There is a God

[knapplc]

I'm finding it interesting how many Nebraskans are willing to give Bo Pelini two or three years to right the ship that is Nebraska football, while at the same time being unwilling to give Obama one second longer than 365 days to get this country fixed from the shambles it was in when he took office.

When Bo Pelini makes a decision, everyone gets to go home at the end of the day, their regular lives unaffected. When Obama, or any president makes a decision for that matter, it affects the daily lives of everyone, usually for a lifetime. If Bo screws up a decision, my job, my health, and my quality of life goes on unaffected.

 

I don't think this is a repudiation of Obama the person per se, but he is the man, the figure head of the Democratic party, so it may seem that way.

 

This is mostly a repudiation of the backroom dealing, big spending Congress. The Democrats have had the majorities in both legislative bodies for three years where nothing has been getting done but spending money hand over fist. The Republicans were thrown out of the majorities in 2006 for this very reason. No fiscal sanity. No transparency.

 

• $780 billion TARP fund by both parties <--- voters are still pissed about this. Obama put in power a number of figures who had played significant roles in the financial meltdown, and Wall Street emerged from the disaster apparently richer than ever. They should have been allowed to fail. Other businesses who played by the rules should have been allowed to take their place.
  

• $1 trillion dollar stimulus which created little or no jobs but served as political payola to unions, political hacks, and lobbyists for their donations to campaign coffers .
• Projected $1.5 trillion over ten years health care bill.
• $3 billion cash for clunkers which drove up prices in the used car market
• $??? Climate change legislation
• $??? So-called Green Job creation
• $??? Cap and Trade
• $250 billion and counting to bail out mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
• $??? A much talked about second stimulus
• $1.9 trillion increase in the debt ceiling asked for today by Democrats
  

When it comes to popularity ratings and why they've dropped for Obama, he has only himself to blame for that. The broken promises are abundant, because he hasn't shown any leadership.

 

• Broken promise No. 1: 'Sunlight Before Signing' (went out the window with the stimulus plan, actually no one read it, not even Congress)
  
• Broken promise No. 2: 'No jobs for lobbyists in the White House' (only 19 employed)
  
• Broken promise No. 3: Earmark reform (went out the window with the stimulus plan)
  
• Broken promise No. 4: Transparency (Cornhusker kickback, Louisiana purchase)
  
• Broken promise No. 5: Negotiate health care reform in public sessions on C-SPAN (never happened)
  
• Broken promise No. 6: Eliminate Executive signing statements (signed one within his first week in office)
  
• Broken promise No. 7: No Tax Increase on Families Making Under 250k (raised cigarette taxes by 159%, tax on "Cadillac" health insurance plans)
• Broken promise No. 8: I Won't Force Americans To Buy Insurance (This September, he told Congress: "Under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance.")
• Broken promise No. 9: End of "No bid" contracts over $25 billion (never happened)
  
• Broken promise No. 10: Expedition of stimulus package would hold unemployment rate at 8% (today it is still over 10%)
  

There are many other broken promises, but these will suffice.

 

When I say Obama hasn't shown any leadership, I mean he doesn't have the balls to dress down Pelosi and Reid. They are running roughshod as if they are running the show, and Obama is some token. If they didn't get the message after losses in New Jersey, Virginia, and now Massachusetts, then they never will until they lose 30-80 seats in the House, and 5-10 seats in the Senate rendering Obama to lame duck status after 2010 with no legacy and a failed presidency.

That's an awful lot of things to pin on Obama in one year. Are every one of those his issues, or issues with the Democrats?

 

I'm not going to try to be an Obamapologist. He's going to have to answer for himself to the voters. All I'm doing is giving the guy a little more rope than most.

 

I gave Bush the same leeway in his presidency. Not so much Clinton, but I never liked Clinton.

[Husker_x]

I'm finding it interesting how many Nebraskans are willing to give Bo Pelini two or three years to right the ship that is Nebraska football, while at the same time being unwilling to give Obama one second longer than 365 days to get this country fixed from the shambles it was in when he took office.

When Bo Pelini makes a decision, everyone gets to go home at the end of the day, their regular lives unaffected. When Obama, or any president makes a decision for that matter, it affects the daily lives of everyone, usually for a lifetime. If Bo screws up a decision, my job, my health, and my quality of life goes on unaffected.

 

I don't think this is a repudiation of Obama the person per se, but he is the man, the figure head of the Democratic party, so it may seem that way.

 

This is mostly a repudiation of the backroom dealing, big spending Congress. The Democrats have had the majorities in both legislative bodies for three years where nothing has been getting done but spending money hand over fist. The Republicans were thrown out of the majorities in 2006 for this very reason. No fiscal sanity. No transparency.

 

• $780 billion TARP fund by both parties <--- voters are still pissed about this. Obama put in power a number of figures who had played significant roles in the financial meltdown, and Wall Street emerged from the disaster apparently richer than ever. They should have been allowed to fail. Other businesses who played by the rules should have been allowed to take their place.
  

• $1 trillion dollar stimulus which created little or no jobs but served as political payola to unions, political hacks, and lobbyists for their donations to campaign coffers .
• Projected $1.5 trillion over ten years health care bill.
• $3 billion cash for clunkers which drove up prices in the used car market
• $??? Climate change legislation
• $??? So-called Green Job creation
• $??? Cap and Trade
• $250 billion and counting to bail out mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
• $??? A much talked about second stimulus
• $1.9 trillion increase in the debt ceiling asked for today by Democrats
  

When it comes to popularity ratings and why they've dropped for Obama, he has only himself to blame for that. The broken promises are abundant, because he hasn't shown any leadership.

 

• Broken promise No. 1: 'Sunlight Before Signing' (went out the window with the stimulus plan, actually no one read it, not even Congress)
  
• Broken promise No. 2: 'No jobs for lobbyists in the White House' (only 19 employed)
  
• Broken promise No. 3: Earmark reform (went out the window with the stimulus plan)
  
• Broken promise No. 4: Transparency (Cornhusker kickback, Louisiana purchase)
  
• Broken promise No. 5: Negotiate health care reform in public sessions on C-SPAN (never happened)
  
• Broken promise No. 6: Eliminate Executive signing statements (signed one within his first week in office)
  
• Broken promise No. 7: No Tax Increase on Families Making Under 250k (raised cigarette taxes by 159%, tax on "Cadillac" health insurance plans)
• Broken promise No. 8: I Won't Force Americans To Buy Insurance (This September, he told Congress: "Under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance.")
• Broken promise No. 9: End of "No bid" contracts over $25 billion (never happened)
  
• Broken promise No. 10: Expedition of stimulus package would hold unemployment rate at 8% (today it is still over 10%)
  

There are many other broken promises, but these will suffice.

 

When I say Obama hasn't shown any leadership, I mean he doesn't have the balls to dress down Pelosi and Reid. They are running roughshod as if they are running the show, and Obama is some token. If they didn't get the message after losses in New Jersey, Virginia, and now Massachusetts, then they never will until they lose 30-80 seats in the House, and 5-10 seats in the Senate rendering Obama to lame duck status after 2010 with no legacy and a failed presidency.

That's an awful lot of things to pin on Obama in one year. Are every one of those his issues, or issues with the Democrats?

 

I'm not going to try to be an Obamapologist. He's going to have to answer for himself to the voters. All I'm doing is giving the guy a little more rope than most.

 

I gave Bush the same leeway in his presidency. Not so much Clinton, but I never liked Clinton.

 

If anyone asks me what I would do if I were president, I answer: "I wouldn't be president." Why? Because it's a job where 50% (at least) of the people hate you and your decision the second you make it. Being president is a tough job that very few are able to handle.

 

That said.

 

The issue with Obama is his entire campaign was a cult of personality based around currently unfulfilled promises of 'cleaning up the way Washington does business.' Taking the Healthcare bill by itself, the last I heard its unfavorability rating was somewhere around 60%. If you can't sell health care in Massachusetts, in Ted Kennedy's old seat for heaven's sake, then you couldn't sell bottled water in hell. And why are people breaking against Obama so early in the game? Because he's complicit in all kinds of bribes, pressure tactics, midnight votes, payoffs, and corruption. When I say that this is the way the mafia does business, I am not exaggerating. The latest in this string of sin was the sweetheart union tax exemption that was underreported thanks to the Haiti situation.

 

Whether he's directly involved in every bribe and kickback is irrelevant. This is his bill, Obamacare. He has more power than any president since Reagan at the beginning of his administration. He chose to let Reid and (laugh) Pelosi take the reigns on this thing, and now he will suffer. And suffer. And suffer until he slams on the breaks and actually listens to what people are telling him. It just so happens to be: "No."

[huskertim]

I think this is the best thing that could happen for Obama. In 1982 the Republicans los power in congress, in 1994 the Dems lost majorities and in 1996 the Reps lost thiers. In each case the President at the time was forced to become more centrist and in each case, it can be argued, their presidencies became more effective. Go GOP in 2010!!!!!!!!!

[huskertim]

As to the bill itself, may it die a just death. Yes, healthcare is a mess, but I feel we would be better served by addressing issues one or two at a time rather than an omnibus bill that includes more pork, more regulation, more loopholes, and more compromises than can be counted. If a reform is needed, it wouldn't have to be introduced in the middle of a snow strom, on a Saturday and without disclose of it's contents.

[knapplc]

The issue with Obama is his entire campaign was a cult of personality based around currently unfulfilled promises of 'cleaning up the way Washington does business.' Taking the Healthcare bill by itself, the last I heard its unfavorability rating was somewhere around 60%. If you can't sell health care in Massachusetts, in Ted Kennedy's old seat for heaven's sake, then you couldn't sell bottled water in hell. And why are people breaking against Obama so early in the game? Because he's complicit in all kinds of bribes, pressure tactics, midnight votes, payoffs, and corruption. When I say that this is the way the mafia does business, I am not exaggerating. The latest in this string of sin was the sweetheart union tax exemption that was underreported thanks to the Haiti situation.

 

Whether he's directly involved in every bribe and kickback is irrelevant. This is his bill, Obamacare. He has more power than any president since Reagan at the beginning of his administration. He chose to let Reid and (laugh) Pelosi take the reigns on this thing, and now he will suffer. And suffer. And suffer until he slams on the breaks and actually listens to what people are telling him. It just so happens to be: "No."

Yeah, I agree with all of that, so don't think I'm giving the guy a free pass.

 

Regarding the bolded part, I have this personal little theory that Obama ran last election cycle to get his name out there, and that's about it. I think he was really gearing up for a 2012 run and getting his feet wet this time. I don't think he really truly expected to be the nominee. Once that happened he had to scramble to catch up on all the president stuff he had to do, and he ended up in office but unprepared.

 

He gives a good speech. He's a charismatic, good-looking guy. But there's just no way he was really prepared for this.

 

In general I think the Democratic party is one of the biggest political messes I've seen in my lifetime. They've had control of congress for who-knows-how-many years now and they've accomplished pretty much nothing. They lack vision, foresight, and the ability to wield power cohesively. They haven't had a strong leader since Clinton, and even Clinton was more charisma than content.

 

Blah. What a mess.

[Spartness]

knapplc: you sound like a true independent. Independents are becoming the largest voting block in this country. Too bad you can't vote in the primaries in Nebraska. They certainly were the power vote in MA.

 

The reason Democrats failed is because of their arrogance -- especially the progressives who dominate the party. All they were looking at during the last many months with this so-called health reform bill was they had a filibuster-proof (60 Democrats) Senate, along with the majority in the House. This was strictly a power grab in their eyes where this was their only chance to jam this health bill through, no matter what. They care more about their left-wing agenda than they do about what's best for this country. Progressives for 70 years have been dreaming for this. Fortunately, the moderate Dems slowed the process down enough, and the end result was it didn't get passed before the MA special election. The Dems thought they owned Ted Kennedy's old seat, and you saw what happened. Couldn't have happened to nicer people.

 

One of my biggest objections is the size of the this crappy bill -- 2,000-2,500 pages. Why????!!!!! Because they want complete control of the health insurance industry. I'm not saying health insurance companies are wonderful. There needs to be some regulations, but the Dems went way overboard, as you already know. As an insurance agent, I do think people with pre-existing conditions should get decent coverage, but why pass this cost on to healthy people who have coverage with private insurance companies. Each state should have a high risk pool -- for example, the Nebraska Comprehensive Health Insurance Pool (CHIP). CHIP is administered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. The problem with CHIP is the maximum benefit is only $1 million, and it is very expensive. Each state should have at least $5 million maximum benefit, and each insured should receive a government credit for about half of the premiums, depending on their income level.

 

Instead of that goofy public option, which probably was going to die anyway, why not allow us consumers to purchase health insurance across state lines. It is the strong belief from many economists that this kind of competition would bring down premiums and keep the insurance companies honest -- a better choice than that artificial public option. For example, you could have a choice from 100 health insurance companies instead of a handful. Plus, any health bill needs to have TORT Reform to limit lawsuits, which is one of the big reasons for high doctor and hospital bills. The problem is the Dems are in bed with the lawyers. And finally, let's allow small businesses to pool together to get lower insurance rates that big businesses receive. These are just a few ideas that shouldn't require more than let's say 200 pages and not cost the taxpayers nearly as much money. Okay, I already wrote a book, so I will stop.

[Army Husker]

The issue with Obama is his entire campaign was a cult of personality based around currently unfulfilled promises of 'cleaning up the way Washington does business.' Taking the Healthcare bill by itself, the last I heard its unfavorability rating was somewhere around 60%. If you can't sell health care in Massachusetts, in Ted Kennedy's old seat for heaven's sake, then you couldn't sell bottled water in hell. And why are people breaking against Obama so early in the game? Because he's complicit in all kinds of bribes, pressure tactics, midnight votes, payoffs, and corruption. When I say that this is the way the mafia does business, I am not exaggerating. The latest in this string of sin was the sweetheart union tax exemption that was underreported thanks to the Haiti situation.

 

Whether he's directly involved in every bribe and kickback is irrelevant. This is his bill, Obamacare. He has more power than any president since Reagan at the beginning of his administration. He chose to let Reid and (laugh) Pelosi take the reigns on this thing, and now he will suffer. And suffer. And suffer until he slams on the breaks and actually listens to what people are telling him. It just so happens to be: "No."

Yeah, I agree with all of that, so don't think I'm giving the guy a free pass.

 

Regarding the bolded part, I have this personal little theory that Obama ran last election cycle to get his name out there, and that's about it. I think he was really gearing up for a 2012 run and getting his feet wet this time. I don't think he really truly expected to be the nominee. Once that happened he had to scramble to catch up on all the president stuff he had to do, and he ended up in office but unprepared.

 

He gives a good speech. He's a charismatic, good-looking guy. But there's just no way he was really prepared for this.

 

In general I think the Democratic party is one of the biggest political messes I've seen in my lifetime. They've had control of congress for who-knows-how-many years now and they've accomplished pretty much nothing. They lack vision, foresight, and the ability to wield power cohesively. They haven't had a strong leader since Clinton, and even Clinton was more charisma than content.

 

Blah. What a mess.

 

Interesting thought on Obama shooting for face time in hopes of a 2012 run...I never thought of that aspect. So let's say that Obama got his face time, yet the Dem party pushed to put Hillary on the ticket and she won. Do you think the Dems would have a better chance at keeping the majority that they (had)? I get flamed for this alot from friends, but I think Hillary would've been better as a representative of the Democratic party.

[sarge87]

I'm finding it interesting how many Nebraskans are willing to give Bo Pelini two or three years to right the ship that is Nebraska football, while at the same time being unwilling to give Obama one second longer than 365 days to get this country fixed from the shambles it was in when he took office.

When Bo Pelini makes a decision, everyone gets to go home at the end of the day, their regular lives unaffected. When Obama, or any president makes a decision for that matter, it affects the daily lives of everyone, usually for a lifetime. If Bo screws up a decision, my job, my health, and my quality of life goes on unaffected.

 

I don't think this is a repudiation of Obama the person per se, but he is the man, the figure head of the Democratic party, so it may seem that way.

 

This is mostly a repudiation of the backroom dealing, big spending Congress. The Democrats have had the majorities in both legislative bodies for three years where nothing has been getting done but spending money hand over fist. The Republicans were thrown out of the majorities in 2006 for this very reason. No fiscal sanity. No transparency.

 

• $780 billion TARP fund by both parties <--- voters are still pissed about this. Obama put in power a number of figures who had played significant roles in the financial meltdown, and Wall Street emerged from the disaster apparently richer than ever. They should have been allowed to fail. Other businesses who played by the rules should have been allowed to take their place.
  

• $1 trillion dollar stimulus which created little or no jobs but served as political payola to unions, political hacks, and lobbyists for their donations to campaign coffers .
• Projected $1.5 trillion over ten years health care bill.
• $3 billion cash for clunkers which drove up prices in the used car market
• $??? Climate change legislation
• $??? So-called Green Job creation
• $??? Cap and Trade
• $250 billion and counting to bail out mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
• $??? A much talked about second stimulus
• $1.9 trillion increase in the debt ceiling asked for today by Democrats
  

When it comes to popularity ratings and why they've dropped for Obama, he has only himself to blame for that. The broken promises are abundant, because he hasn't shown any leadership.

 

• Broken promise No. 1: 'Sunlight Before Signing' (went out the window with the stimulus plan, actually no one read it, not even Congress)
  
• Broken promise No. 2: 'No jobs for lobbyists in the White House' (only 19 employed)
  
• Broken promise No. 3: Earmark reform (went out the window with the stimulus plan)
  
• Broken promise No. 4: Transparency (Cornhusker kickback, Louisiana purchase)
  
• Broken promise No. 5: Negotiate health care reform in public sessions on C-SPAN (never happened)
  
• Broken promise No. 6: Eliminate Executive signing statements (signed one within his first week in office)
  
• Broken promise No. 7: No Tax Increase on Families Making Under 250k (raised cigarette taxes by 159%, tax on "Cadillac" health insurance plans)
• Broken promise No. 8: I Won't Force Americans To Buy Insurance (This September, he told Congress: "Under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance.")
• Broken promise No. 9: End of "No bid" contracts over $25 billion (never happened)
  
• Broken promise No. 10: Expedition of stimulus package would hold unemployment rate at 8% (today it is still over 10%)
  

There are many other broken promises, but these will suffice.

 

When I say Obama hasn't shown any leadership, I mean he doesn't have the balls to dress down Pelosi and Reid. They are running roughshod as if they are running the show, and Obama is some token. If they didn't get the message after losses in New Jersey, Virginia, and now Massachusetts, then they never will until they lose 30-80 seats in the House, and 5-10 seats in the Senate rendering Obama to lame duck status after 2010 with no legacy and a failed presidency.

That's an awful lot of things to pin on Obama in one year. Are every one of those his issues, or issues with the Democrats?

 

I'm not going to try to be an Obamapologist. He's going to have to answer for himself to the voters. All I'm doing is giving the guy a little more rope than most.

 

I gave Bush the same leeway in his presidency. Not so much Clinton, but I never liked Clinton.

These were Obama's issues he vehemently campaigned on so much, his campaign created a website around them. These were the issues independent voters bought into lock, stock, and barrel, who now feel they were duped.

 

The Dems, under Speaker Pelosi, released the 'Six for 06' which contained:

National security<li>Jobs and wages<li>Energy independence<li>Affordable health care<li>Retirement security<li>College access for all

They only fulfilled one of their promises on the minimum wage increase which ultimately hurt small businesses.

 

Why didn't you like Clinton? I didn't care much for his politics, but I had a chance to have a conversation with him back in '94 for about 15 minutes. He is a friendly, likable person just shootin' the sh#t with, and I found out he is a HUGE Razorbacks fan. I figure someone who likes college sports as much as he does, can't be all that bad.

[knapplc]

knapplc: you sound like a true independent. Independents are becoming the largest voting block in this country. Too bad you can't vote in the primaries in Nebraska. They certainly were the power vote in MA.

 

I am a registered Independent. I grew up in a Republican family and registered as a Republican when I was old enough to vote, and I even volunteered on the David Karnes campaign back in 1988. But as time wore on I found myself unable to vote party line like so many people do. I always voted best candidate, regardless of party.

 

I was cool doing that and being registered Republican until the Contract With America really turned me off. I came to the conclusion that neither party really gave a damn about me or my opinion. My opinion is that each party wants three things from me:

 

1) My vote

2) My money

3) My silence

 

So I registered Independent and I've been happier about it than I ever was being on the roll of any particular party.

 

 

Why didn't you like Clinton? I didn't care much for his politics, but I had a chance to have a conversation with him back in '94 for about 15 minutes. He is a friendly, likable person just shootin' the sh#t with, and I found out he is a HUGE Razorbacks fan. I figure someone who likes college sports as much as he does, can't be all that bad.

 

I'm sure he's a cool guy. He seemed affable enough to me during his campaigns. I'm sure I'd get along with him if we met.

 

Bill seemed very fake to me as a president. Probably the way many people see Obama today. Clinton happened to be president during a pretty prosperous time for the country. We had just won the Cold War and most everything was going well. Add on top of that the Dot Com boom, and we were pretty affluent. He had no problem taking credit for all of that, when he really had next to nothing to do with any of it (although he did have Algore as his Veep, and without Algore we wouldn't have the Internet).

 

It's not so much the Lewinsky thing - I'm sure the vast majority of presidents have turned their office into a conduit for tail - and it's not so much the back door deals and all the shadiness of his presidency; again, every president does this stuff. There was just a smugness about him that I didn't like, and I wasn't into his liberal politics at all, and I thought he beat better men for the job (again, the same way a lot of people view Obama beating McCain).

 

As time wears on I look back on the Clinton presidency with more fondness than I ever felt at the time. So maybe it's more personal than political, and that's probably not so fair.

[huzkerbob]

knapplc: you sound like a true independent. Independents are becoming the largest voting block in this country. Too bad you can't vote in the primaries in Nebraska. They certainly were the power vote in MA.

 

I am a registered Independent. I grew up in a Republican family and registered as a Republican when I was old enough to vote, and I even volunteered on the David Karnes campaign back in 1988. But as time wore on I found myself unable to vote party line like so many people do. I always voted best candidate, regardless of party.

 

I was cool doing that and being registered Republican until the Contract With America really turned me off. I came to the conclusion that neither party really gave a damn about me or my opinion. My opinion is that each party wants three things from me:

 

1) My vote

2) My money

3) My silence

 

So I registered Independent and I've been happier about it than I ever was being on the roll of any particular party.

 

Well knapplc I guess we're not so different after all.

[sarge87]

knapplc: you sound like a true independent. Independents are becoming the largest voting block in this country. Too bad you can't vote in the primaries in Nebraska. They certainly were the power vote in MA.

 

I am a registered Independent. I grew up in a Republican family and registered as a Republican when I was old enough to vote, and I even volunteered on the David Karnes campaign back in 1988. But as time wore on I found myself unable to vote party line like so many people do. I always voted best candidate, regardless of party.

 

I was cool doing that and being registered Republican until the Contract With America really turned me off. I came to the conclusion that neither party really gave a damn about me or my opinion. My opinion is that each party wants three things from me:

 

1) My vote

2) My money

3) My silence

 

So I registered Independent and I've been happier about it than I ever was being on the roll of any particular party.

Nebraska does not have a Conservative party, so I'm stuck with registering Republican in order to vote the primaries.

 

I only give money to specific candidates, never to the national party..