I know. I'm certainly not going to point fingers at the Democratic congress during Bush's tenure anymore... :o)


>No, of course he doesn't deserve a free hand. And I think I have been fairly critical of the stimulus bill in its current form. Some people here seem to think I believe he walks on the water. I don't. But I do think John K's statements were over the top and called for a response. He's crucifying Obama before he's hardly gotten started.
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>Re Bush, I don't think he intended to mess up as badly as he did. More like heedless and stubborn. As I have said, though, I don't see any point in continuing to pile on. He's out of office now. We've got a lot of fixing to do without worrying about how we got here.
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>>My first response was to reply: 'are we in Russia in the 60s and is the creation of the KGB next?'
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>>It is constant watch and oversight, transparency, and even criticism that keeps the government and its leaders on its toes. Obama may have the best intentions, but then I'm sure most presidents throughout history did as well. Do you honestly believe that Bush intended to destroy this country and its world image when he made the decisions he did? Obama doesn't deserve a free-hand anymore than any other president did. You might not like the criticism, but you cannot fault the media attention and oversight. You were pretty generous with your criticism during the last administration so it is surprising that you cannot allow the same freedom of expression for those who disagree with what they see in the current administration. When no one is watching or we all become patsies is when we have a true tyranny.
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>>How he handles the media and reaction of the public will determine how he will respond to other unpopular decisions and whether he is willing to put his goals and policies above public sentiment or if he will bend to public sentiment.
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>>You might be more successful if you focused on responding with the benefits to his policies (support your position) rather than complaining about someone who disagrees with them.
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>>>It probably won't surprise you that I disagree. Whether the economy is worse off than it was in the Depression or the early 80s, I don't know, but it's plenty bad. Seemingly every day there is new news about corporate losses, layoffs, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and dismal projections for this year. I am definitely feeling it. The FoxPro market is all but dead (at least around here) and I am retraining in .NET. It's a heck of a time to be trying to make a career change when the market is awash in unemployed developers who already have experience.
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>>>Why don't you give Obama a bit of a chance? He's been in office two weeks and this is his first big proposal. He has to do something. I don't think a modest bill will pull the economy out of the doldrums. I think a better bill is possible, and that the Senate will modify it. A lot of the pork will be gone.
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>>>BTW, I read about an earlier occasion where he said "I won so I can do what I want," or words to that effect. According to everyone there he was clearly joking. He knows even a president can't do whatever he wants.
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>>>>Mike, buddy, it's getting close to the "I told you so" moment. The stimulus bill is pork in a new and improved packaging and now twice when questioned by GOP officials his response was in effect, "I won so I do what I want". Can you imagine what you Dems would have done if Bush had been that nakedly imperial?
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>>>>As of today he's trying scare tactics - "the economy is worse than the Great Depression". No, it's not. Look at the 1980 unemplyment rates and economy.
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>>>>And many of his appointees seem to have a problem interpreting tax laws. Yeah, there's change we can believe in.
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>>>>This guy is going to make all previous levels of deficit spending look like pennies in a jar. He is going to hamstring our economy with horrific losses on debt interest since we are now farming out a lot of our debt to other nations who will hold us hostage to the interest on the debt.
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>>>>Bush had his flaws but Obama is looking more and more like an epic fail and one that will change this country for the worse for a long time to go.
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>>>>Way to go, guys! Hope you like "America Lite"
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>>>>>http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/01/stimulus.next/index.html
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>>>>>Despite what some of you may think, I am not an intense partisan. I don't think the first version of President Obama's first major proposal is perfect. It is larded with riders and agendas. He can do better than this and I believe he ran with the intention of doing better than this. If he lets himself be steamrolled by special interest groups we are no better off than we were before.
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>>>>>The Senate is putting out strong signals that the bill will not be approved in its proposed form; Republicans voted against it 200 whatever to nothing in the house. And they're right. This is not a good bill. Our economy and our country are in a tailspin and we deserve better than this.
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>>>>>I have not given up on Barack Obama. I believe he will grow into his role, as Roosevelt did, as Lincoln did. I believe without reservation he is a transformational president. I just want a better bill than this. The Senate is sending signals it will play the role our founders intended. They are not supposed to be swayed by money or celebrity.