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Post by Trillian on Apr 14, 2010 8:28:00 GMT -5
As an outsider looking in, how is he really doing as a president?
Who the president of America is doesn't affect me in a large way. USA has a recession, we have a smaller recession (ours is pretty much over, and only those who were heavily indebted really suffered), plus a weak dollar = cheaper shit for me!
I check the Internets, but have a hard time sifting the truth from the propaganda (both ways). I mean I know that Obama (probably) isn't the antichrist and that he hasn't (personally) eaten any babies, but the true nitty gritty of it is what?
And why all the fuss about health care reform? How does it (negatively) affect you as a working citizen of America?
Just curious.
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Post by Ian1732 on Apr 14, 2010 8:41:56 GMT -5
As a high school student, I can say that Obama's been doing quite well. Of course, that's mostly because I lived most of my life under Bush, so Obama's definitely an improvement on him.
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Post by Bezron on Apr 14, 2010 8:57:02 GMT -5
He's trying really hard, getting some things done, actually following through on campaign promises, and not actively trying to screw a major sector of the country in favor of a much smaller sector.
All in all, he's not doing half bad, and is the most involved president I have seen in my lifetime (I was born in the 70's)
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Post by Tiger on Apr 14, 2010 8:57:50 GMT -5
The below is my somewhat biased opinion, but all information is factual. I check the Internets, but have a hard time sifting the truth from the propaganda (both ways). I mean I know that Obama (probably) isn't the antichrist and that he hasn't (personally) eaten any babies, but the true nitty gritty of it is what? And why all the fuss about health care reform? How does it (negatively) affect you as a working citizen of America? The fuss about health care reform is mostly the product of Republican fearmongering about death panels and such. Most of the ideas contained within the bill have strong popular support (I think my Introduction to Health Care Professions professor said around 80%), yet the bill itself is only supported by about 50% of the populace, indicating that most of the people complaining about the bill don't actually know anything about its contents and just know that it's bad because they've been told it's bad by people who were planning to kill any attempt at reform before we even knew what the bill would look like. On the flip side of the coin, the bill is probably going to raise health care costs, both by raising expenses for health insurance companies and by giving people greater access to health care, which will decrease the supply of physicians. The mandate to purchase health insurance is also somewhat legitimately unpopular, since younger, healthier people might otherwise have simply decided that they don't need health insurance, though when you get down to it it's no different than subsidizing Medicaid and Medicare (which provide health insurance to the poor and the elderly, respectively) through taxes. In general, Obama's been a decent president, especially in comparison to the last one. While he's been refusing to end either of the wars, he's not going to start any new ones either. He's refused to close Gitmo or end the federal government's practice of warrantless wiretapping. Despite repeated promises to fight for gay rights, he's yet to actually do anything on that front. His economic policies have been adequate. Essentially, he's a slightly more liberal George Bush who's not going to do anything stupid and speaks English. |
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Post by skyfire on Apr 14, 2010 11:04:36 GMT -5
This here tracks how Obama's doing in keeping his campaign promises.For the past few months, he's had a rough average of 1 promise broken for every 5 that he's kept, with some of the promises he's broken being key planks in his electoral platform. IE, he promised no new taxes on those making less than $250,000 / year but elements of the omnibus health care bill that got passed are indeed new taxes. ** Beyond that? [1] Obama's had a lot of trouble with his nominees and appointees. Several nominees have been bounced owing to different issues, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner would have likewise been bounced were it not for the recession. Furthermore, at least two appointees have had to resign thus far. His "green" czar Van Jones had to resign after it was discovered that he may have been a "Truther" (someone who believes that the US government was behind 9/11), and the woman who plans the State Department events had to resign for her own incompetence after a pair of party crashers managed to not only slip past security but also get to meet Obama and a diplomat from India. There have also been calls for his Homeland Security appointee, Janet Napolitano, to resign as well owing to perceived incompetence in regards to both the gate crasher incident and her remarks in the wake of the Underwear Bomber incident. Likewise, there have been questions about the competence of some of his other appointees. For example, none of the people who he sent in to help reform General Motors actually have experience in the automotive industry. GM has had to waste precious time trying to defend their corporate decisions and explain to them what is already common knowledge. [2] Obama lost a lot of face in regards to the fact that he inadvertently accused a police officer of racism, something that it took him several months to live down. Henry Louis Gates, a Harvard professor, was returning home from a long flight when he discovered that the front door to his house was jammed shut. Addled by the long flight and a mild illness, Gates decided that he and his driver should go ahead and simply force the door (calling in a locksmith would have been more prudent). A neighbor saw the incident and called the cops, thinking that someone was trying to break into Gates' home. When the police arrived, Gates was in his house preparing for bed. Tired and agitated, Gates proceeded to cause a scene and otherwise cause problems when the officers arrived and tried to do their jobs; one of the officers ultimately decided to arrest Gates for being disorderly, an act which Obama - unaware of the actual situation at the time - deemed racist since the cop was white and Gates was black. The ensuing firestorm (it turns out that the white cop was a model police officer who had actually been tasked with teaching a racial sensitivity training course to his fellow officers) resulted in the media fixating on the event for several days, during which Obama was made to look like a jackass over his comments. He finally had to invite the two men over for beer in order to get things to die down. [3] Obama's big mouth also got him into even more trouble a few months ago when he put Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D - NV) in a tight spot. Obama, during a speech on responsible spending, argued that there was no need to go to Las Vegas since it would only be a waste of a person's money; while he was trying to simply raise it as an example of extravagance (most people equate Vegas with gambling and prostitution), it was ultimately a back-handed slap to the entire state of Nevada and completely ignored the city's efforts to refocus attention onto its many business conventions. [4] The stimulus packages (one of which Obama was behind) are regarded as expensive flops owing to issues concerning where the money went, and the current omnibus is regarded as an even more expensive government take-over that goes after the wrong things in regards to health care. The controversy is such that some folks in Congress are already considering their careers as being over with due to all the public blowback. In short? Obama's made a lot of rookie mistakes and broken a lot of promises, in large part because he really didn't know what he was doing when he came into office. If he and the Democrats can't turn things around before November and convince the nation that their health care reform bill is the best idea possible, then we're likely to see a GOP majority in Congress this November, something that could turn Obama into a lame duck if he's not careful.
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Post by skyfire on Apr 14, 2010 11:15:39 GMT -5
On the flip side of the coin, the bill is probably going to raise health care costs, both by raising expenses for health insurance companies and by giving people greater access to health care, which will decrease the supply of physicians. The mandate to purchase health insurance is also somewhat legitimately unpopular, since younger, healthier people might otherwise have simply decided that they don't need health insurance, though when you get down to it it's no different than subsidizing Medicaid and Medicare (which provide health insurance to the poor and the elderly, respectively) through taxes. It's a little more than that. For example, a lot of the people who are currently uninsured are like that because they couldn't afford it in the first place. Even with government aid being given to mitigate the prices of premiums, it still comes down to being a very much regressive tax since the poorer people in America will get hit harder by the mandate than the richer people. Furthermore, I've not seen a single thing inside the bill itself that would directly work to increase the supply of medical professionals in America; given that this was a fairly common argument against the bill, one would think that the Democrats would have gone to length to discuss it if there was anything. Rather, we're having to see supplementary bills getting passed through in order to address the matter, which could be seen as the Democrats quietly admitting that the omnibus didn't solve everything like it promised it would. On top of that, the DNC has seemingly done what it can to downplay the fact that there was bi-partisan support for the concept of electronic medical records; IIRC, you were one of a handful of people here to admit that you were completely unaware of Republican support for the matter and had thus come to mistakenly regard it as being a Democrat-led initiative. |
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Post by dasfuchs on Apr 14, 2010 11:24:54 GMT -5
Wonderful, Sky left another steamy one
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Post by Distind on Apr 14, 2010 11:27:46 GMT -5
Wonderful, Sky left another steamy one Yea, it's taken a while, but I think he's finally starting to get on my nerves. Used to be he'd just run from facts, now he has this full on partisian bullshit shield going. Check the polls Sky, people are happier with Obama now that at least something has passed than they were while it was being argued. We're never going to get 'the best idea possible', but it sure beats no ideas at all. |
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Post by m52nickerson on Apr 14, 2010 11:38:07 GMT -5
I check the Internets, but have a hard time sifting the truth from the propaganda (both ways). That is why you should not even read what Sky writes, he is just a GOP propaganda bot who's server is located in Texas. |
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ottery
New Member
Otterly delicious
Posts: 23
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Post by ottery on Apr 14, 2010 11:38:39 GMT -5
Wonderful, Sky left another steamy one Ew...I'm not cleaning that up... As for the mandate on buying healthcare, I think that will help cover the rising medical costs. Plus, having people stick with one company for a long time will, *Gasp!* help the insurance companies! Plus, I think it'll teach people that their bodies are kind of like cars, in the sense that you can't go out and get car insurance only if your car starts acting up or if you're going to be in a monster truck rally. Also, Sky? Please stop calling them czars. They are not czars. |
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Post by Vene on Apr 14, 2010 11:44:02 GMT -5
Yep, such a regressive tax that gives the poorest members of the population free insurance and limits the percentage of income that can go to insurance by the working and middle classes. I think somebody who is making $40k a year would love to have insurance coverage for $4k a year.
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Post by Tiger on Apr 14, 2010 12:03:30 GMT -5
Wonderful, Sky left another steamy one An apt summary. |
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Post by RavynousHunter on Apr 14, 2010 12:05:52 GMT -5
And he double posted, too. Bad form there, bro. Oh...also...to sky:  |
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Post by Tiger on Apr 14, 2010 12:25:13 GMT -5
Furthermore, I've not seen a single thing inside the bill itself that would directly work to increase the supply of medical professionals in America; Student loan reform. You don't. And what do medical records have to do with HCR? They were part of the stimulus that a. you and the GOP opposed and b. has not been a "flop", no matter how much you and FOX News cover your ears and yell loudly about how it was a waste of money. |
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Post by m52nickerson on Apr 14, 2010 13:56:15 GMT -5
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