Will Obama be Re-Elected in 2012?

[Basileus Romanus]

I kinda sorta agree with you. It's a double-edge sword the pres system in thei country. You have to have some kind of balance in place to prevent abuses of power. Unfortunately, a partisan Congress goes beyone just checking the pres. They use it as a punishing device to prevent him from getting his job done, especially if the majority in Congress in of a different party than the pres. Yah, the term should be longer, and maybe Roosevelt had the right idea with his four term deal. Of couse the country was under different circumstances then. I think that if he wasn't allowed to run a third and fourth time, then we would not have moved out of the depression or won WWII as quickly as we did. As a matter of fact, I think we'd all be speaking German and see portraits of Hitler in public buildings if things had been different.

I'm a republican and I can't stomach Obama. He had little experience in politics to begin with and even less experience as a leader figure. Not even a full term as Senator and he get jetted to the top spot. OK, let's face it. He got elected for a couple of reasons that have nothing to do with qualifications required to be a successful administrator. He's democrat and people were not happy with us republicans because of butthead Bush. He's black so inspite of his lack of experience, he got minority votes. The dems didn't really have anyone who could beat McCain except Obama. Let's face it...people were tired of the Bush bullshit, pissed at the republicans for letting a lot of these players in the market go uncontrolled since the beginning of Bush's time in office, and people wanted something completely opposite to what was already in place.

Romney or Newt need to start getting some more support if they expect to boot Obama. But even if they don't , there's still hope in 2016. If Obama wins again, by that time people will be tired of the Dems and move the Republicans in. I don't know if I want to wait that long.

[The Ruescher Empire]

Bas be fair, America wouldn't be speaking German it would be speaking Japanese. The Americans were never a real threat to the Germans except for the supplies they sent to Britain and the USSR (have to say the latter kinda backfired later on, but America would never do that again would they? *coughAfghanistancough*). The American's direct involvement (meaning troops) were not needed in Europe. By the time the Allies landed the Russians had already won. It was just a matter of making sure the communists didn't win the whole shebang Japan though, America pretty much handled them on their own. The British Empire and Russia took care of Germany.

Anyways back on topic. I can agree with what you say regarding why Obama got elected. He got elected for an idea (change), minorities, and people were really REALLY pissed off at Bush. That and Sarah Palin as a running mate for Mccain? Horrible plan. He wasn't a great candidate, just factors worked in his favor. It's the same reason why Obama will get elected again. Was his first term great? No but his competition so far is barely to the right Romney and polarizing Newt (ya got no clever words for that name).

[Basileus Romanus]

Oh, F*ck! I forgot about Tina Fey...oops, I mean Sarah Palin. She really didn't help the McCain cause either. She turned alot of Republican off that's for sure. Japanese...maybe. And, you're right about Europe. We wanted to make sure the reds didn't get more than their fair share. Roosevelt (the only dem I really respected) really screwed up with Stalin. He never kept any detailed records of his sensitive meetings with Stalin. And Stalin's interpreter I believe was eliminated soon after FRD died so there would be no record of what they agreed on.

Clever words you say...how about "Eye of Gnewt"?

And now Obama's new twist in his campaign is for Americans to give him a chance to do all the things he wasn't able to do in his first term. Really, I want some of what he's smoking. So, in other words, he wants to cram everything he should have been doing (which was nothing) in first term into a second term. Don't understand it.

[The Ruescher Empire]

You gotta agree that Sarah Palin has massive support from the Tea Party movement though. Don't understand why but she does have it. And lets face it no one else fought the Japanese. The British Empire was focused in supporting the motherland, and that left the US to fight the Japanese. And the reds did get more than their fair share if you recall, over half a Europe is more than fair if I recall correctly. Shoulda fought the Russians back to Russia, but America didn't have the resources to divert from Asia and the British Empire (and Europe in general) was exhausted. Well it managed to give America a reason to keep a massive military budget over the next 45 years.

If he didn't do it already he won't do it next time

[Marzano]

This is a great multi topic thread. Yes, the Brits left us to fight the Japanese because they had to get back to clamping the colonial chains on their possessions, especially India. And, they also ran out of money. There was no way the British could have helped us anymore except vicariously through Australia and NZ. FDR is mentioned in ref to how Europe was divided up. No one knows for sure what he and Stalin talked about because there was no record of their conversations. It's FDR's fault that things ended they way they did.

On President Obama - I have to say I'm a Democrat. Sure, we've had our embarrassing moments in history (Jimmy Carter among others), but I think more Republican presidents managed to screw things up for this country than the Democrats. Reaganomics comes to mind in more recent history. Honest to God the start of this whole mess began with Reagan and his programs of deregulation of everything. Some of it was needed but he went overboard to a point that the financial sector was left to police itself. Now we see who well that went.

I don't like any of the Republican options. They offer nothing but to do the opposite of whatever the President is doing (or not doing). I have to agree with Basileus about Newt. Of all the Republican demons, he's the one I like the least. In all fairness to the President (whether I was a Democrat or Republican), this whole republican caused mess could not have been fixed in one term. Our current situation is the result of years and years of out of control spending, loose credit, and an unregulated financial industry that did not ever consider the consequences of what they were doing.

[The Ruescher Empire]

Well that is why the British Empire collapsed (essentially it did) at the end of WW2. It simply ran out of money and men to keep the Empire together. Germany may have lost the war but the deathblow on the British was already done. It doesn't really matter what FDR and Stalin ended up agreeing to, in the end neither trusted (2 atom bombs after all) each other and it is extremely doubtful that the Russians coulda been pushed back anyways.

Also you can claim that it is solely republican presidents who caused the current crisis, but in truth it is the political system in America that caused it. Democrats cannot agree with fellow democrats, no one is willing to compromise anymore, everyone uses fear (terrorism) as justification for many pointless things. America is fundamentally flawed on the political level, and it is only a matter of time before it is eclipsed by China who politically is very cohesive in their goals (say what you want the Communist Party in China has had great long term goals that over the past 20 years have really payed off).

You claim that the current situation is due to years of out of control spending by the previous administration, but that out of control spending is still going on and no one is willing to stop it.

[Yávaros]

No one agrees with anyone else. This is why politics makes me sick. Maybe using my country as a base for my thoughts is not a good idea but in many ways the Mexican politics are very similar to the system in the U.S. It is based on money and special interests. You are very right Ruescher about the spending. This is caused by out of control spending but no one wants to put a stop to it until the dollar has to experience a devaluation.

[The Ruescher Empire]

Honestly if this keeps up I see the dollar loosing its reserve currency status which would essentially cause the US to adopt a new currency to avoid massive devaluation and collapse. But who knows maybe America will finally tighten its belt and come to reality. Doubtful, but possible

[Furious Winds of Tornado Ridge]

Four years is too short for anyone to accomplish anything long-term. I've got a sad feeling Obama will be reelected. There's no one out there with enough influence and charisma to overtake him. Look at the options! Sad, very sad! Yup, I think we're pretty much screwed for the next five years.

[Triune Monarchy]

I'm lost this time around. No one is really addressing the real issues. On one hand we got a failing economy and on the other hand all certain groups want to do is spend more and more. I read a comment about China. People complain about that too. But if it wasn't for them, who would have bought all those bonds? The American public but with what money? I haven't gotten a raise in five years and everything else has gone up. I've got a lot less money to spend than ever before. I went looking for another job (yes, I know, this isn't the best time to do this) and found that positions are paying less now than they were before the bubble burst. Wages are down because there are so many people looking for work that businesses know they can offer less than they did before for the same job because they can get away with it. Something needs to be done about that.

I'm a Democrat at heart (my IQ is well above 50 by the way) and think the Republicans are to unconcerned about the lower classes of our society. But I don't think the President has done much of anything in office except make a lot of noise and accept awards he truly doesn't deserve. Maybe I'd be more productive sticking my head in the sand for the next five years and hope things get better on their own.

[Xanxabara]

Well, you can't ignore what's going on around you. But, I can understand why you'd feel that way. I'm a dissgruntled Democrat too. I don't either party will do much of anything. People are real good at playing the blame game, but no one's got a plan that will fix all of this. We're going on 4 years of a crappy economy and it doesn't seem to be getting much better. My mom is a Republican fascist. Wa-a-a-a-a-ay too conservative for me. She likes Newt of all people. She doesn't trust Santorum (says he's a liar) and can't stand Romney (I won't tell you why). She thinks Obama is the devil incarnate and blames everything on him. She's OK with that until I reminder her that all of this started with Bush (and then she gets pissy).

So, I guess my real question is does it really matter who gets elected? Until politics change, I don't think it makes any difference who gets into office. With all this debt lingering over our heads, I don't think there is much of a solution. All levels of govt are running out of money. My tuition keeps going up and up and up (so does the interest on my student loans). I just want to cry sometimes. It's a shame but I think we're hitting rock bottom.

[The Ruescher Empire]

Well it really doesn't matter who gets elected at this point as the American political system is simply not working. It hasn't worked for years but it never really mattered as America was the economy of the world. However as it weakens and ages those problems get worse and worse. Canada had a very similar problem back in the early 90s. Huge budget deficits (about 6% of our GDP which was roughly 30 billion if I recall correctly) made us reach the staggering amount of 70% of GDP. What did Canada do? It changed governments (mind you the proceeding government lied a fair bit, but I'm willing to forgive) and began massive spending cuts. Such spending cuts that we went from around 70% of GDP debt, to 30%. Dollar terms we cut 300 billion dollars of debt in 10 or so years. It was painful, but guess who survived the recession the best in the G8? Canada.

That's the sort of commitment America needs. Massive painful cuts that will hurt for a few years, perhaps even an entire Presidential term, but after that it will be perfectly fine again. Just no one is willing to make that sacrifice. America lives for the moment

[Imperator Rex]

You hit the nail on the head..."Just no one is willing to make that sacrifice." That is because the government makes it too easy for people not to make sacrifices. In the midst of deficit spending and no funds for basic services, both the federal government and many state governments (especially California) are too quick to offer public assistance hand-outs. California has NO MONEY, but they advertise free or reduced health insurance to lower income families, special tax credits for low income people, special subsidies to pay for utilities and even cell phones for those on public assistance. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A CELL PHONE? So, that is how those unemployed baby mamas can afford these fancy cell phones and never stay off them. I make a decent wage and have trouble thinking about replacing my 4-year old cell phone, but these bitches get brand new ones for free with internet too! WTF? Oh, and let's not forget the Fed's "earned income" tax credits for those who make less than $40K a year. And, if you have kids, you get even more tax credits. Some of these chuckle heads that work "part time," get Section 8 (state and county rent subsidies), free school lunches, nearly free health care, free cell phones, all get $2,000 to $5,000 back as tax refunds from the federal government. Again...WTF? Between Federal Income Tax and Social Security, I pay in about $10,000 a year to the system, and I'm lucky to get back $800 with two dependents. Something is severely out of joint here. It is as if the government encourages people to work low-income jobs. Well, someone has to pay for all of this, and it is certainly not the rich, so who is it?

[Adriaticus]

Ouch! I have to agree with ya Imp. I'm single, work part time, and student full time, and I don't get any of those breaks. I had to PAY $280 to the IRS when I did my taxes this year and I only made $18,000. If I didn't get a refund back from my student loan dispersements, I wouldn't be able to cover some of my school and living expenses. It's terrible.

This whole situation is really crazy! It's things like these that make me think I'm glad I can't vote (because I'm still an Argentine citizen).

[The Ruescher Empire]

You raise another interesting problem Imp, the tax base is horribly geared towards keeping people poor. By having the tax system they do (not just in America, but most the Western World) it discourages people from earning more money. You earn a few thousand more a year you get put into another tax bracket, lose certain benefits, pay more tax, and in the end earn less money. People say tax the rich is the solution to America, but in truth fair taxation is the fix. If I knew I wasn't gonna be penalized for making another 20k a year well I'd work harder for it.

The welfare system needs a drastic fix as well, talk about keeping poor people poor. It doesn't accomplish what it was set out to do simply because there are so many loopholes and people are allowed to use forever basically. You know what would really fix the welfare system? Time limits. Say you have 5 years worth of use of the welfare system and you can't get anything out of it again until you pay it back entirely. You know how many welfare cases that would fix? No more cell phones for god damn welfare cases who don't want to get a job, no more leeching off my tax dollars because they don't wanna work. God it would be paradise.