I love my state and most of its Representatives, including this one.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Charming Karl, Cookie King on February 5, 2009 at 4:09pm

Well... C'mon, you and I both know that Lindsey Graham doesn't really want to negotiate with Obama over the stimulus. If Graham had his way, there would be no stimulus, just more Bush tax cuts. I'm sure that Obama has been talking with Republicans who are actually willing to listen to his proposals and offer ideas of their own, rather than just posture and pontificate.

But if Republicans want to continue the strategies that led to the recent election results, they are certainly more than welcome to do so. It didn't work for 2008 - God knows as crazy as politics is, it may work for 2010, but I doubt it.

Permalink Reply by Bildo792 on February 5, 2009 at 4:15pm

Karl the main reason I posted it is that I told many friends that Obama wasn't getting elected on policy but on his ability to be a dynamic speaker who can rally the troops so to say. And I see Graham agrees with me as he is saying something similar.

As far as Obama we will see, way too early for me to judge if he will be good or not so good. His ideas however kinda scare me.

Permalink Reply by Charming Karl, Cookie King on February 5, 2009 at 5:09pm

Well if Graham is saying what you've been thinking or experiencing, then that's cool. My point was to say that, you know, there are a number of ways to be a dynamic opposition party. In recent years, the attitude on both sides of the aisle has been "my way or the highway," "you're either for me or against me," "you're either part of the solution or part of the problem" and if you don't agree with me, then you're definitely against me and part of the problem. But Obama ran on the idea of representing everyone, not just those who agree with him, and from what I have seen so far, he is bending over backward to build consensus and include alternate views. Take a look at this article from today's NY Times, for ex.: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/us/politics/06stimulus.html?hp

(Side note: I know there are those on here who slander the NYTimes as being a flagrantly liberal left apologist newspaper. I don't believe honestly that such a thing as a liberal exists in this country at this point, at least not as I knew liberalism when I was growing up. That aside, the Times is pretty center as I see it, since I disagree with much that is written there)

So to see Sen. Graham complaining that Obama is not interested in talking with Republicans and so forth strikes me as being slightly disingenuous.

Permalink Reply by than_357 on February 5, 2009 at 5:36pm

Always viewed that for the majority of Congress, I'd just as soon they fought and pushed and absolutely managed to do nothing. I really rather have them spend time nullifying outdated laws than prescribing newly obsolescent ones now.

Case in point is probably best illustrated by baseball hearings in the Capital...WTF did that contribute to our society?

Permalink Reply by Jon Hall aka Johnny Richmond on February 5, 2009 at 5:41pm

Well if luncheons aren't part of getting politics done in DC then those thousands of lobbyists swarming The Hill are doing it all wrong. That is how politics gets done and a vital part of leading as unfortunate as it may be.

Permalink Reply by Bildo792 on February 5, 2009 at 6:50pm

then hes not changing anything

Permalink Reply by Clay, the watcher... on February 5, 2009 at 6:43pm

Wait is this a for real political discussion?

OK, I agree, Obama is a dynamic speaker. I for one an not offended by his non-butchering on the english language.

I think the NY Times is Liberal as the come, and like Karl said, that's not very liberal. (remember I grew up in CA during the hippy years)

Finally, that Graham sure makes some good crackers!

Permalink Reply by Charming Karl, Cookie King on February 6, 2009 at 9:48am

I definitely feel that Obama has raised the bar for the presidency considerably from where it was for the last administration, and not just in terms of his eloquence. Is he perhaps a little naive when it comes to excluding lobbyists or anyone who's done anything slightly unethical, like not paying taxes, from his administration? Yeah, probably. Better that he at least leads with a high moral stand, and be flexible enough to compromise where and when he needs to.

Permalink Reply by rondis on February 6, 2009 at 10:23am

Pres Obama scares the living hell out of me. I truley hope that he does well, as the country really needs a great 4 years, but I think that all his 'change' is going in the wrong direction. A 30% accross the board cut on the military, his appointees....don't get me started, a stimulus packed with so much pork, who can see the stimulus in it?

With the Senate, House and Presidency all Democrat right now, it just seems that they are going to try and push through all of their pet projects as soon as they can. In my opinion, this will effect many things that I hold dear....the right to keep my gun, the right to keep some of my money, the right to keep the health insurance that I trust, and sooner than we think, the right to smoke my cigars without some ridiculous 'health tax'.

You're absolutely right. The president is an excellent speaker. He was definitely elected based on his ability to 'raly the troops' as you say, rather than his policy. As far as I see, there is no policy, except for 'change' at any cost. For all I know, he may end up being a great president, but his total lack of legislative and executive experience, is going to make it difficult for him to lead without having to lean on the people he has appointed, very heavily.

I guess as long as he can make 'the people' feel like everything will be better now that he is in charge, he'll be ok. Perception is reality.

A stimulus might be great, if it actually stimulates. For goodness sake, have you seen some of the crap that's in this bill?

Oh well....I'm just just gonna fire up a morning Drew Estates Java, and try not to think about it! :-)

Permalink Reply by Charming Karl, Cookie King on February 6, 2009 at 11:04am

Java, mmmm...

Permalink Reply by Clay, the watcher... on February 6, 2009 at 11:16am

I believe that no matter who is in office half the population is always scared. Really, I do think politics is much like the pendulum of a clock. We are now in the back swing from the last 8 years. I think we will have a Dem for another 8, then back to the Republicans. It may just be my Asian sensibility, but it all provides balance.

The "stimulus" is a smoke screen, but I also think it will get Americans spending more. My fear of that is where there is spending, there is greed. Where there is greed, there is corruption. As much as I would like to believe that we learned something from "corporate greed" recently, we haven't and won't. That would be un-American.

Permalink Reply by rondis on February 6, 2009 at 11:32am

Perhaps you're right, but it's really a shame that the pendulum has to swing so damn far each time. It's not so much the swinging...it's more the distance that it travels that really seems to tear us up. Balance would be the same amount on both sides at the same time. This is more like totally 'off balance' in one direction or the other. The back and forth swaying is starting to make me sea sick!

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page