>>>>>>>>>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123690358175013837.html
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>All presidents' approval ratings fall after the initial euphoria. (And I believe Obama's were the highest yet measured). Especially if they are willing to do the unpopular, which Obama has already shown he will.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>What exactly 'unpopular' you refer to?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Mainly the deficit. The continued bailouts Reversing Bush's policy on stem cell research has also angered a segment of the public.
>>>>>
>>>>>Let's look at this step by step. Firstly, I would take out stem sell reseacrh from the list because those angered didn't endorse Obama anyway. Do you agree?
>>>>>In regard to deficit, it is more nuanced. Could you define it in different category, i.e. not as unpopular/popular, but as good/bad? I am asking it, because your initial message created an impression that Obama did something good, but unpopular, and suffers in polls unfairly.
>>>>
>>>>I can't answer that because we don't know yet whether the massive government spending is going to pull us out of this funk. I know it has been unpopular with many people (across the political spectrum) because they equate government spending with waste and handouts.
>>>>
>>>We are not talking about spending. It was about deficit. One may speculate that the first causes the second but it is not mandatory. If you want to know what actually could be called 'unpopular', it is something (never happens) when new President says that whole Bush tax cut system should be reversed to pay for stimulus getting "us out of this funk". It could mean that everyone would really sacrifice, i.e. it would be unpopular, in fair sense of the world, but deficit could be much smaller. I can give you couple more examples of would-be-unpopular decisions. Running 2B deficit that will kill economy in long-term anyway, while pleasing own constituency base by insulating it from any real sacrifice in short-term, does not qualify for it; i.e. it can be called 'bad', not 'unpopular'.
>>
>>Clairvoyance must be a terrible burden to you.
>>
>>Here in the dimwitted little corner of the world I inhabit, I think it's way too early to say whether the stimulus plan will succeed or fail. This is something that has not occurred before in our lifetimes -- both the economic situation and the attempted remedy -- and some are ready to pass judgment on it after a month.
>
>I do not think it requires some Nostradamus-like ability to understand that the latest stimulus plan will not work. After all, no previous stimulus plan has succeeded in stimulating anything. The very idea of government putting money into the economy to stimulate it ignores the fact that the government must first take the money out of the economy. In addition a portion of the the money that's allocated for stimulus will then be taxed again. It's the equalavent of pumping water from the deep end of the pool to refill the shallow end.

With a leaky hose.