July 27, 2010

Obama, speaking of his family's financial situation: "We’re not that far removed from what most Americans are going through."

From an inane interview with ABC with consumer reporter Elizabeth Leamy, who makes a lame effort to convey the impression that she's going to enlighten viewers about the new financial reform law. Leamy exclaims that Americans don't know what's in the law, as if she's about to extract that information from the President. Spoiler: She's not.

Laughing, she hefts the 2,000 pages and shakes them at the President, and he laughs too and jokes "Don't hurt yourself." She laughs more. Ha ha. Isn't funny?! She recites a seemingly memorized question that ends with "Persuade me that this law matters to ordinary Americans," and then she lets the President gets away with simply asserting the purpose of the law: consumers will have lots of new "security and protection." But what's in the 2,000 pages that gives "security and protection"? Obama doesn't have to say.

Leamy cites some examples of "unintended consequences," and Obama looks a little uncomfortable but quickly plugs in a sound bite about how consumers are going to get "more information." Why is that an answer? There will be unintended consequences, but somewhere, in writing, you will get told about them? And that's it for the subject of what's in the law, as the interview moves on to whether Obama will appoint Elizabeth Warren — Leamy calls her "Elizabeth Warden" — to head the new agency.

At this point, less than 3 minutes into a 6 1/2 minute segment — did ABC edit out some more substantive material? — Leamy slips into the subject of what it all means for Obama and his family.

"What are you and the First Lady teaching your daughters about money?" That has nothing to do with the 2,000 page law that we've learned nothing about. We're into the touchy-feely, news-for-women part of the morning show. For the first time in the interview, Obama compliments Leamy on her question: "You know, it's a great question." Ha. Translation: Oh, good, we're through the hard part of the interview. Obama says that the girls get an allowance and "may be able to earn some of their own money babysitting." How could that possibly happen? How many Secret Service agents would have to come along? Anyway, Leamy is reduced to giggling and raising her hand in a silly, girly "pick me!" gesture as if Malia or Sasha would babysit her kids.

Leamy asks about Obama's own retirement fund. "Can you feel the pain?" Oh, lord, does she  think she's interviewing Bill Clinton and that Obama would emote "I feel your pain"? I imagine he's thinking: You know, that's a stupid question. Do you have any idea what a fountain of wealth I am? If I ever ran short, I could hire a ghostwriter and do another autobiography or 2.

But he has to be nice and he has to take the political opportunity. He rambles through an answer that includes the quote I put in the post title. Yes, we laughed when he said that, but, seriously, what was he supposed to say? It's Leamy's fault for not asking serious questions about how the new law would work and for indulging herself and disrespecting her viewers with mushy family stuff about the Obamas.

88 comments:

Beta Rube said...

This whole thing would have been more credible if Leamy had been on her knees.

Maybe next time.

KCFleming said...

Obama: "We’re not that far removed from what most Americans are going through..."

"...Well, compared to most Americans that can vacation once a week at 5 star hotels. Do you know how hard it is to find 30 rooms in a hotel?

Spending other people's money is tough, I'll tell ya."

KCFleming said...

The only way 2,000 pages gives "security and protection" is if it stops a bullet.

But that kudzu of legislation will strangle recovery for 20 years.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Leamy ..."received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and holds a Master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism".

I wonder if she considers herself well informed about the real world aka non-MSM liberal groupthink?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

More silly useless softball questions from our ridiculous unprofessional fawning press.

Obama must sign as many 2000+ page bills as possible before he's out of time.

It took 2000 page to help protect consumers? Please, the thing is a nightmare; a tangled mess of new bureaucracies, taxes, liberty-killing restrictions and government regulations. Government regulations that add jobs to the government, and will ultimately remove jobs from our ever-shrinking private sector small business economy.

What a joke.

I'm Full of Soup said...

"Kudzu of legislation". LOL. Pogo run for office - the country desperately needs use your unique take on current idiocy.

Pastafarian said...

"It's Leamy's fault for not asking serious questions..."

Is it? I'm ignorant about network news and how it's produced, but I'd be quite surprised if the talking head decides what questions they're asking. I assume that there are writers and producers involved, and that the pretty people that they have read their words just read whatever's in their notes.

I would think that the fault for this sort of fawning "interview" would go deeper than one person. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that Rahm Emmanuel and a couple of other top political advisors had gone over these questions in advance with the network producers; and that this sort of input was a necessary condition for the network to score this interview.

You know, I haven't always been this paranoid. By 2012, I'll probably be prattling on like Mick about the birth certificate.

mesquito said...

Somehow, an 2000-page comprehensive financial reform bill addresses neither fannie mae/freddie mac nor the truly usorious behavior of people who offer loans for automobiles. Plus it is larded with usual quotas and set asides that make Liberalism so unlovely to normal Americans.

But the obamas will be just fine, thank you.

kjbe said...

This sounds like faux outrage. Does anyone really expect to learn anything substantial from a national morning show?

virgil xenophon said...

Beta Rube has started me thinking. Some conservative/conservative news organization--Glen Beck, Fox, Brent Bozell--whomever--should start a "Golden knee-pad" award for the best admiring suck-up journalistic interview. There could be four categories initially: Single-interview, monthly, most consistent, and life-time achievement. Suggested other categories?

Anonymous said...

And the charade that is the American press and this administration continues.

And Obama is coming pretty close to his "let them eat cake" moment.

"Yes, I often look down from my desk on Air Force One, and think of all those little people I'm flying over (on my way to another posh vacation spot) and I really understand how they feel, because I had to eat a vegetable from my wife's garden this past week."

("You know, if I'm half as skillful as Bill Clinton, I figure I'll have 100 million or so amassed by the end of 2020. Do you know how hard it is to feel comfortable in the same room as those Russian oligarchs when you only have 100 million?")

Christopher in MA said...

"Does anyone really expect to learn anything substantial from a national morning show?"

If you are privileged to have the President of the United States - even as hollow and fatuous a bloviator as Black Narcissus - on your show, one would think it be somewhere in the job description for a "journalist" to take the opportunity to say, "sir, we have a large audience here. This is an immense, 2000-page bill bearing your signature. Exactly how will this program affect the American taxpayer?" and not let him get away with idiotic fluff about babysitting.

But apparently the only qualification is an ability to smile and bubble delightfully while deep-throating.

Xmas said...

Consumers will get "more information"?!?

I got a small booklet with densely packed fine print explaining "everything" about my credit card. A month later I got a supplemental flyer. Then an addendum. Then a privacy notice. All of this gives me "more information" about my rights. All of it gets tossed in a pile and ignored.

"More information" just means another 5 forms for me to fill out and sign, filled with densely packed, Federal-strength legalese.

Or booklets with 10 pages of 4 point helvitica with lines like this:
19 U.S.C. § 193 (f)(4) requires that inform you that our maximum interest rate is 33% APR plus fees of not greater than $400. This rate will be applied in cases where 19 U.S.C. § 193 (f)(3) '...you are a wiener...' conditions are met. See 44 U.S.C. § 9^3 (zz)(66) for the definition of wiener which include, but are not limited to cases where, "...(Y)our mother dyes, or has dyed, her hair blond, or Sassy Blue Raspberry..."

TMink said...

This administration, their "journalists" and political movement are built on tissues of lies. We are so fracked.

Trey

lemondog said...

We’re not that far removed from what most Americans are going through...

Financial Disclosure

Doubt if the average American can speak of having T bills, funds, royalties and trust funds that range individually from $100m-$5 million.

Don't begrudge him any of his wealth accumulation but spare us the crap talk.

Drew said...

Obama: "We’re not that far removed from what most Americans are going through..."

Oh, bite me. I've got no problem with people having money, or spending it extravagantly. But for the President to suggest that he's got it just as rough as the rest of us -- while he's jetting off on a new vacation adventure every week, paid for by those of us who are barely able to buy groceries, . . . man, that pisses me off.

Fred4Pres said...

Are you starting to regret that you voted for him?

Anonymous said...

I hope that you will blog about Obama's appearance on "The View" this week. I can't stand to watch.

jrberg3 said...

"He rambles through an answer that includes the quote I put in the post title. Yes, we laughed when he said that, but, seriously, what was he supposed to say? "

He should have been honest here, much like he was when asked about his healthcare when he stated the President of the United States has the best healthcare around.

Suggesting that he is struggling like the rest of America opens him up to countless campaign commercials for his opponents showing how out of touch he is with regular Americans. Think about hearing those words while a screen shows his 5 million dollar plus tax return.

This oratory legend sure can't express himself on the fly.

Fred4Pres said...

I get that Obama came from humble means. BFD. So did most of us. I do not begrudge his financial success, but he is completely removed from what most Americans are going through and he knows it.

MadisonMan said...

I wonder if Elizabeth Leamy read through the text of the bill she's interviewing the President on.

I suspect she hasn't.

virgil xenophon said...

PS: I full well realize Bozell has his own annual awards complete with videos that are voted upon by we, the admiring public; but I'm thinking the more the merrier, plus I want to see the MSMs' general "suckatude" highlighted WAY more than once annually by only one individual or organization.

Lincolntf said...

"...kudzu of legislation..." Consider it stolen.

mesquito said...

When Our President says the Obama's are "not far removed" from the rest of us, he means that a few short years ago, he was merely ensconsed in the Illinois Democrat Machine, and would not ever be removed short of a scandal involving a live boy or a dead girl, and the Missus was struggling along at a 300k PR job.

AllenS said...

"Because of the previous administration's reckless spending, my daughters are forced to babysit." -- Barack Obama

Anonymous said...

The White House garden is the Obama's equivalent to Marie's Versailles hamlet.

KCFleming said...

My son has a part-time job in graphic design. He was just told they could keep him on part-time, but they don't know when or if they will be hiring full time.

All of this is a direct result of the uncertainty caused by Obama, Pelosi, and Reid, due to the health care laws, new financial regulations, threat to undo the Bush tax cuts, and the Biggest Goddamn Tax Increase In The History Of The Nation (BGTIITHOTN.

And I can't blame them. No smart business hires with this much uncertainty ahead. My daughter is in the same boat: perpetual part-timer.

Those jobs only cost me $80K each kid (for college). The jobs Obama saved or created cost north of $350K each. So i got off cheap, right?

Fred4Pres said...

Do you have any idea what a fountain of wealth I am? If I ever ran short, I could hire a ghostwriter and do another autobiography or 2.

Does Bill "Just Another Guy From The Neighborhood" Ayers have another book in him? Yeah, he probably does. Dreams of My Father II, Let's Be Frank about Frank Marshall Davis.

KCFleming said...

"The Golden Knee Pad Award " has too much of a Monica Lewinsky vibe to it, even if it's true.

I think a big golden Bambi would suffice; for Most Fawning Interview Evah.

Big Mike said...

@Pastafarian, I got to the point where you're at before you.

Always remember, being paranoid doesn't preclude someone from really being out to get you.

AllenS said...

Seriously, what does Obama think after he completes one of these interviews?

Anonymous said...

"Then an addendum. Then a privacy notice. All of this gives me "more information" about my rights. All of it gets tossed in a pile and ignored."

You have a choice: Cut your fucking credit card in half and pay off the balance. Stop being stupid.

You're not smart if you're borrowing money using a credit card. Period.

The information about how stupid you are is being made available to you, but you have to be smart enough to read it. The government isn't there to read it for you.

Akiva said...

Amazing. The problem is not 2,000 pages of who the heck knows what. It's 2,000 pages of business uncertainty, unintended impact and intended impact. It's 2,000 pages of regulation at a time when business growth is at a standstill.

The question that should have been asked is: please describe one thing in these 2,000 pages that will help the economy recovery and my sister (with 20 years of experience and 2 degrees) to get a job!

Luke Lea said...

What I want to know is, will the financial reforms will protect people of below average intelligence. Last time I checked they were half the country!

There is a tendency in legal circles -- correct me if I am wrong -- to assume that everyone is above average and to write the laws accordingly.

That is why I would prefer a plain vanilla mortgage option with a standard down payment and the going rate of interest. I hear it is not in there.

Calypso Facto said...

AllenS said: Seriously, what does Obama think after he completes one of these interviews?

"Was it good for you too? Wanna cigarette?"

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Thank you Ann and Meade for watching this pablum so we don't have to.

I love it when Althouse, flays, disects and dismembers a speech or interview. It was laugh out loud time for me with my first cup of coffee.

Ha....I can just imagine the bored and insulted secret service people on babysitting duty and the intimidated kids being babysat by obviously bored Malia and whatshername or whatever the kid's name is. THAT would make a really good SNL skit.

Also laughed at Pogo and the bullet stopping 2000 pages and the kudzu reference.

Good stuff.

Known Unknown said...

Florida said:

"Then an addendum. Then a privacy notice. All of this gives me "more information" about my rights. All of it gets tossed in a pile and ignored."

You have a choice: Cut your fucking credit card in half and pay off the balance. Stop being stupid.

You're not smart if you're borrowing money using a credit card. Period.


He never said whether or not he had actually used the card. Maybe he has a zero or very low balance. Also, having some debt and the ability to gain credit is not altogether a bad thing.

Relax.

Automatic_Wing said...

Elizabeth Warren is the perfect person to be in charge of this clusterfuck. Her "study" on medical bankruptcies is a masterpiece of intellectual dishonesty...pure leftwing advocacy wrapped in a veneer of academic impartiality. She'll work out wonderfully, I'm sure.

Michael said...

Pogo: "Kudzu of legislation" indeed. This is the best, the absolute best, description of the administrations legislative activities since coming to office. Outstanding metaphor!! Anyone who has lived or driven the blue roads of the old south will immediately picture whole houses overtaken by it, fields and treetops covered, creeping creeping.

Kudzu, by the way, has a very fragrant flower, very grape-like.

MayBee said...

The Obamas have released their tax returns for every year beginning in 2000.

For each of those years, they have made over $200,000. For many, they were close to (or over) the $250,000 mark that President Obama considers wealthy enough to have some extra money to contribute to the IRS.

If only he would think back to the days where he had two little girls, a mortgage, and concerns about paying for college and saving for retirement, as he discusses in the clip. He would definitely realize he did not consider himself "wealthy". He would possibly reconsider raising the tax rates during a recession.

Drew said...

"He rambles through an answer that includes the quote I put in the post title. Yes, we laughed when he said that, but, seriously, what was he supposed to say? "

He should have turned the question outward and spoken generally of the hardships people face. But he can't not talk about himself. It's like some sort of tic or something.

I also suspect that he would be absolutely clueless why his comments would anger people. Isn't that part of being a narcissist? Failing to understand why nobody else loves you as much as you do?

virgil xenophon said...

It's even worse than 2000 pages--that's only the legislation--the law itself. But half the verbiage is "enabling" legislation; the "fill-in-the-blank" go-ahead for the regulatory agencies to write perhaps 5-10, 000 MORE pages of "regulations" which will ACTUALLY shape and define the more generalized Congressional intent. Indeed, historically some agencies have written regulatory language which directly CONTRADICTS Congressional intent, so nebulous and open-ended is so much of Congressional legislative language. And once the regulatory ABC agencies get a hold of it ,it is pretty much beyond the ability of Congress to force these "independent" agencies to do ANYTHING they don't want to do...

chickelit said...

I'm predicting an uptick in sales of Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class before this administration is through.

Opus One Media said...

I fear Meade is ghosting.

lemondog said...

I wonder if Elizabeth Leamy read through the text of the bill she's interviewing the President on.

I suspect she hasn't.


Has he?

The question that should have been asked is: please describe one thing in these 2,000 pages that will help the economy recovery and my sister (with 20 years of experience and 2 degrees) to get a job!

1. It would take someone reasonably acquainted with the bill to (a) ask the question, (b)verify his reply, and (c) to follow up as necessary.

2. His response would require that he had read the bill.

3. Is 2000 page bulk now the norm by which to weigh future legislation?

4. The paper industry lobbyists have been doing their job.

chickelit said...

I fear Meade is ghosting.

Spiritus Meadium!

Big Mike said...

@Luke Lea, the people who write legislation are, mostly, lawyers. They have been trained by people like Althouse to "think like lawyers" and to read legal wording and understand what it means.

The notion that the rest of us think like human beings and don't get the nuances of the word "shall" as used in a legal fine print is simply our tough luck.

MadisonMan said...

lemondog, I suspect neither has actually read it, but I think Obama has a better idea of what might be in the bill.

The glib questioning of Leamy just screams out I'm skating by. Too bad there aren't Cliff Notes for the bill so she could have a least a little knowledge of it.

Unknown said...

OK, let's go down the list.

Dodd-Frank is another ZeroCare - we'll be finding out all the ghastlies for the next year.

Among other things, it institutionalizes TARP. The next time the Demos' Wall Street pals are about to go TU, no Congressional vote will be required.

As to The Zero's removal from the average slob, how many American families do you know that will be taking 4 vacations in the coming month?

Then, there's mention of His retirement fund. 'Scuse me, but that's taken care of by the American tax payer.

The Journolists really do think everybody's as stupid as the Lefties.

Pogo said...

"The Golden Knee Pad Award " has too much of a Monica Lewinsky vibe to it, even if it's true.

It could always show a statuette of a reporter on his/her knees, drawers down, offering his/her rump.

Jim said...

1) Obama didn't come from "modest means." He was raised by his grandmother who was a bank VP. AT WORST, he has been upper-middle class all his life.

2) He earned $5 million last year, but he's "not that far removed from what most Americans are going through?" Just how much money does he think "most Americans" make?

3) Anyone who thinks that shutting down air travel in the DC-NY corridor for the sole reason of having a "date night" with his wife should really stop embarrassing himself with claims of being in touch with the common man.

4) Obama should be asked to explain how many times he's been forced to choose between paying the water bill and the electric bill, how many times he's been laid off, how many times he's had to explain to Sasha and Malia that Santa Claus won't be coming this year because the tax man cometh instead.

Should I really have to go on?

Wince said...

Pogo: "Kudzu of legislation."

A Jimmy Carter reference also, very appropriate.

Unknown said...

I'm sure Obama will explain the financial overhaul bill more clearly today...on that hard news show The View!

Jim said...

mesquito -

It was far worse than Michelle Obama having a 300K PR job. It was a $300K "make-work" job.

You know how vitally important the job was? As soon as she left it, they eliminated the position entirely.

So yeah, $300K/yr in political payoffs, in addition the hundreds of thousands he made in his dirty land deal with Rezko, the phony job at the Annenberg Challenge where he managed to dissipate $150 million with ZERO results, and political put-up job that was his sham stint as a guest lecturer.

The man has NEVER felt anyone's pain. I sincerely doubt that he even he has the capacity to feel others' pain. He is a compensatory narcissist with the emotional maturity of a 14-year old boy.

Just wait til he starts stomping his feet and crying like a baby 24/7 when the subpoenas from a Republican House start hitting his front door.

Anonymous said...

No smart business hires with this much uncertainty ahead. My daughter is in the same boat: perpetual part-timer.

Same boat for me- 7th in my law class, law review, clerkship under my belt, and not a single firm able to hire me that I can find. (I actually landed an independant contractor gig, which I actually am thinking will work out well and is better than part time, but it's no risk for my "employer", no benefits, a lot fewer legal requirements, no promises of how much work, and no commitment.)

- Lyssa

Scott M said...

Seriously, what does Obama think after he completes one of these interviews?

After a good BJ like that, I usually need a cigarette...he smokes, doesn't he?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

There's hardly any difference between lame morning talk shows, the nightly news, and Meet the Press. The MSM are there to help the president and his party.


2000+ pages and "it's all consumer protection". BS.

Unknown said...

What a con--a sham "journalist" pretends to querie the POTUS about a bill that she has not read. POTUS offers no inkling that he has read or understands the bill that he signed which was voted on by legislators who definitely had not read the bill which was drafted by unelected minions bought and paid for by special interests. It's somehow fitting though, since the law will be interpreted and enforced by regulators and bureaucrats also bought and paid for by special interests. When challenged, they'll simply refer the befuddled citizen back to the original 2000 pages of legal gibberish. Kudzu indeed, or circle jerk. Open your wallets.

Steven said...

The Presidential pension is the current salary of a Cabinet official in perpetuity, currently $196,700 a year and indexed to be ever-increasing.

This is a retirement Obama considers "not that far removed from what most Americans are going through"?

If any Republican president said that, it would be a headline gaffe for days.

GMay said...

Agree with those who don't begrudge the guy the wealth he's accumulated. Also agree with those who get really pissed about him claiming he's feeling the pinch.

This guy has pissed me off more than once, but this actually makes me livid.

GMay said...

Professor,

I know you get a lot of flak for voting for this guy and I don't usually jump on that bandwagon, but seriously - this guy has been giving these types of answers since the Dem primaries began and hasn't stopped in a year and a half as POTUS.

MayBee said...

Year Obama's AGIncome
2000 $240.505
2001 $272,759
2002 $259,394
2003 $238,327
2004 $207,647
2005 $1,655,106
2006 $983,826

And so on

If Obama believes he is not far removed from the financial stress of many Americans (and I believe he does), he needs to reconsider his rhetoric and tax policy.

Scott M said...

Year Obama's AGIncome
2000 $240.505
2001 $272,759
2002 $259,394
2003 $238,327
2004 $207,647
2005 $1,655,106
2006 $983,826


Doesn't that put the President squarely within the group of John "sails tax" Kerry's pool-side, champagne-sipper, middle class apathetics?

jamboree said...

Once again, you offer excuses for Obama and blame someone else. (It's HER fault.) You did this recently with something else - what was it? Oh yes, it's elite white people's fault for being snookered! It's not his fault at all!

Look...clue white boomer woman who voted for him and felt supportive as a mother for someone only 10ish years younger than you...some of it is his fault - approxmately half of any interaction.

Michael said...

What a fucking moron. No food bill. No transportation costs. No home improvement costs. No heat light power or water costs. No lawn service. Free maid and valet> Free cooks. Free security service. Someone to take out the garbage and do the dishes. I suppose like many Americans he finds the public schools too horrible and thus is compelled to pay for his children's private school tuition. The utter gall.

Scott M said...

...The utter gall.

Cows have more sense than say something like that.

William said...

At about 12:40pm on his show, Rush discusses this interview and the logistics of the Obama children babysitting. His take is remarkably similar to that of Althouse. Coincidence?

John henry said...

Is elizabeth Leamy a member of Journolist?

I tried to find the list just now to look but it is not where I thought it was.

John Henry

John henry said...

Is elizabeth Leamy a member of Journolist?

I tried to find the list just now to look but it is not where I thought it was.

John Henry

Scott M said...

At about 12:40pm on his show, Rush discusses this interview and the logistics of the Obama children babysitting. His take is remarkably similar to that of Althouse. Coincidence?

No. Minimally observant. Anyone with any knowledge of the secret service (of which my father was assigned on load from the DoD) knows it takes a ridiculous amount of security for members of the first family to do anything.

Honestly, if the Obama's were insistent on their daughter babysitting, they would have the parent bring the kid to 1600 Penn Ave. I wonder what that runs per hour...

Revenant said...

Obama, speaking of his family's financial situation: "We’re not that far removed from what most Americans are going through."

Let's not dismiss this remark out of hand. Sure, Obama might be well-off today, but if things don't improve dramatically he'll be on the unemployment line in another two and a half years...

Joe said...

You're not smart if you're borrowing money using a credit card. Period.

Six years ago, I consolidated two car loans onto a credit card with a 1.9% interest rate. (This was when they still capped the fee for cash advances at $50.) It was brilliant! Even better, it wasn't secured, so if something terrible had happened and I defaulted, they wouldn't have gotten my cars!

I still paid the thing off in two years.

(My bank will give me a credit card at 7.5% interest. Don't need the money, but in some cases, that would be a great deal!)

AllenS said...

If parents are bringing their children to the White House so Obama's daughters can babysit them, there shouldn't be any problem what-so-ever with the Secret Service providing security. A simple strip search of the children should suffice.

Scott M said...

You're not smart if you're borrowing money using a credit card. Period.

These words should be cut into the table top in front of each chair for members of the Ways And Means committee. Then rig a shock collar that juices 'em if they don't look at the plaque at least once every ten minutes. I was going to say five minutes, but there's no need to be overly cruel.

David said...

"Do you have any idea what a fountain of wealth I am? If I ever ran short, I could hire a ghostwriter and do another autobiography or 2."

Yeah, but Michelle knows.

Steven said...

Cute, Revenant, but "unemployment" for an ex-president nowadays consists of getting a Cabinet-member salary as a pension for life.

So, even if his blind trust nosedives and he has no assets the day he leaves office, and he's so unpopular nobody is willing to pay him for anything, he'll still have a six-figure income every year for the rest of his life.

David said...

Obama means "not far removed in time" from the struggle of ordinary Americans.

That's bullshit too for a African American Harvard Law Review president and his Yale Law School wife. But at least it's true that it's not far removed in time from when he was filthy rich.

He got filthy rich when his book started to sell, especially after he was elected to the Senate.

Without the book (and well before the book generated any cash) the Obamas were in well over their heads financially. Big mortgage, large home equity loan, expenses exceeding income on a regular basis.

Michelle got a big promotion and a doubling of her salary after Barack was elected to the Senate. (Merit, of course.)

Had he not been elected to the Senate, they might well have been two more financially overextended yuppies who got clobbered in the real estate crash.

Harry Truman had no idea how he was going to support himself after the Presidency. He was bailed out because Bess's family had a farm that a developer wanted.

FDR gave Hyde Park to the Park Service because he could not possibly afford to maintain it, nor could his heirs. FDR never had money of his own until his mother died in 1944 and wasn't all that rich even then.

Grant, no genius capitalist, was swindled by wall streeters after his Presidency and wrote his memoir in agony from cancer so his family could be supported after his death.

Presidents now get megarich. Any whining by Presidents is disgusting.

David said...

Fred4Pres said...
"I get that Obama came from humble means."

Punahoe School, Occidental, Columbia, all funded in significant part by his typical white granny and grandpa.

His mom made some choices that did not involve moneymaking, but she always had that parental backup, which she and Barack used fully. God bless the gandparents, but "humble means?" More bullsjit.

Scott M said...

GM

The left can run from it all they want, but the number one thing killing jobs right now is the climate of uncertainty. Small business could account for 10's of millions of jobs. They are the most dynamic part of the economy and always have been. Absolutely NONE of the small business owners (mostly in freight) I know personally are making any moves other than the absolute minimum because they are, as a group, scared to death what the upcoming couple of years is going to bring.

Higher taxes, more mandated costs, etc. Who in their right mind would do anything but horde cash right now? Are you going to go out and make capital investments and expand your business in this kind of climate? Not if you have any sense (or if you have the secret of cold fusion, but that's another thread).

This administration and this congress have done more to ramp up this sense of uncertainty, both on the part of business owners and as measured by consumer confidence, than anything I can remember in my lifetime. That's not said through an ideological lens...I was one of the guys that said, "well, I didn't vote for him, but let's see what he can do". It's a disaster and it's not getting any better.

Will the people spend their money if they get it back? Gee, Mr. Clinton, I didn't know you posted here as GM. The public won't spend willy-nilly for the same reasons business owners won't hire. Everyone is waiting to see what is going to happen. If I suddenly came into $1000, most of it would go into savings and that's actually highly unlike me.

Scott M said...

D'oh...that's supposed to be over in the Sullivan thread where Garage is being honest about the President's stimulus package.

'pologies...

WV - "craterho" a lunar skeezah

Amy said...

Reading about the interview turned my stomach. But reading the comments made me laugh.
The comments are so clever and snarky, I never feel I can add much. But I do really enjoy reading.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Granny was the worker and breadwinner in Obama's family. Obama should thank God everyday for his grandmother.

Because Grandpa was a slacker and his Mom was out to liberal lunch.

Deborah M. said...

That is the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard. How much more of this idiot and his dog washers do we have to bear? Explain yourself, Mr. President. HOW, exactly, are you so much like the rest of us?

tringl. What Leamy felt. One better than Matthews.

Deborah M. said...

@Amy. Me neither. But I appreciate a venue for venting my outrage at this administration and in particular THE FUCKING IDIOT IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

wv: ranchr

JAL said...

The Presidential pension is the current salary of a Cabinet official in perpetuity, currently $196,700 a year and indexed to be ever-increasing.


And "private" [federal] security for what 10 years now (or is it 5?)

MayBee said...

Had he not been elected to the Senate, they might well have been two more financially overextended yuppies who got clobbered in the real estate crash.

Yes, but as I posted, his income during those years put him squarely in the bracket that he now thinks has extra money to give the IRS.
It is obvious he did not feel (or live) that way at the time he was earning that income.

So where is his understanding?

Methadras said...

This twit is running my country... into the ground as well...

michaele said...

In the interview, Obama makes a comment about teaching his daughters about saving accounts and what it means when they get 2 or 3 percent interest on their money. I'd like to know the name of the bank that is paying that 3% interest. Sounds like somebody is either out of touch or getting a special deal.

coxie said...

I think he has done well so far.