Frequently Asked Campaign Questions, Part III
By Mitch Berg
The first two parts of this series have been so successful (Part 1, Part 2) that it’s time to try out part 3 of this series.
Q: Did you hear that Mitt Romney made teh birther joke? He is teh birther!
A: Right. And Steven Colbert is really a Republican talk show host. By the way, are you better off now than you were four years ago?
Q: Isn’t Mitt Romney going to repeal “Roe V. Wade?”
A: Presidents don’t “repeal” SCOTUS decisions. Now, or four years ago. Speaking of which – are you better off now than you were four years ago?
Q: But Romney opposes abortion rights, doesn’t he?
A: I’m sorry – were you unaware that Republicans largely think abortion is murder? Just like they did four years ago. Speaking of which – are you better off now than you were then?
Q: Where are Mitt Romney’s tax records?
A: Dunno. The fact that the IRS hasn’t slapped a huge lien on him is probably evidence enough that the real answer is “who cares, and are you better off than you were four years ago?”
Q: How about teh tyrannical GOP treating the Ron Paul delegates teh way tehy did?
A: Well, they did better than they did four years ago. The party has every right to focus on the majority and de-emphasize a disruptive minority that hasn’t quite gotten enough clout to change everything yet. Speaking of which – are you better off now than four years ago?
Q: How about Todd Akin?
A: Is he better off than he was four years ago?
Q: Did you see teh poll that shows liberals is smarter than teh conservatives?
A: I asked if you’re doing better than you were four years ago
Q: So is the GOP a big tent, or is it?
A:Who can afford a tent? Are you better off than you were four years ago?
Q: Do you think the GOP has conceded teh Latino vote?
A: Dunno. But a lot of Latinos are doing worse than four years ago; more undocs are leaving the US than coming here. What does that tell you?
Q: Ron Paul refused to endorse Mitt Romney.
A: Finally, something that’s the same as four years ago.
August 27th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
In other words, once again you go nuthin’, “Sanity”.
Let me recount.
First I wrote that “Virtually every business indicator hit bottom during the Obama administration, you buffoon.”
You disagreed with that statement and somehow it was countered by your claim that ““Manufacturing is expected to see a hiring increase with the sector forecast to add 284,000 jobs in 2011 and 400,000 jobs in 2012.”
Which I demonstrated was from an 18 month old report that drastically overestimated what GDP growth would be in 2001 and 2012.
In a panic you went link-hunting and pulled up BLS report that said:
“Over the past 12 months (up to July 2012), the industry has added 222,000 jobs, most of them in durable goods manufacturing.”
But that really didn’t help your cause because the same page of the same PDF showed that Obama had lost nearly a million manufacturing jobs in 2009, confirming my first statement “Virtually every business indicator hit bottom during the Obama administration, you buffoon”.
Then you went on another mad link hunt, and found an article in Forbes that pins the lion’s share of the growth in industrial manufacturing — still half a million jobs lower than when Obama took office — has been in the production of fossil-fuel exploitation equipment. Forbes also said that some of the increase was due to Europe’s economy and rising Chinese wages.
Obama had nothing to do with the oil boom, and nothing to do with the economic situations in Europe and China.
He hasn’t been digging us out from shit.
August 27th, 2012 at 9:00 pm
“Virtually every business indicator hit bottom during the Obama administration, you buffoon”.
I love the “buffoon” part. Name calling is the hallmark of the arrogant.
But never mind that, yes the truth is that SOME business indicators declined, mostly at the beginning of his admin, BEFORE the recovery agenda was implemented (before the stimulus, for example). This was continuing impact from the failed policies of the previous administration. For this reason the first year of any new administration, economically speaking, belongs to the previous administration. 2009 belongs to Bush policies.
If you look at indicators since Obama admin’s agenda kicked into gear (2010+) you see bounce up.
Once again, the economy is like the Titanic. There is a lag between the time when new policies are implemented and when they take effect.
Here’s a good article about lag time in economics.
http://econ.economicshelp.org/2008/12/time-lags-in-economics.html
“Time lags play an important role in the effectiveness of economic policy. It is estimated that interest rate cuts can take upto 18 months to have their full effect. This means that the rate cuts of the past few months, may not have their full effect until mid 2010. Of course, by then the economy may have recovered from the recession. It is the same with fiscal policy, if the government plans to increase spending e.g. bring spending plans forward it can still take several months for the fiscal stimulus to kick in.”
August 27th, 2012 at 9:01 pm
“You don’t. And you won’t. We or she will pay for her own insurance. ”
You obviously don’t understand insurance or the difference between insurance and healthcare. We’re done.
August 27th, 2012 at 9:03 pm
“You obviously don’t understand insurance or the difference between insurance and healthcare. We’re done.”
And you obviously don’t care about affordable access to basic healthcare for all Americans.
August 27th, 2012 at 9:10 pm
You’re a joke, aren’t you, “Sanity”?
The Dems had control of both houses of congress’ banking and finance oversight committee’s since January 2007.
Maybe you have some clue about how Bush crashed the economy all by himself?
I may be arrogant, but I did not call you a buffoon because I am arrogant. I called you a buffoon because you are a buffoon, a person whose antics should not be taken seriously.
August 27th, 2012 at 9:14 pm
“Maybe you have some clue about how Bush crashed the economy all by himself?”
He didn’t. An accumulation of bad policy over the past 40 years led up to the crash, but to be fair Bush was in office for 8 years and had added to the problem with policies he advocated and signed into law. He did nothing to stop the train crash from occurring.
Likewise Obama is not solely responsible for the continuing economic demise during the first year of his presidency. He inherited that problem from the previous administration. To his credit he has worked with Congress and other agencies to begin to turn it around. I agree that he needs to do more, but it took years to dig the hole and it’s going to take years to dig out.
August 27th, 2012 at 9:15 pm
mnbubba,
no, Sanity clearly doesn’t understand how either taxes or insurance work but he’s got the chanting points down – “its all Bush’s fault”! and “Poor dumb Obama is doing the best he can and if we just give him four more years he’ll do better just wait and see.”
August 27th, 2012 at 9:16 pm
“I called you a buffoon because you are a buffoon,”
Doubling down?
August 27th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
“Poor dumb Obama”
Your words, not mine.
August 27th, 2012 at 9:18 pm
“its all Bush’s fault”
Your words, not mine.
August 27th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
“This was continuing impact from the failed policies of the previous administration.”
This is the part where “Sanity” gets confused and disoriented when I ask him just what those policies were, and how he managed to push them through with Democrats controlling both houses of congress.
Big deficits? Nope, can’t be that. Obama’s deficits have been higher, by far, than anything Bush ever dreamed up.
Bailing out the banks? Nope, Obama continued that fiasco, with even more emphasis on making banks rich than Bush.
Borrowing money to people who can’t repay their mortgages? Can’t be that, that was the political life’s blood of Frank and Dodd.
Not enough regulation of Wall Street? Too broad a category to be useful. Every failure of anything can be described as being due to insufficient regulation. Gotta hand it to Obama, though. With his pal Elizabeth Warren he sat down with the banks and wrote new regulations to lock in their competitive advantages. And Obama and Warren removed this new finance regulating agency from the control of those pesky representatives of the People in congress. Now that was a stroke of genius!
August 27th, 2012 at 9:41 pm
Live by a link to Forbes, die by a link to Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2012/06/05/obamacare-increases-costs-of-college-health-plans-by-as-much-as-1112/
“Obamacare Increases Costs of College Health Plans by as Much as 1,112%”
August 27th, 2012 at 9:49 pm
Sanity,
Sanity, from terry’s post;
“Obamacare Increases Costs of College Health Plans by as Much as 1,112%”
that in a nutshell is how an insurance company “pays” the coverage for people with preexisting conditions – so Yes every other customer/subscriber picks up the cost of coverage for those with preexisting conditions.
so I ask you again “why don’t you want to pay your fair share?”
August 27th, 2012 at 10:06 pm
Sanity wrote “Doubling down?”
Yes indeed. perhaps you have forgotten that you tried to prove that Obama was a “job creator” by using an 18 month old link to an article with grossly incorrect predictions about GDP growth for 2011 & 2012.
In the article’s first line. Just below its date.
August 27th, 2012 at 10:31 pm
Another Obama “manufacturing miracle”
GM Said To Halt Chevrolet Volt Production For Four Weeks
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-27/gm-said-to-halt-chevrolet-volt-production-for-four-weeks.html
Remember, Obama brags about how well GM is doing.
The first step to being as smart as, well, as smart an average, well-adjusted person is to recognize and acknowledge your failures.
August 27th, 2012 at 11:04 pm
Dear God, the GM spokesman says they are slowing the production of the Volt to gear up for the Impala!
I see that tear rolling down my cheek? It’s because I just care too much for American industry!
August 28th, 2012 at 7:09 am
I don’t have time today to engage in the back and forth here.
A couple of good links.
In a nutshell, this sums up observations of many about the Romney/Ryan ticket.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/republicans-backpedaling-from-conservative-ideas-2012-08-27?pagenumber=1
Also, an analysis by a political scientist about polarization in our national politics:
http://voteview.com/blog/?p=284
August 28th, 2012 at 10:14 am
Sanity,
I don’t have time today to engage in the back and forth here
To be fair, you don’t really “engage in back and forth”.
I’d go with “toss out absurd twaddle, get shredded, change the subject, and come back the next day with another absurd thread-jack. Lather, rinse and repeat”.
August 28th, 2012 at 10:20 am
“Sanity” again,
While everyone is pretty much welcome here, I might suggest that if you want a venue for putting your opinion out there, that you start your own blog, rather than squatting on the bandwidth I pay for.
Yes, you reach a lot more people via my comment section than you would on your own blog for a few years, if ever – but really, if your main interest is putting out your own opinion without regard or respect to what I’m writing about (let’s remember, on my bandwidth), it’d be good etiquette to start your own.
Please don’t respond “If you don’t like it, ban me”. That’s like going into someone’s house, dropping trou, lighting a bunch of farts, and telling your host “if you don’t like it, call the cops”. No, “Sanity”, that’s now how civil and, er, “Sane” people act. It’s solipsistic and self-centered and more than a little pointlessly rude.
August 28th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Another sign that Obama’s economic policies are a failure:
US Consumer Confidence Tumbles to 9-Month Low
http://www.cnbc.com/id/48811939
“Sanity” had to hunt high & low to find a bright spot in the economy — manufacturing jobs are only down half a million from the day Obama was sworn in!
Bad news is everywhere. There are no jobs, family income and family wealth is lower than when Obama took office, but prices for food and energy have skyrocketed.
This is a failed presidency.
August 28th, 2012 at 12:40 pm
Terry,
Would you concede that Obama is succeeding at rehabilitating Jimmy Carter’s reputation? Carter may lose his standing as possibly the most incompetent president of the last 100 years.
August 28th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
We had pretty good GDP growth between 1976 & 1980, though it nosedived late in Carter’s term, and of course inflation was a serious problem.
The death-knell for Carter was his foreign policy. He was not suited for the job of dealing with a hostile world.
August 28th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
“Sanity”, when you blather on and on like a buffoon, you run the risk of being called a buffoon. And you are, truly, a buffoon. A clown. A ludicrous figure. Your unassailable ignorance makes you so.
August 29th, 2012 at 11:24 am
““Sanity”, when you blather on and on like a buffoon, you run the risk of being called a buffoon. And you are, truly, a buffoon. A clown. A ludicrous figure. Your unassailable ignorance makes you so.”
Terry, for all the good your patient mentoring of that dolt accomplished, you could have posted your conclusion at the beginning and saved 70 posts.
Lefties are suffering from an addiction to mind numbing stupidity Terry. Enabling them isn’t helping.
August 29th, 2012 at 10:07 pm
Swiftee-
Those were actually Troy’s words.
Perhaps you are right. It is a dreary exercise. They post links to information that not only doesn’t counter your argument, it doesn’t even say what they think it says.