Lisa Benson for November 05, 2010

you can’t have it both ways. either back up your promises OR compromise…

How heavy is the promises valise that it needs wheels, most promises are pretty empty these days. Where’s that old carpet bag when you need one?

Does the phrase “hold one’s feet to the fire” sound familiar?

I was raised in the ’50s, way back when a high school education was at today’s PHD level for History and Government. In other words: We were pretty well informed as the teachers at that time had not been corrupted by an “Education” Department dumbing down an entire generation.

Today’s voter, because of the Internet, et. al., is much more politically informed as any time in the past. Thus, they are aware of the “promises” a particular politician expouses and is getting more involved by ousting those whose promises aren’t kept.

Those who rule against the will of the people who put them there, promised or not, are being ousted wholesale.

This is the bane of the Left.

We Conservatives have awakened and are taking the GOP back. We did a large RINO purge but have not completely finished. 2012 will tell the tale if we haven’t totally lost the game by that time.

Yeah, because The Democrat party of the last two years epitomized compromise.

^ yes, we tried to compromise, but how can you compromise with racist, obstructive xenophobes like the teapublican party?

“Today’s voter, because of the Internet, et. al., is much more politically informed as any time in the past”

47% of voters think Obama passed TARP. More politically informed, you say?

Oh dear … there you go again stuart_zedman with your feeble racist=republicans etc etc. Give it a break … it has NOTHING to do with race OR color … it has everything to do with performance and capabilities ….

God Bless Ewing and jamescag!

seems that mind-numbed Lefty parrots use this comment venue to spread false accusations and smears of GOP and Conservatives…the use of “teabaggers” is a deliberate and vulgar insult…..Tea Party activists are following the model of the 1770’s Boston Tea Party that sent a message to King George in England…..today the messsage is aimed at Emperor Obama and His court of elected Dems….(elected by hook or crook….Reid and Boxer and some others surely and undoubtedly used illegal methods to “buy” votes…and I’m certain Rahm left DC for Chicago ahead of the Nov.2 general election to ensure the age-old Chicago graveyard vote….just my personal opinion—the mayor’s election is not until Feb.22, 2011—-!

Jade, be fair and realize that a part of that reason is that TARP was the Obama administration’s mandate and they pretty much begged Bush to pass it to keep things for getting worse calling it “vital” among other things.

And then I will be fair and admit that TARP was one Obama-proposed program that actually worked. Virtually all of the money loaned to the companies and banks has been repaid – with interest!

^Please explain…since Obama was elected after Bush how in this reality that Obama’s Administration was involved with TARP. Did they use Deloreans?

Shortly after Obama was elected (weeks, months), Geitner and other Obama advisors presented TARP as a way to prevent the economy from getting worse/collapsing/whatever. They called it vital that it pass immediately before the banks collapsed. The bill flew through Congress and Bush signed it (partially out of courtesy, imo).

BTW, this is one of the reasons that the Bush presidency has a huge spike at the end of his tenure under ‘spending’ and ‘deficit increase.’ Virtually all of the loans (TARP was loans, not stimulus or payouts) were paid back with interest, but his numbers don’t get marked back down and Obama actually gets the credit for the money coming in. I’m not complaining about this last bit, it’s just the way it is and the way the books record things.

‘toon– He does serve a very ugly mistress.

MrGromit while I see you are grasping at straws. At least your response is intelligent, whoever wrong. Bush was still president.

Did I say Bush was not president? Where was I wrong in my posts? Read the two of them together, preferably with Jade’s post above.

And instead of accusing me of ‘grasping for straws’ and “whoever wrong,” please state your argument. And if you would, spend the time to proofread and use complete sentences?

“Jade, be fair and realize that a part of that reason is that TARP was the Obama administration’s mandate and they pretty much begged Bush to pass it to keep things for getting worse calling it “vital” among other things.”

How was it their mandate? It could have been vetoed. I never said that Democrats didn’t favor TARP, but it is wrong to say that they favored it as-is. They wanted strings attached. Republicans said “no, that would discourage them from partaking/too big government.”

“And then I will be fair and admit that TARP was one Obama-proposed program that actually worked. Virtually all of the money loaned to the companies and banks has been repaid – with interest!”

Ah, but that would be a positive spin on it and Obama is blamed for the spending that is imposed by TARP, not granted credit for whether or not it helped to stabilize the economy. Like with GM, which is now profitable again, which was really at his behest, since Bush didn’t want to bail out the auto industry but finally gave in anyway.

However, when I say “47% of Americans blame Obama for TARP” it is meant that they blame him for bailing out banks, not that they credit him for stabilizing a crisis. It was done on Bush’s watch, but to point that out is instantly shouted down as “blaming Bush.” So I am being fair, perhaps the Right Wing Noise Machine should try it.

I haven’t heard one person in GOP leadership talk about compromise.

Let there be gridlock…

None of the strings were removed. This is why people working for AIG in divisions that weren’t a part of the bailout and received a salary of $1/yr because they were expected to make bonuses, had those bonuses taken back. Republicans had no control in either the House or the Senate and couldn’t do anything about it even if they wanted. Bush signed it as-is. It was a Democrat bill crafted by the Obama administration. Yes, Bush signed it and as I stated, the record is settled. As I stated, it worked and I’ll give Obama credit for it.

I haven’t heard any Republican/conservative pundits “blame” Obama for TARP, and I have heard a few give him credit for how it saved the companies and how it was paid back. They point out that it was a loan, unlike the Stimulus handouts that have done little more than cause more economic problems. And I’m not saying it “stabilized the economy,” because it continued to tank, it simply helped keep those companies from going bankrupt and possibly causing a run, which would have been devastating.

Calling GM “profitable” takes a bit of book-cooking. I’m not going to explain this right now because I’m very pressed for time and shouldn’t even be on this site right now…

And you stated in your first post that “47% of voters think Obama passed TARP”. This was what I was addressing; their perception of where it originated. You did not state “blame” and while you didn’t give your source, I assumed it wasn’t a targeted poll and both Dems and Reps voiced their thoughts, so I really don’t think you can claim that all 47% are assessing “blame” anywhere, like you do in your second quote.

Have a great weekend.

“The Democrat party of the last two years epitomized compromise.”

So… where is the public option in healthcare reform? What are tax cuts doing in the stimulus bill? Where are any consequences for the big financial companies even AFTER the scandals caused by the large bonuses given when they were bailed out? Where are the civilian courts for Gitmo detainees and the closing of the base? Where is cap and trade?

Hey, I guess not getting all you want from the other party isn’t all that fun. Still, I’d the right got a whole more compromise than it gave the last time it had the presidency and control over congress.