How to utterly trivialize one of the most historic days of any of our lives?

[Gagh]

Cynics are great. I'm one, and I work in an office packed with career-cynics. Start of with expectations low, bemoan anything on the system & walk round in a perma depressa-funk.

Things can only get better then!

 

[curiousa2z]

lol - there is that!

 

[Laker_Girl]

Well no, blaming a president for all the Economy's failings or successes is ridiculous, yes. But there is something called accountability for this mess as well.

That's always been my problem with the leftists. Accountability lies with the people making bad choices not with our president. I'm completely and totally pissed off the Bush decided to bail huge corporations out with my hard earned money and I'm getting double fucked in the ass because my governor is trying to do the same thing. But even still, in order to function as a capitalist society and not a socialist society we have to let the success and failure lie in the hands of the people. You can't agree that government doesn't and shouldn't run your life and then when times get tough stick your hand out. The American car, insurance, and finance companies should have been told to pound sand not given a fat bail out, that was/is insanity!

This is the same guy who defiantly told America that: "The fundamentals of our economy are strong. ... Job creation is strong. Real after-tax wages are on the rise. Inflation is low."

None of that was true then and it's not true now.

Actually it was true and for a very long period of time. The reason I can tell is because America runs off the backs of small business and my parents are small business owners. Their company was ripped to shreds under Clinton's oppressive taxes but thrived most of the time while Bush was in office. It wasn't until recently that things got tough. By all means my parent's company manufactures a frivolous product so they're not generally affected by a recession because the people that have money and buy the product always have money. But when the stock market crashes and you start talking depression even people with money think twice before buying anything, fivolous or not.

You speak of Clinton but growth under Clinton was the third highest for any President since 1960 while Bush is at the bottom and only manages to beat his dad. He reversed the trends of deficit reduction under Clinton. Debt-to-Gross Domestic Product is way above what Clinton left office with. Bush's successes (read: abysmal failures) with job growth are a complete joke compared to Clinton's efforts as well.

What you're failing to recall is that when Clinton left office we were in a recession and that was because a lot of the job growth you speak of was smoke and mirrors and cooked books, i.e. Enron. Even so, Clinton nearly killed small business with his incredible taxes in order to balance the budget and create a surplus for??? I mean, why in the hell should the government be sitting on a pile of MY MONEY and earning interest on it??? Give me my money back and let me earn the interest and then reinvest it in America and/or the global economy. It is MY money after all and this is my country, neither belong to the government.

OK, so it's fair to say that we have been heading towards difficult times with the economy for decades and Bush can't be held accountable for the collapse itself. But he did nothing of worth to counteract any of this or fight it. Giving tax breaks out and heavily favouring the richest people in America while giving the big Drug, Insurance and Defence sectors everything they wanted at the cost of the tax payer.

If you can explain to me why the richest people in America who also pay the most taxes in America (56%) don't deserve a tax break just like joe schmo working at McDonald's I'll mail you $20.00 (which equals about what, $1.00 in Euros?). Why is it that the man that works his ass off and gets the payoff for all that hard work is the first to be punished? I'm not talking about the fat cats with ridiculous bonuses and paychecks that get paid before paying their suppliers do or even celebrities for that matter. I'm talking about the guy that achieved the American dream, he worked hard and deserves no less consideration than the guy who busts his ass everday flipping burgers. I truly believe that every single person in America has an equal opportunity to be a success or failure and it all comes down to how much effort one is going to put into either. To that end, I am at least grateful that Obama has taken the phantom myth that blacks can't get ahead away from the blacks in our country.

He epically missed the housing collapse that was predicted over and over again (despite his claims it was a total surprise!) which is one of the biggest economic fuck-ups in American history.

He and everyone else except, oh yes, House Republicans. The argument was made on Capitol Hill that the collapse was coming and Democrat Maxine Watters stood right up and assured us that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had it all under control. Bush being the president should definitely have been better informed and way more in touch with this explosive issue, I fault him for that but a lot and I mean A LOT of people in government dropped the ball on this one.

I'm sorry but you can't pretend like he has been any good at all. The guy was a sucky president and is going down in history as so.

He took chances, some were good some were bad and is your memory so short that you can't remember what an incredible leader he was for the months and years following 9/11? A lot of newcasts like to remind us that he had the lowest approval rating of any president in history and to some degree I fault the slanted mainstream media for that but lets not be so quick to forget the he also had the highest approval rating in history.

Bush was no Ronald Regan, I agree but I don't believe I'll ever again in my lifetime see a president as commanding and honorable as President Regan.

Do I know if Obama can fix this colossal mess? No, I don't know. The time for the glitz and showmanship of the campaign trail is over and he needs to get his head down and work his ass off to start turning these things around. Only time will tell if he is going to be able to manage. But he's been given the chance now and the Neo-Cons did a piss-poor job with the 8 they got so I say let's see where this new approach takes the country.

I don't think it was a piss poor 8 years but to each his own. We do agree on one thing, it's time to see if Obama let his mouth write checks his ass can't cash.

 

[Mentalist]

Good post and I'll mull it all over and make a more informed and thought out post when I'm not being bitched at by my girlfriend to make dinner

We do agree on one thing, it's time to see if Obama let his mouth write checks his ass can't cash.

Absolutely we agree there. He's got the top job and the last marching band (FINALLY!) has passed him by ushering him in to the White House. Now it's time to actually DO these things and fulfill these big and difficult promises. His ass cashing ability is yet to be seen though so let's give him some time first

Either way I think we all know that people who have been acting like he is the second coming of Christ and that America is going to have rivers of flowing chocolate and rainbows coming out of every hobos ass are going to be bitterly disappointed. The world is in a fucking meltdown and it's going to be a tough and ugly fight to drag it back on to its feet.

 

[curiousa2z]

well at least he's stepped up to the plate with the will to try!

 

[Cassie]

Damn.. I was hoping for a river of chocolate

I don't think Obama will be better than other presidents, but he inspires confidence and that goes a long way. People who are confident shop more! lol

 

[Laker_Girl]

Every newly elected first term president steps up to the plate with a willingness to try, that doesn't impress me. He doesn't inspire confidence in me either but that's because I actually paid attention to his record as senator.

If he makes people feel warm, fuzzy, and secure then I just have to say, there's nothing America hating terrorists love more than for Americans to feel warm, fuzzy and secure, makes an attack that much more compelling for them.

And this go out and volunteer campaign he's got going now? Yeah, that will last about a year and then Americans will go back to being as self centered as always. It's nice to see that some are letting him believe that encouraging people to volunteer is his idea though. It's super awesome.

 

[curiousa2z]

Bush gave you the impression that he was stepping up to the plate to try something different?

hmmm....Looks there was a majority of Americans that Obama did inspire confidence in though, doesn't it?

 

[CaptainWacky]

Bagpuss inspires confidence in me.

 

[Cassie]

Who really knows what makes terrorists attack America? The last attack was while Bush was in office (I don't blame Bush for that), America wasn't feeling warm and fuzzy, not that I remember... of course I was high, so sometimes I was warm and fuzzy.

 

[Laker_Girl]

Bush gave you the impression that he was stepping up to the plate to try something different?

hmmm....Looks there was a majority of Americans that Obama did inspire confidence in though, doesn't it?

Sure did and as much as people were soooo not in love with him they elected him to a second term. Considering the shit stain choices we had the run they probably would have elected him to a third term if they could have.

 

[Hambil]

Yes, he was well on track for a third term with his 16% popularity rating.

 

[Cassie]

I don't think that is what she meant.

 

[Laker_Girl]

^It wasn't, you are correct.

 

[Cassie]

I'd still choose Bush over Al Gore, srsly.

 

[Laker_Girl]

Al Gore is super off the deep end, it's creepy.:duh:

 

[CaptainWacky]

I'd still hit it.