The Official Obama Scorecard Thread

[strategy 4]

When people have to start paying the bills it will change. Here is a long term question will the Rep candidate in '16 win by the largest landside ever? That is quite possible.

we might still be able to borrow cheaply in 2016, which I consider a bad thing. the sooner deficit spending and benefits are cut, the better, imo.

[Jeepster80125 0]

I think mk talked shit to me for using stossel as a link, but does anyone disagree with the bolded statements? Discuss.

What We Know That Isn't SoThe dangers of junk scienceMuch government interference with our peaceful pursuits is based on junk science and junk economics. Politicians know a lot of stuff that isn't so. So do reporters.Let me count some of the ways. (I'll elaborate on tonight’s Fox Business Network show.)Congress now spends your money on a host of intrusive new programs designed to make America "energy independent." President Obama recently announced $8 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear power plants.I smiled when I heard. Finally, even Democrats woke up to the benefits of nuclear power. But Cato Institute energy analyst Jerry Taylor set me straight:"If nuclear power made economic sense, we wouldn't need to subsidize it."Affordable nuclear power, says Taylor, is a Republican fantasy. Promoting it makes no more sense than Nancy Pelosi's promotion of wind and solar power. "Take a Republican speech about nuclear power, cross out the phrase 'nuclear,' and put in 'solar'—you've got a Democratic speech about energy."All these "alternative" fuels are economically impractical. Natural gas is practical. And plentiful.I thought the only reason that nuclear didn't pay for itself is the burden of excessive regulations and objections from silly environmentalists. Apply for permission to build a plant, and their cumbersome lawsuits impose ruinously expensive delays.Again, Taylor set me straight. He says the nuclear industry itself is comfortable with today's level of regulation. The big problem today is not environmental rules, but simply the huge cost. The same high costs, he says, are found in countries that have long been friendly to nuclear power.He also notes that when the Department of Energy proposed offering to guarantee 80 percent of the cost of new nuclear plants, the big investment banks told the department that even 80 percent loan guarantees wouldn't be enough. They needed 100 percent guarantees, or they wouldn't make the loans."To me that's a market verdict that you're supposed to respect.... We need to leave these (matters) to markets. And in the marketplace, investors will not spend a single red dime on nuclear power because it's too expensive.... It's not Jane Fonda or Greenpeace that killed nuclear power. It's Wall Street investment banks who've looked at the bottom line."He's convinced me. Then he moved on to more Republican candy: the claim that drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska would dramatically lower oil prices and move us toward energy "independence."Taylor says such drilling would do neither. Yes, it would create wealth. New offshore fields might produce a million barrels of oil per day. While that would be good, the benefits are oversold. "We consume 15 million barrels of oil a day. We produce 5. We'd go to 6." Nice, but no game-changer.Of course, subsidizing wind and solar makes even less sense. Taylor calls them 12th-century technologies. They require lots of land to produce forms of energy that are hard to store and hard to move, and are too variable throughout the year. Even if we covered most of America with wind farms, there's no guarantee that they'd produce energy when we need it.Other junk science abounds: banning plastic shopping bags, as 10 cities have done, is pointless. Plastic bags take up a tiny fraction of landfills. When supermarkets are stopped from handing plastic out, people looking to dispose garbage buy more big, black plastic bags.[more at link.]

[El Guapo 8]

I don't know the upfront costs of setting up a nuclear power plant, but once running the are extremely efficient.Is it possible that the banks don't want to loan on them because of the potential political pressure of being shut down in the future?

[Jeepster80125 0]

I don't know the upfront costs of setting up a nuclear power plant, but once running the are extremely efficient.Is it possible that the banks don't want to loan on them because of the potential political pressure of being shut down in the future?

That's got to be part of it. But in my opinion, banks refusing 80% is pretty telling. Admittedly, I am no expert in that arena.

[hblask 1]

I think mk talked shit to me for using stossel as a link, but does anyone disagree with the bolded statements? Discuss.

I had seen that article, and am sort of confused now. I had heard nuclear was more efficient, but maybe that means "more efficient than other green energy", which isn't necessarily saying much.But I agree, if they can't get financing without 100% backed loans, we're not hearing the whole story? Liability? As EG points out, political concerns?Hey, LLY understands atoms, maybe he can explain it....

[hblask 1]

Obama voters switching to tea partyGrand Junction, Colorado (CNN) -- They are not typical Tea Party activists: A woman who voted for President Obama and believes he's a "phenomenal speaker." Another who said she was a "knee-jerk, bleeding heart liberal." These two women are not alone. Some Americans who say they have been sympathetic to Democratic causes in the past -- some even voted for Democratic candidates -- are angry with President Obama and his party. They say they are now supporting the Tea Party -- a movement that champions less government, lower taxes and the defeat of Democrats even though it's not formally aligned with the Republican Party. To be sure, the number of Democrats in the Tea Party movement is small. A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows that while 96 percent of Tea Party activists identify themselves as either Republican or Independent, only 4 percent say they are Democrats. Some of these disgruntled voters are taking part in the current Tea Party Express tour. The tour began in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's hometown of Searchlight, Nevada, on March 28 and is making 44 stops across the nation. It ends in Washington on tax day -- April 15. Ann Ducket attended the Tea Party rally in Grand Junction, Colorado, on Wednesday. A lawyer and lifelong Democrat, Ducket made her political leanings clear: She said she was a campus community organizer for Democratic Sen. George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign, voted for Jimmy Carter and Al Gore, and previously ran for elective office in Colorado as a Democrat. "I was a card-carrying member of the ACLU, and I probably did inhale in college," Ducket said. Ducket, who is now an independent and did not vote for Obama, said the president has "carried things to an extreme." var currExpandable = "expand1"; var currExpandableHeight = 360; Video: How diverse is the Tea Party? var mediaObj = new Object(); mediaObj.type = 'video'; mediaObj.contentId = ''; mediaObj.source = '/video/politics/2010/03/31/lavandera.tea.party.diversity.cnn'; mediaObj.source = mediaObj.source.replace('/video/',''); mediaObj.lgImage = $(currExpandable).select('img.box-image')[0].readAttribute('src'); mediaObj.lgImageX = 640; mediaObj.lgImageY = currExpandableHeight; mediaObj.origImageX = $(currExpandable).select('img.box-image')[0].readAttribute('width'); mediaObj.origImageY = $(currExpandable).select('img.box-image')[0].readAttribute('height'); mediaObj.contentType = 'Video'; CNN.expElements.expand1Store = mediaObj; var cnnRelatedTopicKeys = []; RELATED TOPICS

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"I think we've gone too far on the side of government doing too much," Ducket said. "The Democratic Party is wanting to take care of everyone, instead of helping everybody stand on their own two feet." Roxanne Lewis expressed a similar point of view. A small business owner in Grand Junction, Lewis described herself as a lifelong Democrat and called the president a "phenomenal speaker." She voted for him because she "believed in what he was saying: change." But, Lewis added, "I should've listened a lot closer when he talked about 'spreading the wealth.' " Asked how she feels about having voted for the president, Lewis said "I feel lied to, cheated and raped." Lewis criticized the taxpayer-funded bailouts of financial institutions, which began under former President George W. Bush, and the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler. "These are not the Democrats that I have been brought up with," Lewis said. However, she said she will continue to be a Democrat. "We hear from folks, probably at every rally, who say, 'I was a Democrat,' " Levi Russell, communications director for the Tea Party express tour, said. "Having more Democrats join the movement shows that it is more representative of the American people than the antics of the Obama, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, Reid leadership," Russell said. The Democratic National Committee declined to comment. David Saucedo is a rapper and community activist who frequently appears at Tea Party rallies. Using the stage name "Polatik," he performs rap songs that slam President Obama and the Democrats. Though he eventually voted for GOP Sen. John McCain in the 2008 presidential election, he said he was initially impressed with the president. Now Saucedo has turned into an Obama critic. "A lot of the things he says sound good, until you look at the consequences of what they will do on the long term." Saucedo also said that most of his family voted for the president but now support the Tea Party. He said his sister in law's views sum up the family sentiment. "She regrets voting for Barack Obama," he said.

[CaneBrain 95]

For every Democrat switching to the Tea Party, there is a Republican like my father who can't even talk about his own party without looking embarrassed and sad.

[85suited 0]

For every Democrat switching to the Tea Party, there is a Republican like my father who can't even talk about his own party without looking embarrassed and sad.

The impetus for the Tea Party movement is excessive government spending and taxation. Their mission is to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize our fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets

My god, I am so embarrassed! IF your father doesn't believe in those ideals, or support citizens rights to protest, I suspect he probably really isn't a republican.Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism... Or that’s what you guys on left used to say when George W. Bush was president. And, you know what? They were right. Dissent is still the highest form of patriotism. However, now that the Democrats are in power, they aren’t such big fans of dissent anymore!

[vbnautilus 48]

For every Democrat switching to the Tea Party, there is a Republican like my father who can't even talk about his own party without looking embarrassed and sad.

That's funny, my dad is the same way. He is also happy that health care reform was passed and plans on voting for Obama.

[CaneBrain 95]

My god, I am so embarrassed! IF your father doesn't believe in those ideals, or support citizens rights to protest, I suspect he probably really isn't a republican.Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism... Or that’s what you guys on left used to say when George W. Bush was president. And, you know what? They were right. Dissent is still the highest form of patriotism. However, now that the Democrats are in power, they aren’t such big fans of dissent anymore!

Who decides who is and isnt a republican? Just that statement is SAD. He has no problem with protesting itself just how the protesting is being done and what the content of the protesting is.We are just going to go in circles on the dissent thing. If I wanted to be a 2000-2008 Republican, I would say your dissent is un-American (and you hate the troops). However, I encourage the dissent. Most of it sounds so ridiculous it just hurts your cause.

[grimtaash 0]

My god, I am so embarrassed! IF your father doesn't believe in those ideals, or support citizens rights to protest, I suspect he probably really isn't a republican.Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism... Or that’s what you guys on left used to say when George W. Bush was president. And, you know what? They were right. Dissent is still the highest form of patriotism. However, now that the Democrats are in power, they aren’t such big fans of dissent anymore!

It used to be dissent, but if I remember right, paying taxes is now the highest form of Patriotism.

[85suited 0]

Who decides who is and isnt a republican? Just that statement is SAD. He has no problem with protesting itself just how the protesting is being done and what the content of the protesting is.We are just going to go in circles on the dissent thing. If I wanted to be a 2000-2008 Republican, I would say your dissent is un-American (and you hate the troops). However, I encourage the dissent. Most of it sounds so ridiculous it just hurts your cause.

Did your father approve of the Health Care Bill?

[CaneBrain 95]

That's funny, my dad is the same way. He is also happy that health care reform was passed and plans on voting for Obama.

My dad voted for Obama but only because the GOP ran McCain/Palin.If they had run Romney, he would have voted Republican. Ditto for 2012. If they run Palin/Bachmann or Jindal or Pawlenty or NEWT! he will vote Obama again even though he is not much of a fan.

[CaneBrain 95]

Did your father approve of the Health Care Bill?

No, he and I both agree that there were better ways to accomplish health care reform. We also both agree that trying to repeal it is ridiculous.....and that the goal of trying to cover everyone/avoid medical bankruptcies is a good one. But this was not an optimal way to accomplish that goal.

[85suited 0]

That's funny, my dad is the same way. He is also happy that health care reform was passed and plans on voting for Obama.

He would be in the minority on this:CBS News PollMore Americans now disapprove of the legislation, and many expect their costs to rise and the quality of their care to worsen; few expect the reforms to help them.Only 34 percent of Americans approved of the president's handling of health care -- an all-time low. Mr. Obama's overall approval rating also hit an all-time low in this poll at 44 percent, as Americans continue to worry about the economy.The public's approval of Congress also remains low at 16 percent.http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20001700-503544.html

[85suited 0]

My dad voted for Obama but only because the GOP ran McCain/Palin.If they had run Romney, he would have voted Republican. Ditto for 2012. If they run Palin/Bachmann or Jindal or Pawlenty or NEWT! he will vote Obama again even though he is not much of a fan.

Your dad is not a republican - sorry

[85suited 0]

No, he and I both agree that there were better ways to accomplish health care reform. We also both agree that trying to repeal it is ridiculous.....and that the goal of trying to cover everyone/avoid medical bankruptcies is a good one. But this was not an optimal way to accomplish that goal.

and if the bill is unconstitutional?

[CaneBrain 95]

Your dad is not a republican - sorry

I could not disagree more. There is no litmus test to be a Republican. Keep pushing out those moderates from the "big tent".....the Democrats will be happy to take them in until the GOP is the fringe right. Did I say until? We are basically already there.

[CaneBrain 95]

and if the bill is unconstitutional?

It's not but it will be fun to watch all these so-called "fiscal conservatives" justify wasting precious tax dollars spitting into the wind just to make a point.

[hblask 1]

Who decides who is and isnt a republican? Just that statement is SAD. He has no problem with protesting itself just how the protesting is being done and what the content of the protesting is.

Is he going by what is actually happening and what the protests actually are, or is he going by CNN's comically inaccurate representation of them?

[CaneBrain 95]

Is he going by what is actually happening and what the protests actually are, or is he going by CNN's comically inaccurate representation of them?

I doubt my father has ever watched cable news in his entire life. He reads the WSJ, the local paper (Palm Beach Post) and he occasionally watches the local news during dinner. I am not sure if he is even able to access the internet. We are trying to teach him how to text on his work blackberry but he is resisting.You have to remember he is a guy who lost a lot of older family members during the Holocaust; the Hitler comparisons drive him insane. (He felt the same way about Code Pink, for the record). The Tea Party is not as benign as Fox News would lead you to believe nor as outrageous as CNN would lead you to believe. Which is par for the course.

[hblask 1]

I doubt my father has ever watched cable news in his entire life. He reads the WSJ, the local paper (Palm Beach Post) and he occasionally watches the local news during dinner. I am not sure if he is even able to access the internet. We are trying to teach him how to text on his work blackberry but he is resisting.You have to remember he is a guy who lost a lot of older family members during the Holocaust; the Hitler comparisons drive him insane. (He felt the same way about Code Pink, for the record). The Tea Party is not as benign as Fox News would lead you to believe nor as outrageous as CNN would lead you to believe. Which is par for the course.

The tea parties have nothing to do with the Hitler comparisons, anymore than Senator Byrd is evidence that Democrats actively support the KKK.

[85suited 0]

I could not disagree more. There is no litmus test to be a Republican. Keep pushing out those moderates from the "big tent".....the Democrats will be happy to take them in until the GOP is the fringe right. Did I say until? We are basically already there.

LOL - you are comicalObama was the most liberal senator in the senate when he ran, when given the choice between a socialist and mccain... he picks a socialist.. interestingYour hitler comment is a red herring... Do i really need to pull out all of the pics as Bush as hitler - give me a break

[strategy 4]

Obama was the most liberal senator in the senate when he ran

if only that were true. I'd rather he be an enemy of this...

[85suited 0]

Against ObamaCare? You're A Racist HaterBy LARRY ELDER Differences of opinion and ideology, passionately held, drive the opposition against ObamaCare.Yet to shut down the effort to overturn ObamaCare's unpopular assault on freedom and prosperity, the left resorts to a frequently employed tactic.They and their media co-conspirators find whack jobs holding stupid signs — or saying or doing stupid things — and say, "See! Right-wing intolerance, hatred and racism fuel this movement."Idiots, wing nuts and haters exist — on both sides of the political spectrum — in a country of 300 million people. Those who threaten and engage in violence should be arrested and prosecuted. Those who use incendiary language should be denounced.But which "hater" said the following, and where was the condemnation?"The (George W.) Bush administration and the Nazi and communist regimes all engaged in the politics of fear. ... Indeed, the Bush administration has been able to improve on the techniques used by the Nazi and communist propaganda machines."Was it a) Miss Piggy, B) Lady Gaga, c) the Dog Whisperer or d) George Soros, billionaire Democratic supporter?Evil GOP"(George W. Bush's) executive branch has made it a practice to try and control and intimidate news organizations, from PBS to CBS to Newsweek. ... And every day, they unleash squadrons of digital brownshirts to harass and hector any journalist who is critical of the president." A) Dan Rather, B) Katie Couric, c) Helen Thomas, d) Al Gore, Nobel laureate."(Republicans are) coming for our children. They're coming for the poor. They're coming for the sick, the elderly and the disabled." A) Mother Teresa, B) the Grim Reaper, c) Jack Bauer, d) Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.The contest between Democrats and Republicans is "a struggle of good and evil. And we're the good." A) Wolverine, B) Spider-Man, c) RoboCop, d) Howard Dean, then-Democratic national chairman.When asked if the number and prominence of blacks in the Bush administration suggested a lack of racism, he said, "Hitler had a lot of Jews high up in the hierarchy of the Third Reich." A) Adolf Eichmann, B) Joseph Goebbels, c) Heinrich Himmler, d) Harry Belafonte, entertainer and liberal activist.Emperor BushHe called President Bush's perceived lack of help for Katrina victims "ethnic cleansing by inaction" and called it a "calculated ... policy." He added, "So by simply not doing anything to alleviate this ... crisis that was so greatly exaggerated by Katrina, they let the hurricane do the ethnic cleansing, and their hands are clean." A) David Duke, B) Jack the Ripper, c) Jeffrey Dahmer, d) Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass."When you look at the way the (then-Republican-controlled) House of Representatives has been run, it has been run like a plantation. And you know what I'm talking about." A) Kunta Kinte, B) Harriet Tubman, c) Booker T. Washington, d) then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, former first lady and current secretary of state."George Bush let people die on rooftops in New Orleans because they were poor and because they were black." A) Ming the Merciless, B) Ivan the Terrible, c) Vlad the Impaler, d) Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo."It's not 's**c' or 'n****r' anymore. (Instead, Republicans) say, 'Let's cut taxes.'" A) Bernie Madoff, B) Bonnie and Clyde, c) Bennie and the Jets, d) Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y."You're damn right; Dick Cheney's heart's a political football. We ought to rip it out and kick it around and stuff it back in him." A) Dr. Seuss, B) Dr. Oz, c) Dr. J, d) Ed Schultz, MSNBC and radio host."We are in danger. The extreme right wing has seized the government. Tonight (John) Ashcroft and the CIA and the FBI and Homeland Security and the IRS can work together. So look out, because without a definition of who is a terrorist, anyone can be. ... Martin Luther King could have been. ... The right-wing media, the FBI — they are targeting our leadership." A) Mr. T, B) Flavor Flav, c) Gary Coleman, d) the Rev. Jesse Jackson."And what we are dealing with right now in this country is whether we are having a kind of bloodless, silent coup or not. ... (George W. Bush) is trying to bring to himself all the power to become an emperor — to create Empire America." A) Darth Vader, B) Satan, c) the Rev. Pat Robertson, d) Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.Lanny Davis, former special counsel to President Clinton, campaigned for Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.Lieberman, despite his reliably left-wing voting record, infuriated the left for supporting the Iraq War.Vitriol From The LeftDavis found himself on the receiving end of "hate and vitriol of bloggers on the liberal side of the aisle" and "their extremism, bigotry and intolerance." A friend and fellow Lieberman supporter, said Davis, became "fearful for his physical safety.""I held on to the view," Davis admitted, "that the left was inherently more tolerant and less hateful than the right. ... I have reluctantly concluded that I was wrong. The far right does not have a monopoly on bigotry and hatred and sanctimony."Most Americans oppose ObamaCare. Their opposition is not racist, fascist or intolerant. Let us work to prevail.