Suppose you drove past a big old house every day, and fell in love with it

[SoCalDem]

It goes up for auction, and you want it desperately.. You have looked at that place forever, and have always wanted it.

After much trepidation, you bid, and you get outbid, and you bid again.. and finally.. you "win" the bid.


After it's yours, you discover that the prior occupants never did any maintenance on it, and it's got foundation issues, a rusted out boiler, termites, broken pipes, creaky floors.

Things we love and fight for are often, "as is". We don't get to choose the condition. We can only choose yay or nay.

We don't usually "know" what's going to "happen". It's the same in politics. Every adminsitration lays the foundation for the next one to come. None are separate, and fresh. (Except for George Washington's).

Each new president has a laundry list of things he wants to do, and things he promised to do, BUT until he gets "inside the house" and "owns" it, he has no way of knowing what repairs must be done first, and which can wait.

The person with the old house may have planned to have a glorious "Open House" Party, with friends & family, to celebrate the purchase of the house, but "saving" the structural integrity and safety of the house must come first.

They must also accept the fact that , at some point they may just flat-out run out of money & energy, and the work they have done, may end up as a benefit for the next owners.

And sometimes we have to accept the fact that some things are so damaged, that no amount of labor & money can restore them. They have to be torn down, and a fresh start is what's needed.

Unfortunately, our country is like that old house, and we have had a couple of hundred years-worth of contractors tinkering around here and there, but very few have done quality work. Some may have even ripped rotten boards from the roof, to shore up the floors. They have apparently padded their invoices too, and left most of the work undone, but overpaid for.


Every four years "someone" WILL be president, and we should just start to accept the fact that no one can "repair" that old decrepit house in a month, or two or seven or even ninety-six. They can only make repairs as they go along, and try to keep up with new problems that crop up, and we cannot blame them if they get no help, or if the helpers are sabotaging the work every day as they take their paychecks.

[ColbertWatcher]

1. k+r, n/t

[Horse with no Name]

2. Good analogy

Except you understand when you buy this old house that it is "as is". Now if someone told you it was going to be different and they would INSURE that it was fixed, then it is a different applecart altogether.
For example...there are things you can do to fix the curb appeal that have nothing to do structurally. A coat of paint, cleaning up the yard (DADT, DOMA). These things are curb appeal and within 5 minutes and the stroke of a pen--they could be gone! Now THAT would REALLY fix up the place. It would add a lot of value to this investment. It would also take care of promises made on the way to the auction.

[Horse with no Name]

8. K&R by the way

While I disagree with some of the conclusions--the premise is outstanding. Good job.

[SoCalDem]

13. Unfortunately, our 30+ year cycle of boom & bust was the "curb appeal"

but it was all just a mirage..now we're all on the curb, just waiting for the trash men to haul us away.

I think Obama wants those issues you named, to be "official" and run through congress, so that the next president cannot undo what he may undo from his predecessor. Every change of office is accompanied by some serious "dueling pens" as they try to undo the parting shots of ink, left by the outgoing president.

By going through congress, it would put a stamp of "official policy" on those issues, and make it harder to undo by the next one..

[LaurenG]

3. And sometimes we have to accept the fact that some things are so damaged, that no amount of labor &

money can restore them." This is where we are as a country. There are too many things that are so rotten that there is nothing left to do but to replace the old with brand new. Unfortunately our president is still trying to create something new using old "tools" for instance some of his picks are old tools with a very bad history. He'll need to dig around for some innovative thinkers asap. I am in disagreement with him about how to get where we need to be.

[pecwae]

4. K&R worthy.

Good analogy and great post.

[malaise]

5. Excellent analogy

I promised to remain silent on the Obama administration for six months.

[babylonsister]

6. Very nice-rec'd! nt

[lunatica]

7. Yup! We're a fixer upper

The last owner threw a Skull and Bones frat party to end all frat parties.

[old mark]

9. Need to get the rats out

of the fucking basement.....


mark

[GreenPartyVoter]

34. Basement? Heck, they have the run of the place. :^(

[Hannah Bell]

10. first question: why is the contractor hiring workers who don't work, or do sabotage?

shouldn't he fire them & get better ones?

[SoCalDem]

14. My guess is that some of them may be "left overs" from the previous tenants

:evilgrin:

I have hope that he will throw them out:)

[zbdent]

11. this time around, it's more like the Repukes were sitting around, watching the Dems

building a house over a long time ...

Finally, the house is pretty much finished. The Dems are run off by the Repukes, and the Repukes set fire to the house.

After that, the Dems finally chase off the Repukes, who stand across the street shouting insults about how long it's taking the Dems to fix the house ...

[SoCalDem]

15. OMG.,. you reminded me of something..

A friend of mine lovingly restored a 1941 pick up truck.. workeed on it every spare minute, and the day after he had the expensive paintjob put on it, someone stole it..

He "knew" it was someone who had seen him out in the driveway for months, and they waited util he was done, to steal it..

He never got it back :(

[Fumesucker]

32. I think *that* is the more accurate analogy..

Do a loving restoration and some jerk will steal it from you.

The conservatives *will* eventually return to power, after Nixon I fully expected not to see another Republican POTUS for a generation. We got exactly four years of Jimmy Carter before Ronald Reagan came in and set us on the road to the current disaster.

I won't make that mistake again.

[zbdent]

12. Delete ... dupe

PC froze up ...

[sendero]

16. The only problem is..

... our president is spraying Raid on the termites, splattering JB Weld on the boiler and putting more shims on the foundation.

Regardless of what condition you find the house in, you can either fix it or just kick the can. Obama must be wearing some fine boots.

[SoCalDem]

17. McCain would have been soooo much better?

:rofl:

[sendero]

18. I'm not going ..

... to play that ridiculous game. So, if someone kills 5 people they are "better" than someone who killed 6?


Your premise, that Obama had no idea what he was getting into, is IRRELEVANT. His decision to hire the likes of Geithner and Summers makes it clear he's not interested in fixing anything but the banker's problems.

And not only that - IT'S NOT WORKING AND IT'S NOT GOING TO WORK.

Obama has successfully converted a Republican depression into a Democratic one. Would McCain have been better? Well, in the long run quite possibly.

[SoCalDem]

19. wow ..someone pissed in your cheerios?..

nothing in life is "perfect".. we all do the best we can... and we should not expect miracles from anyone who becomes president... and people who may not share your exact opinion are not necessarily "fools".. we may just have been around the block a few more times than you have and we have a more nuanced view of history.

[sendero]

22. I clung..

... to the belief that Obama would come around for a long time. But time after time after time he has let me down. How would McCain actually be different? The war, the warrantless wiretaps, the unitary executive? Other than the health care initiative I can't tell Obama from a Republican.

And I have close to zero hope that anything meaningful will come from that either.

When Obama speaks I am in AWE. He says ALL THE RIGHT THINGS. Then, like most politicians he goes back to the white house and does all the wrong things. Being a Dem is not enough. We are no so conditioned to accept NOTHING that even less than nothing looks appealing. I'm sick of it.

[SoCalDem]

25. Patience, grasshopper

:hug:

It takes nine long months to grow a baby, and even though we wish it did not take that long, we know we must wait until the baby is "done".. Obama is doing the best he can, and I have faith that his best may be good enough... and if it;s not, it will not be for lack of trying.

He is being fought at every turn, by the media, by the republicans, and by the faint-of-heart who had higher hopes than probably anyone could have fulfilled.

we were all so burned by GW, that we may be putting too much hope into too small of a space and in too little of a timeframe..

[sendero]

28. I really..

... wish I could share your optimism. But I see no sign that Obama has figured out that his economic team works for Goldman Sachs, not America.

Until he deals with that, everything else is just fluff.

[babylonsister]

20. Sure, that's all he's doing is kicking the can.

:eyes: Why do you think the rethugs are up in arms about everything he does? Because - gasp! - he might just improve what idiot son managed to screw up royally. If he's successful in anything, the rethugs won't see the rainbow at the end of his 4 years.

And while we're at it, do you recall idiot son doing anything, ANYTHING?, for Americans? He devoted 8 years to getting his war on, and that's it.

Stimulus to create jobs FOR AMERICANS
Health Care FOR AMERICANS
New energy policies FOR AMERICANS
Stem Cell Research FOR AMERICANS

There's more, but you get my drift. Sure, he's not been perfect and I have some criticisms of my own, but I don't agree with your characterization that he's just biding his time.

[zbdent]

21. McCain would have been attacking the liberal media for blasting

his inaction, saying that, if we let it alone, it would repair itself and become a mansion ...

[sendero]

23. Well...

...

Stimulus to create jobs FOR AMERICANS - it's not working, we are still going to have a depression. If you didn't know that you heard it here first.

Health Care FOR AMERICANS - remains to be seen. Based on past performance I expect something analogous to Bush's Medicare Part D, i.e. mainly benefiting big business

New energy policies FOR AMERICANS - I'm not enamored of cap and trade and I'm not aware of any other concrete action. Maybe you can enlighten me.

Stem Cell Research FOR AMERICANS - bravo, this is a win.

I guess two out of 4 isn't bad. What happened to the standard being the promises that were made rather than just being a tiny increment better than the worst president in our history?

[babylonsister]

27. You are too impatient.

You don't know stimulus isn't working, and from a lot I've seen, it is in some places. Look around DU at the success stories. But nah, why should you? You seem to be enjoying your misery.

The energy reforms won't even be addressed until after August, so your kvetching is premature.

Health care? Yes, it remains to be seen, same as with energy, but I guarantee you won't like the final result, because that would indicate more success.

Sometimes Democrats are our own worst enemies.

I prefer optimism, obviously, but have at it. I still think we're way ahead of the game with Obama as opposed to the past 8 years of that little creep. And McCain/Palin? What would they be doing right now? How do you think he'd be representing us? I dread to even consider that.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8520615
Artificial Stimulus-It's too soon to say whether the stimulus package is working

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=8518491
Stimulus Not Working? Hold Your Horses!

[Sukie]

29. Your impatience helps no one.

Obama has 48 months as the president in his first term. Out of 48 months, he has not even completed a full 6 months. That leaves him with 42 months. Did you seriously think that he was going to fix all the problems you listed in approximately 1/8th of his term? Even CEO's who take over floundering corps have more time before they are declared failures. By turning your back on him so quickly, it only serves to bolster the repubs and in my opinion, that is unforgivable as dem.

[Sukie]

24. I absolutely love your analogy!

Thanks for putting to words how I have been feeling about all the Obama grumbling. I hope you don't mind if I use your story too. :)

[SoCalDem]

26. Thank you.. feel free to use it

:)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

30. Perhaps it's time to tear it down and start over.

The foundation has issues. Some of which are insurmountable in it's present state.

It is infested with termites. Lobbyists and political opportunists.

Perhaps it's time to tear it down and start over with new foundations and keep the termites out.

[Horse with no Name]

31. I personally recall hearing that lobbyists wouldn't be welcome

into the new house.
I'm very disturbed that not only do they seem to be welcome (because if they weren't, there would be no reason for the insurance lobby to be spending $1.4 million PER DAY to lobby Congress AGAINST a public option). Now, where is that money going?
Follow the money...it will always lead you to the truth.
$1.4 million PER DAY. Can you imagine how much HEALTHCARE that would buy people who have NOTHING? In 2 days, that is 3 Americans maxing out $1 million dollar policies.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/449824/real_health_real_reform
>>>snip
With both the House and Senate looking to pass health care bills prior to the summer recess which begins August 8, now is the moment of truth for Democrats: will they offer a real public plan option to compete with private plans and drive down costs? Or will they cater to the healthcare industry which is now spending $1.4 million per day on lobbyists to protect their profits?

[Ron Green]

33. Build it smaller this time, with sustainable materials.

A low-flow solar heated shower instead of a jetted tub.