Let's blame the president. Come jump on the train!

[Uben]

Obama didn't create the financial mess, either war, the recession, or the loss of jobs. He just happened to be the unfortunate recipient of those catastrophies when he took what is arguably the toughest position for a president to face, ever. He walked into a hornets nest, willingly, with the intent of doing what he could to straighten out the mess the country was left in. Instead of getting support, he was instantly faced with a congress that is hellbent on bringing him down in the name of republican conservatism.
Shameless dereliction of duty by our republican congress critters has put us where we are today, and we elected Obama to help us figure a way out of this mess. He's done an admirable job, in my book, given the unwillingness of republicans to help out Americans in times of trouble. When they're not in power, the republicans focus on appeasing any contributing entity that is willing to fill their coffers without regard to the impact it has on working American families.

So, for those of you out there running Obama down, vowing to sit it out, or just bitchin cuz you can, think of the consequences of your actions, something the republicans obviously do not do. There is no dem candidate out there who is gonna come in and do a better job given the circumstances of today's republican party.

Jump on the train! Help defeat the policy of a man who gave us healthcare reform, finance reform, a higher minimum wage, and has faced several disasters in his first two years as president! Throw the bum out and give us back another George Bush. But, when it all comes crashing down, and you're saying I told you so, who are you gonna turn to? Are you willing to beg for morsels from a republican administration again?

No one man is gonna fix our problems. It's gonna take more than a village, it's gonna take a nation devoted to doing what's right and willing to bite the bullet, willing to make concessions, and willing to work together. Use your ballot to choose leaders who will set us on that path.

[opihimoimoi]

1. KnR 5 Star Post.... :o)..The GOP poses a great threat to the Nation

Its not about which candidate is best...its about which Party is Best

[vi5]

2. He gave us healthcare reform and finance reform?

Funny because I thought the Senate did that? Remember, Obama isn't responsible for the Senate and has no control over them? I believe that's been mentioned on here a few....oh I don't know, 8 million times or so?

It can't be both ways. When something is bad, or has a lot of really reprehensible elements people can't shrug their shoulders and say "Oh well, not his fault or his doing. He has no control over the big, bad Senate." but then when credit is to be taken say that "Obama gave us this."

[cornermouse]

3. And no, I'm sorry, but FDR faced a lot more than

Obama has and FDR did more to correct it. I don't blame Obama for the situation that he walked into. I am, however, very unhappy with his idea of "fixing" it. HCR? You probably don't want to go there with me and a lot of other people. That's been pretty much a disaster still in motion.

:hippie: :hippie: :hippie: :hippie:

[Uben]

8. As someone who pays $20K/yr on insurance premiums.....

....because of a pre-exissting cancer diagnosis, I think I'm every bit as qualified as yourself to qualify the HCR bill. Just because you didn't get relief doesn't mean others did not. Yeah, that doesn't do much for you, but if it's all about you, why bother, because you will never get everything you want. The HCR was far from perfect, or even adequate, for that matter, but is that Obama's fault? He chose to champion the issue, knowing the difficulties he faced in getting anything passed. He got as much as congress was willing to give up, and it took a lot of back-room dealing to get even that. You don't approve? That's certainly your perogative, but had he failed to get anything passed, or even attempted it, what would you be complaining about? It's easy to armchair quarterback these situations saying what should and should not have been included, but getting it done is not an easy task, and damn near impossible with the current political climate. I think this nation is better off with the HCR reform we did get, but agree it does fall far short of what was needed, which is, IMO, national healthcare. I'm convinced that's not gonna happen in my lifetime.

[cornermouse]

12. If you really are paying $20,000 a year for insurance

then you don't have access to healthcare. You have insurance payments just like I soon will. Effectively HCR has caused me to lose my access to health care unless I want to ignore my family's survival and future; something I can't do. I have been forced to give my access to healthcare to someone else. That's not right either. They should have created a method to expand coverage not shift it away from one person to someone else.

Another clear failure on Obama's part? His failure to break apart the banks that were too big to fail. The mortgage-gate we're watching coming at us is one of the results The choice is to pass laws that will effectively allow them to foreclose on homes that may or may not have been saved for the families living in them or to shell out trillions more dollars so that we can repeat the cycle. He should have done something to force them to sell off banks until they were small enough to shut down. He did not.
:hippie:

[Uben]

17. $1875/month on premiums

....with a $5000 deductible and 50% of the next $10K, giving a max out-of-pocket of $10K/yr (that's me and the wife). Add that to the premiums and any one year could cost me $30K. Yeah, it sucks, but when you have had cancer, the insurance gods do not smile upon you. Having this expensive shitty insurance saved my ass a few years ago. Were I not insured, I would be one of those who had lost everything due to medical bills. No one else is gonna give me coverage and they raise the premiums every chance they get. It's tough to make those kind of premium payments and I hoped HCR would give me some relief, but it didn't. I cannot risk going 6 months without coverage to get in the high-risk pool, even though it's been 7 yrs since the cancer. I can afford to make those premium payments, but just barely. I know at the rate it is increasing, it's just a matter of time before I have to let it go and risk going without it so I can get in the high-risk pool.

It is what it is, and I have no control or other options right now, so it's wait and see.

There are others much worse off than I am, and they must be addressed first. At least I have a home and some money in the bank. I donate money and time to select charities to help those less fortunate than I. It's the democratic thing to do.

[cornermouse]

18. I'm putting this bluntly.

I would have to die because I am, in effect, losing access to healthcare. I cannot afford to pay what you pay and I cannot afford the deductibles for what I can struggle to pay for. I see nothing here to cheer about.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dennis4868]

5. Really?

You were against it being easier to get student loans and getting rid of the preexisting condition limitation with regard to getting health during the Bush years?

[vi5]

6. Student Loans? Really?

Yeah, making it easier for people to take on debt that then makes them more willing to work like dogs for less wages just so they can pay off that debt......wasn't exactly something I was screaming about Bush not doing.

And I'm someone for whose family the pre-existing condition ban removal is supposed to help but it's a devil's trade off that comes with a lot of bad and a very high price tag.

[Uben]

11. You know guys/gals....

....I understand the disgust you have with the current political stalemate in Washington. We all have issues we want addressed but appear to always be on the back burner. It's damned frustrating, and with the mid-terms looking to bolster the numbers of republican naysayers, it most likely won't get any better. The president is relegated to working with what he has, which isn't much, considering the fact it takes 60 votes to get anything done in the senate these days. I believe he has our interests at heart, and that's why I voted for him, and that's why I support his actions. I don't think he walks on water, but he damn sure swims better than a republican!

[vi5]

25. We can agree to disagree, but....

...one of the reasons the GOP were so emboldened to obstruct everything was because Obama and Reid (Pelosi less so, but she's not entirely innocent) signaled early on that bipartisanship was important to them, and that they were putting a premium on that over good legislation. Obama signaled early on in many ways (off the top of my head keeping Bernake and Gates in their jobs) that he was willing to continue Bush era policies rather than take any bold moves or clean breaks to hit the ground running. He also signaled with stuff like urging Reid to forgive Leiberman and keep him in his leadership positions that he was going to play nice. Now we can argue until we're blue in the face whether he did this because A) he was naive enough to think it would work and that Bipartisanship was possible with the modern GOP, or B) really did want to continue those policies and take the country in an only slightly less conservative direction. If it's option A then that makes him incredibly naive and oblivious to something which anyone paying the slightest bit of attention over the past 15-20 years would know was not possible, and if it's option B then I"m not going to applaud that.

But there's no doubt in my mind that his weak actions and clearly sent signals early on was like chum in the water for the republicans and it emboldened them, while at the same time causing him to lose a lot of support from a lot of areas.

Look at what my GOP governer here in NJ is doing. He came out swinging early on, signaled a take no prisoners approach and is changing the entire landscape of this state politically. And unfortunately he's winning. But he's aggressive and he's hitting his opponents hard and he's not buckling under for anyone because democrats are afraid of him (big surprise). For once I'd love someone in a leadership position within our party....anyone....to take this approach. Anyone who does is apologized for, and shamed into the basement by the democratic party.

[cornermouse]

14. Student loans from

7 years ago were carrying a 2.something% interest rate. The last one I got this semester for the classes I'm taking now had gone up to a 6.something% interest rate and that's without any missed or late payments. This is not a positive change nor does it auger well for my grandchild's ability to pay for an college education.
:hippie:

[Uben]

9. I refuse to argue with anyone with that attitude

It's like arguing with a republican. A waste of time.

[Bitwit1234]

7. I think Obama let us down because he did not fight hard

enough for the type of reform which was best for the country. He tried to appease the republicans too much, why I don't know. He did the best he could but I think he was over his head because he did not choose the correct members for his inner circle. I don't Rahm or Geither did much to help him and steered him down the wrong path. Hopefully he will see the light and get his butt in gear the next two years. He should just tell republicans to get the hell out of the way because they are not helping they are hindering.

[Uben]

10. Hmmm?

In the first sentence, you said Obama let us down, and in the second, you said he did the best he could. What the hell do you want?
I think he has told the republicans to get the hell out of the way. Guess what? They decided not to!

[cornermouse]

13. In effect, becoming yet another in long line of

"beat up on them" posts.
:hippie:

[treestar]

21. Posters like these simply insist that "courage" or "toughness"

would work. Some type of bullying or threats. When you try to get them to say what, the most they can do is withdrawal of chairmanships or threats to remove campaign funding from the party (a blanket power they think the President has). In essence, they wanted to just depend on some sort of strength of personality from the POTUS, who is supposed to mesmerize Senators into voting with him, including Republicans.

There is also the lack of "courage" to use the miraculous reconciliation process, or to put a stop to the filibuster (or to "make" the Rs really carry out the filibuster literally as in the movies but not realistic now). This literal filibuster will cause, in their minds, only the Republicans to suffer. It will make the Republicans cave.

There is no arguing with these people - they simply deny the facts.

[ElboRuum]

24. It's simply that after watching Shrub executive order the neocon agenda through...

Even people who should know better really kind of want Obama to do the same thing ultimately. They don't mind the concept of an "elected king", they just want the elected king to be liberal.

[Aramchek]

27. in the real world, you can't govern by pretending half of Congress doesn't exist

[NYC_SKP]

15. No, I think it's better to bicker amongst ourselves and let the Republicans win. That will show US!

On second thought, maybe we should tone down the infighting and present a united front, even as we argue the details.

For a change.

K and R.

:patriot:

[Bluenorthwest]

16. I see some 'moderates' who say they 'can not' vote for

the Democrat Kendrick Meek, and they say they are voting for Republican Reject Chralie 'Palin is Presidential' Crist, but they are the only DUers I see saying they will not vote Democratic.
This is divisive, judgmental, and biased. You do harm to the very man you think you 'support'. And that is that.

[FirstTimeVoterAt37]

19. He's only the best president in decades, why should we support him?

It's much more fun to echo teabagger talking points with a "reasonable criticism" spin.

[treestar]

20. And he said the whole time during the campaign that it would be

tough, take time, and he would need us too. He's right when he told the RS reporter that anyone giving up now was never serious.

[lunatica]

22. I put my money where my mouth is. I voted absentee yesterday

In California. I voted for Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer, Barbara Lee, and Gavin Newsom. I also voted for Prop 19 (legalize Marijuana) and against prop 23 (ignore the air pollution laws because of the economy - written by oil companies)

[Kltpzyxm]

23. Healthcare Reform?

You mean No Insurance Company CEO Bonus Left Behind?

Sorry - Obama has done some good things, but "healthcare reform" is not one of them.

[Ikonoklast]

28. The man in your avatar voted for it.

He saw it as the best chance at real health care reform since he's been in Congress.

Go ahead and blame the president.

But make sure to spread that blame around.

[bigwillq]

26. Yes, because no one ever blames the president.

Never. :sarcasm: :rofl: