Patrick.net

Did American People Get It Right In This Election?

By E-man   Follow   Wed, 3 Nov 2010, 10:38am   1,836 views   34 comments
Watch (0)   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike  

The American people have spoken again in 2010. Apparently they were not very happy with the way things have been going since 2008. They have decided that the Republicans should control the House and also gave the Republicans several more seats in the Senate. Can I say checks and balances or divide of power? I believe the Republicans also won several Governor seats. My questions for the people that follow politics:

- Did the American People get it right in this election?

Your opinions are greatly appreciated. Please, no stupid, endless rants without any substance.

Most Liked Comments

1. ¥ Follow Befriend 35 threads 5,700 comments Bellingham, WA

   1   11:29am Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Did the American People get it right in this election? Ask the 60% who didn't even bother to vote. The American people were bullshitted pretty well. The Obama team fucked up by not explaining -- or worse, not understanding -- the severe systemic stresses the post-bubble economy is undergoing. 2007 was the top, and it's all downhill from there. The 2006 reversal wasn't about the economy, I think it was punishing the Republicans for lying us into a war. Now that that's over, the voters can move on to stopping socialism and czars, fluoridation, immunization, and evolution. Can I say checks and balances or divide of power? You can say we're fucked, actually. http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CMDEBT

2. ¥ Follow Befriend 35 threads 5,700 comments Bellingham, WA

   2   11:52am Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   ^ we can certainly agree about that. Except about the childish bit about calling them "Obamunists", which just makes you sound like a typical right winger, full of shit.

3. iwog Follow Befriend (48) 274 threads 12,576 comments 47 male Lafayette, CA Premium

   3   1:09pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   This is a failure of the American people to understand how the economy works. 2008 was an election decided by hope. 2010 was an election decided by unreasonable expectations and ignorance. 1. The United States began a recession in late 2007 caused by a banking crisis precipitated by a 2006 real estate bubble. The ENTIRE real estate bubble took place under a Republican House, Senate, and Executive. The recession ended in early 2009. http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?chart_type=line&s[1][id]=GDP&s[1][range]=10yrs 2. Unemployment lags both a recession and a recovery by 12-24 months. The more extreme the economic crisis, the longer unemployment takes to catch up. This is a well accepted economic fact and is not political. I'm sure it's taught in every major university. A large number of people who voted for Democrats in 2008 expected unemployment to improve much faster than was possible. Even if Obama did everything right, (whatever that means) unemployment would still be high right now. 3. Americans have been sold a lie regarding government debt. Propaganda efforts from the right have convinced many people that huge deficits both enslave their children and wreck the economy. Furthermore outright lying by ClusterFox and other right wing media outlets have convinced people that huge deficits are Obama's fault instead of overwhelmingly a creation of the Republican party. This is counter-intuitive so I'll go into it in more detail. - Obama can correctly be blamed for the large stimulus bill in 2009 which cost around $800 billion. I suppose it's possible to make the argument that Obama gets the blame for a $142 billion Bank of America bailout. That's it folks. - Republicans are entirely responsible for low tax revenues. ALL taxes currently paid are under Republican laws with the exception of an extremely small tax cut under Obama. - Republicans are almost entirely responsible for servicing on the current national debt. Republican administrations have outspent the Democrats by 10 to 1. This is not an exaggeration. - Republicans are responsible for bankrupting Medicare decades earlier than would have been the case otherwise. Bush's medicare plan is nothing more than a drug company subsidy and it costs trillions. - Republicans are responsible for war spending estimated between $1 and $2 trillion due to an unnecessary war in Iraq. - Bush's Republican administration is entirely responsible for the HUGE majority of bailouts. George Bush and Bush's Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson bullied congress into approving massive amounts of money. This money was then administered by REPUBLICANS ONLY who acted on the authority of the Treasury. Much of it cannot be accounted for. http://www.propublica.org/special/government-bailouts 4. The nation is now saturated with a media agenda set by the right wing. Outrageous accusations always attract the most attention, (true or not) and Fox has made an art out of fear and hysteria. CNN and other news organizations echo this nonsense because it's what everyone is talking about and to remain competitive they have to cover it. Therefore true knowledge about current events is almost entirely gone and ignorance is at an all time high. Conclusion: The average American is upset about high unemployment and a huge budget deficit and wrongly blames both on the Democrats. Furthermore they are not educated enough to understand that we are actually in a recovery, that unemployment will likely drop next year, that the Republicans have promised to do EXACTLY THE SAME THING THAT GOT US HERE, and that revolutionary change takes longer than two years. I'm going to do fine and I'll enjoy further undeserved tax cuts as well as a stronger dollar enabling me to travel more. The average American worker however has nothing to look forward to. They just voted themselves into further poverty.

4. Done! Follow Befriend (4) 159 threads 2,826 comments

   4   1:55pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   There is no getting any election right in this country, just as long as there is Corporate sponsorship in the Electoral process. Sure we can reform this and reform that, but at the end of every Victorious reform day. There are Political Contributions on the books, and he with the most money and cutest face for great television wins. Period. The Elections and everything involved with the results should be a Federal entity, witnessed by the media, but certainly not dictated by the media and their sponsors. There should be a National registry, where candidates list their issues and platform, and let the record speak for its self. Attack ads should be libelous and subject to interfering is official Federal business. Lying about your record, and Dooking your stats should also be grounds for being prosecuted by Federal law for Defrauding Elections. And if you are a crook and have a criminal record, then you shouldn't be able to run for any office. That way, people will get the straight dope on who they are voting for, with out the Media noise injecting Fantasy island in the Process. There would be no need, for attack ads, because bad people couldn't run offices, and there would be no need for huge campaign contributions, because the election office distributes all candidates to the same people in the same proportions. All one should be able to do, is Campaign, get out and make campaign promises. And Oh by the way, getting elected by Campaign promises, and can't show due diligence for failures, should also be a federal crime.

5. ¥ Follow Befriend 35 threads 5,700 comments Bellingham, WA

   5   2:00pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   iwog says Even if Obama did everything right, (whatever that means) unemployment would still be high right now. http://calculatedriskimages.blogspot.com/2010/10/job-losses-and-recessions-aligned-at.html implies to me that while we're off the bottom of the abyss, we are not in a recovery. If this had been an actual recovery the unemployment level in that chart would be 3% off not the 5%+ we are still at. But, otherwise, excellent points. Shrek's argument that so much debt has been issued since 2008 is ignoring the fact that a lot of this spending is either dialed-in military stuff and the deficits since the crash are largely due to the collapse of government revenue, which was also dialed in by the Bush tax cuts and loss of the Bush Boom Bubble economy of 2003-2007.

6. chip_designer Follow Befriend (1) 13 threads 139 comments

   6   3:47pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   iwog says This is a failure of the American people to understand how the economy works. 2008 was an election decided by hope. 2010 was an election decided by unreasonable expectations and ignorance. 1. The United States began a recession in late 2007 caused by a banking crisis precipitated by a 2006 real estate bubble. The ENTIRE real estate bubble took place under a Republican House, Senate, and Executive. The recession ended in early 2009. http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?chart_type=line&s[1][id]=GDP&s[1][range]=10yrs 2. Unemployment lags both a recession and a recovery by 12-24 months. The more extreme the economic crisis, the longer unemployment takes to catch up. This is a well accepted economic fact and is not political. I’m sure it’s taught in every major university. A large number of people who voted for Democrats in 2008 expected unemployment to improve much faster than was possible. Even if Obama did everything right, (whatever that means) unemployment would still be high right now. 3. Americans have been sold a lie regarding government debt. Propaganda efforts from the right have convinced many people that huge deficits both enslave their children and wreck the economy. Furthermore outright lying by ClusterFox and other right wing media outlets have convinced people that huge deficits are Obama’s fault instead of overwhelmingly a creation of the Republican party. This is counter-intuitive so I’ll go into it in more detail. - Obama can correctly be blamed for the large stimulus bill in 2009 which cost around $800 billion. I suppose it’s possible to make the argument that Obama gets the blame for a $142 billion Bank of America bailout. That’s it folks. - Republicans are entirely responsible for low tax revenues. ALL taxes currently paid are under Republican laws with the exception of an extremely small tax cut under Obama. - Republicans are almost entirely responsible for servicing on the current national debt. Republican administrations have outspent the Democrats by 10 to 1. This is not an exaggeration. - Republicans are responsible for bankrupting Medicare decades earlier than would have been the case otherwise. Bush’s medicare plan is nothing more than a drug company subsidy and it costs trillions. - Republicans are responsible for war spending estimated between $1 and $2 trillion due to an unnecessary war in Iraq. - Bush’s Republican administration is entirely responsible for the HUGE majority of bailouts. George Bush and Bush’s Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson bullied congress into approving massive amounts of money. This money was then administered by REPUBLICANS ONLY who acted on the authority of the Treasury. Much of it cannot be accounted for. http://www.propublica.org/special/government-bailouts 4. The nation is now saturated with a media agenda set by the right wing. Outrageous accusations always attract the most attention, (true or not) and Fox has made an art out of fear and hysteria. CNN and other news organizations echo this nonsense because it’s what everyone is talking about and to remain competitive they have to cover it. Therefore true knowledge about current events is almost entirely gone and ignorance is at an all time high. Conclusion: The average American is upset about high unemployment and a huge budget deficit and wrongly blames both on the Democrats. Furthermore they are not educated enough to understand that we are actually in a recovery, that unemployment will likely drop next year, that the Republicans have promised to do EXACTLY THE SAME THING THAT GOT US HERE, and that revolutionary change takes longer than two years. I’m going to do fine and I’ll enjoy further undeserved tax cuts as well as a stronger dollar enabling me to travel more. The average American worker however has nothing to look forward to. They just voted themselves into further poverty. Good summary. Also I must say the americans are like little kids, they want instant gratification(as we know all about from the easy financing and easy creditcard borrowing). For 8 years , Bush administration spend money like water, and got into this mess. Now here comes the first african american president, and americans want him to solve every problem in 2 years, as he always said "yes we can". This is not an easy problem to fix. You guys shoul read the article on Times, written by Fared Zacharia. And also watch the movie Inside Job by Charles Ferguson.

7. Done! Follow Befriend (4) 159 threads 2,826 comments

   7   3:56pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Yeah well you should read more Glen Beck because I sure hell aint reading it, nor do I need a Movies and Books, from Fared Zacharia to smell what the Barock has been cooking. Don't blame us because the class of 2008 was 2 pound sack of crap, in a million dollar Suit. From the begining, we were bombarded by Obama is the next "Lincoln" oh they are the "Kenedys" gave him a Nobel Peace prize like it was Gift basket from the nail salon. Had CNN giving him passing grade, for the first 100 days based "Ima gona do this and Ima gona do that". The sentiment now has nothing to do with race, or about Obama lying when he ran around screaming "Yes we Can!".

8. Clarence 13X Follow Befriend 23 threads 456 comments

   8   4:04pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   iwog says This is a failure of the American people to understand how the economy works. 2008 was an election decided by hope. 2010 was an election decided by unreasonable expectations and ignorance. 1. The United States began a recession in late 2007 caused by a banking crisis precipitated by a 2006 real estate bubble. The ENTIRE real estate bubble took place under a Republican House, Senate, and Executive. The recession ended in early 2009. http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?chart_type=line&s[1][id]=GDP&s[1][range]=10yrs 2. Unemployment lags both a recession and a recovery by 12-24 months. The more extreme the economic crisis, the longer unemployment takes to catch up. This is a well accepted economic fact and is not political. I’m sure it’s taught in every major university. A large number of people who voted for Democrats in 2008 expected unemployment to improve much faster than was possible. Even if Obama did everything right, (whatever that means) unemployment would still be high right now. 3. Americans have been sold a lie regarding government debt. Propaganda efforts from the right have convinced many people that huge deficits both enslave their children and wreck the economy. Furthermore outright lying by ClusterFox and other right wing media outlets have convinced people that huge deficits are Obama’s fault instead of overwhelmingly a creation of the Republican party. This is counter-intuitive so I’ll go into it in more detail. - Obama can correctly be blamed for the large stimulus bill in 2009 which cost around $800 billion. I suppose it’s possible to make the argument that Obama gets the blame for a $142 billion Bank of America bailout. That’s it folks. - Republicans are entirely responsible for low tax revenues. ALL taxes currently paid are under Republican laws with the exception of an extremely small tax cut under Obama. - Republicans are almost entirely responsible for servicing on the current national debt. Republican administrations have outspent the Democrats by 10 to 1. This is not an exaggeration. - Republicans are responsible for bankrupting Medicare decades earlier than would have been the case otherwise. Bush’s medicare plan is nothing more than a drug company subsidy and it costs trillions. - Republicans are responsible for war spending estimated between $1 and $2 trillion due to an unnecessary war in Iraq. - Bush’s Republican administration is entirely responsible for the HUGE majority of bailouts. George Bush and Bush’s Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson bullied congress into approving massive amounts of money. This money was then administered by REPUBLICANS ONLY who acted on the authority of the Treasury. Much of it cannot be accounted for. http://www.propublica.org/special/government-bailouts 4. The nation is now saturated with a media agenda set by the right wing. Outrageous accusations always attract the most attention, (true or not) and Fox has made an art out of fear and hysteria. CNN and other news organizations echo this nonsense because it’s what everyone is talking about and to remain competitive they have to cover it. Therefore true knowledge about current events is almost entirely gone and ignorance is at an all time high. Conclusion: The average American is upset about high unemployment and a huge budget deficit and wrongly blames both on the Democrats. Furthermore they are not educated enough to understand that we are actually in a recovery, that unemployment will likely drop next year, that the Republicans have promised to do EXACTLY THE SAME THING THAT GOT US HERE, and that revolutionary change takes longer than two years. I’m going to do fine and I’ll enjoy further undeserved tax cuts as well as a stronger dollar enabling me to travel more. The average American worker however has nothing to look forward to. They just voted themselves into further poverty. Damn!!!....I think everyone else including me needs to shet the hell up. That about summarizes the whole situation IWOG.

9. Clarence 13X Follow Befriend 23 threads 456 comments

   9   4:07pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Tenouncetrout says There should be a National registry, where candidates list their issues and platform, and let the record speak for its self. Attack ads should be libelous and subject to interfering is official Federal business. Lying about your record, and Dooking your stats should also be grounds for being prosecuted by Federal law for Defrauding Elections. And if you are a crook and have a criminal record, then you shouldn’t be able to run for any office. That way, people will get the straight dope on who they are voting for, with out the Media noise injecting Fantasy island in the Process. There would be no need, for attack ads, because bad people couldn’t run offices, and there would be no need for huge campaign contributions, because the election office distributes all candidates to the same people in the same proportions. All one should be able to do, is Campaign, get out and make campaign promises. And Oh by the way, getting elected by Campaign promises, and can’t show due diligence for failures, should also be a federal crime. Try downloading visible vote to your cell phone and you will see your canidates history.

10. iwog Follow Befriend (48) 274 threads 12,576 comments 47 male Lafayette, CA Premium

    10   4:09pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Tenouncetrout says Don’t blame us because the class of 2008 was 2 pound sack of crap, in a million dollar Suit. From the begining, we were bombarded by Obama is the next “Lincoln” oh they are the “Kenedys” gave him a Nobel Peace prize like it was Gift basket from the nail salon. Had CNN giving him passing grade, for the first 100 days based “Ima gona do this and Ima gona do that”. The sentiment now has nothing to do with race, or about Obama lying when he ran around screaming “Yes we Can!”. Obama did fine considering the political environment. I think he made a mistake in not vilifying Wall Street and the banks more, but most of the hate thrown his way is not deserved and was caused by actions initiated by the Republicans. We'll all enjoy a brief recovery funded by borrowing and spending that will probably take us to around 2014 or so. Obama succeeded in preventing a depression. Things look very black after that. The free-market lunatics fully intend to create a nation of sharecroppers and wage slaves. The Democrats, for all their flaws, were the only viable resistance.

11. Done! Follow Befriend (4) 159 threads 2,826 comments

    11   4:20pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Poppy Cock Independents are the only ones capable of making change. Every Democrat in Washington today, is there to grandstand and rewrite History books, and getting their names in it on any thing that sounds "Progressive". And that's what makes them dangerous. I'll take the Grid lock in Washington, there's no Talent in Washington I trust. Maybe they can step on each others toes pulling each other down the hole at each others expense, and just maybe our kids Generation can learn from them. And they will make change, not for Money and Feathers, but for beliefs and doing the right thing for all of the people. Instead of making short sighted decisions that only mildly relives a few while shifting their burden over to the middle class. I expect Sarah Palin wins in 2012 and the Democrats keep the Senate. And she wont win because she's some dynamo, it'll be well we voted for the black guy last time, might as well get this whole "First Woman President" thing over.

12. a4adam Follow Befriend (1) 3 threads 82 comments Vacaville, CA a4adam's website

    12   4:24pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   iwog says Obama did fine considering the political environment. I would also add that communication was not a strong point for the administration in these first two years. Obama came off sounding too much like a lawyer arguing his case when he really needed sound bites. During the 8 years of the Bush administration they almost always had their talking points even if they were complete BS.

13. chip_designer Follow Befriend (1) 13 threads 139 comments

    13   4:28pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Tenouncetrout says Poppy Cock Independents are the only ones capable of making change. Every Democrat in Washington today, is there to grandstand and rewrite History books, and getting their names in it on any thing that sounds “Progressive”. And that’s what makes them dangerous. I’ll take the Grid lock in Washington, there’s no Talent in Washington I trust. Maybe they can step on each others toes pulling each other down the hole at each others expense, and just maybe our kids Generation can learn from them. And they will make change, not for Money and Feathers, but for beliefs and doing the right thing for all of the people. Instead of making short sighted decisions that only mildly relives a few while shifting their burden over to the middle class. I expect Sarah Palin wins in 2012 and the Democrats keep the Senate. And she wont win because she’s some dynamo, it’ll be well we voted for the black guy last time, might as well get this whole “First Woman President” thing over. If Brazil can elect the first woman president, why not America! After that, how about the first indian or chinese american president?

14. iwog Follow Befriend (48) 274 threads 12,576 comments 47 male Lafayette, CA Premium

    14   4:36pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Tenouncetrout says I’ll take the Grid lock in Washington, there’s no Talent in Washington I trust. Maybe they can step on each others toes pulling each other down the hole at each others expense, and just maybe our kids Generation can learn from them. And they will make change, not for Money and Feathers, but for beliefs and doing the right thing for all of the people. Instead of making short sighted decisions that only mildly relives a few while shifting their burden over to the middle class. Grid lock doesn't help you. The job is finished. Rich people can accumulate huge sums of wealth and pass it to their heirs nearly tax free. Our borders are completely open so the money doesn't even have to stay in this country anymore. Unions are dead, corporations are people too, and most citizens believe that government is evil instead of the truth. The truth is that government is all that stands between an 8-year old and a coal mine or a shanty town with a company store. I said it before the election and I'll say it again. If you're a blue collar worker, and you voted for the Republican party, you just slit your own throat.

15. Done! Follow Befriend (4) 159 threads 2,826 comments

    15   4:38pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   iwog says I said it before the election, and I’ll say it again. If you’re a blue collar worker, and you voted for the Republican party, you just slit your own throat. You're the Alter Ego, "Dem Beck"

16. iwog Follow Befriend (48) 274 threads 12,576 comments 47 male Lafayette, CA Premium

    16   4:50pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   shrekgrinch says And who set those expectations? Why, the same bastard who sold them on the hope crack in the first place. Politicians try to raise expectations in order to get elected. Cutting off your leg because Obama didn't live up to "a chicken in every pot" is an extremely self-destructive and childish act. It's actually the premise of my entire essay. shrekgrinch says So, the Dems weren’t in control of Congress during most of the Reagan years, Nope they were not. Furthermore Democrats rubber stamped almost everything Reagan wanted. shrekgrinch says Yeah, after Son of CRA and Dem funny stuff with Freddie and Fannie back in the mid-to-late 90s set the stage. Freddie and Fannie had nothing to do with the housing bubble or the collapse. Furthermore the Republicans had unopposed power for 6 years to fix whatever they wanted. Instead of fixing it, the Bush administration sued states that were trying to fix it. shrekgrinch says Iwog, if as according to you, what the Republicans ‘did’ caused this mess then how is it possible unemployment will go down if they spend the next two years doing ‘exactly the same thing that got us here’? Which is it? I thought I was perfectly clear. Economic trends happen over decades, not months. Obama injected a large amount of money into the economy. The fed cleaned the books to allow banks to lend again. A recovery happens next no matter what anyone does. The GDP has already recovered and unemployment will be back to normal in a few years. The problem is that wealth disparity will continue to get worse, and the aristocracy will continue to mop up the last few pennies circulating around the Monopoly board. Without tariffs, progressive taxes, or any improvement in corporate controls, this country will run out of money at the peak of the next credit cycle. It's doomsday after that. It may be inflationary or it may be deflationary, but either way you cannot have a viable economy when there are no more consumers.

17. iwog Follow Befriend (48) 274 threads 12,576 comments 47 male Lafayette, CA Premium

    17   4:52pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   shrekgrinch says Don’t forget ObamaCare…the voters targeted dems who voted for it in particular: http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/politics-elections/127261-few-democrats-survive-vote-in-favor-of-health-reform (but it was all the fault of George W. Bush — he planted a virus in all the voting machines yesterday) Since ObamaCare has not taken effect yet, and therefore has not changed the economy one bit, the negative reaction was entirely caused by propaganda.

18. iwog Follow Befriend (48) 274 threads 12,576 comments 47 male Lafayette, CA Premium

    18   4:54pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Tenouncetrout says You’re the Alter Ego, “Dem Beck” There are numerous historical examples of what happens next. "Socialist" Europe is going to seem like a paradise after the robber barons are done.

19. ¥ Follow Befriend 35 threads 5,700 comments Bellingham, WA

    19   5:03pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   iwog says shrekgrinch says So, the Dems weren’t in control of Congress during most of the Reagan years, Nope they were not. Furthermore Democrats rubber stamped almost everything Reagan wanted. Part of the problem in communication we're having is that the Dems have never been in lockstep ("Blue Dog Dems" now and "Boll Weevil Dems" in the 70s and "Reagan Dems" in the 80s). The Republicans, too, were in less lockstep, prior to the Gingrich Revolution at least. Now, only the two princesses of Maine exhibit any independence, and that's only because they're in a very blue state.

20. ¥ Follow Befriend 35 threads 5,700 comments Bellingham, WA

    20   5:04pm Wed 3 Nov 2010   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   iwog says Tenouncetrout says You’re the Alter Ego, “Dem Beck” There are numerous historical examples of what happens next. “Socialist” Europe is going to seem like a paradise after the robber barons are done. fuckin' already does to this kid