Don't let on, but Obama's doing well
Patriot Games
In truth, though you might have missed it amid the partisan tracer
flying in the air, Obama has got off to a quite promising start. It
hasn't been perfect, and he hasn't been the miracle worker his most
adoring supporters dreamed of. Indeed, who could have been, given the
economic and foreign affairs hand he was dealt? In the circumstances
though, by any reasonable accounting, he hasn't done badly.
Last February, with the economy in free fall – and having to make do
without a single Republican vote in the House, and just three in the
Senate – he pushed through a record stimulus package. The package wasn't
ideal, but it signalled the government's determination to do whatever it
took to prevent the Great Recession turning into a second Great
Depression. Ditto the bank bailouts, and the rescue of the car
companies. If these measures hadn't been taken, would today's fragile
recovery be taking place? Maybe, but you wouldn't bet on it.
No less important he will in a month or two's time, if all goes well, be
signing into law desperately needed healthcare reform, again probably
without a single Republican vote. This too won't be perfect; the US
healthcare system will still be the most expensive and most wasteful in
the developed world, and millions of Americans will still lack coverage.
But it will be a huge step in the right direction. All in all, not bad
for a first year's work. And if Congress manages to pass measures
overhauling energy policy and financial market regulation, Obama will
have achieved the biggest public policy reforms since Lyndon Johnson,
almost half a century ago.
Abroad, he has cleaned up America's image. Yes, critics on the left may
complain that despite the beguiling rhetoric, Bush policies are
continuing. Cuba remains under an absurd 50-year-old embargo, and yet
again an Israeli government has called America's bluff on Jewish
settlements on the West Bank. Despite the promise to close Guantanamo
Bay by the end of this month, the place remains open. Indeed, after the
near-miss terrorist attack on Flight 253 on Christmas Day, it may well
remain open for a long while yet.
But the right is no less unhappy, accusing Obama of being soft on China,
soft on terrorism, and far too soft on Iran and its nuclear programme
(although even that particular crisis is now overshadowed by the deadly
struggle between reformers and hardliners for the country's future,
beyond the power of any American president to influence).
He might console himself that if he is upsetting everyone, he is doing
something right. The reality is that in foreign policy, Obama is forging
his version of the hard-nosed pragmatism that was the hallmark of his
Democratic predecessors Harry Truman, John Kennedy and LBJ – at least
until Vietnam intervened.
Which brings us back to the past. Memories of Flight 253 and Umar Farouk
Abdulmutallab will fade, its legacy just extra airport security hassle
that we will soon take for granted. The true test for Obama lies in
Afghanistan, where more than 900 Americans have already died, where
seven CIA officers have just been killed by a suicide bomber, and where
parallels with Vietnam multiply by the month. Britain and the Soviet
Union failed in Afghanistan. Although the fate of America's venture on
that treacherous terrain is as yet unknown, the curse of the past is
poised to strike again.
edi...@netpath.net
> In truth, though you might have missed it amid the partisan tracer
> flying in the air, Obama has got off to a quite promising start.
Bullshit. General Motors and Chrysler both survived the 1930s "Great"
Depression without bankruptcy or bailouts - but neither survived six
months of Obama. The housing industry is in a shambles - both as to
marketability of existing homes and as to construction of new ones.
The only enclosed mall in this county (Alamance County, North
Carolina) now has been foreclosed on, is half-unleased - and today, on
a Saturday, has a mostly-empty parking lot. Past week or so here, a
Burger King across a major street from that road - a street leading to
a major Interstate exit - closed without warning and now is plywooded
over.
http://www.Internet-Gun-Show.com - your source for hard-to-find stuff!
bugs
> Past week or so here, a
> Burger King across a major street from that road - a street leading to
> a major Interstate exit - closed without warning and now is plywooded
> over.
>
Life must be tough in your trailer park. No Burger King?
Clave
news:a9d55c5f-a1ab-44c8...@j24g2000yqa.googlegroups.com...
On Jan 2, 3:13 pm, Patriot Games <Patr...@America.Com> wrote:
> In truth, though you might have missed it amid the partisan tracer
> flying in the air, Obama has got off to a quite promising start.
Bullshit. General Motors and Chrysler both survived the 1930s "Great"
Depression without bankruptcy or bailouts - but neither survived six
months of Obama...
=====================================================================
What horseshit.
What they couldn't survive was mismanagement and guilding cars people didn't
want to buy.
Jim
Poetic Justice
Hard times are in the eye of the beholder.
John Q Public
<ClaviusNo...@cablespeed.com> said:
Not to mention union entitlements adding 3-4000 per unit sold making em
uncompetitive,
didn't mention that did ya dicklicker
Lisa Lisa
> On Jan 2, 3:13 pm, Patriot Games <Patr...@America.Com> wrote:
>
> > In truth, though you might have missed it amid the partisan tracer
> > flying in the air, Obama has got off to a quite promising start.
>
> Bullshit. General Motors and Chrysler both survived the 1930s "Great"
> Depression without bankruptcy or bailouts - but neither survived six
> months of Obama.
Has nothing to do with Obama. Both companies over-relied on big gas
guzzlers. It's a different America now.
> The housing industry is in a shambles - both as to
> marketability of existing homes and as to construction of new ones.
> The only enclosed mall in this county (Alamance County, North
> Carolina) now has been foreclosed on, is half-unleased - and today, on
> a Saturday, has a mostly-empty parking lot.
So they overbuilt. So what? That's THEIR fault.
> Past week or so here, a
> Burger King across a major street from that road - a street leading to
> a major Interstate exit - closed without warning and now is plywooded
> over.
Good riddance. Those ugly fast food eateries use beef treated with
ammonia. It's real low-grade stuff. Shutting it down was the best
thing that ever happened.
Lisa
> http://www.Internet-Gun-Show.com- your source for hard-to-find stuff!
Lots of guns, but no brains. A deadly combination, indeed.
Lisa
Clave
news:2010010309462577923-my2cents@mecom...
You mean the health care and pension benefits management agreed to pay?
I guess that does excuse the gross management incompetence.
Jim