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[mckmas8808]

Can you blame them? What has Obama accomplished that he can hang his hat on to motivate young people to vote? End either war? Nope. End DADT? Nope. Shut down Gitmo? Nope. Reduce unemployment? Nope. Jumpstart a massive 'green jobs' initiative? Nope.

Honestly; why should people be "excited" about Obama at this point? Other than passing incomprehensible healthcare reform that won't even go into full-effect for several more years, and nobody understands, the average person can't point to a single legislative accomplishment that transcends run of the mill politics for most people.

So if young people never vote, then how would anything that they want to get down ever happen? If that's the tone you or other young people have then you are worse than the tea party.

And for you to know of nothing that was passed in the last 2 years is sad to me also. You leave the last 2 years worth of accomplishments at the door and other remember the failures. It's thinking like this that leave this country as a center right country.

 

[Yoritomo]

Changing the fabic of employer based healthcare was never on the table. It was never promised in 2008 either.

The more poor people will get coverage.

Yet it was on the table with McCain's healthcare proposal and with other bills like the HAA that were in discussion.

Without fundamental reform it hammers the hell out of the middle class or anyone healthy. Without a public option, Obamacare is trash.

 

[thekad]

He's finished. No matter what he says today, conservatives will find one word in there to paint him as partisan. As a center-right president there are plenty of things he could work with them on, but the problem is that Boehner's agenda isn't calling for bipartisanship. Sure they'll get a couple things done, maybe big things like education reform or maybe even tax reform. Outside of that I don't expect much of anything.

He's a crafty politician. The problem is that he's dealing with people who don't want to play with him, and he doesn't understand it. He hasn't understood that for two years, what makes you think he'll suddenly "get it" now. He gimped his own stimulus bill with tax cuts no one knows or cares about - just to get a bunch of republican votes that never materialized - when his approval ratings were in the 60s.

Senators dug in Saturday to tidy up a sprawling $780 billion economic stimulus package that they hope to bring to a final vote in both the House and Senate by early next week.

The Saturday session is built on a bipartisan breakthrough late Friday in which three Republican senators joined like-minded Democrats concerned that pet amendments had inflated the plan to an unacceptable level approaching $1 trillion.

Their compromise solution, at the center of weekend deliberations, also trimmed about $100 billion from the plan passed by the House late last month.

He needed Republicans in the Senate. And as mckmas said, Republicans/Blue Dogs in the House.

 

[TomServo]

PD's on to something. During the internal debate of the Senate Climate Change Bill, the Obama administration continually GAVE AWAY bargaining chips to the other side with nothing back in return. Expanded nuclear energy, offshore drilling, etc etc.

It's like the administration can't accept that certain things are pure anathema to the Republican party.

He was never going to get them on board with the kind of health care reform he wanted, and frankly if there was ever an issue I would expect the Democrats to ram through the senate via reconciliation, it was comprehesive health care reform.

 

[Byakuya769]

Taxachussetts blows! At least Arizona and Ohio got it right.
Oh poligaf.

Is this real life?

 

[Sirpopopop]

I wonder how much of a factor, the successful right-wing SEO program was in these elections.

Every time someone actually wants to research any issue pertaining to the elections, the first thing that comes up is a right-wing blog. Thus, for many voters their first exposure to Obama's plank is going to be from these spin doctors.

 

[Barrett2]

You're right.

Obama inherited a big mess. It's not fair to expect him to fix everything in less than two years. The average person is too impatient and too ill informed to understand that.

Not only that, but I would say it generally misses the point to blame the public when elections don't go your way. For Christ's sake, contrast this with the Bush Admin. Every lame-ass piece of legislation they passed was hailed as a triumph of the Administration and democracy.

When the public is not well-informed about an Administration's legislative and executive accomplishments, the blame solely lies with the Administration.

So if young people never vote, then how would anything that they want to get down ever happen? If that's the tone you or other young people have then you are worse than the tea party.

And for you to know of nothing that was passed in the last 2 years is sad to me also. You leave the last 2 years worth of accomplishments at the door and other remember the failures. It's thinking like this that leave this country as a center right country.

No, im' just a realistic person when it comes to politics. People who whine about how things "should be" always lose. When you control The White House and both houses of Congress, you have nobody to blame but yourself if you can't sell your message and your accomplishments.

In the real world people account for risk. It's obvious that young people never vote. As long as they don't, politicians shouldn't give two shits about them or what they want, demographically. Politicians are responsive to their voting constituents, end of story.

 

[-PXG-]

So if young people never vote, then how would anything that they want to get down ever happen? If that's the tone you or other young people have then you are worse than the tea party.

And for you to know of nothing that was passed in the last 2 years is sad to me also. You leave the last 2 years worth of accomplishments at the door and other remember the failures. It's thinking like this that leave this country as a center right country.

That's exactly the point he was trying to make.

 

[TL4E]

You're right.

Obama inherited a big mess. It's not fair to expect him to fix everything in less than two years. The average person is too impatient and too ill informed to understand that.

The major counter to this is that it's insulting to the average person--telling them that they're too "dumb" to understand.

But they are. Perhaps not dumb in the sense of low intelligence, but not taking the time to learn what Obama has actually done and instead relying on Fox (etc) to tell you that Obama has done absolutely nothing to help the state of the country. It's just politics at the end of the day though. Obama's opponents benefit from spreading misinformation.

 

[giga]

Well, he did end the Iraq campaign and pulled the combat troops from there. Ending Afghanistan really needs to be a priority if he wants to motivate the youth and independents.

 

[ToxicAdam]

You're right.

Obama inherited a big mess. It's not fair to expect him to fix everything in less than two years. The average person is too impatient and too ill informed to understand that.

That's such a cop-out. lawblob just laid out why people are responding that way. In 2 years times, with a near super-majority in Congress, Obama has nothing to hang his hat on that people can point to. No tangible, big item thing that they can point to.

Chris Matthews made a similar comment on MSNBC last night. Even within the stimulus bill there is no WPA equivalent that people can even look to as an attempt to create jobs.

 

[RyanDG]

It was compromised on every level and does nothing to change our employer based healthcare system.

Except increase the cost of mine and all of my co-workers. The Obama health care legislation is being used an excuse to double the rates of my existing health care insurance next year.

 

[-PXG-]

Not only that, but I would say it generally misses the point to blame the public when elections don't go your way. For Christ's sake, contrast this with the Bush Admin. Every lame-ass piece of legislation they passed was hailed as a triumph of the Administration and democracy.

When the public is not well-informed about an Administration's legislative and executive accomplishments, the blame solely lies with the Administration.

And that's why, come 2012, Obama is screwed, unless he can seriously step things up.

 

[thekad]

It's like the administration can't accept that certain things are pure anathema to the Republican party.

Mitt Romney signed a similar bill into law. HCR was not pure anathema to the GOP. Progress was.

That's such a cop-out. lawblob just laid out why people are responding that way. In 2 years times, with a near super-majority in Congress, Obama has nothing to hang his hat on that people can point to. No tangible, big item thing that they can point to.

Chris Matthews made a similar comment on MSNBC last night. Even within the stimulus bill there is no WPA equivalent that people can even look to as an attempt to create jobs.

http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/

 

[Zero Hero]

I'm just finishing up my Mitch Mconnell as hitler sign and ordered a "Fire Boehner" hat.

It's payback, bitches.

 

[itsinmyveins]

That's such a cop-out. lawblob just laid out why people are responding that way. In 2 years times, with a near super-majority in Congress, Obama has nothing to hang his hat on that people can point to. No tangible, big item thing that they can point to.

Chris Matthews made a similar comment on MSNBC last night. Even within the stimulus bill there is no WPA equivalent that people can even look to as an attempt to create jobs.

You'd think that tax cuts for middle class and below as well as a health care bill helping a large number of people out would at least generate some talk though.

 

[mckmas8808]

This means it hammers the hell out of the middle class or anyone healthy. Without a public option Obamacare is trash.

The Public Option isn't as golden as you make it out to be. It's as good as it's designers. Now I would have loved the public option, but at some point (I don't know if you knew this or not) the public option became so small that it was basically shit.

But there are plenty of good things the bill does even though it doesn't have the public option.

It's like the administration can't accept that certain things are pure anathema to the Republican party.
He was never going to get them on board with the kind of health care reform he wanted, and frankly if there was ever an issue I would expect the Democrats to ram through the senate via reconciliation, it was comprehesive health care reform.

The problem was you can't ram through everything in health care reform through reconciliation. Once we got to that point, people started to learn the actual process. But yes they should have pushed through the public option at least.

 

[Yoritomo]

Except increase the cost of mine and all of my co-workers. The Obama health care legislation is being used an excuse to double the rates of my existing health care insurance next year.

Including employer contribution I pay about 15k a year for insurance for me and my family. It's only going up by a couple thousand this next year...

 

[Alucrid]

Pro-tip: The Prez can veto legislation. In other words, Republicans can't get anything made into law if the President doesn't approve it.

The only thing the Republican Congress can actually do the next two years is pass a budget and hold countless pointless investigations.

The Reps don't have enough power in Congress to overturn a veto though, right? Well that's assuming he outright vetos it and doesn't pocket it.

 

[eznark]

I'm just finishing up my Mitch Mconnell as hitler sign and ordered a "Fire Boehner" hat.

It's payback, bitches.

You should just get a velcro Hitler stache. Make it easier to switch from Bush to Boehner to Nominee 2012.

 

[Wallach]

I knew 2008 was a fluke, never felt that we had a "solid" progressive aspect to this country and last night proved it. It's just a dumb, reactionary, gullible group of people and I suppose things always will be that way.

Depressing or not, I just don't feel positive about this country at all. Would honestly rather be in England or Canada, and I tend to avoid that "I want to leave" meme, but I honestly feel that right now. It's not just an election, it's the fact that I'm nearly certain that this is a sinking ship now.

It's posts like this that make me want to just stop voting Democrat. Can't believe you want to call the rest of the country "reactionary", did you even fucking read what you wrote? Good fucking god.

 

[LM4sure]

You'd think that tax cuts for middle class and below as well as a health care bill helping a large number of people out would at least generate some talk though.

Most people don't pay taxes anyway. So who cares? And the health care bill is terrible. Saying it's better than nothing does not help its cause.

 

[PhoenixDark]

PD's on to something. During the internal debate of the Senate Climate Change Bill, the Obama administration continually GAVE AWAY bargaining chips to the other side with nothing back in return. Expanded nuclear energy, offshore drilling, etc etc.

It's what drove Lindsey Graham mad and made him eventually jump ship.

Exactly. At some point you have to realize a game is being played. mckmas8808 is right that the stimulus could not go over a trillion dollars due to blue dogs, but that doesn't mean almost half the stimulus had to be tax cuts. It's ridiculous to think a new president with high approval and a mandate couldn't get something better done.

I can understand cutting deals with republicans on health care; honestly they added some good things to the bill. But the stimulus is what will determine in part whether Obama is re-elected, and to botch major parts of it is inexcusable.

 

[RyanDG]

Including employer contribution I pay about 15k a year for insurance for me and my family. It's only going up by a couple thousand this next year...

I wish I was that lucky - I know that it isn't the legislation's fault that my rates are going up as much as they are. My employers have been working to try to increase rates the last two and half years, but the unions have been blocking them. Since the unions where I work backed the health care legislation, they are now in a catch-22 that has the employer basically arguing that you reap what you sow when it comes to the legislation. To be fair though, I didn't pay anywhere near as much as you for health care for me and my family (spouse +1) a year due to the unionized health care plan I was a part of, so I know I've been lucky. Its just a shame that in a lot of ways, the plan is being used as an excuse to increase rates on existing employer based coverage - including those that were signed with union contract agreements.

 

[electricpirate]

Can't say I'm not disappointed, but at nearly 10% unemployment, I can't say I'm surprised. I actually think the dems did better than the fundamentals suggested, so there's that I guess :lol.

So yea, it sucks, congress won't get shit done, won't repeal healthcare, won't really defund it. Cable news will be even more of a cesspool, voters will probably get fed up with the current situation, and just not vote for anyone.

In the end, the 111th congress was probably the most important of our lifetime, and I'm honestly very happy with how the healthcare bill ended up. Banking bill was uneven, stimulus was good, but too small, etc. The healthcare bill is the big one, and I thank all the dems who put themselves at political risk to vote for it, and fuck off to all those who didn't (though, it looks like most of those that stalled it/opposed it were voted out.) You made hard choices, faced a self implosion on the left, and a slander campaign from the right. It's not a perfect bill, but it's a great start, and even in it's current form it puts america on both a better morale and financial footing.

If republicans wanted to make real progress on education and trade policy, now would be their opportunity, but most likely they are going to simply run out the clock, let things fester and hope dissatisfaction can drive more dems out.

Also, dear senate: Please reform your fucking rules.

2012 prediction, with unemployment hovering around 7.5% obama narrowly beats mittens, we still have a split congress.

 

[JGS]

The major counter to this is that it's insulting to the average person--telling them that they're too "dumb" to understand.

But they are. Perhaps not dumb in the sense of low intelligence, but not taking the time to learn what Obama has actually done and instead relying on Fox (etc) to tell you that Obama has done absolutely nothing to help the state of the country. It's just politics at the end of the day though. Obama's opponents benefit from spreading misinformation.

That's not true though. People have good memories about what they were told plus they can't help but be short term with problems because they experience things that no politician (even the losers) will ever experience - insecurity. You could say the same thing about every president and their accomplishments and failures.

Obama told them he would handle economic stuff, he would start up healthcare, & he would start leaving Iraq. All the results have been mediocre. Further, Congress itself is a big part of the loss. Obama still has a lot of time to get re-elected. Clinton was looking like a one termer too, but he bounced back. Obama is no different, he just needs to actually practice his ideaology and stop being scared.He can only hope that palin is chosen because he will be a shoo-in.

That's the biggest problem with politics now; everyone is making decisions based on the next election. There was no reason that legislation could not have gone forward if not for the campaigning. I say look at the Congress as a 2-6 year gift that gives you the chance to make massive changes in a short period of time. I know that's not realistic, but it's also why I wouldn't trust a politician for anything.

 

[thekad]

It's posts like this that make me want to just stop voting Democrat. Can't believe you want to call the rest of the country "reactionary"

It's like you two are trying to out-reactionary each other.

 

[-PXG-]

That's such a cop-out. lawblob just laid out why people are responding that way. In 2 years times, with a near super-majority in Congress, Obama has nothing to hang his hat on that people can point to. No tangible, big item thing that they can point to.

Chris Matthews made a similar comment on MSNBC last night. Even within the stimulus bill there is no WPA equivalent that people can even look to as an attempt to create jobs.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with that. It is unacceptable that he couldn't get anything passed with a majority. It's a real shame and quite mind boggling. But, Obama never promised a quick fix to all of our problems. I just think people are overly impatient and not giving the man a chance.

 

[captmcblack]

Except increase the cost of mine and all of my co-workers. The Obama health care legislation is being used an excuse by my private health company to double the rates of my existing health care insurance next year.

Fixed.
Whose fault is that? Don't blame Obama for businesses being as anti-consumer as possible for fun and profit.

 

[Yoritomo]

The Public Option isn't as golden as you make it out to be. It's as good as it's designers. Now I would have loved the public option, but at some point (I don't know if you knew this or not) the public option became so small that it was basically shit.

But there are plenty of good things the bill does even though it doesn't have the public option.

And not a single one of those things affect me except to open my underwriting pool to people who will drive up the cost.

 

[RyanDG]

Fixed.
Whose fault is that? Don't blame Obama for businesses being as anti-consumer as possible for fun and profit.

I clarified in my second post. I know that it is the legislation being blamed when there are questionable reasons, but there is still the end result to deal with.

 

[mckmas8808]

In the real world people account for risk. It's obvious that young people never vote. As long as they don't, politicians shouldn't give two shits about them or what they want, demographically. Politicians are responsive to their voting constituents, end of story.

I agree 100%. And it'll been nice if young people could have given a 2006 effort this year.

That's such a cop-out. lawblob just laid out why people are responding that way. In 2 years times, with a near super-majority in Congress, Obama has nothing to hang his hat on that people can point to. No tangible, big item thing that they can point to.
Chris Matthews made a similar comment on MSNBC last night. Even within the stimulus bill there is no WPA equivalent that people can even look to as an attempt to create jobs.

This is some bull shot. I've posted many articles of towns being rescued due to the stimulus bill/saving the car industry. There are many companies in this country that are creating green jobs due to the Recovery Act.

The fact is (like you said a couple days ago) people don't want to hear your speeches if the economy has 9.5% unemployment.

 

[-PXG-]

Except increase the cost of mine and all of my co-workers. The Obama health care legislation is being used an excuse to double the rates of my existing health care insurance next year.

That's bullshit.

 

[Mike M]

I'm just shocked at how much traction railing against "Government takeover of healthcare" got. There aren't even any semantic arguments you can make that the HCR amounted to the government taking over the healthcare industry, but these claims received ZERO challenge...

 

[Barrett2]

The Reps don't have enough power in Congress to overturn a veto though, right? Well that's assuming he outright vetos it and doesn't pocket it.

It takes 2/3 vote from each chamber. Republicans can't override any vetos.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

John Boehner crying was really the only point of outrage I had.

Crying those fake Oompa Loompa tears.

And when he said, "Its time to roll up our sleeves and do the work of the American people."

Motherfucker, you've been in Congress for 20 years! What have you been doing up to this point? Now its time to work?

 

[Yoritomo]

I wish I was that lucky - I know that it isn't the legislation's fault that my rates are going up as much as they are. My employers have been working to try to increase rates the last two and half years, but the unions have been blocking them. Since the unions where I work backed the health care legislation, they are now in a catch-22 that has the employer basically arguing that you reap what you sow when it comes to the legislation. To be fair though, I didn't pay anywhere near as much as you for health care for me and my family (spouse +1) a year due to the unionized health care plan I was a part of, so I know I've been lucky. Its just a shame that in a lot of ways, the plan is being used as an excuse to increase rates on existing employer based coverage - including those that were signed with union contract agreements.

It's being used as as excuse only to shore up against worst case scenarios. The ins companies don't really know how everything is going to work out. They're obviously guessing high for cost but without a way to truly shop for healthcare coverage we're all a little screwed. And yeah, it's akin to gas prices shooting through the roof when a storm hits the gulf coast. It hasn't actually affected cost yet, but a combination of an excuse and the slight possibility that supply would be limited or costs soar gets company pocketbooks fat and consumers pissed.

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

I like people, they remember History

 

[jmdajr]

Dems are just weak. They have no fight in them. It's fucking sad really.

 

[mckmas8808]

And not a single one of those things affect me except to open my underwriting pool to people who will drive up the cost.

You realize the Congress didn't create and the President didn't sign a bill design just for you right? :lol

I understand you are frustrated that the employer based model is still intact, but the voters WANTED it to stay intact. They didn't want a radical (not saying radical is bad) change.

 

[RyanDG]

That's bullshit.

What really sucks is that pretty much all of the provisional guarantees that the health care legislation had on private insurers, I already even had with my plan - including all the wellness check-ups, pre-existing conditions, etc - due to it being union bargained for. So its not like I'm getting 'more' coverage for my money. My plan itself is the exact same.

 

[ToxicAdam]

http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/

You could do a similar thing with GWB's accomplishments. Plenty of instances of funding, spending bills, protection of rights and the environment, tax cuts and on and on.

In the end, you are only remembered for the big ticket items and economy.

 

[eznark]

John Boehner crying was really the only point of outrage I had.

Crying those fake Oompa Loompa tears.

And when he said, "Its time to roll up our sleeves and do the work of the American people."

Motherfucker, you've been in Congress for 20 years! What have you been doing up to this point? Now its time to work?

:lol I think it was the pain pills. I thought he was having a stroke the way half his face was melting off.

End of the day it doesn't matter what you get done. It's how you sell it and how you present it. Obama and his team were piss poor at expectation management and accomplishment marketing.

 

[itsinmyveins]

Most people don't pay taxes anyway. So who cares? And the health care bill is terrible. Saying it's better than nothing does not help its cause.

What do you mean "most people don't pay taxes anyway"? And as far as the health care bill goes, I'm sure there's plenty of things in it they could have brought up far more; increased coverage, not being able to drop patients because of pre-existing conditions and etc. It might be watered down but that doesn't mean it's entirely empty and doesn't do a lot of good.

 

[LegendofJoe]

The progressive agenda hit a road block today, but it's not the end of the world. Now is the time to analyze the electoral map, focus on policies that appeal to segments of the populace you want to influence, sell the positive benefits of those policies, and work hard to turn public opinion around. It's time for Democrats to focus on pushing policy that appeals to the popular majority, and work hard to ensure that Republicans don't take charge of setting the agenda. Democrats still control the Presidency and the Senate, don't forget that.

 

[TL4E]

The fact is (like you said a couple days ago) people don't want to hear your speeches if the economy has 9.5% unemployment.

You can't dissolve the entire Obama administration to a single number.

What about the fact that the economy has been growing for quite a long time now? Why is it that everyone bitches about "9.5!!11"? It's 4% above the natural rate--and that 4% are getting their unemployment benefits like everyone else (which, by the way, the Republicans wanted to curtail unemployment benefits as if the money jobless people receive isn't automatically re-injected into the economy).

 

[mckmas8808]

In the end, you are only remembered for the big ticket items and economy.

That's the thing. Those are actually big ticket items. Now you may say they aren't (and it's all subjective), but they are.

 

[ShOcKwAvE]

I think House Repubs can now attach a bunch of amendments to whatever bills come up for vote, so they can add repealing HCR to the budget if they want. Sure, it wouldn't pass in the Senate or get past Barry's veto, but they can just claim Dems hate America because they're obstructing the very vital budget process. Then they can force a gov't shutdown.

 

[Tim-E]

Denver Post calling the Colorado Senate race for Bennet.
http://www.denverpost.com/election2010/ci_16502977

 

[Aaron Strife]

Walt Minnick lost bahahahahahahahhaahhahahahah

Good riddance.