Obama whips out his Hatchet...heeeeeeyaaaaw!

[davidb]

Dammit, what the hell are we gonna talk about if your going to agree with us.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Boreas

I'm guessing you mean a shortage of folks coming to Obama's defense. I guess I'm going to disappoint you. He has flip-flopped on this. I think he's wrong. Right during the campaign and wrong now.

Not that I think you're a mind-reader, but what do you think is his motivation here?

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by davidb

Dammit, what the hell are we gonna talk about if your going to agree with us.

I like broccoli?

John

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Not that I think you're a mind-reader, but what do you think is his motivation here?

I wish to hell I knew, Pat. I don't know what to make of this guy any more.

John

[Fast_Eddie]

Pretty much what I predicted - said it here somewhere. After the American suicide attempt in Massachusetts he came out and said "won't change a thing- full speed ahead" and then move quickly to look like he is all about the economy. I'm no economist, but this seems like a bad move, but probably a popular one. I'd guess they had good polling on it before they did it.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Fast_Eddie

Pretty much what I predicted - said it here somewhere. After the American suicide attempt in Massachusetts he came out and said "won't change a thing- full speed ahead" and then move quickly to look like he is all about the economy. I'm no economist, but this seems like a bad move, but probably a popular one. I'd guess they had good polling on it before they did it.

It reads as a capitulation to the Teabaggers. I hope that's not what it actually is.

John

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by Boreas

It reads as a capitulation to the Teabaggers. I hope that's not what it actually is.

John

Not just them I think. People want to see something done on the economy. This is one of those things that a politician does because they can. Much easier than actually solving a problem. Like signing "tough" laws putting a kid smoking pot in jail for 50 years. "Look at me! I'm tough on crime!"

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Fast_Eddie

Not just them I think. People want to see something done on the economy. This is one of those things that a politician does because they can. Much easier than actually solving a problem. Like signing "tough" laws putting a kid smoking pot in jail for 50 years. "Look at me! I'm tough on crime!"

I know but addressing the economy was the first thing he did when he took office and it was successful in a limited way. What he accomplished primarily was to keep things from getting worse.

I guess people don't see that as an achievement because things aren't better for the average person. Not being worse doesn't mean anything to them at a visceral level because they didn't experience "the worse".

Of course, there are the Republicans screaming that the real solution is to stop spending and dole out more tax cuts to the wealthy so they can hire more peons. Trickle down.

John

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by Boreas

I know but addressing the economy was the first thing he did when he took office and it was successful in a limited way. What he accomplished primarily was to keep things from getting worse.

I guess people don't see that as an achievement because things aren't better for the average person. Not being worse doesn't mean anything to them at a visceral level because they didn't experience "the worse".

Of course, there are the Republicans screaming that the real solution is to stop spending and dole out more tax cuts to the wealthy so they can hire more peons. Trickle down.

John

You've got it in a nut shell. This isn't about actual reality, this is about mediated reality. This is about Republicans and apparently voters saying "you didn't do enough" and Obama saying, okay, how 'bout this? Has little or nothing to do with making anything better. This is where they say "we're the good guys, remember, but if we can't get elected we can't do any good! So we'll do this llliiiiitle bit of bad..." and it all goes to shit.

[Boreas]

Well, now even Ben Stein has come out to say that stimulus spending is the way to go and rolling back the Bush tax cuts is the way to fund it. It's a good sign that even an arch-conservative like Stein starts talking economic sense.

In addition to being an actor and game show host, Stein is a Yale educated lawyer who was an honors graduate in economics at Columbia. He worked in both the Nixon and Ford Administrations. Funnily enough, he graduated from high school with Carl Bernstein, leading some people to wonder whether he was "Deep Throat".

John