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Obama Negatives

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Boom_70, Mar 9, 2012.

  1. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Unless there is some great surprise at the Republican convention I will be voting for Obama. That said I do
    think it's fair to look at his negatives:

    1. Civil Liberties. instead of ending Bush policies he has ramped them up
    2. Failed to close Gitmo as promised
    3. Has not come out in favor of gay marriage
    4. Unemployment still at very high levels
    5. Started class warfare unnecessarily
    6. High gas prices
    7. Higher taxes ( see 5)
    8. Escalated war in Afghanistan
    9. Obamacare
    10 Alienated strongest ally in The Middle East - Israel
    11. Failure to develop strong illegal immigrant plan
     
  2. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    The problem is that 5, 7, and 9 are positives to many voters. Republican voters are not going to be energized by 1, 2, and 3. And 4 is debatable.

    I'll give you 6, 8, and 10.
     
  3. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    I added 11th on illegals .

    I guess a lot will depend where the independents fall and how many Republicans crossover like
    myself.
     
  4. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Why are you crossing over -- don't like the GOP offerings or think Obama needs/deserves more time?

    And let's be careful with this one, folks. This is a chance to show we CAN discuss politics like reasonable adults. I'm going to be very disappointed if proven otherwise.
     
  5. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    11 is interesting. Depends on the number of independents and Democrats lost vs. the number of Hispanic voters saved on this issue. I'm sure there's polling on that somewhere, at least internally.
     
  6. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    do not outweigh the positives.

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    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  7. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    1. Debatable, although the liberal in me wishes he wouldn't.
    2. Yeah, not fulfilling this promise looks bad. Although if he closed it, then the GOP would be shrieking that we're letting the terrorists win. This could be something he does in the second term without worrying about the GOP.
    3. Would be incredible if he had, and really gutsy if he did it right now. Otherwise, see No. 2.
    4. Still bad, not as bad as it was compared to the end of Bush's term.
    5. There's been class warfare since time began, and it ramped up in the early 80s under Reagan. Only difference is, Obama cheers for the Davids, not the Goliaths.
    6. This can hurt him. But what's the alternative? The Drill Baby Drill party? All Obama has to do is say, "Spill, Baby, Spill."
    7. My taxes are lower, as well as 98 percent of the country. And sorry, I'm not sympathetic to the richest 2 percent.
    8. I've always thought this war was necessary, unlike the other adventure, so I'm not upset at the escalation.
    9. It's better than the GOP policy of "Screw You if Your Sick".
    10. Israel's pissed, but they'll come around. They need us.
    11. Something both parties can be blamed for.
     
  8. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    I don't like GOP current and likely offerings.
     
  9. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    Glad to see you are beginning to question your blind unconditional support of Obama. ::) ::) ::)
    He has been a disappointment in this regard but there is little doubt Romney or any Repub would be much much much worse.
    He has been a disappointment in this regard but there is little doubt Romney or any Repub would be much much much worse.
    He has been a disappointment in this regard but there is little doubt Romney or any Repub would be much much much worse. Being not gay myself personally I don't care. Frankly I'd like to see a public debate over governmental support (i.e., tax benefits) for marriage of ANY type.
    He has been a disappointment in this regard but there is little doubt Romney or any Repub would be much much much worse. The GOP has no goddamn plan whatsoever to do any goddamn thing whatsoever about unemployment except to give billionaires and corporations lots more of MY TAX MONEY and hope against hope they might start hiring. Of course in real life they will pocket the money and outsource more jobs to Bangladesh.
    Class warfare is a real good thing. We need LOTS MORE OF IT and my side needs to start winning some battles.
    The GOP is the party of Wall Street speculators and Big Oil. Gas prices are 100.0000000 PERCENT THEIR FAULT. The Dems need to flog the GOP around the head and neck 24/7 with this meme.
    Taxes are at historically low levels. Only IQ-deficient Faux Fascist Noise-deluded teabaggers believe otherwise,
    He has been a disappointment in this regard but there is little doubt Romney or any Repub would be much much much worse. McCain was quoted as saying the U.S. would be there 100 years from now and he was fine with that.
    The shortcomings in Obamacare are almost all the results of Obama's preemptive punting to lunatic conservatives (i.e. giving up on public option even before the start of debate). Otherwise it's awesome.
    Who gives a fuck. Israel needs to remember who is the "big brother" in that relationship.
    I don't give a fuck. I don't consider immigration a major problem.
     
  10. king cranium maximus IV

    king cranium maximus IV Active Member

    Gas prices were only low when Obama took office because of the economic meltdown. I'd rather not recreate those conditions, thanks.
     
  11. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    I would deny that Israel is an ally of the U.S. Ally implies a two-way street. Israel actually dictates U.S. policy through its political influence here. If Obama could end that, he'd deserve four terms.
    I agree with civil liberties. "Starting class warfare" is absurd. It wasn't Obama who's responsible for the amazing income inequality growth in this country since 1980. "Fighting back weakly" would be more accurate. I also think there is a chance, a small one, that Obama will come out in support of gay marriage before November, so let's hold that in abeyance. Same with Obamacare. Too soon to tell if it achieves its desired goals or not.
    I said this somewhere else, Boom. To me, all of Obama's disappointments/failures stem from one primal flaw. He did not realize when he took office that things were as bad as they were, especially with the economy, but also in terms of polarization in Washington, influence of Wall Street, etc. And it took him the devil of a long time and a good electoral beating to disabuse him of his misplaced optimism.
    It's a mixed record. But there are achievements as well as the problems that drive many Democrats around the bend.
     
  12. I'll take a different angle.

    <b>Positives</b>
    1. Osama bin Laden.
    2. Draw-down from Iraq.
    3. Started a conversation about equalizing capital gains and earned income taxes.
    4. Relatively large stimulus in 2009 and 2010.
    5. We have so far avoided a double-dip recession.

    <b>Negatives</b>
    1. Unemployment is still above the projected levels.
    2. The Affordable Care Act's failure to control overall system costs.
    3. Essentially a failure of the Afghanistan surge to do anything besides keep a status quo.
    4. Inability to get companies to spend the money they have on hand, in large part because of the lack of an investment tax credit as part of the stimulus.
    5. Significantly increasing the debt in the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years, putting us in a worse position if the economy double-dips.
    6. There's other stuff in here that I care deeply about that isn't worth getting into on this thread. But it's enough that I will vote for any of his challengers after voting for the President in 2008.

    <b>Don't Care</b>
    1. Gay Marriage
    2. Gitmo
    3. Israel policy (so far, anyway)
    4. Gas prices (today's are not his fault; high gas prices in 2018 will be if he continues to block exploration, development and Keystone)
    5. Illegal Immigration (Bush tried, and failed — I give him credit for that)
     
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