After listening to Barack Obama hold forth yesterday and today, it becomes evident that it is he who is the real compassionate conservative in American Politics and not the ignorant patrician that just retired from America’s imperial throne. As he meets with congressional leaders and tours the battered hiterlands in full scale economic meltdown, he has shown poise, graciousness, grim determination, and earnestness in telling the American people that his prescription for economic recovery will work. The American people are praying that our president’s establishment orientation, pro-business, plutocratic friendly proposals, will yield some fruit, and not more of the same. The corporate press is describing Tim Geithner ‘s TARP plan similar to the Bush/Paulson plan. I am not encouraged and it does not sound to me like “Change We Can believe in.” Only time will tell. What did you think about all of this?
26 thoughts on “Barack Obama: Compassionate Conservative”
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Skeptical Brotha 
Well, we finally have a nice set of drapes…on a condemned building.
The stimulus bill is an utter horror. Obama needn’t lull himself into believing that he can negotiate with Republicans. Instead he should concern himself with drafting and passing sound legislation with the (nearly) filibuster proof majorities that he now enjoys. He negotiated away important job producing components of the original stimulus bill, and replaced them with tax cuts that will do absolutely nothing to stimulate the economy. Personally, I’d prefer that my next door neighbor stay employed so that she doesn’t foreclose on her house and drag down the value of my house by $300,000. When compared to the measly $1000 tax rebate that I will get under this new stimulus bill, my preferred choice is clear. I have to say that I am very disappointed with Obama’s approach to this seminal piece of legislation. He should tell the Republicans to go to hell and get people employed in public works programs.
The press conference itself was a breath of fresh air. I have my doubts about the stimulus bill. Folks need JOBS. PERIOD.
Fuck tax cuts, and anyone uttering the phrase tax cuts should get their ass beat. (yeah, I’m a little testy about this.)
I’m getting to the point (okay, truth be told I’ve gone PAST the point) where I don’t WANT to play nice anymore. I want us (Dems) to pull the BS the Republicans pulled when they were “in power” and just bully our way through things and get the legislation and assistance WE want, instead of trying to play nice with the GOP. I don’t want to think rationally, logically, or anywhere close to a bipartisan manner anymore. I’m just fed up with the stupid actions that have been going down over the past couple weeks and am just running on emotions with it all right now.
And Steele, oh my gosh, I have the hardest time believing the things he’s been uttering–stimulus package jobs are “work”, not jobs. WTF??? Mind you, I didn’t know him from Adam before he was chosen as the RNC guy, but what I’m hearing and seeing now is just more Republican hogwash.
All that being said, I’m still retaining my spot on Cloud 9 and bound and determined not to come down…just yet.
Obama seems to be half-FDR-ing it and half-Reagan-ing it, with a mix of heavy infrastructure spending and a healthy dose of middle class tax cuts.
So it remains to be seen. I think the general complaint here is that he is not going full-tilt FDR, but those were different times, you know.
SB, I was embarrassed (!) at the mention in the previous post. I think Bredesen’s still going to get it, principally because Obama’s health plan, as opposed to Hillary’s, stressed cost-cutting measures anywhere possible, and Bredesen, as you’ve ably and cogently pointed out, fits that bill to a tee. Hillarycare is maximum government-subsidy with no regard to cost. I admire you, though, for trying to head the nomination off at the pass. But what’s done is done.
It says a lot about the big-tent nature of the current Democratic Party when a fellow Democrat like Bredesen is essentially a retread of his immediate predecessor.
SoCalMuchacha,
You can’t partner with folks who refuse to be cooperative. Obama loaded the original stimulus bill with tax cuts in order to appease the GOP. In return he got zero votes in the House, negotiated away many of the job producing aspects of the bill and was rewarded with 3 votes in the Senate. It’s not a matter of bipartisanship. This is a national emergency.
Imagine if the GOP had opposed entering WWII after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Do you suppose FDR would have recommended declaring war on Japan but not on Germany? Nope. He would have told the GOP to go straight to hell. That is exactly what Obama should do. That is leadership.
Was it just me? It seemed like nearly everytime Obama paused during his answers to the questions it was at a point where many of “us” would have said a curse word.
One thing, Obama is mad pissed that the GOP House members decided not to vote on stimulus. Those people take their orders from Limbaugh, so he shouldn’t have expected anything from them. He needed to swing a few Senators b/c the majority there is slim, and he did that.
The bill itself is not a horror. I think we can wait for some other issue to start demanding leftist dream bills. We need money. People need checks. Stupid people in TN who wont vote for a state income tax need to be saved from themselves.
Let me elaborate on the “drapes on a condemned building” analogy. Our economy has been on borrowed time and money for the last 30 years at least. It’s been running on bubbles and speculation…smoke and mirrors. The pace of decline has accelerated recently, thanks to the bipartisan efforts at outsourcing the job market and letting the short term profit for a few crush the long term stability for the many.
An even bigger problem, that no one cares to talk about, is that our economy is not sustainable. We achieve our current standard of living through unsustainable consumption, to the point where a leading indicator of how “healthy” the economy is, is the amount of garbage going into landfills. The last eight years of head in the sand mentality to this problem has just delayed the inevitable. Giving money to consumers does nothing to address this. It is useful policy only if it is a bridge to tide people over until a brand new sustainable economic system can be built.
“Change I could believe in” would mean a total rehaul where policymakers stop taking orders from the top 5 percent of the economic pyramid and start creating a new economy…one that benefits the bottom 95 percent. One that is sustainable and not based on boom and bust cycles. One that doesn’t create small islands of wealth surrounded by an ocean of poverty. Consumers have to adjust to a new paradigm as well, consisting of a lot more reducing, reusing and recycling. Someone with the political will and powers of persuasion to accomplish this probably hasn’t even been born yet. I am not optimistic.
HUh? There is no such thing as the Bush/Paulson Plan. Tim Geitner is also the one who design TARP 1. This guy looks like a weasel cheat and does not command authority. He needs to be more authoriative and convincing in his press conferences or he will sink more than the market.
WHy would Presdient Obama think Tim Geitner is indispensable, I have no clue. It was Tim who was Head of the NY Federal Reserve and could not regulate that agency. As far as I’m concern, Tim is part of the problem for failing to see this economic crisis on Wallstreet.
People railing against tax cuts have rather short memories — they’ve apparently forgotten that’s exactly what JFK and Reagan (both A Democrat AND a Republican) had done when they entered office, and to much effect. Because when tax rates were cut, personal income increased substantially, which means more personal income tax revenues.
President Kennedy proposed across-the-board tax rate reductions that reduced the top tax rate from more than 90 percent down to 70 percent. What happened? Tax revenues climbed from $94 billion in 1961 to $153 billion in 1968, an increase of 62 percent.
President Reagan proposed sweeping tax rate reductions during the 1980s. What happened? Total tax revenues climbed by 99.4 percent during the 1980s.
There are, after all, two rates that yield the same amount of revenue: high tax rates on low production, or low rates on high production.
I’ll take the later.
Because, as opposed to the first option — MORE money being taken (high tax rate) from a smaller group of people (a smaller workforce) — the later means LESS money is being taken (lower tax rates) from a greater number of people “producing” or working, so that the tax burden is spread more evenly. While producing the same result.
I would ask… who wouldn’t want less of a burden (taxes) on individuals (meaning you and me), while more people are working, while producing the same result?
Tax cuts are a reasonable intervention when the rates are so high (as they are in parts of Western Europe for example) that they inhibit one’s motivation to make more money. The U.S. has—by far—the lowest personal income tax rates in the industrialized world. So the idea that tax cuts under the current tax code will produce jobs is laughable. We just had the biggest tax cuts in the history of the United States, under the first presidency in 80 years to result in a net job loss. Our lust for tax cuts is the primary reason why we have crappy, private health insurance, horrendous public schools, unaffordable colleges, etc. We cut off our nose to spite our face with our ludicrous tax policy.
Also, cutting taxes for middle and low income people in good times will increase consumption; exactly the formula that created our current mess. Tax cuts in bad times (i.e. right now) will result in middle and lower income people paying down debt. That won’t stimulate the economy at all. What Obama had originally discussed, was spending on infrastructure development: modernizing schools, improving roads and bridges, building mass transit systems (God knows we could use one here in LA). Spending federal dollars on these kinds of programs will stimulate the economy because they will produce jobs. The added bonus is that they will take care of problems that have festered for too long because we’ve been too busy giving tax cuts to millionaires.
The idea of supply side economics, the rigid ideology that suggests the omniscience of the free market, the adolescent view that tax cuts are the answer for every economics question…..these things have been debunked. We are living with the consequences of this inanity. There is no necessity to cave in, even a little bit, to this kind of nonsense. Americans aren’t even clamoring for tax cuts right now. We’re clamoring for jobs. Obama needs to man up and do the right thing, in spite of resistance from Republicans.
Okay he proven his point. He is attempting to show that he has the intelligence to build a stimulus package that can prevent the economy from going into what he describes as a downward spiral. And I know what Skeptical is thinking, where do we fit in all of this?
Is this economic investment plan really going to help the ones who have been the most negatively affected by American politics?
“Because, as opposed to the first option — MORE money being taken (high tax rate) from a smaller group of people (a smaller workforce) — the later means LESS money is being taken (lower tax rates) from a greater number of people “producing” or working, so that the tax burden is spread more evenly. While producing the same result.”
James, good observation. Producing the same result would not mean “CHANGE”, but more of the same damn thing. Enslavement by the rich.
I took off my noose, now I need to take off my leash, and that would change me.
I just wondering when we will finally see CHANGE, because I know when the rich hear this word they think of socialism. And when we hear this word, we think of equal opportunity.
james,
Reagan RAISED taxes on all but the rich. sorry, your numbers are off.
rikyrah,
some folks know where the bodies are buried. tax break for buying a new/used house is OUT!
RisingTide and James,
….And we experienced a pretty nasty recession during Reagan’s first term.
Judd Gregg is gone.
good riddance
Everybody, the GOP, the Democrats particularly those who are attached to Billary Clinton, the Wall Street and Pharmaceutical companies are out to defeat the 44th President using all means at their disposal.
Rahm Emanuel comminicates with Paul Begala, James Carville and George Stephanopolous everyday. Nobody knows what information he is passing to these Clinton trios who happen the Clinton guys.
From NBC’s Chuck Todd
“Harold Ford Jr. for Commerce Secretary? It’s something a few Democrats around town are pushing and, according to sources, the idea of appointing the former Tennessee Congressman is being given serious thought by folks high up in the Obama administration.”
My comments: Combine this with Bredesen at HHS, and let the SB apoplexy ensue.
I can’t wait! (j/k)
It’s funny. About a year ago several of us were predicting Ford Jr at Commerce if Obama won. He is, of course, completely unqualified. He’s had two jobs in his life: House Rep. from Memphis and political commentator for MSNBC. The fluff job at Merrill Lynch was not a real job. Anyway, how could anyone possibly think he is qualified to run a federal agency?
Absent the Census, Commerce is a do-nothing job. Perfect for a wannabe Senator.
Harold Ford jr.!!! God help us all…Absolutely not!!!!!
I’m with Chi, about the Dark Sith. Give it to someone who is qualified.
zeitgeist9000,
I will get around to the Whore sooner rather than later. To explain why the Whore is unacceptable will take a considerable amount of work. As you well know, my contempt for Harold Ford Jr borders on blind hate and this unwelcome news has my pressure up. I’m gonna hafta calm the f**k down. If I can come up with something acceptable, simple and punchy, you’ll be the first to know.
Thanks for the heads up.
TripLBee,
I couldn’t agree with you more about not partnering with those who refuse to be cooperative. I am anxious to see the return of the Obama (glimpses of it showing) I voted for–the “this is what our country needs NOW, and this is what I am GOING to do for it NOW”–not the overly-kumbayah man we’ve been seeing. I’m all for offering out a hand in good faith, but if the only hand I see coming at me is flipping me the bird (as the Repubs are to Obama), then all bets are off.
I’m not sure what to think yet. I just know that I see the Dow dropping lower and lower every day and it’s not looking as if it’s gonna get any better for a very long time. I just know that my area’s unemployment rate is damn near 10% and this country’s overall unemployment rate is getting close to that same percentage. I just know that everything that could possibly go wrong, IS going wrong.
I hope I’m mistaken about my doubts.
LONG LIVE PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA!
Speaking of Barack Obama:
Barack Obama is a racial-minority individual and does not like racism:
WORLDWIDE PROLIFERATION OF SCANDALS:
(I) I do solemnly swear by Almighty God that George W. Bush committed hate crimes of epic proportions and with the stench of terrorism which I am not at liberty to mention. Many people know what Bush did. And many people will know what Bush did—even until the end of the world. Bush was absolute evil. Bush is now like a fugitive from justice. Bush is a psychological prisoner. Bush often worries. In any case, Bush will go down in history in infamy.
(II) It is opined that Bill Clinton committed terrifying, racist, hate crimes during his presidency, and I am not free to say anything further about it. Numbers 32:23: “Be sure your sins will find you out.”
(III) What if basically all racial-minority people would subscribe to the interpretations that George Herbert Walker Bush committed monstrous, racist, hate crimes while he was the President of the United States? It will eventually come out: it is only a matter of time.
(IV) I know it may be hard to believe. However, Ronald Wilson Reagan committed horrible, racist, hate crimes during his presidency.
– A.W.
(I can type 90 words per minute, and there are thousands of copies on the Internet (by March 29, 2009) indicating the contents of (I), (II), (III), and (IV). And there are thousands of copies in very many countries around the world.)
“BAD NEWS FROM THE UNITED STATES: ON THE HATE CRIMES AND ETERNAL INFAMIES OF GEORGE W. BUSH, BILL CLINTON, GEORGE H.W. BUSH, AND RONALD REAGAN” BLOG OF ANDREW WANG
badnewsfromtheunitedstates.blogspot.com
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‘If only there could be a ban against invention that bottled up memory like scent & it never faded & it never got stale.’ Off the top of my head, it came from my Lower Merion High School yearbook.