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Obama touts economic aid plan's impact on average Americans

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A car in every garage, and a turkey on every table! Gravy for everyone.

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MMMMMMM..Federal Government Supplied Gravy!!!!

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But Obama cautioned again against expecting instant results: “No one policy or program will solve the challenges we face right now, nor will this crisis recede in a short period of time.”

looks like he misunderestimated himself.

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No gravy please......Cheeeeeeese....mmmmmm

BTW wonder who could argue with aiding the people? Oh yeah Republican's hate the people they love helping Large fat wall street exec's who can not get their Multi-Million dollar pay offs!

In my book, we need to help the people of our nation. Get the country working and the taxes will be paid. Pass our nation's money to the corporations and the people loss their jobs to India.

How many more jobs have to be lost before the far right wingers get the message. Stop supporting companies that take outsource American jobs.

Wonder where Haliburton is based? Oh yeah, HPS was incorporated in the Cayman Islands. BTW for the far right wingers who still have their blinders on, the Cayman Islands are not part of the United States of America.

President Obama has a darn good vision for our nation.

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There could be no better investment in America than to invest in energy independence. It would create cheap clean energy, new badly needed green jobs, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. OPEC will continue to cut production until they achieve their desired 80-100. per barrel. The high cost of fuel this past year seriously damaged our economy and society. After a brief reprieve prices at the pumps are headed back up again. Oil is finite. We are using oil globally at the rate of 2 X faster than new oil is being discovered. We need to take some of these billions in bail out bucks and bail ourselves out of our dependence on foreign oil.If all gasoline cars had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota. Jeff Wilson has a really good new book out called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence Now. He explores our uses of oil besides gasoline, our depletion, out reserves and stores as well as viable options to replace oil.Oil is finite, it will run out in the not too distant future. WE should never allow others to have that much power over our economy again.

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The way things are going Americans are going to be lucky to have a bicycle in every garage. Forget about cars. Not quite how globalization was supposed to work is it.

Seriously though, I don't quite get how you deal with the effects of a burst credit bubble by spending money you borrowed from China.

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"massive spending bill"

The Democrats are even worse than the Republicans when it comes to spending/wasting money.

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Ah, but lets not forget who started this massive spending crap...cough Bush cough Dick Cheney cough. I was shocked when the first bailout got passed to the greedy fat cats on Wall Street. Now it is just a slippery slope of cutting checks. Where is my check dammit!?

The big problem with this package is that it might move to slow to pick us up out of the recession. On that, I agree with the Republicans. On the other hand, if the recession is slated to end within 2 years anyway, it makes one question the point of trying to do something about it now. Perhaps Obama is trying to do what FDR did...Keep things from getting worse than they are.

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"Where is my check dammit!?"

Ha ha ha, the bailouts only reward failure.

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Buying your vote, it's the Chicago way.

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"It's as if Superman stepped out of a phone booth and became Clark Kent," said Fred Greenstein, a Princeton University professor emeritus of politics. "He's beginning to put aside the rhetoric in favor of listing the policies and doing the checklist. He's not going out of his way to show a lot of flash. It's much more lets-get-down-to-work."

In one Oval Office ceremony, Obama went through each executive order as he signed them, reading parts of each and methodically explaining them. He even halted a few times to ask for clarification from his White House counsel. That sort of deferral to someone else in a public setting and admission of a less-than-perfect command of the facts was never Bush's style.

Exactly.

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Sounds good to me.

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Sarge - "The Democrats are even worse than the Republicans when it comes to spending/wasting money."

Says Sarge, who implicitly supported EVERY SINGLE GOP spending bill in the entire 8 years of the administration of the last president that helped lead us into this current financial quagmire....

go figure.

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I just want to know when do I get my George Foreman grill?

It's been over a week now and I'm still waiting.

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The Democrats are even worse than the Republicans when it comes to spending/wasting money.

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=288plra&s=3

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Yup, I want my check so I can blow it all on weed and hookers and beer. Woot!!

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-- Save $2 billion a year by making federal buildings energy efficient.

This is the easiest part to do. For 37 years, through both democratic and republican admonistrations I've seen $millions of dollars wasted in gov't buildings.

I've seen for years where buildings burned almost every overhead light 24/7/365. I know several times I personally made suggestions on turning off lights or getting systems that would handle them. They were more concerned with the politics of government over the money that could be saved. Wasting time with light bulbs doesn't build governmental kingdoms. < :-)

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Hm you know I think the Republicans are trying to re-write history. Because when Republicans talk about spending they always say the Democrats spend too much. But they fail to mention that this mess we are in is a Republican mess and not one created by the Democrats.

So funny, Democrats have had control of both the House and Senate for only two years. But the Republicans make it sound as though the Democrats were in full charge for the last 16.

I can see it, next the Republicans will likely try and say that Bush was really a Democrat. Sad can not even accept the fact that it is their fault that we are in this mess in the first part.

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The funny part about all this is that the right-wingers on here don't realize they should be thanking Obama -- he's saving their a$$es so that they can come on here to gripe about him another day. If it were up to them, they'd keep following bush's doctrine of making the rich richer while the country continued to fall apart, and jobs went to third-world countries. When the rest of the country was then owned half and half by Saudi Arabia and China the Repubs. would have nothing to gripe about.

So there you go, sarge and co., you now have Obama to thank for being able to continue being bitter and unhappy and able to complain with food in your mouths. How that must hurt! Fortunately, more than 80% of Americans are much happier so far with Obama then the remaining 20% or so who bitterly wish bush could have continued his nutty policies that were destroying everything. You guys really need to stop being part of the problem and start empowering yourselves to do something about it -- which is to say, suck in some of that hope that's floating around, get out of the armchairs, and work for change for the better. Or if you like, stay behind and rot. Your choice.

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smith, what's the point of your post besides just random criticism of the right?

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SuperLib: not much, in this case. But I figure that's okay, since much of the criticism against Obama and his plan on this thread is simply criticism of Obama, not really said plan.

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In eight years time when President Obama's presidency comes to its end the world will be a much better place and much more than an average history will remind us how great a revolution this man began in areas such as the economy. Watch and learn as a true leader and a damn right good politician shapes a brighter future.

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why is it that americans who live in japan have no interest in economic recovery? instead, they content themselves in throwing stones from their glass houses.

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US is bankrupt. As a bankrupt nation it has to listen to what the creditor nations have to say. 50% of their external debt is to Japan and China. Obama needs to pay back it´s debt to Japan ASAP with interest. Obama will have to relearn the meaning of hard work and start paying it´s dues to Japan. Americans must also learn that you can not borrow money to prosperity.

One of the problems with US economy is that Americans products are no good. USA needs to end the trade defecit and end the wars which have made the country banrkupt. One way to decrease the trade defecit is to actually start making better products.

Over the past decade, the U.S. foreign debt doubled. Japan and China now hold 47% of the U.S. foreign debt this will make interest rates rise and the dollar to weaken.

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Dude, did you just copy and paste a response from another thread? I swear I just read this same response from another topic. Anyway, Like I said before, the money for this Stimulus plan isn't coming from anyone but the good ole US taxpayer.

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USA needs to end the trade defecit

What's a defecit? ;)

The US probably will never end our trade deficit. We have too much money compared to other countries. You're asking people in countries like Mexico to buy just as many American products as we buy Mexican products. I'm sure you can see the hurdle. Besides, direct foreign investment in the US generally cancels out deficits, but I'm sure you already know about that stuff.

Most foreign economies worship the American consumer as God. It's their own inability to diversify that's put them in the position they're in now. Japanese companies like Sony and Toyota are slashing profits, countries like Iran and Venezuela are about to face going under from the drop in oil prices, and countries like China are up against the real threat of civil unrest with their job losses. It was their choice to frame their models around the almighty American consumer, but I admit I do get a kick out of hearing lectures from those countries. I get the sense that they feel they're owed an apology of some sort for Americans buying too many of their products as if they'd warned us against doing so.

In the end the US will have to tighten our belts, rely less on credit, and consume less overall. Other countries will just have to learn to live with it and layoff their workers if they can't compete. Your own greed put you in this position and the US owes you nothing. If anything you should thank us for transferring wealth for so long.

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Nessie,

Thank you for pointing out the truth. Here's one from the NYT that goes back a little further in debunking that right-wing falsehood:

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/01/23/business/20090124_CHARTS_GRAPHIC.html

Not only do republicans spend more than Democrats when in the White House, they create fewer jobs as well.

Lastly, I find it pretty funny that the people on this thread complaining about not getting anything from the government are the same people who preach about personal responsibility. Maybe the first thing they should be given is a sense of intellectual self-reflection.

Taka

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First -- know that I am a 88 year old former Marine who lives off and on in both Okinawa and in California. I also remember vividly the Great Depression of the late twenty's and I can say that today we are in another depression! My wife (Okinawan) and I own a restuarant and we are on the edge of going under from taxes - taxes and then some more taxes. Businesses all over the USA are closing and millions are losing their employment and hundreds of thousands are losing their homes. Our leadership can't agree with anything and Obama was a effort to find a change, but so far , all we are getting is more taxes that only the Lord knows where this money goes.

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Pyramid schemes end when they run out of new people ready to join the bottom of the pyramid. The pyramid is now collapsing.

On top of the pyramid you have the banks. They create money out of nothing, usually as digits in a computer. They then “lend” this money to the people who have to pay it back with interest. Up the pyramid goes real stuff, down the pyramid goes paper worth “nothing.” When people do not get new people to join in the pyramid collapses.

God help us all.

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“It’s a plan that will save or create 3 to 4 million jobs over the next few years” and recognizes “there are millions of Americans trying to find work even as, all around the country, there’s so much work to be done,” he said.

very slippery statement. save or create 3 to 4 million jobs over the next few years. really? i get the create part. job creation can be measured. i don't get the save part. Unless he specifies which jobs he is saving there really is no way to hold him accountable and he knew it when he constructed his statement.

tax and spend and borrow. time for the accountability obama talked about during his campaign. will the people who voted for obama now turn a blind eye? you betcha, obama is pop cultures latest idol.

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I love all the garbage post by the right wingers here on JT. We just went eight years of their ideas, ideologies and practices and look where we're at.

If I was a republican I'd be a little more quiet and allow a new idea to take effect. We know where the republican playbook got us. It has gotten so far off kilter and all you republicans can do is whine about something that has a chance.

Remember what george bush said right after his 2004 election, paraphrased, "I gained clout and I intend to spend it." Well, Barack Obama earned clout and he's going to spend it. < :-)

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Obama is bringing real changes in many things. Many nations may follow the new America way out of woes. USA can rise again,via Obama's positive feeling and vibes for all american good values . There is a need for a new way to pursuit of happiness again, via various trials and errors.

TARP aided Companies in Dow has pulled the economy down,but Obama can push economy up again to highs again, in next 8 years or sooner.

Obama is okay in his plans,USA is in okay hands. When the going gets tough in economy,the tough plans need to get going.

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who cares about the dollar's value, who cares about the "economy" of america. basically, the government and big business need to quit screwing over the average joe. it's no news to europe or the rest of the world. i'm american and i'm tired of having this crap shoved in my face the same as everyone else. the number of jobs lost, the amount of increasing debt. you can get people worked up over anything with the right words and dress. basically, we need to quit thinking about "america" and start thinking about people and making things better for everyone.

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IcingDeath - ROTFLMAO!

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Anyway, Like I said before, the money for this Stimulus plan isn't coming from anyone but the good ole US taxpayer.

No it isn't. It is coming from China, which has no choice because if the USA collapses they do to. It is also coming from Japan and any other country which is either in the same boat, or just foolish enough to buy US debt. It is not coming from the US taxpayer. Their tax money was spent a long time ago.

And Roger2 - No, not everybody knows the USA is bankrupt, and you should know that if you read the comments on this website. That is why you see all the whinging about taxes and the nanny state and Democrats and blah, blah, blah. It is like a horror movie where some guys sit around and plot how to get even with the popular new guy at school, but never notice the psychotic axe-murderer peering in the window.

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i like how the lefties continue to place total blame on Bush and yet at the same time remind us that Obama is just one man and can't do it alone.

You can believe one or the other but you can't believe both. I happen to believe the latter.

Will Obama and his Democrats in congress be responsible stewards with the American tax dollar or are they going to raid the coffers and serve every special interest that got them back in power. Thank god for the freedom of information act, the democrats will be exposed for what they are; liars, cheats and thieves.

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In eight years time when President Obama's presidency comes to its end the world will be a much better place and much more than an average history will remind us how great a revolution this man began in areas such as the economy. Watch and learn as a true leader and a damn right good politician shapes a brighter future.

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"In eight years time when President Obama's presidency comes to its end the world will be a much better place and much more than an average history will remind us how great a revolution this man began in areas such as the economy."

LOL. Just look at what Democrats have done to California and Michigan.

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The index of leading economic indicators is up for the first time in six months, and sales of existing homes are up 6.5%. The Obama recovery is underway!

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