Your post is offensive and full of presumptions.
Yes, soared. Before the fiscal stimulus was passed the administration released a reportthat said unless the fiscal stimulus package was passed unemployment would go up to 9%. After the stimulus package was passed unemployment actually went up to 10%. So when the actual rate goes up 1% over what the prediction that was supposed to scare people into supporting the stimulus package, I think that qualifies as soared.
My main problem with the way Obama reacted to the recession was all the money wasted on expensive but ineffectual fiscal policy while ignoring potentially effective monetary policy by not appointed doves to the Fed when they could have done the most good. In the time since the Great Recession started the Fed has done a decent job of monetary stimulus and has driven the unemployment rate down to its current low levels. I would definitely support four more years of either Bernanke or Yellen.
I guess NPR doesn’t find monetary policy as interesting as teen in third world countries who like rap.
My post may be presumptuous but it’s still more accurate than your characterization of the multi-organizational process that led to Anwar al-Awlaki’s death as “Obama waved a wand”.
I’m probably right, but you will then throw an unrelated thing at me in hopes of doing what?
I voted for Obama twice, without hesitation. But I have to say that after 8 years, I’m sick of seeing and hearing him on TV. The lecturing is getting old. Full disclosure, though, I think that is mostly because of the exposure and is typically true, for me, of any president who hangs around that long. My God the way my skin would crawl every time GWB’s mug was shown on TV.
Bottom line, though, I’d take 4 more years of Obama over 4 years of either Hillary or Trump any day!! He’s the most dovish of the 3 by far. I"m generally OK with Hillary, but I’m just uncertain of how trigger-happy she is going to be.
They’re terrorists, military targets – due process does not apply. Under the circumstances, their citizenship is irrelevant.
I know what you’re talking about (understand what you’re referring to). Your thinking that “due process” is applicable suggests to me that you don’t know what you’re talking about (fail to discern that the situation doesn’t call for courtroom procedures). This isn’t just someone breaking the law – this is war. Different game, different rules.
It’s almost as if a presidential candidate can write off reaching a large percentage of the population that would never vote for him. For arguments sake lets say 47%.
I am a Democrat at heart, but Bernie Sanders had some good ideas. His socialist ideas are a little too left leaning for me, but free secondary education would be great. As usual, it’s always the money issue; where will the money come from to pay for it? How about this: have corporations pay for business and associated degrees, museums and artists pay for the arts, etc? If a person wants a degree in accounting, then the tuition comes from a fund created by Wall Street, banks, insurance companies etc. Let those institutions who want people trained and educated a certain way pay for it. It’s an investment, not a wasted expense.
Some of us do not agree with that. I don’t think this is the thread for rehashing those conversations, though.
Fair enough.
Since when do we not kill American citizens? That happens every day, always has. Just this past week, the government killed Christy Sheats, and she wasn’t even at war with the United States.
I think where I lost all respect for President Obama was the way he and the democrats in congress behaved when they wanted to pass the aca. First of all they didn’t care what was in the bill. Second their determination to pass it at all costs and without any consideration for what Americas felt aboutit. Especially how after Massachusetts of all places elected a republican senator in order to block the bill they became all the more determined to shove it through without consideration.
She wasn’t shot for her crimes. She was shot to prevent her from being able to shoot anyone else. Shooting a terrorist who is just driving down the street not posing a risk to anyone is not the same thing and every effort should be taken to bring them in alive.
How rich do you think museums and artists are?
Are you saying “it can’t possibly be racism, because reasons” or “the racism is obvious/irrelevant, the other stuff is more interesting”?
Presidents have been stacking the Court for most of my life, if not longer (Mr Dooley certainly predates me). I’m not sure how I feel about that in general, but I’d certainly rather it be stacked my way than the other way.
I said that he should offer to work with the Republicans first. The Republicans in Congress should have been offered an opportunity to participate in some reasonable negotiations. Obama should only “go to war” if the Republicans refused all attempts to work with him.
My suggestion was not that Obama should have started a fight with the Republicans. I said if they were fighting with him, he should fight back.
This thread has me wondering: Many people call Obama a conservative Democrat. Is he conservative by choice or because the Republicans pulled him to the right?
If Obama had a Democratic super-majority in both houses of Congress, would we still be spending $600 billion on the military every year and would we still be bombing ISIS and going to war in the Middle East? What about the tax cuts?
The prison at Guantanamo would have been shut down a damn sight sooner.
ETA: serious answer, some of both. Obama is a post-Clinton Democrat, and that means more conservative than Democrats have been in the past. But, also, yes, he was certainly dragged rightward by the Congress.
i admired his pivot away from Saudi…and towards Iran… I’ve never understood why that relationship hasn’t been worked on before. I credit him for largely keeping us out of Syria… we’ve had 8 solid years of two wars… the military community couldn’t take more deployments.
Cuba was a win. We can never go back to that ignorant inane policy again. Concerning Putin… I seriously think you missed the crux of the matter. Oil production in this country driving prices low have crippled Putin… just a long slow twist on that murderous bastard…unfortunately you have to deal with him and Assad…That’s life…
I voted for Obama twice, the second time a little more reluctantly than the first. I have been disappointed with Obama MANY times over the last eight years, most notably with his seeming blindness on the GOP’s intransigence. His bending the knee over every GOP whim, especially during his first term, probably got us the ACA instead of single payer (yes, I know single payer wasn’t on the table at the time, which kind of makes my point), Guantanamo remaining open, and needless compromises when he was in a position of strength, especially when the other side had no inclination to compromise at all.
The above stated, if the choice were between Obama and the two current presumptive nominees for president, I would vote for Obama again, without hesitation.
Obama may not have been the best president ever but, in my opinion, he has been the best president of the modern era since Eisenhower, so yeah, I’ll take four more years of Obama, please.
I’ve grown accustomed to the steady hand.