Will Obama be a failure if:

[liberty]

Will Obama be a failure if:

By the end of his first term his unemployment rate is higher then the average of GW‘s unemployment rate.

On his watch, Egypt joins Iran as an Islamic state and an enemy of the United States.

Or the our country’s energy independency has not improved, if the price if gas is still over two dollars a gallon.

I realize that these questions are political blasphemy. To question the success of a Democrat president is political treason to some, but unlike some I do not worship or idealize political leaders. Since I am no longer on active he is not my commandeering in chief, but instead my servant that I share with you all. He is merely the guy we hired to run the executive branch of the federal government and if he does not produce he gets fired.

[Andrew D]

GW Bush inherited a booming economy. Any prudent household saves during the fat years to provide for the lean years. Before GW Bush, we were, on a bipartisan basis (Democratic President and Republican Congress) behaving prudently: We stopped running budget deficits and ran a budget surplus, and we were reducing the national debt.

Then GW Bush and the crazies took over and threw it all away.

Obama inherited the mess that Bush and the Republicans had created. He and Congress took steps to clean up that mess. To a significant extent those steps have worked, and if Bush's make-the-rich-even-richer-while-doing-essentially-nothing-for-everyone-else tax cuts had been immediately repealed, those steps would have worked even better. Unemployment is far less than it would have been had the madness of the Bush II years been continued. The economic stimulus package, for all its problems, did a great deal of good. And had it not been for Republican obstructionism, the stimulus would have been much larger -- as a substantial majority of economists across the political spectrum agrees that it should have been -- and would have done much more good.

As far as the economy is concerned, Republican criticisms of Obama amount to nothing more than this: "He has not done a good enough job of cleaning up the mess we made."

[liberty]

Andrew I am most likely the least partisan person on this forum, because I care nothing for party or personality. The only thing that is important to me is my country.
We can not continue to have unemployment near ten percent. We can not continue to barrow money to pay unemployment. The day of reckoning is coming and before that day arrives we are going to have to do something about our national debt. In order to do that more people will need to be paying taxes instead of consuming tax revenue. And yes the rich are going to have more taxes but then so are all us. Even the working poor will have to pay some.

If in two years, Obama has not reduced unemployment it to at least what it was under bush, he has failed and will need to be replaced or failure may become a way of life. Then we might need to get used to twenty five percent unemployment.

God knows I wish him luck because if he goes down we all may go with him.

[rubato]

So far he has been a big success. He has prevented the worst economic collapse in 80 years from being a 2nd great depression and halted the rise in unemployment.

BushCo and the Republicans left us in the worst crisis since FDR.

Your metrics are simply foolish.

yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

By your measure The Republicans were a failure because they never reduced unemployment to Clinton's levels in 8 years (not just 4).


But as I say your measurement of success is just foolish. Under Carter unemployment was driven to even higher levels during the "Volcker Disinflation" and while this was painful in the short term it was good policy in the long term since it was by that inflation was finally brought under control. Whipping inflation, which no president other than Carter in the past half-century had the courage to do, outweighed the pain.

yrs,
rubato

[Sue U]

Interesting chart, rubato; I see (and having been there, I remember) that at two and a half years into Ronald Reagan's first term, unemployment had skyrocketed to near 11 percent, during a recession that was not nearly as deep and severe as the one we are experiencing now. By the end of Reagan's second term, unemployment was just dropping back to the level it had been under President Carter.

You will never see the price of gasoline drop below $2/gal again, liberty, -- until, perhaps, the industiralized and industrializing nations move off of petroleum as a primary energy source.

As for Egypt, how is what is happening there in any way the "fault" of the Obama administration? This is a problem that has been simmering for 30 years or more. In any event, it is highly unlikely that Egypt will adopt a theocratic model of government: the Muslim Brotherhood, for all its noise, represents only a very tiny fraction of the opposition to the current regime and is not leading the protests; the population as a whole is not particularly sympathetic to Islamic fundamentalism, which would impose even more restrictions on the very liberties that the demonstrators -- largely secular -- are demanding. Moreover, Egyptians are acutely aware that their economy depends on Western trade and aid; Egypt has been steadily moving away from the centralized economic control imposed under Nasser towards a free-market system, and has been attracting foreign development. However, endemic political corruption, poverty and lack of broad-based educational opportunity have severely hampered economic growth. It is poverty and repression that are fueling the current attempt at revolution, not religious fervor.

ETA:
I was wrong in my statement above concerning the Muslim Brotherhood. To the extent its "independent" candidates can be identified as Mulsim Brotherhood members, it is in fact the largest opposition bloc. I was thinking about the breakaway group responsible for terrorist attacks at Luxor and headed by Omar Abdul Rahman.

[Scooter]

Which birther website did these metrics come from?

[liberty]

You will never see the price of gasoline drop below $2/gal again, liberty, -- until, perhaps, the industiralized and industrializing nations move off of petroleum as a primary energy source.

.

I chose the price of gas as convenient measure of our energy independence because all of these considerations are related. Energy effects both our national security and our economy. As I see it there are two ways in which the price of gas could come down. One, we could produce a lot more oil domestically and restrict its use and sale to our country. Two, some other energy source could be developed or utilized that would take the pressure off petroleum so as to increase the available supply of gasoline and there by reduce its price.

[liberty]

What would make Obama a failure as president?

[Scooter]

If a cure for AIDS is not found.

If hunger is not eliminated.

If world peace is not achieved.

If the Red Sox fail to win back-to-back World Series.

Hey, I figure I might as well start writing the Republican talkiing points for the upcoming election season.

[Sue U]

Obama is already a "failure" as a president, since my own political priorities have not been advanced by his administration. However, that doesn't mean I'd want the Republicans anywhere near the levers of power.

[Gob]

Obama will be a failure as a president if the USA does not have a competent team capable of reaching at least the semi finals of the Cricket World Cup 2015!

[dales]

If the Red Sox fail to win back-to-back World Series.

Being from the "windy city" Obama's term in office would be considered a failure if the Cubs don't win a World Series.

[liberty]

Obama will be a failure as a president if the USA does not have a competent team capable of reaching at least the semi finals of the Cricket World Cup 2015!

Gob, why is your country doing so much better than mine?

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/economi ... symbol=aud

Australia Unemployment RateThe unemployment rate in Australia was last reported at 5.00 percent in December of 2010. From 1978 until 2010, Australia's Unemployment Rate averaged 7.11 percent reaching an historical high of 10.90 percent in December of 1992 and a record low of 4.00 percent in February of 2008. The labour force is defined as the number of people employed plus the number unemployed but seeking work. The nonlabour force includes those who are not looking for work, those who are institutionalised and those serving in the military. This page includes: Australia Unemployment Rate chart, historical data and news.

Country Interest Rate Growth Rate Inflation Rate Jobless Rate Current Account Exchange Rate
Australia 4.75% 0.20% 2.70% 5.20% -5640 0.9900

[liberty]

Obama is already a "failure" as a president, since my own political priorities have not been advanced by his administration. However, that doesn't mean I'd want the Republicans anywhere near the levers of power.

What the Republicans do that troubles you so much?

[Gob]

Gob, why is your country doing so much better than mine?

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/economi ... symbol=aud

Australia Unemployment RateThe unemployment rate in Australia was last reported at 5.00 percent in December of 2010. From 1978 until 2010, Australia's Unemployment Rate averaged 7.11 percent reaching an historical high of 10.90 percent in December of 1992 and a record low of 4.00 percent in February of 2008. The labour force is defined as the number of people employed plus the number unemployed but seeking work. The nonlabour force includes those who are not looking for work, those who are institutionalised and those serving in the military. This page includes: Australia Unemployment Rate chart, historical data and news.

Country Interest Rate Growth Rate Inflation Rate Jobless Rate Current Account Exchange Rate
Australia 4.75% 0.20% 2.70% 5.20% -5640 0.9900

We'll it's not really my country, but a few reasons.

1) Aus is riding a resources boom.
2) Aus has a far more socialist government, which looks after its people which produce it's wealth.
3) Aus is much smaller and more easy to manage.
4) Aus is very liberal (in the true sense of the word.)
6) Aus made the decision to invest its money in its infrastructure at the beginning of the economic crisis, which has paid off big time.
7) Aus is less fearful of the rest of the world.
8) Aus has a "mateship" culture.
9) Aus has a better education system than the US.
10) Aus has a political system which works for the people.

[Sue U]

Obama is already a "failure" as a president, since my own political priorities have not been advanced by his administration. However, that doesn't mean I'd want the Republicans anywhere near the levers of power.

What the Republicans do that troubles you so much?

Let's see, domestically, they squandered a budget surplus; looted the treasury to transfer national wealth to corporate interests; dismantled pollution controls and environmental regulation; gutted food and drug safety review, inspection and enforcement; promoted economic policies that dramatically widened the income gap between rich and poor; and enacted tax policy to ensure the rich paid less. Their announced future policy goals include turning Social Security over to Wall Street speculators; making the tax code even more regressive; and (near and dear to me) substantially limiting citizens' rights to redress in the courts. The Supreme Court we currently have is dominated by the most radical far-right ideologues since the Hughes Court 75 years ago; if there is another vacancy under a GOP administration there is no doubt that the tilt will become even more extreme.

In foreign affairs, the Republicans dragged us into two overseas wars -- one of which was entirely unnecessary, the other entirely mismanaged -- with no adequately defined objectives and no credible plan to bring them to conclusion; they have championed a bullying unilateralism in international relations, which soured even our closest allies; they antagonized and provoked unfriendly regimes, pushing them into ever more hardened anti-American positions; they seriously undermined the rule of law by attempting to legitimize torture, indefinitely imprisoning foreign citizens in Guantanamo and "black site" prisons overseas, and engaging in "extraordinary rendition" to allow frank torture; they withdrew from any meaningful participation in important international peace negotiations, including in the Middle East; and they blew off opportunities to collaborate positively with other nations on a raft of global issues, including climate change.

These are just a few of the reasons that I don't want the GOP in power again. They will deliver only more of the same.

[Econoline]

Well said, Sue! I agree completely.

[Big RR]

I agree too Sue, but then many dems have done their best to continue these policies. For example, is Gitmo closed yet? Are we doing any better in Afghanistan? Were the W tax cuts repealed?

Some were compromises, some were changes in position--but do you compromise on all principles?

[Sue U]

That's why I said Obama is already a failure, Big RR. But I'd vote for him and the Dems a million times before voting the GOP back into power.