On Sunday, Joe Biden announced that Obama’s administration misread how bad the economy was. A comment I don’t seem to understand. Here is a quote from Obama as he rushed his stimulus bill through congress in a hurried and reckless pace.
In January Obama said:
“We are experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis that has to be dealt with and dealt with rapidly.”
I believed him, didn’t you? Why didn’t Obama?
More importantly is the question, why are we talking a second stimulus? According to Obama today, a second stimulus plan is not off the table.
Like with most policies this administration crafts, I’m confused. Obama continues to remind us that his stimulus one needs time to work. If that’s the case, why do we need stimulus two? If stimulus one is not working and is not going to work, why are we not having the discussion of repealing stimulus one when we’ve only spent 6% of it so far? The best question yet, if you misread the economy on stimulus one, why do you think we'll let you have stimulus two?"
I have long argued that Obama and his administration did not take the economic downturn seriously. Why? Back in January, the "do nothing" simulation led to 9% unemployment by the end of the year. According to that number the recession would have been the biggest in the last 30 years, but certainly no Great Depression. Plus, how hard would it be to come in under 9%, especially when economists were predicting an economic summer bounce? As a result, we were given a stimulus bill high on pork and leftist pet projects with no real relief for our economic state. It was a bill filled with “you can get a lot done in a crisis” mentality as opposed to sound fiscal policy. It’s the same mentality that is claiming that Obamacare will lower federal deficits and that cap and trade is a jobs bill.
The administration is spinning beyond belief, trying to mitigate the damage. They are trying to keep you from asking the most obvious of questions at a time when Obama is dying to pass his policies. That question being: “If Obama was misreading the economy at the same time he crafted his budget, shouldn’t we scrap his budget policies and refocus on how to address the economy?”
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Update:
Reuters has some laughable Democrat comments:
Here's Democratic Senate Leader Steny Hoyer
U.S. leaders should be open to the possibility of a second stimulus package to jolt the economy out of a recession still causing job losses
Followed by
It's certainly too early right now ... to say it's not working," Hoyer said of the initial stimulus package. "In fact we believe it is working. We believe there are a lot of people who otherwise would have been laid off, lost their jobs, who haven't done that."
As I stated. Why do we need a second stimulus if the first one is on the cusp of working great.
One of Obama's economic advisors from his election said:
Laura D'Andrea Tyson, an economist who advised Obama during the 2008 campaign, said on Tuesday in Singapore that the United States should be planning for a possible second round of fiscal stimulus and focused on infrastructure investment.
I thought that was what the first stimulus plan was? Or was it?
15 comments
You could probably expand the argument into "why would anyone believe anything Obama says, ever?" Between the distortions, obvious lies, and apparently lack of understanding of fundamental issues, it's more surprising (and rare) when anything he states is actually correct.
July 7, 2009 at 3:15 PMThat's sorta beside the point, though. At this point, I think it would be laughable for the Obama administration to claim that a "followup stimulus" was an attempt to help the economy, or anything other than another pork agenda spending spree. At which point the policy question arises: do you really need to lie about your agenda any more? At some point, you'd probably get more credibility just coming out and saying, "hey, we're going to waste another couple Trillion dollars of your money, and there's not a g-damn thing you can do about it cause we own the government a rule you peons, but we're not going to BS about stimulus or other laughable premises, so at least we're not lying to your face while we steal your money." At some point, you'd think a policy of brutal honesty would go over better than the absurd BS approach, but maybe that's just my way of thinking.
Doing that would destroy the Obama regime. Another spending bill which would quicken the decline into depression, while common people (especially those who supported Obama) lose jobs and don't get one dime of the trillions of dollars being spent. I have said many times before that those who supported Obama most (Young and Minorities) will get hurt first and foremost while having the highest expectations. There were towns here in Florida that have no white people and had tea parties on the 4th. Looks to me like a segment of the population is figuring out that simply having a president that has the same skin color as you is not it's all cracked up to be.
July 7, 2009 at 3:33 PMNick,
July 7, 2009 at 3:54 PMYou are right on. I believe people are catching onto the lies though. Hence why his poll numbers are erroding in terms of the economy.
Andrew,
You are correct. However, Obama will try. He doesn't know what he is doing and he's listening to people with graphs showing that GDP will grow if you spend X amount of dollars. It doesn't matter what you spend the money on, you just have to get the money out there. Meanwhile, these geniuses have missed the fact that our economy has turned a corner as far as the amount of debt we can accrue wihtout losing foreign confidence in our economy.
He will indeed try. It will also try to snow here tomorrow. Both will fail.
July 7, 2009 at 5:13 PMCheck this out....http://namelesscynic.blogspot.com/
Read the comments closely. Do you see anything that seems like a veiled insult to you, especially with the word Co in it?
Andrew,
July 7, 2009 at 7:51 PMI'm not sure where you mean? Which comment?
I'm as big a Obama supporter as the next guy. Anyone who has read my comments or blog knows this. However, there is absolutely no way, no how I will support a second stimulus. I was hesitant about the first, but the argument as compelling enough to go for it. It would be one thing if 100% of stimulus 1 was spent, and things really started to improve and we needed one more round of investment to get us over the hump. Companies have multiple rounds of investment al the time.
July 7, 2009 at 8:30 PMIs Obama a liar? I think that is going a bit too far. I still feel that economists, businesspeople, and advisors alike still don't understand what I think is the real problem: for many, many, many, many years, our economy was over-valued. And now that the bubble burst, and the economy is deflated, it is now worth what is is *supposed* to be worth. Therefore rebuilding the economy back to the way it was pre-recession is IMPOSSIBLE. Except of course if you inflate the currency, which will further weaken the system.
Job loss will continue to plummet unless we invest in new enterprises. New technology. New cars. New everything. The old economy is dead (1952-2009 R.I.P.). And until someone in power realizes that, the problem will only worsen. While I still believe the government should provide fundamental services, it can't do everything, especially now.
Obama is my man, but I have to give two big thumbs down to a second stimulus.
Cons Gen - Great piece!
July 7, 2009 at 10:04 PMThe Law - Simple request here, with all do respect. Summarize for me in a couple of sentences exactly why Obama is your guy. Just curious how I see things so differently - I want to know the premise that you start out at with the president.
LCR
correction -due respect
July 7, 2009 at 10:32 PMWhy is Obama my guy... Well first, it is a mistake to think Obama is not considering the middle class with every move he makes. His entire career was spent helping the forsaken and disenfranchised find a way to get a piece of the American dream. I know none of you see it this way, but he is looking at the big picture. He knows that long term sustainable economic growth, developing new private sectors with technology, national broadband access, and most importantly sustainability is the key to long term success. And it will take a long time to undo and unravel the current mess. I like Obama because of his willingness to talk before raising our guns to the enemy's head. I like him because he draws out a spirit of cooperation with everyone he meets (at least outside the US). Ask people what they see in the US, and some will say we're wasting a moment because we have a guy the world wants to work with, but he can't get that kind of cooperation at home. I like Obama because he is a testament to people of color like myself, that there is hope that one day America will truely judge a man on the content of his character and not the color of his skin. That here is an opportunity where we can finally break down the racial walls that divide us from one another and truly become one nation under God.
July 7, 2009 at 11:25 PMHowever, he was a bit naive to think his magnanimous personality would rub off on Washington overnight. As they say, old habits die hard. He came into office thinking he could roll up his sleeves and sit side by side with dems, GOPs, libs and indies, and tackle these tough issues. He had a rude awakening on day one when the GOP gave him the hand before he made his first proposal.
Obama has the right ideas, but the execution is not always so great. This is because the battle is constantly uphill with the lack of GOP participation in government. Even before Obama was officially sworn in, the GOP were eyeing who was going to succeed him in 2012. This created an unstable and uncooperative environment in Washington which leads to the... overly aggressive agenda we see now. There's things Obama wants to do, but since no one seems interested in true debate, resorting instead to political posturing, Obama is ramming the agenda down the pipe as fast as he can while he still has the captial to do so. I mean look at out little community of bloggers... we talk about big issues everyday and overtime, we find points where we can agree! That is definitely not happening in Washington.
The irony is he was the one politician I thought was different from the rest. While I still think his heart is in the right place, he has already become wrapped up in Washington poltics as usual. Everyone is very quick to point out what he is doing wrong. People rarely mention when he does something well. And the criticism is almost never constructive, but rather scathing and loathsome. Socialist! He is destroying America! He's stealing our freedom! I don't understand what that acheives in the end. So many are so quick to place blame but not offer a hand. Why? Because it's yet another example of political posturing. Offering any help on any agenda means you are cosigning legislation. If it tanks, they fear their political careers will tanks as well. All this crap to stay in office, and while they are in office they get nothing done!
I like Obama because all it takes is a new found cooperative spirit, and we can really get work done. good work. because we have a president who wants to listen. who's ego is not so big he can't acknowledge "hey the GOP really helped this bill come along." I've always said unilateral politics always ends in failure. History repeats itself yet again...
That was more than a few sentences. Michael Jackson's services has me a bit emotional today. Thanks for you question, and thanks CGen for essentially writing a blog entry for a comment =)
**thanks for letting me essentially write a blog entry for a comment
July 7, 2009 at 11:25 PMTo your first comment tL.
July 7, 2009 at 11:51 PMYou are so gracious when you agree, I'm almost feel guilty that you don't :)
I actually agree with you. Things were inflated, but so far Obama's policies are akin to reinflating the bubble, but elsewhere in the economy. However, I think even that was a little poorly executed.
LCR,
Thanks! I loved you malaise post. I think it will add it to my best of the blogs side bar.
tL to your second comment,
Anytime! You always have excellent comments so take up as much space as you need.
Great bill by the way.
I myself was hoping that Obama would clean up Washington and bring an end to party divisions. I of course wish it could have been someone on my side of the isle. However, I really don't see Obama coming across the isle over the stimulus. Obama stayed silent for weeks over Iran, the moment there was push back on his stimulus he went out on the attack.
One other area I see differently. I think he is good at identifying the problem, but bad at coming up with solutions. You yourself are able to come up with good middle ground bills. Pretty much every policy Obama thinks up is so far left, I could never support them.
I'm glad you liked my bill! There is a teenie weenie sparkle of interest in one day becoming a senator, so i think of this stuff as practice =)
July 8, 2009 at 12:14 AMPeople label Obama as a centrist, but I don't think that's true. Especially anyone who as spend a considerable time working in the inncer city (it can be very depressing, and naturally would want the city to do something to help those people), it is hard not to be in the heart of blue country.
Obama is a centrist ONLY when he engages in debate. His perspective is unquestionably left, but then hearing the opposing view point swings him back to the middle. And I don't think it takes much to bring him to the middle. In contrast, I actually think George Bush was center-right, but allowed himself to be swayed radical right, particularly with military spending.
So to get the Obama we all want, it won't come by default. He really needs (good) contrasting ideas to bring out the best politics in him. Hell, if any of you guys were senators, we might be in much better shape!
TL I like you. I really do. You seem like a decent thinking individual. I think that we really are not that far apart, I just take the evidence I see and the conclusions I come to are different that you do. This is curious to me and I would like to understand why.
July 8, 2009 at 12:37 AMObama's heart may be in the right place, and that is seriously debatable, but he is waay deluded. All you have to do to realize this is to read and study the schools of thought he comes from.
Also, Liberal politicies rarely help those they say they are going to help, and history bears this out. These policies are going to help a very select few in power and industry and the rest of us are likely to become paupers.
tL:
July 8, 2009 at 3:06 AMI think I'm with KOOK: we see roughly the same things from Obama, but draw very different conclusions. For example, I listened to all the same rhetoric about the spirit of cooperation, compromise, and listening to good ideas from both sides, but all I see in action is pushing a very partisan agenda without any consideration or concession for opposing opinions. I heard the talk about changing the fear tactics, but (as I detailed in my last blog entry) all I see is the exact same tactics used to push his policies. I heard the talk about transparency, but all I see is more rushing legislation through, closed-doors meetings, legislation which is not even read, much less openly debated, before it is rammed through. In essence, I get from him the Great Deceiver, not the Great Unifier (or whatever other moniker people ascribe to him).
Furthermore, as one of the people who has been very open about describing Obama as a socialist, I'll point out that I don't do so as a slander (despite the fact that I don't favor socialism for the US); as I've stated on other blogs (LCR's most recently), I do so because I think it accurately describes Obama's political philosophy, and most succinctly summarizes the conceptual underpinnings of many of his policy agendas. I don't think there's anything wrong with being a Socialist, per-se, any more than I think it's wrong to be a Capitalist: they are just different political philosophies with different views on the role of government and private enterprise (primarily). As long as someone is up-front about their political beliefs when they are running for office, so that voters are not mislead, I don't particularly care what someone's individual beliefs are; it's when politicians lie about their beliefs and intentions that aggravates me (eg: saying you don't want to run industries as you take them over).
As a side note, if we could have a Libertarian President and Obama as the executive in charge of all foreign policy, that would be awesome (imho). :)
The Law - Thanks for posting, (err, I mean commenting) on my question. I think that I can see where you are coming from. I can see that their is an emotional context in your opinion of him. I can understand that. I would probably put myself in the same camp in that regard with Reagan. To tell you the truth, I was a big supporter of Bush, term 1. I liked his humble foreign policy, he seemed to portray attributes friendly to business, etc. I was troubled by some of his past and the fact that he seemed to be part of a legacy - the Bush family. If you must know, when the corruption, big-spending, cronyism, incompetence, socialism came to light under Bush, I was one of the biggest critcs that you would have ever met. He was not far-right domestically, quite the contrary - he was a progressive, much like Obama. The reason that I have so much disdain for Obama,(and the current leadership), is because he is a socialist. Every single policy or idea that he espouses crushes individual initiative. He believes in bringing down folks like me to bring up the lower class. This is truly unprecedented in our country and a true mockery of the ideals that we were founded on. As Nick commented at my blog - As logic would predict, and history has demonstrated time and again, you can have a nanny socialist state which attempts to regulate and control everything, or you can have economic prosperity, but you can't have both.
July 8, 2009 at 4:54 PMNick is absolutely correct here, this is the essence of what I know with every part of my being is wrong with Obama and our political system at this point in our history.
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