How do you think Obama did for his first 100 days

[Anime Daisuki]

In his first 100 days, Obama has signaled a new approach on policies from the economy to climate change to U.S. relations with Iran as part of an agenda that both his supporters and critics describe as ambitious. How do you think he did?

[Greek People Nation (GPN)]

Poorly, I think he running the country in the wrong direction. The bailouts were a mistake, the budget he is trying to pass is a mistake, and going around to apologize to other nations is a mistake. He has not chosen good people to fill up his cabinet. You can really tell by his inexperience.

[Chronopolice]

Apr 29, 2009 13:16:27 GMT -5 Anime Daisuki said:

In his first 100 days, Obama has signaled a new approach on policies from the economy to climate change to U.S. relations with Iran as part of an agenda that both his supporters and critics describe as ambitious. How do you think he did?

The problem nowadays is that we give mediocrity better praise than excellence. He has handled himself well over the past 100 days.

Do consider that he has a lot on his plate when he took over office. He doesn't deserve all the blame on what's happening. He works with what information he has and what parameters he's working with at the moment.

I do think that it is ironic that we blame the government for the bad economy when we also say that the same government should stay out of it. That's the problem with economics. When you think you have it, it throws a curved ball right back at you. STRIKE, YOU'RE OUT!!! (d**ned umpire, that was a ball!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D)

I remembered the Republicans portraying Obama as too inexperienced to take office. Every President, nay, every leader who has taken the helm of a nation-state are rookies on their first day in office.

As for which is the right direction he's taking the US and the rest of the world, let the man finish his term in office then we'll pass judgment.

[Salinthal]

His first 100 days have been unremarkable.

*These are facts if you don't believe me look it up*

Some entities who received bailout money shorted the government on stock. The government owns less of these companies than they deserve. The bailout money was given with no parameters on spending or return resulting in irresponsible businesses continuing to be frivolous and petty, spending money on corporate retreats and executive bonuses.

AIG who was to receive there excessive bonuses, had there bonuses approved by Obama. AIG was also one of the largest contributors to his senatorial campaign and his presidential campaign.

Obama never gave the order to shoot the pirates who held the captain of the merchant vessel captive. The captain of the battleship gave the order. The whitehouse lied.

The deadline for the Iraq/ Afghanistan conflict has been extended from the date he originally stated in his campaign.

Apologizing to other nations is stupid. It can create the perception of the United States being weak or subservient to other countries.

Things that still need to be done (Opinion)

Tax reform-The current book of tax laws is longer than the bible.

Recalibrate the budget. We need to shift focus and create a budget that supports the middle class. Socialized health care, government funded scientific research, a new power grid and clean fuel and electricity needs to be implemented. Our pseudocapitalistic government failed because of rampant corruption and underfunded regulatory agencies. This was exacerbated by the fact that ambition, intelligence and hard work are not valued by (many) government employees as a result of terrible management.


He is doing no more or less than I expected. I hate republicans too so I am unbiased in my criticism.

[New Dracora]

Not too nitpick too much but you can't really state that you're unbiased and then say that you hate something since well, that shows bias.

It's kinda like the logic at FOX News is what it is. Just Say'n

[Belriel]

Yes, rather than unbiased you are an equal opportunity government critic.

But yeah, Obama isn't living up to his hype, but how could he--people made him out to be the second coming of Jesus. I don't agree with 3/5 of the things he does, so I am just frustrated all around.

The things he does get done I don't like; the things I'd like him to do, he hasn't done.

[Grub]

Obama is doing a lot, but it is a whole lot of bad. I don't think a lot of people are realizing how much he is messing up our country.

[Anime Daisuki]

I guess a different way of putting it is, if you disagree with what he has done-- what would you do if you were president?

There are only so many ways to jump-start an economy. Actually just two. Lower interest rates (which is down to 1 percent), and go on a public spending spree.

[Grub]

If you combined the whole amount Bush & Clinton spent in the last 16 years, that would be a lot of money, right? Bush, after all, spent billions of dollars on the Iraq war, etc, plus he was not very conservative on his spending. He spent like a Democrat. Eight years of spending is a lot of money. Now, tack on all of the money Bill Clinton spent in his eight years as President. That's also a lot of money, right? Not for Obama. Now take every other president in history since George Washington, add up everything they have ever spent and that total would be less than what Obama has already ordered/spent since he's been in office. Obama has already spent more than ALL other Presidents combined. ALL. WWII, WWI, Vietnam, Korean War, Spanish American War, etc., etc.

Does that blow your mind at all? It does for me.

Obama has taken a problem with the economy and made it the largest government spending spree in the history of the world. People aren't realizing what he is doing. His spending is worse than a drunken sailor and that is an insult to drunks and sailors everywhere. The bill for this will be due one day, but Obama doesn't need to worry about that, he'll be out of office by then.

Anime asked what could be done differently if Obama's spending was wrong and I'd say just about anything. For all of Obama's spending, it should hopefully help in the short term, but a lot of the money he's spending is being wasted on failures like GM, AIG, etc. Let the free market work. The free market is what has made the United States great. No offense to our European friends, but let socialism stay in Europe. I don't want it.

[New Dracora]

I do agree that throwing great big piles of money into failing companies is not a good idea - money would've been better spent on new projects/ventures...

But I digress.

Real question I want to ask - wasn't all of these bailout packages put into motion prior to Obama becoming president-elect?

[Grub]

Some of the initial bailout packages were started by Bush, but Obama has increased the packages and added more.

[Anime Daisuki]

I don't disagree that Obama spent a lot of money. And much of it is wasted on irrelevant projects that have very little stimulus impact.

On the other hand, I feel that the criticism that he spent too much, is unwarranted. The truth is, the stimulus package is not large enough. Almost all economists and academics agree on that.

Take a look for example, at the excellent graph from BNP Paribas, comparing the size of bailouts around the world relative to GDP.



It makes the US $787 billion bailout seem like a drop in the bucket relative to other countries.

Now let's look at two historical cases. Some estimates put the fiscal cost of Japan’s post-bubble cleanup at more than 20 percent of GDP — the equivalent of $3 trillion for the United States. The front-end rescue package in the first three years was about 10 percent of GDP -- and yet evidently it wasn't large enough to stop Japan from experiencing about 10 years of no-growth, what economists called the "lost decade". Our own Great Depression, of course, also lasted more than a decade and was brought to an end only by a gigantic war — when more or less the entire GDP of the nation was spent on a "war stimulus package".

Compared to those historical precedences, there is real worry that the $787 billion is too little to have any effect on the economy. It's like trying to use an AAA battery to jump start a car.

[Grub]

That is still an incredibly large number. Let me just say it again -- Obama has spent more in four months than every other President in US history combined. The interest alone on that debt is huge.

1. George Washington
2. John Adams
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. James Madison
5. James Monroe
6. John Quincy Adams
7. Andrew Jackson
8. Martin Van Buren
9. William Henry Harrison
10. John Tyler
11. James Knox Polk
12. Zachary Taylor
13. Millard Fillmore
14. Franklin Pierce
15. James Buchanan
16. Abraham Lincoln
17. Andrew Johnson
18. Ulysses S. Grant
19. Rutherford B. Hayes
20. James Garfield
21. Chester Arthur
22. Grover Cleveland
23. Benjamin Harrison
24. Grover Cleveland
25. William McKinley
26. Theodore Roosevelt
27. William Howard Taft
28. Woodrow Wilson
29. Warren Harding
30. Calvin Coolidge
31. Herbert Hoover
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt
33. Harry S Truman
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
35. John F. Kennedy
36. Lyndon Johnson
37. Richard Nixon
38. Gerald Ford
39. James Carter
40. Ronald Reagan
41. George H. W. Bush
42. William J. Clinton
43. George W. Bush

I at least hope for all of Obama's spending it would do *something* good. What a complete waste it would be if all of this money, our economic future, was wasted by a guy in office who has been there for just a few months.

If people knew this was the "change" Obama was talking about they probably would have voted differently.

[Estayland]

May 14, 2009 8:19:17 GMT -5 New Dracora said:

Real question I want to ask - wasn't all of these bailout packages put into motion prior to Obama becoming president-elect?

Yes, by Bush and a Democrat-controlled Congress. People conveniently forget who controlled Congress. The President can't do it alone.

[Salinthal]

May 13, 2009 9:01:41 GMT -5 Belriel said:

Yes, rather than unbiased you are an equal opportunity government critic.

I like this you clarified my original statement thanks.

[Belriel]

May 14, 2009 21:25:08 GMT -5 Salinthal said:

I like this you clarified my original statement thanks.

No problem.


As for what I would do in this situation as president, I prefer the 'government funded jobs' approach to the 'government hands out money' approach. This ensures that cash is injected into the system, and the country gets something out of it at the same time.

It would take a lot more than that, but it would take me a while to compose all my thoughts.

[Grub]

I like how Obama goes out and spends like a madman and then he says if we keep spending like we have it is going to hurt our economy. So, Obama sets forth massive spending and then he tells us we need to be careful because we are spending too much and collecting too much foreign debt. Thanks Obama. If only you were in a position to do something about that. Oh wait a second, you will be the biggest borrower of foreign debt in our history.

www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aJsSb4qtILhg&refer=worldwide

Obama Says U.S. Long-Term Debt Load ‘Unsustainable’

"May 14 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries.

“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”

Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.” ..."

Also, check out this quote by Obama from that article. "“Most of what is driving us into debt is health care, so we have to drive down costs,” he said." Really? Health care costs are the reason we are in debt? Really? That debt has nothing to do with your own, massive spending on things like AIG, the car companies, etc., etc. When are people going to start seeing through this?

One of Obama's next moves will be to present some sort of massive socialized health system which, guess what, will further our debt. Maybe is he Nostraobama and can predict his own future spending follies.

[Belriel]

May 15, 2009 11:35:30 GMT -5 Grub said:

Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.” ..."

I think there will be a massive bidding war on eBay on who gets to own the United States. Click the Buy Now button and get Puerto Rico free!

[New Dracora]

May 16, 2009 15:25:42 GMT -5 Belriel said:

May 15, 2009 11:35:30 GMT -5 Grub said:

Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.” ..."

I think there will be a massive bidding war on eBay on who gets to own the United States. Click the Buy Now button and get Puerto Rico free!

Current bid: $5.00 (AUD)
by New Dracora

[Bredene-Dorp]

I think he is a good president so far.

***

The world economy is in crisis due to companies and banks that spent money that they didn't have. No one tried to stop them.

Obama gives money to companies in need with some extra regulations, so the companies don't waste it anymore. Why? Because you need to invest, to relaunch the economy.
Investing in the education of people and new technologies is the best medication to heal a sick economy.

There is still a lot to do in the united states, try for once to invest in eductation (schools) and health care and enviroment.

And also "education and health care" are things that people will always need.

***
Note: English is my third language, so I hope everything is clear to you.

[Deep Seabreeze]

awesome

[Salinthal]

May 16, 2009 15:25:42 GMT -5 Belriel said:

May 15, 2009 11:35:30 GMT -5 Grub said:

Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.” ..."

I think there will be a massive bidding war on eBay on who gets to own the United States. Click the Buy Now button and get Puerto Rico free!

I thought the US and its citizens were considered natural resources for China?

[Shelter from the Storm]

I think I would like to own Puerto Rico...

[Shelter from the Storm]

I am growing a little impatient with Obama. So far his record on reform stinks. His administration has failed to move on health reform, it has had some reversals on gay equality (in spite of the recent extending of SOME - but not all - benefits to same sex couples; there is still not exit strategy from Iraq... In short, he is proving to be more of the same.

[Salinthal]

Jun 22, 2009 4:07:19 GMT -5 Shelter from the Storm said:

I am growing a little impatient with Obama. So far his record on reform stinks. His administration has failed to move on health reform, it has had some reversals on gay equality (in spite of the recent extending of SOME - but not all - benefits to same sex couples; there is still not exit strategy from Iraq... In short, he is proving to be more of the same.

I <3 U. Truthiness ftw.

[Chronopolice]

The sluggishness of the pace of reforms is the inherent fault of the democratic system of government.

I could remember someone, possibly one of my college professors, talking about an analogy of politics with a game of checkers. Passers-by take interest in the game and starts to place their fingers down on the pieces that interest them, telling the players not to move their piece. More people take interest and more of the pieces get 'saved'. Eventually the game can't be finished, too many pieces can't be moved.

[Shelter from the Storm]

I understand what you are saying with the checkers analogy.

President Obama has been attacked since gaining office by the right. Labeled a socialist and criticized for his fiscal policy and being "weak" on terrorism is the usual stock in trade.

We now see the first attacks from his supporters, and as a 'lefty', I am also feeling somewhat disillusioned. This "Fierce Advocate" of gay rights has failed to suspend the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (see video clip below), failed to deliver on his promise of more transparent government and seems ready to back away from a universal, comprehensive public health care plan. The laft is growing impatient.

For the first time in a while we have a Dem congress and President. Support for Obama depends on his ability to deliver.

[Chronopolice]

Jun 27, 2009 6:14:30 GMT -5 Shelter from the Storm said:

I understand what you are saying with the checkers analogy.

President Obama has been attacked since gaining office by the right. Labeled a socialist and criticized for his fiscal policy and being "weak" on terrorism is the usual stock in trade.

We now see the first attacks from his supporters, and as a 'lefty', I am also feeling somewhat disillusioned. This "Fierce Advocate" of gay rights has failed to suspend the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (see video clip below), failed to deliver on his promise of more transparent government and seems ready to back away from a universal, comprehensive public health care plan. The laft is growing impatient.

For the first time in a while we have a Dem congress and President. Support for Obama depends on his ability to deliver.

People should realize by now that everything takes time. If they want to hasten things up a little, well you can always start a world war. ;D

No not a nuclear war for God's sake! Let's save the best for the last one. ;D

World War 2 railroaded a couple of social and technological advances by several decades. Sure it did wipe out several million people and laid waste to a lot of things but we came out of it better (and a bit nastier too).

Well if things are going fast in government, something's up and it is usually not good.

Obama can do a lot more if the people just keep quiet and quit being a backseat President. ;D