Lifted directly, shamelessly and in its entirety from The Backchannel Blog, some food for thought.
Well, the world is going to hell in a hand basket, the economy is in the dumps, we’re in two wars, so what does the President decide to do? GO ON VACATION! And not just any vacation. They’re going to Martha’s Vineyard, that bastion of snobby, effete, elite liberals. This is another sign that he is a socialist Muslim born in Kenya.
The Bush compound in Kennebunkport
Studies have shown that successful people all take time to recharge their batteries. To those of the chattering class that are offended that the President is taking a little time off from the most stressful job in the world, I’d suggest it’s time for you to take a vacation.
And may I add that if a vacation were not enough to prove him unworthy of the presidency, that he doesn’t go to Church ought to finish it. This failing actually made the network news (ABC) last night. Shame, shame, shame on them for being snookered again. And shame, shame, shame on the White House for putting out that “the President, however, prays every day – to Jesus”. Jeebus save us.
Oh, and Reagan didn’t go to church.
You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy. But you cannot have both.
Whatever Works 
Ugh. President Obama is running scared. Not the part about him going on vacation, but how the WH always seems to issue a statement trying to appeal to everyone. I have to at least give W credit for one thing. He had tough skin. Moe, I gave up on this Prez as well as the Dems a year ago. And whether we want to admit or not, the political landscape is changing for the worst. Conservatism is coming back ten-fold. After W, the Dems had the perfect chance. The perfect chance to go in for the kill shot; but what do they do? They fumble it right back to the neo-cons. Whether you want to believe me or not, Moe, the Obama Administration is running scared. Soon, Obama will have to deal with a totally divided Congress. And if you think it’s going to get any better – just wait! I got my popcorn ready. The Dems have failed us for the last time.
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Guess what? I agree with every word. Only difference is I haven’t given up. He’s getting stuff done, but he’s not selling it.
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Yeah, I just don’t know how in tune the Dems are to what the American people want. I hope that America wakes up and realizes that the Repubs are not the answer, either. We need the Dems to get back to what they do best, serving the American people. Ending this war would be a good start, I think. I don’t see it though. I hope it works out, but I really don’t count on that.
On a side note, I start school tommorow. ATI training center. I am taking a 12 month course to be an certified auto mechanic. No money in the paint business anymore. Gov is actually going to pay a lot of it (cause I am poor), but I am going to be paying on this loan for a while. 25,000 for a 12 month course! That is nuts! At least my tools are included in that, thank God. Anyway, I am obviously very excited.
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Hey, good luck! Or, as we say in theatre – Break A Leg! (It;’s bad luck in theatre to actually say ‘good luck’. Go figure.)
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Ms. Holland,
As Mr. Carville said ” it’s the economy stupid “. You said, ” Guess what? I agree with every word. Only difference is I haven’t given up. He’s getting stuff done, but he’s not selling it. ”
It comes down to jobs, 100%. All of this talk about whether he is a Muslim or not, is a side show. Clinton proved that if you have full employment, you really can get away with anything. Besides, with the other Party having a lot of power in Congress, you can always blame them. Democrats had enough power during the Bush years that people like me can rightly point out that they bear some blame for the downturn during Bush’s last 2 years. Clinton had Gingrich to demonize. Your guy Obama has tried to blame Republicans, but it does not wash because of his overwhelming majorities in both Houses of Congress.
A few minutes ago I watched Jim Cramer spell out what President Obama could do to get the economy moving again. The problem is a lack of confidence. There is so much money going into Treasuries and gold, when it should go into businesses, in other words, the stock market. If our President would just declare victory in his war on capitalism, sign a true with big business, stop threatening more fees and taxes on capital, and then go play golf for 6 months, it’s amazing how fast things would turn around.
Hey, it worked for Eisenhower. I don’t know if he did much of anything besides 8 years of golf, and look how good the 1950s were.
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[There is so much money going into Treasuries and gold, when it should go into businesses, in other words, the stock market]
What am I missing Alan – by all reports the stock market is doing great? And of course, when we look at the economy, let’s be sure to ignore the cost of two wars – the ones we’ve been financing for nearly a decade on borrowed money.
[Clinton proved that if you have full employment, you really can get away with anything. ]
What did Cinton ‘get away with’ except the sex thing – if you can call impeachment ‘getting away with it’.
[Democrats had enough power during the Bush years . . . ]
So why is it that Bush never ever not even once vetoed a spending bill?
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Bush Jr. didn’t go to church either. The handful of times he showed up, the church made a big deal of it. As far as I’m concerned, though, that is a point in favor of the lesser Bush.
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Ignored altogether is that most presidents try not to attend on a regular basis locally because it really screws things up for the congregation. Simple thoughtfullness.
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Ms. Holland,
” What am I missing Alan – by all reports the stock market is doing great? ”
I am so glad you asked. I am a mutual fund investor. I do not have the time or the big money to play individual stocks. If the market as a whole does well, my 401k does well. It’s true that if you look at the market from it’s lows in March of 09, it looks pretty good. However it has been stuck at between 10,000 and 11,000 like forever lately. In fact it’s barely able to keep it’s little head above 10,000 right now.
For all of your visceral hatred of Corporate America, if they are doing badly, America is doing badly. It’s not that the survivors are not making money, but thanks to our corporate basher in chief, they are paralyzed with fear .
Corporations exist to make money for their stockholders. That’s lil old ‘me’. Hopefully they bring their employees along for the ride to prosperity. Because ‘your’ guy has declared profits are ‘evil’, companies are not doing business to make money for the shareholders, ‘me’ again.
Now my brother investors, the big boys are not investing in the economy because of your guy. Gold and mattresses are more attractive. No investment, no jobs. Actually, no demand for products, no jobs.
The proof of what I say is simple, look at the unemployment numbers. When the rich are scared they don’t spend or invest. Your hero has them scared to death.
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[ Because ‘your’ guy has declared profits are ‘evil’, ]
Care to quote him on that?
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Ms. Holland,
” [ Because ‘your’ guy has declared profits are ‘evil’, ]”
“Care to quote him on that?”
Are you serious ? You can’t possibly arguing what I think you are arguing. We have the most Socialist President in history. The man who blamed Wall Street 110% for the meltdown. The man who ignored what his buddies at the GSEs did. The man who did nothing to stop a Democratic filibuster blocking reform of Fannie and Freddie. The man who tells private industry what they can pay their employees. The man who just put in racial ‘quotas’ in the financial sector. The man who owns GM. The man who controls the BP compensation fund.
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[The man who blamed Wall Street 110% for the meltdown]
So did the rest of the country. So did George Bush and Paulson and the lot of them.
Still waiting for that hate corporations quote or proof. Actions to address emergencies aren’t philosophy – they are what they are. Right or wrong, action was called for.
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Ms. Holland,
Here is some background reading for you. http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/opinion/article/Greenberg-Obama-strikes-a-pose-as-FDR-circa-1937-610440.php#page-1
But here is the quote you were after. I had to wade through many pages of your hero’s aimless sputterings to find it. It caused great mental anguish. Hope you are happy.
It concerns how Obama basically blames the health care situation on tha ‘evil’ insurance companies.
It is from his 9/10/09 speech to Congress. The infamous ” you lie ” speech.
” And it makes it easier for insurance companies to treat their customers badly — by cherry-picking the healthiest individuals and trying to drop the sickest, by overcharging small businesses who have no leverage, and by jacking up rates.
Insurance executives don’t do this because they’re bad people; they do it because it’s profitable. As one former insurance executive testified before Congress, insurance companies are not only encouraged to find reasons to drop the seriously ill, they are rewarded for it. All of this is in service of meeting what this former executive called “Wall Street’s relentless profit expectations.”
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Read the column at your link. It’s an opinion piece and as such makes some points and spins much more. but that’s what opinion pieces do.
His points seem to be that Obama is acting like FDR at the time of the Great Depression. (He’s also of the newly emerged school of the FDR ‘made the depression worse’ meme. Which in my opinion completely misses hte point of FDR’s 100 days. His task wasn’t to ‘save’ the economy. His task was to save the people – to provide households with a way to get income so they could feed their chidlren a nd keep a roof over their heads.)
Guess what I think Alan – I think taxes are too low, gas is too cheap and we’re lying to ourselves every friggin day that we fight foreign wars on borrowed money and lay off cops and teachers. Debt be damned, we need to ask ourselves ‘what the hell are we?’
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I still don’t see what you’re saying. Obama is saying – and no one can disagree – that insurance companies pursue profit only. At terrible costs to people. That’s perfectly legal, but it’s ugly Alan and we as a people have every reason to take them out to the shed and have a ‘discussion’ about their role in this society and this economy.
This is a issue for the country- not just for a few insurance companies taking care of their shareholders and executives – we built a medical system based on the assumption of health insurance and then we make it unaffordable for a fourth of the population.
(At least you characterized it as the infamous ‘you lie’ speech – I assume you are calling Rep Wilson infamous. 🙂 And I agree.)
It’s an insane way to run a country. If that is what passes for ‘hate’ then we need to take a breather.
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