The reason I cannot stand President Obama is because....

[Mike 03]

He's actually lived up to my expectations. He is actually doing what he said he would do. He's--to use James Cameron's favorite term--"thrown down" for all of us. He's working 24/7 for me. This is the first time I have ever seen a politician do this, and now that means I'm going to have to actually get off my ass and help him out, do something, shed my cynicism, and actually be a constructive citizen instead of a piss-and-groaning baby.

There's nothing more upsetting than when my cherished cynicism is capsized by a human being who actually IS what he claims to be. How inconvenient. Now we have to put up or shut up.

[loyalkydem]

1. This

is something I can K and R. Bring more of your friends

[Historic NY]

2. People just falling over him, who does he think he is the President or something...

yes, he is The President of the United States of America.:woohoo:

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Duncan Grant]

4. We got spirit -- yes we do! We got spirit -- how 'bout you?!

We got spirit in our britches, yes we do.
We got spirit in our britches, yes we do.
We got spirit in our britches,
And it really, really itches
We got spirit in our britches, yes we do.



Is it safe to have discourse yet or are we still learning cheers? :hide:

[WhollyHeretic]

6. Beautiful

:rofl:

[Bluebear]

9. ---

http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=72b8288fbdbb5434a494

[amandabeech]

12. Elevator! Elevator! We got the shaft!

Nuts and bolts! Nuts and bolts! We got screwed!:hide:

[Obamanaut]

5. Miz O and I were talking about how some folks are disappointed.

It's sorta like our own 41 year marriage. When we were young and full of hope, everything was rosy. Over the years I did some things that she did not agree with, that disappointed her, but she stayed with me anyway because she believed that I was doing the best I could by her.

Miz O and I are staying with one another until our run is over. We are staying with Pres Obama until his run is over, even if from time to time there is a minor setback. I don't believe he can do everything he wants to do because of the limits of the office, but I do believe he will do the best he can.

Additionally, Michelle is a classy first lady, the president has a very winning smile, and Miz O and I are satisfied so far.

edited to add K&R

[FormerDittoHead]

7. Totally wrong

to not appreciate the work he's obviously putting into his job. It is truly inspiring.

[Bluebear]

8. Well, he is not actually doing what he said he would do on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Does that count or will that interrupt your fantasy?

[OhioChick]

11. Nor is he doing what he promised regarding outsourcing...

Courtesy of acmavm

Obama opposes outsourcing of jobs
Agencies Posted: Jun 28, 2008 at 1133 hrs

Washington, June 28: Taking a tough stand against outsourcing, the presumptive Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama said that the choice is between giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas or give benefit to those corporations that keep jobs domestically.
"We can keep giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, or we can give tax benefits to companies that invest right here in New Hampshire," Senator Obama said at a joint appearance with Senator Hillary Clinton in Unity, New Hampshire.

"We can have a tax code that rewards wealth and hands out billions of dollars more to big corporations and multimillionaires. Or we can provide a USD 1,000 tax cut to 95 per cent of families in America, start rewarding work and not just wealth, and eliminate income taxes for seniors making USD 50,000 a year or less," Obama said, adding that's an agenda for change that we can believe in. That's the choice that we can make in this election.

"We can allow millions of Americans to work full-time but still not make enough to support their families, or we can raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation, and ensure that hard work pays off in America," the Illinois Senator said.
http://www.expressindia.com/story_print.php?storyId=328 ...
___________

Obama vows to stop outsourcing, India Inc irked
started by TruthSeeker 7 mnths ago

Washington/New Delhi: In remarks that are bound to raise hackles in India, Barack Obama made a strong anti-outsourcing pitch after securing the Democratic Presidential nomination vowing to end tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas if elected to office.



Playing to the gallery on the hot button issue of outsourcing in his acceptance speech, Obama kept up with the rhetoric on the subject that has been a staple of Democratic campaigning and went on to spell out what he would do as President on the front.



"Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America," said Obama, who has been fiercely opposing outsourcing.

Source: http://www.ibnlive.com/news/obama-vows-to-stop-outsourc ...
_____________

Obama vows to award US cos that stop outsourcing
Agencies
Posted online: Sep 04, 2008 at 1250 hrs

Washington, September 4:US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama once again touched on the ticklish issue of outsourcing and while vowing to end tax breaks to companies that ship works overseas conceded that all lost jobs could not be redeemed.

Promising to retain as well as create more jobs for the Americans, the Democratic nominee said while all lost jobs cannot be redeemed, further movement can be halted by giving incentives to companies investing in the country.

"Not all jobs that have left are going to come back. We can stop some of them that are already leaving by stopping to give tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas and saving those tax breaks for investing in plants and equipment right here in the US," Obama said at a campaign stop in Ohio.

http://www.financialexpress.com/printer/news/357238 /
______________________

Outsourcing critics worry about Obama advisors

By Krishna Kumar V. E.
December 10, 2008


Outsourcing critics worry about Obama advisors

Critics of outsourcing who saw in Barack Obama their saviour, are now worried that the President-elect of United States may tone down his commitment to stop sending jobs offshore because of pressure from his advisors.

Noted Wall Street Journal writer William J. Bulkely believes that the reason for such a meltdown in Obama’s position could be that as many as 17 members of his transition economic advisory board are corporate honchos who have a long history of outsourcing.

Bulkely quotes Ron Hira of the Rochester Institute of Technology and author of the famous book ‘Outsourcing America’ as saying that the Obama team is yet to take up the issue of white-collar outsourcing very seriously.

The President-elect had promised to stop tax breaks to companies that shifted jobs overseas, a position that he still holds but could be forced to change giving the diverse opinions held by members of his transition team.

The blog says that almost every member of the advisory board that has been involved in corporate America has been connected to outsourcing. The author goes on to say that the companies where these advisors worked earlier are refusing to comment now.
http://www.bpowatchindia.com/bpo_news/obama_outsourcing ...

Meanwhile, after the votes are counted....

US doesn’t need outsourced jobs: Obama

27 Mar, 2009, 0930 hrs IST,IANS

WASHINGTON: In the midst of its worst recession in decades, President Barack Obama says it would be better to create new jobs that can't be outsourced instead of bringing back such low paying jobs from other countries.

'Not all of these jobs are going to come back,' he told a questioner during an 'Online Townhall' from the White House who asked when would jobs outsourced to other countries come back and be made available to the unemployed workers in the US.

'And it probably wouldn't be good for our economy for a bunch of these jobs to come back because, frankly, there's no way that people could be getting paid a living wage on some of these jobs -- at least in order to be competitive in an international setting.'

The online meeting - a new take on President Franklin Roosevelt's fireside chats - was streamed on the Internet from WhiteHouse.gov.

Obama said a lot of the outsourcing has to do with the fact that 'our economy - if it's dependent on low-wage, low-skill labour, it's very hard to hang on to those jobs because there's always a country out there that pays lower wages than the US.

'And so we've got to go after the high-skill, high-wage jobs of the future,' he said. 'That's why it's so important to train our folks more effectively and that's why it's so important for us to find new industries - building solar panels or wind turbines or the new biofuel -that involve these higher-value, higher-skill, higher-paying jobs.

'So what we've got to do is create new jobs that can't be outsourced,' Obama said.

The president also asked Americans 'to be patient and persistent about job creation because I don't think that we've lost all the jobs we're going to lose in this recession.'

'I don't want people to think that in one or two months suddenly we're going to see net job increases,' he said striking a note of caution. 'It's going to take some time for the steps that we've taken to filter in.'

Other questions - some of which came from the live audience - focused primarily on health care, job loss, mortgage payments and energy.

http://infotech.indiatimes.com/News/US-doesnt-need-outsourced-jobs/articleshow/4322332.cms

[ChromeFoundry]

13. He is working hard, I'll give him that much...

He inherited a heaping pile of shit, that's a fact. BUT... he is NOT holding true to many of his campaign promises when it comes to the middle class.

So all of you that want to flame me for not being overly joyous of his performance...go ahead. If he didn't know that it was going to be this tough of a job, then he doesn't deserve the position. This country is losing jobs by the boat-load every day. The cost of living is still increasing as we tax the middle class to bailout wall street and what is left of the motor city. Meanwhile, the middle class is becoming the unemployment class and failing company executives receive bonuses paid for by sons and daughters of the now unemployed.

There is still no oversight over anything! Health care costs are still on the rise. Jobs are still leaving. And Obama is not holding true to many of his campaign promises. End of story.

[guruoo]

21. So you would prefer he not continue trying to stop job outsourcing?

[OhioChick]

23. "Continue to stop it?" If he is, provide me with a few links stating that he is. n/t

[guruoo]

30. You have posted it yourself...

My reply:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5386916&mesg_id=5387298

[OhioChick]

32. I asked "you" to provide links on the 4th....

I didn't mean for you to take an article that "I" posted on the 6th. Couldn't come up with your own links prior?

[kiva]

24. Ummm...exactly HOW is he trying to stop job outsourcing? n/t

[guruoo]

31. Elimination of tax breaks on overseas profits for one...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3817143

[alarimer]

15. And he has flip-flopped on single payer.

He was for it as a representative in Illinois. Now that he has heard from the insurance lobby, he is against it.

More government of, by, and for Wall Street. And his DOJ is continuing more of the same Bush policies on extraordinary rendition and secrecy (judging from the positions they have taken in many court cases. And don't tell me there is some grand strategy there. There isn't. He just wants the "unitary executive" powers for himself). I have had enough.

[donheld]

18. Oh yea, he didn't do everything he said the first day

so forget about him.

[AmyCamus]

10. "He is actually doing what he said he would do." You ain't paying attention buddy.

Cheerleading is the new slackivism...

[ChromeFoundry]

14. You can say that again! n/t

[tavalon]

16. Well put!

I've never seen you as a bitch and moan cynic, though.

I'm unhappy about a few of his choices and scared out of my mind about the near future, but as a President, I have been floored by him. He has done far more with far less in far shorter time periods than even my most optimistic personage had thought.

If a President really could rescue this country and maybe even this world from the abyss, it would definitely be this one. He won't be able to, so I hope we all figure out our rolls as fast as he did and start doing them with at least half the innate skill he has. Otherwise, I hate that this world is going to demonize him as much as they currently deify him and sadly he is neither, just an incredibly skilled man facing unimaginable odds against saving this country from itself.

[readmoreoften]

17. You expected him to bomb Pakistan in his first 17 days in office? And you like that?

Weird.

[EFerrari]

19. If your idealizations are troubly, a therapist might be more useful than a discussion board.

[Political Heretic]

20. You have Noam Chomsky as an avatar.

I just wanted to mention that.

[scarletwoman]

26. He thinks it gives him street cred.

Like a purse puppy.

[NJmaverick]

22. Now there you go being all logical and reasonable

that will never fly here at DU :yourock:

[LWolf]

25. I agree that he's living up to my appalled, and outraged, expectations.

I certainly will not be able to "rest," since I will have to spend the duration of his tenure fighting with everything I've got for my profession.

If I see universal, single-payer health care during his tenure; if the war on terror ends and we bring our troops home, evolving beyond the use of our military as a tool of international policy; if the authoritarian destruction of public education somehow comes to an end, (which it won't, with Duncan at the helm;)if NAFTA/CAFTA comes to an end during his tenure; if "don't ask, don't tell" becomes extinct, and people are allowed to marry;

if any of those things happen, I'll rethink my evaluation.

Of course, he didn't promise any of those things, did he?

Until it looks like he actually WANTS to, I'll be busy opposing him. If he ever makes a move left of center, I'll be busy supporting that move.

No rest for the weary.

[SurfingScientist]

27. Great Post. You had me at the subject line...

... but then I read on. Thanks!

Nothing like being positive and getting one's butt in gear, stripped of all excuses!!!

[Marr]

28. My cynicism is shinier than ever, thanks.

Obama has been doing exactly what I expected him to do, which is why I never joined the Obama cheerleading squad. He's backed off on single payer healthcare, he's putting Wall Street bankers in a privileged position while demanding labor (here represented by auto workers) give up more, and he's surrounded himself with DLC hacks who've gone out of their way to neuter the left wing of the party and reassert their dominance.

[azmouse]

29. Nice post, Mike.

Thanks. :)