Friday, January 22, 2010

Obama Review

Poll from January 2009.

WILL GUANTANAMO BE CLOSED BY FEB 2010?
YES - 83%, NO - 16% (5-1)

Oh well, I guess I was the only one who was right.

At one year Obama appears to be a failure. For the left he hasn't closed Gitmo, increased soldiers in Afghanistan, and still has soldiers in Iraq. He failed to elect governors in Virginia and New Jersey and a senator from Massachusetts.

Unemployment, despite his "stimulus" bill, has risen to 10% despite his promise it wouldn't rise above 8% if the bill was passed.

He went back on his promises to not allow lobbyists and to be more transparent. His back-room dealings doomed Health Care Reform.

He lost money on bailouts of GM and Chrysler.

Who won on the left: the auto unions who where bailed out and shown preference over bond holders.

Who also won: Goldman Sachs and the French Banks in the AIG bailout. The unemployed with extensions of benefits and COBRA subsidies. Special interests and left causes in the "stimulus" bills and spending bills with thousands of earmarks.
Posted by Common Sense Joe at 1:59 PM

13 comments:

dan said...

ublished on Thursday, January 21, 2010 by The Nation
Obama at One: Little Surprising in Absence of Progressive Social Movement
by Howard Zinn
Looking back at President Obama's first year in office, The Nation asked members of its community to give their assesment of his performance. You can share your take on Obama's highest and lowest moments in the form provided here. Here is historian Howard Zinn's response:

I've been searching hard for a highlight. The only thing that comes close is some of Obama's rhetoric; I don't see any kind of a highlight in his actions and policies.
As far as disappointments, I wasn't terribly disappointed because I didn't expect that much. I expected him to be a traditional Democratic president. On foreign policy, that's hardly any different from a Republican--as nationalist, expansionist, imperial and warlike. So in that sense, there's no expectation and no disappointment. On domestic policy, traditionally Democratic presidents are more reformist, closer to the labor movement, more willing to pass legislation on behalf of ordinary people--and that's been true of Obama. But Democratic reforms have also been limited, cautious. Obama's no exception. On healthcare, for example, he starts out with a compromise, and when you start out with a compromise, you end with a compromise of a compromise, which is where we are now.

I thought that in the area of constitutional rights he would be better than he has been. That's the greatest disappointment, because Obama went to Harvard Law School and is presumably dedicated to constitutional rights. But he becomes president, and he's not making any significant step away from Bush policies. Sure, he keeps talking about closing Guantánamo, but he still treats the prisoners there as "suspected terrorists." They have not been tried and have not been found guilty. So when Obama proposes taking people out of Guantánamo and putting them into other prisons, he's not advancing the cause of constitutional rights very far. And then he's gone into court arguing for preventive detention, and he's continued the policy of sending suspects to countries where they very well may be tortured.

I think people are dazzled by Obama's rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president--which means, in our time, a dangerous president--unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction.

© 2010 The Nation

January 23, 2010 at 5:52 AM
dan said...

I agree with the above, but I'm curious what would Common Sense Joe have Obama do that he's not doing? It seems to me Obama is doing everything the right wants him to, he's carrying on the wars, he's not raising taxes on the rich and the corporations...sure he's letting a few tax dollar crumbs fall off the table for the poor, for image's sake, but he's continuing to let the rich banks and oil companies steal trillions, and their executives hide their money in Switzerland.

January 23, 2010 at 5:58 AM
Common Sense Joe said...

He proposing taxes on the banks. He will let the Bush tax cuts end. Those are big tax increases. His plans for Cap and Trade and Health Care are big tax increases.

What he shouldn't have done is wasted a trillion on his so called "Stimulus" bill. Result: $417K per job.

He shouldn't have bailed out GM and Chrysler, and AIG, Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac.

He shouldn't still being blaming the Bush administration for all his failures.

He should have fought the "War on Terror" more vigorously. He should not have given rights to the Christmas Day bomber.

He should acknowledge that talking the Iran and North Korea is doing no better than what Bush did.

He should thank Bush for the surge in Iraq that turned that war around.

January 23, 2010 at 10:59 AM
dan said...

Sure he proposes this and says he'll do that but he hasn't done anything concrete yet...it seems to me he and the democratic party are pulling our legs, at least on the left, he's done nothing "left" yet...name just one thing he's done for the left except make nice speeches all his actions have worked for the right. Your examples above just prove my point all those things you mention favour the right not the left, ie, favor the corporations not the people

January 24, 2010 at 9:45 AM
Common Sense Joe said...

You are right, Obama has been a failure for most of his leftist goals so far. He did transfer over a trillion dollars to the left and their causes. But Gitmo, Cap and Trade, and the takeover of the Medical Care section by the government have at least been stalled. His leftist actions on Foreign Policy so far have also failed. It has improved relations with Al Quada, Iran, North Korea or Venezuela.

January 24, 2010 at 12:23 PM
dan said...

How did he transfer a trillion dollars to the left?? You mean the right don't you, the banks, corporations, the military etc. He's given nothing to the left so far.

As for Foreign policy are relations with all those countries are worse not better you should start watching serious news like Democracy Now and not FOX

January 25, 2010 at 6:51 AM
Common Sense Joe said...

No, the banks (except AIG) have repaid their loans, with interest.

Obama transfered money to the left by signing the stimulus bills, the spending bills with earmarks, the cash-for-clunkers, saving the unions by bailouts of GM and Chrysler, etc.

January 25, 2010 at 7:13 PM
dan said...

I'm talking about net transfer, if you transfer 99% to the right and 1% to the left, the net is 98% to the right, Obama is no socialist by any means...you need to look at the big picture and shouldn"t let yourself be brainwashed by small details

January 26, 2010 at 8:56 AM
Common Sense Joe said...

Of course what you think is left may differ from what most people think as left.

Do you think transferring money from one group of people to another is leftist? Was clash for clunkers left? Is extending unemployment benefits left? Is paying for people to remove tattoos left? Is giving unions more money and power left?

January 26, 2010 at 4:35 PM
dan said...

What is left is giving ALL the people the maximum amount of freedom, education, health care and prosperity possible, like in Denmark for example, where the divide between rich and poor is negligible, where society rises or falls together...where there is not super rich and super poor. The left tries give the poor black or latino or white whose parents could not afford private math lessons costing 50$ an hour, the same chances of getting into Harvard as the rich white kid by programs such as affirmative action etc

January 30, 2010 at 5:39 AM
Common Sense Joe said...

I forgot that Denmark has provided the world with things like the iPod and world security. LOL.

January 30, 2010 at 3:01 PM
dan said...

iPods are made in Asia like just about all consumer goods these days and as for World Security Denmark is not going around bombing innocent women and children for oil and not subverting Democracies and supporting brutal dictators in order to facilitate corporate business. Denmark has a large healthy well off middle class highly educated, with no super rich or poor...modern socialism if you will which apparently works

January 31, 2010 at 5:09 AM
dan said...

Oh I forgot Denmark is leading the world in clean energy wind power technology, though China is catching up fast

January 31, 2010 at 5:30 AM

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