It's Bush's Fault

I understand that the economy is in worse shape now, but you have failed to explain just what Clinton actually did to make it better and what GWB has done to make it worse.

If Clinton was responsible for the boom of the 90's then please tell me how he did it.

It appears to me that folks unjustly give Clinton credit and Bush blame for natural rises and declines of our economy.

AJ

 

Hey, we're all on the internet here. Just Google it - it's not that hard.

Also wondering how you were unaware of this. How can you be pushing for Obama so hard when you seem to be so out of touch with every criticism made of him?

Anyway try these:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-s...e-obamas-hospital-shuns-uninsured-poor-people

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_080822.htm
:Obamas' Relationship With University, Consultant Examined
The Washington Post reports in a front page story that a "few years ago, executives at the prestigious University of Chicago Medical Center were concerned that an increasing number of patients were arriving at their emergency room with what the executives considered to be non-urgent complaints. The visits were costly to the hospital, and many of the patients, coming from the surrounding South Side neighborhood, were poor and uninsured." Michelle Obama, "an executive at the medical center, launched an innovative program to steer the patients to existing neighborhood clinics to deal with their health needs." Michelle Obama "and others in late 2006 recommended that the hospital hire the firm of David Axelrod, who a few months later became the chief strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaign." The medical center's initiative "provides a window into the close relationship between the Obamas, their associates at the University of Chicago and Axelrod, the strategist most central to Barack Obama's rise.""

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1122691,CST-NWS-hosp23.article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...2008082103646.html?sid=ST2008082103653&s_pos=

Not sure of how many more you would want.

 

People always ask me "What is the link?" if I do not provide one, so I ask you for one. It also makes it easier to find the specific article mentioned.

Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed ... your post sounded very grumpy.

I am not sure who I will vote for yet. The ultra-conservatives, who appear very hate filled, never post an article positive about Obama or negative about McCain. Seems to me we should have balanced reading here.

 

I will post post something positive about Obama as soon as that information is discovered and made available.

AJ

 

Except that it's a very superficial list.

1. What analyses are available showing any possible explanations for the better shape of the economy?
2. What presidential actions led to the stock market being bullish?
3. I need to look this up.
4. Not arguing that
5. I would need to see some economic analyses on this subject; I'm not convinced that government oversight would have prevented the situation
6. We are not "now" feared and hated around the world. I seem to recall some hostage situation back around 1980, that kinda sorta indicated we've been feared and hated for a long, long time....
7. Relating to #3, I need to look this up
8. The list could go on and on, but what's really needed are like what someone provided a link to here: Long term trends and analysis. It's easy to say this president is the cause of our current state of affairs; and this being his 7th/8th year in office, there might be some truth to that. But most presidents inherit the policies and long-term budget fiascoes of their predecessors, from 2-3 (or sometimes more) terms previous.

And to lay that blame solely on the president, when Congress, individual state, and foreign affairs (just to name a few) must be considered into the factorization, well, that's just short-sighted.

For example, the president doesn't control what price OPEC puts on a barrel of oil; so is the president responsible for the high cost of gas today? But look what effect that high cost is having on our economy; so is the president to blame? Could he take other actions to offset that pain? Possibly; but what support or non-support is he receiving from Congress, and various other agencies?

I would love to use the KISS principle when it comes to our economy; unfortunately, and this is a mistake many business management textbooks make, there is never any single "root cause" for a problem.

 

I have spent the last four winters in Prague, Czech Republic and have met students from all over Central and Eastern Europe. To say that the US is not feared and hated is to be totally unaware of how G. Bush and the US is viewed. Numerous students have told me that, "We like the American people, but your government is very dangerous. Bush is the most dangerous man in the world."

It is true that Iran took hostages when Carter was president, and it is true that we have been hated in the Mid-East at least since 1946. But the hatred is much more widespread now. I hope and pray that whoever wins the upcoming election will be successful at repairing some of the damage the current administration has inflicted upon our image around the world.

 

Werent these students raised either during the cold war or are children of parents that were? Werent these people taught to fear the US for generations, no matter who the president was?

I think basing world opinion on Eastern European's attitudes would be a little bit biased.

AJ

 

QUOTE=ajg1959]Werent these students raised either during the cold war or are children of parents that were? Werent these people taught to fear the US for generations, no matter who the president was?

[/QUOTE]

Actually from what they have told me they had very positive attitudes toward the US prior to Bush. They did not fear us nearly as much as they did the USSR. They see Bush as a loose cannon and will give a huge sigh of relief when he is out of office. I am sure that Putin is not popular with the students form outside of Russia. He has been extremely popular inside Russia. It will be interesting to see what their view is when I return there in October.

The majority of the students at IBTS are from Central and Eastern Europe. However there are also students from England, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, the Mid-East and Liberia. Interestingly there is a student from Japan entering this week and three Arab Christians from Israel. It is very interesting to talk with Arab Christians. Talk about being a minority, they are it.

Fortunately they, the students, are smart enough to realize that the American people and the Bush administration are not one and the same thing. Too many Americans do not seem able to make the distinction between a people and their governmental leaders, i.e. Iran for example.

And you see no bias here in the States? There is bias of one kind or another in every culture.

 

Whoever met a student inside or outside of the U.S. who was happy with what the U.S. is doing? Based on what my professors taught when I was in college the U.S. has always been the worse nation on the face of the earth. We are bullies, imperalistic, meddling, etc. But, get the students out into the real world (back into reality) and many realize the bull *?^% they were being fed by professors who have no real clue as to what real life is about. I would never base the feelings of the world on how any college student felt. They don't even know how they feel half the time.

 

I have not found that true at all. When I was in China, total of 5 times, the studentys there thought very highly of the US and felt it was an excellent model to use in their development. Sadly this had not happened in the PRC.

In Brazil the primary complaint I heard, prior to the current decade, was that we ignored S. America too much and acted like they were our little brother and not an independent country. That has changed greatly the last 8 years.

The students in Europe say they had a much higher opinion of the US previously. I have to take their word on that as I was not there at that time.

From my experience the students all around the world still have a very positive attitude toward the people of the US, and of our culture. Exempt the radical Moslems of course. It is our government's foreign policy that last 8 years that have them upset.

 

The problem with anecdotal evidence is that anyone can provide equal anecdotal evidence supporting the opposing view. For example:

When I was in Kenya (4 times) and Nigeria (once) these people loved America (except for Muslims as you pointed out). Their only complaint was that they wished the US would provide more economic aid to their country.

When I was in Scotland many teens and college aged kids spoke very highly of the US. However, there were also little knots of college aged kids in the streets of Glasgow protesting against the war in Iraq, President Bush and Tony Blair.

When I was in Romania I never heard anyone complain about the US. However, when I was witnessing to one man and I told him I was Baptist he asked me about the moral failings of President Clinton and if it was true that President Clinton was a Baptist.

So where do we go from here? Our stories balance one another out...

 

Absolutely Bible-boy

And dont you think that since Crabtownboy has a negative attitude about our president and our country's policies that he would naturally draw comments and opinions of the same view? After all, christians are drawn to other Christians, bikers are drawn to other bikers, ect. Wouldnt it stand to reason that Crabtownboy's negativity about the US would draw others with a like mind?

AJ

 

No - just fatigued by the thought that a great many people who will be voting in November to determine the future of our country and my childrens' lives will be completely uninformed about the most basic issues and the candidates that they will be selecting in spite of the vast amount of information available at any moment. The internet - cable news - talk radio - you name it.

Not talking about you - just venting.

 

It's become like a high school popularity contest! Heh dude are you voting for the cool guy or what?

 

No, when talking to students I ask questions and do not give my opinion unless directly ask to do so. A large majority of the time they bring the subject up. I am more interested in their country and thus I ask them about conditions where they live.

I purposely do not say negative things about our president or about our country. I may say I do not agree with a particular policy, but that is as stong a comment as I will make. If ask why I do not agree with a policy I will reply, "Because I do not think it is the best policy for our country."

Though there are some who do not believe me when I say that I am not sure who I will vote for yet, it is true. I am developing a matrix for myself to help me decide. I am not thrilled by either candidate at the moment. The old "back, smoke filled room" seem to pick better candidates than the current primary method. That is a 180 degree turn in my thinking. When the primary system first came in I thought it would be a better system ... I do not think it is now.

 

That could happen. However, Crabby says that he has been careful not to express his opinions to students in other countries. So I have to take him at his word. The broader point here is that his logic is flawed. He has fallen into the informal fallacy of ad populum. Ad populum is an informal fallacy in which the support given for some conclusion is an inappropriate appeal to popular belief, or to the emotions of the audience.

 

Why do you suppose the health care system in the U.S. is rated 42nd in the world, barely above Cuba?

 

Rated by whom, what were the criteria used in forming the ranking, and what are their qualifications to make such a rating? Evidence and sources please. Oh wait, that is a subject for another thread.

Better see read this too: http://stefanmikarlsson.blogspot.com/2007/07/myths-fact-about-american-health-care.html