WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama gave America the audacity to hope again.

After describing the U.S. economy in nearly apocalyptic terms for weeks, pushing his $787 billion stimulus plan through Congress, the president used his address to Congress on Tuesday night to tap the deep well of American optimism — the never-say-die spirit that every president tries to capture in words. And great presidents embody.

"We will rebuild. We will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before," Obama said, echoing Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.

"The answers to our problems don't lie beyond our reach," Obama said. "What is required now is for this country is to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more."

The themes of responsibility, accountability and, above all, national community rang throughout an address carefully balanced by the gravity of its times. Job losses. Home foreclosures. Credit crisis. Rising health care costs. Declining trust in government. Obama touched all those bases.

Anyone catch the Republican response? Bobby Jingle or something like that...Guy wasted first 5 minutes trying to kick off his own campaign for prez. Is that all they got?

most Republicans are...they kicked out all the good ones over the last two decade shift into national socialism

"Hello America!  I'm Joe Biden, and President Obama has now put me in charge of oversight of the stimulus package.  Now, as you know, some Republican governors have indicated that they will not accept stimulus money because it would require them to change state laws that would ultimately leave them with unfunded mandates.  I don't know what that means, really.  But I know this, refusal of stimulus money is wrong, and if they don't do the right thing, the Administration will use the TV, and radio, and media to embarrass them publicly for not doing the right thing.  And let me tell you, no one -- I MEAN NO ONE -- knows more about public embarrassment than me!"

http://wbztv.com/video/[email protected]

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama knows Americans are unhappy that the government could rescue people who bought mansions beyond their means.

But his assurance Tuesday night that only the deserving will get help rang hollow.

Even officials in his administration, many supporters of the plan in Congress and the Federal Reserve chairman expect some of that money will go to people who used lousy judgment.

The president skipped over several complex economic circumstances in his speech to Congress -- and may have started an international debate among trivia lovers and auto buffs over what country invented the car.

A look at some of his assertions:

OBAMA: "We have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and refinance their mortgages. It's a plan that won't help speculators or that neighbor down the street who bought a house he could never hope to afford, but it will help millions of Americans who are struggling with declining home values."

THE FACTS: If the administration has come up with a way to ensure money only goes to those who got in honest trouble, it hasn't said so.

Defending the program Tuesday at a Senate hearing, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said it's important to save those who made bad calls, for the greater good. He likened it to calling the fire department to put out a blaze caused by someone smoking in bed.

"I think the smart way to deal with a situation like that is to put out the fire, save him from his own consequences of his own action but then, going forward, enact penalties and set tougher rules about smoking in bed."

Similarly, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. suggested this month it's not likely aid will be denied to all homeowners who overstated their income or assets to get a mortgage they couldn't afford.

"I think it's just simply impractical to try to do a forensic analysis of each and every one of these delinquent loans," Sheila Bair told National Public Radio.

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OBAMA: "And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it."

THE FACTS: Depends what your definition of automobiles, is. According to the Library of Congress, the inventor of the first true automobile was probably Germany's Karl Benz, who created the first auto powered by an internal combustion gasoline engine, in 1885 or 1886. In the U.S., Charles Duryea tested what library researchers called the first successful gas-powered car in 1893. Nobody disputes that Henry Ford created the first assembly line that made cars affordable.

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OBAMA: "We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy. Yet we import more oil today than ever before."

THE FACTS: Oil imports peaked in 2005 at just over 5 billion barrels, and have been declining slightly since. The figure in 2007 was 4.9 billion barrels, or about 58 percent of total consumption. The nation is on pace this year to import 4.7 billion barrels, and government projections are for imports to hold steady or decrease a bit over the next two decades.

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OBAMA: "We have already identified $2 trillion in savings over the next decade."

THE FACTS: Although 10-year projections are common in government, they don't mean much. And at times, they are a way for a president to pass on the most painful steps to his successor, by putting off big tax increases or spending cuts until someone else is in the White House.

Obama only has a real say on spending during the four years of his term. He may not be president after that and he certainly won't be 10 years from now.

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OBAMA: "Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market. People bought homes they knew they couldn't afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway. And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day."

THE FACTS: This may be so, but it isn't only Republicans who pushed for deregulation of the financial industries. The Clinton administration championed an easing of banking regulations, including legislation that ended the barrier between regular banks and Wall Street banks. That led to a deregulation that kept regular banks under tight federal regulation but extended lax regulation of Wall Street banks. Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, later an economic adviser to candidate Obama, was in the forefront in pushing for this deregulation.

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OBAMA: "In this budget, we will end education programs that don't work and end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don't need them. We'll eliminate the no-bid contracts that have wasted billions in Iraq, and reform our defense budget so that we're not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don't use. We will root out the waste, fraud and abuse in our Medicare program that doesn't make our seniors any healthier, and we will restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax code by finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas."

THE FACTS: First, his budget does not accomplish any of that. It only proposes those steps. That's all a president can do, because control over spending rests with Congress. Obama's proposals here are a wish list and some items, including corporate tax increases and cuts in agricultural aid, will be a tough sale in Congress.

Second, waste, fraud and abuse are routinely targeted by presidents who later find that the savings realized seldom amount to significant sums. Programs that a president might consider wasteful have staunch defenders in Congress who have fought off similar efforts in the past.

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OBAMA: "Thanks to our recovery plan, we will double this nation's supply of renewable energy in the next three years."

THE FACTS: While the president's stimulus package includes billions in aid for renewable energy and conservation, his goal is unlikely to be achieved through the recovery plan alone.

In 2007, the U.S. produced 8.4 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, including hydroelectric dams, solar panels and windmills. Under the status quo, the Energy Department says, it will take more than two decades to boost that figure to 12.5 percent.

If Obama is to achieve his much more ambitious goal, Congress would need to mandate it. That is the thrust of an energy bill that is expected to be introduced in coming weeks.

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OBAMA: "Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs."

THE FACTS: This is a recurrent Obama formulation. But job creation projections are uncertain even in stable times, and some of the economists relied on by Obama in making his forecast acknowledge a great deal of uncertainty in their numbers.

The president's own economists, in a report prepared last month, stated, "It should be understood that all of the estimates presented in this memo are subject to significant margins of error."

Beyond that, it's unlikely the nation will ever know how many jobs are saved as a result of the stimulus. While it's clear when jobs are abolished, there's no economic gauge that tracks job preservation. The estimates are based on economic assumptions of how many jobs would be lost without the stimulus.

Audacity of hope? From That dope?? I don't think so & neither do the markets. They're tanking. Sounds like Biden is putting his feet into his mouth again. Yeah, Palin was so much dumber than either of these twits. LOL

I agree with you on that point (she's dumber), but I don't think it's very funny because for a few days it seemed possible that she could become the Veep.

A lot was made of the fact (fact?) that she negotiated a natural gas deal in Alsaka, but one doesn't get a hint of her knowledge when you listen to her speak.

I really believe that she is a tool of big oil, and that they got her elected Gov of AK. It was their last ditch effort to keep America addicted to the fossil fuels they provide.

I'm no statistician, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express once.

Amazing the correlation between the stock market diving and every time Obama opens his mouth!

1:1 type correlation!!


What's that?

Oh sure, here ya go...

"No no, I'm Catholic.  What did you think I worked at a Dunkin Donuts or something.  You know, in Delaware, you cannot go into a Dunkin Donuts or 7-11 without a slight Indian accent!  I'm not kiddiung..."

I SEE DEAD BANKS................

:necrophillicpost

Don't worry so much Riffy, Hillary's ChiCom friends are gonna lend us the money to stay afloat. And that's besides keeping the Walmart stores filled with affordable products that we no longer make here.

[quote author=Riffhard link=1223104028/3175#3191 date=1235584080]Holy shit that speech of Barry's was scary! This man is on a quest to gain and maintain power the likes of which we have never seen in this nation's history!! I mean wake up people! He's a god damned ideologue!! He plays the classic liberal game of class warfare, he spends like FDR on steroids, and simply because he is a good orator people just lap his bullshit up like manna. It's disgusting that this country is being led down the path of a tidal shift in the way we run as a country, and some drones just can't see through it!

- Class warfare is overstating the situation quite a bit. People are certainly hurting, wealthy people included, except wealthy people are still eating good and keeping warm in their nice homes. Thousands (millions?) of others aren't so lucky. His tax cuts included in the stimulus bill are the largest in the history of THE WORLD. Except this time they are directed at the middle class. If that's class warfare, then the Bush tax cuts were class warfare too. The wealthy citizens are only returning to the brackets they fell into in the Clinton Admin.


Pathetic! He says that every child is going to get a college education?! On who's dime Barry?!

- On our dime, your and mine, because it's the right thing to do. It's more than just doling out education dollars though, he has called for national service for those who can't get loans or grants. Seems like a good idea to me, even if it costs me. I pay my taxes regardless of what Washington spends it on. I would like to see corporations prove that they are creating jobs before they get tax dollars. If they can't, I say tax them heavy. If they don't like it, they can always move and another can fill the space.


He says that every American "deserves" health care?! Show me that in the US Constitution Barry! And again, who's paying for all this? Who is going to pay for the massive forthcoming piss poor state mandated health care?! Our children will! With their labor and their health!

- Health care is a big problem for ALL businesses, and causes job layoffs because the cost is out of control. People lose coverage and end up going to emergency, which ends up coming out of tax dollars. Better to prevent health problems before they become more costly. Healthy cows make the best cheese . . .


And we are just happily accepting an ever increasing centralized government in order to ruin their futures! We are giving away not only our own personal liberties, but theirs as well, and they haven't a say in the matter at all! Pathetic!

- I think the lack of attention to these matters by the previous administration has created the environment where the vast majority of citizens applaudes these changes. Many of these supporters aren't going to directly benefit, but they have compassion for those who will benefit. And what are the options, let the market correct itself? While people freeze and starve?



I never thought I'd say this, but Senator Byrd is right! He sees what this massive power grab is really all about! Why can't the drones?!

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19303.html


People in that speech last night Barack Obama just promised to turn our entire free market system on it's head, and adopt state socialism!! Can none of you people see this?!?! Did you not listen to him?! Oh, I know you heard him. You soaked up his well delivered lines like children sitting at their teacher's feet during story-time, but did you listen to what he really offered?! Who the hell do think is going to pay for this socialist pipe dream?! Please, I beg of you wake up!!!!!! This man has just sentenced my children, and your children, to a lifetime of paying off our debts!!

- Quit telling me how I responded. Are you for real?


He is going to ruin this country! Wake up before it's too late!

I admit it Bush was an idiot! He adopted a socialist spending program with the idiotic TARP fund! (Hell, even I fell for that charade at first!) He stupidly allowed himself to be pressured into passing that disastrous bill, but this guy makes Bush look like a punter! We haven't even discussed the Omnibus Bill to the tune of another half a billion waiting in the wings! Or the much discussed Second Stimulus Bill that Pelosi is once again writing up for an additional trillion! Or the 900 million that he plans on funneling to Hamas through the UN! Or the Global Poverty Act for an additional 700-900 billion! Or his far reaching National Healthcare Bill which will easily eclipse any of these bills that have already been signed and offered up, not to mention the fact that it will ruin the most advanced health care system in the world!

- The most advanced and unevenly delivered. This is where the beauty of "one man, one vote" plays itself out. The majority has spoken. I don't always agree with the majority, but we have no alternative.


This is no longer a joke people! This man is going to destroy this country! I pray that people start to see through this man. He is very very very dangerous! Drop the partisanship and open your eyes! There is a reason that I have used the term drones for so long. It perfectly describes the blind devotion that this man has inspired. I pray for my country's future that the blinders will soon begin to fall, and people will wake up to what this man has in mind for the USA.

- At what time was it a joke? Blind devotion? If we all agreed with you, would you think us smart? Maybe that we are informed voters?

Lots of words there funman, but at the end of the day what you have just stated is that you are willing to turn our country into a socialist economy and dump free market capitalism. If you honestly think that is a good idea I'd suggest that you talk to a few immigrants that moved here to escape the kind crushing poverty and a centralized state robbery of individual liberties that this kind of system guarantees.

The US Constitution is where I derive my ideas from, and your president is doing his damnedest to subvert the ideas that framed it by adopting socialism! I, like the Founding Fathers, believe in individual liberty and individual rights as "an inalienable right" granted us by our Creator. Obama cannot, and should confer rights upon the country! It is NOT HIS JOB!! What part of of this are you having a tough time with?! Promising a college education is completely foreign to who we are as a people! You have the right to "pursue happiness", the state has no right, or obligation to guarantee that education! In order to do that you must take from some in order to give to others! That's socialism!!!

He wants to socialise education. He wants to socialise healthcare. He wants to socialise the banking industry. He wants to socialise the energy industry. He wants to socialise the housing industry. Hell, I'll bet he's going to consider socializing the auto industry! He wants to socialise every damned thing he can get his hands on because he is a god damned leftest ideologue!

Can you not plainly see that with each of these little Marxist maneuvers that you and your children loose your own choice and liberty?! You're okay with that?!

Have you really been that duped by this Marxist clown? Good god, how far we have fallen from the gift of liberty that previous generations have fought and died for! You, and your fellow drones, are ready to just push all-in on the most radical change that this nation has ever even contemplated, and you haven't the foggiest notion what you are doing to future generations!

Socialism doesn't work funman! IT HAS NEVER WORKED!! Shit! Don't believe me, just ask millions of Venezuelans. That is the path that this Marxist moron is marching us towards! He is going to burn down the very foundations of this nation's principals and the Obamadrones are happily carrying the torches! Feel good about that. PATHETIC!!!!


Riffy