First of all, I did get elected President, so not everybody hates me…. But what you know is true is, if you’re watching TV lately, it seems like everybody’s just getting mad all the time. You know, I think you’ve gotta take it with a grain of salt. Some of it is just what’s called politics, where once one party wins, the other party kinda feels like it needs to poke you a little bit to keep you on your toes.
And so you shouldn’t take it too seriously. And then sometimes — as I’ve said before, people — I think they’re worried about their own lives. A lot of people are losing their jobs right now; a lot of people are losing their healthcare, or they’ve lost their homes to foreclosure. And they’re feeling frustrated. And when you’re President of the United States, you’ve gotta deal with all of that.
…And, you know, you get some of the credit when things go good. When things are going tough, you know, you’re going to get some of the blame, and that’s part of the job. But I’m a pretty tough guy. (To child.) Are you a tough guy? You look like you’re pretty tough. And so, you’ve just gotta keep on going when folks are criticizing you… as long as you know you’re doing it for other people.
For President Obama, this is the Season of Doubt.
There is in the American air — some 13 months away from the 2012 election — a whiff of suggestion that Obama might not be re-elected. Or re-electable.
A recent poll reveals that most Americans — 55 percent — believe Obama will be a one-term president. On hearing the results, Obama told ABC News: “I’m used to being an underdog.”
Another survey by CNN reveals that if the 2012 presidential election were to be held today, Obama would narrowly beat Republican hopefuls Ron Paul (by a mere 4 percentage points) and Rick Perry (by 5 points), and he would be neck and neck with Mitt Romney. And, according to Gallup’s most recent weekly approval rating average, Obama’s approval rating is around 41 percent today.
“Since the poll shows that voters tend to support candidates based more on how they ‘feel’ about them and less on whether they line up on the issues,” write James Oliphant and Kim Geiger in the Los Angeles Times, “that’s a worrisome trend for Obama.”
Uh-oh. Underdog. Worrisome trend. Are the storm clouds of uncertainty gathering over the Obama presidency? Is the once-popular Illinois politician headed for defeat in 2012? Is the next “Change We Can Believe In” perhaps — what only a few months ago would have been unbelievable — a change of the guard? And is it really possible that the “Yes We Can” man can get not only panned, but canned?
“Please Raise My Taxes” via LinkedIn town hall meeting with President Obama.
For those who can’t watch clips online, question came from a man who retired at a young age, thanks to the success of a start-up company he worked for that “did quite well” (the man was later identified as the former director of marketing at Google). He asked the president, “Would you please raise my taxes? I would like very much to have the country to continue to invest in things like Pell Grants, and infrastructure, and job training programs that made it possible for me to get to where I am.”
We all benefited from someone investing in us.
We’re a massive, modern nation with a vast economy. We face real challenges, and they’re not the kind of challenges individuals can hope resolve on their own — we need cooperative solutions built around shared action.
This is kind of what Elizabeth Warren was getting at: a lot of people in this country were able to take advantage of certain opportunities with the help of government programs; whether it’s Pell Grants, temporary & disability assistance, guaranteed federal loans for graduates students (like myself), or what have you. When those programs are in jeopardy due to a lack of tax revenue, there is a case to be made that those who willingly took the benefit of those programs (and became successful as a result) should contribute to their upkeep so “the next kid who comes along” will have the same access to opportunities that you had.
This isn’t to say there aren’t principled arguments to be made against government aid for all the things I just mentioned. Libertarians make these arguments all the time, and I don’t find them unreasonable. But essentially what you’re dealing with are two worldviews in which society looks different in a lot of fundamental ways: I guarantee you that if we stopped having the Federal Government guarantee loans for graduate students, for example, less people would be able to go to law school or Med School, because there’s no way private companies would underwrite as many students. And while this can be argued as a good thing for the legal profession, the same argument cannot be made for the Medical profession, which continues to be desperate for new blood.
All that needs to be said.
(Source: liberalsarecool)
Rick Perry hires Tim Pawlenty’s ad guy: Tim Pawlenty didn’t have a lot going for him in the 2012 race, but one thing that was a definite ace in the hole was his ultra-over-the top campaign ads, which evoked the ultra-over-the-top movies of Michael Bay. Now that Pawlenty’s out, guess who hired Lucas Baiano, the guy who made all those ads? That’s right, Rick Perry. Watch his first creation above. What do you think?
Seems like a sequel for that blockbuster, The Bush Years.
(And we all know the sequels are always worse than what came the first time around.)
Andrew Sullivan on Republicanism As Religion. He’ll be live-blogging the GOP debate tonight. (via cheatsheet)
(Source: pantslessprogressive)
Obama gives a little, takes a little on government regulations. (more here)
The people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities. The question tonight is whether we’ll meet ours. The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy; whether we can restore some of the fairness and security that has defined this nation since our beginning.
Those of us here tonight cannot solve all of our nation’s woes. Ultimately, our recovery will be driven not by Washington, but by our businesses and our workers. But we can help. We can make a difference. There are steps we can take right now to improve people’s lives.
I am sending this Congress a plan that you should pass right away. It’s called the American Jobs Act. There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans – including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything.
The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working. It will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans, and more jobs for the long-term unemployed. It will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers, and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working American and every small business. It will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled, and give companies confidence that if they invest and hire, there will be customers for their products and services. You should pass this jobs plan right away.
Excerpts from prepared remarks of President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011.
