And now it's in the Senate

[grantt]

The bill, as it is, will fail, and it will be due to too many paybacks included in the package. Pelosi is a damn fool to think that mainstream america will stand for all this with people losing their jobs every day. How did this bitch get to be so powerful? She does not represent the party that elected Obama. Obama, except for his appointment troubles, is trying to soothe an angry nation, despite the efforts of that bitch in the House.

 

[Kulindahr]

The bill, as it is, will fail, and it will be due to too many paybacks included in the package. Pelosi is a damn fool to think that mainstream america will stand for all this with people losing their jobs every day. How did this bitch get to be so powerful? She does not represent the party that elected Obama. Obama, except for his appointment troubles, is trying to soothe an angry nation, despite the efforts of that bitch in the House.

Pelosi is being a shyster lawyer: on CNN, she promises "no earmarks", in a way that makes people think "no pork"...

and there's never been more pork in a single bill in history.

 

[NickCole]

The bill, as it is, will fail, and it will be due to too many paybacks included in the package. Pelosi is a damn fool to think that mainstream america will stand for all this with people losing their jobs every day. How did this bitch get to be so powerful? She does not represent the party that elected Obama. Obama, except for his appointment troubles, is trying to soothe an angry nation, despite the efforts of that bitch in the House.

Obama's the President.

He's popular and won by a healthy majority, he's a Democrat and Pelosi's a Democrat.

If there's anything in the economic stimulus bill that he doesn't approve of, and he doesn't force her to remove it, he's a pussy and an utter failure at what he was elected to do.

This is on Barack Obama's shoulders. He asked Americans to place it on his shoulders and now it's his responsibility.

The United States does not need to be "soothed," we need a comprehensive focused economic stimulus bill. And Barack Obama is not delivering it.

 

[NickCole]

It's worse than we thought.

Almost 600,000 jobs were lost last month and unemployment rose to 7.6%.

The biggest monthly job loss in the past year.

2.6 million people have now been out of work for more than 6 months.

“Businesses are panicked and fighting for survival and slashing their payrolls,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “I think we’re trapped in a very adverse, self-reinforcing cycle. The downturn is intensifying, and likely to intensify further unless policy makers respond aggressively.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/business/economy/07jobs.html?_r=1&hp

The only weapon we have left is government. And we can't use the usual Fed interest rate standby because that's already at zero.

It's up to Obama and the Democratic controlled Congress.

And because of the magnitude of the crisis and the size of legislation needed to address it effectively, they get one good shot at it. That's right now.

I hope all you Obama supporters and cheerleaders for Democratic control of the WH and both Houses of Congress were right.

 

[naked gent]

Obama's the President.

He's popular and won by a healthy majority, he's a Democrat and Pelosi's a Democrat.

If there's anything in the economic stimulus bill that he doesn't approve of, and he doesn't force her to remove it, he's a pussy and an utter failure at what he was elected to do.

Here I mostly agree with you Nick. Obama made a huge mistake allowing the House to write the bill as opposed to submitting his own.

Now instead of him leading congress its the dems in congress leading him.

I'm surprised in all your criticism of Obama being unprincipled ect you have yet to mention the one thing which seeems to apply here and thats his lack of experience.

It looks like he's getting lead by the nose instead of telling Ms. Pelosi who is the one calling the shots. It would appear he'd have the public behind him and he would be putting her in the position of going against the leader of her party.

Right now he's looking a little green.

 

[grantt]

Obama's the President.

He's popular and won by a healthy majority, he's a Democrat and Pelosi's a Democrat.

If there's anything in the economic stimulus bill that he doesn't approve of, and he doesn't force her to remove it, he's a pussy and an utter failure at what he was elected to do.

This is on Barack Obama's shoulders. He asked Americans to place it on his shoulders and now it's his responsibility.

The United States does not need to be "soothed," we need a comprehensive focused economic stimulus bill. And Barack Obama is not delivering it.

I buy what you are saying NICKCOLE. I just have a major hate for Pelosi.

You are right, it is Obama's job to clear out the fat in this bill. I do believe that an urgency to do something is paramount, and he appears to be strong on acting soon, very soon. He also knows that Congress knows how to drag on, so we'll see if he cracks the whip to success.

His popularity is dropping by most polls and his success on election day was measured by the economic downfall. That glided him into the White House as no onther issue could/would have.

 

[justapixel]

President Obama's economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.

CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing.

The CBO is saying that Obama's economic recovery package will damage the economy in the long run.

Big surprise there. As I said all along: Do Nothing. Let the companies fail.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/04/cbo-obama-stimulus-harmful-over-long-haul/

 

[NickCole]

Here I mostly agree with you Nick. Obama made a huge mistake allowing the House to write the bill as opposed to submitting his own.

Yes.

But of course the problem is he doesn't have a plan of his own. He never has had. The only good plans he had during the campaign were copy and pasted from someone else.

Can't be his intelligence, we know he's intelligent. Can't be his education, we know he's well educated. Can't be lack of access to the best economic minds in the nation. So what is it?

Now instead of him leading congress its the dems in congress leading him.

I'm surprised in all your criticism of Obama being unprincipled ect you have yet to mention the one thing which seeems to apply here and thats his lack of experience.

That's the one thing that seems to apply here??

Um, no.

It's true his inexperience is showing, but that's not the problem.

The problem is he's an unprincipled man who doesn't genuinely care about any of this stuff. He cares deeply about his own narcissistic ambition, that people like him and pay attention to him respectfully. And that's it. If this intelligent well educated man with access to virtually any resource he wants on the planet CARED about the economic crisis, he could come up with a plan to effectively address it. But he doesn't, and so he's letting members of Congress fight over the crayons while they draw up a cockamamie disjointed plan that'll plunge us into catastrophic debt and be nothing more than a temporary salvo.

You just don't get who Barack Obama is. Inexperience is only what makes it look unpolished, but it's not the problem here.

It looks like he's getting lead by the nose instead of telling Ms. Pelosi who is the one calling the shots.

That's exactly what's happening.

Because that's what he wants.

It would appear he'd have the public behind him and he would be putting her in the position of going against the leader of her party.

He has the public behind him in a major way.

He could push through a strong cohesive economic stimulus plan, no problem. But he doesn't have a plan and he doesn't have what it takes to lead -- all he knows how to do is copy others and read teleprompter speeches of empty platitudes written by others. I pointed out all of this during the primaries; the information was there. He's behaving exactly as I said he would.

 

[naked gent]

The problem is he's an unprincipled man who doesn't genuinely care about any of this stuff. He cares deeply about his own narcissistic ambition, that people like him and pay attention to him respectfully. And that's it. If this intelligent well educated man with access to virtually any resource he wants on the planet CARED about the economic crisis, he could come up with a plan to effectively address it. But he doesn't, and so he's letting members of Congress fight over the crayons while they draw up a cockamamie disjointed plan that'll plunge us into catastrophic debt and be nothing more than a temporary salvo.

You just don't get who Barack Obama is.

^ A lot of words reminiscent of Rush Limbaugh going after Bill Clinton. He liked to pretend he knew who Bill Clinton was too. No facts, just bloviation, overinflated (and unsupported) ego, spin and fallacies. Why is it you have to practice Rovian politics? Is it that impossible to disagree on something without being petty and personal and trying to turn people into comic book villains?

And he has that person you felt should've been president, and surrounded by people from her husband's time in office, as CNanPB (or whatever) kept harping about, as if it was a negative. You put those guys on a pedestal about the economic successes in the 90s. Amazing how quick you throw them under the bus... even if you are disingenuous enough not to make mention to them on your constant attack on Obama.

You're right IC. Maybe Nick can't tell the difference between his opinions and analysis but others can without too much difficulty.

I worry a little about Nick....obsession is not a healthy thing.

 

[NickCole]

Maybe Nick can't tell the difference between his opinions and analysis but others can without too much difficulty.

I worry a little about Nick....obsession is not a healthy thing.

No matter how petty you and the other ankle biters here are, bottom line, I've been right about Obama and those who denigrate my analysis have not.

He's messing up. Big time. The way I said he would for the reasons I've said he would.

 

[NickCole]

This is seriously a mess.

Too many cooks in the kitchen, and the Head Chef is absent. Why? Is Obama just not experienced enough to know the President should be involved in formulating the most important legislation of our lifetime?

I’ve just obtained an internal Senate committee memo detailing the latest cuts being eyed by the gang of Senators being led by Dem Ben Nelson and GOPer Susan Collins. Here is what’s being eyed in the bill right now:
*****************************
Total Reductions: $80 billion
Eliminations:
Head Start, Education for the Disadvantaged, School improvement, Child Nutrition, Firefighters, Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, Prisons, COPS Hiring, Violence Against Women, NASA, NSF, Western Area Power Administration, CDC, Food Stamps
*****************************
Reductions:
Public Transit $3.4 billion, School Construction $60 billion
*****************************
Increases:
Defense operations and procurement, STAG Grants, Brownfields, Additional transportation funding
*****************************
Nelson spokesperson Clay Westrope confirms the authenticity of the memo, adding that the figures obviously could change. But this is currently the general direction.
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/s...t-child-nutrition-food-stamps-public-transit/

In a statement sure to rile Republicans, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Friday dismissed calls for bipartisanship as “process” arguments extraneous to passing a stimulus bill — and warned Senate Democrats against slashing proposed increases to education spending.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18514.html

Reid presented the bipartisan group with his own set of stimulus cuts, said Nelson after the meeting, which had been drawn up by the Senate appropriations committee. "As you might imagine, they had a different idea of how to go about this," Nelson said. A Reid aide confirmed that the majority leader presented his own proposal but did not have details or an outline of it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/06/crucial-stimulus-meeting_n_164716.html

 

[NickCole]

Meanwhile, Obama brings in Paul Volker and a new panel of 15 "experts" in the middle of this process.

There aren't enough people working on this patchwork quilt?

What's needed is not more "experts" and bipartisan panels. What's needed is a leader with a vision that's substantive, not Just [somebody else's] Words.

There is no principled coherent vision for this economic stimulus and Obama is in way over his head.

 

[HenryReardon]

There is no principled coherent vision for this economic stimulus and Obama is in way over his head.

I think that's been apparent from day 2. Did you see the news conference where Obama had to continually turn around and ask an advisor "is that right" and such.

Sounds almost as though his strings are being pulled.

What has been really evident a couple of times recently is that the man was seriously close to losing his cool.

 

[naked gent]

No matter how petty you and the other ankle biters here are, bottom line, I've been right about Obama and those who denigrate my analysis have not.

He's messing up. Big time. The way I said he would for the reasons I've said he would.

Nick I was sincerely expressing my concern if that comes across as pettiness to you I'd take that as just another example of your odd interpretation of reality.

You and Rush have at least one thing in common....you both are invested in Obama failing.

In the past you have criticized the younger generation for their narcissism...... evidently you would know.

 

[NickCole]

And more typical Obama.

He wants to take over two Mondays (hottest night for ad revenue) of prime time TV to talk to the American people about the stimulus bill.

That's millions and millions and millions of dollars the TV broadcasters will lose in ad revenue. Not a very good economic stimulus for them.

Just the same old narcissistic Obama.

The American people don't need more speeches from him and his teleprompters about the economy. The American people need good potent economic stimulus legislation. And the TV networks need their revenue.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020503599.html

 

[NickCole]

You and Rush have at least one thing in common....you both are invested in Obama failing.

In the past you have criticized the younger generation for their narcissism...... evidently you would know.

It's not me making this happen.

Obama's doing it.

You can make up all kinds of nonsense about me but Obama's still messing up.

My predictions about him are as spot on as my predictions were about Bush. Not because I want it to be so (that's Obama supporters) but because I can read people.

You don't know me at all if you think I'm invested in Obama or any other President failing. I comment on what I see and what I believe it means.

I've been right about Obama and his supporters have been wrong, and yet you try to turn it back on me. Your personal attacks on me say more about you than me.

 

[Kulindahr]

And more typical Obama.

He wants to take over two Mondays (hottest night for ad revenue) of prime time TV to talk to the American people about the stimulus bill.

That's millions and millions and millions of dollars the TV broadcasters will lose in ad revenue. Not a very good economic stimulus for them.

Just the same old narcissistic Obama.

The American people don't need more speeches from him and his teleprompters about the economy. The American people need good potent economic stimulus legislation. And the TV networks need their revenue.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020503599.html

If he had a real bill, I wouldn't have a problem with him taking that time. But he has a travesty.

He still has time to get a good one: State governors know what their states need in infrastructure; if they don't, all they have to do is ask their departments of transportation and such. Small businessmen know what is needed; they're right there in the nitty-gritty of the economy. The people know what's needed; they drive the roads, deal with the power outages, suffer from the floods, and more.
Get input from the governors, from small businessmen, and the people, and have a team of practical economists wrap it into a coherent package, and then go to the people, and tell Congress, "This is what we need, this is the bill from the states and the people of the United States -- now do it."

But I don't think he has the creativity, or the guts.

 

[NickCole]

Well it looks like they've got a stimulus bill.

Andrew Sullivan writes:

... This is not the Age of Krugman, Cantor and Rove. It is the Age of Collins, Nelson and Obama.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/02/the-presider-ge.html

I'll accept Sullivan's premise, while mentioning that for the past 8 years, Paul Krugman was right about everything and Andrew Sullivan was wrong. But based on reports it does seem the Pelosi/Nelson/Collins Stimulus plan is now the Obama plan.

The Age of Obama will be a failure if it continues in this way. Obama talked ad nauseum about the urgency of the moment but his acceptance of this inadequate policy bodes badly for our future.

I believe, as I said during the campaign would be the case, the Obama Presidency will fail to solve our economic calamity. This stimulus plan is not good enough.

 

[Kulindahr]

Well it looks like they've got a stimulus bill.

Are you saying it passed?
Because that's not what the link and further link say.

 

[NickCole]

Are you saying it passed?
Because that's not what the link and further link say.

No I wasn't saying it passed; I should have written "deal" or "plan," not "bill."

Sorry.