Althouse: "I think, frankly, he’s in over his head as to what to do about this economy."

August 3, 2011

"I think, frankly, he’s in over his head as to what to do about this economy."

Cantor on Obama.

131 comments:

AST said...: But he's focused on jobs!

Gentlemen may cry "Jobs! Jobs!" but there are no jobs.

It's not really that tough: Just get out of the way and take your deficits and regulatory bureaucracy with you!

Jackwagon!; 8/3/11, 9:50 PM
exhelodrvr1 said...: What was your first clue?; 8/3/11, 9:51 PM
chickelit said...: POTUS' first rule should be to do no harm. The rest will take care of itself.; 8/3/11, 9:51 PM
edutcher said...: Cantor's been there as Little Zero's gone from "I won" to "Don't call my bluff".

If anyone should know, it's Cantor.

PS I can see him as Veep one day. And he would be an improvement over the Big Effin' Deal we have now.; 8/3/11, 9:58 PM
Robert Cook said...: He could begin by refusing to serve the interests of Wall Street at the expense of the people who live on main street.

(He won't, though.)

Is this part of Eric Cantor's prescription? If it's not, then he has no more idea than Obama how to fix what their own policies have broken.; 8/3/11, 10:00 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Ha ha.

Cantor knows what to do.

Tax cuts for the job creators!

Duh.

P.S.
And, remove regulation from the job creators!!

P.P.S.
And, privatize (aka hand over to the job creators) all gov functions, incl entitlements!!!

P.P.P.S
Getting rid of Planned Parenthood (and DMVs in D districts (where a DMV ID is required to vote)) also creates jobs!!!!; 8/3/11, 10:02 PM
Anonymous said...: This is what happens when the sales department takes over the company.

I've seen it happen a number of times, and every time it ends the same way: total chaos.

Where there is something left to salvage, the operations folks move back in and cleaned up the mess.

And that's what will have to happen here.

But how much longer can our bonds keep investors interested?

Once our bond auctions go badly(and there is evidence that they already would be except that the Treasury is buying our own debt) - once the world tires of our bonds, we're toast.

And then it will take a WWII-type national effort to get us back.

We'll be growing tomatoes in our front yards under decree of national law.; 8/3/11, 10:03 PM
Bayoneteer said...: Don't be smug. If McCain had won he'd be floundering too and maybe worse given his record of flips, flops, lies and bullshit. Bush left Obama a hell of a mess to sort out. But that said yes Obama has met the Peter Principle head on.; 8/3/11, 10:07 PM
Chef Mojo said...: @pb&j:

By Jove, I think he's got it!

I'm waiting to hear how the most regulated private sector in the world is supposed to generate jobs in this economy, pb&j.

Oh. Not to worry, says he! The government, in the form of his Jug Eared Majesty will create the jobs!

Huzzah!; 8/3/11, 10:10 PM
Sal said...: He could begin by refusing to serve the interests of Wall Street at the expense of the people who live on main street.

Good job, Robert. You managed to memorize some babble you heard on MSNBC.; 8/3/11, 10:10 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Obama doesn't have a clue.

Kookie is just plain nuts, which makes him think that his commie plan will actually do something about the economy.

Who does have a clue?

The grand thievery perpetrated by the credentialed class over the past decade has just about destroyed any confidence we might have had in them. That's one a hell of a problem.

So, I understand the anger on the left. Our Ivy League betters stole us blind and left us with the check.

I understand the anger on the right. The Tea Party is right to demand an end to the wild spending.

The solution... Damned if I know. I'm just looking for a solution for myself. I don't believe any more in political solutions.; 8/3/11, 10:11 PM
Chip S. said...: I think Obama should create a new bureau for the financial protection of consumers. He could call it the CFPB for short. It could create a whole new set of lending regulations to make sure banks lend according to principles of fairness rather than simple creditworthiness. That would help ordinary Americans buy homes that they can't currently afford.

Then I think he should pressure Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up these new fairness mortgages. They could diversify away almost all the lending risk by slicing the mortgages into lots of little parts and then repackaging them. Then they could sell those new securities, backed by mortgages, to investment banks. Profit!

Yeah, that makes a lot more sense than stupid shit like "cutting taxes on job creators."

Wait. You say that Obama already has created a CFPB? And it's pressuring banks to lend based on principles of fairness?

Well then, the economy should take off any day now.; 8/3/11, 10:11 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Seems to be a growing meme in the MSM and librul cocktail circuit. I saw Lou Dobbs opine that Obama has a communty organizer's small mind which makes Obama useless to diagnose and address our economic issues. This meme may lead to a primary challenge from Hillary!

Of course,this is not news to most of us here who have known for years that the president was a dopey, predictable tax & spend librul.; 8/3/11, 10:12 PM
traditionalguy said...: He is in our heads with smiling, harmless Obama image.

Cantor is tip toeing past that naive image using a lack of experience meme. That may be the best strategy.

But the SOB Obama is targeting the USA for destruction every way he can as fast as he can. That takes a lot of experience.

Obama's experience is in fooling people about his motives until he finishes a target he is sent to assassinate.; 8/3/11, 10:12 PM
edutcher said...: PB&J thinks he's being funny, but it's amazing how only Conservatives are smart enough to see these basic pronciples.

The "Duh" all belongs to the Lefties.

KenK said...

Don't be smug. If McCain had won he'd be floundering too and maybe worse given his record of flips, flops, lies and bullshit. Bush left Obama a hell of a mess to sort out. But that said yes Obama has met the Peter Principle head on.

Not that big a mess. The first rule of getting out of a hole is stop digging.

Bet McCain would understand.

Little Zero sure don't.; 8/3/11, 10:14 PM
Sprezzatura said...: So, two years into BHO's term Rs had determined that BHO's policies had made things worse than their policies would have done. Two years was long enough to make a judgement.

Does this mean that two years from now if things aren't wonderful, we can blame the Rs in the House?

You may say that the House is only one part of gov. But, you must recall that Rs like to claim that the House is why Reagan didn't balance budgets. And, they credit the House for the strong economy of the WJC years.

And, we'll need to judge the House Rs w/ the same rigor that they use to size up BHO. That is, it is a total failure if monthly employment goes from a loss of three quarter of a million jobs to about a net loss of no jobs. IOW, it will be a total failure of the R leadership if we're only creating seven hundred thousand more jobs per month two years after the R majority v pre-R majority.; 8/3/11, 10:16 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Chip S., unfortunately, hits upon the overwhelming problem.

This is a government created financial catastrophe.

If you want to go into how the government created this financial catastrophe in greater detail, I suggest reading Steve Sailer's archives.

Minus a few representatives from the Tea party, the same scoundrels who created this disaster control Congress, the Presidency and all the regulatory agencies... and they are working on the same underlying assumptions that caused the disaster.

Abandon all hope.; 8/3/11, 10:16 PM
Fen said...: DHOTUS; 8/3/11, 10:21 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Here are a few suggestions that might improve the economy a bit. Note that they are all impossible to effect for political reasons:

o Cease attempting to suppress domestic oil, gas and coal production

o End illegal immigration. Stop it cold. Not just on the Mexican border. Stop importing Indian techs on visas who take software jobs away from Americans.

o End the racial and sexual quota systems. Allow employers to hire without reference to government quotas.

o Repeal Obamacare.

This will help somewhat. Probably won't entirely fix things, but it will help to some extent.; 8/3/11, 10:21 PM
William said...: Reagan was given a worse hand than Obama when he took office. He acted decisively and in a way that liberals at the time mocked and vilified. At the end of his first term, the hard numbers showed that unemployment and inflation were diminished. Most people, myself included, don't understand economics. My guess is that as a science it is fuzzier than Freudian psychiatry. But we all understand higher debt and higher unemployment. It has gotten worse under Obama.....Obama's theory of economics is that rich people suck. He needs a new approach.; 8/3/11, 10:21 PM
KCFleming said...: Nah, Obama's doing a great job.

Recovery is just around the corner.
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Now eat your goddamned peas.; 8/3/11, 10:22 PM
DADvocate said...: He's in over his head when it comes to anything other than Chicago style politics. Real solutions, real plans, real consequences? Forgetta bout it!!; 8/3/11, 10:23 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: "I think, frankly, he’s in over his head as to what to do about this economy."

Well, duh!

exhelodrvr1,

What was your first clue?

That he'd already blown it, once, before he became president. How anyone could elect him president, with his track record, is something that still puzzles me.

It's the media's fault, mostly, but the citizens didn't do their homework either.; 8/3/11, 10:23 PM
traditionalguy said...: Pbandj...What do you mean by two years?

Obama's methods were in practice over much of the world for 80 years, and still are in Cuba.

It has a known outcome: total poverty and a police state.

If you think Obama is a Democrat, think again.; 8/3/11, 10:24 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Shouting Thomas said:

"Minus a few representatives from the Tea party, the same scoundrels who created this disaster control Congress,.."

You are right. About 50 or 60 senators have been in Congress or hanging around the Capitol for more than 20 years and year-after-year they approved exorbitant spending bills that put us in this precarious position.

The public should call for them resign en masse. The senators include both R's & D's and names like Hatch, Leahy, Shumer, Grassley, McCain,Lautenberg, Kerry, Rockefeller, McConnell etc; 8/3/11, 10:25 PM
pauldar said...: We just laid off all of our employees. Wife and I will handle it all from now on and just not even try to grow any larger - Just fed up with this frigging government intrusion into every aspect of our business.

Will revisit it once the current leadership is the hell gone; 8/3/11, 10:26 PM
garage mahal said...: Does this mean that two years from now if things aren't wonderful, we can blame the Rs in the House?

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Oh my fucking god dude. Never ever blame a Republican for anything.; 8/3/11, 10:27 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: KenK,

Don't be smug. If McCain had won he'd be floundering too and maybe worse given his record of flips, flops, lies and bullshit.

Hey, everybody, KenK is psychic! He can see shit that never happened!!!

Amazing,...; 8/3/11, 10:27 PM
MadisonMan said...: I'm sure they omitted the part where Cantor said I'm not just saying this because he represents the other political party, either.

The real problem in DC is the entrenched political class having to undo what shouldn't have been done in the first place.; 8/3/11, 10:29 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Oh my fucking god dude. Never ever blame a Republican for anything.

garbage, the fucking thug, hasn't noticed that most of the commenters here have acknowledged that the blame for this government created financial disaster is shared by both parties.

garbage is just a stupid fucking thug... so what can you expect?; 8/3/11, 10:30 PM
Chip S. said...: Oh my fucking god dude. Never ever blame a Republican for anything.

Medicare Part D.; 8/3/11, 10:30 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: I can't help but notice that Obama's failing and flailing is having a traumatic effect on diehard libruls like Garbage Mahal. He probably sees Repubs like Gov. Walker and Palin and Backmann in his sleep.; 8/3/11, 10:32 PM
Chip S. said...: Does this mean that two years from now if things aren't wonderful, we can blame the Rs in the House?

If Obama and Biden resigned and let Boehner take over the WH, this would be an interesting question. It would be even more interesting if, before BO & JB resigned, Boehner was replaced by Ryan.; 8/3/11, 10:33 PM
Bayoneteer said...: I admit I am surprised. The campaign Obama ran was nothing less than masterful even given that he had a lot of help. But his administration is just amazingly bad. I judged McCain who also had zero executive experience (polishing a chair with his ass in the Pentagon doesn't count IMHO) ran about the worst campaign for president that I've seen in my life. So Crack that's what I based my observations on.; 8/3/11, 10:34 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Shouting Thomas,

The solution... Damned if I know. I'm just looking for a solution for myself. I don't believe any more in political solutions.

I keep telling you, the solution is in critical thinking, but that seems to simple for most people.

If there's one thing Rush Limbaugh says that rings true for me, it's that if you know something - not feel or "believe" it - people will make life difficult for you. I can scream, "critical thinking," till the cows come home and I will be sidelined as crazy for the rest of my days. And that's not a victim talking, but my clear-eyed view of things:

Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.  

This is known as "bad luck."; 8/3/11, 10:36 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: That is where they really should start Mad Man..ask themselves what is the fed govt doing vs. what should it be doing? and what should be left to the states. Oh shit, who am I kidding! I think we should dismantle entire depts in Wash DC.; 8/3/11, 10:36 PM
William said...: There are 80 trillion dollars in unfunded Medicare liabilities over the next thirty years. This doesn't include the expensive treatment for the disease that you will contract twenty years from now....It is madness to suggest that all this can be paid for by taxing corporate jets and millionaires. Somewhere along the line people in the great middle class--or what's left of it--will have to pay more taxes, retire later, and receive less benefits. I think Rep. Ryan is the only person who has suggested a half way realistic proposal along these lines. Like Reagan, he is willing to suggest an unpopular course of action. He doesn't seek the center. He has his own center of gravity.; 8/3/11, 10:36 PM
MayBee said...: pbAndj-

We have an election in 1 year and 3 months. Is that long enough to judge Obama?; 8/3/11, 10:37 PM
Fen said...: I agree that the corruption is systemic. Unless something catastrophic happens to change the status quo, we're doomed.; 8/3/11, 10:38 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Pogo said:

"Nah, Obama's doing a great job.
Recovery is just around the corner."

You are right- I heard the Obama administration may change the name of Labor Day Weekend to Recovery Summer III.; 8/3/11, 10:40 PM
Titus said...: Cantor is so gross.

He has sucked a cock too.

When he talks a purse falls out.; 8/3/11, 10:42 PM
Trooper York said...: Obama is a curious amalgam of Jimmy Carter and David Dinkins.

It seems clear that Hillary will play the Ted Kennedy role and run in the primary and weaken him. The question is who will be the Guiliani/Reagan role.; 8/3/11, 10:44 PM
Alex said...: I just can't take it anymore.; 8/3/11, 10:44 PM
Trooper York said...: I just hope it is Governor Walker for my buddy Garage Mahal's sake.; 8/3/11, 10:45 PM
Trooper York said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/3/11, 10:45 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: ChipS,

Medicare Part D was a demand made by the Democrat Congress.

Look, if you want to blame our current crisis on anyone, the culprits are obvious:

Alan Greenspan. Barney Frank. Frank Raines, etc.

Some, like Frank and Raines, should be in prison already.

How we get out of it is just as easy (to know, not necessarily to do) but it all hinges on us finally thinking clearly, which we - as a people - are no predisposed to doing until the bottom falls out.

Which is just fucking madness.; 8/3/11, 10:47 PM
edutcher said...: KenK said...

I admit I am surprised. The campaign Obama ran was nothing less than masterful even given that he had a lot of help. But his administration is just amazingly bad. I judged McCain who also had zero executive experience (polishing a chair with his ass in the Pentagon doesn't count IMHO) ran about the worst campaign for president that I've seen in my life. So Crack that's what I based my observations on.

What drivel.

McCain spent little, if any, time in the five-sided wind tunnel. He did, however, have some command experience, which counts as more executive time than Little Zero.; 8/3/11, 10:47 PM
KCFleming said...: "It seems clear that Hillary will play the Ted Kennedy role"

You mean we'll see a Hillary-Dodd sandwich, or that she'll drive some drunk chick off a bridge?

(That was just for Garage. I know he loves a good Teddy joke.); 8/3/11, 10:48 PM
KCFleming said...: Which reminds me, if Obama is in over his head, does that mean Kennedy was driving?

Man, I gots a million of 'em.; 8/3/11, 10:50 PM
Bayoneteer said...: Okay edutcher. McCain's executive "experience" was done at some naval base and not the Pentagon. My bad. But that changes nothing. He's never actually run anything ever. Neither had Obama at that point either. But Obama's campaign was masterful. McCain's was a train wreck from start to finish. What would a reasonable man/woman conclude as to who'd do the best job?; 8/3/11, 10:55 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Fen,

I agree that the corruption is systemic. Unless something catastrophic happens to change the status quo, we're doomed.

So's the ignorance.

Look, Bush and McCain warned us about Fannie and Freddie in 2005-6 - nobody listened. Everyone was warned about Bernie fucking Madoff years before his scam crumbled - nobody listened. And on and on and on.

What do you people think I blog about? Cultism. Groupthink. Mass Psychosis. That's how Obama got elected, and that's what plagues us - from all the "isms" and racial shit and all the rest.

We've simply lost the ability to see reality because we're too trapped in trying to compartmentalize it according to some bogus grand theory from various gurus on high.; 8/3/11, 10:56 PM
Chip S. said...: Crack,

The economic crisis was brought on by the people you named, for sure. But Medicare Pt. D is a component of the structural deficit that the Republicans could have prevented. Bruce Bartlett:

Even with a deceptively low estimate of the drug benefit's cost, there were still a few Republicans in the House of Representatives who wouldn't roll over and play dead just to buy re-election. Consequently, when the legislation came up for its final vote on Nov. 22, 2003, it was failing by 216 to 218 when the standard 15-minute time allowed for voting came to an end.

What followed was one of the most extraordinary events in congressional history. The vote was kept open for almost three hours while the House Republican leadership brought massive pressure to bear on the handful of principled Republicans who had the nerve to put country ahead of party. The leadership even froze the C-SPAN cameras so that no one outside the House chamber could see what was going on.

Yes, the bill had plenty of support among Democrats. But a Bush veto probably wouldn't have been overridden.; 8/3/11, 10:56 PM
MayBee said...: I admit I am surprised. The campaign Obama ran was nothing less than masterful even given that he had a lot of help. But his administration is just amazingly bad.

It was not masterful.
He took no solid position and called it "pragmatism". For whatever reason, people chose to praise that as a quality he had, even though he'd never demonstrated it.

He lied about past job experiences (The Chicago Annenberg Challenge for one). Acorn was another.

He lied about his ties to a felon (Rezko). When he explained letting Rezko help him pay for his house, he said it was "a boneheaded move". That was enough for people

When the economy started crashing, he wanted to stay in Florida and keep practicing for his debate. He wanted to issue a statement. That, right there, was the biggest clue to how he'd govern

He refused to visit injured soldiers in Germany because his military consultant could not come with him. He tried to blame that on the Pentagon

He disabled security software on his campaign site so anybody could donate, from anywhere, using any name, at any amount.

He is still, to this day, paying fines for his 2008 campaign. The amounts have bee record breaking.; 8/3/11, 10:56 PM
MayBee said...: But Medicare Pt. D is a component of the structural deficit that the Republicans could have prevented.

Obama and the Democrats could have repealed it at any time in 2009 and much of 2010.; 8/3/11, 10:58 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: KenK,

Obama's campaign was masterful.

Will you quit saying that? Without the press doing it's job, my dick could win an election because it's just as impressive.

We got hosed - and throwing a few of these "journalists" against a wall would have to be part of any process to get us out of this. Some (and I'm straining not to say "most") can't be trusted.; 8/3/11, 11:01 PM
Chip S. said...: The question was, is there anything that conservatives here would blame the Republicans for. Apparently we can put you in the "no" column.; 8/3/11, 11:02 PM
Eric said...: polishing a chair with his ass in the Pentagon doesn't count IMHO

I'm far from a fan of McCain's, but this is a pretty blatant mischaracterization of the man's military career. He rose to national prominence after having been shot down over Vietnam and spending time as a POW in Hanoi.

How could you not know this?; 8/3/11, 11:08 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Chip S.,

The economic crisis was brought on by the people you named, for sure. But Medicare Pt. D is a component of the structural deficit that the Republicans could have prevented.

Bullshit. The current mass psychosis was brought on by one thing and one thing only - 9/11 and it's aftermath. We have become a nation of cowards, which manifested itself into a hatred of Bush who Would. Not. Bend. That weakened him, and allowed the Democrats a greater foothold in our system. The Republicans weakened on Bush - McCain wouldn't even run on his record - which allowed him no cover.

Bush's biggest mistake, which I understand - and like him for - but vehemently disagree with under the circumstances, was not to fight back:

AKA The Macho Response.

The man was just too decent to fight his own people,...; 8/3/11, 11:10 PM
MayBee said...: The question was, is there anything that conservatives here would blame the Republicans for. Apparently we can put you in the "no" column.

I don't know who you are speaking to, but my answer is 'yes'. The Republicans when they had all three branches spent way too much.
And they failed to eliminate the Department of Education when they had the chance.; 8/3/11, 11:13 PM
Alex said...: Titus - fuck off already.; 8/3/11, 11:14 PM
MayBee said...: In a less blinkered press, McCain going back to Washington to work on legislation for what we know was a unique and horrible crisis would have been heroic.

And Obama, he of the teleprompter, wanting to stay back from his paid job as Senator to practice reciting words for his debate, would have been seen as cowardly.

Also, as best as I can recall, Obama criticized McCain for his stance on the GS bailout, but never actually stated his own.; 8/3/11, 11:18 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Chip S.,

The question was, is there anything that conservatives here would blame the Republicans for. Apparently we can put you in the "no" column.

No, that's not the question, but I'll answer you anyway:

Yes, as I said, people like Alan Greenspan - and even Bush - deserve blame, but I can't see throwing them in prison. An honest mistake is an honest mistake.

But when it comes to the Democrats, with their "the people united" bullshit - actively operating against the interests of the nation - yes, I'd throw a whole gang of them under the prisons. They did not care about lying, and many of them told me so - along with their dreams for a civil war - because they thought, as a black man, I was on their side.

They're criminals, and that's all there is to it.; 8/3/11, 11:19 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: MayBee,

In a less blinkered press, McCain going back to Washington to work on legislation for what we know was a unique and horrible crisis would have been heroic.

And Obama, he of the teleprompter, wanting to stay back from his paid job as Senator to practice reciting words for his debate, would have been seen as cowardly.

Exactly.; 8/3/11, 11:23 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: MayBee,

The Republicans when they had all three branches spent way too much.

Bullshit, again. They took the blame for spending too much.

It was the fucking Democrats again.

You guys swallowed the spin,...; 8/3/11, 11:26 PM
Patrick said...: corruption does not create confidence.; 8/3/11, 11:27 PM
Bayoneteer said...: Eric I honor McCain for his military service and doubt if I could have held up to what he went through for all those years he was a captive. It would have killed me. But with that said being a POW isn't "executive experience".; 8/3/11, 11:27 PM
MayBee said...: Good graph, Crack. Thanks.; 8/3/11, 11:30 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: KenK,

Being a POW isn't "executive experience".

No, but once given power, it also doesn't lead to one getting rolled, either.

All this shit about you knowing what McCain would've done is bullshit:

Nobody knows.; 8/3/11, 11:30 PM
Patrick said...: Obama is driving, he gloriously placed the republicans in the back seat and took the keys from them. Inspiring.; 8/3/11, 11:31 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Okay. To become law ... the budget needs da' House. Da' Senate. And, Obama's signature.

Perhaps, Obama will just let the robo-signer do the work?

Too bad the robo-signer can't swing golf clubs. Cause then? You could play in the rain.; 8/3/11, 11:44 PM
Carol_Herman said...: The Belmont Club has up a good obama joke. In it, we're told the russians just printed oodles of obama stamps, to celebrate his 50th birthday.

"But conservatives are complaining, that to make this work, you have to spit on his back."; 8/3/11, 11:47 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Oh, another from the Belmont Club:

THE RUBE IN CON IS THE RUBICON; 8/3/11, 11:48 PM
Cedarford said...: Maybee - "He refused to visit injured soldiers in Germany because his military consultant could not come with him. He tried to blame that on the Pentagon."
============

What the fuck is Obama? Florence Nightingale? Or was he a candidate that went to Iraq to check on Iraqi concerns and then to Europe to see what European leaders wanted from USA-Europe relations?

Where did this demand that everyone must visit military in hospitals come from as the #1priority of any politician? From the "total moral authority of Victimhood??"

And why Germany? Are enemy casualty, accident, and illness victims overseas "magically fresher" than visiting similar troops now and then stateside?

The priorities of a trip to assess conditions in Europe and Iraq should be:

1. Assess the conditions of the USA-Europe relationship.
2. Assess the conditions in Iraq.
3. Meet key Iraqis and Euros.
4. Address international media, transmit the right messages on what you have seen or concluded on Iraq, Euro matters of concern...or messages to voters back in America,
5. Pop in on "wounded warriors" or serve turkey to "hero" troops somewhere as a morale booster.
6. Watch colorful native dancers at the lavish dinner your hosts have prepared.; 8/3/11, 11:49 PM
MayBee said...: And why Germany? Are enemy casualty, accident, and illness victims overseas "magically fresher" than visiting similar troops now and then stateside?

You'll have to ask him "why Germany?". It was on his schedule. His plane had landed at the base. But he was told his campaign military adviser couldn't go in, only Senate staff could. So he didn't get off the plane and he decided to leave.; 8/3/11, 11:59 PM
Cedarford said...: MayBee,

In a less blinkered press, McCain going back to Washington to work on legislation for what we know was a unique and horrible crisis would have been heroic.

==============
Unfortunately for Mccain, the impression that he gave was of someone parachuting in last minute with no idea of what either side was proposing..
Alternately being seen as incoherently grandstanding over things he had no clue of or sitting with a confused look on his face and refusing to answer questions outside the talking points his handlers gave him.

All in all, acting like a chicken with its's headcut off.
McCain impressed no one with his "I'm suspending my campaign to save America from Wall Street and Bush!" - stunt.; 8/4/11, 12:00 AM
MayBee said...: Unfortunately for Mccain, the impression that he gave was of someone parachuting in last minute with no idea of what either side was proposing..

Nobody knew what anybody was proposing. But he was a sitting US Senator, who had a chance at being the next president, and he chose to get involved and learn something.

Perhaps Obama looked more calm, but it's easy to look calm when you don't care, don't care to get involved, and think someone else will take care of it.; 8/4/11, 12:09 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Cedarford,

McCain impressed no one with his "I'm suspending my campaign to save America from Wall Street and Bush!" - stunt.

So you're suggesting the media coverage was honest?

I just want to be clear here,...; 8/4/11, 12:11 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: crack emcee,
How could anyone elect him?

Calmly and rationally, of course!; 8/4/11, 12:19 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: exhelodrvr1,

crack emcee,
How could anyone elect him?

Calmly and rationally, of course!

Yeah, it's like The Stepford Wives or something, the way his believers behave. Like it's just the most reasonable and logical thing in the world to place our nation in the hands of a man distinguished for voting "present" and destroying everything he touches. Even scarier, the media fell under the spell first.

This country is going to pay for it's cultism. One way or another, it will pay. It may not be obvious how, immediately, but blunders of this magnitude don't come without a price. This much I know.; 8/4/11, 12:28 AM
Seeing Red said...: Is this part of Eric Cantor's prescription? If it's not, then he has no more idea than Obama how to fix what their own policies have broken.

Cantor can't do what really needs to be done.

Unless he can force a Nurenburg Trial for the MMGW scam to get the regs lifted.; 8/4/11, 12:56 AM
Seeing Red said...: It's his job, CF. He is CIC.

And why Germany?

Because they were being flown there from the ME.; 8/4/11, 12:58 AM
Seeing Red said...: So, two years into BHO's term Rs had determined that BHO's policies had made things worse than their policies would have done. Two years was long enough to make a judgement.

Who needed 2 years?

Energy prices would skyrocket, single-payer down the road.

Drudge keeps pointing out he said he would focus on job jobs jobs for 3 years and Pfffft - zip.

Cash for Clunkers -FAIL

that mortgage program FAIL

yet regulations & strangulation keeps happening.

BTW - Dems had control since 2007 so - 4 years.

and it looks like no Dem budget for 4 years either.; 8/4/11, 1:03 AM
Anonymous said...: And let's not forget the masterful job he did with the gulf oil spill.

My how well that went!; 8/4/11, 1:32 AM
chickelit said...: McCain impressed no one with his "I'm suspending my campaign to save America from Wall Street and Bush!" - stunt.

@Cedarford: your formally Sullivanistic, now Althouse-cum-cunning linguistics are obvious.

Give it up, man. Time & History are against you. Think of your legacy.; 8/4/11, 2:12 AM
Eric said...: But with that said being a POW isn't "executive experience".

How is flying combat missions and commanding men over enemy territory "polishing a chair with his ass"?; 8/4/11, 3:07 AM
Peter said...: Everyone like to talk about how bad Bush messed up. Except that in November, 2006 the unemployment rate was four point six percent. Then the Democrats took Congress.

Now I'm the last guy in the world to say that Bush was the best President in history but the goddamned Donks get at least half the credit for the financial meltdown. Bush tried to push Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac toward sanity but the Donks in Congress wouldn't let him.

So, blame Bush for not fighting harder, fine, but blame the idiots like Dodd and Frank as loudly.; 8/4/11, 3:47 AM
Brian Brown said...: pbAndj said...

Ha ha.

Cantor knows what to do.

Tax cuts for the job creators!

Duh.

We sincerely appreciate your defense of Obama.

Duh.; 8/4/11, 4:52 AM
rhhardin said...: McCain has a very powerful sense of personal honor, which is good, but unfortunately it attaches to completely unpredictable things.

Honor running open-loop is hard to tell from crazy.; 8/4/11, 5:31 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Keep in mind with McCain that he did not spend his entire naval career in the Hanoi Hilton. Afterwards, he rose up through the ranks to Captain (O-6), attended War College, and was offered flag rank. But his last tour of duty was as a Congressional liaison and he decided he liked politics better, and ran for office instead.

My memory is that he did command a unit at one point, and apparently did a decent job at it.

One of the things that the military does do is train leadership and management, esp. at the rank that McCain rose to. So, as for training, education, and experience, he did have a lot more than Obama, but that isn't hard.

Obviously, the person who had the best experience, education, and training, was Mitt Romney - not only did he have a Harvard MBA, he had used it to run a number of companies, and to make a lot of money. Unfortunately, he just doesn't know how to fight, and that is what you need these days to get elected President. So, we got McCain instead, who apparently believes in the leading from the front style of leadership, and so appeared too impulsive to be President. The reality, of course, is that Obama was just as lost as he is now, but was able to hide it better, since he had no responsibility, and thus looked shrewd and knowledgeable.; 8/4/11, 5:51 AM
Toad Trend said...: We should all feel relief now that Zero, Schumer, et al can 'concentrate' and 'focus' on job destruction.

Based on prior results of 'D' controlled congresses, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and many large metro areas, we can expect excellent results.

Heck, big government and its cronies can 'fix' anything!!!; 8/4/11, 6:14 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Yes, Obama is over his head as to what to do about this economy.

He had absolutely no relevant training for the job before taking office. He has never taken a management, finance, or economics class in his lifetime. He never ran a business, or, really even worked in one.

On the other hand, the people he hung around and those he wanted to emulate (such as his father) tended to be Marxists, or some other brand of socialist. Which means that they were as economically illiterate as he was.

What is scary to some extent was his statement that he didn't know that there was no such thing as a shovel ready project anymore. After spending most of a trillion dollars on such. My guess is that if you had polled the frequent posters here when the Stimulus Bill was being passed, that a majority would have known that, and why. I know I pointed it out at the time, and am sure I wasn't the only one.

So, what we had 2 1/2 years ago, was someone winning the highest office in the land, knowing less than the average college graduate about how the economy works. Probably much less.

That might not have been as big of a problem if he were a fast learner. Clinton was such, and that is part of why he was able to get reelected. He didn't come into office knowing how to keep the economy moving, but he sure learned what he needed (and was helped by a Republican Congress).

But, President Obama is intellectually lazy. He would rather be playing golf or raising money, than doing the hard part of the job, which means working day and night until you know what you need to know.

Compounding it, he is surrounded by a lot of people who also don't know how the economy works (which is not surprising, given their political party). And, never having had any managerial training or experience, he doesn't appear to have availed himself of the few economic experts he does have around him (which I will suggest he picked up through crony capitalism, and not through any real intent to bring in economic talent).

Obama isn't alone there. Pelosi is worse. She is still wedded to Keynesian economics, and truly thinks that the government can create jobs, despite having ramrodded legislation through Congress that has killed millions of them.

Keep this in mind - that when you hear the word "investment" from a Democratic politician, s/he is advocating long discredited Keynesian economics.

Getting back to Obama - I don't think that he had any idea how badly a President, esp. when his party controls Congress, can screw up the economy.; 8/4/11, 6:15 AM
Roger J. said...: What Bruce Hayden said above.
As a follow on question (not to Bruce but to anyone who can explain it: How in the world does raising taxes in the middle of recession get us out of the recession--what is the underlying economic theory for that action?; 8/4/11, 6:36 AM
peacelovewoodstock said...: Mr. Cantor is helping to set a new tone by his use of polite understatement.; 8/4/11, 6:50 AM
Joe Schmoe said...: So Cantor says Obama is in over his head on economy.

Other Cantor quotes considered for the lede: the sky is blue, the sun rises in the east, and people like sugar.

Seriously; this is news!?; 8/4/11, 7:01 AM
Scott M said...: Heck, big government and its cronies can 'fix' anything!!!

In other words...

PROGRESSIVE IDEALS! SO GOOD, THEY HAVE TO BE MANDATORY!!; 8/4/11, 7:34 AM
pm317 said...: Yeah, what gave him away? We knew he was not up to the job well before Dem primary 2008.

READ and WEEP
{from @The Crack Emcee link}

Watch Flineo's excellent video on that.; 8/4/11, 7:50 AM
Sloanasaurus said...: Obama is almost a total failure (he still has OBL).

Its hard to see how he can get re-elected. Nothing has improved and in fact the future is far more dim today than it was back in January 2009, mostly because Obama blew a huge wad of American prosperity and gained nothing from it.; 8/4/11, 8:03 AM
gerry said...: Is there anything Obamalamadingdong is not in over his head in?

(Help me rephrase that, please); 8/4/11, 8:07 AM
Roger J. said...: Gerry: since you asked :)

is there iny thing in which etc; 8/4/11, 8:14 AM
Curious George said...: Obama is over his head spelling economy. But he can say it without a Negro dialect. Unless he wants one.; 8/4/11, 8:16 AM
Hagar said...: "It's been a long, tough journey. But we have made some incredible strides together. Yes, we have. But the thing that we all ought to remember is that as much as good as we have done, precisely because the challenges were so daunting, precisely because we we were inheriting so many challenges, that we're not even halfway there yet. When I said 'change we can believe in' I didn't say 'change we can believe in tomorrow.' Not change we can believe in next week. We knew this was going to take time because we've got this big, messy, tough democracy," President Obama said at a campaign fundraiser in Chicago on Wednesday night.

He is not "in over his head." He is doing what he wanted to do, and, like Jimmy Carter, he will be around for a long time, telling us all about how he was right all the time, we were just too dull and stupid to understand.; 8/4/11, 8:17 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: My life was just fine when Bush was prez. The second Obamacare was shoved down our throats it all fell apart.
Coincidence?; 8/4/11, 8:19 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Under Bush, the worst unemployment was5.2%, and that was a disaster! According to the democrat media. Now that unemployment is at 9.2% (it's actually higher) the media have nothing to say.

Well, the media do trumpet the democrat party talking point that ordinary Americans who want a smaller government are in fact "terrorists."; 8/4/11, 8:27 AM
ricpic said...: Obama's passion is for punishment of rich whites. It's a twofer for him. The economy? A bottomless revenue stream can always be expropriated from rich whites. That's as far as his alleged thinking goes.; 8/4/11, 8:39 AM
Roger J. said...: I faulted President Bush for not using the veto enough, and failing to make use of the bully pulpit; Mr Obama apparently believes he is the worlds greatest orator, and continues to exhaust is audience with his presence and babbling.; 8/4/11, 8:54 AM
Robert Cook said...: "My life was just fine when Bush was prez. The second Obamacare was shoved down our throats it all fell apart.
Coincidence?"

Delusion.; 8/4/11, 8:54 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Robert Cook. Sure.
http://tinyurl.com/3e5kdw2

It's just everyone's imagination.; 8/4/11, 9:01 AM
roesch-voltaire said...: As other bloggers have pointed out, the problem does not rest solely with Obama, but is a cooperative bungle that has been going on for over 20 years. But Obama should be faulted for the advisors he has chosen, and the economist he has excluded from the inner circle. With two unfunded wars, and rising medical costs, the whole country is in over our heads.One good sign is the elite have begin to realize that the belief in financial/ service industry as the new growth for the country has gone bust and now they are turning back to the idea that it is important for the US manufacture things and not just outsource.; 8/4/11, 9:01 AM
Scott M said...: Delusion.

You can't possibly make that call without more information. For instance, subsequent to the passing of Obamacare, my HSA, which was chugging along JUST FUCKING FINE during the Bush years, sent out a letter informing all members that they will be shuttering in January specifically because of the cost increases due to the ASA.

My life hasn't fallen apart, but I'm betting this is impacting me (wife and 3 small kids plus one in college to cover with health and dental) more than it is you.

See how I did that without any further info on your part? You made it look so easy...; 8/4/11, 9:02 AM
Scott M said...: With two unfunded wars, and rising medical costs, the whole country is in over our heads.

Three actually, but who's counting? I agree with your sentiment, but caution you to remember that the great majority of us do not live our lives "in over our heads". Our leaders, regardless of stripe, seem unable to come to grips with the very real problems the deficit and debt pose.; 8/4/11, 9:05 AM
Anonymous said...: Have the Bush tax cuts for "job creators" started creating any fucking jobs yet?; 8/4/11, 9:06 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Robert Cook does it again.

The man is brilliant.; 8/4/11, 9:07 AM
Michael said...: R-V: every person in the country can agree that we need manufacturing in the country, but that is not a matter that is up to a vote. We cannot demonstrate that we can compete on price and if we cannot do that we cannot regain a manufacturing foothold. It is great to romance the good old days but the good old days are gone. Everybody could hope for a resurgence of horsedrawn carriages to resurrect the whip business bit it is not going to happen. Get real, dude, it is not happening. We are far better off to accept the reality we have and learn to live with it. Or we can force companies to stop building plants in SC because we dont think workers are paid enoeugh in Seattle. You like that manufacturing plan?; 8/4/11, 9:12 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: franglo,

Have the Bush tax cuts for "job creators" started creating any fucking jobs yet?

Hey, Mr. Class Warfare, in the environment you losers have "created," you could give a tax cut to money itself and it wouldn't help the situation, so sit down, shut up, and save the snark for one of your fellow dumbshits, you hear?

As a matter of fact, if you address all of your comments, specifically, to Robert Cook, the two of you will look like Rhodes scholars in each others eyes.; 8/4/11, 9:13 AM
Curious George said...: "We knew this was going to take time because we've got this big, messy, tough democracy,"

If only he could be King!

He Obama, we here what your selling. We ain't buyin'; 8/4/11, 9:13 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: "Have the Bush tax cuts for "job creators" started creating any fucking jobs yet?"

The ever so slightly lowered tax rates (to all brackets) that were made slightly less obscene and unfair actually DID help the economy during the Bush years. Most of the problems we face go back farther than GWB and have more to do with poorly run corrupt government enterprises like Fannie and Freddie. Obama and his party are the embodiment of Fannie and Freddie. Read the book "Reckless Endangerment" and find out the truth.; 8/4/11, 9:21 AM
Trooper York said...: I recently went to the fabric show to purchase fabrics to use in the manufacture of clothing to be made in the USA.

Out of 200 exhibitors....five were from the United States. Their prices were not competitive but I still ordered from them as best as I could.

I refused to order anything from China but did get some stuff from India and Indonesia.

Ordering US fabric adds about 20% to the cost of my goods. Will the consumer agree to pay that to support US manufacturing jobs. Well so far they have in the very limited way that I have been producing specialty goods. But I have my doubts about the mass market.

There's the rub.; 8/4/11, 9:27 AM
Trooper York said...: Most people would prefer to pay pennies at Wal-Mart instead of buying American for a higher cost.

It is just the way it is.; 8/4/11, 9:28 AM
Trooper York said...: When I was a kid.....we only wanted to buy American.

We would say...."What is that Made in Japan?"

Which means it was a cheap piece of shit.

America lost it's way when we got less racist. Just sayn'; 8/4/11, 9:30 AM
Scott M said...: @Trooper

My left-leaning/hippie father-in-law says the answer to your woes is to "allow" our union organizers to go over to China and get their labor market unionized.

When I try to explain the myriad reasons this won't occur anywhere but in an alternate reality, he starts talking about what a great place Haiti is.; 8/4/11, 9:35 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Trooper York; Thank a union. What used to be necessary has turned into a corrupt machine that forces whole industry over-seas.
Often it is impossible to buy American with thin and expensive choices. Made in China because the unions have made US manufacturing too expensive. Now if you'll excuse me, I just worked 15 minutes and my union boss is yelling at me to take a break.
Good thing union dues are subtracted from my paycheck to pay for all this "fairness".; 8/4/11, 9:38 AM
Trooper York said...: Do you notice that a lot of popular entertainment is about aliens attacking or apes taking over our society?

Whats up with that?

Why is every other movie or TV show about strange races or species coming to take over America.

Falling Skies. The Event. That attack on LA movie. Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

What does that signify?; 8/4/11, 9:38 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Troop,

Why is every other movie or TV show about strange races or species coming to take over America.

Falling Skies. The Event. That attack on LA movie. Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

What does that signify?

Would you wanna take over India?; 8/4/11, 9:51 AM
Scott M said...: What does that signify?

Don't read into it. There's a HUGE market for this material and we've reached a stage technologically where doing major-movie-level special effects has gotten down to a price point where more production companies can offer more things along these lines. Invasion stories have ALWAYS been popular since WWII.

A more apt analogy would be the glut of sci-fi that came out around the Vietnam era that showed technologically superior protagonists (not necessarily Americans) being outfought by seemingly primitive species/peoples. That's not what's going on right now with film, though.

If you want to find a common thread along those lines, there is an increasing number of books who's inner flap says something like "twenty years from now, the United States is a shadow of it's former self". There are a bunch and more each month. What we don't have...yet...are a sudden glut of dystopian stories, but if the new novel selections are a clue, we will. THAT will reflect malaise.; 8/4/11, 9:51 AM
Scott M said...: stories=movies/tv shows; 8/4/11, 9:53 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: That the white man has f-ed up America and any old replacement would be an improvement?; 8/4/11, 9:58 AM
DADvocate said...: For a team, company, country to be successful, the leaders of those entities have to be invested in the success of the group and each individual in the group. Liberal/leftist philosophy, which Obama adheres to, isn't invested in success of the country nor of individuals.

Liberals/leftists are invested in redistributing wealth and a form of "equality" that involves dragging everyone down to the lowest common denominator. To accept that their system is a formula for failure would require a horrid admission of lack of understanding and insight that few lefties are willing or able to make.

It's more than being over his head. It's nearly everything he believes related to economics, government and leadership is wrong.; 8/4/11, 10:11 AM
Curious George said...: "Scott M said...
@Trooper

My left-leaning/hippie father-in-law says the answer to your woes is to "allow" our union organizers to go over to China and get their labor market unionized."

He's right. They would disappear into the ChiComm gulag and that would go a long way to ease our woes.; 8/4/11, 10:11 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: We could argue all day whether the Democrats who drove us into the biggest recession of most of our lifetimes were economically ignorant and illiterate or cynical and dishonest. Chuck Schumer is, of course, cynical.

But Keynesian economics, despite having been discredited some 30 or so years ago, was just too attractive for Obama and Pelosi. They could do everything that they wanted to with the money that they could vote themselves, and could, they thought, create jobs as a result. The more money squandered, the more jobs created. When they were passing the stimulus bill, they were competing with each other on who could come up with the largest Keynesian multiplier. I think that Pelosi won, with something like a 4x or 5x multiplier. And, I think that the woman is stupid enough that she still believes that the government can use Keynesian economics, and those huge multipliers, to invest our economy out of the recession.

It turns out that the Keynesian multiplier, in real life, is less than one. It pretty much has to be, since since the government doesn't actually create wealth, just redistributes and destroys it (it does, of course, create money, but from an economics point of view, that is not wealth, but rather a medium of exchange for such).

Nevertheless, an economic theory that allowed the Dems to shovel as much money as they could dream of to their constituents that supposedly would create jobs, with the more squandered, the more jobs created, was just too attractive for them to pass up.; 8/4/11, 10:25 AM
PackerBronco said...: With all due respect to McCain, his attack on the tea party hobbits showed exactly what kind of president he would have been. To McCain the commidity of the senate is an example of one of the highest virtues and the fact that he lost to the first African-American president is one of his greatest accomplishments.; 8/4/11, 1:13 PM
mariner said...: The real problem is that he's in over OUR heads.; 8/4/11, 6:24 PM