It's cool because he's black.

MIguy: It's cool expected because he's black a politican.

FTFM. That's my view on all of them - Dem, Rep, whatever. I (like to) honestly believe that a lot of them start out legit, but by the time they get to the point where they can actually make changes they've been exposed to so much corruption that they're corrupted themselves.

cue the "awww... more butthurt republitard" comments...

Politicians are liars.

If they told the truth they wouldn't get elected.

Yups, Obama is a politician. He's already said some things and taken some positions I don't like.

On the other hand, I can see that he is (slowly) changing the direction of the ship-of-state, and that is a good thing.

Sgygus: Yups, Obama is a politician. He's already said some things and taken some positions I don't like.

On the other hand, I can see that he is (slowly) changing the direction of the ship-of-state, and that is a good thing.

Battleship, turn on dime, blah blah blah. I hear ya.

so everything is Obamas fault followed by a b..bu..bt Bush came in with problems to 9/11

good jorb article

This whole article operates on the false assumption that Democrats legislated the deregulation of American business that led to the problems with the economy, which is primarily where the "I inherited this" comments come from.

But, whatever. OBAMA RUINED THE UNITED STATES AFTER 3 YEARS AS A JUNIOR SENATOR AN 3 MONTHS AS ILLIGITAMATE NO BURTH CERTIFICATE PRESIDENT!!1!!!

Action Replay Nick: But, whatever. OBAMA RUINED THE UNITED STATES AFTER 3 YEARS AS A JUNIOR SENATOR AN 3 MONTHS AS ILLIGITAMATE NO BURTH CERTIFICATE PRESIDENT!!1!!!

Psssh, not even. Ten weeks, mofo. He's got game.

If the media were not carrying water for Obama, average Americans might actually *get* this. Instead, my 56 y/o unemployed neighbor who only hears Charlie Gibson is calling FedEx every 43 minutes, asking about his unicorn. (Doesn't he know a unicorn has to come UPS, cuz they are union?).

I thought the monetary policy that caused this disaster was 30 years in the making (Carter's CRA and Clinton's bills in the mid/late 90s). At least, that's what everybody has been telling me lately.

Are we now to assume that the problems DID, in fact, start in the past 8 years and the GOP figured out a way to drag Obama down with them?

"Our guy screwed things up over the past 8 years and your guy didn't stop him!"

I like the Fannie and Freddie reform whargarbl. I mean, sure, the House passed a reform bill within two months of gaining control of the legislature in 2007 and it was never voted on in the Senate...but I totally remember Obama speaking out against it.

Also, how do they figure "Enron" was inherited when things were fine until the middle of 2001? Does George W Bush's presidency not begin until September 12th, 2001 or something? I mean, the guy was inaugurated in January of that year, right? What, exactly, was wrong with Enron at the time of his inauguration?

I especially like this "He also inherited 19 terrorists that were in the country courtesy of a Clinton administration policy known as "visa express." We all know what they caused!"

Sure, they got intelligence about possible attacks...but the planes were already in the air, man. And, all the stuff after that...how were they supposed to control that? Torture, Patriot Act, the Iraqi war, Camp X-Ray...the wheels were already in motion...started by Clinton. There was nothing Dubya could do.

And yes, George Bush never complained about Bill Clinton. Except for when he looked back on his problems and blamed things that happened before he took office.

When President Obama came into office the deficit for this year was about $500 billion, and when we finish it will be over 2 trillion.

In eight years Bush added about $2.1 trillion to the national debt and Obama and Congress has done that in 40 days.



That looks like a little more than $2.1 trillion...but maybe it's skewed somehow. Hey, maybe we should add in the costs of the Iraqi and Afghani wars!

Could someone explain to me how quadrupling the debt could be laid on either Bush or the Republicans when the Democrats control the White House and both houses of Congress?

Um, well, I would say 2001-2006 would like to have a word with you.

=================
Where in the blue hell has this guy been for the past decade?

Ah, Farky. You do provide some lulz.

So, quadrupling the debt in 2009 is a direct result of 2001-2006, although *they* had no control in 2006-2009? Logic now = nailing Jell-O to a tree.

Sybilll: So, quadrupling the debt in 2009 is a direct result of 2001-2006, although *they* had no control in 2006-2009? Logic now = nailing Jell-O to a tree.


What debt is being quadrupled in 2009?

Sybilll: So, quadrupling the debt in 2009 is a direct result of 2001-2006, although *they* had no control in 2006-2009? Logic now = nailing Jell-O to a tree.

Please explain what debt is being quadrupled in 2009.

For an added bonus, please leave out the parts that were tacked on because of bailouts from late last year and the additions of the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars.

Butthurt Republicans are butthurt.

I don't remember President Bush ever complaining about his predecessor. He never mentioned the vandalism and wanton destruction done to the White House by the Clinton staffers


Uh no he didn't. He also never declared war on bigfoot nor did he resolve to stamp out the epidemic of senior rape at the OMB. I don't recall Obama attacking Bush for a bunch of things that never happened either.

Sybilll: So, quadrupling the debt in 2009 is a direct result of 2001-2006, although *they* had no control in 2006-2009? Logic now = nailing Jell-O to a tree.

Exponentially increasing the debt did not matter to Republicans for the past 8 years. So, to be honest, shut the f*ck up and let the grown ups try to fix the problems. Democrats don't mind spending money to fix problems. See, that's, like, part of their platform. You don't get to be outraged, ESPECIALLY when it's supposedly the antithesis of the platform you defend, and you didn't care for eight years. It makes you and everyone else like you look like a retard when you feign this outrage.

The national debt is not going to be 44 trillion dollars at the end of this year. Perhaps you'd like to talk about the deficit.

I'm sure you'd like to explain how Bush's $3.1 trillion budget is mediocre to bad while not including the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars...but Obama's $3.65 trillion dollar debt is goign to end the known world even though it DOES include the costs of those two wars.

Like nailing Jello to a tree, indeed.

Jon Snow: Ah, Farky. You do provide some lulz.

Yeah, it's racist to point out that a lot of voters (and 99% of blacks) voted for Obama simply because he's black. I bet it's also racist to point out that blacks are responsible for the majority of violent crime even though they make up only 13% of the population.

what a well thought out and well sourced article. i love the quality journalism being done these days, especially by those in the minority party. so thought provoking... you don't even need to think!

MIguy: Yeah, it's racist to point out that a lot of voters (and 99% of blacks) voted for Obama simply because he's black.

Actually, 85-90% of blacks vote democrat every election.

Year D R
1964 94 6
1968 85 15
1972 87 13
1976 85 15
1980 86 12
1984 89 9
1988 88 10
1992 82 11
1996 84 12
2000 90 10
2004 89 11
2008 95 5
I guess that means 3-5% of blacks are racist and only voted for Obama based on skin color. Whaddya wanna bet that more or less cancels out the people that didn't vote for Obama or voted for McCain because of skin color?

Dude, if you take your first assertion and connect it to your second assertion...I'm pretty sure that makes Lyndon B Johnson black AND responsible for Kennedy's assassination.

MIguy: Yeah, it's racist to point out that a lot of voters (and 99% of blacks) voted for Obama simply because he's black.

Yeah, really, it is. We get it. You've got the concept down pat. Now quit being a racist, racist.

It really was pretty racist of all those black people to vote for Bill Clinton.

What with him being so black and all.

Ronald Reagan...more black than Clinton.

MIguy: Yeah, it's racist...I bet it's also racist...

It's nice that you can recognize it yourself.

bulldg4life: I thought the monetary policy that caused this disaster was 30 years in the making (Carter's CRA and Clinton's bills in the mid/late 90s). At least, that's what everybody has been telling me lately.

Are we now to assume that the problems DID, in fact, start in the past 8 years and the GOP figured out a way to drag Obama down with them?

"Our guy screwed things up over the past 8 years and your guy didn't stop him!"

I don't know. This line of argument makes me want to support the folks who caused the problem rather than the guy who didn't stop them. I like the Max Power approach to problems with decisive people willing to step up and create them.

bulldg4life: I'm pretty sure that makes Lyndon B Johnson black AND responsible for Kennedy's assassination.

I KNEW IT!

The credit default swap market went from a nominal value of ~$900 billion in 2001 to $45 trillion in 2008 (some reports place it as high as $63 trillion). For reference, the GDP of the US is ~$14 trillion and the mortgage market is ~$7 trillion. Is Obama responsible for this?

Mentat: The credit default swap market went from a nominal value of ~$900 billion in 2001 to $45 trillion in 2008 (some reports place it as high as $63 trillion). For reference, the GDP of the US is ~$14 trillion and the mortgage market is ~$7 trillion. Is Obama responsible for this?

Last estimate I saw was around $500 trillion estimated in the credit default swaps.

Hender: Mentat: The credit default swap market went from a nominal value of ~$900 billion in 2001 to $45 trillion in 2008 (some reports place it as high as $63 trillion). For reference, the GDP of the US is ~$14 trillion and the mortgage market is ~$7 trillion. Is Obama responsible for this?

Last estimate I saw was around $500 trillion estimated in the credit default swaps.

It depends on what definition you use. I'm not sure anyone really knows what the market is worth.

Sorry, I went on the CBO's estimate. Seems I bought into the right-wing media. BHO is only doubling the debt. My bad.

http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10014

Mentat: Hender: Mentat: The credit default swap market went from a nominal value of ~$900 billion in 2001 to $45 trillion in 2008 (some reports place it as high as $63 trillion). For reference, the GDP of the US is ~$14 trillion and the mortgage market is ~$7 trillion. Is Obama responsible for this?

Last estimate I saw was around $500 trillion estimated in the credit default swaps.

It depends on what definition you use. I'm not sure anyone really knows what the market is worth.

It was from several different NPR contributors on different shows. That's not definitive, of course, but I think that the confusion of the value is as telling as the fact that the total estimated value might be as much as the total real wealth in the world. As in, if everyone in the world liquidated everything they had we might break even.

bulldg4life: MIguy: Yeah, it's racist to point out that a lot of voters (and 99% of blacks) voted for Obama simply because he's black.

Actually, 85-90% of blacks vote democrat every election.

Year D R
1964 94 6
1968 85 15
1972 87 13
1976 85 15
1980 86 12
1984 89 9
1988 88 10
1992 82 11
1996 84 12
2000 90 10
2004 89 11
2008 95 5
I guess that means 3-5% of blacks are racist and only voted for Obama based on skin color. Whaddya wanna bet that more or less cancels out the people that didn't vote for Obama or voted for McCain because of skin color?

Dude, if you take your first assertion and connect it to your second assertion...I'm pretty sure that makes Lyndon B Johnson black AND responsible for Kennedy's assassination.

If I were black in this country, I'd be shouting for the creation of a third party louder than anybody. Yeah, Democrats might give them a few more scraps from the table, but really, come on. Republicans tend to treat blacks like animals that need to be caged, but how much better are the Democrats? They treat blacks like a bunch of retarded children. Can you honestly say that the Democratic powers that be want to see Black America become an independent, prosperous group of people armed with real economic and political power? But more importantly, a group of 30,000,000 potential voters who might, just might, not vote Democrat at that reliable 9 to 1 ratio?

Not a chance.

And this current mess we're in is only the beginning. Wait until the boomers start retiring en masse within the next five years, and there aren't near enough of the rest of us to pay for them. That'll make today seem like "the good old days".

Of course, we're actually going to weather the storm better than most of the rest of the world. The Euro-trash are going to rue the day they stopped having babies. I want to see how they plan to pay for their welfare state AND their aging population with a population replacement factor of 1.5. And the Chinese? We'll see how long the Chinese government can keep a lid on the issue of having over 40 million more males than females.

Fun times ahead, fellow Farkers. Watch out for the jagged rocks under those rapids over yonder....

In every single Presidential election in American history prior to 2008, 100% of black voters voted for white men.

Racists.

Hender: It was from several different NPR contributors on different shows. That's not definitive, of course, but I think that the confusion of the value is as telling as the fact that the total estimated value might be as much as the total real wealth in the world. As in, if everyone in the world liquidated everything they had we might break even.

That's farking terrifying. Talk about money losing all meaning and ceasing to represent any real thing. We're damned lucky that all we got was a couple of banks melting down, and not total failure or our financial system at the most basic levels.

Sybilll: Sorry, I went on the CBO's estimate. Seems I bought into the right-wing media. BHO is only doubling the debt. My bad.

http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10014

wut?

Did you just look for a graph without caring what it actually had on it?

MIguy: Jon Snow: Ah, Farky. You do provide some lulz.

Yeah, it's racist to point out that a lot of voters (and 99% of blacks) voted for Obama simply because he's black. I bet it's also racist to point out that blacks are responsible for the majority of violent crime even though they make up only 13% of the population.

I suppose its racist to point out that throughout the course of history several high profile white supremacy groups (including one called "the general populace of the United States" up until about 1975 or so) shunned black people in to a culture that encouraged this type of behavior, and that's not something that goes away overnight, even if the rest of us have wised up.

...but apparently not all of us have wised up.

Hender: It was from several different NPR contributors on different shows. That's not definitive, of course, but I think that the confusion of the value is as telling as the fact that the total estimated value might be as much as the total real wealth in the world. As in, if everyone in the world liquidated everything they had we might break even.

$45 trillion is a conservative estimate. As I said, I've also heard $63 trillion. Regardless, it's worth considerably more than the actual value of mortgage market upon which it is based. the ratings agencies have so screwed up the ratings on the repackages loans that no one knows what's going on.

Democrats are the slightly less pro-business faction of the Corporate Party. This should surprise no one, really. I just spent a good long while in the other thread discussing Obama's Wall Street dream team, where the power players are now on the inside rather than just lobbying. Sigh, it's a sad world we live in.

I'm just gonna complain about the headline because the White House is closer to 20+ blocks away from the Capitol.

Maybe not 20, but at least 10-15.

Mentat: the ratings agencies have so screwed up the ratings on the repackages loans that no one knows what's going on.



BS. Even Bear Stearns' "toxic assets" only dropped 3 billion (10%) since the company folded. It was a run on the banks - by other banks. These things are actually still worth a lot of money, too bad for me and you Mr. Obama and Mr. Geithner are only allowing their fatcat hedge fund friends to invest in them. You and I and the rest of the little people can just sit around loaning them money to do so.

Assholes.

So Obama voted for rampant deregulation of the market?

Color me skeptical....

No fark that

I call shenanigans.

bulldg4life: I'm pretty sure that makes Lyndon B Johnson black AND responsible for Kennedy's assassination

No, Kennedy survived... and is now black

Shaggy_C: BS. Even Bear Stearns' "toxic assets" only dropped 3 billion (10%) since the company folded. It was a run on the banks - by other banks. These things are actually still worth a lot of money, too bad for me and you Mr. Obama and Mr. Geithner are only allowing their fatcat hedge fund friends to invest in them. You and I and the rest of the little people can just sit around loaning them money to do so.

Assholes.

You have no idea what the repakcaged loans arwe worth, bbut since the curtain has been drawn, it sure isn't a "lot of money".

Capitalism is completely dead. People have no idea where we currently are.

Wolf Blitzer is a Substitute Teacher: Maybe not 20, but at least 10-15.

If only there were some way we could find out how many

bulldg4life: Those damn democrats!

Oh, I'm going to enjoy using that graph.