saved" because your program wasn't creating new jobs then it's pretty obvious your program kind of "sucked".

As for what you refer to as "common sense" policies that Obama has supposedly imposed since stepping into office? What would those be? He's basically refused to submit a budget because he doesn't want to admit how badly out of whack his spending has become. He hasn't made ANY tough cuts to government programs...going so far as to call his proposed jobs bill "paid for" because he said the Super Committee would make cuts in programs to reach that goal. We got downgraded by S&P because they wanted a specific amount of reduction from our spiraling national deficit reduced. Obama KNEW that and yet he continued to borrow and spend like there wasn't a problem. We've been in desperate need of someone to "lead" us for the past three years and all Barack Obama has done is kick the can down the road and say it's not his fault.

As for ObamaCare? I hate to point out the obvious here...but this piece of legislation is SO bad it may be the worst ever written. It doesn't address the problem it was supposed to...the one that Americans wanted addressed...namely the cost of health care. It adds another huge entitlement program to our budget that we can't afford and used smoke and mirrors accounting to try and hide the true costs of this thing from the voters. What's worse...the whole stupid thing probably isn't even constitutional in the first place and is going to get gutted...all at huge cost to the taxpayer.

Who cares what the Republican reaction is to Obama's budget is? IT'S HIS JOB TO SUBMIT ONE!!! It's how the freaking country is supposed to work. If he wants to run up huge tabs to pay for all of his progressive pet projects then he's going to have to be honest about the costs of doing so.

You really think the Iranian sanctions are working? The sanctions are designed to stop them from trying to build a nuclear bomb. Have they stopped? If your answer is no...then the sanctions haven't worked.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

No. This was Obama using real economics that stimulate demand from the bottom up, not that 'trickle-down' crap that Reagan invented to wreak havoc on our economy. It is the govt's function to aid the economy when it spirals out of control. The stimulus package was the correct and most effective strategy to address the damage caused by the previous administration's obvious lack of knowledge and concern about it.

Which real economics are you talking about? Are you aware that Keynes would have said that that stimulus was totally wrong? His theories, which have never been implemented in the US, were that spending to get out of a recession should be targeted, temporary, and timely. The parts of the stimulus that were timely went to states in order to stop them from cutting their budgets, it created no new spending. The parts of the stimulus that were targeted went to projects that will not be started for years. They key part of Keynesian economics is temporary spending, he believed that long term deficits are bad for the economy. Obama has increased long term deficits to unprecedented levels. You should stop relying on Krugman to interpret economics for you.

So, please, tell me which real economics Obama used.

Yes, the market rebounds when prices are low. But to save the housing market the consequent rise in unemployment is the govt's responsibility. No one likes to shell out huge barrels of cash to fix a broken economy, but perhaps if our leaders would actually implement policies that worked (instead of stuffing their wealthy constituent's pockets), we might not be in this situation in the first place. So PLEEEASE stop blaming Obama for not being able to clean up the pile of shit left behind in just a few short years. That Reaganomics mentality has done irreparable harm to our economy. End of story.

Which pile of shit are you talking about? The massive increase in government revenue at all levels? The unprecedented growth in GDP? I am confused, what mess did you see that the rest of the world missed?

Uh..wrong again. Teetering was where we were BEFORE Obama stepped into office. His job is to infuse some common sense policies that were able to save jobs and stop further damage set in motion by the completely clueless crackpots before him. This stuff make look like an act of God, but it really is an economic reality.

Economic reality is that the economy would have rebounded if Obama had done absolutely nothing. If you want me to give him credit for something you have to point to those real economics you were talking about earlier.

Better question: Do you think NOT implementing Obamacare will be a god or bad thing for the economy? How much further up the ass should we take it from pointless insurance agencies and private corporations?

How is Obamacare going to stop corporations from screwing us? Do you think forcing everyone to buy a product from a corporation that is screwing us will somehow magically stop the screwing?

Not enough done on any of those fronts, obviously. Maybe one of those GOP brainiacs can make sense out of those issues? Do you really think their ideas are any better? Seriously...? Get real. I can't speak for you, friend, but I would feel better knowing we had a cautious, diplomatic approach to those issues rather than a nut-job like Gingrich making foreign policy decisions.

Better than what?

The Iran sanctions are working. The economic recovery is working. The stimulus is working. Get used to it.

The Iran sanctions have not prevented Iran from refining their own uranium, which was the stated purpose of them. If you call that working I suggest you have a different definition of working than I do. Come to think of it, that might explain why you think the stimulus worked, even though Krugman thinks it didn't.

 

[earthling01]

Old Style,
Thanks for posting.
An intelligent discussion to be sure.
Your observations are well-grounded and point out shortcomings of both political parties.

The OP pointed out the measures that Obama brought to the table that endeavored to benefit the lives of ordinary Americans. Admittedly, they did not benefit everyone. Admittedly, the original focus should have been more on jobs and less on health care.

We all want what's best for our country; we bloggers just disagree on the method. I for one cannot accept any economic platform that begins with "cut taxes on the job-creators blah blah blah" as we know full well that never works. I say let's try building the economy from the ground up rather than the top down. Without a strong middle-class, we're all heading down the toilet with the rich holding all the cards.

Admittedly, it is expensive, but it's the price we pay for negligence and puffing up the wealthy with tax cuts for so long.

Admittedly, change is scary. But many of us feel it is long overdue.

Cheers!

 

[earthling01]

Quantum,
From what I read, Iran's economy is tanking, devastated by the (nearly) united international front to stop buying their oil. Inflation is on the rise, which results in civil unrest. Iranian people looking to their govt to set the economy back on track. A bad economy in Iran is a sign that sanctions are working

This is smarter than bombing Iran which would put the U.S. in a negative light and people of Iran might side with the leaders making US the enemy again. Bad move when their economy and political future is on a downward fall...

To be honest, I think we would all LOVE to see a huge gaping hole where the nuclear facility used to be. But in the long run it would jeopardize any credibility the US has left in the region. That's our strongest card we have to play.

Make sense?

Thanks for posting.

(How do you get those short block quotes to look like that?)

 

[bigrebnc1775]

Record number of Americans on food stamps
True unemployment numbers at 18%
Housing market in the tank
Job growth in the tank
Hell yeah whoop it up for obama's great economy I hope he he get's his way so we can enjoy more of this economy.

 

[Article 15]

I get a kick out of posters who willfully ignore that the economy was in a state of free fall when Obama took office.

 

[Unkotare]

Liberals are very committed to never taking responsibility for anything. In fact, a lack of personal responsibility is the cornerstone of their fucked-up, infantile, failed ideology.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

I laugh at people who think we have hit bottom.

 

[Oldstyle]

Old Style,
Thanks for posting.
An intelligent discussion to be sure.
Your observations are well-grounded and point out shortcomings of both political parties.

The OP pointed out the measures that Obama brought to the table that endeavored to benefit the lives of ordinary Americans. Admittedly, they did not benefit everyone. Admittedly, the original focus should have been more on jobs and less on health care.

We all want what's best for our country; we bloggers just disagree on the method. I for one cannot accept any economic platform that begins with "cut taxes on the job-creators blah blah blah" as we know full well that never works. I say let's try building the economy from the ground up rather than the top down. Without a strong middle-class, we're all heading down the toilet with the rich holding all the cards.

Admittedly, it is expensive, but it's the price we pay for negligence and puffing up the wealthy with tax cuts for so long.

Admittedly, change is scary. But many of us feel it is long overdue.

Cheers!

With all due respect, Earthling? When you make a vague statement like "...let's try building the economy from the ground up rather than the top down" I don't have the faintest idea what it is you're proposing. You want a stronger middle class? OK, then how does raising taxes on the people who create jobs make the middle class stronger? I'm sorry but I don't see how that works.

We've lost high paying blue collar jobs to countries with much lower costs than ours. We need to do everything we can to lower the cost of doing business in the US...not take away the potential profits of those who still try to run operations here. If your concern is the disparity of pay between CEO's and ordinary workers then lets concentrate our energies towards getting that corrected...not pass legislation that prompts businesses to leave the US.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Quantum,
From what I read, Iran's economy is tanking, devastated by the (nearly) united international front to stop buying their oil. Inflation is on the rise, which results in civil unrest. Iranian people looking to their govt to set the economy back on track. A bad economy in Iran is a sign that sanctions are working

This is smarter than bombing Iran which would put the U.S. in a negative light and people of Iran might side with the leaders making US the enemy again. Bad move when their economy and political future is on a downward fall...

To be honest, I think we would all LOVE to see a huge gaping hole where the nuclear facility used to be. But in the long run it would jeopardize any credibility the US has left in the region. That's our strongest card we have to play.

Make sense?

Thanks for posting.

(How do you get those short block quotes to look like that?)

Iran's economy is not the target of the sanctions, preventing them from enriching uranium is. They keep building facilities to enrich uranium, therefore the sanctions are failing, even if the government of Iran is tanking their economy.

As a side note, Iran considers economic sanctions an act of war, and believe they justify a military response. Can't say I blame them, if China suddenly started imposing sanctions on the US we would probably get pretty belligerent about it. Closing the Strait of Hormuz seems pretty reasonable when you look at it from their point of view.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I get a kick out of posters who willfully ignore that the economy was in a state of free fall when Obama took office.

The ones that make me laugh are the ones who think Obama deserves credit for the natural upswing of the economy after it hits the bottom of its natural cycle.

 

[Chris]

I get a kick out of posters who willfully ignore that the economy was in a state of free fall when Obama took office.

The ones that make me laugh are the ones who think Obama deserves credit for the natural upswing of the economy after it hits the bottom of its natural cycle.

This was a man made disaster.

There was nothing natural about it.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

I get a kick out of posters who willfully ignore that the economy was in a state of free fall when Obama took office.

The ones that make me laugh are the ones who think Obama deserves credit for the natural upswing of the economy after it hits the bottom of its natural cycle.

This was a man made disaster.

There was nothing natural about it.

And obama is handled by those who caused it. How in the hell do you think obama could have ever been elected in the first place if things were great with the economy?

 

[Chris]

The ones that make me laugh are the ones who think Obama deserves credit for the natural upswing of the economy after it hits the bottom of its natural cycle.

This was a man made disaster.

There was nothing natural about it.

And obama is handled by those who caused it.

Hardly.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I get a kick out of posters who willfully ignore that the economy was in a state of free fall when Obama took office.

The ones that make me laugh are the ones who think Obama deserves credit for the natural upswing of the economy after it hits the bottom of its natural cycle.

This was a man made disaster.

There was nothing natural about it.

All economic swings are both man made and part of the natural cycle of the market. It is not my fault you are too stupid to understand this.

 

[Chris]

The ones that make me laugh are the ones who think Obama deserves credit for the natural upswing of the economy after it hits the bottom of its natural cycle.

This was a man made disaster.

There was nothing natural about it.

All economic swings are both man made and part of the natural cycle of the market. It is not my fault you are too stupid to understand this.

I made A's in economics in college. I am not stupid.

The stimulus worked. The GM rescue worked.

If it had not, you would be blaming Obama.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

This was a man made disaster.

There was nothing natural about it.

And obama is handled by those who caused it.

Hardly.

Get a fucking taste of reality. obama is handled by the people who caused the failed economy. After all obama did say on day one he would have his administration running and getting the job done. What in the hell happened?