The rumor on the grapevine is that some anonymous small business owners, unhappy with Obama's business policies, funded this billboard on IH-35 near Wyoming, Minnesota.
Far-fetched? Think again... This is from Public Policy Polling on Dec. 9, 2009:
Perhaps the greatest measure of Obama's declining support is that just 50% of voters now say they prefer having him as President to George W. Bush, with 44% saying they'd rather have his predecessor.What exactly does this mean? Well, consider the fact that in three recent high-profile elections (Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts), the losing candidates attempted to use their much-feared Bush-bashing weapon. As PPP points out, Americans know that Bush is NOT responsible for the $787B stimulus bill, i.e., the recovery act with no recovery or a record $1.4T deficit; Bush did not structure the package or made a promise that the unemployment rate would peak at 8%. Many macroeconomic policies may take 6 months or longer to ripple through the economy; but in only one month did we see any net job gains. But more to the point, even if Obama tries to blame Bush policies for what he inherited, Bush was dealing with a Democratic-controlled Congress during his last 2 years in office. Where were Obama and his Congressional allies during 2007-2008 on all these priorities Obama is now claiming (financial reform, etc.)? In fact, the housing bubble had already been pricked for nearly 3 years. Bush couldn't spend a dollar without the Democratic-controlled Congress agreeing; he did not control monetary policy.
I have been sharply critical of Bush's spending, there were problems with his foreign policy (in particular, he had been very critical of nation-building under Clinton), and I think (just like Obama) he squandered an opportunity with large majorities in Congress, e.g., to address entitlement issues. But there would not have been a tripling of a deficit under a Bush Administration, we could not have seen this agenda, and we did not see the GOP attempt to jam major policy initiatives without a bipartisan consensus.
Fox News Channel Overreacting to Palin Crib Note Kerfuffle
Any regular reader of my blog knows that I am not a Palin fan, and I have, for months now, mocked what I call FNC's slobbering love affair with all things Sarah Palin. I was tuned into Fox News earlier this week, and it seemed like every hour or two (including prime time) they were rerunning a segment, particularly the sound bite from a recent White House press conference (see the embedded video below) with the usual knee-jerk reactions, with numerous pundits predicting that all these progressive netroots are doing is giving Palin strength. [It doesn't occur to these people, but the netroots just might want that to happen.] In fact, Bob Beckel, a Democratic contributor to Fox News, says that he would be willing to write a check if Sarah Palin got into the race; it's not because Sarah Palin has converted him, but because he knows that moderates, independents and a large percentage of conservatives (including myself) will not vote for her in the tough battle against an incumbent President. (It doesn't mean we will vote to reelect the worst President since Jimmy Carter.) Even though the election didn't work out in McCain's favor, there's no doubt McCain was the only GOP candidate at the time whom could appeal to swing state voters.
FNC has gotten repetitive, disproportionate and patently absurd (particularly Sean Hannity) in its coverage of the Palin hand crib note revelation. Hannity has been particularly annoying; I haven't counted the number of times he brought up and replayed Obama's mispronunciation of "corpsman", an embarrassing sound bite over visiting "57" states, teleprompter mishaps, etc. (I bet college students could reinvest the "Hey, Bob" drinking game from the time I was in graduate school, i.e., you drink a shot every time a character says "Hey, Bob" in the Bob Newhart Show). Guys, get a life. Even Sarah Palin poked fun at herself ("Hi, Mom!") at a subsequent Texas rally:
The hand incident is funny--it wasn't just a case of Sarah Palin using any form of notes, like an index card; it was what was on the crib notes and the context. Keep in mind she was reading from her hand, not during the address itself, but during a subsequent sit-down one-on-one softball interview. Barack Obama doesn't use teleprompters during his interviews. Then it's the nature of what was written on her hand; it wasn't some arcane quote, complicated equation, or anything like that; it was obvious stuff like "budget cuts " (with budget scribbled out).
I haven't looked to see what comedians have said on the topic, but there are so many ways to poke fun at the incident. For example, Palin's agents might negotiate a rider to her speaking appearances that they supply Lava heavy duty hand cleaner. Or maybe on her way to a speech, "Quick, Todd. Give me your hand; I just thought of something and there's no room left on my hands." (After all, she got Todd's hand in marriage...)
I thought Robert Gibb was legitimately funny (see below) in poking fun at the former governor (and I thought he was also poking fun at himself in the process (by putting "hope" and "change" in place of the governor's "Lift American spirits")). But let me take a stab at Robert Gibb's list:
- Gitmo closure -
Jan 20, 2010TBD - More money, more money, more money (year 1--check!)
- Health care reform -
August 2009TBD - Climate change - in the Senate
- Jobs, Jobs, Jobs (arrow pointing to top of list)
- [Note to self: check mail for Scott Brown Cosmopolitan issue]
- "It's all Bush's fault" [repeat every 5 minutes during briefing]
- "We are the ones we've been waiting for"
Political Cartoon
Dick Locher is making reference to the 70% of the economy depending on consumer spending and the Democratic Party bloated budget amounting to nearly 43% of GDP, a historically high percentage (next to WWII spending).
Everly Brothers, "All I Have to Do is Dream/Cathy's Clown"
The Judds, "Grandpa, Tell Me Bout the Good Old Days"
Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash, "If I Were a Carpenter"
Bellamy Brothers, "Let Your Love Flow"
