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President Barack Obama grabbed the headlines on Friday with an unexpected and surprise visit to Afghanistan. Such a visit is very important. It boosts the soldiers’ morale and emphasises on the war on terror. We must show the terrorists that we are here to defeat them and ‘smoke them out of their caves.’ Additionally, Barack Obama also seemed to take a page out of the playbook of former President George W. Bush. Bush often surprised the soldiers and forces in Iraq and Afghanistan when things weren’t going so well, effecting his polls. With Afghanistan starting to look like Vietnam and Obama beginning to secure his defeat in 2012, off he went to Afghanistan. Coincidentally, or not so innocently, Barack Obama landed in Afghanistan a day before the new jobs report was released. He decided to take off while Congress was fighting whether to extend the Bush tax cuts, the actual legislation that boosted the economy after the dot-com recession from the Clinton years, or having the largest tax increase on the wealthy citing the deficit it will bring when added to their mega-spending bills. While the report stating that our economy is continuing to falter and unemployment went up to a whopping 9.8% after we were promised no more than eight was released, Obama was nowhere to be seen, he was in Afghanistan. While people were looking in horror as the Democrats voted to make the largest tax increase go in effect in the midst of the worst since the Great Depression, only to excite their liberal constituents, Obama was out-of-touch once more, in a foreign state.
President Bush saw his approval ratings dwindle when people began being fed up with the two wars. People thought of Iraq as another Vietnam and speeches from a State Senator in Illinois didn’t make the people feel any better. Bush felt that he must take responsibility and he did it be appearing with the forces and boosting their morale. Barack Obama has lost it once again. After initiating the ‘Surge’ after claiming the it didn’t work in Iraq and firing the General for saying the truth, the Afghanistan war had more fatalities than it had for 9 years. Of course you don’t hear it in the media because they place a Palin gaffe instead, but it’s getting worse by the day. With a president that merely supports a war on terror at the helm of our troops, how in the world can things go well? But that isn’t the point. After blaming Bush, the Republicans and nearly everyone but him, he yet saw another arrow coming in his direction. Well, you can’t throw it in his direction if he’s thousands of miles away. Obama ought to take control and responsibility for once and stop this “mourning in America.”
So where is all the change he promised this country???? His whole platform was about change. His whole platform was about getting out of Afghanistan and Iraq! His whole platform was how Bush was wrong for being in those wars and sending OUR poor American boys into war and how he was going to bring them home. HE had no experience and HE had no business being in the White House and those foolish Americans who voted him in because they wanted to see a change and they wanted to make history by voting a Black Man into the White house have a lot of accounting to do right now. What have they gotten this country into? We have been floundering for two years without a leader and with an idiotic proposal on healthcare that only confuses the public and only chases our good doctors out of the country or to close down their practices because they can no longer afford to stay open!
So for all the vacations this president has taken, for all the poor judgment he has shown in pandering to the Arab states, for all the billiions of dollars he has wasted on his trips while our economy fails, he is going to leave this country a lot worse off than when he made all his false promises.
As much as I despise him and his policies, I don’t know if there really is any way to grow those jobs, certainly not quickly.
I think some of his moves are destroying long term jobs, but I can’t point to anything and say, “do this, it will make jobs!”
Yawn. More Republican disinformation. I might as well be watching Fox News — but I have to thank Mr. Hirsch since I don’t have a television and don’t know from day to day the current Republican talking points.
Actually, the recession ended in June 2009, helped in part by Obama’s policies. The economy had shrunk by an incredible 16% in real terms over the preceding year and a half. (So much for the effectiveness of the Bush tax cuts.) Private sector employment increased last month for the tenth month in a row.
But conservatives have made it impossible for the President to continue his polices. Just this week, they cut millions off of unemployment insurance. And state and local governments are laying off police officers, firefighters, teachers, and social workers even though they had nothing to do with the economic troubles. One of the most important parts of the 2009 stimulus package was that it helped cash-strapped state and local governments to avoid this.
A major problem is that in much of the country, asset values (such as housing prices) have plummeted back to sane levels. But that means that many people owe far more on their homes than the homes are worth. Again, conservatives have refused to allow the continuation of Obama’s policies to stimulate the real estate market or of Democratic proposals to allow restructuring of home mortgages. Some even have suggested that we should allow foreclosures without proper documentation — when it was partly loans without proper documentation that got us into this mess in the first place!
Conservatives think that if they can continue to keep the economy down, it will help defeat President Obama in 2012. And they value tax cuts to millionaires more than relief to those who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. They are totaly hypocrites when they call for extensions of unemployment to be paid for when they are willing to spend far more on tax cuts without paying for them! And they want to obstruct all other government business in order to get their way.
Unfortunately, they might succeed.
hey charlie,
if the economy is doing so well, how come there is so much unemployment?
The private sector is not hiring because of Obama’s bad economic decisions. His laws, like health care, are scaring employers from hiring anyone.
Liberals seem to think that you can keep taxing people and making restrictive laws and nothing will change. No, charlie, people react to their environment.
The gov’t can’t legislate jobs, they can only use laws to create an environment that will be conducive to growth. Taxing employers and obligating them is not a way to create that environment.
Dave Hirsch: I’m pretty sure Obama “gets it”, there’s just not much he can do about it.
charliehall:
“Conservatives think that if they can continue to keep the economy down, it will help defeat President Obama in 2012… And they want to obstruct all other government business in order to get their way.”
Yes, the Republicans will get in Obama’s way at every possible opportunity, just like the previous Democratic Congress did to Bush. Politics is politics, and its never pretty.
“they value tax cuts to millionaires more than relief to those who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. They are totaly hypocrites when they call for extensions of unemployment to be paid for when they are willing to spend far more on tax cuts without paying for them!”
First of all, there is a reason Republicans don’t want unemployment benefits to go up – they believe it gives people a reason not to go to work. If unemployment benefits were kept at their previous levels, they reason, more people would swallow their pride and take whatever work they could find.
Second, there is a difference between handing out money the government currently has and collecting less money from the public.
Also, the Republicans can argue that tax cuts will stimulate the economy, so more money will be collected in taxes later down the road.
Continuing the tax cuts will keep a trillion dollars in capital here in the USA where it can sustain and generate several million real jobs. Else it will move to countries with lower tax rates along with the good jobs. Even socialist Canada has a maximum federal tax rate of only 29%.
The stock market crash in 2000 was far greater than that in 1929, but a 10 year great depression did not ensue.
“if the economy is doing so well, how come there is so much unemployment?”
You didn’t read my comment. I gave you the answer: “Private sector employment increased last month for the tenth month in a row. “
Republicans are deliberately trying to create more unemployment by cutting the public sector, particularly at the state and local level. The long term effect of such policies can be seen in Israel with its nearly non-existent fire departments. But that is the direction that much of the US is headed.
And in a fit of cruelty, they cut unemployment benefits.
“First of all, there is a reason Republicans don’t want unemployment benefits to go up – they believe it gives people a reason not to go to work. If unemployment benefits were kept at their previous levels, they reason, more people would swallow their pride and take whatever work they could find.”
You’ve just proven my point on cruelty. In much of the US there is no work that anyone can find.
“Even socialist Canada has a maximum federal tax rate of only 29%.”
True. But provincial income tax rates can be as high as 17.5% (kicking in at only $93,000 in Nova Scotia). And you can’t deduct mortgage interest from your taxes. And there is a national sales tax of 5%, plus provincial sales taxes that can also be as high as 10%.
“I don’t care about the GDP driven up by more government spending (expenditure). “
Well you should if you care about jobs. Police officers, firefighters, teachers and social workers are of direct benefit to all of us. Just look at what happened in Israel when a place doesn’t have firefighters. Or, most close to home to New York City in the 1970s when cuts to public safety resulted in much of the city burning. We could easily get there again if your polices are adopted.
“What did FDR promote and promise when he ran for president?”
Spending cuts. Fortunately he realized that was a stupid idea.
“The stock market crash in 2000 was far greater than that in 1929, but a 10 year great depression did not ensue. “
The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked on 1/7/2000 at 11522.56. It then declined to a low of 7891.08 on 2/28/2003 — more than a year and a half after the Bush tax cuts were enacted. So much for their efficacy at stimulating the economy. (And by the way the Bush tax cuts were supposed to expire in a few weeks.)
Meanwhile back on September 3, 1929, the DJIA had closed at 381.17. On July 8, 1932 it closed at 41.22. (The previous low had been back in the 1890s.) Your claimed that a 32% drop was greater than an 89% drop. Not.
“Else it will move to countries with lower tax rates along with the good jobs.”
That strategy — of attracting jobs with low tax rates — was tried in Ireland. Look how well it worked — the country is a basket case. I recently checked real estate prices in the nice Dublin neighborhood near the synagogue. They have dropped about 2/3 since I was there in the summer of 2009.
Obama should get his head out of the Arab nations you know what and start concentrating on his own country!!! That’s for starters! Then he should realize that you have to back up the money you print and spend. YOU CAN’T KEEP SPENDING MONEY YOU DON’T HAVE!!! Even a kid knows that. Who gave him the keys to the bank! No you can’t keep extending unemployment! Who is going to pay for it? And yes, people can’t afford to go back to work if they are collecting a paycheck from Uncle Sam oops Uncle Barack. Just like the welfare mess. People on welfare even though many would like to feel good about themselves and be a better role model for their families just can’t afford to get off of welfare because there is no middle road in the system that allows anyone to ease back into reality. You either sponge off the taxpayers and government or you try to go back to work and realize you can’t make as much as you do sponging off the government. Can’t there be a sliding scale so people can go back to work and get some assistance until they are making enough to stand on their own? At least they will be taking less and less as they start making more and more! Every able bodied citizen on welfare should be allowed to work and get assistance from the government to provide for their families. As they do better they should get less assistance till they are completely weaned off.
The way it works now everyone who gets on the program is forced to stay on for life! And as long as Obama keeps extending unemployment people are willing to sit back and collect it without attempting to go back into the workforce. And who gets to pay for it in the end? Those who are working as the taxes go up and up when they try to bring down the deficit. So how is that fair?
charliehall wrote:
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You didn’t read my comment. I gave you the answer: “Private sector employment increased last month for the tenth month in a row. “
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They are increasing at a crawl. Companies are hiring now because they did not for a long while. Try asking someone who was looking for a job in 2009 (myself included). There were no jobs to be had. But even now that they are hiring, they are still hiring very very slowly.
And why are many local gov’ts not hiring and/or laying off? Because they have far less revenue than before. Remember that local (state, county, or city) gov’ts make their money from income tax, sales tax, of property tax. All of that is down.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked on 1/7/2000 at 11522.56. It then declined to a low of 7891.08 on 2/28/2003 — more than a year and a half after the Bush tax cuts were enacted. So much for their efficacy at stimulating the economy.</i>
That downturn in the economy came about from a bubble bursting; tax cuts had nothing to do with it. I remember talking with a good friend of mine before the 2000 elections (as the dot coms were tanking). He is a staunch democrat, like yourself. He had the intellectual honesty to say that the next president, from either party, is going to inherit an economy that is going to falter.
CharlieHall,
You seem to like bigger gov’t, and I’m sure you can tell that I don’t. I want to understand you point of view better.
What do you see as the purpose of gov’t and how does that get carried out?
What is your dream situation?
“What do you see as the purpose of gov’t and how does that get carried out?”
I personally like the “five mems” of Jabotinsky (no left winger he!):
Mazon (Food)
Maon (Dwelling)
Malbush (Clothing)
Marpeh (Medical Care)
Moreh(Teacher)
All these are halachic obligations on a community. Regarding how they get carried out, there are many models and I’m not dogmatic.
“That downturn in the economy came about from a bubble bursting; tax cuts had nothing to do with it. I remember talking with a good friend of mine before the 2000 elections (as the dot coms were tanking). He is a staunch democrat, like yourself. He had the intellectual honesty to say that the next president, from either party, is going to inherit an economy that is going to falter. “
True. My point was that the tax cuts did not prevent the contined decline even after the bubble burst. And then the Bush administration and their Republican allies in Congress proceded to create an even bigger bubble that was followed by an even bigger bust.
“YOU CAN’T KEEP SPENDING MONEY YOU DON’T HAVE!!! Even a kid knows that. Who gave him the keys to the bank! No you can’t keep extending unemployment!”
All you have to do to pay for the unemployment extension is to let SOME of the Bush tax cuts expire.
“Can’t there be a sliding scale so people can go back to work and get some assistance until they are making enough to stand on their own?”
You clearly don’t understand the US welfare system today. It was completely revised under Clinton; you can’t stay on for life anymore.
“And as long as Obama keeps extending unemployment people are willing to sit back and collect it without attempting to go back into the workforce.”
You clearly don’t understand unemployment compensation, either: You have to be actively seeking work in order to get it.
“Those who are working as the taxes go up and up when they try to bring down the deficit.”
Uh, actually Obama’s stimulus plan included numerous tax cuts. It also included a lot of aid to state and local governments so that they would not have to raise taxes. Today the Republicans are preventing an extension of this aid.
To all those who are yelling at Dr. Hall:
There is a simple way to get our economy back to a normal level.
Cut all federal benefits to New York City and the surrounding area (Philly to New Haven, including Lakewood).
We will save trillions, and the budget will be solved.
We can invest the interest payments in job creation.
“And in a fit of cruelty, they cut unemployment benefits.”
Do you honestly believe that the Republicans want the unemployment benefits reduced to their previous levels (nobody’s talking about “cutting” them) for no other reason than to get sadistic pleasure from watching other people suffer?! Sheesh, that’s about as intelligent as those who go around spewing nonsense about how Obama wants the economy to crash so he can form a new, world-wide government with him at its head… (and yes, people have actually told this to me with straight faces)
Why can’t we disagree with somebody (or some party) without jumping to the assumption that they are evil, cruel, and out to wreck as much sadistic destruction as they can?!
Fact of human nature: If people can live comfortably without working, they have no incentive to work. Therefore, expanding unemployment benefits gives people less of a reason to go find work. Nobody is suggesting we watch the unemployed starve, but we can’t support them indefinitely either. If the unemployment benefits were not at a record high then you would see more people lining up to be cashiers, work in Wal-Mart, etc. And don’t tell me there are no such jobs – I was recently in a clothing mall and I’d say about half of them had signs saying “now hiring”. probably not incredibly high-paying jobs, but jobs nonetheless. Why doesn’t the 9.8% of the population that is unemployed grab these jobs?
It may be more “humane” to give everybody money whether they work or not, but that simply does not work. That was Communism’s big idea, and look how well that worked out.
It may be more “humane” to give everybody money whether they work or not, but that simply does not work.
Not sure if this was meant as a pun, but it does indeed work.
They call it Kollel.
Charlie – Double yawn. Sheli Shelcha – Shelcha Sheli, Am Haaretz. Try Adam Smith, Hayek, Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell Walter E. Williams, et. al., to get a better understanding of Economics. That is the Torah approach if you try researching into it. BTW, Bibi saved Israel’s economy by moving right, cutting back heavily on welfare, good for him. Yes, I personally lost out, but it was the right thing to do.
Thank you mods, that was bothering me; I have no issue with the actual post (even though it is not true).
To Fabie:
Yasher Koach to you for agreeing to the right thing even though you personally lost out. It is one of my pet peeves (and the point of a reccent article in Cross Currents by R’ Yitzchok Adlerstein regarding immigration) regarding how people don’t realize how they benefit from the laws that they deride other people getting benefits from (such as welfare, and the thousands of Kollel families that would starve without it).
Once again, Yasher Koach. May you continue in the Derech HaYashar.
Charlie, you obviously were never on the unemployment rolls. Not only do people not seek work, you don’t even have to go down and get on line every week, you just have to phone in! They can’t handle the crowds.
At least for now Obama and the Republicans have put the economy above partisan maneuvering and come up with the compromise that is needed to allow the economy to recover.
Hopefully in 2012 they will be able to fight over who gets credit for the recovery.
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