Obama popularity tanking

[hungbrandonfan]

His numbers are falling faster than a stone dropped from a moving plane.

Tell me why you think they are.

[Dino Velvet]

Can I vote for more than one?

[trish]

Stones don't fall any faster from a moving plane, then from a hovering copter.

People are still feeling the economic crunch of a jobless recovery and there's no promise of an immediate remedy. People are afraid he's not pushing hard enough for the public option in the health care bill. People aren't happy that single-payer wasn't even seriously considered. Economists are afraid he hasn't applied enough stimulus to overcome the inertia of the economic slump and lot's of people agree.

BTW: I never saw this president behave petulantly even once, unlike our last president who was petulant on a daily basis. Republicans don't hate black people. But people who do hate blacks and latinos are likely, if they vote at all, to be republicans.

So just how bad is a 59% approval rating?

[techi]

Politicians numbers never add up. Politicians don't do math. Example, Bush fired the guy that estimated that Iraq war would cost 200 Billion and promoted the guy who came up with the official estimate of 50 Billion. Current estimates are that the war cost will be north of 3 Trillion.

The stimulus was 2/3rds too small. He stimulated the economy but not nearly enough. The debt load on the public is too high and that's not going to change so long as the employment and wage base keep shrinking. The alternative to Obama's tiny stimulous seems to be the 0 stimulous Republicans so oh well...

The fact that the stock market is going up at the same time that the real economy is going down is not a good sign. I think this is a signal that we still have some ugly surprises ahead of us before we can even start talking about any kind of recovery.

Obama is getting cranky about healthcare but the fact is that he missed his chance to rally his base on healthcare when he didn't push single payer healthcare. He ended up masively compromising on the plan with Republicans and the health insurance industry and those bastards still aren't going to support the plan. Obama has no one but himself to blame for the stall in finalizing a healthcare plan because he could have and should have just ignored the Republicans and health insurance lobbyists.

Obama keeps hiring ex-Goldman crooks to work in his administration. There was another one just the other week. Not a great way to increase your public approval.

Obama's base is starting to view him as being too small of a change away from the bad old Bush days.

Republicans don't hate black people, they hate poor people and anyone else that causes thier taxes to go up.

Obama's 59% approval rating is good but I question how big a deal that is at the moment. For the most part, the Republicans are an ugly mess and people trust them about as much as they trust Charlie Manson. Also, people highly disapprove of Summers, Geithner and Burnanke... but that disaproval has not rubbed off on Obama yet, he still has time to get those idiots in line or fire them.

[q1a2z3]

The stimulus was an expensive democrat dildo for stimulating barny fags butthole. Only 15% of all the money stolen from the American people are for helping the economy. The remainder went into democrat pockets.

[hippifried]

I don't accept the choices in the poll, nor do I accept the premise that the President's popularity is tanking in the first place. Framing & phrasing the question is the biggest problem with all polls.

[El Nino]

Obama, believe it or not, is inline with the "Bush Doctrine"... That is to say "Get 'em over there so we don't have to fight 'em here"... Um, yeah pal.

[timebomb]

The stimulus was an expensive democrat dildo for stimulating barny fags butthole. Only 15% of all the money stolen from the American people are for helping the economy. The remainder went into democrat pockets.

I would like to know your source for that 15% number.

[hippifried]

The stimulus was an expensive democrat dildo for stimulating barny fags butthole. Only 15% of all the money stolen from the American people are for helping the economy. The remainder went into democrat pockets.

I would like to know your source for that 15% number.
Haven't you heard? He developed his own thinktank.

[timebomb]

It just makes me mad when people throw numbers and percentiles out there as if its a certified fact.

[BrendaQG]

I said it's jobs. To know about the healtcare debate you would have to watch the news regularly. Whereas if you (or your friend/relative) don't have a job you know it.

I don't think that nearly as many people in the bulk of the country want single payer as some here believe. In states like Illinois through medicaid, and most counties hospitals and clinics we have a government option. People wait long periods of time. It's simple X doctors and Y patients if X<<Y then there will be a long wait list. Here's hoping you have enough time when you are put on that list.

[hippifried]

I don't think most people care about the ideology. They want something done. The whole system is broken, & there's been a bunch of do-nothing for a long time. They want it fixed. It's going to take time. I don't believe the majority of people are as naive as they're portrayed.

[techi]

I don't think that nearly as many people in the bulk of the country want single payer as some here believe. In states like Illinois through medicaid, and most counties hospitals and clinics we have a government option. People wait long periods of time. It's simple X doctors and Y patients if X<<Y then there will be a long wait list. Here's hoping you have enough time when you are put on that list.

Canada has been doing quite well with single payer healthcare. I've got 30 relatives living in Canada, they don't have problems getting healthcare. The rationing scare that's hyped by some media outlets is vastly overstated.

Canada funds it's single payer system via a VAT, I don't see why we couldn't do the same.

And I do think there is strong support for single payer on the left... Obama's base.

[Nooksack]

You should have put a choice in there that says: "Americans are a bunch of insipid, ingorant, impatient, instant-gratification-based twats," because that's why his popularity is tanking. Sure, he made promises, what politician doesn't, but he also said, in EVERY MAJOR SPEECH THAT HE GAVE ABOUT THE ECONOMY, that things WERE GOING TO GET WORSE BEFORE THEY GET BETTER. But no American wants to hear that. We're impatient. If we don't get a quick fix, then obviously that sumbitch is lying and suddenly everyone else is validated.

As for the stimulus package, they have NOT spent all of the money because BOTH parties believe that it needs to be spent in an intelligent manner and not just dumped right back into the economy. I'd love to see the numbers, but it has been said numerous times that not all of the trillion was spent and is being held in a kind of ready reserve.

Everyone who thinks that you can revive a tanked economy in a matter of a few months is off of their fucking rocker. You can't fix a decade of damage in a half-dozen months... it just doesn't work that way, but people are upset, because that's what they WANT to happen but are either too stupid, too blind or both to see it, even though people SAID THAT IT WOULD HAPPEN.

Obama's popularity and approval rating is dying because we, as Americans, can't accept that there is no quick solution and we're like petulant little children who are now sulking.

[chefmike]

Great post!!

[bte]

You should have put a choice in there that says: "Americans are a bunch of insipid, ingorant, impatient, instant-gratification-based twats," because that's why his popularity is tanking. Sure, he made promises, what politician doesn't, but he also said, in EVERY MAJOR SPEECH THAT HE GAVE ABOUT THE ECONOMY, that things WERE GOING TO GET WORSE BEFORE THEY GET BETTER. But no American wants to hear that. We're impatient. If we don't get a quick fix, then obviously that sumbitch is lying and suddenly everyone else is validated.

As for the stimulus package, they have NOT spent all of the money because BOTH parties believe that it needs to be spent in an intelligent manner and not just dumped right back into the economy. I'd love to see the numbers, but it has been said numerous times that not all of the trillion was spent and is being held in a kind of ready reserve.

Everyone who thinks that you can revive a tanked economy in a matter of a few months is off of their fucking rocker. You can't fix a decade of damage in a half-dozen months... it just doesn't work that way, but people are upset, because that's what they WANT to happen but are either too stupod, too blind or both to see it, even though people SAID THAT IT WOULD HAPPEN.

Obama's popularity and approval rating is dying because we, as Americans, can't accept that there is no quick solution and we're like petulant little children who are now sulking.

+2

[techi]

You should have put a choice in there that says: "Americans are a bunch of insipid, ingorant, impatient, instant-gratification-based twats," because that's why his popularity is tanking. Sure, he made promises, what politician doesn't, but he also said, in EVERY MAJOR SPEECH THAT HE GAVE ABOUT THE ECONOMY, that things WERE GOING TO GET WORSE BEFORE THEY GET BETTER. But no American wants to hear that. We're impatient. If we don't get a quick fix, then obviously that sumbitch is lying and suddenly everyone else is validated.

As for the stimulus package, they have NOT spent all of the money because BOTH parties believe that it needs to be spent in an intelligent manner and not just dumped right back into the economy. I'd love to see the numbers, but it has been said numerous times that not all of the trillion was spent and is being held in a kind of ready reserve.

Everyone who thinks that you can revive a tanked economy in a matter of a few months is off of their fucking rocker. You can't fix a decade of damage in a half-dozen months... it just doesn't work that way, but people are upset, because that's what they WANT to happen but are either too stupid, too blind or both to see it, even though people SAID THAT IT WOULD HAPPEN.

Obama's popularity and approval rating is dying because we, as Americans, can't accept that there is no quick solution and we're like petulant little children who are now sulking.

Sure, people get impatient when they are out of work for a couple years and are on ther verge of losing thier homes. What a bunch of twats! right?

Of course our problems are not going to be fixed overnight, it may take a decade. But what people need to see right now is progress. By and large that has not yet happened. We haven't held Cheney accountable for his actions, we haven't held the bankers accountable for thier actions, we haven't reformed the banking system and we have not yet stopped the job losses and home forclosures.... The list is long and it's going to take a lot more than 6 months to fix it all. But right now we need progess, Obama has to make significant progress soon on at least one of the major issues at hand.

Also, Obama is not being well served by his economic advisor Larry Summers. Obama would do well to give Summers the boot and hire a capable progressive economist such as James Galbraith to replace him.

[Nooksack]

Wow, imagine someone taking what I said personally. Thank you! Even before Americans got nailed by this economic downturn THAT WE CREATED because people CHOSE NOT TO LIVE WITHIN THEIR MEANS, we Americans were impatient, greedy, self-absorbed pricks with "gotta have it NOW" mentality. Anyone who denies that is seriously delusional. For you to take my statement and simply slap it to a specific demographic within the American populace is almost insulting, because it refers to the Americans who AREN'T unemployed or on the verge of losing their homes as well.

You know what really hurts more Americans than the fact that they are unemployed? The fact that they have too much pride. The jobs that are available are beneath them, so they worry about taking handouts or living off of welfare. What ever happened to saving for a rainy day? Oh, that's right... they trusted the banks whose economic gurus thought that it would be good to extend every Tom, Dick and Larry a credit limit that was way above their heads. Those same banks that inflated the market and gave people loans and mortgages that they had no business trying to afford. Once again, people chose not to live within their means and now they are paying the price for their lack of knowledge on proper finance.

I don't disagree that Obama could do with a better economic advisor. I don't disagree that there are plenty of things that need to be fixed at home. I don't disagree that withdrawing from Iraq is not only a good deal, but a money-saver (should the politicians allow it to be). I DO disagree that all of this is Obama's fault. Yeah, people need to be held accountable., but that's ALL people, not just the people in charge. The people who follow are just as guilty as the people who led.

This isn't an attack at you. It's just the truth. Americans caused a problem and now they look to the same Big Brother that they don't want screwing with their lives, to come in and fix their shit. Well it's not going to happen that way and until everyone accepts some level of responsibility, nothing will ever get fixed. Once this crisis ends, if the same opportunities are out there, greedy people will cause it to happen again and it's unfortunate, but true.

You're very right that the list is long, so where should we start? What is realistically feasible? What is Cheney being held accountable for? Does Bush need to be? What about Hennessey or Mankiw or Lazear? What constituted being held accountable? Is that really gonna fix anything or are we just making ourselves feel better because we have another scapegoat or fifty?

[hippifried]

Even before Americans got nailed by this economic downturn THAT WE CREATED because people CHOSE NOT TO LIVE WITHIN THEIR MEANS, we Americans were impatient, greedy, self-absorbed pricks with "gotta have it NOW" mentality.
Well, ya gotta get it while you can if you want it. Then hope you can keep it.

People live within their means, by & large. The probloem here is that the means changed. Consumers didn't bring this on. Consumers are over 70% of the total economy. Well, that's the official line anyway. Personally, I can't see a single thing anywhere that isn't ultimately paid for by consumers. When you take away the means for consumption, everything falls apart. This can't be fixed at the top alone. That's been the biggest flaw in all the schemes & scams. When all the money's sitting at the top, everything stagnates. Money needs to be in the hands of people who spend it. It needs to be pried from the hands of the hoarders.

[yodajazz]

Even before Americans got nailed by this economic downturn THAT WE CREATED because people CHOSE NOT TO LIVE WITHIN THEIR MEANS, we Americans were impatient, greedy, self-absorbed pricks with "gotta have it NOW" mentality.
Well, ya gotta get it while you can if you want it. Then hope you can keep it.

People live within their means, by & large. The probloem here is that the means changed. Consumers didn't bring this on. Consumers are over 70% of the total economy. Well, that's the official line anyway. Personally, I can't see a single thing anywhere that isn't ultimately paid for by consumers. When you take away the means for consumption, everything falls apart. This can't be fixed at the top alone. That's been the biggest flaw in all the schemes & scams. When all the money's sitting at the top, everything stagnates. Money needs to be in the hands of people who spend it. It needs to be pried from the hands of the hoarders.
I agree with this basic sentiment. That is for to long the false philosphy circulated that money in the hands of the rich was more productive than money in the hands of the poor. Or that programing which helps poorer people is a waste of money. But the reality is that investing in lower income people puts money in circulation at the community level and that still circulates upward as they buy goods and services.

I also have a theory that money flowing into fees has served to keep people in economic slavery, where as if their money went to actual goods their goods, would create value, which in turn would increase the value in circulation. An example is that people's money is going to the banks in fees, where the person could be purchasing consumer goods or increasing their net worth. Less people beilng able to buy goods equal less jobs, and so on.

[techi]

Wow, imagine someone taking what I said personally. Thank you! Even before Americans got nailed by this economic downturn THAT WE CREATED because people CHOSE NOT TO LIVE WITHIN THEIR MEANS, we Americans were impatient, greedy, self-absorbed pricks with "gotta have it NOW" mentality. Anyone who denies that is seriously delusional. For you to take my statement and simply slap it to a specific demographic within the American populace is almost insulting, because it refers to the Americans who AREN'T unemployed or on the verge of losing their homes as well.


The subprime crisis was created by what? 1% of Americans being idiots?

The truth is that a % of the US population are now and always have been idiots. That is nothing new. What is new is that banks started giving loans to idiots, that is something that they never used to do. "WE" did not create this mess, the banks and rating agencies are primarily to blame for our current clusterfuck of an economy.

The public HAS been trying it's best to fix the problem ever since 2006. We gave a lot of Republicans the boot and turned Congress over to the Democrats. And in 2008 we elected the Democrats candidate for the presidency. Americans have voted for change.

Your entire understanding of the mess we are in is upside down and backward. You sound like a wallstreet fanboy.

[trish]

The subprime crisis was created by what? 1% of Americans being idiots?

The truth is that a % of the US population are now and always have been idiots. That is nothing new. What is new is that banks started giving loans to idiots, that is something that they never used to do. "WE" did not create this mess, the banks and rating agencies are primarily to blame for our current clusterfuck of an economy. :claps :claps :claps

[hippifried]

I hope I didn't start something nasty here. It wasn't my intention to attack Nooksack. In his defense, we dropped the ball a long time ago. We got complacent & allowed ourselves to be conned by the idea that the markets police themselves & that rules just get in the way.

We've gotten obsessed with insurance. We keep buying it & we keep getting burned. Everybody's forced to buy mortgage insurance. Where is it when it's needed? The obsession is at all levels, & gives a sense that behaving stupidly & recklessly is covered & won't have bad consequenses. Well where's the payout? The financial collapse was a product of the obsession. The skimmers ended up with all the money. There was more money tied up in hedge bets in the US than the GDP of the entire world. Huh? Investment is sucked up by brokerages that pretend to be banks, are leveraged 20 to 50 times their worth, & don't produce anything but debt & their own stock.

We let all this happen because we were hoping some of it would trickle our way. When it didn't, we played the blame game instead of looking for a fix. We're still doing it to an extent. But we're the ones that didn't demand that our laws be enforced. So now we're making new ones in the hope that somebody will pay attention. We're the ones who refuse to demand that the 4th estate do their job & keep us informed. We're the ones who allow our agents to sluff off & not protect our interests. We're the ones who follow along on adventures to wage vengeance on people who haven't done anything to us, & let our focus be shifted away from the things that really affect us. Everybody needs to look in the mirror.

[techi]

I agree with many of your comments Hippi, with the possible exceptions of the 4th estate and wage vengance.

The 4th estate, mainstream press, is dying because people know very well that it's full of crap and they aren't paying for it. That is exactly how people demand that the 4th estate do thier jobs. Do your job well or we aren't paying!

On the subject of wage vengance, most of that is directed at employees of our Wallstreet financial institutions that are making crazy money by destroying the economy. Wanna know one thing that'll destroy the Obama administration in a flash? Headlines like this:

White House Won't Decide if $100 Million for Citi Energy Trader is OK
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/07/white-house-wont-decide-if-100-million-for-citi-trader-is-ok.html

This story puts a name on the prices that people have been paying for gas at the pump. The clown in quesiton is basically set to rake in 100 Million in bonus's for jacking up the price of oil. People making obscene profits by destroying the economy deserve all the vengance that comes thier way.

Obama is going to lose control of the country if he keeps letting Wallstreet run amuck.

[hippifried]

On the subject of wage vengance, most of that is directed at employees of our Wallstreet financial institutions that are making crazy money by destroying the economy.

Uh... This comment by me:
We're the ones who follow along on adventures to wage vengeance on people who haven't done anything to us, & let our focus be shifted away from the things that really affect us.was about "waging" vengeance. As in going to war against somebody because we're pissed off. Even if we're pissed off at somebody else.

Sorry about any misunderstanding.

As for bonuses:
I think the personnel market on Wall Street is way out of whack. There's something in the works in Congress right now that would require shareholder approval of bonuses. That's one step. There's plenty of people that can pull in positive returns for shareholders without going outside the bounds of ethics. There's a mindset that says it's all about driving up stock prices instead of creating dividends. That a quarterly report is more important than the long term economic well being of the people who are actually holding the shares instead of dumping them as soon as the price goes up, justified or not.

That said, it's hard to begrudge someone for making money by working the existing system. This mindset isn't new. It's just gotten out of hand. I'm not sure what can be done to shift focus back to the shareholders instead of the stock traders, or whether it's even possible. But we can protect people from naked short selling & bogus insurance schemes by just forcing transparency.

[techi]

Haha, ok Hippi, sorry about misunderstanding you remark. I live near AIG offices.. already seen a lot of wage rage in my local community so it's sorta fresh in my mind.

I agree that the issue of the 100 Million bonus to the Citi energy trader is a complicated one. On the whole, the taxpayer has not been well served by the bank bailouts. Contracts such as the traders should have been null and void the moment that public money went into saving these institutions. And even without the bailouts, I agree that the shareholder needs a bigger say regarding potentially large compensation packages.

As for systemic reforms... yeah, much is needed. So far I feel like the reforms proposed by Geithner&Co are window dressing.