Deficit grew by $181 billion in July http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/deficit-grew-by-181-billion-in-july-2009-08-09.html I need one of our in-house economists to tell me this is a good thing... :wink:
If you are referring to someone like myself Corey my life is in a complete state of flux right now. I don't have the time or especially the energy to debate things I cannot control and things that were totally screwed up long before the present admin came into power. Are they screwing it up even more? I don't know.....not sure and time will tell. Could be they are.....but maybe they aren't. Things were so screwed up to begin with how could you tell if they are worse now? I do know that the DOW seems to be recovering and that has to be good for all Americans. As for me....I am working hard in Florida....my family is about to join me before the school year starts and I haven't sold my home in Michigan, my wife is quitting her nursing job in three days and we will have no health care or no permanent residence down here when she gets here. On health care....which is the cause of this debate.....I haven't gathered enough facts to form an opinion. I do know that Cobra will cost me 1100.00 dollars monthly until my wife can land a new job with health care benefits. Seems like a pretty screwed up system if you ask me so I don't understand why the raging anger about the reform of that system. Maybe you can explain it without the rhetoric.
One of many Dave, one of many. What I find interesting is that while you demand an 'explanation without rhetoric' from me, it is you that never wanted to look at the situation within any particular context. Bush inherited a BAD ECONOMY. The dot come bust had just taken place. It had nothing to do with consumer confidence. It had nothing to do with Gore v Bush. The broken ponzi scheme that was the dot come boom finally fractured. We have seen Bush spend 8 years trying to fix it and was never once given the slightest ounce of what you are asking we give this administration. Blame blame blame blame was the name of the game from the day W won Florida until right now. It's all still the GOPs fault. If that's the way you want the game played, then fine. I just want you to admit the double standard here. The GOP was called to answer immediately for everything that took place, even before W was sworn in. Why hasn't Obama had to do the same? Every step the GOP took was painted in the media, and by some here, as a jackbooted step toward fascism and a removal of individual liberty. I was never a fan of the Patriot Act, although I felt components of it are/where necessary to face the task at hand. The same people who were all about protecting the Constitution from W are now willingly silent to watch while Obama sets it on fire. That is my issue here. I always understood where you are coming from on many of these issues. You claimed to be simply a watchdog of our freedoms, an independent, a free-thinker who was above the party affiliations. I respected that... but the shoe is on the other foot.. Now we have the other party in charge from top to bottom. They are clearly taking aggressive steps to move into our freedoms and liberties...and you wanna give them time. Like so many 'independents' of the Bush years, it's just hypocrisy.
When discussing the economy in the Bush years it's impossible not to overlook the impact of 9/11. It not only jolted the markets but greatly depressed the airline and tourism industries. It resulted in billions being spent to increase security at airports, ports and entry points all across the country. Somehow the economy recovered and the stock market reached an all time high. Never ONCE heard any Bush critic every give one word of credit for that.
Dave If you had insurance through your wife it should be effective til the end of August. If not, leaving a job is a qualifying event and should allow you to add her to your insurance without going the COBRA route. Just my 2 cents worth.
Good point.....Bush had 8 years to fix it and we can't even give this guy 6 months because of the vitriole. George makes more sensible points about 9-11 being a roadblock more so than the argument that Bush had too many detractors. Hell.....he had six years of a majority Congress to work with as well. This country is headed for ruin if we remain as divided as we seem to be now. A. Lincoln said it well....."United we stand....divided we fall".....wait a minute.....he was a nasty Republican......screw him.. :lol: :lol: See what I mean? Cindy.....I have a decent paying job but modest benefits that don't kick in until I have been with the company 6 months. Our problem is that I thought my wife would have moved a little more swiftly to land a nursing job in Fla. that has good benefits but she has encountered a stumbling block in getting her Fla. license. We should just wait until she is ready to roll before she quits the one job to move down here but then my 7th grader can't start school on time. It's a dilemma I can't seem to easily resolve.
whoa whoa whoa. I am throwing a major bullsh*tting flag on that one. Bush didn't get 6 years, he didn't get 6 days, he didn't even get 6 hours. From the moment he was elected, he was dubbed as an 'illegitimate President who stole the election". Don't you dare try to paint the GOP with all the vitriol that divided this country. Bush ran on the ticket of being one who would reach across the aisle and work in a cooperative effort to save the economy that was clearly headed for a downward spiral after surviving off of an imaginary dot com boom. From the moment he took office, every single decision and appointment he made was attacked. The Democrats dug in and made the debate over every last issue an end of the world battle. There was absolutely NO cooperation from the other side of the aisle. They didn't hold a strong enough majority to simply ram legislation through and when it appeared that they might have enough to do just that, the Pelosi's off the opposition would scream fascism. Look at the policies that are haunting us today. Look at the programs that busted the system. You will find far more often than not, they were supported in full by the opposition (who now claims they had nothing to do with it). It's funny you mention the GOP control of the House and Senate. You said he If you will check out this site so I can make it a visual for you: Party in Power And you will see that what you are saying is not true. After the 01 election cycle, the House and Senate were split. After the 03 and 05 cycle, the GOP controlled both. Since 07, the DNC has controlled both the House and Senate. That's 4 years in 8. I really was not a fan of the spending they did during that time either, but I would posit that the economy was in a hell of a lot better state despite all of the things that took place during that time frame than it is now. I'd further posit that since Pelosi and Pals took charge in 07, the uphill climb towards economic stability has been scuttled in favor of a sled ride right to the bottom. Bush was NEVER in 8 years given the carte blanche that Obama has enjoyed for the past 7 months. He didn't even enjoy that post 9-11. Don't let revisionist history take over your head. Why is it that blind obstruction of the political process is 'the American way' when a Democrat does it but not the other way around? Why is it that when Democrats question a Republican President, they are doing so in search of full disclosure? Why is it that when GOP questions are dismissed as 'simply stupid' and no one seems to ask why those questions are stupid? Have you read the House bill on health care reform? I have. I'd suggest you do the same.
In the Senate, no party can really control the body without 60 votes. By senate rule that many votes are need to cut off debate. If not a bill is "filibustered." The Republicans never really "controled" both houses during the Bush years. After stealing the Minn. seat, the Dems are close to controling the Senate.
...not excusing Dems for their response and reaction but after the extent that the above statement could have been applied to Clinton's last three years in office can you blame the Dems for not warmly welcoming Bush......especially in such a closely contested election? Like it or not the reality of that election which we have debated many times before was that it left many questions about any mandates by the people and there was a voting majority that didn't think Bush was the best man for the job.
Interesting enough... It appears the last time we had a party in this position of dominance was 1977. Bush never had it. Dave, I do see your point... but one could say that this game of 'gotcha' has been going on for a long time in this country but since we have zero memory somehow, it just gets worse and worse. You claimed to be objective, which I respected at the time but took a wait and see attitude.. You asked that the GOP step above and beyond that partisan stuff to reach across the aisle...but now the shoe is on the other foot, you can't ask the same of the other side while you make excuses for them instead of raising the bar of expectations. It's cool. If that's your party politics than God bless and Godspeed to ya. I'm just saying... for 8 years I heard from a good many 'moderates' who were people who just couldn't embrace the obvious truth.. They weren't.
Free fallin' <r><URL url="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll"><s></s><LINK_TEXT text="http://www.ras...ily_presidential_tracking_poll</LINK_TEXT><e></e></URL><br/> <br/> Obama's approval rating down to 47% as his status as an untested rank amateur is continually exposed. I think the day he was inaugurated he was at 82% so to use the word "plummeting" is not an exaggeration.<br/> <br/> In other news, Arlen Specter is now behind double digits to his Republican challenger in PA. Remember that he switched parties because he did not think he could get re-elected as a Republican. Dumb ass!</r>
For work related reasons, I've been following Arlen closely since he flopped. He's politically dead. He put all his eggs in the obamabasket