(Article) Obama: Even Dumber Than Sarahcuda

[ijwthstd]

http://www.altweeklies.com/politics/oba ... id=1797619

Obama: Even Dumber Than Sarahcuda

Published in: Maui Time Weekly
Date Posted: 02/11/2010
Author: Ted Rall Reprint Terms
Thanks to CribNoteGate, we can finally say it out loud: Sarah Palin is stupid. But where does that leave Barack Obama?

Even stupider.

Let's set aside the fiction that public officials care about the country. Let's accept an assumption that everyone else can get behind: Politicians are skilled at looking out for themselves.

By this low standard, Obama is dumber than dumb. We're not talking Dubya dumb. We're not even talking Sarahcuda dumb.

We're talking pulling-off-your-mask-so-the-clerk-of-the-bank-you're-robbing-can-hear-you dumb.

A year ago, Obama comes into office facing a global economic meltdown. Half a million jobs are vanishing each month. Millions of Americans have just lost their homes to foreclosure; millions more are on the chopping block. So what does he focus on?

Healthcare reform.

OK, so it's true that Americans wanted and needed cheaper healthcare. Even if wasn't their top priority, it was worth a try. (But not instead of fixing the economy. But I digress.)

Things went wrong from the start. Mainly, this was because Obama was too dim to understand what had gone wrong with Hillary and Bill Clinton's 1993 attempt to fix the healthcare system. The president and his advisers fixated on a strange rewriting of history: the Clintons' mistake, they decided, was to propose a specific 1,342-page bill. Congress, feeling left out, had refused to get behind it.

As anyone older than 30 remembers, however, that's not what happened. Republicans opposed HillaryCare because they're always against healthcare reform. And Democrats didn't care. Because the plan was crafted to protect insurance company profits, it wouldn't have helped patients. HillaryCare didn't die because Congress wasn't involved. It simply didn't have a constituency.

But they still could have gotten something done. Staring down the Christmas 2009 recess, Obama had everything he needed. Senate Democrats, enjoying a rare 60-vote supermajority that precluded a Republican filibuster, passed a conservative version of ObamaCare. The House, also overwhelmingly Democratic, passed a slightly less conservative version. All Democratic leaders had to do was reconcile the two versions.

So what did the Moron-in-Chief do on Christmas Eve, after the Senate passed its bill? He sent Congress home for the holidays.

If I'd been him, I would have banged Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid's heads together. "Go down to McDonald's," I would have said. "Walk into Banana Republic." Lots of people work over the holidays. Keep your members working until they finish the people's work!" I'm no genius. Anyone would have said that. He didn't.

Remember, Ted Kennedy had already died. Obama knew there was a special election scheduled in Massachusetts. Sure, it's a liberal state. But why take chances? When you have 60 out of the 60 votes you need to get something done, when you haven't accomplished anything substantive since taking office nearly a year ago, why wouldn't you strike while the iron is hot? He desperately needed a win. And he threw it away.

Two words: Id. Iot.

Every time it counts, Obama doesn't have a clue. Consider, for example, the $700 billion TARP bailout.

The CEOs of Bank of America, Citibank, AIG, Goldman Sachs and several other giant corporations came to the Administration early in their term, wailing that (a) they would go out of business unless the feds bailed them out and (b) they would take a chunk of the economy with them, what with them being "too big to fail" and all.

Put yourself in Obama's position. I would have replied Tony Soprano-style: "OK, fellows, I'll help you out. I'll save your stupid asses. In return, the Treasury will take your next 10 years of profits. Your shareholders get squat. No bonuses. Your execs stay until we say they can quit, for $50,000 a year. If they don't like it, we prosecute them for fraud or unpaid parking tickets or terrorism, whatever, we'll come up with something. If you don't pay a decent return, we nationalize you."

"After all, if you're too big to fail, maybe you need to become part of the government."

Obama held all the cards. But he was stupid. And he was corrupt. (Two words: Timothy Geitner. Two more words: Goldman Sachs.) But more stupid than corrupt. And so, after AIG and Goldman used taxpayer bailout funds to redecorate their offices and pay extravagant bonuses to the corporate turds who ruined their companies in the first place, Obama was surprised. How could he be dismayed at "reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at some of the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people"? He let them get away with it.

You can hardly blame greedheads for taking money when you give it to them, no strings attached. But that's what he's doing—and it's seriously pissing people off.

Now that the prez is finally starting to think about the economy, he's proposing tax breaks for companies that hire new workers.

Actually, it's a good idea. Or it would have been, when I proposed it back in the 1990s. Now it can't possibly work.

Twenty percent of Americans can't find a job—and the number will continue to rise. So people can't earn money. Most people's income has been frozen or declining in real terms since 1968. So they don't have savings to spend. And the credit markets are frozen. So they can't borrow.

Americans are finally poor-poor, Third World poor; they're tapped out and can't come up with money to spend. So much for the consumer economy. When a company can't sell anything, how can it hire someone? Tax cuts are too little, too late—that might as well be Obama's official motto—but that's all he can come up with as he stares down the barrel of a potentially devastating Republican sweep this November.

Memo to Obama: People. Need. Money. So hire them. Like FDR did.

How'd someone so dumb get into Harvard? Ask Dubya.

(Ted Rall is the author, with Pablo G. Callejo, of the new graphic memoir "The Year of Loving Dangerously." He is publishing a new political manifesto for Fall 2010. His website is tedrall.com.)

[tin00can]

Sadly, I agree with a lot of that. Politicians will always campaign on the promise of being in touch with the voters and being able to fix the problems they face, but it is never true.

[JakeYonkel]

Amen to all of that.

He needs to get his head out of his ass.

You know, we're looking to move into a bit of a bigger place. Problem is I bought my house in 2006 (at the height of the bubble) so naturally I might get 70% of what I paid for it less than 4 years ago now.

The capital gain from a home sale? Up to $500,000, if married, is cake. No tax.

However, a LOSS? Sorry pal.

So, and I'm not the only one in this situation... where's the benefit? Why am I going to want to buy another house right now if I'm getting fucked in the ass and can't claim even a partial loss that I'm about to take?

THAT'S something he should think about fixing, at least temporarily to maybe get the housing marketing going, seeing as how it's in such bad shape right now. With so many people either set to take a loss, or worse upside down in their mortgages, what about all of them?

[Thebottomline]

So many other people have problems outside the housing problem. The housing problem isn't the only problem this country has.

Before Obama was elected when the economy took a shit he promised he had a plan to get us out of this mess. American voters believed him so we elected (the majority anyway) him. You wouldn't have to look very far back for threads right here on sludge where it was talked about how important it is to elect Obama and why.

Well as soon as Obama was elected and was sworn in he really hasn't had a plan to get us out of this mess and whatever he had done was just a temporary band aid. At this point all Mr. Obama can do is blame eight years of Bush and the Republicans in the house and senate by saying they wont work with him but thats BULLSHIT and americans are catching on to it real quick. Obama keeps saying that "he walked in and there was this mess", yeah right Mr. Obama. Obama knew about the mess when he was running for president but the truth is he doesn't have a clue or a plan to get us out. The less than average person may say that he has only been in office for just a little more than a year so they cant pass judgement yet well fuck em' because if they cant assess his work as of now than they absolute no clue. Obama has already FAILED as a president. Is is Jan.20. 2013 yet? I will be surprised if he gets re-elected.

[Hames Jetfield]

So many other people have problems outside the housing problem. The housing problem isn't the only problem this country has.

Before Obama was elected when the economy took a shit he promised he had a plan to get us out of this mess. American voters believed him so we elected (the majority anyway) him. You wouldn't have to look very far back for threads right here on sludge where it was talked about how important it is to elect Obama and why.

Well as soon as Obama was elected and was sworn in he really hasn't had a plan to get us out of this mess and whatever he had done was just a temporary band aid. At this point all Mr. Obama can do is blame eight years of Bush and the Republicans in the house and senate by saying they wont work with him but thats BULLSHIT and americans are catching on to it real quick. Obama keeps saying that "he walked in and there was this mess", yeah right Mr. Obama. Obama knew about the mess when he was running for president but the truth is he doesn't have a clue or a plan to get us out. The less than average person may say that he has only been in office for just a little more than a year so they cant pass judgement yet well fuck em' because if they cant assess his work as of now than they absolute no clue. Obama has already FAILED as a president. Is is Jan.20. 2013 yet? I will be surprised if he gets re-elected.

So, I have to ask, if he is re-elected will he still be a failure to you? Because, you know, the majority will have spoken, again, regarding "Mr. Obama." Let's be honest, no matter what he is a failure to you, and, to others, he is a success just because he was elected which is just as delusional as what you're spouting. I can't stand Bush, but I hardly think that he was a failure because for some reason Americans voted for him twice. As for both of their presidencies history will see.

[Thebottomline]

So you think Bush was a success because Americans voted for him twice? NOW thats delusional. I know a lot of people who only voted for Bush because he was the lesser of two evils especially in the 2004 elections. If the democrats had a stronger candidate than John Kerry, Bush would have been defeated. If John Kerry had ran a more consistent campaign and not wavered on various topics he could have been elected. If Obama does win a re-election it will because the Republicans didn't get a strong enough candidate to run against Obama which is why posters like Ugmo hope that Sarah Palin wins the republican nomination in 2012.

[Hames Jetfield]

So you think Bush was a success because Americans voted for him twice? NOW thats delusional. I know a lot of people who only voted for Bush because he was the lesser of two evils especially in the 2004 elections. If the democrats had a stronger candidate than John Kerry, Bush would have been defeated. If John Kerry had ran a more consistent campaign and not wavered on various topics he could have been elected. If Obama does win a re-election it will because the Republicans didn't get a strong enough candidate to run against Obama which is why posters like Ugmo hope that Sarah Palin wins the republican nomination in 2012.

Well as much as I dislike Bush (and I do feel his Presidency was a failure) I think in the long term he will be judged on how the Iraq situation turns out and not about his domestic issues really. And, to a large extent, I think Bush won re-election due to his decision to go to war which was still in its infancy (ya know, he played the war card). Obama and Bush are already successful--they got elected--whether their presidencies will be successful history will have to judge. My point is you wouldn't like this president even if he was chalking up legislative victories, leading in the polls, and slashing taxes for the rich.

[Thebottomline]

So you think Bush was a success because Americans voted for him twice? NOW thats delusional. I know a lot of people who only voted for Bush because he was the lesser of two evils especially in the 2004 elections. If the democrats had a stronger candidate than John Kerry, Bush would have been defeated. If John Kerry had ran a more consistent campaign and not wavered on various topics he could have been elected. If Obama does win a re-election it will because the Republicans didn't get a strong enough candidate to run against Obama which is why posters like Ugmo hope that Sarah Palin wins the republican nomination in 2012.

Well as much as I dislike Bush (and I do feel his Presidency was a failure) I think in the long term he will be judged on how the Iraq situation turns out and not about his domestic issues really. And, to a large extent, I think Bush won re-election due to his decision to go to war which was still in its infancy (ya know, he played the war card). Obama and Bush are already successful--they got elected--whether their presidencies will be successful history will have to judge. My point is you wouldn't like this president even if he was chalking up legislative victories, leading in the polls, and slashing taxes for the rich.

I dont like him for the reasons I mentioned above, he just wants to blame Bush for everything instead of doing something about it like he promised in his campaign. Even though I didn't vote for him but I was still supportive and happy when he was sworn in. Now I just hope we get rid of him in the next election if not it's going to be a long seven years.

[JakeYonkel]

THAT'S something he should think about fixing, at least temporarily to maybe get the housing marketing going,

LMFAO again. No wonder you bought a house at the top of the country's biggest bubble market.

The housing programs are trying to stablize home prices by increasing demand (tax credit, lower mortgage rates, loose lending standards and limiting supply (modification programs, various foreclosure moratoria). They don't want home owners to put their house on the market as you are doing. They want you to hold onto your house. They want to clear the inventory of homes that are new but unsold or in foreclosure.

Giving you a tax break for your bad investment does nothing to prop up home prices. You sell your house and buy another. Home inventory stays the same. It's merely sharing your loss with other tax payers since they have to pick up the bill through higher taxes somewhere else.

The tax credit is a load of shit that you have to jump through hoops to attain. Look at the qualifications that need to be met to qualify. My wife and I have been married and living together for almost 3 years, but I had lived here alone prior to that for about a year. So we would not be eligible for the new homebuyer's credit (she has never owned a home but I have) OR the repeat buyer credit (though I have been here nearly long enough, she has not). So it's a load of shit.

I don't want to hold onto my house right now and I've got no incentive to do so. If I have to take a hit onto my house I bought in an inflated market years ago in order to get a nicer, bigger house at even more of a discount, I'm going to do that.

It just boggles my mind how $500,000 of capital gain is tax-free. Taxing that would inspire people to hold onto appreciated property right now.

I'm now looking to rent this place for a year until I can claim it as rental property and THEN take a capital loss when I sell. And when that happens, that loss is still passed onto taxpayers, as you say. So what the hell is the difference? An extra year?

Per usual, the people who have done the right thing are getting fucked. I paid off my mortgage on this property prior to talk about helping out buyers whose mortgages were upside down. Part of me thinks that whatever I do right now, Barry will come along to help somebody in my situation 6 months later, since that's the way this shit seems to have gone lately. (as I've said, I missed out on the new car tax credit TWICE, having bought one before it went into effect and right after)

Yeah yeah yeah, I have no right to complain because I have free lottery income. But in my situation I'm still trying to do what's best for my family and as somebody firmly entrenched in the middle class I don't feel like Barry is taking especially good care of all of us. If you're dirt poor he's your best friend, just as Bush was buddies with the 6 figure income crowd. But that middle bracket... fuck all of us.

[vanitybinge]

Yeah yeah yeah, I have no right to complain because I have free lottery income. But in my situation I'm still trying to do what's best for my family and as somebody firmly entrenched in the middle class I don't feel like Barry is taking especially good care of all of us. If you're dirt poor he's your best friend, just as Bush was buddies with the 6 figure income crowd. But that middle bracket... fuck all of us.

I don't think you're bitching bro. You want to do well for your family. That's commendable.

Look, it's easy to show graphs of how well the economy is doing compared to a year ago, 5 percent this, nine percent that, but the truth is, down here on "tha street" where us middle and lower class folk are trying to find JOBS, we're not seeing results. Democrats love to say the middle class is the heart of America, but that's just pandering to the majority.

One of the reasons I'm trying to move to Boston is so I can find a job and support my musical endeavors. jobs around my town are fucking frozen, just like the roads. Staples hired a couple people, and everyone I knew went nuts telling all their friends to go apply. Well what happens when a hundred people show up and there's only three positions available? Yea, it's rough. I used to be able to make enough money landscaping all summer to float my way through the winter if work got slow. Now my old landscaping bosses are asking ME to find THEM work.

I watched an amazing artist build a landscaping company for four years while I apprenticed under him as a mason. He had contracts with some of the biggest and most beautiful houses on the Cape. When we started, it was a pickup truck and a trailer. Four years later, he had two dump trucks, a Bobcat, a house of his own, a garage full of tools, and a crew of five. He found a woman he loved and was ready to make pitter-patter of little feet.

Sadly, he hasn't been able to land a real contract in two years. He's sold his house, his dumptruck, and now he can't support the family he started. It breaks my heart.

Joe Biden said something that for once can't be laughed at. We care about JOBS, and as much as we all bang our heads and yell YEA! FUCK THE BOSS! ROCK ON!....it's hard to rock when you're in debt to the state, being forced to buy health care you can't afford, and your fridge has nothing but sweet sauce and mustard.