Conservative Policies DO NOT WORK, PERIOD

[anonymous171]

The American people are not going to judge Obama by how many bills he passes or pledges he makes. They are going to judge him on what he has accomplished so far. Watered down healthcare "reform" may pass but it won't help. The same principle applies to his planned escalation in Afghanistan. It may please the Hawks but it won't do anything to help the American worker. All it will do is make the public distrust the government even more. Conservatives are intent on making citizens hate their government. Every one of their policies is designed to accomplish that goal.

Compromise will only weaken Obama. He has to take a stand against the conservatives. Otherwise he and all the congressional democrats will fall.

/rant

[provis99]

1. Has there ever been a single Conservative idea, in history, that worked?

I can't think of a single one. Unless you think of imperialism, feudalism, slavery, suppression of women, robber barons, religious repression, war as having "worked".

[donco6]

2. It works GREAT! For the rich. n/t

[Greyhound]

4. Jinx!

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10

[Greyhound]

3. They work very well for the parasites, hell they've been given carte blanche

to steal every asset this nation had for the last 30 years and there are no signs of this changing. So, success or failure depends on the goals and perspective.

[anonymous171]

6. Yep. Obama's presidency has confirmed what I had long suspected about our government

It's run by business, for the benefit of rich.

[dtotire]

5. What will work

Tax Cuts and eliminating regulations, Conservative mantras, will never work. What will work is increased Government investment in education and job training, improving and maintaining the infrastructure, Government support of research and development, and maintaining and improving the health of the workers (through universal health care). This will keep us competitive with other countries. If we follow the Conservative "solutions" we will end up being indebted to other countries. Increasing investment means increasing taxes, but there would be less unemployment, and our living standard will be higher.

[C_Lawyer09]

7. Sure some conservative ideas will work

How about auditing the Federal Reserve, which some Democrats are in favor of, and not causing inflationary measures that mainly act as an invisible tax on the poor by printing more money that has little value. By the way, another poster said that a weak U.S. dollar is good for our economy. If you know the why behind this (I'm being serious) let me know.

[dtotire]

9. Weak Dollar

A weak dollar means that more American-made products will be exported, creating jobs for American workers, and we will have an more favorable trade balance. However, foreign products (including oil), will be more expensive.

[girl gone mad]

20. This, and the statement below, are not factual.

A weakening dollar does very little to help increase exports or create jobs. Our competitors will continue to use tariffs, currency pegs and taxes to ensure that they maintain an advantage. More importantly, a weakening currency leads to massive capital flight as investors pull their money out of the US and put it into markets with a stable or strengthening currency. We already see signs of this happening.

The http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703811604574532110208089606.html">Wall Street Journal ran a good piece debunking the weak dollar mythos this weekend:

Wall Street's mantra is that a weak dollar is a good thing, boosting U.S. exports and, by extension, the economy and employment.

But any export surge might not be big enough—or at least come quickly enough—to outweigh the potential downsides of a weaker currency.

The question will be front-and-center when the Census Bureau releases September trade data on Friday morning. Economists estimate that the U.S. trade deficit widened to $32 billion from $30.7 billion in August.

To the extent the wider gap represents a rising U.S. thirst for crude oil and other imported stuff, it could be the latest sign of economic revival. Still, many economists would like to see the deficit shrink again, arguing global imbalances contributed to the latest crisis.

More-frugal U.S. consumers are making a difference. Collapsing consumer demand was a big factor in halving the gap during the past year.

The U.S. dollar's recent weakness might help, too, by making U.S. exports more competitive overseas.

But exports grew in the 1990s, even as the dollar strengthened, notes Brown Brothers Harriman currency strategist Marc Chandler.

Recent academic research has raised questions about just how exchange rates affect trade. Suffice it to say the relationship is complex.

The dreaded U.S. trade deficit with China rose 33% between 2005 and 2008, even as the dollar fell 18% against the yuan.

U.S. exports to China rose during that time, but Chinese exports to the U.S. rose even more, despite China's rising currency.

There is little doubt that, to the extent currency fluctuations affect trade, they do so with a very long lag—probably up to two years.

The Federal Reserve's trade-weighted dollar index, which measures the greenback against a broad basket of currencies including the Chinese yuan, has fallen nearly 22% since 2002. Some argue that the 63% increase in U.S. exports during that time is no coincidence.

But the risks of a precipitous dollar decline—including runaway inflation and higher interest rates as foreign creditors seek greater returns for lending to the U.S.—are clear and may not be worth the hope of a distant, possibly slim, boost to exports.

[anonymous171]

10. Weak US dollar makes it easier for US firms to do business abroad

Also encourages foreign investment. Which may or may not be a bad thing.

[C_Lawyer09]

12. Thanks for the explanation

I've been doing a lot of reading lately regarding different economic schools of thought, but seems questions answered cause more questions.

[C_Lawyer09]

8. How does increased job training

act as a stimulant to the economy if there are no jobs to train people for?

[Joe the Liberal]

11. Conservative policies DO work but only for the top 1% elite......

everyone else on down gets screwed in 100 different ways by conservative policies.

[Cleita]

13. Remember all the jobs that alternative energy development was

supposed to create? So what happened? The contracts were awarded to European countries and China. We, however, not only have to pay for these contracts out of our taxes, but buy the solar panels and other ways of delivering energy out of our pockets as well.

[anonymous171]

14. Seriously? WTF!?

:grr:

[Cleita]

15. Thom Hartmann was talking about it last week.

Here's a link to one of the contracts. Only 15% of the jobs created will be in the USA.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/170625-wsj-most-jobs-for-chinese-wind-farm-in-texas-to-go-to-china

[AngryAmish]

16. I think that is a pretty provokative thing to say around here

You seem to be made of some stern stuff, sir. And you said it on the internet as well. Where anyone can see it.

[Yuugal]

17. At what point

Do we recognize that we have met the enemy, and they are us? It was a dem congress that did all the bailout for the rich crooks and yet didn't put a single one in jail because they were needed in Obumble's admin. The repukes are going to have a field day with this in 2010.

[anonymous171]

18. The party needs a cleansing. Or a fracture.

Right now we are horribly ineffective due to ideological dilution. We need to stand up and say that OUR policies work and that theirs do not. There is no center.

[ProSense]

19. "The American people are not going to judge Obama by how many bills he passes...

or pledges he makes. They are going to judge him on what he has accomplished so far."

I assume you mean, how many laws he signs, but aren't those accomplishments?

You are right that Americans are going to judge him on what he has accomplished. The problem is that Americans aren't going to be weighing his accomplishments in the same light as those who claim he is no better than Bush.

"Watered down healthcare "reform" may pass but it won't help."

To quote Krugman, after health care reform passes, people will like it and it will achieve its goal. It's not perfect, but it's also not the albatross, that you claim. Not even close.