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Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Rich Galen :: Townhall.com Columnist
Obama's Economy
by Rich Galen
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Yesterday, in Denver (instead of Monday in Illinois) President Barack Obama signed into law H.R. 1, commonly known as the stimulus package.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average greeted this news with a drop of nearly 298 points to end the day at 7552.60.

Just to review the bidding, on Friday January 16, the last day of trading before the Inauguration of Obama on January 20th, which means it was also the last day of trading during the Administration of President George W. Bush, the Dow ended the day at 8,281.22.

Since the beginning of the Obama Administration, which was greeted with breathless anticipation by the entire known Universe, the Dow has dropped 728.62 points or a little under nine percent.

If your 401(k) was worth $10,000 on the last day of the Bush administration, it is worth about $9,100 today which is the first full day of the Obama Economy.

I know my friends on my Left will howl in outrage and point out that on January 28 - about a week into the Obama Era - the Dow closed at 8,375. About 93 points ABOVE the point at which the Bush Presidency faded into history.

Ok. But, that was then. The political Earth was new. No one understood just how destructive Obama and his lead henchman, White House chief of staff and former Congressman Rahm Emanuel, were going to be.

Obama and Emanuel - let's just call them Rahm Obama - allowed the Nancy Pelosi-led House of Representatives to take the first crack at crafting the stimulus package.

Need I remind you that Pelosi was so inept at this task that she attempted to hide tens of millions of dollars in condom subsidies which even the Minneapolis Star-Tribune described as "the condom controversy" because she tried to slip a "Medicaid family-planning initiative into what was supposed to be an economic stimulus package."

Does it bother anyone at all that the differences between the House and Senate versions in the gazillion dollar stimulus package were negotiated behind closed doors? Forget about having no Republicans in the room. They lost. Too bad. In this new era of Transparency In All Things maybe C-SPAN should have had cameras rolling.

Nah.

It will take years to figure out what is in this bill. There is language which says, as an example: "In Section 201.23(a)(2)(i) of PL 100-374 insert, after the semi-colon, the words "and others as may be designated by the Secretary."

I don't know if there is a PL 100-374. But that's the sort of thing which slips into these mega-bills.

Now that H.R. 1 has been signed by Obama, there will be a call from a senior Member of the House or Senate to a new Deputy Junior Assistant Associate Vice-Secretary of the Department of Transportation demanding that this particular part of H.R. 1 be enforced - and suddenly one of those "others as may be designated" is Bob's Transmission Shop in Lower Iguana which finds itself with a grant of $23 million to develop seat belts for buses used to transport Federal employees to and from lunch in Des Moines.

I have no idea if this is going to work or not. Obviously the geniuses on Wall Street - who are largely to blame for getting us into this mess in the first place - did not believe yesterday that it was going to work.

Most of us spend our working hours … working. And, thus, we don't spend the day tracking the Dow, the S&P, the NASDAQ or any of the other indices which indicate when we might be able to retire.

Given the state of my accounts I am now absolutely going be able to retire on a Thursday in the year 2154 at the age of 208.

If the stimulus package works coupled with the next round of bank/insurance company bailouts, more loans to the automotive industry and a subsidy to every person who has a mortgage they had no business receiving, then Barack Obama will not need Air Force One - he will be carried about by a team of Angels surrounded by a celestial chorus accompanied by heavenly trumpeters.

In this time of remembering the 16th President we should remember that when Abraham Lincoln coined the phrase a "government of the people, by the people, for the people" he did not have in mind that those toxic assets and bad debts would be transferred to the central government; to … us.

Either way, this is now Obama's Economy. He's welcome to it.

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About The Author

Rich Galen has been a press secretary to Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich. Rich Galen currently works as a journalist and writes at Mullings.com

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(40 comments so Far)
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Reply # 1
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 12:14 PM EST
Lawyer Nation
The Lawyer Full Employment/Deployment Act for the Millenium. The so-called FEAD ME Act. Lawyer nation is now fully realized. Anyone can sue for anything. The race is on. Gentlemen, start your lawyers.
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Reply # 2
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 12:35 PM EST
Such Futility
TWO - TWO - TEN!!! - IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN!!!
We the PEOPLE indeed must take back our GOVT.
TWO TERMS, BOTH HOUSE & SENATE!! After having been TERMED, or VOTED out, NO EMPLOYMENT BY THAT POLITICIAN, or ANY FAMILY MEMBER of that POLITICIAN, by ANY LOBBYING GROUP or LOBBYING ORGANIZATION for TEN YEARS! We the PEOPLE currently have little or NO REPRESENTATION in Congress. There is a private clique or club of professional politicians who's only desire is to remain in D.C., rather than having to find a real job. Why should they? These leeches continue to such the LIFE, LIBERTY and HOPE out of all true AMERICANS.
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Reply # 3
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 1:30 PM EST
dow since may
Since Obama was confirmed as Demo choice the down has dropped 6000 pts.
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Reply # 4
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 1:31 PM EST
it aint over till the fat lady sings!
her name is porkzilla!her records went off the charts,8oo,billion dollars worth of pork!wow!
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Reply # 5
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 2:09 PM EST
Rich, have you been smoking crack!
"Obviously the geniuses on Wall Street - who are largely to blame for getting us into this mess in the first place"!

What is the matter, been getting your misinformation from the NYSlime? Wall Street "geniuses" did not force the mortgage companies to make bad loans and did not stop oversight of Fannie and Freddie after Congress (remember them Rich?)changed the way that mortgages were bundled into bonds. While not blameless in jumping on the bandwagon of overpriced mortgage securities, and many saw the bubble rising, they were no where near the "main cause" of the mess we're in. Since FDR, we have been on the path to self-destruction and it accelerated under the ubber-liberal Bush and has spun completely out of control in only a few short weeks of the "One".
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Reply # 6
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 2:15 PM EST
Wake up zombies!
What's next...

They want to ban firearms (even for home protection.)

They want to take our kids and put them in a Civilian National Security Force.

They want nationalized banks.

They want nationalized health care.

They want to "play" with the Census.

Do you want to give up all control to these people. (I would certainly like to see a copy of Obama's birth certificate.) They are moving quickly and they already slipped electronic health records into the wasteful stimulus package. We are going to be in big trouble if we don't do something. What if we set a day where we all protest (peacefully) against the move to remove our liberties? I see thousands and thousands of people saying,"No, you will not socialize our country."

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Reply # 7
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 2:52 PM EST
Tell Congress to "Stop" the Spending!
Congress just passed a 1 TRILLION dollar “stimulus” plan – and now they’ve got their hands out AGAIN!

Yes, believe it or not, the spending isn’t stopping.

Obama is now pitching a 75 BILLION dollar mortgage bailout plan.

And the guys at GM and Chrysler are back asking for another handout of almost 20 BILLION.

This is on top of a trillion dollar “stimulus” that created 32 NEW government programs.

And in the meantime, our national debt is already over TEN TRILLION dollars!

Tell Congress this madness has to stop!

Click below and send a personalized message to your members of Congress today!

http://www.conservativeoutpost.com/campaign/cta/stop_spendi ng
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Reply # 8
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 2:59 PM EST
Horn Of Plenty
Welfare checks will keep coming to those that are willing to open the mail box. Thanks to the insights of economist Maynard keynes the horn of plenty has become a reality. Despite all the doomsayers the government is capable of printing infinite amounts of good money. The ink will never run dry. It is written on the dollar "In God We Trust" and as long as you trust in God we will continue being blessed with the horn of plenty.
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Reply # 9
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 4:04 PM EST
Rich in VA
You're right. People like that awful Barney Frank are largely to blame for this mess.
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Reply # 10
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 4:09 PM EST
Pork in the Bill
http://www.stimuluswatch.org/
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Reply # 11
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 4:41 PM EST
Obama's Economy??
This economy belongs to the shrub... Obama is only making an effort to pick up the pcs.
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Reply # 12
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 4:43 PM EST
Jay in Ga.
"Tell Congress to "Stop" the Spending!"

that would have been a really good plan 8 years ago... but you didn't say anything then...
did you???
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Reply # 13
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 4:45 PM EST
dow since may ...
David... tell me, you can't really be that ignorant... or am I just selling you short??
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Reply # 14
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 6:32 PM EST
This guy...
is going to spend this country into hell, finishing the evil work of Bush of spend, spend, spend. He hasn't been president a month and look at the money to be spent and the money he wants to spend. We may be looking at another world war if this clown gets all the ruinous policies he wants.
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Reply # 15
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 7:58 PM EST
Thomas Jefferson weighs in
"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world." --Thomas Jefferson to A. L. C. Destutt de Tracy, 1820. FE 10:175


"Ought not then the right of each successive generation to be guaranteed against the dissipations and corruptions of those preceding, by a fundamental provision in our Constitution? And if that has not been made, does it exist the less, there being between generation and generation as between nation and nation no other law than that of nature? And is it the less dishonest to do what is wrong because not expressly prohibited by written law? Let us hope our moral principles are not yet in that stage of degeneracy, and that in instituting the system of finance to be hereafter pursued we shall adopt the only safe, the only lawful and honest one, of borrowing on such short terms of reimbursement of interest and principal as will fall within the accomplishment of our own lives." --Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813. ME 13:360


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Reply # 16
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 9:24 PM EST
Dolar for Dolar
The Repub's must demand that any additional money for stimulus/bailout/rescue be at the expense of something that was put into the odious HR1. I'm sure that there are plenty of stinkers hidding in those 1000 plus pages. If the GOP plays this right they can bring them up one at a time and get all kinds of mileage. The Dems will not be able to defend them and forced to capitulate.
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Reply # 17
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 3:14 AM EST
Some Resume
I see that the author of this article was Dan Quayle's Press Secretary, so that explains a lot.
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Reply # 18
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 6:37 AM EST
Aren't working people sick of this?
As a member of the "chattering class," as Chuck Schumer calls us, I am greatly concerned that the Congress would pass a bill that no one had read. It's unbelievable! Is this what people want?

Also, our elected officials have thumbed their noses at taxpayers, by forgetting the difference between millions, billion, and trillions. Hey, so what if we waste millions. Schumer says, No one cares, it is only a fraction of a trillion. Well, those of us who work for a living, care.

The self-employed, pay every tax, and fee, that the politicians dream up. Thanks to the new president, Pelosi, and Reid, we are being walked, and talked into a depression.

For the next year or two, we will continually hear, "I inherited this from the previous administration," which is no excuse for rushing our country into a socialist, welfare state. "Spend, spend, spend," has replaced, "drill, drill, drill."

All of these politicians have to go. We need to get back to sending ordinary citizens, with term limits, to Congress. We need to take back our country, and realize that responsibility, and accountability, two buzz words we hear most often, today, only has meaning if there are consequences. In the end, we who work, pay.

WAKE UP PEOPLE!



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Reply # 19
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 7:44 AM EST
Blame Wall Street
Which came first the wall street execs that tried to make the best of bad loans or the Congress which insisted that the banking system make stupid loans available? Let's not forget how they then ignored the warnings of eminent collapse of Freddie and Fannie and actually Barney Frank, Maxine Waters et. al., defended Franklin Raines who walked with tens of millions?

What shall we call this new break with the past economics? The economics which puts money into BofA, Citi, GM and companies that make new technology. Can't use TRICKLE DOWN economics. How about TRICKLE DOWN dependence?
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Reply # 20
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 8:43 AM EST
Alice In O's Wonderland

Gordon Gekko would be laughing his arse off or crying.

Sure, Wall St. has been greedy, but everybody else has shared in the greed-fest. Be honest: How many of you have racked up debt?

Now, we have:

Oh, I need my mortgage paid off, my gas tank filled, a new bathroom, a new job because I've been employed at McDonald's for 4 1/2 years ... I need. I want. I have to have. Isn't this GREED?

"GREED IS GOOD" (as long as one remembers that the love of money is based upon LOVE, not money).

Since I have read Atlas Shrugged several times, I am off to Alice in Wonderland.... or, maybe, Alice in Obama's Utopia. Oh, and I am joining the 97%, who pay their mortgages, so I can join the 3% that do not.
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Reply # 21
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 9:00 AM EST
Campaigning
Mr. Obama does not seem to realize that the campaing is over. I doubt the engines of Air Force One have had a chance to cool down! Every day, either Mr. Obama or his press secretary are on the TV with more of the same ol,same ol rhetoric. I think Mr. Obama is doing what he was selected to do---be a front man. He has not a clue on how to craft a legislative bill, much less govern this country; he's the mouth piece. I can't begin to imagine where all this is going. I do know this---you can't continually ask half of the country's population to support the other half. Soon, I will have no reason to work and pay taxes. The local, state and Federal governments will have taken what little I have, in taxes. My savings account is drawing a mere 2.25% interest, people in the neighborhood bought more house than they could afford and then drove away from it in their new "macked out" car, leaving their trash and pets behind. Maybe some of you, out there have the answer.
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Reply # 22
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 9:05 AM EST
Failure of Government
Well said ! --- I may be Rich but I am no longer anywhere near being rich --- retired in 1994--- Have seen almost 50% of my IRA disappear--- only worked at a blue collar job. Never made more than $60 K in a year that was comprised of 60 hour weeks--- My government has hurt us badly---- I saw how well government programs worked as a teen growing up on a farm---a neighbor paid for his farm through the Soil Bank Program, and never lifted a finger--- This is typical of know nothing government---- I am rapidly becoming Libertarian --- Government --- GET OUT OF MY LIFE ! What's that you say ? You get welfare in the form of Social Security and Medicare ? --- I PAID into S.S. my whole working life, as did my wife--- We never received or wanted any handouts --- Medicare is a blessing,and we still pay $600 per month for "complementary " health innsurance which pays little except toward critical care--I for one am sick of all of the handouts and pandering, bankrolling the criminal and stupid --- Go to work --- Get your hands dirty---Many in our childrens generation were led to believe that all they had to do was get a college education and they could wear a white shirt and tie and put their feet up on the desk--- We can't support a nation of administrators !
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Reply # 23
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 9:13 AM EST
FRIDAY THE 13TH HORROR BILL
By coincidence the Friday the 13th Horror Bill (1000 frightful pages setting horrific new levels of Federal spending) was signed into law by Obama at 1300 hours (1:23 PM) Denver time at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. If you translate the letters of this six word name into their numerical equivalents using the standard English numerological system: A-I=1-9; J-R=1-9; S-Z=1-8 it will have a total numeric value of 130, or 13 with the zero dropped.

To commemorate the bill's passage (called Jasonomics after the mad slasher) we need a picture of Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Suasn Collusion, Benedict Arlen and the rest of the Jasonomics lawmakers gathered around a huge carved up pig in fiendish celebration wearing hockey masks and brandishing large bloodstained carving knives in victory.

Click ApolloSpeaks and read the rest of this piece: Sign of the Destructive Sixties: the Friday the 13th Horror Bill and the Meaning of Ted Kennedy's Absence from the Vote



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Reply # 24
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 9:30 AM EST
OBUMA'S FIRST GREAT MISTAKE
The final House bill was a big, messy, chaotic piece of legislation. The Congressional Budget Office says only 25 percent of the money would even go out in the first year. Only 12 cents of every dollar could be called stimulus. What’s needed? Not pork, not payoffs, not political base-pleasing, group-greasing dollar outlays.

It is during recessions that the most grievous mistakes can be made by elected officials. Wrong actions can turn a recession into a depression, an economic scenario in which confidence is exhausted and citizens desperately do not know where to turn. Without a proper definition of economic problems, no reliable solution will be obtained.
The political implication for President Obama is devastating. In 2008, the public rejected business as usual. That rejection partly explains why he was elected. He should have stood back and concluded there must be consensus in defining the problem accurately, before establishing a knee-jerk solution that, like a grave sin, misses the mark.

All citizens want President Obama to succeed with the economy, but at this point we have a Humpy Dumpty example of “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men” bent on throwing huge sums at the problem in an expression of hope against hope. It is as though the Democrats believe that throwing money at the Titanic would have stopped it from sinking.

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Reply # 25
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 9:34 AM EST
A MESS OF PORK SPENDING
The final House bill was a big, messy, chaotic piece of legislation. What was needed? Not pork, not payoffs, not political base-pleasing, group-greasing dollar outlays.

It is during recessions that the most grievous mistakes can be made by elected officials. Without a proper definition of economic problems, no reliable solution will be obtained.

Obama should have stood back and concluded there must be consensus in defining the problem accurately, before establishing a knee-jerk solution that, like a grave sin, misses the mark.

At this point we have a Humpy Dumpty example of “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men” bent on throwing huge sums at the problem in an expression of hope against hope. It is as though the Democrats believe that throwing money at the Titanic would have stopped it from sinking.

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Reply # 26
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 9:41 AM EST
Wilted Lilly
lilly
Location: IL
Reply # 7
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 3:14 AM EST Some Resume
I see that the author of this article was Dan Quayle's Press Secretary, so that explains a lot.

"POTATO" IS SPELLED "POTATOE" IN MANY PLACES.

INSTEAD OF TYING GALEN TO QUAYLE, WHY DON'T YOU START WITH THE DUMMIES IN IL?

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro... (or get elected to Congress or become Lilly)." Hunter S. Thompson
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Reply # 27
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 10:16 AM EST
Obama, still a post turtle!
Doesn't know how he got there
Doesn't know what to do
Makes you wonder what the morons that put him up there were thinking!
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Reply # 28
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 11:36 AM EST
Nick in Austin

Nick in Austin
Location: TX
Reply # 1
Date: Feb 18, 2009 - 12:14 PM EST Lawyer Nation
The Lawyer Full Employment/Deployment Act for the Millenium. The so-called FEAD ME Act. Lawyer nation is now fully realized. Anyone can sue for anything. The race is on. Gentlemen, start your lawyers.

NICK, I AM A LAWYER OF 17 YEARS AND THINK THAT THE GOOBERRMINT HAS GONE MORE THAN NUTS!
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Reply # 29
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 1:38 PM EST
Ded
Ded says "that would have been a really good plan 8 years ago... but you didn't say anything then... did you???"

I've been screaming about the federal government's deficit spending on credit for so many years that I was published long before the internet was open to the general public. I don't care which party does it.

But Let me get this straight. It's been a constant mantra from you moron liberals that it was a bad thing when Bush spent billions on NCLB, prescription drugs, WAT, bailouts and pork. But now that Obama is doing the same thing, but MUCH MORE, it suddenly turns into wise fiscal policy.

You neolibs are idiots.
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Reply # 30
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 2:59 PM EST
Bob Bob Bob...
Your JC Superstar Ronnie Raygun more than tripled the national debt of all of the previous Presidents COMBINED!
And Shrub-2 eclipsed that...
so please don't go off preaching about excess spending...
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Reply # 31
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 3:54 PM EST
Oh Gosh,
so it is already Obama's economy. I beg to differ with you. It won't be Obama's economy
for years to come. Decades of having their own
way cannot be undone with the swipe of a
washcloth, no matter how appealing that might
be.
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Reply # 32
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 3:57 PM EST
Ded Ded Ded

You assume much and know little. Your figures are wrong, but in principle, you're correct.

If you bothered to comprehend my post, (I know that's difficult for you, but give it a try) you'd know that I'm no fan of the Republicans any more than the Democrats. But then, you had to do something to change the subject.

I ask you outright. Why is huge deficit spending bad when it's Republicans doing it, but just what the doctor ordered when it's Democrats?

Did you understand the question?

Are you intelligent enough to answer it?



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Reply # 33
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 4:01 PM EST
Tammy

Okay, so you agree then that the recession we experienced in 2001 and into 2002 was Clinton's economy.
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Reply # 34
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 4:20 PM EST
Come on-don't be stupid!
This is absolutely Obama's economy, along with Reid, Pelosi, and the like. THEY came up with this bill, THEY voted for it (with 3 RINOS-not real conservatives), and THEY will spend my hard earned money. (Bush didn't help, but he didn't come up with this PORK BILL-OBAMA DID!!!)

This is all you DEMOCRATS!! This will not work. This will put us into further debt. This will cripple us.

The march towards socialism has begun. THANK YOU DEMS!

We will take back our country and fix this mess in 4 years. Conservatives, pick up your pitch forks, and let's get to work.


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Reply # 35
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 4:34 PM EST
Bams Economy
I get the idea Bam is listening to Chavez or Castro on his economy package.Seems the steps he's taking is leading us right into disaster just
as Cuba and Venezeula have.

Hr 45 on guns,fairness doctrine on talk radio.It's for sure he doesn't have our freedom in mind,but to shut up those who oppose his new regime.

Right now he's bailing everybody out,but somewhere down this tunnel,there ain't no light at the other end.Think about it;you can't be throwing all this money around as loose change and expext this nation to roll on!

It's as if you are trying to max out all your credit cards at once,but in all reality,somebody IS going to pay for it.Yeah you! America what judge is going to discharge this debt!?
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Reply # 36
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 4:39 PM EST
ded
Ronnie Raygun kept us safe!You are still around!
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Reply # 37
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 5:13 PM EST
Our Economy NOT the Pretender's!
We need more early warning articles that will light the fires of dissent so politicians cannot get away with their usual thievery. With this so called “stimulus” plan, really massive spending bill of yet-to-be collected taxes, there should have been a demand for prudence and enough time to examine that gargantuan load of pork by politicians of every persuasion, the media, academia, and voters in general.

If only enough of the voting sheep out there had seen the pretender for what he is and what he stands for, the bozo would not have been elected…not that McLame elicited much excitement either. We desperately need a true blue conservative leader with a steel backbone that can steer the Nation on the path to sanity and prosperity.
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Reply # 38
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 6:22 PM EST
Hitler Gave Great Speeches, Too! I

A Dobson H.S. AP-gov. class with strong opinions about Obama watched the his speech Wed. on a small, grainy TV in the corner of their classroom.

Some attentively watched the speech, giving questioning looks and comments, shaking their heads and laughing at some of Obama's words.

O's gym events were shown simultaneously in rooms throughout the Mesa school. The students in the AP class were hopeful things will work out but questioned whether Obama's plan would actually work to dig the country out of its economic woes. They also expected a longer speech.

Sr. Daudfar took some notes during the speech and was among the most vocally opposed to Obama's words.

At one point, when he talked about the costs of his stimulus plan, Srs. Albach and Daudfar looked at each other and said, "uh-oh."

"Overall, I think it's a good idea, but he's not addressing the issues of the economic crisis," said Daudfar. "The spending bill he just passed is just progressing the Democratic agenda rather than addressing the economic issues in the country."

Daudfar thinks Obama's plan is backward and deals with the "less important stuff" first. "Bailing out businesses" and "providing better regulatory systems for giving out money to businesses" should have been first, he said.

"If businesses can't afford to hire people, then people won't be able to work and pay off their mortgages," he said. "It's kind of like putting money into20a funnel." Albach, who is also a Rep., said Obama's plan sounds good but questioned how Obama can want to rely on "people's responsibility" when that is "what got us in this economic crisis in the first place."

"This puts us more into debt," said Albach, 18. "It's a horrible situation we're in."

Sr. Miller wore a shirt with the words, "Hitler gave great speeches, too" above a picture of Obama.
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Reply # 39
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 6:23 PM EST
Hitler Gave Great Speeches, Too! II

Miller said he had been an Obama supporter "because of his speeches," but after debating the issues in this class and looking more into Obama's policies, his vote was swayed toward McCain.

He showed a video on his camera he had just taken of the president's minutelong motorcade . Miller had also spent a couple of hours in front of the school, hanging out and watching the protesters, which included at least one of his students.

"Even though I don't support him, I think it's cool he's here," said Miller, 18. "I just don't believe all the things he's telling us. His goal is just too big and broad."

Miller wanted to hear more about the costs and guidelines the stimulus bill entails.

Sr. Katelyn Meyer, who also leans more toward being a Republican, said Obama's plan sounds good, "but it's easier said than done."

The students also questioned why Obama chose their school for his speech since he wasn't talking about education and wondered how much money the district spent on beautifying the campus while district positions and services are being cut.

New sod was laid in front of the school Tuesday for O's visit, and Daudfar said, "The joke at the school is they're going to take it away when he (Obama) leaves."

AP government teacher Jeff Sherrer said his students "feel very strongly about the issues, maybe more than the general population." He thought at least one of his students was outside protesting, and he had planned to take his students outside as a class project to show them what was going on but didn't get the chance.

"These kinds of kids really get into it," Sherrer said. "During the election we had lots of debates on the issues."
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Reply # 40
Date: Feb 19, 2009 - 8:07 PM EST
Why is anybody surprised
that the stock market tanks after Obama takes office? Capitalism is dying before our eyes thanks to the Pelosi/Obama gang and even Newsweek lauds the coming of Socialism. Who in his right mind wants to be in the market now? It's going to continue to drop, even faster as the great unwashed figure out that this hoax of a stimulus is going to ruin this economy for decades to come. All I can say is, we voted these people in and, by God, we get what we deserve.
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