Nov 23 2008

The Democrat Honeymoon Over Before It Even Starts?

Published by at 10:51 am under All General Discussions

The Obama, marketed as the man who would ‘change’ politics, America and the world has stumbled out of the starting blocks. His selection of cabinet members has most people wondering if there are enough Clinton-era political retreads left around to fill all the Obama administration slots. “Change” just doesn’t seem to be coming through with all the cabinet selections we have seen.

And public optimism is also not shining through either. As I said a few weeks ago, the barometer to watch is the right/wrong track numbers. And they haven’t budged since the election:

 Track/Wrong Track

Gallup Poll. Nov. 13-16, 2008. N=1,009 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.      <Graphic>

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“In general, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time?”

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    Satisfied Dissatisfied Unsure    
    % % %    
 

11/13-16/08

11 87 2    
 

11/7-9/08

13 84 3    
 

10/31 – 11/2/08

13 85 2    
 

10/10-12/08

7 91 1    
 

10/3-5/08

9 90 1    
   

Basically these numbers have not budged much given the 3% MoE since the financial collapse in September. Roughly 90% of the nation thinks we are still on the wrong track, even though there a major political shift towards the left has just been completed (starting 2 years ago with the GOP loss of control of Congress). What strikes me is how the number moved only slightly positive on the news of Obama’s election and the Democrat gains in Congress. But now it is drifting back downwards towards extreme pessimism. Maybe it is starting to sink that Obama has no magic powers, is really just the latest media-wrapped politician, that the same old players are playing the same old games in DC? Maybe America is realizing The Messiah has no magical robes?

The news for Congress is not much better, and why should it be? There was no ‘change’ in Congress and it was foolish liberal policies which brought down our economy, crushed by a sea of bad loans to people who were not capable of owning a home. A sea of bad loans a lot of rich democrats made their personal fortunes on. So I am not surprised Congressional approval numbers mirror the national mood:

The question will be whether Obama has sufficient ‘star power’ to pull these numbers around, or whether the sour financial conditions and mood of the country will be the superior force and drag down Obama and the Dems.

Being a conservative means I should enjoy watching the Economic Black Hole suck the hope out of the Democrats who are poorly armed, policy-wise, to deal with the current crisis. They cannot afford to raise taxes on the rich (a.k.a., small business) which will really deflate their support. They will need to cut programs because of the cash crunch all levels of government are experiencing, which will anger their advocates. They will be bailing out Fat Cats right and left as the average Americans struggle to survive, and all those promises of pending Nirvana here on Earth will be exposed as the blatant lies they were. The liberal policies of taxing energy in accordance with Green Mythology will hurt those at the lower end of the economic scale the most, but the pain will be felt well up into the top of the middle class. 

It is the Economic Black Hole which will probably drain Obama’s star power and move him closer to the bleak numbers we see for the nation’s direction and approval for Congress.

But I am an American first, so I would really prefer the nation’s economic situation right itself, even if that means Obama and the Dems get credit for it. I am just not sure how it will happen. Especially with retreads Obama is surrounding himself with (Biden should have been a big clue as to who Obama would select to lead the nation). And given the highly negative responses to Obama’s selections on the left I would say he is losing his base, just as Bush lost the far right. If he does lose the intense far left, the infighting will be harsh and fierce, which means Obama’s numbers could tank before next summer, maybe during the middle of spring. Remember, he and Congress cannot really do anything for this year, and have limited windows for impacting 2009 until October.

There is no magic wand out there, and the financial crisis is proving to be stubbornly bad. What I would prefer is meaningless. The Dems don’t have the weapons to fight this beast, and maybe it is better they are consumed by the very beast their policies created. It is a harsh lesson we could have avoided if people understood what they were being sold by slick pols. But history is replete with ironies. The dems created this financial mess, and they were handed the reigns of power just in time to feel the full brunt of their missteps  They will reap the reward as they get the blame or praise for what comes in the next two years.

15 responses so far

15 Responses to “The Democrat Honeymoon Over Before It Even Starts?”

  1. Terrye says:

    The Democrats are larely responsible for this situation, it is only fair that they should have to clean it up.

  2. now we need to transform those numbers into 2010 gains.

  3. Terrye says:

    Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and their ilk pushed those zero down loans for years. They did everything they could to keep that whole thing going, including blocking any and all attempts at reform. Now they want to blame it all on Bush and go their merry way. It might not be that easy to get away with revising history this time.

  4. Birdalone says:

    Sunday NYT article on The Reckoning: Citigroup officially adds Robert Rubin right next to Greenspan in the Hall of Shame. Better late than never. Also a blow by blow of the Dingell-Waxman showdown, which reveals the split in the Democratic House. May be more than 81 House Dems available for a centrist party if only the pragmatists can find their voice.

  5. WWS says:

    Just wait until health care is nationalized, along with banking, insurance, and autos.

    We are not only in for another depression, but for 20 years of absolute chaos and upheaval such as this country has never seen.

    We’re going to be begging for another world war after a few years of this. We’ll probably get it.

  6. GuyFawkes says:

    Purely out of curiousity:

    Do you all think that polls taken in mid-November 2000, 2 months before George W. Bush took over the office of the Presidency, were in some way indicative of what the people thought of Bush at the time?

    Because that way of thinking is just as silly as using current right/wrong track numbers to in any way indicate public opinion on Obama. If any of you honestly think that 87% of the country is unhappy following Obama’s election, then you are seriously deluded.

    Oh, and I do find the concept that the political party who has NOT been in charge of the country for 6 out of the last 7.5 years is now “largely responsible” for the economic crisis to be quite amusing, in a “it’s almost cute how disconnected from reality you are” way.

  7. Jules Roy says:

    There was no ‘change’ in Congress and it was foolish liberal policies which brought down our economy, crushed by a sea of bad loans to people who were not capable of owning a home.

    True, but George Bush was on the side of Democrats on this issue.

    Media ignoring Bush’s jihad against down payments

    Libertarian James Bovard wrote in 2005:

    Bush could be exposing taxpayers to tens of billions of dollars of losses, luring thousands of low- and moderate-income people to the heartbreak of losing their first house, and risking wrecking entire neighborhoods. Bush’s housing initiatives – especially his “American Dream Down Payment Act” to give free down payments to selected home buyers – were key planks in his reelection campaign. He is also pushing Congress to enact a law to permit the feds to give zero-down-payment mortgages.

    George Bush: Two-thirds of all Americans own their homes, yet we have a problem here in America because few than half of the Hispanics and half the African Americans own the home. That’s a homeownership gap. I set an ambitious goal. It’s one that I believe we can achieve. It’s a clear goal, that by the end of this decade we’ll increase the number of minority homeowners by at least 5.5 million families. (Applause.)…To open up the doors of homeownership there are some barriers, and I want to talk about four that need to be overcome. First, down payments. A lot of folks can’t make a down payment. They may be qualified. They may desire to buy a home, but they don’t have the money to make a down payment. I think if you were to talk to a lot of families that are desirous to have a home, they would tell you that the down payment is the hurdle that they can’t cross.

    Link

  8. Jules Roy says:

    HUD Press Release

    BUSH ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES NEW HUD “ZERO DOWN PAYMENT” MORTGAGE:
    Initiative Aimed at Removing Major Barrier to Homeownership

    LAS VEGAS – As part of President Bush’s ongoing effort to help American families achieve the dream of homeownership, Federal Housing Commissioner John C. Weicher today announced that HUD is proposing to offer a “zero down payment” mortgage, the most significant initiative by the Federal Housing Administration in over a decade. This action would help remove the greatest barrier facing first-time homebuyers – the lack of funds for a down payment on a mortgage.

    Speaking at the National Association of Home Builders’ annual convention, Commissioner Weicher indicated that the proposal, part of HUD’s Fiscal Year 2005 budget request, would eliminate the statutory requirement of a minimum three percent down payment for FHA-insured single-family mortgages for first-time homebuyers.

    …HUD is the nation’s housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans

    Read the entire press release. Were Democrats to blame for much of the current mess? Yes they were. But why does Bush get a pass? It is clear that the policies pursued by Democrats like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank were also pursued from the White House by George W Bush.

    If you want to be seen as an honest blogger rather than a spokesman for Bush you need to call Bush on this as much as the Democrats.

  9. OLDPUPPYMAX says:

    Bushs’ hiring of Paulson clearly indicates our RINO presidents complicity in the financial fiasco. Rather than tell the American people the truth about how and why this situation came about, Bush decided to help bail out his Wall Street buddies. Well 1 trillion taxdollars are in the process of being squandered. And secretly at that! Gee, a republican in the White House sure does make a difference, huh? Had millions of irate voters not intimidated congress, Bush would have another 50-100 million Mexicans signing up on welfare rolls about now. He and our failed republican presidential candidate, that is. Democrats are true thugs and the Marxist headed to the White House may well do irreparable harm to this nation. But they have had one hell of a lot of help over the past several years. Help, that is, in betraying the nation and selling out the American people. And it came from yet another “lesser of two evils” republican.

  10. Jules Roy says:

    Good comment by OLDPUPPYMAX.

    The Bush supporters have no ideas or principles. They are the low IQ demographic motivated entirely by personality. Ditto the pro-Palin evangelical airheads.

    Terrye: Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and their ilk pushed those zero down loans for years. They did everything they could to keep that whole thing going

    So what about Bush’s IDENTICAL views on those loans? Read my previous posts and you’ll see that your hero Bush was just another Chris Dodd or Barney Frank, except your hero also had control over HUD.

  11. Frogg says:

    Zero or low downpayment government plans have been around for decades and precede Bush. I don’t think plans that allow people with good credit to purchase a house (getting around the large downpayment expectations) broke the bank. It was forcing banks to give out bad loans (Franks,Dodd, Obama thru ACORN) that broke the bank.

    Bush and other Republicans saw things getting out of control with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and called for better regulation/oversight……it was Franks, Dodd, and yes a few Repulicans also that failed to act on it. However, clearly, these were Democrat policies–Democrat cronnies–and Democrats who benefited from sweatheart deals that broke this bank.

    The honeymoon ended with the far left as soon as Obama appointed his cabinet and started backpeddling on all his promises. The honeymoon ended for others as soon as they realized they voted for change and got a change back to 1992 instead–with Hillary the face of the Administration overseas.

    I’m actually feeling better. I was much more afraid of Obama implementing socialism/marxism policies……I get a second Clinton Admin instead.

  12. ExposeFannyNFreddyNow says:

    Honeymoon over? Over a cliff by 2010!

    Get ready to start dumping the tea! HERE COME THE TAXES!

    First the lefty liberal green agenda hammers away about how Americans need to cut oil consumption. America obliges. Even in the face of half price gas, Americans are holding the line on consumption with a vengeance.

    Hurrahs all around? Not so fast.

    Get ready for the lefty libs to raise the gas tax. Why? Because Americans are now consuming less!! Yeeesh!

    QUOTE: “One new (new?) approach would be to RAISE THE FEDERAL GASOLINE TAX from its current 18.4 cents a gallon. By comparison, the tax rate in the U.K. is about $2.85 a gallon. (And in some countries, they cut off your hand for stealing. The point being?) So far, it seems as likely in the current economic climate that Congress will outlaw Big Macs as entertain a plan to raise gasoline taxes. Higher gas taxes could finance improvements to roads and mass transit, encourage further conservation or offset the costs of the various federal bailouts. But the collapse of gasoline prices since the summer — a drop of more than $2 a gallon in my neighborhood — is an economic stimulus worth more than $200 billion a year.

    Americans Drive Less, Creating a Problem
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122728664289448183.html

    Talk about screwing Americans coming and going!

    Most running with the green agenda bulls are still start-ups. Many are, or soon will be, facing crippling credit crunches of staggering proportions. So bend over and get ready for a royal reaming from hot boy Waxman and his shiny new Green tea party!

    Start spreadin’ the wealth!
    He’s comin’ today.
    You’ll want to be a part of it.
    You will. You will!

  13. ExposeFannyNFreddyNow says:

    “I’m actually feeling better. I was much more afraid of Obama implementing socialism/marxism policies……I get a second Clinton Admin instead.”

    Billary, the ecstasy of lower expectations.

  14. GuyFawkes says:

    Frogg:

    “It was forcing banks to give out bad loans (Franks,Dodd, Obama thru ACORN)”

    One small question: what did ACORN have to do with banks and loans?

    How does a voter registration group affect the housing market, in any way?

  15. Redteam says:

    GuyFawkes
    What? There is more than one wing of ACORN, while one’s objective is fraudulent voter registration,( engaging in it, not preventing it) the other’s is focusing on forcing banks to give loans to unqualified people for home loans.
    I will point out that ACORN has other objectives, this is but two of them.
    One thing you can be sure of, if the name ACORN is associated with it, it’s up to no good.