Open Post To Obama Fans

7 responses to “Open Post To Obama Fans”

1. Scott Erb | November 8, 2012 at 7:09 am | Reply

   I was talking with my World Politics class about how we need a sea change in thinking on policy and economics. The world economy is global. The global economy will rise or fall, and the US has limited capacity to do it “on our own.” The idea that the President can take credit or blame for economic outcomes is obsolete. Globalization has weakened the efficacy of the tools of the sovereign state. I suspect that whether it was McCain or Obama we’d be about where we are. Whether it was Romney or Obama, we’ll be in 2016 at about the same place.

   Also, let’s be bi-partisan here. Obama can’t do anything about the debt and deficit without the Republican House. So debt and deficit are NOT attributable to the President alone or one party alone, they share responsibility, they’ll share success or failure. That’s why they need to work together and accept that joint responsibility. We have a divided system of government, and economic policy is as dependent on John Boehner as it is on Barack Obama.

   • Pino | November 8, 2012 at 3:47 pm | Reply

     The world economy is global. The global economy will rise or fall, and the US has limited capacity to do it “on our own.” The idea that the President can take credit or blame for economic outcomes is obsolete. Globalization has weakened the efficacy of the tools of the sovereign state. I suspect that whether it was McCain or Obama we’d be about where we are. Whether it was Romney or Obama, we’ll be in 2016 at about the same place.

     That’s an interesting read. One that contradicts the meme of the Obama campaign that attacked Romney on Bain. There is no debate that Romney brings infinitely more experience and insight into global markets than Obama does.

     Also, let’s be bi-partisan here. Obama can’t do anything about the debt and deficit without the Republican House. So debt and deficit are NOT attributable to the President alone or one party alone, they share responsibility, they’ll share success or failure.

     Again, this is where Romney drawfs the President. Obama has zero experience leading and directing teams and organizations. He has literally, zero days of experience in this area. He doesn’t know how to set goals and directions and manage conflicting agendas to success.

     Further, Obama has no interest in acting in a bipartisan manner. He set the stage when, after being elected the first time, “I won.” Romney managed a massive democratic majority in his house and senate and was able to pass legislation. There is no hope that Obama has the desire let alone the skill.

     I for one, am actively lobbying my elected officials to continue to prevent Obama from doing ANYTHING his way. Should anyone move to compromise, it should be Obama.

     But what I basically hear is that you don’t have any measure that you will use to gauge Obama’s success or failure?

2. Scott Erb | November 8, 2012 at 7:12 am | Reply

   Here’s a link to over 200 accomplishments for Obama since he took office:
   http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/what-has-obama-done-since-january-20-2009.html

   Unfortunately the rate declined after the GOP took the House. Remember: Obama can’t do anything meaningful about the economy without the GOP on board. The two sides share responsibility for getting things done or doing nothing. I think the GOP has been obstructing, thinking that if they can prevent Obama from acting they’d be able to defeat him. That failed, so hopefully they’ll now put country first and work with the President on compromises to move ahead on debt, deficit, entitlement reform, and revision of Obamacare. Since it’s not going to go away, I think they need to work to figure out how to improve and streamline it.

3. reflectionephemeral | November 8, 2012 at 10:14 am | Reply

   We’ve actually weathered this recession better than was expected. See “5 Historical Economic Crises and the U.S.”, a post at The Big Picture from Feb. 2008 on Reinhart and Rogoff’s paper on the (likely brutal) upcoming recession.

   See Josh Lehner’s post, “Checking in on Financial Crises Recoveries”, on how well our recovery compares to past post-financial crisis recoveries.

   As to why:

   in a survey of leading economists conducted by the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, 92 percent agreed that the stimulus succeeded in reducing the jobless rate. On the harder question of whether the benefit exceeded the cost, more than half thought it did, one in three was uncertain, and fewer than one in six disagreed. Or consider the widely despised bank bailouts. Populist politicians on both sides have taken to pounding the table against them (in many cases, only after voting for them). But while the public may not like them, there’s a striking consensus that they helped: The same survey found no economists willing to dispute the idea that the bailouts lowered unemployment. Do you remember the Republican concern that Obama had somehow caused gas prices to rise, a development that Newt Gingrich promised to reverse? There’s simply no support among economists for this view. They unanimously agreed that “market factors,” rather than energy policy, have driven changes in gas prices. … The Booth poll couldn’t find a single economist who believed that cutting taxes today will lead to higher government revenue — even if we lower only the top tax rate.

   (From a Bloomberg article, “The U.S. Economic Policy Debate Is a Sham”).

   As to the deficit & debt, the bulk the policy changes that erased the surpluses came before the president came into office, and the bulk of the projected deficits come from policies like the Bush fiscal policies and the occupation of Iraq. (The downturn, of course, is another main cause). The long-term debt problem is health care costs; the ACA is projected by the CBO to reduce the deficit.

   So when you look at facts and context, it’s wrong to say that Pres. Obama has done poorly.

   • Pino | November 8, 2012 at 6:44 pm | Reply

     We’ve actually weathered this recession better than was expected.

     We haven’t weathered the recession as well as Obama himself said we would.

     in a survey of leading economists conducted by the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, 92 percent agreed that the stimulus succeeded in reducing the jobless rate.

     You would have a hard time making the case that it reduced the rate. It didn’t reduce the rate. You can make the case that the rate would have been higher. And even I agree that if you subsidize something you get more of it.

     However, the larger case of “did it do more good than harm” remains hotly debated. I suggest that we are not better off than we would have been without the stimulus. I suggest that it’s rather like the cash for clunkers program; a wild failure.

     The long-term debt problem is health care costs; the ACA is projected by the CBO to reduce the deficit.

     This is only true due to the fact that the CBO scores it in a 10 year window. A window where we have years of taxation without any benefits.

     So when you look at facts and context, it’s wrong to say that Pres. Obama has done poorly.

     The economy is barely growing and unemployment has not been addressed. In fact, it’s going to get worse. Obama did not reduce the deficit in half like he said he would. There isn’t a metric that can show he has made any progress.

4. dedc79 | November 8, 2012 at 10:52 am | Reply

   If he hasn’t done anything, what are you so upset about?

   • Pino | November 8, 2012 at 7:37 pm | Reply

     If he hasn’t done anything, what are you so upset about?

     So, if a basketball player goes 0-28 you could say he hasn’t “done” anything. No points.

     But clearly you are worse off than if almost anyone else were playing.