"Obama Deserved It!"

[hurlingdervish]

^2/3s of people who actually cared to talk to the asshole who called them during dinner mind you
most people don't care enough to talk to those guys...

ill just leave this here

http://maniacworld.com/He-Objects-to-Ob ... Prize.html

[alien pimp]

seems to me magma and genevieve are already saying the same thing with different words:
not much going on, just better PR and loads of blah, but he took the same decisions bush would've taken
and this was a decision too: smoothened things a bit for saving some appearances, but continued gaining control over strategic areas, armed and unarmed. what more intentions you need him to show?

your people die for oil companies

[collige]

I'll just leave this here.....
http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

[surface_tension]

I think a fair amount of people people believed the lines Obama spouted. He spouted the same lines, but he did it elegantly. Combine that with the ability to get out the vote, buy the vote, pretend that all of your donors aren't PAC donations or donations from Israeli Mossad.

Let's be real blunt about healthcare as mostly UK people I imagine will be reading this... bust out your horror stories about dead relatives that their treatment was experimental, your grandma was too old to warrant a transplant, your cancer treatment wasn't exactly what you would have preferred... lines, rationing...

Obama's plan will be a massive giveaway to the Insurance industry. It's not a public option at all and shit. It's just fucking sad because the people have been disenfranchised yet again. Not as overtly as when Bush did it in 2000, but in a much more dangerous and pervasive manner.

It's like the shell game. The ball wasn't under any of the shells at all. It was just slight of hand and that sort of thing. We all understandably felt a milestone coming in our National history. But I think that "at least it's not 4 more years of Bush" is far too low a standard for a Nation that fancies itself the self proclaimed leader of the world. Obama needs to be shitting golden eggs or by his own admission he will be unemployed in 4 years.

We were gamed and lied to and it just hurts a lot more this time(not to me in general, but us as a Nation) when we had so much hope. But "Hope" was really just the careful spinning of the wording... the real feeling in our Nation was despair. Now the feeling is like coming home and your house has been robbed. You just trusted that lock would keep out the would-be thieves. Turns out the locksmith came and robbed your shit while you were gone. Obama is the locksmith. But Obama is more than just the man, Obama is now the idea... he's an image, a movement... but his movement is dead. He's a shell with no balls.

And he's funded almost entirely by maxed out donors. That is the fucked up part of the whole thing. Obama claimed that most of his donors were college kids with small donations... "Unemployed" donors giving 30k? CEO's... bankers... the director of a private school(makes it look like a teacher, but they run the fucking school)... not to say other candidates don't take that money. They DO admit to it though, unlike Obama.

Budinger, William
Aspen,CO 81611 Not employed 7/31/08 $30,800 Obama, Barack (D)
BOSLER, JAMES
FORT WORTH,TX 76126 NOT EMPLOYED/RETIRED 8/28/08 $28,500 Obama, Barack (D)
HIGDON, JOE
WASHINGTON,DC 20008 NOT EMPLOYED/RETIRED 8/28/08 $28,500 Obama, Barack (D)
MYERS, DEBRA
RANCHO PALOS VERDE,CA 90275 SELF EMPLOYED/PHYSICIAN 8/31/08 $28,500 Obama, Barack (D)
MYERS, WOODROW DR JR
INDIANAPOLIS,IN 46204 MYERS VENTURES LLC/MGR DIRECTOR 8/31/08 $28,500 Obama, Barack (D)
MCDERMOTT, JAMES
LOS ANGELES,CA 90049 US RENEWABLE GROUP/INVESTOR 6/30/08 $14,250 Obama, Barack (D)
ANDREAS, LOWELL W MR
MANKATO,MN 56001 NOT EMPLOYED/RETIRED 6/30/08 $10,000 Obama, Barack (D)
BRIDGES, ANDREW
WOODSIDE,CA 94062 WINSTON & STRAWN LLP/ATTORNEY 7/14/08 $10,000 Obama, Barack (D)
MIRMIRAN, FRED
SPARKS,MD 21152 JMT/PRESIDENT 12/31/07 $10,000 Obama, Barack (D)
ORMESHER, DAVID
CHICAGO,IL 60626 CLOSERLOOK/CEO 10/23/08 $10,000 Obama, Barack (D)
SHERMAN, JOHN
PORTLAND,OR 97210 22 RESEARCH/ASSET MANAGER 8/28/08 $10,000 Obama, Barack (D)
WATT, ROBERT
BROOKLYN,NY 11217 HUDSON RIVER TRADING/DIRECTOR OF IT 8/31/08 $10,000 Obama, Barack (D)
COLOM, TAJ
TIPLERSVILLE,MS 38674 VP SUPN/COLON CONSTRUCTION 6/27/07 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
DIES, MARTIN
AUSTIN,TX 78701 DIES & HILE LLP/PARTNER 6/30/07 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
FRANKEN, FRANCES
MINNEAPOLIS,MN 55404 AL FRANKEN INC/ENTERTAINER 7/31/08 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
GRIFFIN, HAYNES
GREENSBORO,NC 27408 FRONTLINE WIRELESS/CEO 3/21/07 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
GSERVOLD, TODD E
NEW YORK,NY 10028 CITADEL/ANALYST 5/8/07 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
HARTOG, ELZELIEN
RIDGEFIELD,CT 06877 CHILD GUIDANCE CTR OF CT/SOCIAL WOR 12/31/07 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
KOTKINS, HENRY L JR
SEATTLE,WA 98121 SKYWAY LUGGAGE/CEO 6/4/07 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
LEONARD, THOMAS
PHILADELPHIA,PA 19103 OBERMAYER REDMAN MAXWELL HIPPEL LLP 8/30/08 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
MOLINA, ALFREDO J
PHOENIX,AZ 85016 MOLINE FINE JEWELERS/GEMOLOGIST 9/25/07 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
PABRAI, MOHNISH
IRVINE,CA 92620 PABRAI INVESTMENT FUNDS/PORTFOLIO M 6/28/07 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
ROCK, CHRIS MR
NEW YORK,NY 10019 ACTOR 4/20/07 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
SMISEK, JEFFERY A
HOUSTON,TX 77056 CONTINENTAL AIRLINES/EXECUTIVE 8/28/08 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
WITTE, WILLIAM A
LAGUNA BEACH,CA 92651 RELATED CALIFORNIA/REAL ESTATE 6/28/07 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
WOLF, THOMAS W
MOUNT WOLF,PA 17347 4/14/08 $9,200 Obama, Barack (D)
FINLEY, RYAN
PORTLAND,OR 97209 SURVEYMONKEY.COM/OWNER 8/28/08 $8,500 Obama, Barack (D)
MCGARR, CAPPY R
DALLAS,TX 75219 MLM INTEREST, LLC/FINANCE/PRIVATE E 6/24/08 $8,000 Obama, Barack (D)
BOSCIA, JON
GLADWYNE,PA 19035 NOT EMPLOYED/NOT EMPLOYED 5/12/08 $7,500 Obama, Barack (D)
ORFALEA, PAUL J
VENTURA,CA 93001 RESOURCES CONSULTING/OWNER 1/31/08 $7,500 Obama, Barack (D)
BELL, JOANN
GLOUCESTER,MA 01930 ELDERHOSTEL/TOUR OPERATOR 6/26/08 $6,994 Obama, Barack (D)
DIETRICH, HARRY
ALBUQUERQUE,NM 87122 NOT EMPLOYED/RETIRED 6/27/08 $6,994 Obama, Barack (D)
COMPTON, ROBERT A
GERMANTOWN,TN 38139 ATHSAN VONTOO/CEO 9/30/07 $6,900 Obama, Barack (D)
DIES, MARTIN
AUSTIN,TX 78701 DIES & HILE LLP/PARTNER 6/30/07 $6,900 Obama, Barack (D)
MYERS, WILL R
AUSTIN,TX 78703 ARCHITECT 3/18/08 $6,900 Obama, Barack (D)
RIVERS, CASSARENA
WINDERMERE,FL 34786 5/31/08 $6,900 Obama, Barack (D)
WEITZMAN, HOWARD L
PACIFIC PALISADES,CA 90272 SELF EMPLOYED/ATTORNEY 9/12/07 $6,900 Obama, Barack (D)
ZIMMERMAN, JOHN W
GREENWOOD VILLAGE,CO 80111 TOMKINS INDUSTRIES/CFO 6/16/08 $6,900 Obama, Barack (D)
TROUT, DAVID
FULTON,MD 20759 ADVANCED CONCEPTS/VICE PRESIDENT 5/14/07 $6,000 Obama, Barack (D)
HUTCHINSON, ERICA
BROOKLYN,NY 11238 ADDY & FERRO/BOUTIQUE OWNER 7/4/08 $5,996 Obama, Barack (D)
IVY, STEPHANIE M
MARINA DEL RAY,CA 90292 GOLDMAN SACHS/INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT 1/14/08 $5,600 Obama, Barack (D)
JONES, STEPHANIE
CHICAGO,IL 60613 FIGLIULO & SILVERMAN/ATTORNEY 2/28/08 $5,300 Obama, Barack (D)
WIRTA, LINDA
NEWPORT COAST,CA 92657 NOT EMPLOYED/HOMEMAKER 6/28/07 $5,300 Obama, Barack (D)
AARON, BARBARA
SAN FRANCISCO,CA 94115 NOT EMPLOYED/NOT EMPLOYED 7/11/08 $5,000 Obama, Barack (D)
ARGIRO, VINCENT
FAIRFIELD,IA 52556 SELF EMPLOYED/CONSULTANT 8/29/08 $5,000 Obama, Barack (D)
BLANKFORT, LOWELL MR
CHULA VISTA,CA 91910 SELF EMPLOYED/WRITER/PUBLISHER 4/10/08 $5,000 Obama, Barack (D)
BOTSTEIN, PAULA MS
BROOKLYN,NY 11215 SELF-EMPLOYED/CONSULTANT 9/17/08 $5,000 Obama, Barack (D)
BUFFETT, WILLIAM MR
ARLINGTON,MA 02476 3/7/08 $5,000 Obama, Barack (D)
BURROUGHS, TYRONE
GERMANTOWN,TN 38139 SALES AND MARKETING CONCEPTS/PRESID 10/28/08 $5,000 Obama, Barack (D)
BUTLER, JAMES C
NEW ORLEANS,LA 70128 TULANE UNIVERSITY/PHYSICIAN 9/27/07 $5,000 Obama, Barack (D)



Source of Funds

Individual contributions $656,357,572 88% (mostly bundled PAC donations)
PAC contributions $1,830 0%
Candidate self-financing $0 0%
Federal Funds $0 0%
Other $88,626,223 12%

Incomplete $15,611,429 (3.7%)
No Disclosure $25,289,671 (6.0%)

Source: Open Secrets. Most of the disclosed donations were bundled PAC and corporate donations.... "OTHER" means that the source is unaccounted for. Over 100 Million tax free just up in the air dollars. How many kids could go to college... how many hearts could be transplanted... how many HDTVs could he give to under privileged youths? How many instruments... how many roads... how many fucking anything... and he just can't account for it.

Also: He raised(on the books) 745 Million dollars... spent 730 Million... 15 Million into thin air...

All in 50 dollar donations from college kids

He didn't come to us from a position of honesty from the start. No reason to believe in his change now either. Change we can panhandle for.

And Genevieve fucking nailed it... should the Euro opinions matter? If our leadership here didn't try and influence your leadership the answer would be a resounding yes. I don't think the United States has the right, the authority or the moral obligation to right the wrongs of the world. I want to trade with your country, have free and fair trade with your country and let your country determine for itself what is right. That's up to the voters in your country though. I seriously hope the entire world stops electing US Lapdogs as well, we need to take a shot to the pills so to speak.

[alien pimp]

I'll just leave this here.....
http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

that site is jokes!
like that veteran healthcare shit put to his "in the works" while it was in works at the house of representatives long time and he has nothing to do with it

or maybe you like these big accomplishments:
No. 134: Send two additional brigades to Afghanistan

No. 174: Give a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administration

No. 225: Establish an Energy Partnership for the Americas
(thisone needs reading to see what's about)

No. 241: Require new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.

No. 278: Remove more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires

No. 345: Enhance earth mapping

plus about 5 promises on the spatial program

and my fav:
No. 125: Direct military leaders to end war in Iraq

After the meeting, Obama issued a statement, included below in its entirety:

"This afternoon, I met with our ambassador to Iraq, the commander in Iraq, and the overall theater commander in the region in order to get a full update on the situation in Iraq. Key members of my Cabinet and senior national security officials also participated in this meeting.

"The meeting was productive and I very much appreciated receiving assessments from these experienced and dedicated individuals. During the discussion, I asked the military leadership to engage in additional planning necessary to execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq.

"In the coming days and weeks, I will also visit the Department of Defense to consult with the Joint Chiefs on these issues, and we will undertake a full review of the situation in Afghanistan in order to develop a comprehensive policy for the entire region."

Promise kept.

but even on that site, if you look at the broken/compromised/stalled - 90% of them are about cash, freedoms and war baby, while the accomplishments are mostly removing bushes, meeting people and saying words

[collige]

Of the military promises the only negative rating was on Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

He kept 5 economic promises and broke 3.

He's not the greatest president ever, but he's by no means the devil.

[hurlingdervish]

Of the military promises the only negative rating was on Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

He kept 5 economic promises and broke 3.

He's not the greatest president ever, but he's by no means the devil.

omg an american politician broke promises???

[Genevieve]

I actually think that a lot of people would wish he would break promises, rather than keep them. Like break the promise of reinforcing Afgan troops, or breaking the promise of supporting Israel, etc.

I really do not understand how people can support a foreign policy that is the same as the one that caused 9/11 and hail it as something that can bring peace between the West and the Islamic world. o.o

[Genevieve]

Of the military promises the only negative rating was on Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

He kept 5 economic promises and broke 3.

He's not the greatest president ever, but he's by no means the devil.

omg an american politician broke promises???

That is not the issue. It's that he was voted in with awful promises and bad resolutions in the first place. His foreign policy was the reason I didn't want to see him as president (other than that, I don't care about American presidents since I'm not American).

He campaigned as the 'peace president', which the population accepted and voted him in for. It's not that he's breaking promises, it's that the population is slowly waking up to see that his ideas weren't good in the first place.

[hurlingdervish]

I really do not understand how people can support a foreign policy that is the same as the one that caused 9/11 and hail it as something that can bring peace between the West and the Islamic world. o.o

who is supporting it??

you will find that people don't read into it that deep, and if they did, they would probably oppose it as well. but on a whole not too many people are blind obama supporters...i can't think of one out of everyone i know that agrees with his policy on every single thing

[Genevieve]

I really do not understand how people can support a foreign policy that is the same as the one that caused 9/11 and hail it as something that can bring peace between the West and the Islamic world. o.o

who is supporting it??

you will find that people don't read into it that deep, and if they did, they would probably oppose it as well.

The gajillions of college kids who vote for him because he is for 'diplomacy' and the 'peace president', you know what the article in the original post is about. Most Obama supporters voted for him to end wars, not to prolong them.

[hurlingdervish]

I really do not understand how people can support a foreign policy that is the same as the one that caused 9/11 and hail it as something that can bring peace between the West and the Islamic world. o.o

who is supporting it??

you will find that people don't read into it that deep, and if they did, they would probably oppose it as well.

The gajillions of college kids who vote for him because he is for 'diplomacy' and the 'peace president', you know what the article in the original post is about. Most Obama supporters voted for him to end wars, not to prolong them.

do you know these people? have you met them?

you might find they feel the same way, just targeted at different things...

[Genevieve]

I really do not understand how people can support a foreign policy that is the same as the one that caused 9/11 and hail it as something that can bring peace between the West and the Islamic world. o.o

who is supporting it??

you will find that people don't read into it that deep, and if they did, they would probably oppose it as well.

The gajillions of college kids who vote for him because he is for 'diplomacy' and the 'peace president', you know what the article in the original post is about. Most Obama supporters voted for him to end wars, not to prolong them.

do you know these people? have you met them?

you might find they feel the same way, just targeted at different things...

You're not making any sense.

[hurlingdervish]

just pointing out that saying a gajillion college kids voted for him for the same reason is a giant generalization

[alien pimp]

Of the military promises the only negative rating was on Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

He kept 5 economic promises and broke 3.

He's not the greatest president ever, but he's by no means the devil.

accounting shit like that is useless, use your own brain if you don't want to be manipulated by either sides, look at the effect on people's life for each of them, look at their nature and aims, also look what it takes for many of them to be considered accomplished and so forth... then decide for yourself

what i saw is one promise broken compensating for hundred others kept, let alone, as i showed above and genevieve also argues, some of the promises are bad shit in the first place, so keeping them is shit too

[alien pimp]

just pointing out that saying a gajillion college kids voted for him for the same reason is a giant generalization

true this one, even people supporting him are aware now of his faults, just they don't have the big picture, each with his "niche". the smartest move they made is letting bush fall hard so they can make the new rising star shine even brighter. and they will do the same with obama, i'm almost ready to bet he's gonna be sacrificed big time. only for the public eye, of course

people rush to compare obama with bush, not with what obama is supposed to be, and they prefer to let him play his tune only because rnb is better than the redneck country music

[hurlingdervish]

people rush to compare obama with bush, not with what obama is supposed to be, and they prefer to let him play his tune only because rnb is better than the redneck country music

[djelements]

omg a politician broke promises???

[surface_tension]

Voter turnout in 2008 was the same as 2004:

A new report from American University’s Center for the Study of the American Electorate concludes that voter turnout in Tuesday’s election was the same in percentage terms as it was four years ago — or at most has risen by less than 1 percent.

The report released Thursday estimates that between 126.5 and 128.5 million Americans cast ballots in the presidential election earlier this week. Those figures represent 60.7 percent or, at most, 61.7 percent of those eligible to vote in the country.

If Obama got 55% of the vote for instance, that would mean he still only had the support of less than 30% of the American eligible voters... that doesn't take into account the millions more who cannot vote anyway...

“A downturn in the number and percentage of Republican voters going to the polls seemed to be the primary explanation for the lower than predicted turnout,” the report said. Compared to 2004, Republican turnout declined by 1.3 percentage points to 28.7 percent, while Democratic turnout increased by 2.6 points from 28.7 percent in 2004 to 31.3 percent in 2008.

“Many people were fooled (including this student of politics although less so than many others) by this year’s increase in registration (more than 10 million added to the rolls), citizens’ willingness to stand for hours even in inclement weather to vote early, the likely rise in youth and African American voting, and the extensive grassroots organizing network of the Obama campaign into believing that turnout would be substantially higher than in 2004,” Curtis Gans, the center’s director, said in the report. “But we failed to realize that the registration increase was driven by Democratic and independent registration and that the long lines at the polls were mostly populated by Democrats.”

And that big student vote turnout?

Up by 1% over 2004... same with the black vote haha... everything went up by like 1% basically. No real change at all. Not in actual voting at least. Someone just had a great PR campaign bigging them up. Nothing like a Facebook/Myspace campaign staff to get out the vote lol.

[magma]

As a Brit who's lived with the NHS all his life I can honestly say I can't imagine living anywhere without public health care. I get private cover through my work, BUPA and others seem to still make good profits and my parents didn't get crippled by care bills for my Grandma's last few years (your last year of health care costs more than the average person uses in a lifetime).

To have a 'modern' society with designs on leading the 'free world' that doesn't even show enough compassion to look after it's own citizens, leaving MILLIONS uninsured is absolutely laughable. It reflects massively in the US image around the world... More interested in profit than making sure it's citizens have the best lives. Convincing themselves they have the "best health care system in the god damn world" whilst languishing behind most if the developed world in life expectancy and general health and wellbeing.

I think Obama understands that, but does he have the courage of his conviction? Whilst connections to medical companies could be seen as 'cause' they could also be explained as consequence. Obama was suggesting radical shakeups to their industry and he looked like he was going to win, so the companies just onboard to make sure they're in the process. Obama again needs to make sure he's got the balls to not be leveraged into selling out his principles.