Raise your hand if you're Sure ! (POL)

This is turning into a fun little game.

OK Its a deal !

For DrMilled...

In one sentence I give Obama a "B-" to date. Thats the short answer.

Of course, that is from the perspective of someone who is unapologetically left on most issues. I prefer my president share this perspective and possess the fortitude to follow through on it. Either Obama is a centrist or he is a leftist and just a really, really , really bad negotiator. I haven't figured out which one it is yet. Regardless, it leaves me desiring more. But I also note many positve accomplishments...

Note that I am very much aware many of our conservative posters are laughing their ass off right now as I refer to Obama as a "centrist". But if we are capable of getting away from the Obama conspiracy theories and actually focusing on the policy he has implemented I would ask those critics to consider what lefties wanted and what lefites got from this administration to date....and then ask yourself how "lefty" this president really is.

- Lefties want single payer health insurance run by the government. Lefties got a free market exchange of private insurers where people are mandated to pay their own way instead of leaching off the system (AKA the Republican health care plan of 1994).

- Lefties wanted a stimulous program that would spend a trillion dollars investing in the country's infrastructure. Lefties got a trillion dollars divided 3 ways between infrastructure (lefty), tax cuts (righty), and unemployment benefits (both lefty and righty). Good luck finding a conservative who will recognize and celebrate the tax cuts in this "communist" legislation.

- Lefties want our energy program to focus primarily on alternative energy and consumer efficiencies. And Lefties got some of that through the stimulous bill. But lefties also got the largest increase in coastyal oil drilling permits in years and the largest federal grants and approvals in the nuclear industry in decades (things the righties love and lefties hate.)

- Lefties want out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanimo Bay...and also an end to the Patriot Act and the unlawful detaining practices started in the last administration. The president seems to ignore this position after campaigning on it (in some part, I suspect, for political reasons) and that really pisses me off.

Considering absolutely no Republican cooperation was offered on any of these issues it makes me scratch my head and wonder why the president capitualted on them so much. In any event, these policies and laws are not leftist. You can disagree with them. You can hate them. But you can not call them leftist. Leftists wanted something very different on all of these fronts.

But on a positve note he has done some great things for people who share my "leftist" perspective...
- Race to the top education program
- Better student loan program
- Ending gay discrimination in the military
- Rescuing our auto industry and all of the domestic manufacturers that support it (hard to believe thats a leftist position but it seems to be).

SO, for now, its a "B-". Going forward, he's got alot of great ideas for immigration and infrastructure. But advocating an idea and fighting for its implementation are two very different things and this president has much to prove on that front IMO.

Lefties want single payer health insurance run by the government. Lefties got a free market exchange of private insurers where people are mandated to pay their own way instead of leaching off the system (AKA the Republican health care plan of 1994).

THERE IS NO FREE MARKET WHEN THE GOVT CAN OFFER PLANS AT BELOW COST. THIS PLAN IS A MIRROR OF THE MASS. PLAN WHICH IS ALREADY BANKRUPT. OBAMACARE ALSO DUMPS TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN MEDICAID EXPENSES ON THE BANKRUPT STATES.

- Lefties wanted a stimulous program that would spend a trillion dollars investing in the country's infrastructure. Lefties got a trillion dollars divided 3 ways between infrastructure (lefty), tax cuts (righty), and unemployment benefits (both lefty and righty).

THIS WAS BAMA'S PLAN FROM THE BEGINNING & UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS WERE NOT WORTH $300B. HE CLAIMED "SHOVEL READY JOBS" WHICH DID NOT EXIST. THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO BENEFITTED WERE GOVT UNIONS WHICH ARE HIS BIGGEST SUPPORTERS.

- Lefties want our energy program to focus primarily on alternative energy and consumer efficiencies. And Lefties got some of that through the stimulous bill. But lefties also got the largest increase in coastyal oil drilling permits in years and the largest federal grants and approvals in the nuclear industry in decades

HOW ARE THOSE ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS GOING? THE KENNEDYS & KERRYS ARE FIGHTING WINDMILLS OFF THE COAST OF THEIR MANSIONS. ALTERNATIVE ENERGY DESPITE SUBSIDIES IS STILL TOO EXPENSIVE. WE USE 40% OF OUR CORN FOR ETHANOL WHICH HAS DRIVEN UP FOOD PRICES. BAMA HAS STOPPED OIL LEASES (DESPITE A COURT ORDER) & WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH NUCLEAR?

- Lefties want out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanimo Bay...and also an end to the Patriot Act and the unlawful detaining practices started in the last administration. The president seems to ignore this position after campaigning on it (in some part, I suspect, for political reasons) and that really pisses me off.

35% OF THE PEOPLE RELEASED FROM GITMO HAVE RETURNED TO THE BATTLEFIELDS - THESE ARE BAD PEOPLE.

Considering absolutely no Republican cooperation was offered on any of these issues - REPUBLICANS WERE BARELY CONSULTED ON ANYTHING. AT HIS FIRST MEETING WITH REPUBLICANS HIS RESPONSE WAS "I WON"

it makes me scratch my head and wonder why the president capitualted on them so much. PERHAPS THE BIGGEST LOSS OF CONGRESSIONAL SEATS IN HISTORY?

In any event, these policies and laws are not leftist. RECENT POLLS BY CNN & GALLUP SHOW 50+%DISAPPROVAL ON THEM

You can disagree with them. You can hate them. But you can not call them leftist. Leftists wanted something very different on all of these fronts.

But on a positve note he has done some great things for people who share my "leftist" perspective...

- Race to the top education program WE SPEND MORE OF OUR GDP ON EDUCATION THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY. MY WIFE WORKS IN EDUCATION & THE WASTE IS INCREDIBLE. THE PROBLEM IS NOT INSUFFICIENT RESOURCES BUT THE USE OF THOSE RESOURCES

- Better student loan program SEE ABOVE & IT INCREASES THE DEBT

- Ending gay discrimination in the military - BIG DEAL

- Rescuing our auto industry and all of the domestic manufacturers that support it (hard to believe thats a leftist position but it seems to be). GOVT TAKEOVER OF INDUSTRY IS SOCIALIST

Great post, hoops.

As far as this one goes:

You mentioned the answer earlier in your post.

Payback to Unions.

And, Obummer's gonna need their continuing contributions.

And the cycle continues. What did I tell you? Our resident conservtives sit in the peanut gallery and throw mud at my opinions while hiding their own. Thats been the case for 2 years and it continues all over this thread. I'd ask Hoops how he would meet Democrats halfway on an economic stimulus package that incorporated both Republican and Democratic ideas but Hoops never seems to have a solution for any problem - he is content to simply critique other peoples'. Just another day on LVA.

PS - I have no doubt that conservatives are livid over Obama's policies. Tell me something I dont know. My point in the last post was not to change your mind...it was simply to explain that those policies are not "leftist" as many try to portray them. Thats why there are plenty of progressives that aren't thrilled with them either.

but Hoops never seems to have a solution for any problem - he is content to simply critique other peoples'.

I PROVIDED A LIST SEVERAL MONTHS AGO - NOT GOING TO REPEAT THEM

it was simply to explain that those policies are not "leftist" as many try to portray them. Thats why there are plenty of progressives that aren't thrilled with them either. - ONLY A LEFTIST THINKS THAT THESE POLICIES ARE NOT LEFTIST

Oh, right. My apologies. You offered an opinion several months ago. I guess we can expect you to weigh in with an idea every 200 posts or so. And your ideas as I recall weren't the least bit centrist.

Suck it up PJ. That's what happens when your guy's in power. I guess you've forgotten what it was like when it was Bush that was screwing up the country. Let me give you a hint "Everything was Bush's fault".

Yep. And on a thread where you blast me for engaging in political talking points instead of a constructive debate on the issues you seem to be ok with the other side doing that very thing. Sigh. Like I said...just another day on LVA.

Only in bama world can he submit a budget that is $100b higher than this year and say he has cuts in it