REAL History...

[bluffmanxx]

If you believe that Obama, at least, has good intentions....what should he be doing which he is not?

for starters, he should stop assigning blame. then he should stop attacking and pissing off those who oppose his ideas. his recent Q & A with congress seems to be a good first step in that direction. sadly his crucial first year was wasted. shutting out the republicans in the drafting process of the stimulus and statements like "we won, get used to it" set a very confrontational tone.

as for health care, a few changes might have gone a long way. willingness to publicly compromise (instead of watering down the bill to buy votes) and adding reforms on trial lawyers might have been just enough. taking an attitude from the beginning of, " this bill is a starting point, there will be changes - but reform is necessary" would have worked far better than forcing the bill through in near secret votes and attacking any opposition.

you set a confrontational tone, you get confrontation. what a shock.

[bluffmanxx]

It's much more likely that Obama sees the way out (as do a lot of people) but lacks the political will or power to make the necessary reforms. So long as the big banks are dumping in the lobbying dollars, it's "Meet the new boss... same as the old boss!" Obama has shown no desire to change that and extremely few peoplein Washington do. Even McCain pussed out on his late 90's campaign finance reform push.

and what of those promises about lobbyists?? sure sounded good...but how did it work out??

[spaceboy761]

and what of those promises about lobbyists?? sure sounded good...but how did it work out??

Why are we holding Obama to campaign promises that every candidate since Nixon makes and none follow through on. As if someone is going to run on, "I want to keep the lobbyists in control of Washington!". You're holding Obama up to standards that nobody has ever come close to fulfilling.

[bluffmanxx]

Why are we holding Obama to campaign promises that every candidate since Nixon makes and none follow through on. As if someone is going to run on, "I want to keep the lobbyists in control of Washington!". You're holding Obama up to standards that nobody has ever come close to fulfilling.

because the central theme of his campaign was "change". he represented himself as different than all the others.

[spaceboy761]

because the central theme of his campaign was "change". he represented himself as different than all the others.

Again, every candidate since Nixon has proclaimed that they will "bring change to Washington". Obama probably went to the well more than the others, but seriously? This is like suing Pepsi because you feel that their drink failed to 'Refresh Everything' in your life or McDonald's because you were not 'lovin'' your most recent Big Mac.

[billynomates]

It's much more likely that Obama sees the way out (as do a lot of people) but lacks the political will or power to make the necessary reforms. So long as the big banks are dumping in the lobbying dollars, it's "Meet the new boss... same as the old boss!" Obama has shown no desire to change that and extremely few peoplein Washington do. Even McCain pussed out on his late 90's campaign finance reform push.

As most times you are correct , but amongst his vague promises Obama made commitments, maybe noone expects politicians to keep their promises(a sad indictment) but expect people to keep their commitments. Obama fails all ways round.

[bluffmanxx]

Again, every candidate since...

not going to argue or dispute that fact, i do think obama took it to another level.

perhaps the reason he is getting called on it is simply because of the higher level of scrutiny due to their being endless internet news, smear and information blogs out there.

in nixon's day if it wasn't on the evening news, it didn't exist. nobody knew. every president from here on out will have to facer higher and higher levels of scrutiny and find ways to be effective in spite of it.

[ColdCase]

Look at it as a chess game...One cannot lay claim to the opposition's King in swift deliberate moves.

One has to respect the opposition, give them credit where credit is due, find their weakness and then strike.

Obama came into the game missing both rooks, a knight and a most of his pawns.

You can't build Rome in a day...you can't win the chess game easily and you can't change what has been the status quo for decades in one short year.

He said he was going to take those bastards on........he will damn well try...mark my words...when the conditions are favourable!

[billynomates]

The Chinese, who’ve been negotiating for a heck of a lot longer than the United States has been on the map, are fully aware of President Barack Obama’s stunning political weakness at the end of his first year in office.

Pres. Obama could be the poster boy for what happens when others see you as weak. Obama imagined that bowing and scraping and using his pretty words would endear him to the world. He imagined he would show the international community how different he was from Bush with his "cowboy diplomacy." Well, one thing Bush was never accused of was being weak.

When our President looks weak, America looks weak.

Obama is no stranger to failure in foreign relations, unless you believe apologizing for your country’s past defines success. In previous attempts at diplomacy, Obama failed to negotiate commitments from Europe on troops in Afghanistan, bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, and botched our once close relationship with the British.

Obama’s Asian trip soured rapidly after he bowed before the Emperor of Japan. Obama has shown a penchant for prostrating himself before foreign leaders, giving visual representation to how he is seeking to submit America to the desires of foreign powers. Obama bent so low, it approached the level of groveling to the diminutive son of the man who ordered the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Next, when attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Obama shook hand with Gen. Thein Sein, the Prime Minister appointed by a vicious and brutal military junta in Myanmar. By shaking hands and meeting with this unelected dictator, Obama sends a message to all those fighting for freedom across the world: America is no longer standing with you, but with your oppressors.

In China, Obama was pushed around by those from whom he is borrowing more and more money. Obama failed to gain any commitments from the Chinese regarding their oppression of human rights. His creditors also greatly restricted his ability to speak to the Chinese people. Obama was allowed one highly scripted town-hall meeting that was not broadcast on state-run television, as he had expected. While he was in China, the Chinese verbally attacked American economic policy. To top it off, the Chinese signaled they would block American-led efforts to sanction Iran for its nuclear program.

Other world leaders know weakness when they see i

t.

[skyguy2007]

IMO two industries have controlled Washington DC for decades, banking and insurance, it's simply where the money is, Obama found this out in a hurry once in office.

Quick story, and part of the health insurance problem as Bluff stated...My niece just married a heart transplant doctor in his first year of employment with Mayo Clinic, his starting salary is $375K, and he's worth every penny plus more. His malpractice insurance, paid for as a benefit by Mayo is 450K per year!!!

Another problem as many here have stated, I have BC/BC of NC. The pool of people covered in our "group" is 375 thousand people, even though they insure 1.4 million people. The smaller insurance companies can keep the "groups" the more they can scream they need to increase premiums, and they have no desire to increase group size.