does anyone else liberal or not find president obama just completely annoying?

There's a whole group of people who aren't surprised in the least with all of this, and who saw this WAY before the election.

But at the time we brought up our misgivings, we were called "racist".

funny. i voted for "none of the above" in the last election. it was very unpopular. but it doesn't feel good to have been right!!!

I guess you think Mc Cain-Palin was going to be much better....

Yes I do.

I don't remember any president I haven't thought was annoying.

Just as many people over-reacted by anointing Obama as savior when he was first elected, we're doing the same thing in blaming him for somehow meeting this lofty expectations in a short time. Who really believed we'd be a-ok after all the mess we've had to deal with - there's a lot of political opportunism going on, in both parties, unfortunately. It's a sad commentary on us, IMHO.

*not meeting these*

I think what we're seeing is a re-evaluation of "what the mandate was" that brought Obama into power. Obama, Pelosi & Reed are learning the country is not as left as they thought. They will refocus on fixing the financial system, getting the economy on track and backing away from the grand health care intiative and instead pass something more limited and focus on what everyone agrees on, such as pre-existing coverage. The Democrats may also throw an olive branch to the Rebpulicans and agree to tort reform which is the right thing to do.

As in, we want all these services but don't increase our taxes. Math, much?

p.s. McCain might have been fine if he had 1) a real running mate (not Lieberman or Palin) given legit health concerns 2) was not beholden to fundie right-wing faction.

Would have liked a McCain/Powell combo.

The choice of Palin as a running mate showed a poor lack of judgment on McCain's part. Not something you want to see in a Chief Executive.

agree with riversider. hence, the "none of the above" vote. sad when you can't get behind ANYONE to run the country...

yep, positively fed up of his "i know it all, but i have the patience to explain it to you in simple terms, you f*cking moron that voted for me".

bothers me for some reason that he always starts each answer with the same: "Look, the fact of the matter is..." when it's precisely the fact of the matter what is being discussed. also bothers me that he had no trouble whatsoever saying "social security is just fine" in 2008. at least bush was fun (always made me laugh) and knew that the IOUs didn't make SS in red a solvent system. doesn't that show more financial knowledge than any democrat in congress have?

i viewed the past election as the choice between a military obsessed old man with a cute soccer mom (fun to listen to in part due to how scary she is) or... a guy that is good going up the ladder but that cannot show any accomplishments during the job. is never staying long enough in any a good excuse? ...

1) a real running mate (not Lieberman)

what is wrong with lieberman? (don't know the guy enough)

Flmao. You f'n pansies. All of you go to your parents and grandparents old age homes and kick him/her in the head for voting the way they did. If you're an immigrant, and don't like it.... Send mr your address, lll pay for your f'ning slow boat to china back to your homeland.

A nation such as ourselves should have health coverage for all Americans. A nation such as ourselves should have had a black president years ago. A nation such as ourselves should never ever never ever let bubbles determine who gets what piece of The pie. If They voted for Nixon, kick them twice for me.

Admin. Id love to see you on tv 100 times being asked serious questions. If the biggest gripe I have is some minor mannerism in speaking that would be the least or your worries. Just don't tell me how you keep watch on your rooftop everynite for icbms, and that qualifies you to lead an army.

J f'n Christmas. May Allah have mercy on all you dumb witted foolz. Do you guys think for yourselves or do you guys just watch the 'required' cable channels for your chosen political leanings. At least you aren't buying entendze infomercials all day, now in female formulations.

w67:

i don't come around much any more 'cause i got digz to live in now. but happened upon this thread and lololololololol'd here at your comments.

tku & peace

I don't find him annoying, I actually think I like the guy on a "personal" level, I'd be happy if he succeeded (though I hate the corrupt democrats who run NYC/NYS)... I thought he made a couple missteps in his first year, but nothing huge... but this year, wow, kazaam.

Maybe the problem is, he gets to Washington and starts becoming just like all the other putzes we send there.

I think he's better than that, but I think we might be learning that the pull of the morons is just too strong. When he hitched his ride to Pelosi and such, he might have sealed his fate.

w67, you totally missed the point

"A nation such as ourselves should have " ... try good candidates!!!

why kicking the guy that voted for nixon instead of all the guys that made it possible for people to have no clear better alternatives? kick them all for me please! can this good old country generate good presidential alternatives? give me a f*cking break, you really think that a totally inexperienced guy like obama isn't a bigger gamble that what americans deserve for a candidate? being black doesn't make the gamble any less risky imho. same thing if the candidate is an inexperienced woman (palin), jew or latino with very little concrete achievements (beyond being able to get a better job) to show for.

great speeches? sure, written by a 26 year old kid. that speeches had been the best thing he gave so far.

Do you guys think for yourselves or do you guys just watch the 'required' cable channels for your chosen political leanings?
-------------------------------------
would that be Al Jazeera in your case? not that there's anything against that.

> Admin. Id love to see you on tv 100 times being asked serious questions

Difference is, the democratic party didn't nominate admin for president...

exactly somewhereelse! lol, anybody that thinks for a second that i could be a politician really doesn't know me at all. i would never ever nominate myself (you are welcome guys!).

i still wonder why would anybody want to lead the country through this, imho a new lost decade. putting band aids to the housing bubble crash just as the much bigger entitlement tsunami hits. i mean, why? oh why?... is it human nature? ego? what is it? i'm afraid a possible answer is that this poor guy didn't know what was coming (like geithner, like bernanke, all homebuyers at the peak), which is kind of scary to me.

IMO, Obama does not have sufficient experience to be Potus & he's too far left. Yes, everyone should have health care in this country, but not the system proposed. The system of obtaining healthcare insurance via employment is archaic. Consumers (employed or not) should be able to buy out of state insurance & there should be a different levels of wellness + hospitalization coverage. We also need tort reform. There are so many better ways to create nationalized healthcare than what they're proposing. I particularly disliked the deep governmental intrusion into our lives by the gov under the proposed plan.

admin.... you wantz some....

who's the last prez that wrote their own speeches? Did kennedy have "experience" .... did Bush? plz..do run for prez.. anytime..

THE whole process is a "gamble." But much better than the chinese state sponsored killing of inmates for "kidneys" program... IMHO.

Why hate Al Jazeera so much.... not that I'm a fan.. but they were these itinerant goat herders in the desert until the western countries wanted their oil, and set up banana republics then used them as proxy wars btwn Russia/US... and then when we stopped playing ballz, let them keep all the guns and missiles and a shitz load of mine fields for them to clear with their children's limbs... am i missing something?

You think... McCain... who's milking his torture years for all itz worth is any better?

One final point on your "inexperienced" theme.. Arafat/Netty.. they're pretty experienced... how'd that work out? Ohhhhhhh... i get it.. "experienced" in a way that you'd like them do your bidding.. that kind of experienced....

nxt.

Liquidpaper... itz a bar.. just cause you can drink Jim bean at home doesn't mean you can't come back and have one w/ the regulars... you are a lemming.. but your our kind of lemmings... let me buy you a round... as opposed to spinny... whose sole purpose here is to ensure his decision was right..

FWIW.. if my kids arms got blown off by a US made mine while he was playing soccer.. I'd be a little miffed.. even if I majored in geo-politics at Harvard.

well, I think there are 2 kinds... folks who just have that ego. The Tracey Flicks.

Then there are folks with some ego, but more some sort of charisma, that get "annointed", drafted into service by the party bosses.

I think Obama is the latter... I think a lot more pulling than pushing.

w67, you missed my point once again for some reason. i'm not anti al jazeera. you just want to fight and that's fine, just find somebody that wants to play the part. it's not me at least for now. sorry for that.

just being my ole self admin.... as always I argue points not ppl.

I's like to be president just to fly wo having to go thru security and to ensure my kids got into Harvard... and the free food... definitely the free food... and the intern fellatios.... and then the motorcades... then the free food again.... and did i mention the 100 days off... then the $2MM speeches afterwards... but definitely the free food...

do a mediocre job on wall street, join a hedge fund managing funds for a corrupt municipal pension, and you can get all of that and more a lot easier...

yep. CALPERS invested in the most stupid and perverse positions (over leveraged buying of rent stabilized apartments in nyc and oil futures at the peak, for ex). bidding up prices of basic goods for everybody on the name of pensions for teachers of california.

i used to dislike them, but you might be right. maybe if one cannot change CALPERS, one should join it.

I haven't read much of this but am compelled by the initial question. I do find Obama annoying and I always have. Talk is cheap and always will be. Thank God for The Founding Fathers and the astronomical success and rich history of the American past. The ideals of this country are bigger than any person or party. The best indicator of future performance is past performance, which is why Obama's extreme agenda will not work even if he and Pelosi and Reid shove it down our throats as expected. Massachussettes has spoken and the rest of us will come November. Too bad for Obama and Pelosi and Reid and Frank, we're not as dumb as they have calculated.

I'm annoyed by the laissez faire leave-it-to-Congress attitude. Otherwise, I'm with w67. LMMFAO.

Go to Chelsea and get teabagged, the rest of you Palinite losers.

Hash out the details as you please, but it is beyond belief that a "1st World" country doesn't have
(for citizens and legal residents) some kind of free health benefit (rationed, 3rd class care as it may be).

What do you do if you don't happen to have a private plan and break a leg or do something completely unpreventable? Forget high-tech cures for cancer and all the strawmen arguments that people make.

"What do you do if you don't happen to have a private plan and break a leg or do something completely unpreventable? Forget high-tech cures for cancer and all the strawmen arguments that people make. "

you use the ER! just like many Latin nannies in the playground tell me they do when they need medical attention including surgeries that are not really life saving. hospitals have the obligation to not turn you down.

Cmon, admin. That's a ridiculous approach to a system. Not to mention the benefits of preventative care, esp. where kids are concerned.

"i used to dislike them, but you might be right. maybe if one cannot change CALPERS, one should join it."

Yeah, its funny that hedge fund guys think its skill to raise boatloads.

Cuomo put his campaign money in hedge funds, the moron...

Jeez - I didn't vote for the guy and don't much care for his politics, but I still think you have to give him a chance. His continual reliance on the "we inherited this mess" mantra is past its expiration date whether he likes it or not, and eventually he has to wake up to the reality that you can't tax .5% of the population to the hilt without expecting them to retreat, conserve, shut down their businesses and withdraw their investments.

That said, it's only been a year and our climate of putting 99% of the effort toward "tearing down the other side" does nothing for the country. I hope he succeeds in turning things around, but is none the less replaced three years on.

Hedge funds are vehicles.
It's really about the manager and the investment. If you're doing a hedge fund to gain exposure to s&p 500 kinda dumb, if you are truly wealthy , the hedge fund is well run and it's doing a complex contrarian strategy you actually understand..fine by me. That said, a very good percentage of current hedge fund investors are doing it because it sounds cool

We were crazy as a country to not elect Romney. For 14 years at Bain he averaged annual returns of over 100%. We're in the mist of the largest economic downturn in most of our lives and we elect an anti-business, community organizer? Sure Bush and the Republicans were liars and inept - giving away Billions to corporations - but Obama has proven no different from Bush. Romney had an attractive record in Mass - not perfect but ..... he was not the perfect candidate, but considering the economy, he was BY FAR the best choice we had.

Romney is an idiot.

I like Obama.

wsh - Romney had 100% plus returns for 14 years - we should all be so stupid.

don't love romney, but he is a better option than some of the other names floating around (jindal??). it's sad to not be able to get behind ANY candidate. too bad bloomberg can't put his name in to run. and let me point out that i was registered a democrat and changed to independent status after the last election! as inspiring as obama's speeches were, pelosi/congress made me want to tear the tv off the wall.

Newt Gingrich.. and his Contract with America

Romney is too extreme of a Mormon ---------- they believe really, really weird things.

Romney 2012!

poorishlady - like what? Explain what he did in Mass as Governor that was so "weird." Harry Reid is a Mormon - why does the ranking Dem Senator get a pass on his Mormonism but Romney gets vilified for it?
I think Jews believe a lot of weird things too, does that make them unfit to govern? I proudly voted for Bloomberg despite our religious differences.
I'll say it again - we were crazy as a country to not elect Romney in 2008 (I'm not saying he'll be the best candidate in 2012, I'm saying he was the best candidate in 2008). It would have been prudent for us to get an honest , private-equity genius in the White House to take care of the mess that we're in. We were foolish to get someone so unexperienced in economics to handle this crisis. We hired the wrong guy - face it.

PS - poorishlady - I equate your comment to someone who says - I could never vote for Obama he's too black. It's 2010, religious intolerance is so dated.

yes

I don't find Obama as annoying as the people who laud him as The Great Hope. Why not just have Presidents who either get our vote or don't? Why do they have to be a messiah to deserve a vote? I voted for him because I wanted him for President rather than McCain for President. I voted for Senator Clinton in the primary, and I found all the anti-Obama anathema amongst Clinton supporters digusting, just as I found the anti-Clinton anathema among Obama supporters disgusting. Without having expected much from Obama, after having voted for him, I'm pleasantly surprised by how little he's disappointing me. Every President is a disappointment, but I thought this one would be the biggest, since all the expectations heaped upon him were so out of proportion to the job. And, just for the record, I found the Nobel Peace Prize appalling.

Interesting times. Nobody knows what to make of Brown win. Obama thinks it means he has to double down on his agenda. Blue dog and center Democrats believe the public does not care for the out of control Federal spending,too radical a change on health care, terrorism policy and global warming initiatives.

Obama=Carter

That is the comparison being made more and more

hitler=>arafat=>mao=>tjefferson=>nixon=>carter=>obama...

you guys are so smart... obama=hitler. WTF are you guys getting at?
how about this one?
jeffrey dalmer= eats meat=eats human=I eat meat=> I am a cannibal?

How about this one?
only sluts give fellatios, your mama gave your daddy fellatios therefore your mama is a ... fill in the blnks you morons.

seriously how generations of the white majority and presidents brought us to where we are? Most minorities never had a "say" in a lot of the system that we have.... => the problem is the whities... .f' open season on them.... ; )

Riversider.... seriously.... if you think 1 man, blk or white brought us here.... you would be sadly blaming your premature ej problem to every women you've ever slept with and not looking at yourself in the mirror.

Obama does not remind me of Carter at all.

i love how some are saying "we" didn't get to choose Romney. Not sure if you were alive, but Romney LOST TO MCCAIN. So "we" didn't get a chance to choose Romney because MCCAIN BEAT HIM. The R's didn't like Romney. So other that bullshit, Obama is fine. I don't like Summers at all.

Heinz, you’re more unsprung than unusual so what about original sin.

Best line today from a broker, “We have had two excellent offers that both fell through, so you better hurry up and make your best offer!”

Anyone who was around during Carter can tell you how a seemingly intelligent person can become completely ineffectual.

So does Obama pull a Clinton and move to the center? I'm not seeing that scenario at the moment.

democrats who followed unpopular republican with social agenda that failed.

Clinton got the second term...

CARTER not CLINTON, see above.

Obama IS in the center

Apparently Center-Left

"For 14 years at Bain he averaged annual returns of over 100%. "

via leverage. That seemed to work out really well in recent years, don't you think...

"Hedge funds are vehicles.
It's really about the manager and the investment. If you're doing a hedge fund to gain exposure to s&p 500 kinda dumb, if you are truly wealthy , the hedge fund is well run and it's doing a complex contrarian strategy you actually understand..fine by me."

The problem is incredibly few hedge funds actually hedge, and most end up being glorified mutual funds, and often lousy ones at that. There was a university stufy on hedge funds showing that the vast majority don't beat their (risk adjusted) benchmarks.

"That said, a very good percentage of current hedge fund investors are doing it because it sounds cool"

definitely.

also, given that there are so many, and the most successful have gotten UBER big, the ability for excess returns gets more and more limited

Yep, and investing in an equity hedge fund makes it very difficult if not impossible to out-perform a passive investment in the S&P 500 when you consider the 2/20 fee structure.

look, the fact of the matter is that nowadays, when obama shows up i change the channel. did i get tired of him? don't think so. just realized that i liked to listen to him when he had a speech written by this 26-27 year old guy. the fact that somebody could deliver a written speech so nicely was fresh air back then. along with the ability of using long sentences.

obama during debates and doing interviews never seemed inspirational to me. several times i deeply disliked him "i would attack pakistan" and "social security is fine" did it for me.

OVER-EXPOSURE...
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/20/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6119525.shtml
SPEECHES, COMMENTS & REMARKS: 411
NEWS CONFERENCES: 42
INTERVIEWS: 158
TOWN HALL MEETINGS: 23
CAMPAIGN RALLIES: 7

when does the guy work? maybe the talking is his work? then there's the whole thing about his daughters and the dog. i have 0 interest in that too. despite all the differences that bush and i have, i still remain grateful to him for cheering me up. he made me lmao.

> "Nothing special," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs when asked what President Obama is doing today to mark the end of his 1st year in office and the start of his 2nd.

lol, what's there to celebrate? poor guy, i guess he regrets that hillary has it so easy.

Admin, dogs are fairly typical news piece. Same as presidents children. You're not reacting to individual news items but the over-all over-exposure.

i react negatively to his ivy-league attitude when telling poor and formally uneducated folks in new mexico "look, the fact of the matter is..." about health care. the thing they were asking him to deliver over and over was details. he seemed to not even notice that he couldn't deliver on that front. that was a very fair demand imho.

i attended 2 ivy-league universities myself and saw a lot of "we are just surrounded by morons" type of attitude. i'm also guilty of that sometimes but i'm not representing nor running for anything. imho you shouldn't treat folks like that ("you idiot") when you are a president. he doesn't seem to want a 2nd term when he does that.

I've heard him use that phrase, "look the matter of fact is".. It is condescending, and maybe disingenuis. Reminds me when someone also says, "to be honest"..

google search :"Look, the fact of the matter is" :"obama said"... 18,500 hits. true, many refer to the same speech/interview. but it's hard not to find that phrase when he is asked more than 2 questions.

condescending is exactly how it sounds to me.

Today Geithner is saying, the world ends if Bernanke is not reappointed. This is exactly what they did a year ago with first stumulus. At this point, we know this to be not true. Just their way of saying, "it's out way or the highway"

actually, wasn't the first one for TARP? and wasn't that on Bush's watch?

anything's better than bush's "well ..... um ....."

All pols are annoying. Even sweet plump Nadler whom I cornered on the street yesterday (not going to pass the Senate bill, btw).

"Today Geithner is saying, the world ends if Bernanke is not reappointed."

uf, tell the kid the world ends in 2012 anyway. and no, that doesn't mean we will buy his home with that ugly blue tiles.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100109/ap_on_an/us_obama_buck_stops_where_analysis

WASHINGTON – He says "the buck stops with me," but nearly a year into office, President Barack Obama is still blaming a lot of the nation's troubles — the economy, terrorism, health care — on George W. Bush.

Over and over, Obama keeps reminding Americans of the mess he inherited and all he's doing to fix it. A sharper, give-me-some-credit tone has emerged in his language as he bemoans people's fleeting memory about what life was like way back in 2008, particularly on the economy.

Admin, I think Americans don't want to hear about previous administration, They want the President to own the problem. Krauthammer nailed this with the Kruschev comparison..

Old Soviet joke:

Moscow, 1953. Stalin calls in Khrushchev.

“Niki, I’m dying. Don’t have much to leave you. Just three envelopes. Open them, one at a time, when you get into big trouble.”

A few years later, first crisis. Khrushchev opens envelope 1: “Blame everything on me. Uncle Joe.”

A few years later, a really big crisis. Opens envelope 2: “Blame everything on me. Again. Good luck, Uncle Joe.”

Third crisis. Opens envelope 3: “Prepare three envelopes.”

"Yep, and investing in an equity hedge fund makes it very difficult if not impossible to out-perform a passive investment in the S&P 500 when you consider the 2/20 fee structure. "

Exactly. Its the old malkiel lesson on steroids. When you start that far behind, what are the odds that you picked the one out of 1/1000 (or a million) guy who can consistently beat the S&P... by 20%... without setting you up for massive risk (the kicker).

What many folks miss is that the excess returns come from "selling insurance"-like activity that doesn't actually require much skill... but loses you a ton of money evey X years.

coincidentally, found this on WSJ today...

"Mr. Obama's approval rating among independent voters has dropped by nearly 20 percentage points since early last year."

More interesting, it was in an article about how the lefties are furious and screaming at Emanuel.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703808904575025030384695158.html?mod=WSJ-hp-editorsPicks

going back to the overexposure, good point. also, his blindly adoring cult fans. i want answers and accountability. when i ask wtf is happening with healthcare, it should be easy for me to read about an implementation strategy. it's all smoke and mirrors though. no one is denying that all americans need access to better and universal healthcare. i, personally, just can't back the current plan because it's NOT a plan. obama & co, please give over on the popularity and pull it together. when you make a speech and the market TANKS, the public and the financial markets are telling you they think whatever you have planned is a bad idea. don't leak that your only choice for the fed's confirmation might be in jeopardy without someone viable as an alternate candidate. and don't later go out there saying he must be confirmed or the world will end. politics in our country might as well be played out in us weekly by pr agents. and you can't appoint a chief of staff and treasury secretary and then FIRE them mid-term... geez. what kind of crap show is going on down in dc??

what kind of crap show is going on down in dc??
-----------

what is happening imho is that DC knows that permanent deficits are gonna be here to stay during this decade and probably the next due to entitlements (ss, medicare, medicaid). DC had so far succeeded in avoiding the topic, seniors don't even want the topic to be mentioned imho. cut discretionary spending, ok, but that doesn't move the needle. we are talking about a deficit of a trillion per year on a budget of 3.5. all the rampant growth is coming from entitlements. with 20% increase in new applications this year alone (both for seniors and disable).

usa government is gonna be at the mercy of its creditors for a while (till most baby boomers die). it's gonna get tricky politically speaking for Obama to navigate the issue. especially when wasting trillions on the wars and on the wall street bail out.

Dear parents,
We regret to inform you your son have been denied a spot in Harvard this year.

Yes, he was an excllent candidate, Valevictorian, led his team to state championships, perfect SAT scores, a very fine physical specimen, models for GQ and donates all proceeds to victims of haiti, and the class president.

But during his interview, used the word "honestly" which we all know to mean he lies alot.

Thank you again for your interest in Harvard and thank you for paying for the new football field.
Signed,
Larry Summers.

larry summers used to be honest, honestly, it didn't pay for him.

Obama has been a major disappointment. I was hoping he would be a skilled leader and be moderate on policy issues, but he has pushed far left policies, been weak on foreign policy and is downright scary on the fight against terrorism. He is incredibly disengenous in his public statements. A good portion of the country that voted for him see his ideology now for what it is and want no part of it.

As for health care, America has been a country based on opportunity and merit, not on socialism. We need a system where anyone in this country who works hard is able to afford their own health care, and we should take care of the very few who are not able to take care of themselves. If people choose not to put in the work to take care of themselves, then they should be free to fall on their faces.

totally, we should charge smokers and fatties... lets go get em'

http://www.buzzwordbingogame.com/cards/obama/

agree LIC. although "America has been a country based on opportunity and merit, not on socialism." ...

what i've seen is that Americans are as ready as anybody else to spend other's taxpayers money (C4C, homebuyer's tax credit...). as i see it, what pisses an American off is that many are paying taxes at the european level but not getting services in return and that tons of services go to people that don't and may never pay taxes.

also about health care. in a democracy, once the majority of the voters are obese, it doesn't shock me that costs spiral. a great leader will tackle obesity like there's no tomorrow. but most votes are coming from fat people. they don't want to hear "slim down". true, costs don't go up only cause of obesity. but it's a clear case of most people expecting to be taken care off even though they do not take care of themselves.

LIC, NOTADMIN
You have a limited number of H1N1 vaccines. How do you allocate them? Do you (A) give them to specific groups, such as high-risk populations, or (B) sell them to the highest bidder and rebate the revenue lump-sum to everyone? If you choose (A), do you allow those individuals allocated the vaccine to sell their dose to someone else? And if you could eradicate the virus but everyone had to be vacinated would you force them?

hopeful, you must be joking. i have major issues with this administration, and i'm a democrat through and through. but to say you should pay attention to the market? they're just throwing their little hissy fit because of some rumors that free money may be drying up a bit. free money isn't in endless supply.

it will be impossible not to piss off the market. impossible. just like it was impossible to turn the jobs situation around given congress and what bush and paulson had already extracted prior to the change in presidents. it's all just impossible. which is sad. but true.

like i said, i have major issues with this administration, and i expressed my uneasiness with geithner early, when people on this board opined that i was crazy, he was a mere public servant. but a market sell-off, to me, might very well represent something rather healthy. a realization that free gov't funds aren't available forever. do you really think the banks reduced their bonuses because they cared about public perception? fuck no. they know they'll need capital in the next two years, and it doesn't seem as though it will be so free and easy to get it. and they know their losses will be huge. so, just as we were before the election, we're f'd. who knows if someone else could have done something else with the situation.

"You have a limited number of H1N1 vaccines. How do you allocate them?"

why don't you have enough vaccines? maybe you could start by trying to solve that?

health care spending wise, i'd put $ where the most life (and quality of life) is gained per dollar spent. that means kids and young parents go first. emphasis on prevention and good habits. and later if there's money to burn on what is spent nowadays (trying to get a 90 year old with 20 different serious diseases to live an extra week in a semi unconscious state swallowing 30 pills per day and even doing surgeries on these guys).

maybe is not a surprise that in a lobby driven democracy the government pays without much question for those that can consume the most pills, devices and hospital stay. and gives a ... about those that need very simple and cheap procedures (the marginal profit for the health care industry is not high in those cases).

has anyone read warren mosler's essays? the concept of "deficit" doesn't really exist for the federal government (it does at a state and local level). the federal government is able to print WHATEVER money it wants. the paper that you use to pay for your lunch doesn't inherently have value. the government can make up whatever quantities of it needed. the fear relating to unlimited printing of money is hyper inflation (which explains the robustness of the new york real estate market with people rushing to buy real assets). but we are NOT beholden to "creditors" or china. the chinese need us to buy their goods and pay them with...dollars. and their central bank wants the local businesses to do trade and make money. everyone is happy and right where they should be in that sense.

the real issue with our government is that the people who run it don't understand this. taxpayers haven't forked over unlimited funds for tarp. can you imagine writing a personal check for your share of the gazillion dollars? you haven't really done that yet. it's just made up money. taxpayers don't fund the federal government budget. you pay taxes to the feds to take money OUT of the system to avoid inflation. that's all.

that was a random aside. but obama is guilty of the doesn't-understand-monetary-policy rhetoric. he's one of the worst.

Bringing this back to Economics the problem was bringing in the Keynes crowd.

Hopeful, you can't just wave away the inflation issue when talking about printing money.

Riversider, in your hypothetical, who is "you"? The federal government? If health resources are limited I would prefer to see them distributed on a risk-need basis.

sorry, didn't mean to wave it away, just pointing out that taxpayers don't "fund" federal spending...

Whenever President Obama gives a speech I always say out loud...thank you America for electing this man.The idea of John McCain and Sarah Palin being the pres and vp is too painful to think about.

you like him because he's not the other guy?

america, wake up, you don't have to choose one or the other. demand better candidates!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIraCchPDhk