Voters more likely to blame Bush for the economy, not Obama

[thewayne]

Gee, ya think? "...54 percent of those surveyed say Bush is responsible for the "current condition" of the economy, compared to just 27 percent who blame Obama. Among self-described independent voters, a key 2012 voting bloc, the number shifts slightly: 49 percent point the finger at the former GOP president, while 24 percent blame Obama."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/voters-blame-bush-more-obama-economy-143014602.html


Here's the stupid thing: when we had a default in the 80's due to an accounting/computer error, THE ADDITIONAL INTEREST NEVER WENT AWAY. It wasn't much, I believe the number that I heard was 0.03%, or maybe 0.3% (yes, hundredths of a percent), but it was on THE ENTIRE DEBT, not just the amount that was defaulted on. I heard a report that studied this specific time frame, and they couldn't see the higher interest rate ever going away due to the constant fluctuations of interest rates.

Congress raised the debt limit SEVEN TIMES for Bush. They'd better get off their butts and raise it for Obama, or they're REALLY going to see an economy tank! They're also going to have to cut sacred cows like defense and some entitlement programs because that's where the real money is, not this nickle and diming that they're trying to pass as substantial cuts.

I think if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling they're pretty much going to guarantee a (D) win in next year's elections and could well totally turn the country against them.

Comments

[kylejcrb.livejournal.com]

Part of me is hoping they don't come to an agreement just so it will destroy the corrupt Republican Party.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Well, as much as I hatedislike the RNC, I don't know that I would use the word corrupt to describe them. I think they've been compromised from a couple of different directions. First, fundamentalist Christianity. Second, the Tea "Party". The RNC leadership has to pay attention to the TP because they're aligned with RNC candidates, and they have to pay attention to the religious right because of the amount of money and votes that they represent. And then there's the money from corporations.

I just listened to a Fresh Air podcast about the Koch Brothers. Alleged libertarians, they basically want as little government as possible and they're also horrible environmental polluters. And that is not unusual for RNC supporters. Maybe also for DNC supporters, I haven't seen numbers.

Both parties are screwed, they're both so hopelessly indebted to special interests that they'll answer to corporate sponsors and not "we the people". I think a viable third party could be successful in giving both parties a serious reality check, but the entire political process is totally weighted in favor of the two party system.

[moiraj.livejournal.com]

Kind of on the flip side, our Prime Minister is claiming credit for our current economy, when it's mostly due to long term regulations and business practices that had nothing to do with him.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

And the surprise is what? The sad part is that when Bill Clinton left office, the budget worked and the deficit was going down. Eight years of The Shrub and seven debt ceiling increases later and we have an absolutely huge mess.

I remember when The Shrub's daddy left office and Clinton took over, George Sr. said that Clinton would get the credit for the improvements that Sr. did. I don't remember enough of what state the economy was in at that time, I'd just started at the police department then and they were in the middle of a hiring freeze, so it couldn't have been that great.

One of the biggest problems in our economy right now is Congress dismantled the regulations that were put in place to keep the economy in check after the Great Depression, and that was about a decade ago. Wheee!

(You don't know of any job openings for astronomers and database developers up there, do you?) ;-)

[silveradept]

When one of the major parties has basically stated their goal as the political defeat of their opponents, it's pretty easy to predict that all sorts of broken bullpucky will result until they get their person into the office. (And then they go back to their own agenda once someone in is place they like.)