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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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| How's he doing? |
| Excellent (5 out of 5) |
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10% |
[ 5 ] |
| Well (4) |
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21% |
[ 10 ] |
| Fair (3) |
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19% |
[ 9 ] |
| Inadequate (2) |
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15% |
[ 7 ] |
| Poor (1) |
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32% |
[ 15 ] |
| Polls are useless, and so are you |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
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| Total Votes : 46 |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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 Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:08 am Post subject: How's Obama doing? |
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Well, here are some polls . . .
Obama Job Approval
50.8% approval and 44.4% disapproval
US Health Care
| Quote: |
Obama Job Approval
Health Care: 43% Approve, 45% Disapprove (chart)
Do you think the current health care system in this country needs major changes, minor changes, or no changes at all?
67% Major Changes, 28% Minor Changes
If health care reform is passed by Congress, do you expect health care in this country to get better, to get worse, or remain the same as it is now?
38% Get better, 38% Get worse, 17% Remain the same
If health care reform is passed by Congress, do you expect health care for you and your family to get better, to get worse, or remain the same as it is now?
27% Get better, 34% Get worse, 35% Remain the same |
What do we think? |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:26 am Post subject: |
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| Inadequate. He's doing fairly well on foreign policy, but he's failing at health care reform, he's failing at economic reform, and he's even failed so far at the fairly basic civil rights measure of the removal of discrimination in the military. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 5:08 am Post subject: |
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I give him very high marks for foreign affairs, which matter to me most. Thus my four stars here. No one in politics ought to receive five, Kuros.
I note that he has failed to bring Americans together on divisive issues, such as healthcare, as we are now seeing in the townhall meetings, for example. So perhaps he is not the Messiah after all...
And by this sneer I obviously remain annoyed by his support base and its simplistic politics and rhetoric, much as the right's support base and its simplistic politics and rhetoric annoys many others. |
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Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee
Joined: 25 May 2003
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 5:25 am Post subject: |
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Not great but he's ok.
One good thing is that he will eventually cause a fight between the stupid liberals and the creepy Ron Paul followers. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:16 am Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| Inadequate. He's doing fairly well on foreign policy, but he's failing at health care reform, he's failing at economic reform, and he's even failed so far at the fairly basic civil rights measure of the removal of discrimination in the military. |
1. I agree with failing at health care reform. That being said, I think any politician would find this a challenge. While I think I'll be disappointed at whatever reform is passed, if Obama DOES get some type of reform done, I'll give the man some credit.
2. Economic reform. I wouldn't say he's failed at it; he simply hasn't done it. So I'd say he's failed to do it (or even try). There is a difference.
So I gave him a 3. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:41 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| he's even failed so far at the fairly basic civil rights measure of the removal of discrimination in the military. |
But see Bucheon Bum's above distinction between failing and not even trying. I suspect that the failure to repeal DADT is very deliberate on Obama's part. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 9:52 am Post subject: |
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Here's Yves Smith on the subject:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/08/is-this-start-of-big-one.html
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Lack of political leadership. The health care fiasco is going to be a defining event for Obama, in a negative way. His inability to respond effectively to simply absurd distortions of his plan and of the record of public supported programs overseas (including that many are government funded but still privately run, for instance) may dispel the illusion that he is or can be an effective leader. His banking policy, which is vital to recovery, became hostage to Geithner and Summer's deep loyalty to the industry, and his lack or interest in rocking any boats. All Team Obama has done on the banking front is write a lot of blank check, hold some bogus "stress tests" in lieu of doing the real thing, and raise a stink on a few symbolic issues to try to paper over the failure to embark on real and badly needed reforms.
Ed Harrison has called him a black Herbert Hoover. If the economy takes another down leg, it will further confirm his inability to do anything other than compromise and try to spin it as success. The confidence game worked when he was a new President, but nice talk and not much action is already wearing thin. We could use someone at the helm who is willing to plot a course and stick with it, and instead what we have is someone long on charisma and short on resolve. |
The economy (as represented in equity markets, which the herd uses as a measure) is going to tank again. It probably started last night in Shanghai. Obama will be exposed as the bag of number manipulating, bankster facilitating, hot air that he is (on this subject). |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:12 am Post subject: |
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He has continued all or almost all of the policies of the Bush administration, trillions have been handed over to the Wall Streeters with no strings attached, and has brought everyone into his cabinet from the finance sector, he is comtinuing the wars, doubling the number of troops in Afghanistan while July has been the deadliest month yet for American forces, he backs attacks on Iran and Pakistan, has proposed "prolonged detention," he has spearheaded wage cuts for American workers as prices have spiraled, his administration has invoked �state secrets� to block court cases challenging torture and domestic spying,... (It's getting late.)
There should be a half-star option.
Last edited by bacasper on Sat Aug 22, 2009 6:18 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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| bucheon bum wrote: |
| That being said, I think any politician would find this a challenge. |
I agree, it's a challenge. Politicians should be elected because they're the indivdiuals most capable of meeting these challenges. The fact that the average American settles for less is precisely why they get less.
| bucheon bum wrote: |
| 2. Economic reform. I wouldn't say he's failed at it; he simply hasn't done it. So I'd say he's failed to do it (or even try). There is a difference. |
While I agree he's failed to try (he's even moved in the exact opposite direction of real reform), he has an obligation to do it for the sake of the country that elected him. If he fails to achieve reform because he fails to try, that's still a failure. If he tries later and succeeds, then credit where credit is due. I don't believe he will try based on how his administration is acting and the message they are putting out, and so far, they've not only failed, they've moved away from the goal.
The same goes for On the Other Hand's response to gay discrimination in the military; yes, so far he hasn't tried, and that's why he's thus far failed to achieve this important and necessary goal. Unlike with the economy, I feel there's a chance he actually will begin trying on this at some point, but there was no reason not to do it immediately. As opposed to topics like health care, there is no great complexity here to debate, and there will be no 1100 page bill to complain of having to digest. It's an incredibly simple matter: discrimination is occuring in our military, and it needs to be stopped by law rather than enforced by law. |
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AgentM
Joined: 07 Jun 2009
Location: British Columbia, Canada
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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| I voted for the Fair option. Along with others, I'm disappointed by his lacklustre effort at health care reform, although I do understand the odds he's up against. I like his foreign policy, and he's not Bush (although it's true that he's following a lot of Bush policies). |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
| But see Bucheon Bum's above distinction between failing and not even trying. I suspect that the failure to repeal DADT is very deliberate on Obama's part. |
Since when does calculated political pragmatism become a negative-sounding "not even trying" and a device for potentially scathing critique? If B. Obama has weighed his options and decided to keep them open at the moment, possibly (probably, I think) awaiting a more promising opportunity to marshal forces and lead, especially on this particularly divisive issue, is this not the essence of wise political leadership?
Or -- turn on sneering sarcasm -- do his supporters merely expect the Messiah to wave his hand and cure all evils in one fell swoop? And does his "failure" to do this now cause them bitterness and disappointment? Good. Let them finally experience the real world, the world of compromise, negotiated settlement, and wise political leadership. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Gopher wrote: |
| Or -- turn on sneering sarcasm -- do his supporters merely expect the Messiah to wave his hand and cure all evils in one fell swoop? |
The funny thing is, don't ask don't tell is definitely the sort of policy that could be corrected with nearly so simple an effort.
Regarding the economy, I agree it's far too complex to quickly and easily resolve, but the Obama Administration's efforts have run outright counter to reform. Any actual reform he tries to "marshal at a later date," would have to first work against what he's all ready supported. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| Gopher wrote: |
| Or -- turn on sneering sarcasm -- do his supporters merely expect the Messiah to wave his hand and cure all evils in one fell swoop? |
The funny thing is, don't ask don't tell is definitely the sort of policy that could be corrected with nearly so simple an effort. |
Do you know what would happen to an administration's image and standing should, say, the Joint Chiefs of Staff refuse to comply with such an executive order or more probably simply simultaneously resign in protest? Do you not recall that the Clinton administration faced this very scenario in its first year in power?
Thus the compromise. One should show due caution when moving to renegotiate it. Same thing, for example, applies to those who would renegotiate Roe vs. Wade... |
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Sergio Stefanuto
Joined: 14 May 2009
Location: UK
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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I think President Obama is a profoundly dangerous individual.
(1) Climate. He knows nothing. If you disagree, feel free to cite your top 3 achievements of Obama's in this regard. For me, he's all slogans, all cliches, all eloquence
(2) Islamoschmoozing. He's an appeaser. Hasn't anyone learned anything from World War II?
(3) Printing money. This will cause runaway inflation and a currency crisis and guarantee a Sarah Palin presidency in 2012
(4) Ridiculous commitment to the two-state solution. It is a bourgeois leftist utopia only and is - in consequence - mired in hopeless absurdity and steeped in its own pathos. If you look at the world, imagine you're invited to think of one more thing you'd like to add to it - is the first thing that enters your head one more Shareeah state? |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Gopher wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| Gopher wrote: |
| Or -- turn on sneering sarcasm -- do his supporters merely expect the Messiah to wave his hand and cure all evils in one fell swoop? |
The funny thing is, don't ask don't tell is definitely the sort of policy that could be corrected with nearly so simple an effort. |
Do you know what would happen to an administration's image and standing should, say, the Joint Chiefs of Staff refuse to comply with such an executive order or more probably simply simultaneously resign in protest? |
If they attempted to refuse to comply -- or more hilariously, simultaneously resigned -- over merely being told, "You can't discriminate anymore," I think the administration's image and standing would be fine, while the image of the men who bullheadedly resigned over wanting to discriminate would be decimated.
It's time to stop allowing justice to be held hostage to such nonsense. Unlike Roe vs. Wade, this is a case of injustice (and worse, injustice that actively harms our nation; throwing away viable, willing soldiers over their sexuality is pointlessly self-destructive).
Last edited by Fox on Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:52 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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