Obama

[Toasty]

So. First black President of the United States. Promised to get us out of debt. Promised to keep the country safe. Promised to....get his children a puppy?

At least we know he kept one of his promises so far.


Personally, I don't like the guy. I think he's going to screw the country over. He's a socialist, and if he gets his way, we'll likely see some kind of income redistribution (and the end of capitalism as we know it).

Also, the "stimulus package" gave him something like 7 trillion dollars (correct me if I'm wrong, might've been 1 trillion). To begin with, most of it won't be spent until 2011. To top it off, it's full of things that are entirely unrelated to the economy. There's numerous bills wrapped up into it that wouldn't have been passed unless they were put into something that the country desperately needed (like a stimulus package). These are things that coincide with the personal agendas of people who helped Obama get into office (big campaign contributors).

What's worse, he's "promoting" Republican Senators to places within his administration, so that they can be replaced by Democratic Senators. Because of this, the Democrats almost have complete control over congress.

In my opinion? Obama+Democratic controlled congress = "oh ****, son"


So. What are your opinions on America's new President?

[Charon]

Well, living in Michigan (oh yes, let me tell you the crap I've had to deal with), I personally feel that we need the money to bail our sorry asses out of debt, but I feel that getting us out of debt by putting us more in debt is just... not going to work.

I have only noticed an increase in lost jobs lately. So no, I don't support him. However, I think he's more of a Democratic "puppet" rather than an actual leader. Just because he can preach doesn't make him a pastor; just because he can say crap outta his mouth doesn't mean he can lead a country. My father hasn't lost his job yet at Visteon, but a few months ago 40% of his sector was laid off. At least Visteon knows how to manage money.

This "newer" deal isn't what's going to bring us out of the financial crisis, because to be honest, the New Deal wasn't brought us out of the great depression.

I feel that the only companies that are taking this whole thing seriously are those in the auto industry. Seriously. What bank was it again that had their asses bailed out and that had a concert party with Sheryl Crow like a month ago? Let the banks fall, have solely a federal bank and try as hard as possible to allow the auto industry to at least stay afloat. Why congress wants to be a complete b**** to an industry employing millions of people rather than the people who screwed with our money in the first place is beyond me.

And I wish people would stop wearing Obama's face on their chests. Ugh. Just because he's black does not make him the second comming of Moses.

[twocows]

Well, living in Michigan (oh yes, let me tell you the crap I've had to deal with), I personally feel that we need the money to bail our sorry asses out of debt, but I feel that getting us out of debt by putting us more in debt is just... not going to work.

I have only noticed an increase in lost jobs lately. So no, I don't support him. However, I think he's more of a Democratic "puppet" rather than an actual leader. Just because he can preach doesn't make him a pastor; just because he can say crap outta his mouth doesn't mean he can lead a country. My father hasn't lost his job yet at Visteon, but a few months ago 40% of his sector was laid off. At least Visteon knows how to manage money.

This "newer" deal isn't what's going to bring us out of the financial crisis, because to be honest, the New Deal wasn't brought us out of the great depression.

I feel that the only companies that are taking this whole thing seriously are those in the auto industry. Seriously. What bank was it again that had their asses bailed out and that had a concert party with Sheryl Crow like a month ago? Let the banks fall, have solely a federal bank and try as hard as possible to allow the auto industry to at least stay afloat. Why congress wants to be a complete b**** to an industry employing millions of people rather than the people who screwed with our money in the first place is beyond me.

And I wish people would stop wearing Obama's face on their chests. Ugh. Just because he's black does not make him the second comming of Moses.

Oh goodness, don't get me started on Granholm. I, too, am a Michigan-dweller, and she's botched the economy in every single way. Maybe I'm a bit biased (I'm a Libertarian), but I think she's failed miserably in her economic policy. I agree with her on nearly everything else, sure; but I absolutely cannot stand what she's done with our economy over the past... seven years now?

As for Obama, I like the guy, but not to the fanatical extent that most of the people that voted for him seemed to. I say seemed because when your expectations for someone are that high, you're setting them up for failure. He hasn't botched anything so far (except his cabinet positions, in my opinion; he's put Microsoft and RIAA lackeys into positions of power, a disaster waiting to happen), so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. If his economic plan is anything like Granholm's plan, however, I'm packing up and moving north. I hear Canada's nice this time of year.

Oh, and the bailouts. Don't get me started; it's ridiculous that there were no restrictions on how the money was spent. Not that long ago, GM got a bailout, and the higher-ups wasted all of it on themselves. Guess what's happening again? It's not just the auto industry this time, either; everybody that's been "bailed out" is wasting the money. I always thought I'd be a crappy politician; I couldn't possibly be smart enough to create the laws that run the country. Then I see these idiots running around ignoring historical precedent (and recent history, at that) and it makes me consider the benefits of being a dictator.

EDIT:
I blame the mistakes regarding the economy more on congress at the moment. That's not to say that Obama can't make it worse (though I don't see how), but congress decided how to spend the money.

[Rolina]

What's this I hear about Emperor Palpatine?  You'd better be careful about what you say, or you may find some stormtroopers at your door.  After all, his next goal seems to be the removal of the right to free speech for anyone that doesn't agree with him.

Anywho, Our American Palpatine seems to be only helping the job market in the ways of government jobs.  Woo hoo, great.  What about people like me, whom have been only out in the job market for two or three years?  My generation?  Well, apparently his policy on us is a wallet.  We are there to steal from so he can feel better about himself.  Does he not understand what we're capable of, as people?  I mean, it's only a matter of time before we snap, an when that happens, you'll either get outright rebellion, or Generational Wrath.  He has no idea the consequences of his own actions.

It's that way as a whole with the generation of our parents.  Individually, they may vary, but collectively, they are corrupt and irresponsible.  "I'm busy, Leene, go watch TV or something."  "I'm busy, Leene, go play your video games."  "Not right now, Leene, mommy's busy."  "I don't have time for you right now, Leene."  "I'm too busy for you."

Really?  And yet you're so shocked and horrified at those games you got us with out looking to see what they were... Like GTA.  Honestly, you're going to bash it for raising us improperly?  Aren't YOU supposed to raise us?  Let's not forget that it's YOUR generation that took over from the last one and corrupted the hell out of both Business and Government alike.  And now your pride and joy, the embodiment of the essence of your generation, Our American Palpatine - President Obama - is giving us the shaft just so he can TRY (and FAIL) to make your life feel a little better.

Do you think we're just going to sit here and TAKE IT?  Oh no... we're not.  They have NO CLUE what the consequences of their actions are.

[Charon]

Twocows? You live in Michigan too? First Granholm, then Kilpatrick, then (for some) Obama... Us Michiganders sure love our Democrats XD

Hmm... I think that the automotice industry is the most conservative and reasonable with their money, even though the higher-ups are throwing it down the drain...

I think Obama's problem isn't that he has bad intentions (no president really ever goes into office and thinks, "Muahahaha I'm gonna screw up the economy even worse lolololol") but he's such a n00b that he has no clue what the hell he's doing. Seriously, most of the crap he did for the country involves in all that campaigning, what, two years before the election?

I honestly haven't seen that much of a "change" since he's been in office from when Bush was in his position. Funny how that was his favourite word a few months ago...

But still, I think what annoys me more than the man himself is the fact that his followers treat him as the second coming of Moses/Jesus/[insert religious figure here]. Honestly, he's not that great. He's done jack s*** for us in the long run, so stop treating him as if he has. Ugh.

[Rolina]

I see the problem as twofold:

First, he's a freaking pushover.  And the Democratic party saw this from the onset.
Second, the democratic party has an agenda that they're trying to push, and are using his pushover nature to get it through.

I mean, look at this... he's puting out this so-called 'outrage' over legally binding contracts that give bonuses, when it's the GOVERNMENT that encouraged these bonuses in the first place!  The GOVERNMENT has caused all of these problems, and the companies simply were complying with the government.  And now?  They're claiming outrage over a few million, when that bank is dishing out dough by the BILLIONS to other banks overseas... they spent more money on other countries than their own!

Something not right here... something is seriously wrong.  Obama is just the face of the problem...  I swear, it's like the Manchurian Candidate... and he doesn't even know it...

[Charon]

Second, the democratic party has an agenda that they're trying to push, and are using his pushover nature to get it through.

Something not right here... something is seriously wrong.  Obama is just the face of the problem...  I swear, it's like the Manchurian Candidate... and he doesn't even know it...

Thus, lies the reason WHY Obama was chosen XD

I think that Obama isn't the one in the wrong here. I think its the thing underneath that is screwing everything up.

[twocows]

Second, the democratic party has an agenda that they're trying to push, and are using his pushover nature to get it through.

Something not right here... something is seriously wrong.  Obama is just the face of the problem...  I swear, it's like the Manchurian Candidate... and he doesn't even know it...

Thus, lies the reason WHY Obama was chosen XD

I think that Obama isn't the one in the wrong here. I think its the thing underneath that is screwing everything up.

It usually is; most governments are corrupt. My favorite moment in history was when Teddy Roosevelt became President, because it's exactly the opposite of what the corrupt politicians wanted. They "promoted" TR out of his influential position into a place where he couldn't do anything (Vice President), but then the President died, and all the corrupt politicians got screwed over. If only that happened more often.

[Rolina]

Congressional term limits for the win.  The biggest problem is corruption, but when they come in as freshmen they've usually not been corrupted yet.  Logically speaking, if we limit the Senate to a single term, and the House to two non-consecutive terms, our government would start recovering REALLY quickly just from that.

The next step is to split up the Republican and Democratic parties, changing us from two-party to four-party.  You'd have Far (Extremist) Left, Moderate (Reasonable) Left, Moderate (Reasonable) Right, and Far (Extremist) Right.  Hell, the Moderate Left have already given themselves a party name (Blue Dogs)!

[twocows]

Congressional term limits for the win.  The biggest problem is corruption, but when they come in as freshmen they've usually not been corrupted yet.  Logically speaking, if we limit the Senate to a single term, and the House to two non-consecutive terms, our government would start recovering REALLY quickly just from that.

The next step is to split up the Republican and Democratic parties, changing us from two-party to four-party.  You'd have Far (Extremist) Left, Moderate (Reasonable) Left, Moderate (Reasonable) Right, and Far (Extremist) Right.  Hell, the Moderate Left have already given themselves a party name (Blue Dogs)!

Either that or one party for each spectrum of the political compass. You'd have the Republicans, the Democrats, the Libertarians (me, yay), and a fourth party that's essentially liberal in its economic policy and conservative in its social policy. Think Stalin, but less extreme.

[Zach]

So. First black President of the United States. Promised to get us out of debt. Promised to keep the country safe. Promised to....get his children a puppy?

At least we know he kept one of his promises so far.


Personally, I don't like the guy. I think he's going to screw the country over. He's a socialist, and if he gets his way, we'll likely see some kind of income redistribution (and the end of capitalism as we know it).

Also, the "stimulus package" gave him something like 7 trillion dollars (correct me if I'm wrong, might've been 1 trillion). To begin with, most of it won't be spent until 2011. To top it off, it's full of things that are entirely unrelated to the economy. There's numerous bills wrapped up into it that wouldn't have been passed unless they were put into something that the country desperately needed (like a stimulus package). These are things that coincide with the personal agendas of people who helped Obama get into office (big campaign contributors).

What's worse, he's "promoting" Republican Senators to places within his administration, so that they can be replaced by Democratic Senators. Because of this, the Democrats almost have complete control over congress.

In my opinion? Obama+Democratic controlled congress = "oh ****, son"


So. What are your opinions on America's new President?

Well regarding that debt thing, that cannot be fixed overnight. The Stimulus bill may have not been the brightest idea, but everybody in Congress are out of ideas when it comes to the economy. Some places like South Carolina needs it, but you are right, it is putting us in more debt (which ain't good. just look at Russia X_X). It's like they say, "Rome wasn't built in a day"

[twocows]

My main reason for being a Libertarian is the trend that's been happening in Michigan for the past decade, and that seems to be extending into national politics. It seems that whenever a Republican is in office, our civil liberties get violated, but whenever a Democrat is in office, our economy turns to shambles. Granted, this time the economy got bad before the Democrat got in office. Technically, however, the Democrats had control of congress when it started to turn bad, and I do have to admit that the cause appears to be policies the Democrats enacted (namely, lending homes to people that couldn't pay back the mortgages, known as sub-prime lending). I believe that the Libertarian party could solve a lot of the economic problems, but without the hit on our civil liberties.

For the record, if I was forced between living in a country with a crappy economy and a country with no civil liberties, I'd choose the former; big brother governments scare the daylights out of me, and censorship policies make me absolutely furious. At least the government won't end up killing me if it's just the economy that's bad, though I may end up mooching off taxpayer money in that situation.

[Charon]

Well, you know, Michigan is almost like a forecast state for the rest of the union's condition...

[twocows]

Well, you know, Michigan is almost like a forecast state for the rest of the union's condition...

...only worse. We were in the bottom 10 states economically last year, and I can't imagine it's gotten any better. The only good thing I can say is that we weren't really hit as hard because our economy was already in the toilet. At least in Illinois, the politicians are just corrupt. Here, they're complete idiots.

[Charon]

...only worse. We were in the bottom 10 states economically last year, and I can't imagine it's gotten any better. The only good thing I can say is that we weren't really hit as hard because our economy was already in the toilet. At least in Illinois, the politicians are just corrupt. Here, they're complete idiots.

At least the county where I live is capable of managing money. Seriously, almost the entire state is reeking of debt. It's like there's only 3 people who know how to manage money around this place.

I can only hope someone impeaches Granholm before things go to Hell (lol pun).

Maybe we can get Jim Cramer to NO THAT WOULD BE SUICIDE ON OUR STATE'S PART

[twocows]

At least the county where I live is capable of managing money. Seriously, almost the entire state is reeking of debt. It's like there's only 3 people who know how to manage money around this place.

I can only hope someone impeaches Granholm before things go to Hell (lol pun).

Maybe we can get Jim Cramer to NO THAT WOULD BE SUICIDE ON OUR STATE'S PART

But his show's called "Mad Money!" It has "mad" in the name, so you know it's more "hip" than those other money shows. "On the Money?" That's extreme... extreme-ly lame! More like "Carmen WRONG Ulrich," am I right or am I right? "Moneyline?" Lou Dobbs couldn't finance his way out of a sub-prime mortgage! He probably only has ONE private jet! LAME!

Seriously, though, taking financial advice from people on TV is always a bad idea. I have found one strategy that seems to work, though. Here's what I do. I take whatever it is Jim Cramer says to do with my money, and then I do the complete opposite. Hasn't steered me wrong yet.

Granholm will be out of office in another year or so, I believe, and I don't think she can mess things up any farther by then. I can't remember, what's below a quagmire again? That's what we're in.

[Charon]

All I have to say... is that is the best financial advice ever.

And on the topic of Granholm, I honestly think she should just move to Tasmania or something after she is out, because I don't think ANYONE from Michigan wants to see her face ever again.

[Rolina]

There's only one guy I've agreed with on TV almost 100% - and that's Glenn Beck.  O'Reily's pretty good, and though Hannity is a bit too far right, he does make a few good points.  But Glenn's the only one who's firmly nailed the problem on the head - as a nation, we've forgotten our values and principles.  What are nation was founded upon.  We've forgotten, not just our government, but we the people have forgotten, just how important integrity is.

[Charon]

Ah, Glenn Beck. The guy that reminds me of my old German teacher... (not that that's bad or anything).

I feel you can't trust anyone these days. I can't even trust my own sister with money.

In a day of age in which everyone's either full of crap or out to get your money, who is there to trust?

[twocows]

I haven't noticed too much of a difference here in Michigan, but that's because we've been getting screwed by Granholm the past some odd years. Our jobs left with her inauguration.

The biggest thing that's been hit are my investments. I had a little invested in the stock market, and obviously that went downhill; almost all of it was invested in QQQQ, so you can see for yourself how that's done since the recession. QQQQ isn't doing as badly as some other stuff, though. I believe people that invested heavily in the US economy probably lost the most. Also, I'd imagine loans have gotten crappier due to the sub-prime mortgage thing, though I haven't taken one out, so I'm not certain.