What do you think about Obama's speech on the economy? Here is an excerpt... The past three decades have been witness to an American which has seduced itself into utter fantasy - - - into a world where people believe they should be multi-millionaires in their twenties, everyone should own a large house, and no one should have any meaningful restrictions on how much they eat, spend, or consume. The party is over. And as much as we'd all like it to come back, it's going to be over for a very long time. This is a time where we, as a nation, must act like adults and face what is before us. Our banking system is bankrupt. Our nation has financial obligations it can never fully honor. And our economy is in shambles. What made America great is not gone, however. We have abundant natural resources; a world-class system of higher-education; a diverse, vibrant population eager to build a better life for themselves and their families; and a government and legal system which is, on the whole, free, strong, and worthy of the nation's trust. We, as a nation, must understand there are tough times ahead, and there is no easy fix. Over the coming months, I will be working with Congress to implement The Reality and Reconstruction Act, which will, among other things: Phase out our unteneable obligations to Medicare and Social Security, effectively eliminating these agencies within ten years; Seek civil and criminal prosecution, including confiscatory asset seizure, against any senior personnel in the financial, lending, or investment banking industry which has profited unfairly from the financial bubble over the past decade; Shutter any financial institution unable to support itself as an independent enterprise; Implement a flat tax of 25% on all income, with a contemporaneous dilution of the Internal Revenue Service; Position our entire recovery strategy to be global-based, as opposed to US-based, striving to keep trade barriers as low or non-existent as possible The road to recovery will be a long and hard one, but with these bold steps, we will ultimately prevail. These are hard choices, but the consequences of not making these choices now will be far more severe in just a few years. I thank you for your support, and I wish you, your family, and our nation strength, wisdom, and courage. Good night.
The wheels on the bus go round and round... He does not have the ability to directly answer any question. Also, I like how he failed to mention the housing crisis as cause to this whole mess.
I think he did a good job so far. At least from his speech, he commits himself to tackle some VERY difficult problems. How to restructure all those entitlement programs? No past administrations are willing to touch it. Why, you are guarantee to upset people one way or the other when you cut spending. So, they just close their eyes, borrow from future generation and defer it to next generation. Even now, I am not sure Obama will be able to do it. Fundamentally, you need to have a lot of political capital to be able to afford losing votes by doing the right thing.
To bad he <b>did not say</b> some of this stuff... the clarity of this would be shocking.. Yes, I am totally for a flat tax... to hell with the IRS... Where did you get this... create it yourself or?... HAVE STOP <img src="http://www.enflow.com/p.gif"> WILL TRADE
It was appropriate that right before the speech was aired, the channel I watched ran an ad for "Obama collector plates" - - some kind of adoration trash with the image of the less than 1 month Pres on it. Pefect evidence that a big segment of the country is mentally challenged and/or nuts. They will buy anything, including the b.s. in that speech. - - -
I think he did fairly well, even if he took too long to answer questions. He comes across as genuinely concerned and this is good. I didn't vote for him but it's refreshing to hear a good speaker. However, I'm not convinced it will really matter. This is a really big problem and I don't think the full magnitude is appreciated. The next foot to drop? Commercial real-estate. Also, in regards to protecting me and my family... the primary job of the government, now I'm really worried. I do not think he has the balls to protect us from our enemies unless they get to us first. Then he will act. I hope I am wrong... really I do. 1) He blamed the prior administration - a naive and unfortunate mistake because he comes across as whining when it was clearly a bipartisan problem over the last several years and administrations.. both democratic and republican. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramm-Leach-Bliley_Act http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/nov1999/bank-n01.shtml 2) The problem has become too big and the "small" stimulus package in comparison to the problem will only prolong what must happen: Companies like GM, Chrysler, Bank of America etc will likely need to declare bankruptcy, and re-establish themselves without derivative and union obligations. 3) He has to do something... like he said and I think it was about as good as can be expected.... but it's probably not enough. Just take a look at the graph in the link.... it's utterly unbelievable the magnitude of this problem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_(finance) 4) I'll ride the uptrend (if it happens) as long as it holds...then.. who knows. http://www.russtrading.com/the_path.htm
I would throw the kegger of the century this weekend if he said all of this. Nice try, you have outlined the foundation for utopia!
The same thing I thought on January 19, 2009: That our asses are sunk because Little George Bush bankrupted the United States Of America.