Why did the Democrats and Obama fail this election cycle this year?

[code1211]

First of all, "saving the UAW" as the only reason for the bailout of GM and Chrysler is a misnomer. However you want to condense it to make it look like political maneuvering only, without the bailouts of the auto companies, millions MORE would have been laid off, looking for work, looking for unemployment compensation (and extensions), and needing to get on the government "welfare" system. So if no auto bailout is what people wanted, they had no clue how much more devastating it would have been NOT to prop up the #1 industry in the United States.

Second, the stimulus package was NOT a "theft." That's another buzzword offered up by the right wing noise machine. There is evidence all over the place (exept on Fox, et al., of course), that stimulus money indeed got projects moving, saved states from bankruptcy (which were also suffering from lack of projected revenue due to the economy), and kept many people from the unemployment lines, even if temporarily. More than half of the stimulus money targeted tax breaks for small businesses, yet business leaders continue to shout that "Obama isn't business friendy." Did some states misuse their stimulus funds? Indeed they did. Was there fraud? Isn't there always some crook looking to make a buck at the expense of the taxpayer?

Finally, a sitting president has a Constitutional obligation to work with and through the two legislative branches. He can't just dictate the way his preferred policy will be enacted. So to allege that he "turned over" anything to Pelosi and Reid is another misnomer. He had no choice. It took over a year to get a final bill passed, which would indicate to any "thinking" person that a LOT of compromising was taken into consideration, including, contrary to what you won't hear on FoxNews, over 100 amendments put forth by Republicans.

Seeing as you seem to claim that Fox News mis reports, I would like to point out how you mis-report about Fox News.

Fox News reported on the stimulus projects. The truth about the projects. The money spent and the amount of jobs created. Facts are facts. Many of the projects did not maximize the efficiency of the money in terms of jobs produced. 300K to produce one job is ludicrous and that is why many deem it as a failure. The unemployment rate did not do what Obama promised it would do...and I doubt even YOU fell for the old fall back of "well, think of how bad it could have been without the stimulus". I expected him to say it just as I expected Bush to say "well, at least we got rid of a dictator"...ikt is what politicians do to save face. They spin.

Fox News NEVER said the stimulus did not help states stay afloat. To the contrary, they said that it DID help states stay afloat. And furthermore, giving states money to stay afloat would do just that. Help them stay afloat. It is basic logic. Problem was, the stimulus was not marketed to the people as a means to help states stay afloat. It was marketed as a jobs bill for all intents and purposes. If it was designed to help states stay afloat, there should have been guidelines set in place to ensure those same states made the approprioate moves to become more independant.....

As for Obama handing it over to Pelosi. Many of the times he was asked, he admitted he did not know what was in the bill....he DID pass it off to Prlosi to draft and negotiate. For good or bad, that was what was done..and when you have a super majority, or close to one, the President, who is serving ALL OF THE PEOPLE should ensure it is not a one sided bill.

C'mon, Republicans had a field day either embellishing stuff in the stimulus bill or flat out making up shit. They couldn't wait to get on FoxNews and blather away to Fox's rapt audience of Obama haters.

PolitiFact | Does the stimulus package really include $300,000 for a sculpture garden?

As part of their attack on the Democratic-led $835 billion economic stimulus package, some Republicans have attempted to discredit the plan by singling out examples of what they consider the most outrageous spending.

In an interview with Fox News on Jan. 23, 2009, Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the House Republican whip, said that in a meeting with President Obama, Cantor asked if he "could use his influence on this process to try and get the pork barrel spending out of the bill. I mean, there's $300,000 for a sculpture garden in Miami."

But do a word search on "sculpture" in the 647-page stimulus bill now before the House and you'll come up blank. It's not in there.

PolitiFact | Cantor says more in stimulus for Washington grass than small businesses

In order to make his equation work, Cantor assumes all of $200 million is for the new turf. It's not.

In reality, only a small portion of the $200 million would be for new turf, Brost said. "It's one of a lot of things that need to get done."

I won't bore you with more, but there are pages and pages of embellishments, lies, and omissions regarding the stimulus bill all promulgated by Republicans, and of course eagerly picked up if not directly, then indirectly via Beck, O'Reilly & Co., parroting what was said.

stimulus bill site:PolitiFact | Sorting out the truth in politics

If this was a stimulus bill, it should have stimulated the economy. It did not.

We are left, then, with two posibilities:

1. The people who planned it are utter morons incapable of doing the job.
2. The people who planned it are genius level swindlers who sold one thing and delivered another intentionally.

The Democrats are either morons or swindlers. You tell me which they are.