Obamanation Re-election MegaThread

[lostfan]

It didn't start with Obama or Ronnie. You can go back to the organization of the Fed Bank itself if you really want to.

I wouldn't say it STARTED with Reagan but the modern industry as we see it started to be shaped up around the time I was born.

[StrangeSox]

Obama Fundraiser Turned Ambassador Was Largely Absent From Bahamas Post

 

The last time we checked in on a big Obama donor who got appointed to an ambassador gig was when a State Department Inspector General report found the Ambassador to Luxembourg had made most of her staff spend their time finding her a temporary residence that met her standards, tried to be improperly reimbursed twice for a queen mattress she insisted on buying and left her staff so demoralized that some of her top staffers chose to go to embassies in war zones rather than continue to serve under her.

 

Now another State Department IG report examines issues with the leadership of Nicole Avant, who was an Obama fundraiser and served as Ambassador to the Bahamas from late 2009 until November of 2011. The new report released this week said that Avant presided over “an extended period of dysfunctional leadership and mismanagement, which has caused problems throughout the embassy.”

[NorthSideSox72]

Obama Fundraiser Turned Ambassador Was Largely Absent From Bahamas Post

All Presidents do it. Of course, Obama is smart enough to put the buffoons in places they can do little harm, like being an ambassador to Luxemborg or the Bahamas. Bush decided to put one in charge of FEMA, which was a special level of stupid.

 

[StrangeSox]

All Presidents do it. Of course, Obama is smart enough to put the buffoons in places they can do little harm, like being an ambassador to Luxemborg or the Bahamas. Bush decided to put one in charge of FEMA, which was a special level of stupid.

 

It's all stupid regardless of how much they mitigate that stupidity.

[NorthSideSox72]

It's all stupid regardless of how much they mitigate that stupidity.

I thought that went without saying.

 

[StrangeSox]

Obama had a pretty fiery speech today:

 

 

edit: apparently I forgot how to embed youtube videos.

 

Edited February 28, 2012 by StrangeSox

[NorthSideSox72]

Obama had a pretty fiery speech today:

 

 

edit: apparently I forgot how to embed youtube videos.

 

 

I didn't agree with ObamaCo's approach on the auto industry at the time the decisions are made. And I still think some aspects could have been done better.

 

But I have enough honesty to say that they do deserve some credit for making their plan work, and work pretty darn well. They didn't have to pay a dime to Ford, just changed some rules a bit to make them able to survive what was done for the other two. They paid GM, but are going to end up being paid back, with some nice gains, so they actually made money on the deal AND saved tens of thousands of jobs. They paid Chrysler, and got some of it back, pretty soon to be all of it (I think - not as sure it is truly all on that one). Their plan worked, and it is one of Obama's biggest successes thus far.

 

[Jenksismyhero]

http://www.salon.com/2012/03/07/nsa_whistl...bush/singleton/

In the New Yorker article, Jane Mayer quotes you as saying, “I actually had hopes for Obama.” What’s your opinion on the Obama administration’s stated support for whistle-blowers and, more generally, his counterterrorism record?

 

Worse than Bush. I have to say that. I actually voted for Obama. It’s all rhetoric for me now. As Americans we were hoodwinked. He’s expanding the secrecy regime far beyond what the Bush even intended, interestingly enough. I think Bush is probably like, “Whoa.”

[StrangeSox]

Obama has been pretty god damn terrible in that regard.

 

Couple that with Holder's recent "what does 'due process' really mean, anyway?" speech...

[Jenksismyhero]

Yet very little news coverage....

Edited March 12, 2012 by Jenksismybitch

[mr_genius]

I didn't agree with ObamaCo's approach on the auto industry at the time the decisions are made. And I still think some aspects could have been done better.

 

But I have enough honesty to say that they do deserve some credit for making their plan work, and work pretty darn well. They didn't have to pay a dime to Ford, just changed some rules a bit to make them able to survive what was done for the other two. They paid GM, but are going to end up being paid back, with some nice gains, so they actually made money on the deal AND saved tens of thousands of jobs. They paid Chrysler, and got some of it back, pretty soon to be all of it (I think - not as sure it is truly all on that one). Their plan worked, and it is one of Obama's biggest successes thus far.

 

 

.... wrong on so many levels.

 

it is not the role of the government to float trillions of dollars to corporations. it doesn't matter who paid back what, it should not have happened.

[StrangeSox]

Yet very little news coverage....

It was on tds and colbert and talked about on most of the liberal or leftist blogs I read.

[StrangeSox]

.... wrong on so many levels.

 

it is not the role of the government to float trillions of dollars to corporations. it doesn't matter who paid back what, it should not have happened.

Thus sayeth mr. genius, and it was so.

[Jenksismyhero]

It was on tds and colbert and talked about on most of the liberal or leftist blogs I read.

 

So 15% of the population

[NorthSideSox72]

Thus sayeth mr. genius, and it was so.

Yeah, but he has a valid point. I don't even necessarily disagree with it - as I said, I didn't really favor Obama's approach when he took it. I was just saying, hey, as it turns out, they executed their plan pretty well, and it worked out quite well in the end.

 

[Jenksismyhero]

Yeah, but he has a valid point. I don't even necessarily disagree with it - as I said, I didn't really favor Obama's approach when he took it. I was just saying, hey, as it turns out, they executed their plan pretty well, and it worked out quite well in the end.

 

FYI we're down 25 billion on that deal right now, depending on the stock price of GM.

[NorthSideSox72]

FYI we're down 25 billion on that deal right now, depending on the stock price of GM.

By what measure? That is not in the neighborhood of what I have seen.

 

[Jenksismyhero]

By what measure? That is not in the neighborhood of what I have seen.

 

It's dependent on the current stock price of GM, but as of November it was 24 billion. $25/share now, so a little lower.

 

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/11/17/good...s-14-3-billion/

 

But as that article notes, there were some tax-maneuverings that are covering up the "real" cost.

 

Edit: I guess I shouldn't have said "right now." I thought this article had come out in Jan or Feb. My bad.

Edited March 13, 2012 by Jenksismybitch

[Cknolls]

FYI we're down 25 billion on that deal right now, depending on the stock price of GM.

And $17 billion in tax write-offs.

[StrangeSox]

Yeah, but he has a valid point. I don't even necessarily disagree with it - as I said, I didn't really favor Obama's approach when he took it. I was just saying, hey, as it turns out, they executed their plan pretty well, and it worked out quite well in the end.

 

If some component of your political philosophy leads to bad results and bars positive results, you should probably reexamine it's validity.

 

edit: or at least not state them as truisms.

Edited March 13, 2012 by StrangeSox

[StrangeSox]

It's dependent on the current stock price of GM, but as of November it was 24 billion. $25/share now, so a little lower.

 

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/11/17/good...s-14-3-billion/

 

But as that article notes, there were some tax-maneuverings that are covering up the "real" cost.

 

Edit: I guess I shouldn't have said "right now." I thought this article had come out in Jan or Feb. My bad.

 

Last time you posted this I wondered aloud if Hot Air had done some more journalism and posted an update now that the numbers are better?

[NorthSideSox72]

It's dependent on the current stock price of GM, but as of November it was 24 billion. $25/share now, so a little lower.

 

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/11/17/good...s-14-3-billion/

 

But as that article notes, there were some tax-maneuverings that are covering up the "real" cost.

 

Edit: I guess I shouldn't have said "right now." I thought this article had come out in Jan or Feb. My bad.

I think this is where the disconnect is - people seem to think the deal is done. It isn't. What I guess I should have said wasn't that it WENT well, but that it is GOING well. It is very likely GM will pay most of that money back.

 

Chrysler already paid almost all of theirs back, last I checked.

 

[Jenksismyhero]

I think this is where the disconnect is - people seem to think the deal is done. It isn't. What I guess I should have said wasn't that it WENT well, but that it is GOING well. It is very likely GM will pay most of that money back.

 

Chrysler already paid almost all of theirs back, last I checked.

 

We're still like 12-13 bucks away from the stock price we bought at. So there's a chance we break even, but we're still going to lose money on this. At the very least we'll be losing some tax revenue.

[Jenksismyhero]

Last time you posted this I wondered aloud if Hot Air had done some more journalism and posted an update now that the numbers are better?

 

I didn't see one, but I gave it about a 30 second search.

[Balta1701]

We're still like 12-13 bucks away from the stock price we bought at. So there's a chance we break even, but we're still going to lose money on this. At the very least we'll be losing some tax revenue.

Really, we're losing tax revenue? Compared to the possible situation of several hundred thousand (or if you believe everyone other than Kap, 2k5, and romney) several million people going from employed to unemployed?

 

Tax revenue is the biggest gain out of all of this, except for maybe a few more credit default swap payments out of AIG. Kept enormous numbers of people off the rolls of unemployment and Medicaid and instead kept them as active taxpayers.