8 Truths -- and the Consequences -- In Obama's First Year

[U.S. Army Retired]

This has been a year of nothing but TOTAL incompetence. I don't think even Carters Presidency was like this in his first year. The Fox new report is right on the money in dissecting Obama. I think he has run his course and really is detached from the American Public. It feels like he is causing a rebellion as we speak by the looks of what is going on in Massachusetts.



FOXNews.com - 8 Truths -- and the Consequences -- In Obama's First Year


Obama -- the candidate -- has reached the end of the political line. He, and the advisers around him, have never grasped the fact that the campaign is over and the time to govern has arrived.

It has been almost a year since President Obama was sworn in as our nation’s fourty-fourth president.

The hype over the “Obama brand” and the promise for “change” was deafening from Obama supporters and much of the media leading up to and after the inauguration.

Now, after a year in office it is fair to take a look back at the president’s record and match truth to consequence.

Moderator's Warning:

Edited for fair use

 

[Scarecrow Akhbar]

You do know the fascists and other Messiah Worshippers are going to boycott this thread, don't you?

But thanks, anyway.

 

[ScottD]

Truth: One of Obama’s first acts as president was to sign an Executive Order on January 22, 2009 ordering the closing of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Prison as a U.S. detention
facility. In his remarks on that day, the president promised that Guantanamo would be closed within his first year in office.

Consequence: Guantanamo is still open and the administration has found it difficult to come up with a viable alternative to the facility or what to do with the detainees they now seek to detain or release.

Because Republicans have been using scare tactics to make it sound like the President would be releasing the terrorists in the public. I mean the stupidity of the opposition on this front is baffling, the cries against closing gitmo just make no sense whatsoever.

The Economy

Truth: The president’s first major piece of legislation was the now infamous $787 billion dollar “Stimulus” bill passed by the Senate in February 2009. This was the bill that admittedly most legislators did not read before voting on it – the one with no transparency. Passage of the bill was demanded by the president, who said that time was of the essence to save jobs. The president promised that the bill would prevent the nation’s unemployment rate from rising above eight percent.

Consequence: Most of the stimulus money remains unspent. Unemployment has topped 10% nationally since the stimulus bill was passed and in many urban areas tops 16% and is rising.

The Stimulus money was planned to be spent over two years. Plus the unemployment could have been worse if there had been no action. I admit that it was stupid for the President to give a solid number, but he did keep it from getting way out of hand.

Foreign Policy:

Truth: The president promised that with his unique persona and his “new style” of governing that he could unilaterally convince all those who don’t like us, to like us. He convinced his believers that all he needed to do is “change the tone” and dictators in countries like Iran and North Korea would abandon their nuclear weapons programs and that terrorists would stand down. The president promised a new era of global cooperation on “global warming” and predicted he could bring historic global agreement.

Consequence: The world is a much more dangerous place since Obama took office. Iran has escalated their nuclear weapons program and North Korea has not abandoned theirs. No headway has been made in the Middle East peace process. Talks broke down on “global warming” in Copenhagen in December and no concrete agreement was delivered as promised by the president. As a consequence no progress was made domestically on passage of cap-and-trade legislation.

I guess the Dooms Day Clock being turned back a minute means nothing.

War on Terror:

Truth: Immediately after taking office and in the months following the inauguration the Obama administration actively made a point of removing the words “terrorism” and the “War on Terror” from their public speech. Instead they choose to call acts of terrorism – “man-caused disasters.” The president went on what I can only describe as an “apology tour” which he kicked with the first sit-down interview of his presidency on Al Arabia television in which he pandered and apologized for past American aggressiveness.

Consequence: The foiled Christmas Day terrorist attack on a Northwest Airlines flight over Michigan forced the president, albeit several days later, to acknowledge the obvious -- there is indeed a “War on Terror.” And it does not matter who our president is -- radical Islamists seek to destroy America, today, tomorrow, next year or even a decade from now.

The President has acknowledged a war on terrorism since day 1. He said we are at war in his inaugural speech.

Transparency:

Truth: President Obama promised that a hallmark of his administration would be transparency. This is some of what he promised:
“We’ll have [healthcare reform] negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so the people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents and who is making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies.”

Consequence: To date there have been NO televised negotiations on health care, the “stimulus bill,” cap-and-trade or any other major piece of legislation being advanced by the Obama administration and the Democratically-controlled Congress.

I'll give you that one.

Immigration:

Truth: President Obama promised to make immigration reform a top priority in his first year.
Consequence: President Obama has done nothing on immigration reform in his first year, other than traveling in August to Mexico where he announced he will take no action on comprehensive immigration reform until 2010.

Obama has had more on his plate than he has predicted, don't expect him to get to it right away.

Health Care:

Truth: President Obama demanded health care be passed before the August 2009 Congressional recess and said that he would not sign a health care reform bill without a “public option.”

Consequence: Health care legislation was NOT passed in August and it still has not been passed. It is clear that the public does not want a “public option” and now the president has abandoned that requirement. Democrats -- NOT Republicans -- have been the one and only reason that a health care bill has not passed and thus not signed by their party’s president.

Bull****. It is the Republicans who have stonewalled this, bitched about it, and have just used the sickest of tactics against the healthcare bill, and suddenly they had no part in it not passing.

Our National Debt:

Truth: During the 2008 campaign then-candidate Obama was highly critical of the national debt. He vowed to “take a scalpel” to the national budget and to make it a top priority to reduce the nation’s debt.

Consequence: The president has already quadrupled the nation’s deficit thanks to his failed “stimulus bill.” This year the deficit has increased by almost $1.8 trillion dollars and is likely to increase by a trillion dollars a year for the next ten years.

Again, bull****.


This whole article just breaths Faux News bull.

 

[Ikari]

You do know the fascists and other Messiah Worshippers are going to boycott this thread, don't you?

But thanks, anyway.

While I do think that Obama is pretty much a sham of a President (I called it before the election, I said it will be Chicago politics), I'm not sure we'd have been better off with the alternative. IMO, they were both crappy candidates and we didn't even get to entertain the notion of responsible, small government candidates from the election. We got Obama...maybe slightly better (if that) than McCain, but we'd be in the same boat regardless. Till we get it through our skulls that elections are important to the survival of the Republic and actually start demanding accountability and participation in the system; we're gonna get the same ol' bottom of the barrel candidates. And when it seems like we've hit rock bottom...someone will bust out a spade.

 

[ScottD]

You do know the fascists and other Messiah Worshippers are going to boycott this thread, don't you?

But thanks, anyway.

Naw, Sarah Palin supporters won't boycott this thread just yet.

 

[Winnb]

There's no truth in any of that nonsense. It's an opinion piece from an Anti-Obama writer. Big deal.

Bradley A. Blakeman served as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04. He is currently a professor of Politics and Public Policy at Georgetown University and a frequent contributor to the Fox Forum.

To the OP - Do you ever get your news (which that piece doesn't qualify as) from sources that don't agree with you?

 

[The Mark]

I guess the Dooms Day Clock being turned back a minute means nothing.

Your guess is nearly correct.

 

[Ikari]

I guess the Dooms Day Clock being turned back a minute means nothing.

All that means is that someone is messing around with my doomsday devices! Jerks, I'll find you yet!

But the doomsday clock thing is a bunch of hogwash and tomfoolery.

 

[Scarecrow Akhbar]

Because Republicans have been using scare tactics to make it sound like the President would be releasing the terrorists in the public. I mean the stupidity of the opposition on this front is baffling, the cries against closing gitmo just make no sense whatsoever.

Hmm....what do you call it when he sends Yemeni prisoners to Yemen who are then released to run about killing more people.

I call that "released to the public".

The Stimulus money was planned to be spent over two years.

The Stimulus Plan was a scam and no one believed it would do anything. If someone was foolish enough to believe this, they should be locked away from any polling place for our own good.

That Plan's only purpose was "payback".

Plus the unemployment could have been worse if there had been no action.

Not really. According to the Messiah's own figures promoting the Plan, unemployment would peak at 8% if the plan wasn't passed, much less if it was passed.

The Plan passed, the unemployment rate is officially almost 11%, and no one would say that it's "peaked".

I admit that it was stupid for the President to give a solid number, but he did keep it from getting way out of hand.

Well, just hang onto that phrase "stupid for the President", I expect you'll be getting a lot of use out of that one.

I lived through Carter, I know the symptoms.

I guess the Dooms Day Clock being turned back a minute means nothing.

Nope, doesn't mean a damn thing what socialist Messiah Worshipping scientists feel about things.

No sane person ever took those clowns seriously.

The President has acknowledged a war on terrorism since day 1. He said we are at war in his inaugural speech.

That was before his crew decided to call it "outside disturbances" or whatever their doublespeak phrase was. I'm immune to doublespeak so you people's terminology doesn't stick to me.

Obama has had more on his plate than he has predicted, don't expect him to get to it right away.

Hint:

He's not going to "get it".

Ever.

He's one of the Clueless People the rest of us like to call "socialists". They NEVER get "it". He's going to keep doing the wrong damn thing his whole single term in office.

Bull****. It is the Republicans who have stonewalled this, bitched about it, and have just used the sickest of tactics against the healthcare bill, and suddenly they had no part in it not passing.

Hint: (just in case it was too confusing for you) The Democrats have a 78 seat majority in the House, 256 seats total.

To pass a bill out of the House the Democrats need 218 votes.

Perhaps in school you learned that 256<218. Well, I'm sorry to inform you that it's not true. The Democrats have all the seats they need to pass ANYTHING.

They can even pass a bill out saying that 218 > 256 if they want to.

In the Senate, the rules are such that 60 votes are needed to close debate and pass bills.

Did you know that the Democrats control 60 seats in the Senate?

Did they teach you at scholl that 60 does not equal sixty?

Well, 60 = 60, and the Democrats can pass any bill out of the Senate they want to, until, hopefully, Brown wins tomorrow's election.:lol:

But for right now, for some reason, the Democrats can't pass a health care bill.

Why is that, really? It must be only because, well, and I'm enjoying he hell out of telling you, it must be that DEMOCRATS won't vote for it.

What a shocker. Something smells so bad and not even Democrats want it.

 

[Scarecrow Akhbar]

While I do think that Obama is pretty much a sham of a President (I called it before the election, I said it will be Chicago politics), I'm not sure we'd have been better off with the alternative. IMO, they were both crappy candidates and we didn't even get to entertain the notion of responsible, small government candidates from the election. We got Obama...maybe slightly better (if that) than McCain, but we'd be in the same boat regardless. Till we get it through our skulls that elections are important to the survival of the Republic and actually start demanding accountability and participation in the system; we're gonna get the same ol' bottom of the barrel candidates. And when it seems like we've hit rock bottom...someone will bust out a spade.

They were certainly crappy candidates, I don't think I've ever had a worse choice, and then the LP nominates Bob Barr, Republican to lead their ticket. So in the end I voted for McCain just in case the god that doesn't exist passed a miracle and put him only one vote away from winning California.

That didn't happen. My certainty in the non-existence of God was confirmed again, and the nation is now riding the teflon sewer pipe to the waste treatment plant.

Considering that in 2012 the option will be Hillary the Red Queen if it isn't Obama versus probably Mitt Romney if someone else doesn't show up quick to show what a real American could do, yeah, we're in for some disappointing times in the foreseeable future.

 

[Redress]

Please read the rules clearly posted at the top of this forum for BN rules.

 

[Boo Radley]

Noted from the link:

Opinion

FOXNews.com - 8 Truths -- and the Consequences -- In Obama's First Year

Would it surprise that I hold a different opinion on a few of these?

 

[Objective Voice]

I think Pres. Obama has done a good job for his first year in office. I'd loved to have seen what he could have done without all the controveries, i.e., the economy, unemployment, cleaning up one war while trying to fix another to ensure victory (if one can ever have victory against global terrorism). This country is a mess, but the path was laid long before Obama took office. It's unfortunate that people with opposing views on his presidency (over his first year in office) won't acknowledge this and instead try to blame him for everything that has gone wrong. Of course, he's the President and as most will say, "the buck stops here with me".

I don't think Obama's foreign policy agenda has been bad. In fact, I think he did more positive things than negative. What some would call "apologizing", I call "starting a new path to dialog". It's funny how suddenly this failed Christmas Day terror attempt is being taughted as a "blunder" by the Obama Administration. No one said that when the Shoe Bomber was caught by passengers and not security personnel. Okay, so in that respect - that it took actions by vigilant passengers and not security details - this was a blunder. But the guy was stopped! It was a failed attempt - one part the terrorist and his shabby equipment, the other vigilant passengers. So, while I don't give our government any credit for thwarting this terrorist attempt, I will say that you can't claim the Obama Administration's national security policies or his forgien policies any more or less than you could former Pres. Bush (43). We've yet to have another terrorist attact on U.S. soil since 9/11 thanks in large part to our national security agencies. Yes, they dropped the ball on this one episode mad, but Obama's domestic terrorism score card is no worse than Bush's: 1 and 1.

As for Iran and N. Korea and their nukes, here again G. W. Bush was no more successful at getting either country to stop their nuclear weapons programs. Frankly, I question what exactly is this nation to do about any nation that wants to explore nuclear technology themselves. No, I'm not for it, but I've often wondered why this nation, if not the world, seems to think it's our responsiblity to halt nuclear weapons proliforation. IMO, that's a U.N. problem, not a USA problem...except when acquiring such weaponry violates our national security policy and said country uses same against us. So far, none have (counting my blessing here and knocking on wood).

On the health care front, the Republican party has done more to thwart efforts here while also doing little to improve health care in this nation. They talk out of the side of their necks; on the one hand they admit it's a big problem, but on the other hand they do very little to bring about change. I'm for putting forth the best health care legistlation possible, too, but you don't get there by demanding every consession imaginable while offering little to nothing to improve things. Clearly, the Republican party has stonewalled on this issue from day one. It hasn't been about providing better health care to the people; it's been about creating mass confusion, descention and chaos just so they can reclaim Senate/House seats. Now, granted even some Democrats have begun to backpeddle on health care reform, but I'll give them credit where it's due; atleast when push came to shove they worked out a compromise and got something out of both bodies of Congress so that the issue can finally begin to move forward. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks ahead.

And last, on the ARRA bill...even I knew this was a 2-year deal with more "incentives" thrown at state and federal government programs than to the commercial sector, but folks, you have to realize that at the time of it's passage our nation's economy truly could not fix itself. The only entities that could help keep our economy afloat at the time were state and federal government agencies. Many people who benefited from acquiring a state or federal job once the ARRA was passed with tell you they were grateful for it. Many people who were able to stay in their homes will tell you they were grateful to have a roof over their heads. Was it the best plan? No. But for what small measure came of it (and may still come of it in the near future) were good things. I, too, wish it did alot more than what can be measured today, but under the circumstances, I think it was the right thing to do. I just would have done it differently, i.e., cut out alot of the red tape and not put so much emphasis on the numbers game (i.e., jobs created or saved...how do you count that stuff anyway?).

 

[Io0011]

I think the problem isn't with Obama. He (in my opinion) sees his job as being elected for 2 terms and live up to worth notions of equality, peace and civil liberties. Restoring "dignity" to the presidency was also something I have heard, I am on the fence about that.

He does not see his job as fixing all of our nations problems. He is going to pick a few, make some changes, then package it as change. Then he can step down, handing off his legacy of changes to a hand picked successor.

I don't see this as a system that will work well in the long run. Roam was once terrified of having a king. They put very careful road blocks to make sure no one person ever had too much power. Big issues that came about (at the start of the republic) were solved by courageous men who where given total power. They used that power limitedly. Solved the big problem, then gave the power back.

The system worked well, so why not make it better. "Dictator for life!" cried the masses supporting Cesar. "Fix all our problems, just like you did the Gauls."

I am not saying Obama should be our new king, or that he will be stabbed to death in the senate house, I am just saying history tends to repeat it self. Our American history is not all that deferent from other empires doomed to fail. Don't be surprised if some day there is a new great leader, with all the evil shadowy powers propping the leader up from behind out of self interest.

 

[jujuman13]

While I do think that Obama is pretty much a sham of a President (I called it before the election, I said it will be Chicago politics), I'm not sure we'd have been better off with the alternative. IMO, they were both crappy candidates and we didn't even get to entertain the notion of responsible, small government candidates from the election. We got Obama...maybe slightly better (if that) than McCain, but we'd be in the same boat regardless. Till we get it through our skulls that elections are important to the survival of the Republic and actually start demanding accountability and participation in the system; we're gonna get the same ol' bottom of the barrel candidates. And when it seems like we've hit rock bottom...someone will bust out a spade.

An excellent post and you also hit the nail firmly on the head.

 

[Crunch]

While I do think that Obama is pretty much a sham of a President (I called it before the election, I said it will be Chicago politics), I'm not sure we'd have been better off with the alternative. IMO, they were both crappy candidates and we didn't even get to entertain the notion of responsible, small government candidates from the election. We got Obama...maybe slightly better (if that) than McCain, but we'd be in the same boat regardless. Till we get it through our skulls that elections are important to the survival of the Republic and actually start demanding accountability and participation in the system; we're gonna get the same ol' bottom of the barrel candidates. And when it seems like we've hit rock bottom...someone will bust out a spade.

I'm going to leave that one alone.

 

[hazlnut]

You do know the fascists and other Messiah Worshippers are going to boycott this thread, don't you?

But thanks, anyway.

Neo-nazi skinheads and Christian fundamentalists?

I didn't know we had that many at DP...