Quote from Trader7793:
If the Democrats are thrown out of office and the republicans regain control of the the white house and the congress in 2012, then what? The problems will not go away and the easy decisions have been made. If the republicans do what needs to be done and aggressively attack the deficit, they will have to do massive spending cuts and try to reduce the growth in entitlement spending. You can imagine the theatrics that will accompany those actions. Protest nationwide and calls of "What about the elderly??" and "What about the children??".
No politican that aggressively tries to solve the nations financial problems will be popular. This is especially true since a big part of the problem is the american people themselves. They want all manner of goods and services, but do not want to pay for them. Which politicans are strong enough to tell the american people that the party is over and the bill has come due?
Will the republicans prove to be "Obama lite", because they are afraid of losing the next election cycle? We know where they stand on social issues, but they previously failed to get spending under control when they were in charge and it will be much harder now. If they put re-election as their major priority I believe they will fail.
Other than that I think that Obama is doing a pretty good job. He, following Bush's footsteps, stopped the economic free-fall and put in place a firm foundation to get the economy going again. Hopefully, these efforts will kick into high gear come 2011.
Quote from TGregg:
The GOP has already shown us that they are no longer a party of conservatives, but liberal-lite. After the McCain loss (who was so "moderate" that he came very close to switching parties), the republicans were at a crossroads. One road led further to the left, while others were more conservative. Just the fact that they continue to seriously entertain the idea of a continued journey left tells me we're in big trouble. And by we, I do not mean republicans, but the country as a whole. If one party wants to leap off a cliff, you have my blessing go nuts. But the true fact is, there is not a major party that espouses the fundamental beliefs that made this country great. Instead, both are ready to dig into the pockets of future generations to dish out wealth to current voters.
We're screwed.
Quote from Tigerjaw:
Well I'm afraid you may very well be right. This is readily illustrated by those posting on this thread and on this forum, who seem to have absolutely no clue of what's going on. If they think O. has been "moving slowly and incrementally", & will bring down the deficits (they are 4x that of big spender Bush) than they've been spending too much time in their hemp patch. - - But , I guess many people are that ignorant and delusional. The same thing has happened at different times & places. It will take a lot of time and pain till we're back on the right path. The Japanese have gone through 20 years of a flat economy. The Soviets endured 70 years of communism (and are back with a totalitarian central govt once again). We've been on this path to destruction for about 100 years (since 1913) - - and will pay the price for that. - - -
Quote from Lucrum:
You interested in buying the Brooklyn bridge? How about some swamp land in Florida or maybe a burial plot on the moon?
Ohhh Pleeeze !!! "Path of destruction" indeed. Russians, Japanesse and Americans are living better, longer and more opulently than ever before in the history of mankind.
I think I've told you this before: stop your bellyaching and get some perspective on life.
Quote from Trader7793:
...No politican that aggressively tries to solve the nations financial problems will be popular. This is especially true since a big part of the problem is the american people themselves. They want all manner of goods and services, but do not want to pay for them...