So tell me again, why was Obama so bad?

[Starbuck1975]

You seem to have very little knowledge of how the US government functions.

That and either have not read half the posts just in this thread, or some form of comprehension issue.

I skip the posts that either claim Obama to be the worst monster in history or fall back on the Bush/Republican obstructionist excuse, so yes that would exclude about half the posts.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

I skip the posts that either claim Obama to be the worst monster in history or fall back on the Bush/Republican obstructionist excuse, so yes that would exclude about half the posts.

wait, are you actually saying obama did not encounter obstructionists during his presidency?

 

[MongGrel]

wait, are you actually saying obama did not encounter obstructionists during his presidency?

He seems to have been in several threads, I don't know what planet he has been living on the last 8 years or so.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Well I'm asking, not assuming. It would be pretty bold to make a claim like that with all the evidence to the contrary,

 

[MongGrel]

Well I'm asking, not assuming. It would be pretty bold to make a claim like that with all the evidence to the contrary,

I'm not going to put words in his mouth, but all his posts lately run along those lines.

Walks, quacks, etc.

 

[Jhhnn]

I skip the posts that either claim Obama to be the worst monster in history or fall back on the Bush/Republican obstructionist excuse, so yes that would exclude about half the posts.

Republican obstructionism isn't an excuse but an oft referenced reality. It's so bad that Boehner was forced to resign as a way to break it & avoid another govt shut down.

Their attitude has been that if they can't run the govt that they'll be damned if they'll let Obama do a decent job of it without a fight.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

I'm not going to put words in his mouth, but all his posts lately run along those lines.

Well, here's a chance to clear the air. Own up to that statement. obstructionism didn't happen and it's only used as an excuse for things obama could not accomplish. Is that what you're saying starbuck?

 

[ivwshane]

Republican obstructionism? Lol! Please! Like any of you have any such evidence. I mean its not like you have the majority leader filibustering his own bill for political reasons. What's next? Are you going to tell me repubs blocked court appointments including blocking a nominee who they held in high regard and gave their unanimous consent previously. And even if you guys could show all that, I doubt you could come up with any other examples.

What a bubble you guys live in!


/s

 

[Starbuck1975]

wait, are you actually saying obama did not encounter obstructionists during his presidency?

No, what I am saying is that Obama failed to pivot from the promise of hope and change, allowed the Republicans to drive the narrative and set the stage for midterm gains that enboldened the Republicans to go full obstructionist.

I actually find Republican obstructionism appalling and it is why I stopped voting for them, but I find few Democrats willing to accept or admit that Obama squandered his mandate.

 

[IronWing]

I agree with Starbuck's assessment of Obama's lack of leadership in 2009-10. Obama asked Congress for a healthcare bill and then then stood on the sidelines as the effort went into the dumpster. Obama failed to rally the Dems and failed to maintain the discipline his party needed to get their agenda through.

I give Obama credit for dealing with the financial crisis, but Starbuck is again correct in that the ARRA was too much a tax cut plan and not enough of a stimulus plan. The scheme did an excellent job of demonstrating that you can't tax cut your way out of a financial crisis.

 

[nickqt]

No, what I am saying is that Obama failed to pivot from the promise of hope and change, allowed the Republicans to drive the narrative and set the stage for midterm gains that enboldened the Republicans to go full obstructionist.

I actually find Republican obstructionism appalling and it is why I stopped voting for them, but I find few Democrats willing to accept or admit that Obama squandered his mandate.

The Democratic party had 60 votes in the Senate for about 70 days during the past 7.5 years.

#BothSidesDoIt™

 

[Jhhnn]

I agree with Starbuck's assessment of Obama's lack of leadership in 2009-10. Obama asked Congress for a healthcare bill and then then stood on the sidelines as the effort went into the dumpster. Obama failed to rally the Dems and failed to maintain the discipline his party needed to get their agenda through.

I give Obama credit for dealing with the financial crisis, but Starbuck is again correct in that the ARRA was too much a tax cut plan and not enough of a stimulus plan. The scheme did an excellent job of demonstrating that you can't tax cut your way out of a financial crisis.

Please. Dems attempted to get Repubs onboard with the tax cut provisions- they wanted even more of that & less of everything else- even though Repubs ultimately voted en masse against it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_of_2009#Legislative_history

The party of No expanded their efforts from there & became highly successful when Brown replaced Kennedy gaining them filibuster power in the Senate.

The Kenyan usurper wasn't getting anything without a fight.

 

[Starbuck1975]

The Democratic party had 60 votes in the Senate for about 70 days during the past 7.5 years.

#BothSidesDoIt™

Given the utter failure of the Bush Administration, and the excitement around Obama's candidacy, they could have and should have had so many more.

 

[JSt0rm]

republicans wanted to punish all of us for electing obama. I've seen them use the "elections have consequences" line in reference to why everything is getting stopped and the gov almost shuts down. Basically holding us hostage.

 

[MongGrel]

No, what I am saying is that Obama failed to pivot from the promise of hope and change, allowed the Republicans to drive the narrative and set the stage for midterm gains that enboldened the Republicans to go full obstructionist.

I actually find Republican obstructionism appalling and it is why I stopped voting for them, but I find few Democrats willing to accept or admit that Obama squandered his mandate.

hmm.

I'll just put it down as Starbuck seems a bit confused on how government works to begin with, I'm not going to be abusive.

Republicans were obtrusive from the day Obama took office, Dubya was the one that had a mandate and screwed the pooch.

 

[Starbuck1975]

hmm.

I'll just put it down as Starbuck seems a bit confused on how government works to begin with, I'm not going to be abusive.

Republicans were obtrusive from the day Obama took office, Dubya was the one that had a mandate and screwed the pooch.

LOL, the mandate where he lost the popular vote and needed the Supreme Court to hand him the Presidency?

Bush briefly had a mandate and that was only because Americans expected a response to 9/11 and people mistook his Texas frat boy charm for leadership.

 

[MongGrel]

LOL, the mandate where he lost the popular vote and needed the Supreme Court to hand him the Presidency?

Bush briefly had a mandate and that was only because Americans expected a response to 9/11 and people mistook his Texas frat boy charm for leadership.

All of the above.

And he was re-elected.

Never figured that one out either, personally. Trust me, I live in hanging chad land. And have met Jeb, might have even voted for him except for the Trump mess.

I would have rather had Jeb in place of Dubya any day, but he seems pretty aligned with the same backers of course.

 

[nickqt]

LOL, the mandate where he lost the popular vote and needed the Supreme Court to hand him the Presidency?

Bush briefly had a mandate and that was only because Americans expected a response to 9/11 and people mistook his Texas frat boy charm for leadership.

Massachusettes frat boy charm.

W. didn't start clearing brush from his "ranch" until the year before the election, and he sold the "ranch" right after leaving office. It was a movie prop.

 

[MongGrel]

Massachusettes frat boy charm.

W. didn't start clearing brush from his "ranch" until the year before the election, and he sold the "ranch" right after leaving office. It was a movie prop.

Hey, he was a "Top Gun" type fighter pilot in the National Guard while dodging active service in a war zone, give the guy a break 🙂

I think he officially went AWOL several times then, but it was glossed over.

"In applying for pilot training, Bush took a standardized test on which he had a low score, in the 25th percentile. In addition, Bush had two arrests for college pranks and four traffic offenses before applying for pilot training. In 2004, former and current military pilots said it was uncommon for an applicant to be accepted into pilot school with such a record, though there was no specific score that disqualified a candidate.[13]"

 

[Starbuck1975]

Massachusettes frat boy charm.

W. didn't start clearing brush from his "ranch" until the year before the election, and he sold the "ranch" right after leaving office. It was a movie prop.

I guess if we really want to get technical, it was CT frat boy charm. Didn't W go to Yale?

 

[MongGrel]

I guess if we really want to get technical, it was CT frat boy charm. Didn't W go to Yale?

He was in Skull and Bones, not that is relevant after the fact.

It's a little late to worry about those details. Kerry was also I believe and he Swift Boated him.

Was one conservative basically stabbing another frat brother in the back I suppose.

 

[bradly1101]

All of the above.

And he was re-elected.

Never figured that one out either, personally. Trust me, I live in hanging chad land. And have met Jeb, might have even voted for him except for the Trump mess.

I would have rather had Jeb in place of Dubya any day, but he seems pretty aligned with the same backers of course.

I saw a study once that showed that a significant percentage of the electorate will vote incumbent during a war.

 

[Jhhnn]

Given the utter failure of the Bush Administration, and the excitement around Obama's candidacy, they could have and should have had so many more.

Just a different way to bad mouth Democrats, huh? If it could have been more it would have been more.

 

[MongGrel]

I saw a study once that showed that a significant percentage of the electorate will vote incumbent during a war.

I'm still surprised he pulled that off, but it is typical.

 

[trenchfoot]

Agreed, and I believe his failure was more in leading his own party than keeping the Republicans in check. In the opening months of the Obama administration, Democrats were bouncing off the walls like kids at a serve yourself frozen yogurt store. The lack of prioritizarion, vision and leadership is what cost them the midterms, snd here we are.

The lack of prioritization, vision and leadership as you describe may be an apparent symptom of the party, but IMO, not the cause. I feel the cause of such symptoms have more to do with the typical Dem legislator's habit of being more individualistic, more reflective and, dare I say, more attached to the needs of their constituency, especially when compared with the Repub's legislators more like-minded and "orderly" approach toward accomplishing their national agenda?

If I recall, once upon a time before the severe in-fighting occurred when the Tea Party mounted their hostile takeover of the Party proper, the term lock-step was exclusively reserved for describing the GOP. As the Party's problems mounted with the ever tightening grip that the Tea Party exerted over it (remember how costly it was for the Party proper when the "insurrectionist Tea Party faction" forced a partial shutdown of gov't services?) Remember Boehner having to resign because he could not control the hardliner Tea Party caucus that wanted to burn everything to the ground so they could reshape the nation in their image?

Well, it seems to me the one single remnant of that internal struggle, and also the glue that's keeping the party from completely falling apart is the abject obstructionist policy the Repub Party came up with "to force Obama to be a one term president". Sure, that policy failed miserably in that it not only failed to keep Obama from being re-elected, but it also failed from totally obstructing Obama's many accomplishments during his two terms.

Yet, true to form, the Repubs are in lock-step in this regard.