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Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
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SumOfAllFears Offline
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Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
Disappointed Supporters Question Obama


By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: September 20, 2010

WASHINGTON — It was billed as “Investing in America,” a live televised conversation on the state of the economy between President Obama and American workers, students, business people and retirees, a kind of Wall Street to Main Street reality check.

But it sounded like a therapy session for disillusioned Obama supporters.

In question after question during a one-hour session, which took place on Monday at the Newseum here and was televised on CNBC, Mr. Obama was confronted by people who sounded frustrated and anxious — even as some said they supported his agenda and proclaimed themselves honored to be in his presence.

People from Main Street wanted to know if the American dream still lived for them. People on Wall Street complained that he was treating them like a piñata, “whacking us with a stick,” in the words of Anthony Scaramucci, a former law school classmate of Mr. Obama’s who now runs a hedge fund and was one of the president’s questioners.

“I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for,” said the first questioner, an African-American woman who identified herself as a chief financial officer, a mother and a military veteran. “I’ve been told that I voted for a man who was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class and I’m waiting sir, I’m waiting. I still don’t feel it yet.”

A 30-year-old law school graduate told Mr. Obama that he had hoped to pursue a career in public service — like the president — but complained that he could barely pay the interest on his student loans, let alone think of getting married or starting a family.

“I was really inspired by you and your campaign and the message you brought, and that inspiration is dying away,” he said, adding, “And I really want to know, is the American dream dead for me?”

The extraordinarily personal tone of the session, coupled with more substantive policy questions from the host, John Harwood of CNBC and The New York Times, reflects the erosion of support for Mr. Obama among the constituencies that sent him to the White House two years ago.

It was all the more compelling coming from such a friendly audience; one questioner, a small-business owner in Pennsylvania, began by praising the president for turning around the auto industry, then lamented: “You’re losing the war of sound bites. You’re losing the media cycles.”

As he leads his party into what many analysts expect to be a devastating midterm election for Democrats, the president faces overwhelming skepticism from Americans on his handling of the economy. A recent New York Times poll found 57 percent of respondents believed the president did not have a clear plan for fixing the nation’s broken economy.

Mr. Obama sought on Monday to address those concerns, telling his business critics that he was not antibusiness and his middle class questioners that “there are a whole host of things we’ve put in place to make your life better.” He cited his health care bill, a financial regulatory overhaul measure that imposed tough requirements on credit card companies; an education bill that increased the availability of student loans.

The president also laid down a challenge to the Tea Party movement, whose candidates have swept aside mainstream Republicans in recent primaries in Alaska and Delaware. He said it was not enough for Tea Party candidates to campaign on a theme of smaller government; he tried to put them in an uncomfortable box by prodding them to offer specifics about the programs they would cut.

“The challenge for the Tea Party movement is to identify specifically: What would you do?” the president said. “It’s not enough to say get control of spending. I think it’s important for you to say, ‘I’m willing to cut veterans benefits, or I’m willing to cut Medicare or Social Security, or I’m willing to see taxes go up.’ ”

Mr. Obama hinted that he was open to considering a payroll tax holiday to spur job growth, saying he would be willing to “look at any idea that’s out there,” although he went on to say that some ideas that “look good on paper” are more complicated than they appear.

And he ducked a question from Mr. Harwood about whether he would be willing to debate the House Republican leader, John Boehner of Ohio, the way former President Bill Clinton had a debate 15 years ago with Newt Gingrich, who was then the House speaker.

“I think it’s premature to say that John Boehner’s going to be the speaker of the House,” Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Obama is stepping up his efforts to mobilize Democratic voters and find ways to improve the political climate for his party heading toward Election Day. He will begin trying to build enthusiasm among some of the voters who propelled him to victory in 2008, like college students, while Democratic strategists are considering ways to turn the increased prominence of the Tea Party movement to their advantage by characterizing positions taken by some Tea Party-backed Republican candidates as extreme.

The White House denied an article in The New York Times on Monday saying that Mr. Obama’s political advisers were considering national advertising to cast the Republican Party as having been all but taken over by the Tea Party movement.

“The story that led The New York Times yesterday was flat out wrong,” Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, said in an e-mail message. “The White House has never discussed, contemplated or weighed such an ad campaign.”

Mr. Pfeiffer said the article “was based on the thinnest of reeds,” an anonymous source.

The Times stood by the report.

After his appearance on CNBC, the president flew to Philadelphia, where he appeared at two fund-raisers for Representative Joe Sestak, the Democratic Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, and raised $1 million for the Democratic National Committee.

If the televised session on Monday seemed to put Mr. Obama on the spot, he did not appear ruffled. Rather, he seemed resigned to the frustration of his questioners.

“My goal here is not to convince you that everything is where it needs to be,” the president said, “but what I am saying is that we are moving in the right direction.”

NYTimes
09-21-2010 10:10 AM
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flyingswoosh Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
did the idiot who wanted to go into public service really think that if obama got elected he'd be able to easily pay off his student loans? Do these people believe that obama is a magical fairy?
09-21-2010 10:21 AM
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moe24 Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
(09-21-2010 10:21 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  did the idiot who wanted to go into public service really think that if obama got elected he'd be able to easily pay off his student loans? Do these people believe that obama is a magical fairy?

Well, some people thought Obama's election meant the end to their mortgage payments. 01-wingedeagle
09-21-2010 10:32 AM
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Lord Stanley Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
Quote:“The challenge for the Tea Party movement is to identify specifically: What would you do?” the president said. “It’s not enough to say get control of spending. I think it’s important for you to say, ‘I’m willing to cut veterans benefits, or I’m willing to cut Medicare or Social Security, or I’m willing to see taxes go up.’

Except there are many answers to this question, that frankly, don't have to touch veterans benefits, Medicare of Social Security or raise taxes.

For instance, say:
  • repeal Obamacare
09-21-2010 10:58 AM
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SumOfAllFears Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
(09-21-2010 10:32 AM)moe24 Wrote:  
(09-21-2010 10:21 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  did the idiot who wanted to go into public service really think that if obama got elected he'd be able to easily pay off his student loans? Do these people believe that obama is a magical fairy?

Well, some people thought Obama's election meant the end to their mortgage payments. 01-wingedeagle

It was an end to their mortgage payments. Foreclosure.
09-21-2010 10:59 AM
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Machiavelli Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
Lord Stanley,

Do you see what he is saying, or can you see it? You could repeal Obamacare tomorrow and it's not going to do a darn thing about our deficit. Somehow we have to get past screaming at each other and look for solutions. We have to cut benefits, cut expenditures, and increase taxes. I like the idea of freezing all budgets at 2008 levels.
09-21-2010 11:59 AM
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flyingswoosh Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
(09-21-2010 11:59 AM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Lord Stanley,

Do you see what he is saying, or can you see it? You could repeal Obamacare tomorrow and it's not going to do a darn thing about our deficit.

not yet, but it will help those middle class people you're always crying over. For instance, my grandparents' health insurance premiums are going up in anticipation of obamacare
09-21-2010 12:08 PM
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Machiavelli Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
it will help those middle class people you're always crying over.


lol...............
09-21-2010 12:19 PM
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flyingswoosh Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
(09-21-2010 12:19 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  it will help those middle class people you're always crying over.


lol...............

i knew that was going to come back to me when i wrote it. It's not that i don't care about the middle class. What i meant is that it's a constant talking point for you. or at least it used to be
09-21-2010 12:25 PM
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Lord Stanley Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
(09-21-2010 11:59 AM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Lord Stanley,

Do you see what he is saying, or can you see it? You could repeal Obamacare tomorrow and it's not going to do a darn thing about our deficit. Somehow we have to get past screaming at each other and look for solutions. We have to cut benefits, cut expenditures, and increase taxes. I like the idea of freezing all budgets at 2008 levels.

But every estimate from all sides show increased deficit spending with Obamacare. So repealing Obamacare would be a start, no?

And why isn't (quoting Obama) "It’s not enough to say get control of spending' another starting point?

Obama is whistling past the graveyard with entitlement spending. It will be his, and the Democrats, undoing in November.
09-21-2010 12:27 PM
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DrTorch Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
(09-21-2010 11:59 AM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Lord Stanley,

Do you see what he is saying, or can you see it? You could repeal Obamacare tomorrow and it's not going to do a darn thing about our deficit. Somehow we have to get past screaming at each other and look for solutions. We have to cut benefits, cut expenditures, and increase taxes. I like the idea of freezing all budgets at 2008 levels.

Repealing Obamacare would allow businesses to go forward and hire more. An improved economy would increase tax receipts (which is what you want, not increased taxes, which implies tax rates) that could be applied to the deficit.

I frankly would like to see the fed gov't cut by 40%.
09-21-2010 12:33 PM
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Machiavelli Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
It goes back to my original contention that people really don't care about spending or the deficit as long as the spending is on "their" priorties". Most on the right can't stand the idea of govt. involvement in health care so that's the first thing they bring up. In reality it's a drop in the bucket.
09-21-2010 12:42 PM
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flyingswoosh Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
(09-21-2010 12:42 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  It goes back to my original contention that people really don't care about spending or the deficit as long as the spending is on "their" priorties". Most on the right can't stand the idea of govt. involvement in health care so that's the first thing they bring up. In reality it's a drop in the bucket.

i don't want the federal government to spend on anything except infrastructure and the military. everything else can be handled by the market
(This post was last modified: 09-21-2010 12:46 PM by flyingswoosh.)
09-21-2010 12:46 PM
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DrTorch Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
(09-21-2010 12:42 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  It goes back to my original contention that people really don't care about spending or the deficit as long as the spending is on "their" priorties". Most on the right can't stand the idea of govt. involvement in health care so that's the first thing they bring up. In reality it's a drop in the bucket.

Not true. There are many people who don't want the gov't running everything, and spending like crazy. You're projecting here.
09-21-2010 12:48 PM
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
(09-21-2010 12:48 PM)DrTorch Wrote:  
(09-21-2010 12:42 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  It goes back to my original contention that people really don't care about spending or the deficit as long as the spending is on "their" priorties". Most on the right can't stand the idea of govt. involvement in health care so that's the first thing they bring up. In reality it's a drop in the bucket.

Not true. There are many people who don't want the gov't running everything, and spending like crazy. You're projecting here.

Well, he is a liberal and all liberals I know want the government involved in everything.
09-21-2010 12:51 PM
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Machiavelli Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
Reb you deal in absolutes. It's a shallow mindset.
09-21-2010 01:41 PM
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
(09-21-2010 01:41 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Reb you deal in absolutes. It's a shallow mindset.

It is absolute that the liberal platform is based on increased government and income redistribution. If it weren't, they'd be conservatives. It is what it is. An elephant weighs a ton of f'n weight. That's an absolute. A liberal wants government to expand. That too is an absolute.
09-21-2010 01:43 PM
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BlazerFan11 Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
Quote:The president also laid down a challenge to the Tea Party movement, whose candidates have swept aside mainstream Republicans in recent primaries in Alaska and Delaware. He said it was not enough for Tea Party candidates to campaign on a theme of smaller government; he tried to put them in an uncomfortable box by prodding them to offer specifics about the programs they would cut.

“The challenge for the Tea Party movement is to identify specifically: What would you do?” the president said. “It’s not enough to say get control of spending. I think it’s important for you to say, ‘I’m willing to cut veterans benefits, or I’m willing to cut Medicare or Social Security, or I’m willing to see taxes go up.’ ”

03-lmfao

Anyone else find it just a touch hypocritical that Mr. HopeChange is calling out others for not being specific about their ideas?
09-21-2010 02:03 PM
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Lord Stanley Offline
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RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
(09-21-2010 12:33 PM)DrTorch Wrote:  
(09-21-2010 11:59 AM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Lord Stanley,

Do you see what he is saying, or can you see it? You could repeal Obamacare tomorrow and it's not going to do a darn thing about our deficit. Somehow we have to get past screaming at each other and look for solutions. We have to cut benefits, cut expenditures, and increase taxes. I like the idea of freezing all budgets at 2008 levels.

Repealing Obamacare would allow businesses to go forward and hire more. An improved economy would increase tax receipts (which is what you want, not increased taxes, which implies tax rates) that could be applied to the deficit.

Mach, my company took a a non-cash charge of about $34 million, in fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, as a result of the new health care reform.

$34 million.

Now, how many jobs is $34 million? Even if it is only 150 jobs (just a SWAG) isn't that money better spent at my local plant and HQ level, then sent into Washington?
09-21-2010 02:36 PM
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Post: #20
RE: Obama Supporters Appear to have had Enough
Yea, I saw the first chic drill him. It was epic. If that is what a VETTED crowd in WASHINGTON, DC looks like ... imagine what a random sampling would have been ... it would have verged on meltdown like at Lindsey Graham and Bob Inglis' town halls this year.
09-21-2010 03:05 PM
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