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I am not "ashamed" to be an American, although some of our policies are shameful. I would prefer to agree with the outrage, rather than hide my nationality.
France was right about Iraq. We renamed french fries "freedom fries". That was a joke.

Please excuse the inherent bias in this article but it sucks when even your media acolytes are growing tired. We're all tired now?


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When billionaire investor Warren Buffett says President Barack Obama's economic message is muddled and undermining public confidence, it's worth listening.

Halfway through his first 100 days in office, ace communicator Obama has struggled to find the right tone in talking about the economy, twinning bleak warnings with optimism about the future.

On the campaign trail, Obama said a president must be able to do more than one thing at a time, and his White House has been doing that.

He and his aides have interspliced comments about the economy while launching theme-of-the-day initiatives on healthcare, stem cell research and on Tuesday, education.

Last week the White House spent some time accusing conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh of being leader of the Republican Party.

But Obama, together with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, White House economic guru Lawrence Summers and others have so far failed to explain how they plan to rescue American banks, some of which are teetering on the brink of collapse.

There is talk of "stress tests" for troubled banks, or nationalizing them or letting some fail -- but no clear plan.

Buffett, an informal Obama adviser considered a financial seer on Wall Street, told CNBC on Monday the message has to be "very, very clear as to what government will be doing."

"And I think we've had, and it's the nature of the political process somewhat, but we've had muddled messages and the American public does not know. They feel they don't know what's going on, and their reaction then is to absolutely pull back," he said.

At the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs reacted defensively, saying Obama has only been in office seven weeks and it should be no surprise that "all of the problems that took many years to take hold haven't necessarily been solved."

Obama, at Tuesday's education event, rejected criticism that he is trying to do too many things at once, citing three predecessors who managed to juggle challenges on many fronts --Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy.

"President Kennedy didn't have the luxury of choosing between civil rights and sending us to the moon. And we don't have the luxury of choosing between getting our economy moving now and rebuilding it over the long term," he said.

Obama is benefiting from high popular support. Polls give him a 60 percent approval rating and experts say voters seem willing to give him time to get his sea legs.

"You've got a public that is going to cut the president some slack and understands this is a deep-seated problem," said American Enterprise Institute political analyst Norman Ornstein.

LOL She's something else! Country first? I don't think so!

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Nancy's Palatial touring of the Country is first!!!  On Taxpayer dollar of course!  :hilarious

Simply not true. Dennis Hastert didn't pull this stuff. If he had, it would have been all over the news. They're cutting the military yet she's demanding extra free flights?

nankerphelge wrote on Mar 10^th, 2009 at 2:47pm:


Looks like he has a problem with the word "forcefully", that's all.

I can see Reid's point though. Do you forcefully feed yourself? No, you do feed yourself to survive. You don't have a choice.

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My point was only that I would not object to Hastert doing it. He pulled some shady deals himself. They all do.

The military budget IS way overblown. Cutting it will cost jobs though. Cutting ineffective government agencies (as Obama has said he will do) will cut jobs too. Tough decisions . . .

fuman wrote on Mar 10^th, 2009 at 3:26pm:

Gov't hiring is going up, way up, tater! If he actually cuts ANY gov't agencies I'll be knocked over. The military budget is way over because Nancy Pelosi keeps using their planes.

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Sarah Palin, Joe the plumber

"Yes, but taxes are why this country is what it is."

No, government spending is why taxes are what they are.

If the government -- and this goes for all, but especially the federal government -- were to restrict its size rather than try and be a nanny state, then the amount of taxes needed would be less.

We do not need to federalize our healthcare system or our education system.

Although those systems could be improved, federalization is certainly not the only option.
Nor is it the most efficient option as evidenced by other federal entitlement programs that are utter failures -- Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security to name three.

i wonder how many democrats will defend pelosi and reid....admittedly two wet blankets if ever there we any....

fuman wrote on Mar 10^th, 2009 at 3:51pm:

Interesting. EVERYTHING that Bush & the Republicans did during the last 2 terms was put under the microscope but yet you give Pelosi & her flight crews a pass.