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“I Won” * Open Thread

By SusanUnPC on January 23, 2009 at 4:14 PM in American Consumers, Barack Obama, Economic Stimulus, Economy, Open Thread, Politico, President Barack Obama

From Politico‘s story, “Obama to GOP: ‘I won’“:

President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning – but he also left no doubt about who’s in charge of these negotiations. “I won,” Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation.

The exchange arose as top House and Senate Republicans expressed concern to the president about the amount of spending in the package. They also raised red flags about a refundable tax credit that returns money to those who don’t pay income taxes, the sources said. …

Writes Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:

The golden age of bipartisanship beginneth.

[...]

Just how rancid is this crap sandwich, anyway? Even David Brooks thinks it’s too much of a liberal Christmas tree: [...]

[...] McConnell and Boehner put on a brave face after the meeting but there’s simply nothing they can do. Skip ahead to the end for an inkling of the super-secret plan to jumpstart the economy with hundreds of millions of dollars for contraception.

The Republicans stressed that they want to include more middle class tax cuts in the package, citing their proposal to cut the two lowest tax rates — 15 percent and 10 percent — to ten percent and five percent, rather than issue the refundable credit Obama wants.

At another point in the meeting, sources said Obama told the group: “This is a grave situation facing the country.” [WOW! Really?We did not know that.] White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama would hold another economic meeting in the White House Saturday for a “broader group.”

After Friday’s meeting, Democratic and Republican leaders publicly wrangled over the developing stimulus plan.

But perhaps taking a cue from Obama’s “I won” line when Democrats were asked if they were concerned about Republicans blocking the package, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had a swift one-word answer: “No.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the bill was on track for passage by February 16, while Republicans continued to voice their opposition.

“We expressed our concerns about some of the spending that’s being proposed in the House bill,” House Minority Leader John Boehner said after meeting with Obama.

“How can you spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives?” Boehner asked. “How does that stimulate the economy?”

Boehner said congressional Republicans are also concerned about the size of the package. …

Read all: “Obama to GOP: ‘I won’.”

NOW for the pro-Obama POV, via the “Political Animal” bloggers at The Washington Monthly:

OBAMA TELLS GOP, ‘I WON’…. President Obama is, for good or ill, making a sincere effort to work with congressional Republicans, most notably on an economic stimulus package. That doesn’t mean, however, that’s he’s going to get pushed around.

President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning — but he also left no doubt about who’s in charge of these negotiations. “I won,” Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation.

In context, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) told the president that the Democratic plan to give a tax credit to those who don’t pay income taxes isn’t a tax cut, but rather, a check. Obama responded that this was a common point of debate during the presidential campaign — McCain/Palin called Obama’s plan “welfare” — and voters were not swayed by Republican arguments. “I won,” Obama told lawmakers.

So, Obama wasn’t throwing too sharp an elbow, but it was nevertheless a not-so-subtle reminder to the minority party. There are two sides to this debate, and one of them has the backing of the American electorate, and was endorsed after a national campaign based on a specific policy platform. Hint to Kyl: it’s not your side.

I can only hope the president keeps this in mind as the negotiations continue. It’s very gracious of him to try to bring in the failed and unpopular party to work on these issues, but before any major concessions are made, that single phrase — “I won” — should be front and center.

…

You can find more blog and MSM reactions to Obama’s statement at Memeorandum.com.

  • Morgan

    That sounds decidedly non-bipartisan. With a touch of hubris no less.

    • oowawa

      GWB:

      And it’s like earning capital. You asked do I feel free. Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it.

      It is my style. That’s what happened after the 2000 election, I earned some capital.

      I’ve earned capital in this election and I’m going to spend it . . .

      It sounded arrogant and non-partisan back on Nov. 4, 2004. I didn’t like it. Don’t EVER flaunt the fact that you won. It’s not going to win you any friends, and it’s going to harden your enemies against you.

      • Sammie

        GWB’s political capital comment was the first thing to come to mind after reading Obama’s “I won” comment. I say, let’s see where we end up in a few years. If the Dems don’t play it right, they could end up as bad off as the Republicans are right now. For all our sakes, I hope they do better.

        • snosandy

          I remember it well. I lived in a little town in Malaysia at the time, when I heard it on CNN. I was appalled that my fellow Americans had voted him back in office. I thought they had just given him the message that everything he had done in his first term was acceptable.

          • LV

            This is one Malaysian who is anti-Obama. Obama is going to be one big failure!

        • Chicago Joe

          Two small minds thinking alike.

      • http://www.partizane.com catfish

        Obama, last week:

        “This, by the way, is where there are going to be very difficult choices and issues of sacrifice and responsibility and duty,” he said. “You have to have a president who is willing to spend some political capital on this. And I intend to spend some.”

        http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/15/AR2009011504114.html?hpid=topnews

        • oowawa

          Great find, Catfish.

          Spending political capital–what does it really mean? It means taking advantage of your high ratings and current political support in order to enact policies that you would be unable to push through if you did not have the “political capital” to do so. Maybe there will be a return on your capital expenditure, and maybe there won’t. GWB spent all of his political capital and then some and didn’t get anything in return. Now we are all severely overdrawn. When Obama says,

          You have to have a president who is willing to spend some political capital on this. And I intend to spend some.

          He is in effect saying, “I am going to risk my current popularity and support in advancing my agenda.” If O’s policies work, great. If they don’t, well, tough luck folks. Again.

          And, by the way, politicians should never speak of “spending political capital.” It should always be “investing political capital.” And investments should only be undertaken if the prospects of profit are excellent.

          • riverplate

            He is in effect saying, “I am going to risk my current popularity and support in advancing my agenda.”…politicians should never speak of “spending political capital.” It should always be “investing political capital.” And investments should only be undertaken if the prospects of profit are excellent.

            You’re saying politicians should only speak of taking risks when there are no risks to speak of.

            That’s not the kind of “leadership” we’ve ever needed…and especially not now.

            Gobama, go.

      • BernieO

        Bush said that publicly and he had not even won a majority of the vote.

        I, for one, am glad to know that Obama is not going to pander to the right. There economic approach is what put us in this mess. The tax rebate Bush gave last summer was a bust precisely because it did not go to the people Obama wants to give a check to.

        Obama is right on this one. It was debated before the election and the public made it plain they were fed up with Republican economics. It was the crash of the economy that put Obama well ahead of McCain. Up until then McCain was pulling ahead.

        • NoBamaNoWay

          hey bernie, name one major bush debacle that the democrats *weren’t* complicit in? hate to break it to you, but bush didn’t do it himself. sure, the party in power gets the blame because no one looks at the details; you obots would do well to remember this fact.

          and please do explain what exactly obama’s economic policy is; it is so hard to know where he stands anything, with all the flip-flopping, you know.

        • http://tojo toni

          The public did not want the bail outs…so who is he pandering to if not the public or Republicans? Hmmmmmmm…I wonder….

      • NoBamaNoWay

        yep; that’s exactly what i thought of when i heard obama’s statement. my, my, my, the parallels between Ozero and Dubya just continue, don’t they? not surprisingly, the Obots are perfectly ok with Hussein’s clueless arrogance. quite simply, the new Obot leftist morality is this: when our guy does it, it’s ok; when their guy does it, it’s wrong. oh yeah, i am so optimistic about the next four years.

  • Maria3

    I heard about that… speaks to his lack of decorum,statehood, sensitivity. More dangerously, his lack to understand the urgency of the economic problem. Instead, of acting like a third grader… he should reach out and and embrace the whole congress to move the country forward.

    • mary

      Maria

      Obama always has acted like a 3rd Grader. Did you see him “flip-off” Hillary at the State Friday by lifting his midfinger and pretending to ‘scratch’ his face as he was saying “I have an early gift for you–Hillary”!?

      The only political kapital Barry has to spend comes out of his middle-schooler’s brain and it the grey matter is not working properly and has become too inflated since he “WON”! Well, he will brag..kids will be kids. The men of this world have used it for hundreds of years as a playpen and they’re still playing with REAL guns…they haven’t grown up! Hillary offered a grown-up game. So, the ultra-hip, ultra-cool Koolaid Clueless crowd didn’t wanna grown up in charge. They sure got their wish!

  • Terry from NH

    Elections have consequences.

    He’s right, he did win.

    I guess the bipartisan talk was just that, talk.

    Somehow it doesn’t feel like change.

    • UKforDems

      He won, BIG. They need to work on HIS plan, not the rejected Republican plan. His plan includes helping seniors and those with low incomes. Who also have a higher propensity to spend and therefore pull the World out of recession. Quite simple really.

      • candymarl

        By giving them money they didn’t earn? That’s not the American way. Low income folks (and I’m speaking from personal experience) have numerous tax write offs or have a zero tax to begin with.

        I don’t want my tax dollars going to people who don’t pay taxes. Then do away with the federal tax and just send us all a check. That would be the same thing and fine with me. As long as Obama drops his support for another multi-billion dollar bailout.

      • Mary Kay

        So, just because someone gets elected to an office suddenly means that the person has all the answers? The 58 million who voted for McCain don’t think so.

        Obama’s plan, as it stands, with create inflation.

      • bert

        Hon, 52% is not big. Go back to school and learn some basic math.

      • truthorconsequences

        HEY Bros! You just described youself–”Quite simple”. Just like Obama and his one legged stool analogy described him in his incompetence–a one legged man in an ass kicking contest. :0 ;)

      • DaddysDarlin

        Come on, I am a disabled single mother, I do not pay taxes and I certainly dont believe I deserve to get a rebate check!
        A rebate check for what? I didnt work or pay taxes, I am disabled, do you think giving me money I did not earn will stimulate this economy?
        I think it would have a devastating effect on our economy!
        It is nothing more than welfare if you are giving away money that was not earned!

        • BernieO

          The point is not whether you deserve it or not. The point is to put money in the hands of people who will spend it because they have to. this is not devastating for an economy is a serious downturn, it is economics 101. If we don’t get spending up we will all pay a huge price as will the rest of the world. If demand for goods collapses as it is doing, it will be a downward spiral that will be extremely hard to stop. People won’t spend even if they have money because they will be waiting for prices to drop further. Even if banks start lending again, businesses will not take advantage of it because there will be no one to purchase their goods or services. (My dentist has already let one of this hygienist go because people are cutting back on dental appointments.)

          Right now the name of the game is to stimulate demand. The most effective way to do this is to fund projects like road and bridges that are ready to go and to put money into the hands of lower income people who will spend, not save it.

          • Newly Independent

            The point is to put money in the hands of people who will spend it because they have to.

            ……and to put money into the hands of lower income people who will spend, not save it.

            Stupid stupid stupid…

            THIS ass-backwards mentality is the very reason the U.S. is well over $14 TRILLION dollars in debt and climbing. And heading for the greatest depression in American history.

            Our economy needs to return to production and savings – NOT spending and services.

            Spending money we absolutely DON’T have anymore will NOT save the U.S. economy!

          • elise

            Bernie, this is a circular argument. These problems didn’t arise because people aren’t buying. They aren’t buying since so many jobs have been lost and so many savings and retirement accounts have been decimated by the stock market. This may be a simplistic idea, but when you’re in debt, to borrow more money at a higher interest rate to pay the interest on the first loan, you’re just digging a deeper hole and this money will be borrowed since the alternative is to just print more and devalue the dollar. I have not heard a single economist, even Obama’s advisers, who have said definitively this stimulus package will impact the economy in a positive way. The Bear Sterns bailout was supposed to prevent the failure of other banks and it didn’t work. Two checks have already been sent to taxpayers to stimulate the economy and they didn’t work. The bailouts were supposed to stop forclosures, but that’s not where the money went and Obama doesn’t have a plan in place to change that either. He will go ahead with his other plans, because as he said he won, but what happens if it fails?

      • wodiej

        oh geez….never heard that one before! People on welfare are going to pull us out of this recession? LMAO!! haha, that’s a good one…OMG
        Contraceptives might help if people on welfare would use them instead of having a bunch of illegitimate kids they can’t take care of.

        • PamFlorida

          “Contraceptives might help if people on welfare would use them instead of having a bunch of illegitimate kids they can’t take care of.”
          Wodiej-That’s incorrect and not fair to those on welfare. My observation is that an alarming number of middle class girls 16-25 are getting pregnant.
          Your other point is well taken. Poor and low income people will not stimulate the economy if BO gives them a check. It will be used to pay for food, gas, electricity, etc. These people will not be going to the mall or Starbuck’s.

    • obamastolemyboyfriend

      Somehow it doesn’t feel like change.

      That’s because it’s not change. Not at all. It’s GWB in a different package. That is all. Many of us who come to this blog tried to warn people!

  • NCgirl

    “They also raised red flags about a refundable tax credit that returns money to those who don’t pay income taxes, the sources said.” …

    People who don’t earn enough income to pay federal income tax already qualify for the “unearned income tax credit.” They already receive free money from the government. This extra tax credit would be welfare, plain and simple. As a fiscally conservative independent, I can understand why the Republicans don’t like this. I don’t like it either.

    Obama doesn’t have any intention of trying to act in a bipartisan fashion. With a huge Dem majority, he doesn’t have to, and he knows it.

    • UKforDems

      The so called “fiscally Conservative” Bush wiped out a “tax and spend” Clinton budget surplus. The voters rejected “fiscal Conservatives”.

      • Mary Kay

        No, the voters just drank the Kool-aid and most have no clue what Obama even plans to do. There are people who really think they will just start getting checks in the mail.

      • DinoSilver

        Bush was not a fiscal conservative – he was a social conservative only.

        • Newly Independent

          Thank you.

          Bush was FAR from being a fiscal conservative.

      • bert

        No, again, hon. Americans rejected Bush. Big difference. Most Americans are still conservative, especially on fiscal matters.

        • Andrew P

          Americans rejected Bush? Didn’t he just complete his second term in office?

          Come to think of it, though, more Democrats voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries last year than 0. I guess elections aren’t considered a reliable indicator any more.

      • truthorconsequences

        Clinton’s budget surplus is one of the reasons we are in this predicament today–after he took all the regulations off the Fanny Maes, Freddy Macks, and ACORNS that loosened the hounds of hell on America and it’s working class what else could anyone expect. Loans to people who couldn’t even pay their utility bills much less home mortgages. And now Yobama wants to give those same dead beats money on money they have never and never will earn. Get a life!!

      • http://! stodgie

        uk we all know the bush was not a fiscal conservative. so don’t try and defame fiscal responsibility and equate it with bush. won’t fly!
        the word conservative along with liberal has been abused, misused to the point of making me scream enough already.

      • NoBamaNoWay

        well, not really, since the past administration was not fiscally conservative.

    • Chris Martin

      Low income folks pay a disproportionate amount of their income on sales and other taxes. They *do* pay taxes.

      And if you want to inject money into the local economies, giving it to people who will spend it is a good way to do it. Personally, I’d rather *have* to pay taxes than be in a position that a tax rebate would mean the difference between feeding my children and not.

      • athena

        That is not even comparable…..

      • The Real HC

        “And if you want to inject money into the local economies, giving it to people who will spend it is a good way to do it. Personally, I’d rather *have* to pay taxes than be in a position that a tax rebate would mean the difference between feeding my children and not.”

        … wow, I just dont know where to start haha.

        Let me go rob my neighbor, ebay his stuff and then buy some food for some kids. I think that will really help the economy a lot. If I do this enough all our problems are solved. Hallelujah!

        • NoBamaNoWay

          okay, so how ’bout congress just raises the minimum wage to say $15hr, so those people will be in a high enough tax bracket to pay taxes?

          no one is talking about welfare or robbery. you, however, are talking about social darwinism and taking america back to a state resembling france before the revolution.

          • heather

            I’m hoping you’re being facetious? It’s so hard to tell when you can’t see someone’s face as they’re typing!

            Oprah did a very heart wrending story on minimum wage a few years back that caused me to never watch Oprah again. It is beyond infantile to appeal to people’s hearts with sad stories of families who survive on minimum wage and extend that notion to support an increase in minimum wage. What bugs the crap out of me is that no one ever follows their logic long enough to realize that raising the minimum wage would result in a net loss of jobs or a net increase in prices. If you double the minimum wage, businesses either have to raise their prices, or reduce the work force. It’s just like if you raise taxes on a business — the money has to come from somewhere, and it will be either higher prices, or workforce reduction. Also, I never have gotten the idea of why we need a NATIONAL minimum wage. As you travel around the country, a dollar is not a dollar everywhere. It costs more to live in NY City than it does in Kalamazoo, so why would one minimum wage work? Also, as free people, we need to get back to the idea that businesses should be allowed to set their wages, and people should be free to reject working at that business if the wages are not acceptable. That also incents the individual to increase their skill level so that they have choices in employment.

      • wodiej

        Hey guess what, we ALL pay sales taxes.

  • boonies

    would LOVE to see a poll of america on whether people on welfare should get a check for 1K as a tax credit (against their NON paid taxes?) and see how that flies…yes I WON but not on that issue.
    Do illegals get these credits? Lets remit them straight to Mexico and save the $o.46 fee at WalMart.

  • candymarl

    So much for bringing the country together. So much for the bi-partisan rhetoric Obama espoused. “I won” is hardly the sentiment of someone willing to work with the opposition party.

    Sigh.

    • bert

      Exactly, candymarl. That comment is so immature. This is a churlish man. This does not bode well for America. He acts like Bush.

    • Karma

      Reminds me of the ‘Get over it’ comment as well.

      Bi-partisan….or partisanship…..there is definitely a theme with Obama.

      Drink the kool aid or else!

  • IslandGirl66

    I think what he meant was, “Neener neener.”

    • oowawa

      While scratching side of face with middle finger.

    • NCgirl

      LOL, IslandGirl66!

    • wodiej

      LOL…

  • http://sonicninjakitty.wordpress.com Sonic Ninja Kitty

    You won by cheating, lying, committing fraud, and engaging in egregious sexism and race-baiting, so don’t be so condescending and sanctimonious, pal.

  • bart

    Neener neener. Indeed. Folks were trying to provoke him and he took the bait. Some cool. Also, I seem to remember presidents tend to take that line early on but can’t use it for very long.

    Reminds me of that McDonald’s commercial where one soccer team is triumphant and another downcast until the burgers arrive. . .

  • Maria3

    A new call to swagger from the Hollywood left

    WASHINGTON (USATODAY.com) — Justin Timberlake, the pop star known to many Americans primarily for exposing Janet Jackson’s breast at halftime of the Super Bowl, is tone deaf when it comes to American politics.

    “Now more than ever,” he told Oprah Winfrey on the eve of President Barack Obama’s inauguration, “it is a call to action to every American to put your nose to the grindstone, roll up your sleeves, and get to work. Because we have some rebuilding to do.”

    http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/raasch/2009-01-22-newpolitics_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

    • oowawa

      I don’t think “the grindstone” is where we’re likely to find Justin Timberlake’s nose.

      • HARP

        lol

      • wodiej

        no it’s lost in the crack of Obama’s ass…btw, that and the bus is both pretty full up

  • FembotsForObama

    why even have the Repubs there at all if he’s not going to listen to them? Cause it makes great photo-ops for his bipartisan message crap!

    Saying “I won” at public really shows the maturity of our POTUS akin to something you’d hear in a playground. A gracious person would have listened to their concerns and then ignored them.

    Personally, as a Liberal, I think it is dangerously divisive to give the same amount of tax credits to those who don’t pay taxes as those who do. No one who receives EIC payments should be getting a “tax credit”. I agree wholeheartedly, it is welfare disguised as something else, perhaps raising the EIC payment is a better solution. And if illegals get it, that’s just plain unfair and unAmerican (and I have illegals in my family). Thank God it isn’t based on how many kids you have. Just call it what it is for chrissakes.

    • NoBamaNoWay

      well, the working poor have been subsidizing the rich since the beginning of time, and the situation has been getting worse over the last several decades. the gap between the rich and the poor continues to increase; the average CEO pay is now 400-500 times the average worker’s pay, when it used to be about 40 times the average worker pay a few decades ago. THAT’s where our salaries our going. i’m not going to be all broke up if the rich have to pay more taxes in the near future.

      • athena

        Define rich……How does Obama define rich?

  • athy

    OPEN THREAD

    http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090123/D95SR0K80.html

    News access issues concern those covering Obama

    EXCERPTS
    Jan 23, 2009

    By DAVID BAUDER

    NEW YORK (AP) – News organizations that cover the White House sparred with the Obama administration on Thursday over access issues for photographers and rules for briefings.
    Representatives from Obama’s press office held a conference call with photo editors, who are concerned that the administration prefers distributing photos taken by a White House photographer in cases where photojournalists have been permitted access in the past. It was unclear whether the two sides had reached any accommodation.

    The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse refused to distribute photos taken by the White House of the new president on his first day in the Oval Office because of the dispute.

    Still photographers were also not given access to Obama’s do-over oath of office administered Wednesday night by Chief Justice John Roberts and an economics meeting on Thursday.

    Television network bureau chiefs also protested the exclusion of video cameras from the second oath of office.

    Four reporters witnessed the oath of office and shared their observations with others, and a White House photo was released.

    The Associated Press also questioned on Thursday why reporters were not allowed to use the names of administration officials giving a background briefing on issues regarding the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba.

    “Information is a lot more valuable to the public if you know where it’s coming from,” Oreskes said. “So we try very hard in all source situations to identify sources as fully as we can.”

    Follow link to read the rest.

    Several bloggers also asking about the ‘oath do-over’
    with respects to any business that Pres. Barack Obama may have conducted in between the first, original oath and the ‘do-over’ oath.

    If it turns out the first oath is not legally binding, then will any business conducted/decisions made/documents signed as President of the US during the time in-between the two oaths also be considered non-binding?

    The public will never know what actually transpired in the map room yesterday- we will have to rely on second-hand information from FOUR REPORTERS who, understandibly so, have to make sure they continue to have access to the president.

    Transparency? Accountability? I don’t tink so…

  • DinoSilver

    “I won” tells me exactly how he plans on running this country – the Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid way. I hope every fiscal conservative comes out to vote in 2010 and force PBO back to reality otherwise we will be looking at tax rates back up to 90% and inflation at mountain levels again. Won’t the limosine liberals love that again…..

  • susan h

    Obama again shows his arrogance, narcissism and how much he just sees it all as a game. Only 3 days in and I am already sick of hearing him all the time telling us what to do, as if has all (or any) of the answers. He is playing at being president. I wish I could just turn the television off and that would be the end of him. Unfortunately it just doesn’t work that way.

    • http://ezinearticles.com/?Three-Basic-Parenting-Styles&id=744499 Northwest rain

      0-zero certainly isn’t a gracious winner — is he?

      He is a Narcissist as susan h says.

      As a Narcissist IT will always be about HIM.

      He says that HE won — and that means that America LOST.

      He did not get the majority — we know that he did NOT win the primary.

      He may have “won” on the votes COUNTED — but any more I really don’t trust the votes to be fairly counted.

      This isn’t how a leader operates — he acts like a Jr. High kid who “won” a pissing contest.

  • truthorconsequences

    $500 or $1000 or whatever the hell it is will not get me out of the country so I think I will invest Obama’s handout in the first person who declares he or she will run against this pro socialist in 2012. Your tax dollars at work and I can’t think of a better cause off-hand.

  • Lizzy

    There seems to be a major misconception that Big O won by campaigning for redistributing wealth. He backpedalled at the speed of light when Joe the Plumber asked about taxes. O had a campaign that lied to everyone. Unless you had a souped up crystal ball you had no idea of his real positions. His administration will be so thoroughly discredited no one will admit having voted for him.

    • DinoSilver

      I think you are right Lizzy. Although since I live in CA – not too many people could get away with that. But why wait for 2012? If we can knock out Pelosi and Reid – that would make a big difference. I plan on voting for anyone who shows even an ounce of fiscal restraint.

      • http://firefox AnnieCollier

        I plan on voting for anyone who can take a seat away from a Democrat, local, state or national.

        • dee1153

          Me too, AnnieCollier. I plan on voting the exact same way. The only way I’ll vote Dem is if it has the name Clinton on the ballot.

  • Mandelay

    He needs to put aside the “I” and the “My.” Yesterday at the State Department he used the phrase “My administration…” “We” and “Our” would help him go a long way. Whenever he says “I won.” “We the people” should respond by saying “Yes, but that means you work for us now.”

    • oowawa

      He also said (in introducing the Secretary of State):

      I’ve given you an early gift–
      Hillary Clinton!

      So now she’s his property, or at least she was, before He gave her to us.

      Now how does that grab you? Very odd phrasing, don’t you think?

      • truthorconsequences

        thought he was against slavery. Guesse not.

      • SJ

        He said that yes because he is the King now and we are his subjects, he will feed and take care of us when he feel like. You just don’t appreciate the power of the man, he is now going to decided what is best for us, what gifts he give us, and how we all live

      • RidgeRunner

        It shows Obama’s view of people – as things.

        A good part of an explanation for his lowdown tactics; for which, he displays no very obvious signs of remorse.

      • http://ezinearticles.com/?Three-Basic-Parenting-Styles&id=744499 Northwest rain

        He is a sexist pig — just like his followers.

        That was typical of what an abuser would say.

      • http://firefox AnnieCollier

        Sort of reminds me of how Grant made a “gift” of Savannah to Lincoln rather tha burning it to the ground as he did most of the rest of Georgia.

    • tek

      Mandelay: I hate to defend Obama, but it is his administration. He’s responsible for everything that happens.

  • RidgeRunner

    Obama – the Bizarro World Bush. It’s just uncanny.

  • Tuppence411

    “I won”…sounds like words from the mouth of a one-termer. Guess “Mr. I Won” is not thinking ahead to mid-term or even 2012. No matter what he thinks, the American people are actually driving this train. We elect and as easily unelect, especially during economic downturns.

    Even though I don’t like to give advice to Barky, Mr “I Won” would be unwise to agitate the millions of staunch conservatives who sat out 2008. An economic stimulus plan filled with pork, welfare, and taxpayer-funded abortions will certainly rouse them.

    Maybe Barky can ask Bill to tell him the story of how Newt derailed his best laid plans in ’94.

    • wodiej

      Even though I don’t like to give advice to Barky, Mr “I Won” would be unwise to agitate the millions of staunch conservatives who sat out 2008. An economic stimulus plan filled with pork, welfare, and taxpayer-funded abortions will certainly rouse them.

      well said…

    • obamastolemyboyfriend

      Well, he is probably tired already. He hasn’t ever had a real job before!

  • IndieDogg

    Reading UKforDems, I’m wondering, is this how it works in the UK (and why the UK economy is in melt-down)?

    Lower income people “…have a higher propensity to spend and therefore pull the World out of recession. Quite simple really.”

    I’d hope you were kidding but it’s obvious you’re serious. The spending of the poor will save the world economy!?!?!?!? What, rich people don’t spend enough? They can’t be trusted to shop enough? We need to call in the poor to really turn those turnstiles and ring up those sales!

    Let me see if I got this straight. The government should give the poor money so they’ll go out and spend it and that will save the world? Ignoring, of course, the effect of the government’s borrowing of all that money to give to the poor so they can shop the world back on its feet.

    This is beyond Koolaid. This is at a much higher level of delusion. We’re talking serious psychedelics, here. Is that stuff legal in the UK?

    • The Real HC

      Reading UKforDems was your first mistake. Maybe we should send all of our Obots over there when The One is done with them?

    • http://! stodgie

      indie, ignore that source. go read something that occasionally makes sense.

    • obamastolemyboyfriend

      Yes, UKfordems seems to think that if you let the poor buy stuff we will all be better off. It comes to mind that the Government made sure they could buy houses they couldn’t afford, too. While that did send the real estate market into orbit for a short while, the end result was disasterous for everyone so UKfordems, how would it not be disastrous for all of us again?

      Slightly different crap, same end result.

      We are so screwed!

  • DinoSilver

    Where I live the very poor go out and spend money on booze and drugs. Those that won’t do that will spend their money on debt reduction so there will be no stimluation here (unless they get those free condoms!)

  • Peggy Sue

    I’m less concerned about Obama throwing his weight/win around, sticking his thumb in the Republican eye than this stimulus package iself, which appears will be pushed through lickety-split and given the public message by those who have instilled few [okay me] with any real confidence. Pelosi, Frank, Reid just to name a few.

    I’ve heard all kinds of opinions on the matter: from it’s the only answer to it’s a crap sandwich.

    And if it doesn’t work? We’re in for it. The news from Europe is really bad, particularly in the UK. And that unemployment number from Spain [13.5%]. Wow. The bleakness of winter is spreading.

    I hope these guys know what they’re doing. I truly do.

  • C.S.

    “Won” what? Stealing votes does not make you a winner. What we have truly lost is the chance to have a president that has a modicum of understanding of our constitutional democracy. (At lease Bush was enough aware that he was violating Our Constitution to try to cover it up.) Mr. Soertoro, schooled in foreign cultures and in a foreign country, seems to have missed the basic concepts of that democracy, i.e. three separate but equal branches of government providing checks and balances. Even if he had won, it would not give him any advantage over the other two. So what exactly does he think We the People hire a president to do? I think he needs to take another look at that presidential oath of office he mangled and this time keep a dictionary and a copy of the Constitution handy.

    What gall! This guy has the makings of a arrogant dictator.

    • athena

      The “makings”? Oh that ship sailed long ago…. everything in history tells us what is aheadbut we march onward anyway.

  • mountainaires

    When people repeat that tiresome old canard that we should give people money so they’ll spend it, I always wonder if they have lost their capacity for critical thinking.

    Are they just parroting propaganda they’ve heard somewhere? Because it is so contemptuous to say it, and it is also a clear statement that our economy is in the tank for good.

    Our economy is based on nothing. Thin air. We consume; 70% of our entire economy is based on consumption. We produce nothing but debt. That’s no foundation for a healthy economy. So, instead of encouraging people to save their money, they’re going to take that check and go out and spend it, thereby depleting their resources once again.

    Also, it’s clearly a show of contempt for the poor, since most people know these days that saving it is a much better bet. But, poor people, now, they’re just so stupid they’ll go out and spend their welfare check, and that’s what we want ‘em to do, ’cause if they don’t, this country’s going down!

    Second of all, on what planet will people with $1,000 spend us back to prosperity? Once that $1,000 check is gone, we’re back to square one, are we not? You can’t bring an economy out of this depression by giving people a check. Banks either.

    I oppose this bailout and I oppose the TARP money being given to banks. They’re just stealing us blind, refusing to tell us who got what, and their cronies are getting rich off us taxpayers. Let them eat cake. Let them go bankrupt, the whole lot of ‘em.

    I saved my money, was careful not to get into debt, am financially secure because of it. We’re giving criminals a payoff for committing crimes with our money.

    • ChooChooMagoo

      mountainaires –

      Well Said!!! Thank you!!

      How will $1,000 per household stimulate a recovery when when we have been consuming our way into debt for the last 30 years or more. You can’t buy a house with $1,000 – so it won’t save the homeowner who needs to sell or the construction worker, the realtor. Can’t buy a new car with $1,000 – so it wont save the auto or auto supply worker. Can’t buy health insurance with $1000 – so it wont save the medical equipment maker, the insurance agent, the nurse, the doctor. In many part of the country $1,000 won’t pay the rent and utilities for one month.

      Sorry, I just don’t see how $1000 would save any one person who is on the edge financially, let alone a whole country.

  • IndyRobin

    Off topic but need all feminist attention: Today on CNN they were doing a story on Hillary as new SoS.
    On the bottom of the page this was this headline:

    Hillary Clinton’s “POWER GRAB” … makes me sick.

    I caught only the last bit of the story as I had just walked through the door but it doesn’t matter. I wrote CNN to complain: Here is the address if any of you want o write. My letter is very radical (of course may write as you please) however, I do suggest you always use the word BOYCOTT

    http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.html?35

    CNN:

    How DARE you start your insidious slanderous comments and headlines against Secretary of
    State Hillary Clinton … AGAIN

    Today on Wolf Blitzer’s “The Situation Room” you did a “report” and the headline stated

    “Hillary Clinton’s POWER GRAB”

    Disgusting, disingenuous, and demeaning. We will BOYCOTT CNN and all your sponsors should you
    continue these tabloid, sensationalist, misleading headlines.

    Thanks to everyone who writes. Lets ALL stay on top of this and let them know we WILL boycott should they start this shit again with Hillary

    • Jackarooty

      Gee I missed that on CNN because I stopped watching them last June.

      I’m waiting for the sportscaster Keith Olbermann or Spitty Matthews to blame the Caroline Kennedy debacle on Hillary because if she had decided not to leave the Senate then it wouldn’t have happened.

      As I’ve said here before if Hillary discovered the cure for cancer she would be slammed by the MSM for not finding it sooner.

      • riverplate

        CNN…I stopped watching them last June.

        George Bush doesn’t read newspapers. Sarah Palin couldn’t name one. And NQ commenters assert in droves that they boycott some or all of the professional news outlets.

        I say PUMA, schmuma. It’s time to resurrect the Know-Nothing Party.

        • athena

          NO – we read. We get our information from multiple, reliable news sources. CNN is not the end-all, be-all for news. They have proven to be incapable of non-bias coverage.

        • http://ezinearticles.com/?Three-Basic-Parenting-Styles&id=744499 Northwest rain

          DO NOT SLAM Gov. Palin.

          She does read — jerk!

          This is about dumb ass 0-nut job, misogynistic, Narcissistic Barry Soretoro.

          Try to use the guy’s legal name — not his fairy tale, fantasy name.

    • Steve1

      Rev Manning, calls the fat, lazy assholes from CNN, the Cable Nergo Network! They are a corporate controlled propaganda machine. They make Nazi Germany’s controlled media look like bozos. I say, we break their monopoly. Let us petition, email, organize their against their criminal behavior. It won’t happen-id people don’t start organizing?

      • Steve1

        if

    • Peggy Sue

      I sent a personal complaint, Indy. I’m so sick of these anti-Clinton [but particularly anti-Hillary] headlines. There’s a reason I stopped watching CNN! And I told them that.

  • beachnan

    Are we in grammer school again? Sounds like something you say in grammer school. So much for all that bipartisan crap he was trying to sell us when he was running for office. But then again, that was s-o-o yesterday. I love how Hillary’s speech to the people at the State Department was about teamwork, and working together. I don’t think BO knows what it means to be a team player. By the way, his comment doesn’t come as any surprise to those of us who were paying attention to BO’s actions, while his mouth was running. It’s all about him.

    • obamastolemyboyfriend

      While his mouth was running…

      that reminded me of something one of my teachers in high school would say if he thought we were running at the mouth. He would say we had diarrhea of the mouth.

      Get BHO some immodium please!

  • DinoSilver

    Peggy Sue –

    The only way we can get out of this economic black hole is to increase everyone’s ability to spend and keeping jobs. Until credit is available again, these two will not happen. The banks are holding on to any capital they have because they fear further downward spirals. Anything else in the stimulous package is a waste of taxpayers dollars.

    • Peggy Sue

      That’s what I’m afraid of, Dino. That this huge amount of money [that my kids and future grandchildren will be on the hook for] will simply go down a rat hole.

      And we’ll be right back where we started from. But swamped with staggering debt.

  • Park Slope Pubby

    Now the whole world will start to see the real Obama that the press covered up in the campaign. A vicious street-fighter. I think the pure unadulterated meanness of this man can’t be hidden forever. In fact, it is already starting to come out.

    His entire political career is based on viciously sharp elbows. Four years ago, he was an obscure state legislator. He went from the ere to POTUS by winning his campaigns using ugly tactics against his opponents, including what he did to Hillary in Michigan and Florida.

    Combine a vicious personality w/ an insane fiscal “stimulus” package, and I truly fear for my country.

    • http://www.hillaryorbust.com Hillary or Bust

      “I think the pure unadulterated meanness of this man can’t be hidden forever. In fact, it is already starting to come out.”

      Let’s see…he’s been president for only two days and already he’s gotten snippy with the press over a tough question and now this petty I WON crap.

      My take on him for a while has been that he’s a narcissistic sociopath. At some point his arrogance will be his downfall.

    • Lizzy

      BO does things Chicago style; just think of all that lovely stimulus money floating around to line the pockets of BO and his cronies.

  • IndyRobin

    Update:

    Ok … I did a little research and the headlines MAY be related to this story. As mentioned in previous post I did not hear the story: If so, then I am wrong, however, it still had the headline “Hillary Clintons “Power GRAB” which is sensationalist when put next to Hillary’s photo. Do whatever you think is right.

    Could it be this?:

    Clinton Vows Review of Exec ‘Power Grab’
    Posted Oct 23, 07 1:28 PM CDT in Politics

    (Newser) – Hillary Clinton has vowed to launch a review of executive powers “expanded” by
    President Bush if the job becomes hers, she says in an interview with Guardian America, the
    Guardian’s new US website. Referring to Bush and Dick Cheney, the senator told the Guardian’s
    US editor, Michael Tomasky, “I’m going to have to review everything that they’ve done.”

    “The power grab undertaken by the Bush-Cheney administration has gone much further than any
    other president and has been sustained for longer,” she said. She also criticized Bush’s habit
    of painting “terrorists” with “a broad brush, which has not been particularly helpful in
    understanding what it is we were up against.”
    Source: Guardian (U

  • Steve1

    Look, in these tough economic times, we do need government intervention and stimulation of the economy after the Repbugs, fucked it up! I am a Dem. but I don’t believe- the end justifies the corruption. So I have a major ,”problema,” with what went down, during the Dem primaries. The cheating, the lack of fairness, the corporate controlled MSM biased and slanted coverage of the elections.

    I’m for government action, but will hold the phony one, accountable for his actions! I say, let’s continue to expose the messiah, as time passes, our movement will only grow. As for the AAs, they have had their moment. They will have to address the consequences. Will will be major.

    • Steve1

      They will

    • DinoSilver

      Congress became Dem in 2006. They need to be accountable too.

  • rickrickrick

    “I WON” is something a 5 year old would say. Obama has yet to disappoint. He will step on himself sooner rather than later.

    • http://firefox AnnieCollier

      Reminds me of “I’m the decider.”

      Also, GWB, when he began his second term, winning by a whisker, acted as if he had a huge majority said as a result he had political capital and he intended to use it.

  • cathnealon

    One of the seven deadly sins-Pride. Pride goeth before the fall because people (including the media that won the election for this NOTHING)especially hard working Americans will see this arrogant majesty of emptiness for what he is when he starts making comments like “I won.” Read Mechelle’s thesis–their utter contempt for everyone else but themselves is right there for everyone to read.

  • wodiej

    I won? Cripes, is BO even old enough to vote? That is so childish. Oh geez…no one will have to do anything to BO, he’s gonna do it all by himself.

    As for the stimulus package, it is wrong to give a tax rebate to people who don’t pay tax. It isn’t just the welfare people who won’t work. I used to know someone who has a good job and 3 illegitimate kids. Every year she got a tax refund that was twice as much as the income tax she paid because of EIC and all the other credits for kids. What does she have to show for it? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. She lives w her mother and drives a ratty car. But all 3 kids have cell phones. I don’t see that boosting the economy.

    • tek

      I like the fine print in the package on giving tax rebates to people who don’t work. As far as credits in the welfare system, Bill Clinton wiped out a lot of that and the Republicans and the far left hate him for it. Can’t have it both ways.

  • allimom99

    As annoying as it is, I can’t help but laugh at Boehner and his ‘posse’ – when the R’s were in charge, the Dems wouldn’t have even been invited to this meeting. So I say, couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!

  • ahs

    You folks are nuts.

    Had he been accommodating and signaled a willingness to forge a compromise (read: watered-down) package, you’d all be crying holy hell about his weakness. You just look silly here.

    Pretty entertaining, though.

    • ahs

      Oh, and since it’s an open thread: Obama just signed an executive order killing the Mexico City Rule.

      http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/23/obama.abortion/index.html

      I guess it’s time to line up your next short-lived gripe. Your raging Obama Derangement Syndrome demands no less.

      • tek

        Gotta say, I have no problem with that. Abortion isn’t legal in Mexico City anyway, but if third-world nations don’t start controlling their populations there will not be enough room for all the people anywhere in the world. Just look at the problems we already have with Latin America. They produce way more people than they can support and then those government insist the U. S. take them in to prevent revolution.

        • SJ

          So what is Obama the King of ethnic cleansing for the people’s of the world??

        • ahs

          Population control starts with empowering women, by improving education and making more opportunities available. Put simply, educated working women have fewer children.

          As far as the global gag order goes, it’s just a perfect example of how unhinged people on noquarter remain, by and large. There was a big to-do over it yesterday because OMG OBAMA HADN”T SIGGNED IT YETT!!!11!!1! WHY DUZ HE H8 WOMEN SO MUCHH!!??!11??/

          One day later, all those people look like dopes. As they’ll continue to do by seizing on every little hiccup (OMG HE SAID “I WON”!!1!) instead of focusing on real issues.

          • athy

            ahs,
            Have you ever heard about ‘SOFT DIPLOMACY’?

            Please read this article.

            Compare what is in this article and what has been developing since President Obama took office and…what is to come in the near future.

            http://www.deepjournal.com/p/7/a/en/1497.html

            16 May 2008 |

            The men behind Obama: interview with Webster Tarpley

            By Daan de Wit

            • athy

              Ahs, also please explain to me why President Obama took this action (executive order for Mexico City Rule) BUT

              refused to sign an executive order (as he promised he would do during campaign trail speeches) dealing with stem cell research?

              In one case he signs an executive order, in another , he says he wants a ruling to go through legiclative process?

              Why the nuanced distinction?

            • athena

              Okay, that was really worth the read. I have passed it onto others.

          • Wisewoman

            Ahs. Stop making yourself look silly. Do you not know your history? This is a policy that Bill Clinton instituted. Bush wrote an EO to resind it. Obama is just reimplementing Bill Clinton’s policy. What’s there to give him kudos, without first giving the kudos to Clinton. Oops didn’t know that fact? Now because it was Clinton’s policy it stinks to high heaven, right? Get a life.

        • http://firefox AnnieCollier

          Abortion isn’t legal in Mexico City anyway

          Before abortion was legal in the USA, I accompanied a friend to Mexico City along with a group of women, organized in Berkeley, going there for abortions. My friend was frightened even though a couple of the women were return visitors. We were accommodated in a 1st class hotel, the abortion was done by a OB/GYN (who taught at the University of Mexico) on a Sunday morning. She was given antibiotics by her American physician before she left just in case. However, her care was no different there in 1968 than it would be today at Planned Parenthood. Of course, we’d rather see the need for abortion made unnecessary because birth control is used. But…in my friend’s case her birth control pill failed. Unusual but it can happen.

          Funny how people in 3rd world countries can pay smugglers thousands of dollars to be brought to the US (for a better life, I know) but can’t afford birth control or an abortion.

      • Peggy Sue

        I’m glad to hear this, ahs. I was annoyed yesterday when it didn’t come through and no mention was made [particularly with the anniversary as a symbolic date].

        Better one day late than never! As I said, I’m glad to hear it. The Prez just received a point from me. Okay, maybe two or three.

    • wodiej

      oh look, a troll got lost on their way to their Kool Aid party….

      • ahs

        You’re clever.

  • tek

    It’s just too hard to be sympathetic to Republicans after the crap they pulled for 6 years. I can still hear, “You lost, get over it.”

    • http://firefox AnnieCollier

      And now we’re getting it for another four…

  • SJ

    Ok he won that is why the Republicans need to not say a word now and let them pass their own package, I would not even bother to go to another meeting, makes no sense what Obama is saying is he is going to do whatever he wishes and he has the majority to do so.

  • Maria3

    The Audacity Of Dope

    Cops: New York dealers sold heroin branded with president’s name

    http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0123091obama1.html

    • Strawberrybitch

      I thought Obama preferred coke.

  • Mandelay

    Susan, a bit off topic but maybe not. Do take a look at John Kass’ column today in the Chicago Tribune regarding one Ray LaHood. It is amazing how the Blago drama has been staged to divert attention. What a shame. Mr. “I won” is not even four full days in office and the Combine is already getting its hands on the money. I think Kass may be the closest thing to Ed Murrow in these trashy times. He stays with the story. The link:

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-23-jan23,0,4983113.column

  • OBushMa

    Barack ‘I won!’ Obama is a clone of George ‘Mandate’ Bush.

  • cynic

    Out-of-favor republicans are simply trying to reinvigorate their long-standing tax cut mantra by disingenuously pitching it past lower-income Americans. Historically they’ve used the same pitch to garner political support from mainstream American voters; once they’ve got the votes and the seats, the actual cuts have primarily gone to the wealthiest. Simply study who actually benefited the most from the Bush tax cuts. Having done that, take a look at how the proposed McCain tax cuts would have spread out.

    It’s easy to recharacterize their tax cut policy now. It’s only empty rhetoric. Let’s consider instead on what they actually did in the past, and the actual consequences: The national debt more than doubled in only 8 years, and an historically unprecedented upward redistribution of the wealth of the nation.

    Obama is in a situation where deficit spending is completely unavoidable–unless, of course, we want to see less lucky Americans scavenging packing crates for firewood and selling apples on the sidewalks. At least he intends to spend the money where it will do some real good. Pushing alternative energy and a 21st Century infrastructure can provide jobs quickly, and open the door on an entirely different sort of future.

    • DinoSilver

      I think you should also consider that the last stimulus package (last summer) and the TARP – both a product of Congress – did not help anyone either. Tax cuts do increase the tax revenue – so I think it is a good stimulus. $1000 checks to families does nothing long term. In other words – I don’t think the DEMS are necessarily the right ones on this issue.

      • cynic

        I’m not a blind follower of either party line, actually. Actually giving significant tax cuts to working consumers seems like common sense; the wealthy simply don’t need them, and don’t spend enough to spur retail sales. Unearned stimulus checks strike me as fiscally irresponsible, and a bit distasteful. They certainly don’t stimulate ambition or the work ethic.

        I wish conservatives were common-sense conservative, not idealogues fixated on a few hot-button issues. And I wish dyed-in-the-wool liberals placed far more emphasis on personal responsibility.

        • notfooledbythemedia

          Well said, cynic. Your second paragraph sums up our dilemma perfectly. Simple and true.

  • http://www.partizane.com catfish

    He is brittle. He can’t decide if he’s a conciliator or combative partisan. He’s already getting testy.

    • http://firefox AnnieCollier

      Same tone he used with “Can’t I just eat my waffles?” He’s testy when questioned but how out of body he looks when he’s being adored by thousands…the adulation just sends him spinning. I guess it would be normal to be jacked up by the LUV but I think he suffers from crashing when it’s not there.

  • KintheNorthwest

    As President-Elect Obama was threatening the Congress. I have a feeling no body even the dems are going to like Obama for very long.

    • RobWarrior

      He didn’t put Rahm Emanuel in place for nothing. While he preaches post partisanship to the masses, he is strictly a take-no prisoners guy behind the scenes. Those who don’t carry his party line will be in the cross hairs.

      • Docelder

        I think he is under the impression that he has a mandate of some sort. Maybe the press is partly to blame, at least for encouraging him to this point. Or, maybe it’s just typical of somebody who leans towards a narcissistic personality. I know one thing… post partisan he is not… post anything *not* for that matter. He is Bush III plain and simple. Once he isn’t able to please even his own people… then we will need to worry what he would do to regain his “rock star” status. I don’t think “shaving his head” for example will cut it for him.

  • athy

    OPEN THREAD

    http://rawstory.com/news/2008/White_House_press_briefing_0123.html

    White House Press Secretary won’t discuss alleged US strikes in Pakistan

    David Edwards and Ron Brynaert
    Published: Friday January 23, 2009

    Unbelievable how this was handled by the White House Press Secretary…

    At least some journalists stayed focused on their role as members of the fourth estate.

    They fought hard to get an answer but were unsuccessful.

    well…so much for accountability and tranparency from the President Obama administration…

    • Docelder

      As many will recall… there were many fervent discussions with obots during the past election cycle. Many times the subject came up… Obama seemed to have “a thing” for “pok-e-ston”. Remember Biden’s seemingly telegraphing statement… (paraphrase) that early on he will be tested and it won’t appear that he is in the right. Also recall Obama saying that McCain wouldn’t hunt Bin Laden in the cave in Pakistan where he is hiding? I remember it well. This could get real serious really fast.

  • Mery

    President Obama warned Republicans on Capitol Hill today that they need to quit listening to radio king Rush Limbaugh if they want to get along with Democrats and the new administration.

    http://www.nypost.com/seven/01232009/news/politics/prez_zings_gop_foe_in_a_timulating_talk_151572.htm

    This is cultist behavior people, isolate the subjects from outside opinions so that your seems to be the only right opinion. It starts with external things/people and the deeper it goes it gets to be isolation from your own family

  • masslib

    Huh? I wish to God he wasn’t listening to conservative economists but since he’s proposing zero growth tax cuts, I have to assume he is. I don’t want him to be bipartisan. Gee, this makes him sound like some kind of liberal hero raising taxes on the rich, but there isn’t anything like that in the bill. He’s giving them cuts. I am totally confused by your reading here. He’s actually not using his capital much at all, and he should.

    • lizpolaris

      As you point out, maybe Obama should be doing more to tax the rich.

      However, let’s applaud a good thing when it happens. The R’s will whine whatever the plan is isn’t Republican enough and he pretty much told them to shut up. That’s a good thing. He’s got to start somewhere in pushing back. I’m surprised he did at all.

  • Helen with a T.

    I am sorry that I don’t know how to do links, but I strongly recommend today’s column by John Kass in the Chicago Tribune. The subject is Ray LaHood. there were 89 comments many of which gave additional information, as least the opinions of people who live there and claim to know things. Absolutely fascinating.

  • lizpolaris

    I love that Obama statement! Frankly, I didn’t think he had it in him. I figured he’d be cringing to the right-wingers constantly and being backed into corners by starting out with positions which were too far to the center.

    I forgot his intrinsic arrogance! In this case, he used it well. Knock back that whining from the far right! You go, President!

    • Elizabeth

      Without Republican votes for cover Obama may or may not have the support to get what he wants. Regardless, go it alone and be solely accountable for the consequences.

      We’ll see whether 52% of the American people still agree with him in Nov 2010.

  • Sassy

    Yep, he won!
    In this instance, I give the first score to the Republicans.
    The Prez now owns 100% of every thing that goes down!

  • athy

    OPEN THREAD

    As if the poor indigent families in Chicago don’t have enough to worry about…

    Talk about environmental “IN”Justice…

    Check out who is getting most affected by this pollution.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-pcb-zonejan22,0,7312688.story

    Mystery PCB surfaces in Chicago, baffling researchers
    Experts say samples in air could come from old paint

    By Michael Hawthorne | Tribune reporter
    January 22, 2009

    EXCERPTS:
    More than three decades after highly toxic PCBs were banned in the United States, an unusual PCB compound has turned up in the air outside several Chicago schools.

    Polychlorinated biphenyls are a group of chemicals that once were widely used as coolants and lubricants but were outlawed after studies linked them to cancer, liver and kidney damage and other ailments.

    Hundreds of sites around the nation are contaminated with PCBs, which are known as persistent chemicals because they don’t break down in the environment and can build up in people and animals. PCBs move easily among land, water and air, and scientists know several of the chemicals tend to be present in the air Chicagoans breathe.

    As part of a larger project examining PCBs in the Chicago area, Hornbuckle and her colleagues mounted air monitors atop two vans that provide medical services in low-income neighborhoods. Samples were collected outside nearly 40 schools.

    The team found concentrations of several PCBs in the air, as expected, but they were surprised to find levels of PCB-11 in virtually every sample.

    Most of the schools are in old industrial neighborhoods on the Northwest, West and Southeast Sides. The highest concentrations were found outside Casals Elementary in Humboldt Park and St. Gall Elementary in Gage Park.

    Representatives from the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago archdiocese said they were unaware of the study. Officials at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency said they would need to conduct more air sampling and review scientific papers about PCB-11 before deciding whether to investigate further.

    Read the rest of this very interesting article.