Obama Watch

Discussing all things political in NW Arkansas and beyond.
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Re: Obama Watch

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Putting this here too, so I can find it:

GOP Debunked: Obama did not create $5 trillion in new debt

"Republican pundits love to say that the national debt has increased by $5 trillion because of President Obama. Factually, that statement is simply untrue. Let's examine the evidence.

Of the alleged $5 trillion, $1.6 trillion is related to costs of the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars. These were costs George W. Bush intentionally hid from the budget, and that President Obama allowed to be calculated when he assumed office.

Note that Obama could have continued to hide the bill as Bush did, passing it along to his successor.

President Bush was able to manipulate funding for the Iraq/Afghanistan wars using special emergency authorization bills. He did this because, as you recall, the Democrats were attempting to defund the war legislatively.

The overall point is simple: Obama, as president, authorized not one cent of that $1.6 trillion to be spent.

It has been previously reported by marketwatch.com that President Obama increased overall government spending by a smaller margin than any modern president, all the way to President Eisenhower.

Rex Nutting at marketwatch clarifies:

What people forget (or never knew) is that the first year of every presidential term starts with a budget approved by the previous administration and Congress. The president only begins to shape the budget in his second year. It takes time to develop a budget and steer it through Congress — especially in these days of congressional gridlock.

Over $1.4 trillion was spent on interest payments caused by the already standing debt.

Knowing that, let's examine the GOP's argument.

They say President Obama has spent too much, but 32% of the total amount they claim has been spent is a direct result of Republican presidential policies, and previous spending.

President Obama is stuck paying the bill for the previous GOP administrations of Reagan, H.W. Bush, and W. Bush. President Clinton left with a surplus if you recall, and added nothing to our debt. This point has been discussed constantly, and was even visited by President Obama's former Press Secretary Jay Carney during a press gaggle.

It is not disputed that the national debt was $10 trillion before President Obama took office.

The interest that is paid on the debt today was created by the very same people who now are attempting to blame the cost of that interest on the president. Do not allow yourself to be fooled, the GOP is attempting to blame the president for something they caused.

Now our journey of $5 trillion has been twiddled down to $2 trillion."

...

Links and references and the rest here... Examiner
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Re: Obama Watch

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President Obama’s Approval Highest In 3 Years While GOP’s Stands At Record Low

"President Obama heads into more negotiations with Congress over budget sequestration with an approval rating of 55%, his highest in three years. At the same time, Republicans only have an approval rating of 35%, according to a Bloomberg poll conducted on Feb. 15-18 of this year.

The findings may give the president political leverage to get some of his demands met by Congress, and puts pressure on Congressional Republicans to actually do something real about the sequester. "

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Re: Obama Watch

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Deconstructing the 5 most ridiculous myths about Barack Obama

The 44th president has long been the target of misinformation, smear campaigns, and outright, bald-faced lies

1. Obama has played more golf than any president in history
This isn't even close to being true...

2. Obama has taken more vacation time than any president in history
This isn't even remotely accurate either, but first, some context from Nancy Reagan: "Presidents don't get vacations — they just get a change of scenery.

3. Obama shows his true colors by not going to Arlington National Cemetery

4. Obama has never visited Israel as president, which shows he doesn't give a damn about it

5. Taxes under Obama are at an all-time high
If you buy this one, congratulations: You've failed not just history, but economics as well. Between the combined burden of federal, state, and local income taxes, Americans are parting with the smallest share of their income since 1958. The Bureau of Economic Analysis says we pay 23.6 percent of what we make, down from an average of about 27 percent during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

The Week
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Re: Obama Watch

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Amazing:

Scarborough, Burnett attack Obama over 'low' tax return

"Just in time for Tax Day, President Obama released his 2012 return to the IRS. And right on cue, conservative commentators blasted the president for paying only 18.4 percent ($112,000) of his $609,000 in income to Uncle Sam. Predictably, while CNN's Erin Burnett slammed Obama's payment to the Treasury as "pretty low and frankly almost competitive with Mitt Romney's rate," Joe Scarborough said Obama's "hypocrisy is mind-boggling."

As it turns out, right-wing rage over Barack Obama's tax rate is the real hypocrisy. After all, Obama campaigned for office in 2008 and 2012 on a platform which called for substantially raising his own taxes. Meanwhile, a President Romney would have slashed his (and his heirs') tax bill by millions of dollars.

With royalties from his books sales slowing, President Obama reported $608,000 in income for 2012, compared to $5.5 million in 2009 and $1.7 million in 2010. But as a result of giving a quarter of their income to 33 different charities (including $103,000 to the Fisher House charity for military families), the Obamas saw their effective tax rate drop to 18.4 percent from 26 percent two years ago."

Daily KOS
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Re: Obama Watch

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"All told, the U.S. federal deficit will be about $600 billion smaller than it was in President Obama's first year in office,
making this the fastest deficit reduction Americans have seen since World War II."

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"GOP policymakers routinely compared this policy -- reducing the deficit through increased tax revenue -- to dogs chasing their tails.

Well, here we are several months later. After the higher taxes kicked in, we saw the strongest job creation in eight years and the deficit is even smaller than expected."

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Re: Obama Watch

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Economically, Could Obama Be America's Best President?

"With the stock market hitting new highs, some people have already forgotten about the Great Recession.

Recall 2009. Things looked pretty bleak economically.

But the outlook has changed dramatically in just 4 years. And it has been a boon for investors, as even the safest indices have yielded a 250% return (>25% annualized compound return:)"

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Forbes, contributor
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Re: Obama Watch

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Obama Is The Fifth President To See The S&P 500 Double While In Office

"Despite conservative claims otherwise, the evidence seems to be mounting that the Obama Presidency has been good for business. What's a little less clear is if he's boosted the rest of us.

The latest sign? President Barack Obama is just the fifth president in the 84-year history of the S&P 500 index to see it double during his term, according to The New York Times. While it’s true Obama’s ability to join this elite club may have been helped by the fact that he took office during a crisis, as the NYTimes notes, America’s stock markets have done better than those of any of the next nine largest economies since early 2009.

Indeed, stocks jumped 85 percent during Obama’s first term and the Dow Jones Industrial Average as well as the S&P 500 have both hit record highs under Obama.

In addition, corporate profits soared 171 percent during Obama’s first term, more than any other president since World War II, according to Bloomberg. Measured a few other ways: In January, corporate profits were at their highest level relative to the size of the economy since the government began keeping record and double their peak during Ronald Reagan’s administration, which also saw the S&P grow to twice its size, Bloomberg found."

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Re: Obama Watch

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Re: Obama Watch

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Admiral William McRaven, Navy Seal Special Operations Command
On the bin Laden Raid:
"The planning and decision making for the bin Laden raid, was really everything the American public would expect from their national leadership."
"The Presdient was at all times presidential, he says. "I would contend he was the smartest guy in the room. He had leadership skills we'd expect from a guy who had 35 years in the military."
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 4684_n.jpg
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Re: Obama Watch

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Handy fun fact:

"...government spending as a share of GDP is lower in 2013 than it was in every year of the Reagan presidency
except 1988 when spending was 21.3 percent of GDP, 0.2 percentage points lower than the 2013 share."

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Re: Obama Watch

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Claims of Sealed Obama Records Proven False

No United States President in history has had as many false and malicious rumors spread about him. As part of an ongoing public service commitment by this website, we present our series of articles debunking right-wing myths.

Myth: Obama’s thesis paper is sealed

Reality: Obama did not actually write the kind of ‘thesis’ that some universities require for graduation, and accordingly there are none on file. Obama did write a ‘thesis’ about nuclear disarmament for an honors course his senior year, but reporter have already been told that Obama did not keep a copy and as reported by Snopes back in 2008, Columbia had not retained a copy either. NBC News contacted Professor Michael Baron, his former professor back in 2008 but he advised he thought it had been tossed out during a move he made back in 2000.

Myth: Obama’s College records are sealed from Occidental College, Columbia and Harvard

Reality: Pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, it would be illegal under federal law for Occidental, Columbia or Harvard to release the records of any student to reporters or member of the general public without specific written permission from said student. Obama has not released those records, but neither has any other presidential candidate in history.

Myth: Obama’s Selective Service Registration is sealed

Reality: This myth is actually pretty moot since there has not been a draft in the United States since 1972, the year Obama turned 11. Nevertheless, Obama’s Selective Service registration is public. His registration number is 61-1125539-1 and was registered by Obama on September 4, 1980 as confirmed by the Selective Service Administration and has been posted publicly.

Myth: Obama’s Medical Records are sealed

Reality: Obama released summary medical information during the 2008 campaign, and since taking office has followed the same practice of other presidents releasing the results of his first medical exam on February 28, 2010 and his second exam October 31, 2011.

Myth: Obama’s State Senate Records are sealed

Reality: Obama’s voting record as an Illinois State Senator is a matter of public record and during the 2008 campaign reporters extensively reviewed them. The website for the Illinois General Assembly has transcripts of all Senate debates in which Obama took part posted as well.

Myth: Obama’s Law Practice Record are sealed

Reality: Obama routinely disclosed a full list clients for the firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill and Gallard where he worked while serving in the state senate although he did not release the list of specific clients he worked for personally. However, while campaigning in 2008 he did confirm several specific clients when asked to include the liberal organization Acorn, who he represented in 1995."

LINK
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Re: Obama Watch

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According to the Sentier research, households headed by single women, with and without children present, saw their incomes fall by roughly 7%. Those under age 25 experienced an income decline of 9.6%. Black heads of households saw their income tumble by 10.9%, while Hispanic heads-of-households' income fell 4.5%, slightly more than the national average. The incomes of workers with a high-school diploma or less fell by about 8% (-6.9% for those with less than a high-school diploma and -9.3% for those with only a high-school diploma).
Stephen Moore: Obama's Economy Hits His Voters Hardest
In 2008, progressives attempted to achieve these goals by voting for the most anti-war, anti-police state Democrat in decades. Obama entered the primaries as a challenger from Hillary Clinton’s left, packaging himself as the alternative to her national security establishmentarian brand. He opposed the Iraq war, promised to shut down Gitmo and denounced warrantless domestic wiretapping by the NSA.

In 2013, we see this “progressive” superstar, who all but promised to usher in a 21st century Church Committee, presiding over the massive expansion of illegal drone warfare around the world and the largest expansion of the surveillance state in history. We see this man, who promised the “most transparent administration in history,” pursuing vindictive reprisals — on a scale rivaling Woodrow Wilson or Richard Nixon — against whistleblowers who expose the surveillance state’s terrifying scope.

In short, progressives voted harder in 2008 than they had in decades, electing a man who promised to radically scale back the total warfare and surveillance state and rein in corporate power. And the man they elected went 180 degrees opposite every last expectation.
Vote Harder: The Barack Obama Story
"We may become the makers of our fate when we have ceased to pose as its prophets."
~ The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper
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Re: Obama Watch

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If you keep filling your head with right wing crap, a bunch of it is going to stick (oops, too late). I say this being quite aware of the stuff Stephen Moore shovels.
Indium Flappers wrote: households headed by single women, with and without children present, saw their incomes fall by roughly 7%. ...
Gee, I wonder if Bush's recession, which lost more jobs than the previous four recessions combined, might have something to do with that? I wonder if losing 42,000 factories in ten years and cutting the stock market in half would also? And a few other things. The notion that any president could nullify the fiscal shit storm given to us by the nations conservatives, is exceedingly naive. The power of presidents is vastly over rated but if one wishes to play that game, notice that the record regarding presidents and income growth in their respective groups is long and clear. See my post here from three years ago.

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For what it's worth, everyone, all income groups, have consistently done better when there is a Demo president. Especially the poorest. Could be an accident. Probably isn't an accident.

D.
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"In the aughts, Republicans held more power for longer than at any time since the twenties, yet the result was the weakest and least broadly shared economic expansion since World War II, followed by an economic crash and prolonged slump. Along the way, the GOP suffered two severe election defeats in 2006 and 2008. Imagine yourself a rank-and-file Republican in 2009: If you have not lost your job or your home, your savings have been sliced and your children cannot find work. Your retirement prospects have dimmed. Most of all, your neighbors blame you for all that has gone wrong in the country. There’s one thing you know for sure: None of this is your fault! And when the new president fails to deliver rapid recovery, he can be designated the target for everyone’s accumulated disappointment and rage. In the midst of economic wreckage, what relief to thrust all blame upon Barack Obama as the wrecker-in-chief."
--David Frum, GW Bush's adviser and speech writer. http://nymag.com/news/politics/conserva ... ndex1.html
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Re: Obama Watch

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In what ways would you say Obama's actions in regard to the economy are different from the actions Bush took?
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Re: Obama Watch

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Re: Obama Watch

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Wingnuts Say Obama Has Exploded US Debt Which Is, Unfortunately, Wrong

Excerpt:

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"The more I listen to elected Republicans, who, thank goodness, just won't stop talking, the more I realize that they're bullshitters. They must know basic facts like the size of US deficits and debt. They must know that the deficit is falling. They must know that the current debt cannot, in any honest economic sense of the word, be blamed on President Obama. But they don't care. They have an impression they want to make, so they don't care what's true and what's not. They just say whatever they have to say in order to convey the impression they want to make, which is, of course, that Democrats are big borrowers and spenders, and they are the party of fiscal responsibility.

Of course, anyone with even a loose grasp of facts knows why this is bullshit. But, apparently, some people still need help with the facts. So, occasionally, I set people straight. It's especially fun to set wingnuts straight, although it gets old when you point out how wrong they are, and they just disappear, only to come back some other day with more bullshit that shows that they just ignored the actual facts.

Today, I see that Bloomberg has a poll that illustrates this break with reality that Tea Party Republicans have suffered, and continue to suffer, because they believe the BS from the people they elected. They allow the impression being made by the bullshitters to take root in their walled off minds, and they pick and choose the information they need to feed that impression until it festers into a boil that sorely needs to be lanced. If only they weren't so afraid of needles.
Two-thirds of regular Republicans believe the federal budget deficit has grown this year and 93 percent of Tea Party Republicans agree. Both are wrong; the budget deficit is projected to fall this year from $1.1 trillion to $642 billion.
That's just this year. Go back a ways, and their delusion gets even stronger. For example, tell them Obama has cut the deficit in half since he took office from GW Bush, and they often become apoplectic, if they don't just leave and avoid the subject. They'll wail about how Obama sent the deficit soaring to such heights that even he could keep it up.

So, the real kicker is when you show them what the money is for. Like any good bullshitter, they'll say I'm a weak, pathetic libtard for blaming Bush. When the truth is, for centuries in this country, those described as weak and pathetic were the ones who knowingly chose to believe fantasy over reality. I'm looking at you, Confederate States of America.

The chart at the top of this post lists the sources of the current deficits that are adding to our debt. It is a stark reminder of the fact that any Republican who claims they are the party of limited government is bullshitting you and will probably ask for a campaign contribution right after doing so. The entire GOP has become a country club of con artists, and their base is the mark."

The rest....

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Re: Obama Watch

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"I'm not a skeptic because I want to believe, I'm a skeptic because I want to know." --Michael Shermer
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Re: Obama Watch

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Re: Obama Watch

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Re: Obama Watch

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Three charts:

Spending:

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"Government spending increased dramatically under President Bush. It has not increased much under President Obama."

Deficits:

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"The numbers in these two charts come from Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables Fiscal Year 2015. They are just the amounts that the government spent and borrowed, period, Anyone can go look them up. People who claim that Obama "tripled the deficit" or increased it or anything of the sort are either misled or are trying to mislead. President Obama inherited a budget deficit of $1.4 trillion from President Bush's last budget year and annual budget deficits have gone down dramatically since."

Stimulus and jobs:

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"We have gone from losing around 850,000 jobs a month to gaining over 200,000 jobs a month."

LINK

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"I'm not a skeptic because I want to believe, I'm a skeptic because I want to know." --Michael Shermer
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