really? the healthcare bill wasn't controversial? REALLY?

7/12/2010 7:21:06 PM

^^ Not everyone agrees with your assessment of Obama as a "centrist":

Obama Faces Left Wing Spiral Trap
By Dick Morris
July 9, 2010

Quote :

"Barack Obama faces about the same problem that confronted Bill Clinton in 1994 when he lost control of Congress. In both cases, the Democratic presidents had alienated moderate and conservative voters and found themselves increasingly isolated with a political base of liberals and minorities. In each instance, the president worried that off-year election turnout among their base would be attenuated both because it always is in non-presidential years and because their policy failings had reduced the enthusiasm they found among their base voters. And both men found themselves forced to escalate their rhetoric and move their ideological positions to the left in order to try to drum up the kind of turnout they needed to keep power in Congress. Clinton failed and Obama will too. When President Clinton asked me to help him to move to the center to win re-election in 1996, he said 'I've moved so far to the left that I don't even recognize myself.' At heart a moderate while Obama is, at core, a leftist, Clinton was alluding to the positions he had to take to keep the support of his liberal House majority. Obama -- for whom the further left he drifts the better -- has no such qualms but the political impact of his move to the left will be just as fatal for his Congressional majority as it was for Clintons'. When a president moves leftward, a vicious cycle begins to set in. Driven to raise the intensity of his rhetoric and to take positions further to the extreme, he alienates more and more centrists and moderates, forcing himself to rely more and more on left wing voters. This reliance, in turn, fuels an ever more pronounced leftward drift until he ends up with a vastly diminished political base. In Obama's case, his reliance on minority voters adds to the difficulty as he drives racially fair whites to see him as governing primarily in the interests of minority voters. Obama's decision to have his Justice Department sue Arizona over its immigration law -- despite the fact that American voters back the statute by 2:1 -- is the latest illustration of that leftward drift. So is Attorney General Eric Holder's decision not to prosecute the Black Panthers who posted themselves at a mixed-race polling place in military uniform with clubs to deter white voters. The further Obama moves to the left, the more he has to move to the left. And the worse it is for his ability to control Congress."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/07/09/the_left_wing_spiral_trap_106238.html

[Edited on July 12, 2010 at 7:22 PM. Reason : .]

7/12/2010 7:22:13 PM

^ I didn't say he was a centrist, i said he was more centrist than you want people to believe.

Quote :

"So is Attorney General Eric Holder's decision not to prosecute the Black Panthers who posted themselves at a mixed-race polling place in military uniform with clubs to deter white voters."

And this at least seems to be a factually incorrect statement, that the author you allegedly agree with bases their opinion on.

[Edited on July 12, 2010 at 8:42 PM. Reason : ]

7/12/2010 8:39:47 PM

Quote :

"Says you. In my opinion, if a group of investors guess wrong and lose all their bananas"

I said "on the aggregate" not "a group of investors".

Quote :

"To be a market failure, the bad behavior must persist forever."

That is not true. A market failure is any scenario where the market does not price correctly, there is no time frame, and certainly not a "forever" time frame.

Quote :

"And again, your world view that all humans are mechanical calculators"

On the aggregate we are all mechanical calculators. If we weren't economics would be a pointless study.

7/12/2010 9:46:11 PM

Quote :

"On the aggregate we are all mechanical calculators. If we weren't economics would be a pointless study."

The acceptance that humans aren't "mechanical calculators" is the basis for Austrian economics. That's why econometrics should be rejected entirely, or at least not accepted as doctrine. You can plot behavior all day long, but you can never use it to make any inferences about what will happen in reality.

Any mainstream economist will pick up, say, Economics in One Lesson, and reject it once they find there aren't any equations in it. There don't need to be any equations. Economics is a social science. It should be treated like political science, sociology, or psychology. The greatest folly governments have made is treating neoclassical and Keynesian modeling as anything but statistics. Again, you can model economic behavior somewhat accurately, some of the time, but it very often ignores crucial externalities.

7/12/2010 10:14:37 PM

There are enough humans that aren't mechanical calculators to cause problems if you try to model things as if we all are mechanical calculators.

Psychology and neurology are increasingly merging too, so i don't think it's fair to call it a social science.

7/12/2010 11:07:00 PM

Quote :

"You can plot behavior all day long, but you can never use it to make any inferences about what will happen in reality."

I think you want to treat economics more like a religion.

Quote :

"Any mainstream economist will pick up, say, Economics in One Lesson, and reject it once they find there aren't any equations in it."

There are several pieces of statistics and data inside that book.

Quote :

"The greatest folly governments have made is treating neoclassical and Keynesian modeling as anything but statistics."

They accept it because it can actually prove things. Economics as a social science is completely useless to the real world and is nothing more than just personal opinions.

On the aggregate we all act in predictable ways. If we didn't then I wouldn't be able to say things like tariffs are bad for trade or that reducing taxes will increase spending.

7/12/2010 11:43:35 PM

The Elite Turn Against Obama
July 7, 2010

Quote :

"NEW YORK – Even the Aspen Ideas Festival, an annual gathering of the country's brightest lights, isn't Obama country anymore. Lloyd Grove on the president's waning support among the intelligentsia. You'd think the well-heeled and enlightened eggheads at the Aspen Ideas Festival—which is running all week in this fashionable resort town with heady panel discussions and earnest disquisitions involving all manner of deep thinkers and do-gooders—would be receptive to an intellectually ambitious president with big ideas of his own. In a way, the folks attending this cerebral conclave pairing the Aspen Institute think tank with the Atlantic Monthly magazine might even be seen as President Obama's natural base. Apparently not so much. 'The real problem we have,' Mort Zuckerman said, 'are some of the worst economic policies in place today that, in my judgment, go directly against the long-term interests of this country.' Obama's top economic adviser, Larry Summers, and his departing budget director, Peter Orszag, can expect heavy weather when they land in Aspen later this week to make their case to this civic-minded clique of wealthy skeptics. 'If you're asking if the United States is about to become a socialist state, I'd say it’s actually about to become a European state, with the expansiveness of the welfare system and the progressive tax system like what we've already experienced in Western Europe,' Harvard business and history professor Niall Ferguson declared during Monday's kickoff session, offering a withering critique of Obama's economic policies, which he claimed were encouraging laziness. 'The curse of longterm unemployment is that if you pay people to do nothing, they’ll find themselves doing nothing for very long periods of time,' Ferguson said. 'Long-term unemployment is at an all-time high in the United States, and it is a direct consequence of a misconceived public policy.' Ferguson was joined in his harsh attack by billionaire real estate mogul and New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman. Both lambasted Obama's trillion-dollar deficit spending program—in the name of economic stimulus to cushion the impact of the 2008 financial meltdown—as fiscally ruinous, potentially turning America into a second-rate power. 'We are, without question, in a period of decline, particularly in the business world,' Zuckerman said. 'The real problem we have…are some of the worst economic policies in place today that, in my judgment, go directly against the long-term interests of this country.' Zuckerman added that he detects in the Obama White House 'hostility to the very kinds of [business] culture that have made this the great country that it is and was. I think we have to find some way of dealing with that or else we will do great damage to this country with a public policy that could ruin everything.' Ferguson added: 'The critical point is if your policy says you're going run a trillion-dollar deficit for the rest of time, you're riding for a fall…Then it really is goodbye.' A dashing Brit, Ferguson added: 'Can I say that, having grown up in a declining empire, I do not recommend it. It's just not a lot of fun actually—decline.' Ferguson called for what he called 'radical' measures. 'I can't emphasize strongly enough the need for radical fiscal reform to restore the incentives for work and remove the incentives for idleness.' He praised 'really radical reform of the sort that, for example, Paul Ryan [the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee] has outlined in his wonderful "Roadmap" for radical, root-and-branch reform not only of the tax system but of the entitlement system' and 'unleash entrepreneurial innovation.' Otherwise, Ferguson warned: 'Do you want to be a kind of implicit part of the European Union? I'd advise you against it.' This was greeted by hearty applause from a crowd that included Barbra Streisand and her husband James Brolin. [Wow!] 'Depressing, but fantastic,' Streisand told me afterward, rendering her verdict on the session. 'So exciting. Wonderful!' Brolin's assessment: 'Mind-blowing.' In a session Tuesday morning, Silicon Valley guru Michael Splinter piled on. 'From an industry standpoint, it's below what a lot of people in industry have viewed as the solution to the jobs problem,' Splinter, president of the Applied Materials solar energy company, complained about Obama's economic performance. He was speaking to an agreeable audience in an interview with Atlantic Media owner David Bradley. 'When I talk to venture capitalists, their companies are starting to move their manufacturing operations out of the United States…Our corporate tax rate, on a worldwide competitive basis, is just not competitive. Taiwan is lowering their rate to 20 to 15 percent in order to stay competitive with Singapore. These countries have made it their job to attract industry. You don't get that sense here in the United States.' The consensus was similar in an afternoon panel discussion on the decline of the American middle class. 'He said jobs were going to be his No. 1 priority—there's a huge disconnect between Washington and what's going on out in the country,' nominal Obama supporter Arianna Huffington said. 'The president's economic team kept talking about a "cyclical" problem. Larry Summers said jobs were a lagging economic indicator. All these things are simply wrong. The president put all his trust in the wrong economic team—an economic team that didn't understand what was happening.'"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/8874_aspenideasfestivalobamalosessupportofnationselite

7/13/2010 5:33:30 AM

Quote :

"Majority of Americans losing faith in Obama: poll, hope GOP takes control of Congress in November The majority of Americans — nearly 60 percent — lack faith in President Obama, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll published on Tuesday. The results are the exact opposite of what voters said in a similar poll at the beginning of Obama's presidency 18 months ago. Then, approximately 60 percent said they were confident with his decision making. And voters, by an 8-point margin, said they hope Republicans take control of Congress. More than 60 percent of voters also said they would probably not support their current representative. Just 26 percent said they would."

I remember pundits saying after the election that Obama would have to post-pone his ambitious agenda and attend to the economy. That our record deficits would force him to reign in his activism.

Well he proved them wrong..and he will suffer for it. He has basically ignored the economy and plowed ahead on his big gov't goals.

He simply is the wrong president at the wrong time. He lacks the political philosophy to spark the hope and enthusiasm needed now for the economy to re-flourish. He's is a downer.

With 60% of Americans not trusting his economic judgement, it might be a tough job selling the voters this Fall that he pulled the economy back from the brink.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/07/13/2010-07-13_majority_of_americans_losing_faith_in_obama_poll_hope_gop_takes_control_of_congr.html

[Edited on July 13, 2010 at 12:42 PM. Reason : .]

7/13/2010 12:38:56 PM

Obama's New Budget Guy: Former Banker
July 13, 2010

Quote :

"President Obama said today that he'll nominate Jacob Lew to replace Peter Orszag to run the Office of Management and Budget. A few quick bullets on Lew: He was White House budget director at the end of Bill Clinton's second term, an era when the federal government ran a surplus. More recently, he worked for Citi Alternative Investments — a wing of Citigroup that invests in private equity, hedge funds and real estate. He's currently working for Hillary Clinton as deputy secretary of state for management and resources."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/07/13/128491843/obama-s-new-budget-guy-is-a-former-citi-exec

In his introduction, Obama conveniently left out Lew's history as a hedge fund manager at Citigroup (in the Alternative Investments unit) during its troubles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbKZEHnUtgo

So much for transparency. Look, this guy Lew may be highly qualified (and it appears that he is), but wasn't Obama demonizing this type of person not that long ago? I guess Obama will have to stop howling about lobbyists and Wall Street types if he keeps putting them in his administration.

7/14/2010 4:26:36 AM

The firing of Shirley Sherrod -- and the cowardice of Tom Vilsack
July 21, 2010

Quote :

"From everything I've read, I'm told that the firing of Shirley Sherrod, the once and probably future Agriculture Department official in Georgia, is about race or dishonest journalism or the vagaries of the 24-hour, incessant news cycle. Permit me a dissent. It is mostly about cowardice. The coward in question is Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack who, even though from Iowa, fired Sherrod in a New York minute, and by extension and tradition –'The buck stops here,' remember? – Barack Obama himself. Where do they get off treating anyone so shabbily?"

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/07/the_firing_of_shirley_sherrod.html

This story continues to evolve and it is fascinating.

7/21/2010 10:47:21 AM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10684110
The 'unravelling relationship' between Russia and Iran

7/25/2010 1:32:42 AM

^^You wanted her fired.

Sooo does that make you a coward, too?

7/25/2010 2:06:47 AM

^ I wasn't in a decision-making capacity. And it's typical of you to focus on some guy on the Internet instead of the people actually making the decisions.

7/25/2010 10:10:59 AM

It's so typical of you to change the side of your mouth that you talk out of based solely on whichever spews more hate for liberals.

7/25/2010 10:45:19 AM

Just FYI, the last series of posts is the reason why I made that "can we be civil to each other" thread. Feel free to flame me for pointing that out.

7/25/2010 11:06:30 AM

NY Times 7-26-10:

Quote :

"In appearances on two television programs, Mr. Geithner said that letting tax cuts expire for those who make $250,000 a year or more would affect 2 percent to 3 percent of all Americans. He dismissed concerns that the move could push a teetering economy back into recession and argued that it would demonstrate America's commitment to addressing its trillion-dollar budget deficit. "

Do you think Tax-Cheat Timmy will pay any of these higher income taxes..or will he "forget" again?

7/26/2010 10:53:21 AM

Quote :

"ot everyone agrees with your assessment of Obama as a "centrist": Obama Faces Left Wing Spiral Trap By Dick Morris"

Dick Morris?

Really?

Obama could promise to eliminate the income tax tomorrow and he'd still find some way to spin this against him. Why? Because Dick Morris makes a living off of making whoever is his enemy this year look as radical as possible, and apparently he's ridden his "the Clintons were mean to me, waaaaah" train as far as it will go now. There's no more shameless an opportunist in politics, and being a shameless opportunist is as bad as being a shameless hack, or being named Paul Begala.

At least post something by George Will. At least he has, you know, principles.

[Edited on July 26, 2010 at 11:05 AM. Reason : .]

7/26/2010 11:04:56 AM

^ Do you dispute the points Morris made in the article at issue?

7/26/2010 11:16:51 AM

I think it's over measuring the extent to which those who still strongly identify with the Democratic Party would be inspired to stay home.

And it discounts the possibility of a moderate backlash at a GOP which might be overplaying its hand by letting slip some of its policy plans which won't help them win the middle, despite the enthusiasm of its base.

Not to mention, Dick Morris is a notoriously bad prognosticator. He projected Tennessee and Louisiana as swing states during the summer of 2008. I don't know where he gets his numbers from. Maybe the year 1992.

By the time November rolls around, I think we're going to see two storylines fail to take hold: the anti-incumbent fever and the power of the tea party to mobilize more than just folks who would be voting in the election and voting GOP anyway. You'll see some freshmen get knocked off in right-leaning districts that they won with weak majorities in '08 (the Virginia 5th, for example), but other than that, not much else.

[Edited on July 26, 2010 at 11:43 AM. Reason : .]

7/26/2010 11:39:31 AM

^ I don't see anything out there that supports your position concerning the 2010 elections. And on a somewhat related note:

Obama used SEIU official to deal with Blagojevich, refused to disclose to feds
July 21, 2010

Quote :

"But it also became clear that in reporting contacts with Blagojevich to federal authorities, Obama concealed a phone call and a face-to-face meeting between Blagojevich and one of Obama's spokesmen."

Quote :

"Obama's chosen candidate was Valerie Jarrett, a fellow Chicago political figure who now serves as a senior advisor at the White House. Rather than speak directly with Blagojevich, Obama asked Tom Balanoff of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to convey his offer to Blagojevich."

Quote :

"In a show of cooperation with federal prosecutor Pat Fitzgerald's office after Blagojevich was arrested, Obama's staff prepared a report of all contacts between Obama and his staff, and Blagojevich and his staff, concerning the Senate seat. But the report failed to mention these key contacts by Balanoff, on behalf of Obama and Jarrett. For a president who promised to have the most transparent administration in history, omitting Tom Balanoff and his contacts with Blagojevich, in the final days before Blagojevich was arrested, raises questions about Obama's candor -- and whether he has more to hide in this matter."

http://tinyurl.com/2fmh8wz

7/26/2010 5:54:48 PM

White House proposal would ease FBI access to records of Internet activity

Quote :

"The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual's Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation. The administration wants to add just four words -- "electronic communication transactional records" -- to a list of items that the law says the FBI may demand without a judge's approval. Government lawyers say this category of information includes the addresses to which an Internet user sends e-mail; the times and dates e-mail was sent and received; and possibly a user's browser history. It does not include, the lawyers hasten to point out, the "content" of e-mail or other Internet communication. But what officials portray as a technical clarification designed to remedy a legal ambiguity strikes industry lawyers and privacy advocates as an expansion of the power the government wields through so-called national security letters. These missives, which can be issued by an FBI field office on its own authority, require the recipient to provide the requested information and to keep the request secret. They are the mechanism the government would use to obtain the electronic records. "

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/28/AR2010072806141.html?wpisrc=nl_pmheadline


Kind of asinine that the administration still attempts to pin everything on George Bush (who deserves his fare share of the blame) while they are pretty much replicating or expanding his policies.

7/30/2010 7:02:04 AM

The Democratic Party is working. Greater Washington, D.C. is now the nation's metropolitan region with the highest income.

7/31/2010 9:38:51 PM

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128897916

part of the story is an interview with a reporter who details how, shortly after the obama administration began and in a break from past precedent, all freedom of information act requests were channeled through political personnel.

8/1/2010 9:54:54 AM

Woman Obama Used As Example For Continued Unemployment Was Convicted Of Drug Fraud
July 30, 2010

Quote :

"Washington, D.C., DC, United States (AHN) - One of the three people President Barack Obama brought out with him before signing a bill to extend unemployment benefits last week was convicted of prescription drug fraud in 2009. Leslie Macko, of Charlottesville, Va., was one of three people who stood next to the president on July 19 who he was using as an example of the need to extend unemployment benefits to 2.5 million jobless Americans. Obama told reporters that Macko, an aesthetician at a fitness center, was only eligible for unemployment for a few more weeks. He said she was going to have to turn to her father for money. But what the White House didn’t know about was her criminal past. A local tv station from her hometown was able to find out that information. Macko was found guilty of prescription drug fraud in March 2009. She lost her job the next month. Her bosses told local television station CBS19 that her conviction was not the reason she was let go, but that’s all they would say. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said a background check was performed but her conviction somehow slipped by vetters. What also slipped by was a 2007 grand larceny charge that was later reduced to petit larceny, which placed her on two years of probation. Gibbs said if the White House new about her past, Macko would not have been invited and used as an example of why unemployment benefits need to be extended."

http://tinyurl.com/3x5xhop

Oops.

8/1/2010 9:28:15 PM

Obama Administration pushes for warrantless access to email and ISP internet records:
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0729/white-house-access-email-records/

He's just as much a threat to civil liberties as Bush was.

8/1/2010 9:34:09 PM

Quote :

"new about her past"

8/1/2010 11:32:15 PM

^^
Pres. Bush laid the groundwork for a Patriot Act police state. Pres. Obama, who is in love with federal power, is simply running with it.

[Edited on August 2, 2010 at 12:58 AM. Reason : .]

8/2/2010 12:58:26 AM

You're mostly on target with that (excepting the ad hominem), mainly you'd be pretty hard pressed to find a president besides Truman who actually lowered the scope of the office's power and is remembered well as a result.

I'd like to hope that the legislatures would remember that next time something like the Patriot Act comes up to a vote, but that'd be a pretty foolish hope.

8/2/2010 5:34:50 PM

^^^ Yeah, the typo in that story is much more important than the substance of the story itself.

Attack.

8/2/2010 9:12:21 PM

O is still waiting his post obamacare bump in polls. We were told it was coming any day now after it passed.

8/2/2010 11:01:54 PM

Obama Stumps for Dems, but Not On Campaign Trail
With Midterm Fight at Hand and Approval Ratings Low, President Takes Democratic Message to Fundraisers
Aug. 3, 2010

Quote :

"(CBS) Voters in Kansas, Michigan and Missouri go to the polls today to select candidates ahead of the November general elections. CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante says that if you think Democratic candidates everywhere are asking President Obama to stump for them, well, you'd be wrong."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/03/earlyshow/main6738926.shtml

LOL! Dems to Obama: "STAY AWAY--FAR AWAY!"

8/4/2010 2:49:45 AM

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/04/their-trouble-with-charlie/

Quote :

"Obama courts wealthy donors"

Quote :

"Four times in the last week, President Barack Obama has quietly departed from his official White House schedule and slipped into private, exclusive Democratic Party fundraisers around town, glad-handing well-heeled donors away from the eyes of the press – and contradicting his pledge to run the most transparent administration in history. According to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, Obama had nothing “formal” to say at these small Democratic National Committee fundraisers – some of which cost as much as $30,400 a ticket – so there was no need for reporters to observe. Gibbs said in his July 29 briefing that the practice since the presidential campaign has been that if the president delivers a speech or makes formal remarks, an event would be “a full open event or open to a pool.” “And if it’s not open, it’s because the president is not making remarks,” Gibbs said. Yet Obama did talk to donors at these events, just not necessarily behind a lectern or with a microphone. A Democrat familiar with the fundraisers described the routine: First, the President would briefly address the group of a few dozen donors to express his gratitude, in cursory, impromptu remarks. Then, he would spend roughly an hour, speaking one-on-one with supporters or addressing groups of up to five of them at a time. At events where the donors are seated at tables, Obama might sit down at each table to chat, with someone more familiar with the donors to guide him and make introductions. “It’s more than just shaking hands and taking a picture,” the Democrat said, speaking anonymously because he is not authorized to talk publicly about the events on the record. “It’s fair to say that he’s having a conversation, but he’s not delivering remarks.” Two of last week’s closed-press, 50-person fundraisers were held at the New York estate of Vogue editor Anna Wintour and the Washington home of Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.). A third private event was at the Four Seasons hotel in Manhattan, while another 50 Democrats ate dinner with him behind closed doors at Washington’s tony Mandarin Oriental hotel. During the 2008 presidential campaign, at an exclusive fundraiser in San Francisco, Obama was caught on tape telling donors that working-class people hurt by the economy “get bitter” and “cling to guns or religion” in reaction. The remark, posted on the internet, ignited a firestorm of criticism; in the aftermath, Obama’s campaign said it would allow more press access to similar fundraising events. Marc Cooper, a journalism professor at the University of Southern California, edited the Huffington Post story that featured video of the remark. He said the President’s private, secluded chats with wealthy donors last week indicate that Obama team is “backtracking” on his pledge for openness. “In a political system where money is so important, we ought to hear what he’s saying to them,” Cooper said. If someone can pay $30,000 to meet the President, he added, “I’d like to know who the hell they are. I want to know everything.” When Obama took office, he promised his administration would be the “most transparent” ever, but the private fundraisers seem to go against that promise. David Jackson, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said he is “constantly bringing it up with the White House” to no avail. “We object to any closed events where the president is speaking,” said Jackson, a USA Today reporter. “We want a pool with the president, wherever he goes.” When Obama leaves for a private fundraiser, a pool reporter is usually with the presidential motorcade, but must wait at a nearby location until Obama is done. The Democrat familiar with the events said that “logistical reasons” make it difficult to know how a press pool could cover an intimate fundraising event effectively. For now, a “system” to “accommodate press coverage for an event like that” doesn’t exist, the Democrat said. Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, said the White House press corps and the American people “have had ample opportunities to hear the president make the pitch about why they should support Democratic candidates in the fall midterm elections.” The pitch to donors is similar, he said. White House press secretaries under President Bush said their policy was similar: If a fundraiser was held in a private home, reporters weren’t allowed in to cover it. “I think the thinking was it was a chance to allow the president to speak candidly with big donors and keep the media from having glitzy photos of the president inside a wealthy supporter’s mansion,” former Bush press secretary Scott McClellan wrote in an e-mail. “While the press corps always wants to cover the president’s remarks — whether formal or informal, it is not much of an issue with the public. When it is a closed press event, the President gets the opportunity to provide big donors more candid insights into his thinking on politics and policies than he would publicly.” McClellan added, “If the president’s remarks happen to get leaked by someone at the event or someone taping it, the press is usually going to have a few good quotes for a story or two. If it were open press they tend to get the standard fare, not to mention standard backdrop.”"

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40669.html

An interesting read for sure and one that confirms that nothing will ever change in this city unless the electorate demands it.

Quote :

"“In a political system where money is so important, we ought to hear what he’s saying to them,” Cooper said. If someone can pay $30,000 to meet the President, he added, “I’d like to know who the hell they are. I want to know everything.”"

I, for one, have a problem with this statement, because you do see who's giving to the DNC, DCCC and DSCC. It's call the FEC.gov.... Hell I could give you a list of 50 people off the bat that I know would be at these events

8/4/2010 7:18:02 PM

^ It's the Obama notion of "transparency."

8/4/2010 7:24:28 PM

No, it's called the Washington version of transparency.

Obama was being a naive politician when he made the promises that he did during the campaign. Guess what.... people who have money have the access - that's how our system works and will continue to work until the people who don't have the money realize that they do hold the power - if they decide to use it.

/rant

8/4/2010 7:26:57 PM

http://www.gallup.com/poll/141836/Issues-Obama-Finds-Majority-Approval-Elusive.aspx

OMZOGBY! AT LEAST IT'S NOT RAWRSMUSSEN!!!1

8/11/2010 5:24:26 PM

Quote :

"10 Key Reasons Why the Obama Presidency is in Meltdown By Nile Gardiner Telegraph.co.UK 8/12/2010 1. The Obama presidency is out of touch with the American people 2. Most Americans don’t have confidence in the president’s leadership 3. Obama fails to inspire 4. The United States is drowning in debt 5. Obama’s Big Government message is falling flat 6. Obama’s support for socialised health care is a huge political mistake. 7. Obama’s handling of the Gulf oil spill has been weak-kneed and indecisive 8. US foreign policy is an embarrassing mess under the Obama administration 9. President Obama is muddled and confused on national security 10. Obama doesn’t believe in American greatness. There is a distinctly Titanic-like feel to the Obama presidency and it’s not hard to see why. The most left-wing president in modern American history has tried to force a highly interventionist, government-driven agenda that runs counter to the principles of free enterprise, individual freedom, and limited government that have made the United States the greatest power in the world, and the freest nation on earth."

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100050412/the-stunning-decline-of-barack-obama-10-key-reasons-why-the-obama-presidency-is-in-meltdown/

8/13/2010 12:44:18 AM

not even going to bother reading the article after this:

Quote :

"The most left-wing president in modern American history has tried to force a highly interventionist, government-driven agenda that runs counter to the principles of free enterprise, individual freedom, and limited government that have made the United States the greatest power in the world, and the freest nation on earth.""

8/13/2010 12:58:11 AM

Quote :

"President Obama threw his support behind a controversial proposal to build an Islamic center and mosque near New York's ground zero, saying Friday that "Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country." "That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," Obama said at a White House Iftar dinner celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan."

standing up for the freedoms of Americans, despite an apparent sizable portion of America being willing and eager to trample them?

credibility +1

8/13/2010 10:11:17 PM

^ Came here to post that.

8/13/2010 11:04:13 PM

Quote :

"not even going to bother reading the article"

Oh. So that's how you stupid fucking pinkos manage to stay ignorant.
Got it.

8/13/2010 11:14:02 PM

ignorant of a random english blogger's opinion of obama? how could we ever get by without those nuggets of wisdom!?

8/13/2010 11:21:34 PM

Quote :

"ignorant of a random english blogger's opinion of obama?"

No. Thanks for the straw-man, though.

8/13/2010 11:29:22 PM

Obama is about as left-wing as Reagan.

8/14/2010 12:04:52 AM

Quote :

"Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country.""

I agree with Mr. Obama on this one. But I don't think he is going to gain much support for these statements. I hope he shows the same deference to other religions and defends their right to express their faith.

8/14/2010 12:09:03 AM

Quote :

"I hope he shows the same deference to other religions and defends their right to express their faith."

LOL

why wouldn't he?

8/14/2010 1:36:56 AM

Quote :

"credibility +1"

qntmfred

That's all great until Obama flip-flops--and he almost always does. Obama threw Reverend Wright under the bus, you think he won't throw one Imam Rauf under there, too? LOL!

8/14/2010 6:41:15 AM

i seem to recall wright basically begging obama to turn on him. obama didn't until wright decided to really make a fool of himself multiple times in one week.

8/14/2010 8:16:29 AM

Quote :

"Oh. So that's how you stupid fucking pinkos manage to stay ignorant."

Seriously? Barack Obama is the "most left wing president ever"? Come on.

8/14/2010 2:48:42 PM

He's also the worst president in history apparently . . .

8/14/2010 4:38:17 PM