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ORIGINAL: SpinnerofTales

1) Lift the ban on stem cell research

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ORIGINAL: SpinnerofTales

2) Steward the economy past the threat of a black hole depression that threatened to destroy our entire financial system (I seem to remember a lot of posts saying how the stock market would be down below 6000 by now. I wonder where those people have run off to. Oh yes, they're still here, they just have moved on to another version of "the sky is falling" predictions.)

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ORIGINAL: SpinnerofTales

3) Rescue a hostage from Somali pirates with a reasonable use of force that didn't open up a new war (If you'll notice, no American ship has been pirated since)

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ORIGINAL: SpinnerofTales

4) Rescue 2 American citizens from a sentence of 12 years at hard labor in North Korea by use of diplomacy, opening the possibility of further diplomatic interactions and solutions.

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ORIGINAL: SpinnerofTales

5) Institute a government program that seems to have worked, aiding the ailing auto industry and getting many billions of dollars of consumer spending into the economy where it can do some good.

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ORIGINAL: SpinnerofTales

I am not a wide eyed believer.

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ORIGINAL: SpinnerofTales

1) Lift the ban on stem cell research


There never was a ban on stem cell research. ORIGINAL: FirmhandKY

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ORIGINAL: SpinnerofTales

I will always admit when I have misspoken. There was not a ban on stem cell research. There was a ban on the government investing almost all stem cell research. I still think lifting that policy is a good thing.

(in reply to FirmhandKY)

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ORIGINAL: SpinnerofTales

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A few of the former P&R faithful who were knee deep in the hoopla after the election and inauguration seemed to have split the scene. I guess they figured out that post inauguration Bush bashing only carries you so far and once they saw that Barry O really is not quite ready for prime time they scattered like cockroaches. I actually almost miss seeing how they would spin the town hall meetings. ORIGINAL: DomImus

There is no need to spin the town hall meetings. They speak for themselves. The republican party has staked it's entire political future on the failure of anything the Obama administration proposes. This attitude has trickled down (conservative's love that old trickle down thing) to the populace. Therefore, instead of speaking of reasonable worries (access to private as well as public options in healthcare, payment options and plans for any reform passed, etc.), they are painting swastikas and shouting like irate kindergarten kids who missed nap time. I do not believe in blaming Obama for not being able to have a dialog with people who's agenda is obstruction, not construction.

As for Obama's achiements, in seven months I have seen him:

1) Lift the ban on stem cell research
2) Steward the economy past the threat of a black hole depression that threatened to destroy our entire financial system (I seem to remember a lot of posts saying how the stock market would be down below 6000 by now. I wonder where those people have run off to. Oh yes, they're still here, they just have moved on to another version of "the sky is falling" predictions.)
3) Rescue a hostage from Somali pirates with a reasonable use of force that didn't open up a new war (If you'll notice, no American ship has been pirated since)
4) Rescue 2 American citizens from a sentence of 12 years at hard labor in North Korea by use of diplomacy, opening the possibility of further diplomatic interactions and solutions.
5) Institute a government program that seems to have worked, aiding the ailing auto industry and getting many billions of dollars of consumer spending into the economy where it can do some good.

Personally, I don't think that's too bad for  7 months.

I have to say I find it rather laughable that the same opponents of the Obama administration who say that his supporters are brainwashed groupies who think the president is Jesus incarnate continue to howl it's indignation that in 7 months, he has  not managed to correct every problem that has faced this country for the last forty years.

I am not a wide eyed believer. It is my thought that Obama is a politician and so has some of the attributes of any politician. But I am a supporter of Obama. I voted for him in November, and knowing what I know now, do not regret that vote, not based on "well his opponent would be worse" but based on the performance I have seen so far.

I have not gone anywhere. I just have been rather quiet because the republicans and neo-cons are screaming so loudly it is hard to be heard. Thanks for asking after me.

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Prior to today, the number who Strongly Approved of the President’s performance had never fallen below 29%. Some of the decline has come from within the President’s own party. Just 49% of Democrats offer such a positive assessment of the President at this time.

Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -14. These figures mark the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President.

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Making a call on his success or failure right now is like trying to read the tea leaves without drinking the tea.

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ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth

Spending and increasing the deficit without any positive trend indicating a plan formulated to recover is in place is concerning. In 7 months you man not expect everything to be turning around, but you'd expect something.

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The stock market's gains were broad, reaching across all industries, but the biggest jumps came from energy, industrial and material stocks as oil and commodities prices soared. Bank stocks also rose sharply.

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Employment is still falling sharply in the US and elsewhere – in advanced economies, unemployment will be above 10 per cent by 2010. This is bad news for demand and bank losses, but also for workers’ skills, a key factor behind long-term labour productivity growth.

Second, this is a crisis of solvency, not just liquidity, but true deleveraging has not begun yet because the losses of financial institutions have been socialised and put on government balance sheets. This limits the ability of banks to lend, households to spend and companies to invest.

Third, in countries running current account deficits, consumers need to cut spending and save much more, yet debt-burdened consumers face a wealth shock from falling home prices and stock markets and shrinking incomes and employment.

Fourth, the financial system – despite the policy support – is still severely damaged. Most of the shadow banking system has disappeared, and traditional banks are saddled with trillions of dollars in expected losses on loans and securities while still being seriously undercapitalised.

Fifth, weak profitability – owing to high debts and default risks, low growth and persistent deflationary pressures on corporate margins – will constrain companies’ willingness to produce, hire workers and invest.

Sixth, the releveraging of the public sector through its build-up of large fiscal deficits risks crowding out a recovery in private sector spending. The effects of the policy stimulus, moreover, will fizzle out by early next year, requiring greater private demand to support continued growth.

Seventh, the reduction of global imbalances implies that the current account deficits of profligate economies, such as the US, will narrow the surpluses of countries that over-save (China and other emerging markets, Germany and Japan). But if domestic demand does not grow fast enough in surplus countries, this will lead to a weaker recovery in global growth.

There are also now two reasons why there is a rising risk of a double-dip W-shaped recession. For a start, there are risks associated with exit strategies from the massive monetary and fiscal easing: policymakers are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. If they take large fiscal deficits seriously and raise taxes, cut spending and mop up excess liquidity soon, they would undermine recovery and tip the economy back into stag-deflation (recession and deflation).

But if they maintain large budget deficits, bond market vigilantes will punish policymakers. Then, inflationary expectations will increase, long-term government bond yields would rise and borrowing rates will go up sharply, leading to stagflation.

Another reason to fear a double-dip recession is that oil, energy and food prices are now rising faster than economic fundamentals warrant, and could be driven higher by excessive liquidity chasing assets and by speculative demand. Last year, oil at $145 a barrel was a tipping point for the global economy, as it created negative terms of trade and a disposable income shock for oil importing economies. The global economy could not withstand another contractionary shock if similar speculation drives oil rapidly towards $100 a barrel.

In summary, the recovery is likely to be anaemic and below trend in advanced economies and there is a big risk of a double-dip recession.

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Might just want to review your own poor use of language and writing skills. Just a thought for the next time you decide to point out another persons spelling errors.

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ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth

Are there jobs and industry growth somewhere in that link I missed? 

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For an opinion outside the Administration, one who agrees with the "bottom out" premise.

In summary, the recovery is likely to be anaemic and below trend in advanced economies and there is a big risk of a double-dip recession.

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Both sides are the same - predictions. There is a lot of money on the sidelines that is desperate to invest in something. Jobs will only come when industries tat make something have confidence that they won't be burdened by more tax, regulation, and failing competitors being rewarded by the government with a bail out.

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And I gave you a couple "somethings". But now you want to narrow the question

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Might I remind you that this occurred under Bush's policies of less taxation and less regulation on business?

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ORIGINAL: Arpig
The stem cell funding we will have to wait and see what comes of it...it has the potential to be the biggest thing of them all,

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There’s nothing like a summer vacation to rekindle a romance. So maybe a week on Martha’s Vineyard can bring back some of the magic between the Obama administration and the media.
Before White House press secretary Robert Gibbs left town, he tried to clarify President Barack Obama’s comment that “everybody in Washington gets all wee-weed up.” Gibbs explained to reporters that what the president meant was that they were a bunch of bed wetters who made too much out of the implosion of the White House health care strategy.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/The-thrill-is-gone-for-Obama-and-the-media_08_24-54389032.html

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ORIGINAL: Aylee

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ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

"Everybody gets all wee weed up"  

What does that MEAN anyways?

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Gibbs is so crabby because, incredibly, the administration blames the media for the president’s problems.

It tried blaming Republicans, but the GOP is too far out of power. When the leader of the free world is complaining about a posting on the former governor of Alaska’s Facebook page, he’s got problems.

Team Obama tried blaming special interests, but that was a bust too. The president’s deal with the pharmaceutical industry gets him $150 million worth of ads to boost his plan, whatever it is.

The same people who bombard us with ads for products that promise to prevent hardened arteries or encourage hardening elsewhere will soon be selling you Obamacare.

“If you experience doubts about the plan lasting more than four hours, seek immediate help from Organizing for America.”

Democrats tried blaming the “mobs” of “un-American” protesters and “evil mongers” who were giving raspberries to members of Congress at town halls.

That flopped too, leaving the administration to blame the messenger.

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Court Orders Fed to Disclose Emergency Bank Loans


Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve must for the first time identify the companies in its emergency lending programs after losing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.


Manhattan Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ruled against the central bank yesterday, rejecting the argument that loan records aren’t covered by the law because their disclosure would harm borrowers’ competitive positions.


The Fed has refused to name the financial firms it lent to or disclose the amounts or the assets put up as collateral under 11 programs, most put in place during the deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression, saying that doing so might set off a run by depositors and unsettle shareholders. Bloomberg LP, the New York-based company majority-owned by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, sued on Nov. 7 on behalf of its Bloomberg News unit.


“The Federal Reserve has to be accountable for the decisions that it makes,” said U.S. Representative Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, after Preska’s ruling. “It’s one thing to say that the Federal Reserve is an independent institution. It’s another thing to say that it can keep us all in the dark.” 

***

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who led the biggest expansion of the central bank’s power in its 95-year history, was nominated to a second term today by President Barack Obama.


Banks Worried


Obama promised a new era of government openness when he took office in January, issuing a statement telling agencies “to adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure” in responding to requests under FOIA.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7CC61ZsieV4