All right, let’s play a game, shall we? This game is called “Win the Election” (I would have called it “Win The Future,” but no one would be stupid enough to use that acronym). The goal of this game is to influence various segments of the population. Here’s how we’re going to play.
Step One: I’m going to name various segments of the population.
Here are the groups and some suggestions:
Step Two: For each group, tell me something Obama has done which you would use to try to sell Obama to that group.
Step Three: Then, for each group, tell me something Obama has done which you would use to try to get them to vote against Obama.
1. Women. Nothing good comes to mind. But. . . He insulted women, especially mothers. He didn’t help them on the jobs front. He endangered their healthcare with Obamacare.
2. Gays. Ended don’t ask don’t tell. But. . . Did not extend government benefits to gay partners. Copped out on gay marriage.
3. Blacks. Nothing positive comes to mind, except Holder suing various states over civil rights issues to help black-racist groups. But. . . Black unemployment is at a record high.
4. Hispanics. Nothing positive comes to mind except he sued Arizona. But. . . He continued a record number of deportations. He also used the DREAM Act and promises of immigration reform as a political football.
5. Environmentalists. He regulated carbon. But. . . He failed to pass a global warming bill like cap and trade. At Copenhagen he surrendered to China. His carbon regulations can be undone by Romney on day one.
6. Union workers. Most of the stimulus money went to unions. The auto bailout. Giving GM to the UAW. Tried to impose a union on Boeing. But. . . On the downside, he failed to save state employees from a mass wave of layoffs and the Boeing decision and card-check fell through.
7. Small business. Nothing good. But. . . Tax hikes, failed to free up credit for small businesses, added excessive regulation, and created unaffordable Obamacare requirements.
8. Big business. Opened the Treasury to his friends, passed toothless regulations of banks, allowed big business to write regulations to stymie small business, and did the bidding of big business on China, on healthcare costs, and on stimulus spending. Can’t really think of any negatives.
9. Religious believers. Nothing good. But. . . Obama has waged a war on religion for quite some time now, trying to force religions to accept positions that run contrary to their beliefs.
10. The Military. Not much good here. But. . . He showed he cared more about an Islamic terrorist than American soldiers. He didn’t end the wars, nor did he win them. He picked a pointless war with Libya. He’s been taking credit for killing bin Laden, which the military did.
11. Senior Citizens. Nothing good. But. . . Obama robbed Medicare of $500 billion.
12. Homeowners. Nothing good. Obama spoke of several ideas to fix the housing market and get homeowners out from under upside-down loans, but ultimately did nothing. On the plus side, he didn’t do anything stupid. :)
Anything I missed? Do tell.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The Obama Game: Winning the Election
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For blacks, he had Holder free up a few Philadelphia poll watchers. For Latinos, he created the all new holiday of Cinco de Cuatro. For the unions, he recess-appointed leftist Craig Becker to the NLRB who promptly ordered that union certification election times be cut in half so that the companies wouldn't have enough time to let their employees know management's position (unfortunately, a federal district court just reversed that order, and Becker's recess appointment has expired). As for the military, he has shown admirable restraint as commander-in-chief. Which is to say, he hasn't ordered the US military to launch an all out assault on Arizona--yet.
Obama has taken the daily anti-war protesting hijinks off the MSM news cycle - while engaged in 3 (4?) wars simultaneously.
A new poll of Arkansas Democrats shows Barack Obama receiving support from only 45 percent of Democratic primary voters in Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District, while 38 percent support his underfunded and relatively unknown primary challenger, Tennessee lawyer John Wolfe, Jr. Seventeen percent are undecided in the district poll.
[...]Wolfe predicted that the voters would move his way in the final days before the May 22 primary, despite his shoestring campaign budget. “There’s not been a single TV ad. There’s not been a single radio ad,” he said.
I know that Arkansas is "fly over country", and thus is not significant in the ObamaNation, but these sorts of races where a sitting president is being aced out by a no-name person, or an inmate serving time (WVA), is telling.
Obama was recognized by the Nobel Committee and received the Peace Prize, thus elevated to the status of former president Jimmy Carter. Carter did broker a peace deal in the Middle East. Obama received it for doing absolutely nothing, which is all the greater achievement. That's something for America to be proud of. See, he made us proud.
Obama shifted the focus of NASA, giving it the mission of making Islamic people feel good about themselves and about their contribution (?) to the exploration of space. See, he cares about Muslim sensibilities and is willing to spend our money as a balm to soothe their tender feelings.
for unions he talked about gettin' out there and marchin' with the "folks." He didn't do it of course, but the DNC did pull out financial support in Wisconsin.
By every logical metric Barry’s toast. His only shot is to arouse Team Parasite with the fear of having to get a job.
Autistic individuals and their families. Obama signed legislation to renew federal autism programs that were set to expire. But... that program was put in place by a Republican congress in 2006, the renewal is virtually identical to the original (i.e. Obama and the Dems haven't given any attention to the epidemic), and he allowed the passed bill to languish on his desk until the very day the original legislation was set to expire, creating unnecessary uncertainty and consternation in the autism community, arguably by medical definition the demographic least capable of coping with such uncertainties.
So I'm sensing that none of are all that hot on Obama at the moment! LOL!
Lawhawk, That's true and that should help him in Arizona. LOL!
K, Isn't that interesting that he embraces the anti-war left while simultaneously playing Warlord in Chief? It's amazing the left hasn't caught on.
LL, That's true. These sorts of things are shocking and become huge omens about the future. Only Presidents who are in real trouble face embarrassments like that.
Don't forget on environmentalism, he evolved on clean coal now too, much to the anger of environmentalists. And he issued a permit for a nuclear plant.
LL, I hadn't thought about that. Obama did indeed do the impossible in winning the Nobel for mere anticipatory greatness. That does go down in the books as yet another cool American achievement. Hmm. That might be worth 15 votes.
His whole NASA policy ticks me off. First, he should have cleaned out there climate science rat's nest. Secondly, he's basically killed the agency -- he should have reformed and refocused it. Third, WTF does NASA have to do with respecting Islam? That was unbelievable! What PC crap!
Healthcare - You left out Healthcare - Obama promised to pay for everything...and our present health insurance wouldn't change one bit if we didn't want it too...BUT my premiums have skyrocketed and my coverage has gotten much worse. Oh, and those much touted health exchanges set up for people with pre-existing conditions have been a bust - they have cost billions more than predicted (I am shocked, SHOCKED,I say!) and the people eligible have not signed up. Oh, and...oops...the Supreme Court is probably going to strike the HCR down as well unconsti-something.
Jed, That's true, they pulled out all the stops to save the unions in DC.
On unions, one of the interesting things he's done is allow government employee unions to fall into disgrace. People think of them as overpaid and lazy again, which hasn't been the public perception for years.
RE: NASA and Islam. My best guess is that fundamentalist Islam holds that the world is flat. NASA's mission and existence are an affront to that worldview, so it required "restructuring."
Stan, I think his only hopes are to offer them a Holy Grail of promises which is way too good to be true, but good enough that they are willing to get out and try to make it happen -- kind of a "lottery" idea, no chance but ultra-high award if it happened. Something like total loan forgiveness.
tryanmax, Nice, nothing like teasing people in need if their programs are going to continue. I'll bet that caused all kinds of problems for people as the relevant agencies began planning for an end of services.
P.S. I hear things didn't go well last night?
DUQ, Excellent addition! Keep 'em coming! We'll soon had his entire administration mapped out! :)
DUQ - I forgot about the whole "Clean Coal" about-face. It's probably because some guy in jail in WV got 45% of the vote in the Dem primary in WV.
And in the upcoming Arkansas primary there is a challenger John Wolfe who is within spitting distance of defeating Obama. Wolfe is only 7 point behind Obama. That would be interesting if Wolfe could pull off an upset. "Racists" will probably be the first words used...
Bev, Excellent addition as well. Obama did indeed do that thing. And think about all the (foolish) people who are surprised that Obamacare didn't deliver a perfect world. Almost every day the estimates go up of the number of people who will lose their insurance, and the premiums have skyrocketed over the last couple years. Not to mention, state budgets will explode because of this.
And don't forget the costs on the other side. I've spoken with several doctors about this. In fact, you almost can't see a doctor without them complaining about it. They are being strangled by the new rules and they are furious!
P.S. Bev, We should also point out, that he took the space shuttle from Houston and gave it away. That probably doesn't sit too well in Texas.
College students? He promised to give them more funding for tuition and stuff. But...thanks to his economic policies, the job market is absolute crap for them when they get out of college, so they'll be paying off their debts until they're 50.
Andrew - It is a well proven fact that Obama hates Texas. Early on, he refused Gov Perry's request for more border protection, he has tried to decimate the oil/gas industry including the Canadian pipeline that would have terminated in Texas, and then there's NASA which has effectively been shut down and people have lost their jobs in Houston.
Don't think that that the People of Texas have not noticed...
tryanmax, I would imagine they do think the world is flat and full of infidels. And I doubt God sanctions space programs. Missile programs yes, space programs no.
T-Rav, The problem is, he promised more money for loans and college and whatever, but they actually want free college... if OWS is to be believed. And you're right, it sucks paying back college loans because it feels like you are paying for nothing. It's like paying on a car you no longer own.
What's funny is that you can consolidate your loans and pay them off in 25 years -- you always could. And Obama actually acted like this was something he created. And it didn't even dawn on him that 25 years is nothing to crow about. That's your 25 most productive years and you'll be paying the equivalent of a home mortgage in the process.
What a jerk!
Bev, I get the feeling Obama has real hatred for Texas. He seems to truly despise all of the South, but Texas holds a special place of contempt for him. I seem to remember a series of incidents where he went out of his way to refuse requests or impose insults.
But that is what you learn in the Chicago school of gangster politics -- it's all about rewarding your friends and punishing your enemies.
Excellent list which really highlights the problem Obama has in inspiring his base. Let's add:
Liberal States. Obama gave them money in the first bailout, but cut them off after leading them into the bailout trap.
Oh, also, he ignored natural disaster in states he didn't like.
Doc, I have to imagine that the states are all pretty upset at him. He neglected their needs. He gave them some money with the idea they would get more and then didn't deliver - hence, California is now faced with huge cuts. He did ignore certain natural disasters. He's sued half of them for various things. And he's imposed on them the budget killing ObamaCare exchanges.
With the Keystone pipeline, he cost people jobs and probably hurt property values in Pennsylvania and Nebraska. Penn will be a key state.
Doc - Oh, yeah, how many weeks did it take Obama to "kick someone's @ss" or at the very least send in Fed help/aid/Marines over the Gulf oil spill? It took so long that even James Carville gave Obama a very public tongue-lashing! And I think there are still people stranded in Vermont because of Hurricane Irene...
Doc, There is that too. And Pennsylvania may well turn into a swing state before this is over.
Bev, It took him forever to figure out he needed to pretend to care. Then he ran off for two back to back vacations. Talk about infuriating!
Unfortunately, there are even people here who have bought into his crap... sigh. And they aren't even all transplants! Maybe some folks are too susceptible to thinking-heatstroke from all the sunshine.
Of course, we should also mention Jewish voters as Obama has been hard on Israel, very pro-Muslim, and hard on New York City.
Bev and Doc, He struggled mightily about the Gulf. You could tell it was heavily impacting his golf game.
// sarc off
He really has proven not only that he lacks empathy, but that his willingness to care is selective. He is the first president who has ever been the president only of the people he thinks elected him.
Doc, "pretend to care" is the key.
rlaWTX, Sadly, there are people like that everywhere. But the great thing about places like Texas is that there are so few of them. Go to California and you will be surrounded by them. It's like wall-to-wall morons.
Ed, Don't forget that Obama also hasn't stood up to or condemned the antisemitism coming from the OWS crowd or the Media Matters crowd. He's basically letting it run unchecked.
Andrew, yep, it was a letdown. If anyone happens to be listening to Rush at the moment, know that my ears are bleeding as I hear him systematically destroying Jon Bruning's future political career. He's called Jon the "establishment" candidate about half-a-dozen times now, which couldn't be further from the truth. This is a woeful time for conservatism, and most of them don't even realize it. ):-[
Andrew - Don't get me started on his Israel issues! Since he just gave Hamas $500billion to buy bomb...er...to buy food and medicines for the little childrens of the Palestinian Territories. Oh, and tipping the Iranians and the world off about how Israel may or may not be about to bomb the nuclear sites in Iran in or around August-ish. Oops, was that supposed to be a secret?
tryanmax, I feel your pain. I've been experiencing this same thing for months now as conservatives have become dumber and dumber and entirely dishonorable. People like Rush are bound and determined to make sure their hissyfit destroys conservatism in the country.
From what I've read about Bruning (who was endorsed by the Tea Party last year) he's a totally solid conservative. Way to kill your friends folks.
And don't expect it will let up once Romney wins. They will do their best to destroy him from day one... all in the name of self-promotion.
Bev, Obama is a true friend of Israel, isn't he?
// rolls eyes
I'm amazed he still has majority support among the Jewish community. I really don't understand it. He's attacked everything that impacts them -- all the issues they normally care about.
Here's a facepalm: Rush doesn't even know what office Bruning currently holds (he called him treasurer) yet he is comfortable calling him the "establishment" candidate. I'll bet you dollars to donuts that Rush doesn't even know that Bruning was one of the original 13 who filed the lawsuit against ObamaCare. Okay, I'm off it.
tryanmax, I'm not at all surprised. I have listened to Rush for a long time and I can tell you that as the years have passed, he's become less and less well-informed. He really does just do the knee-jerk thing now.
tryanmax, I was listening to that and if I hadn't known what you've told us, I probably would have believed it too. This is all troubling.
Andrew, I recall many of your complaints about talk radio and I think you're right. They've all turned to self-promotion by claiming purity and they don't care what kind of damage it does.
Ed, Since 2010, these guys have really lost their way. Their goal is simply to be the most extreme. They got caught flat-footed when the Tea Party appeared and they had no idea what their audience would consider conservative or not, so they've decided that nothing is conservative enough for them. And if someone says, "hey, that guy is the only real conservative," they will jump on that bandwagon.
They seem bound and determined to destroy the opportunity Obama has given us.
Ed and tryanmax, I didn't listen to it because I can't take it anymore. It is starting to anger me as much as listening to liberals.
Looking at the list, the only groups that should be happy with Obama are Big Business and the Unions.
But DUQ, what about the "middle class"? Obama promised that we in the middle-class are his target demographic for all the good things. BUT...those dang Republicans keep getting in his way to our Nirvana and/or Shangrila depending on the month.
Andrew, Ed, unfortunately since his passing, the bulk of Michael Crichton's essays have vanished from his web page. I wanted to link to one where he discusses the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. Fortunately, chunks live on and I found the summary elsewhere:
The Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray’s case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper’s full of them.
In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.
Bev, Obama sees us as nothing more than a huge piggybank he can rob whenever his friends need money. It's very frustrating.
Oh, luck!
Why Speculate by Michael Crichton
DUQ, That's my take on it too. Those are the only groups who got what they wanted. Everyone else just got teased with promises.
Bev, Nirvanala. Obama talks about the middle class, but all he's done is tax us, regulate us, and take away our rights.
tryanmax, That is truly insightful. I can't tell you how wrong most of what I've read in newspapers is. That's why I've gotten to the point that I only read them for pure facts (no extrapolation by the reporter) and then read between the lines for what the reporter missed.
Unfortunately, talk radio is no better. I started noticing this a while back whenever they would talk about some legal issue or how some President did something in a legal sense. They were 100% wrong every time, both about the substance and the procedures. Then the more I listened the more I realized that you can't trust hardly anything they say. And this has gotten much worse since 2010.
tryanmax, That's an excellent speech!
Isn't it, though? It almost makes me feel guilty for the times I do speculate.
Obama probably doesn't like Texas because, if there's one state that clings to its guns and its religion above all others....
"the bulk of Michael Crichton's essays have vanished from his web page."
I've noticed that as well. Does anyone know where they can be found at this point?
tryanmax, I'm not offended by speculation so long as it is kept in perspective. You are only talking probabilities. I think the problem Crichton is getting at is that the news are elevating speculation to fact.
T-Rav, Texas is definitely the land of bitter clingers, so yeah, he probably doesn't like that.
K, I didn't even know he did essays until tryanmax pointed them out. But if anyone can find them, it's tryanmax.
K, I just got lucky. I Googled "Michael Crichton amnesia" and that led me to the chunk I posted. Then I googled "Michael Crichton Gell-Mann" and that got me the entire essay. I don't know of any definitive lists.
thanks for that compliment, T-Rav!
rlaWTX, Leader of the Texas Clingers! LOL!
That sounds like a band of outlaws! :)
It would also be a great name for an alternative country band. :-)
I thought about the "title" sound after I hit submit!
Tryanmax - I just read the Crichton speech, and I just want to say - AWESOME! Thanks for sharing!
T-Rav, That too! Or even a pro-ball team of some sort. Rollerball perhaps! ;)
rlaWTX, It's a good title! You should have business cards made up. :)
Wall Street Big Wigs:
Good: He used bailouts and increased banking regulations to further monopolize the already huge oligopoly in the industry. Set government control so that despite the failing returns in the industry they have increased monies from government financied projects like Solyndra and bank bailouts.
Bad: He says mean things about them on TV (but in private he blames teh teleprompter)
Indi, Very true. Have you kept up with his JP Morgan stuff? He's out there blasting bankers, but then defending JP Morgan and now it turns out he's got over a million dollars invested with them. Hmm.
Andrew
Honestly other than the snippets on the radio I have not. I checked out their web site and pulled the 10-Q filing for First Quarter 2012 and am perplexed.
There total revenue for 1st quarter was 26.7 billion 2012 compared to 25.2 billion 2011.
NEt Income was 5.0 billion 2012 and 5.1 in 2011.
Now EBIT did decline 7.6 billion 2012 to 8.05 billion 2011 but that is only 400 million.
Was this JP Morgan Chase or was this some other entity related to them where the losses occurred. I must be looking at the wrong SEC filing.
http://investor.shareholder.com/jpmorganchase/secfiling.cfm?filingID=19617-12-213
Page 85 of the PDF in the link is the IS
Indi, Here's an article where Obama praises JP Morgan despite their pretty shocking $2 billion loss they just suffered playing derivatives: LINK. He calls them one of "the best managed banks" and praises their CEO... a big donor.
And here's an article showing how Obama has between one and five million dollars in an account at JP Morgan. LINK
Andrew
Wow! Not one work of explanation as to what the losses were, how they were made or why the error occured. Instead we have Obama stating that Jamie Dimon is one of the smartest bankers we got and boy aren't we glad this did not happen to a little bank cause they couldn't absorb the loss.
For my money Dimon may be one of the smartest bankers we got in the same way that Andrew Fastow was one of the smartest guys in the room.
For my money I will reserve judegement until I can read the Financial statements. I am assuming that this happened recently and will show up in the second quarter 10Q.
Obama really is a tool.... sorry but he is
Indi, The story right now is that a rogue trader somehow bought over $2billion in derivatives and the company "caught" him but wasn't able to unwind the positions except at a loss.
No one has explained how he managed to control $2 billion.
Dimon, By the way, is ultra clever at holding Uncle Sam hostage, but I see no evidence he would be good at running a real bank.
Well you know Obama will give them a bailout after he wins the election so its all good for Dimon....
Now ... the best way to expose the midget sex photos of Romney in that brothel in Texas the government now owns .. Cough .. Cough
Romney had sex in Texas? What an outrage! ;)
Midgets? I thought they did everything bigger in Texas. Wait, I got it. It was a tall midget, wasn't it?
tryanmax, That's an old joke about Russian bragging, that they brag they have the tallest dwarf.
all of our brothels are independently operated! No GM brothels here!
I mean, NO brothels here...
Texas, Glad to hear it! On both counts. ;)
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