I mean seriously. So much terrible crap to deal with is being front loaded onto his new administration what are conservatives going to point to as the specific blamable fault of the Obama administration?
Don’t you realize all the poo actually came from Clinton and the minority Dems who had the nerve to actually oppose some of the policies?
Besides, they’ve already tried to pin the recesion on him. What could possibly be worse?
I think your thread title is too strident/over-the-top to get a good discussion going.
Having said that, it’s instructive to look at the Clinton years. I’ll channel for a placeholder conservative; these assertions were legion at that time:
- The Clinton economic recovery happened because:
a) The Reagan Tax Cuts finally got traction, and caused all kinds of nice things. There’s an uncertain delay between one presidents economics that the next administration benefits from and/or is hurt by. But obviously nothing good that happens is because of the current administration.
b) The Clinton economic recovery happened because a GOP majority was elected to the Congress, and those heroic congressmen and senators did the heavy lifting and saved the economy, so Clinton deserves no credit.
Now that there’s a Dem president and congress, anything bad that happens is Obama or the Congress’ fault. If anything good happens, I’m positive that Bush’s policies were somehow the savior, or… or something that makes the GOP heroes. Same spin, once again.
I’ve already heard many already claim Obama is at fault for part of the recent drop for not choosing a Treasury Secretary quick enough.
Why does everyone seem to forget that as a Senator Obama and other Dems pushed thru that ridiculous plan to force banks to give mortgages to people even if they didn’t have a good credit record (i.e. usually minorities). Besides making millions in bonuses for himself Obama even defended it as “A good idea” even after it started the whole economic downturn!
Redistribution of wealth indeed…
Is this a whoosh?
There’s a much shorter word you could use. Begins with an L and ends in an E. The word ‘barefaced’ could also be slipped in there somewhere.
So Ants - Cite? A credible cite. A cite that has not been endlessly refuted.
A cite that is not contradicted by the common knowledge of circumstance and history expected from anyone who feels informed enough to comment in the thread.
I believe I’ve seen it written, apparently seriously, that Obama is the first moderate republican to be elected president in a very long time.
And the claim that that damned Bill Clinton, who was president during eight years of prosperity, somehow contrived the economic disaster we are now facing is is just fantastic; I only wish the last eight years had been as prosperous as those that occurred during Clinton’s watch. I mean for all of us, of course, Bush’s ilk have done well, I’m sure.
Ah, ok. I no longer feel the need to argue with this nonsense. This sort of lunacy is being relegated to the fringe where it belongs. Anybody who uses the term “redistribution of wealth” in a political debate is so ignorant of economics and history that there is no point in paying attention to them.
Can you point us to the specific law which forced banks to give mortgages to people with bad credit? I am more than willing to believe that it is possible that both Bush was a criminally incompetent president and that the Congress were also criminally incompetent. They certainly went along with the invasion of Iraq and I would have no problem believing they would go along with other harebrained schemes. It would be good if we could have the specific law and a cite that Obama voted for it.
I went on record here before the election (not that anyones cares or was listening) that whoever was elected president will be looking pretty good in four years when the economy rebounds. The key is who would fuck up the long term economy the least. So to answer the OP I would say if he bloated the federal government even more than it is with things like government run universal health care.
I’m going out on a limb here but I am also going to predict that Obama will not be the first perfect president. Mistakes will be made. Those mistakes will be used against him. I know, call me crazy.
Everything, same as always.
That’s up to Obama. Yes, he’s being handed a bucket of poo, but the competence of his administration will determine if it’s carefully cleaned up or dumped over the head of the American public. No matter what state the USA is in on January 21, Obama COULD make it worse if he makes the wrong moves.
What the conservatives are pointing to is the Community Reinvestment Act that was passed in 1977. Of course, the conservatives are twisting the facts and torturing the positive effects of the act. The New York Times did an editorial on it. It’s worth reading.
To give you an idea of how far some people will reach, I had an otherwise intelligent conservative say to me, “Obama has ties to ACORN and they were pushing to get mortgages to poor people and the mortgage crisis started the whole mess.”
Therefore, it is obvious to anyone, based on that statement, that Obama is to blame for the financial collapse.
On a board which I visit that has several very, very, vocal RWR’s, I’m hearing the blame directly lies with both Carter and Clinton policies, and the last two years in which dems controlled congress. The folks who postulate these three reasons for the current problems will not acceot any dissent or discussion on these theories.
Also, Rush said a week or two ago that the falling stock market numbers were Obama’s fault because people with money were pulling their money out (or something- not sure).
I seriously doubt Obama will take the position “The problems we now face are sufficient to excuse anything I do.” IOW, he’ll view himself as responsible for the actions of his administration, and will be judged by most folks on those actions and their consequences.
Meanwhile, the “uppity ______” meme lives on. Last night some so-called reporter for the local Fox affiliate “reported” on Obama’s latest appearances before the press to announce new members to be of his administration and policy statements by snarking on how presumptuous Obama is; why, he’s dissing Bush and behaving like he’s President already! was the message. “Some say” made its obligatory appearance in the Foxian blather. I really wished I could reach through the screen and punch the guy’s smirking lights out.
I like to torture myself on my way home from work by listening to Hannity on the radio. In the half hour I listen to, he’s blamed Obama for the current market downturn because investors are afraid of the tax increases Obama has proposed (nevermind that the downturn started before Obama was a sure thing).
Furthermore, it is Obama’s fault for being slow to create a recovery policy (nevermind that he has proposed a tax and budget plan during the campaign, declared several appointments to his cabinet, and GWB is still President).
In the “It’s the Democrats fault” vein, Hannity is accusing the current market downturn on Carter era policies that encouraged banks to give loans to people with lower incomes which were made worse in the Clinton era (nevermind the 12 years of Regan/GHW Bush and 8 years of GW Bush with a Republican Congress).
So, you see, this steaming pile of poo is entirely the fault of Carter and Obama. Clearly.[/sarcasm]
Being a Republican is Never Having to Say You Are Sorry. The ‘I Didn’t Do It’ Party.