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I am not comfortable with Obama-----I think he has gotten disorganized, lost direction and focus, and responds meekly at times.
Yet as insecure as I am with the President, the group of candidate paraded by the Republican party really makes me feel uneasy. I really cant identify one that I can say to myself-----yeah, that is a person that I want to hand the ignition keys and let him drive.
I am uneasy at the prospects for 2012------we have an off course President being challenged a scripted group of choreagraphed dancers and sloganeers------we are in great shape.
I am hoping somebody emerges from the Republican party yet who is not tied down to slogans and the endless games being played.
Both parties should be worried-----the country has little confidence is Obama----and even worse the American people are showing a ferocious disdain for congressional legislators, and are developing an intolerance for ineptsness, deception, and disregard for problem solving.
Somebody please step forward and sign in please----sign in to be a reasurring and steadying hand. There is a crisis in confidence now created in Europe, and exacerbatted by our dog and pony show in Congress-------somebody please.
There is no miracle candidate out there. Our political system is broken and it's as simple as that. Obama tried his best to work with the Republicans to find real solutions to the country's problems but they are only interested in destroying him. They have mounted an unprecedented level of obstructionism against everything he proposes. How can he get anything done when the other side has simply refused to work with him? Republicans are more interested in politics than fixing America. It's clear for all to see.
I am not disappointed with Obama. I am disappointed with the perilous state of politics in America created largely by Republicans and the Tea Party.
You didnt answer the question, you avoided it and just repeated talking babble that has NOTHING to do with the discussion.
What did the GOP DO, to cause the recovery to stop? The S&P downgrade took place because the GOP didnt do ENOUGH, not because they did too much. The S&P said they wanted $4T in cuts, the GOP got NONE..
That's totally FALSE!
In mid July S&P put the U.S Government on credit watch and laid out the following guide lines for the United States to maintain its AAA credit rating.
Congress and the Administration are debating various fiscal consolidation proposals. At the high end, budget savings of $4 trillion phased in over 10 to 12 years proposed by the Administration (separately) by Congressional leaders, as well as by the Fiscal Commission in its December 2010 report, if accompanied by growth-enhancing reforms, could slow the deterioration of the U.S. net general government debt-to-GDP ratio, which is currently nearing 75%. Under our baseline macroeconomic scenario, net general government debt would reach 84% of GDP by 2013. (Our baseline scenario assumes near 3% annual real growth and a post-2012 phaseout of the December 2010 extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.) Such a percentage indicates a relatively weak government debt trajectory compared with those of the U.S.' closest 'AAA' rated peers (France, Germany, the U.K., and Canada).
We expect the debt trajectory to continue increasing in the medium term if a medium-term fiscal consolidation plan of $4 trillion is not agreed upon. If Congress and the Administration reach an agreement of about $4 trillion, and if we to conclude that such an agreement would be enacted and maintained throughout the decade, we could, other things unchanged, affirm the 'AAA' long-term rating and A-1+ short-term ratings on the U.S.
Standard & Poor's takes no position on the mix of spending and revenue measures that Congress and the Administration might agree on. But for any agreement to be credible, we believe it would require support from leaders of both political parties.
Congress and the Administration might also settle for a smaller increase in the debt ceiling, or they might agree on a plan that, while avoiding a near-term default, might not, in our view, materially improve our base case expectation for the future path of the net general government debt-to-GDP ratio. U.S. political debate is currently more focused on the need for medium-term fiscal consolidation than it has been for a decade. Based on this, we believe that an inability to reach an agreement now could indicate that an agreement will not be reached for several more years. We view an inability to timely agree and credibly implement medium-term fiscal consolidation policy as inconsistent with a 'AAA' sovereign rating, given the expected government debt trajectory noted above.
CreditWatch
Further delays in raising the debt ceiling could lead us to conclude that a default is more possible than we previously thought. If so, we could lower the long-term rating on the U.S. government this month and leave both the long-term and short-term ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications pending developments. If Congress and the Administration agree to raise the debt ceiling (with commensurate fiscal adjustments), we aim to review the details of such agreement within the next 90 days to determine whether, in our view, it is sufficient to stabilize the U.S.' medium-term debt dynamics. If we conclude that the agreement would likely achieve this end, all other things unchanged, we would expect to affirm both the long- and short-term ratings and assign a stable outlook.
If a debt ceiling agreement does not include a plan that seems likely to us to credibly stabilize the U.S.' medium-term debt dynamics but the result of the debt ceiling negotiations leads us to believe that such a plan could be negotiated within a few months, all other things unchanged, we expect to affirm both the long- and short-term ratings and assign a negative outlook, pending review of the eventual plan. If such an agreement is reached, but we do not believe that it likely will stabilize the U.S.' debt dynamics, we, again all other things unchanged, would expect to lower the long-term 'AAA' rating, affirm the 'A-1+' short-term rating, and assign a negative outlook on the long-term rating.
John Boehner and the Republican Party walked away from a deal that had the $4 trillion dollars in deficiit reduction cuts stipulated by S&P. That include $3 trillion in spending cuts and $1 trillion in revenue increased. Why? Simply because the Republican Party REFUSES to make ANY revenue increases.
Every deal that the Democrats proposed has AT LEAST $3 trillion dollars of deficit reduction. The deal the Republican put forth that finally got approved HAS THE LOWEST AMOUNT OF DEFICIT REDUCTION OF ANY OF THE DEAL PROPOSED.
Also the Republican plan to make ONLY $1 trillion in cuts in the first part of the deal and then negotiate another $1 to 1.4 trillion in additional cuts played a role on the downgrade.
The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as
America's governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective,
and less predictable than what we previously believed.
Now who were the people claiming "We're going to hurt somebody" during these negotiations? Who were the people threatening not to raise the debt ceiling and therefore showing a willingness to put the full faith and credit of the United States in jeopardary?
This quote from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been making the rounds today, and with good reason. It’s interesting from a variety of angles.
After [the debt-ceiling fight] was all over, Obama seemed to speak for revolted Americans — the kind of people who always want a new Washington — when he described the government as “dysfunctional.â€
But at the Capitol, behind the four doors and the three receptionists and the police guard, McConnell said he could imagine doing this again.
“I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting,†he said. “Most of us didn’t think that. What we did learn is this — it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming. And it focuses the Congress on something that must be done.â€
Let’s unpack this a bit.
First, after this brutal fiasco undermined the economy and made the United States an international laughingstock, the leading Senate Republican fully expects to do this again. McConnell believes his party has “learned†the value in pursuing this, regardless of the consequences. I wonder if voters might want to consider this before the 2012 elections.
The Republican Party willingness to put the full faith and credit at risk not only now BUT IN THE FUTURE played a role in the S&P ratings downgrade.
This is also in the S&P ratings downgrade press release
Quote:
We view the act's measures as a step toward fiscal consolidation.
However, this is within the framework of a legislative mechanism that leaves
open the details of what is finally agreed to until the end of 2011, and
Congress and the Administration could modify any agreement in the future. Even
assuming that at least $2.1 trillion of the spending reductions the act
envisages are implemented, we maintain our view that the U.S. net general
government debt burden (all levels of government combined, excluding liquid
financial assets) will likely continue to grow. Under our revised base case
fiscal scenario--which we consider to be consistent with a 'AA+' long-term
rating and a negative outlook--we now project that net general government debt
would rise from an estimated 74% of GDP by the end of 2011 to 79% in 2015 and
85% by 2021. Even the projected 2015 ratio of sovereign indebtedness is high
in relation to those of peer credits and, as noted, would continue to rise
under the act's revised policy settings. Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now
assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012,
remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority
of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise
revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act. Key
macroeconomic assumptions in the base case scenario include trend real GDP
Again we see that the Republican Party's resistance to rasing tax revenue is major factor in the decision reached by S&P.
By the way this is the debt reduction deal where John Boehner said:
John Boehner and the Republican Party walked away from a deal that had the $4 trillion dollars in deficiit reduction cuts stipulated by S&P. That include $3 trillion in spending cuts and $1 trillion in revenue increased. Why? Simply because the Republican Party REFUSES to make ANY revenue increases.
Every deal that the Democrats proposed has AT LEAST $3 trillion dollars of deficit reduction. The deal the Republican put forth that finally got approved HAS THE LOWEST AMOUNT OF DEFICIT REDUCTION OF ANY OF THE DEAL PROPOSED.
Also the Republican plan to make ONLY $1 trillion in cuts in the first part of the deal and then negotiate another $1 to 1.4 trillion in additional cuts played a role on the downgrade.
Now who were the people claiming "We're going to hurt somebody" during these negotiations? Who were the people threatening not to raise the debt ceiling and therefore showing a willingness to put the full faith and credit of the United States in jeopardary?
The Right has been plotting against President Obama since the day that he was elected, even before he had signed any legislation. President Obama is tough and hopefully he will destroy the enemies that are the obstructionists to America's future. Any and every Black professional in America has dealt with the type of unprecedented vitriol that President Obama has dealt with from his enemies. He has a great vision for America that will be brought to fruition and he will realize that under his 2nd term.
THAT is quite odd you see, because i happen to be very friendly with a couple of very successful black businessmen. They can't stand OBAMA, think he is the worse for business, and that he has no business being in our business get it.
They can be honest and understand that he is not what AMERICA was promised from himself Obama. Sixteen% unemployment in the black community this is acceptable to you. They way they put it to me he is a failure as our President to all of us who put our faith in a new era of his promised Hope N' Change. The only hope we now have them speaking not me, is to pray and hope he leaves somtime soon. They have said to me, the Man has no plan, no strengths, and rushes off at a time when our Country is in dire striaghts, to Martha's Vineyard.
If he had a vision, don't ya think we would see it by now. Really have to stop because we have seen nothing to show he has vision in any way.
Some people cannot be fooled, nor will they make excuses.
His vision for American is too keep this Country down. This Economy is in the toilet, flush flush flush away, the crap we were promised. A farce is what it all was and the ignorant media helped.
THAT is quite odd you see, because i happen to be very friendly with a couple of very successful black businessmen. They can't stand OBAMA, think he is the worse for business, and that he has no business being in our business get it.
They can be honest and understand that he is not what AMERICA was promised from himself Obama. Sixteen% unemployment in the black community this is acceptable to you. They way they put it to me he is a failure as our President to all of us who put our faith in a new era of his promised Hope N' Change. The only hope we now have them speaking not me, is to pray and hope he leaves somtime soon. They have said to me, the Man has no plan, no strengths, and rushes off at a time when our Country is in dire striaghts, to Martha's Vineyard.
If he had a vision, don't ya think we would see it by now. Really have to stop because we have seen nothing to show he has vision in any way.
Some people cannot be fooled, nor will they make excuses.
His vision for American is too keep this Country down. This Economy is in the toilet, flush flush flush away, the crap we were promised. A farce is what it all was and the ignorant media helped.
Yeah right.. and I suppose those black businessmen were better off under Bush or will be better off under a Republican president. The fact is, Obama inherited a huge mess from Bush. He's trying his best but the Republicans are trying to destroy him at every turn. The economy was actually recovering until the Republicans took control of the House. I still believe Obama has the right plan and vision for America. However as long as Republicans are apart of the government, America will never fully recover from the recession. The GOP, not Obama is the problem.
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