Althouse: "If congressional Republicans had even minimal institutional trust in the president, Mr. Obama would be able to assemble a majority to pass immigration reform."

July 3, 2014

"If congressional Republicans had even minimal institutional trust in the president, Mr. Obama would be able to assemble a majority to pass immigration reform."

"He can't, or won't, and so he rants. More than a few Americans watching parades pass by this weekend will recall that one man's whim as the way we make laws has no support in the U.S. Not now, not ever."

Writes Daniel Henninger in a Wall Street Journal piece. (If you don't have a subscription, google some of that text and you'll get in on a free pass.)

Henninger is more sanguine about Boehner's lawsuit than I am, but he is right, I think, to point to the Supreme Court's recent resistance to the expansion of executive power and to question what seems to be Obama's idea: If Congress won't give him want he wants, that justifies executive power to do what needs to be done.

87 comments:

damikesc said...: Obama seems baffled that others might think "doing something" might be a worse option than doing nothing.

The GOP should call his bluff and zero out the IRS budget until they comply with their investigation. Zero out the EPA budget as well for the same reason.

See if he likes that.; 7/3/14, 9:51 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: If it's "what needs to be done" then what's the problem?

Oh yeah - America - where the darkie's "needs" don't count,...; 7/3/14, 9:53 AM
rhhardin said...: Thw WSJ has the insane style of putting a moral conclusion paragraph at the end of opinion pieces.

It's so stupid that it has to be an editorial requirement.

As if no reader notices the sudden shift in the piece and wonders what this is always plopped at the end.

Writers would notice it too. They're apparently overruled.; 7/3/14, 9:55 AM
George M. Spencer said...: Professor, here is your summer session exam question:

Do you support the impeachment of Pres. Obama?

Why, why not?

IMHO, he and his caporegime are so wildly out-of-control beyond anything we've seen in this country that people simply can't wrap their minds around what's happening.; 7/3/14, 9:55 AM
Nonapod said...: Traditionally truculence and petulance haven't been presidential qualities. I guess we're in the process of remaking the presidency. We'll also be testing the true limits of an executive order over the next 30ish months. Things are gonna get even more acrimonious before this is over.; 7/3/14, 10:06 AM
SteveBrooklineMA said...: If the government would demonstrate an ability to control immigration, then I think there would be enough political support to allow those who have been here a while to stay. The trouble is people don't trust the government to enforce the control half of comprehensive immigration reform.

Why can't we act on enforcement now?; 7/3/14, 10:07 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: The Crack Emcee said...

If it's "what needs to be done" then what's the problem?

It's not what needs to be done. It is what the President thinks should be done.; 7/3/14, 10:18 AM
Jane the Actuary said...: when did the WSJ turn Best of the Web into subscription-only, by the way?; 7/3/14, 10:20 AM
Birkel said...: And if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a bicycle.; 7/3/14, 10:21 AM
Bob Ellison said...: St. George, impeachment is a political process, alas. It tries to look like a judicial process, but it's not. It was kinda judicial in 1974, but otherwise, it's entirely political.

Obama can't be impeached, because he's black, and because Clinton was impeached and that didn't work.; 7/3/14, 10:23 AM
mccullough said...: Obama's poll numbers are in the toilet, like W.'s were. They kept doing stuff the public disagreed with. Whether it's their incompetence or just that government is institutionally incapable of competently doing the things W and Obama have tried to do is an interesting debate.

While I don't think W and Obama were that capable, it's very difficult to get big government to work well or conduct nation building efforts in Muslim shitholes.; 7/3/14, 10:25 AM
Eric said...: Suggested edit:

If Congress won't give him want he wants, that justifies executive power to do what "he wants" to be done.; 7/3/14, 10:33 AM
kcom said...: Whatever else he was, I doubt Mitt Romney would have been a petulant president. CEOs don't make businesses successful through petulance. Of course, Obama doesn't understand that since he's never successfully led anything.; 7/3/14, 10:33 AM
Jaq said...: I finally figured out why we should trust the Democrats on the IRS story!

It is a known fact that Shulman received a notice from Congress that they were investigating Lerner's department of Exempt Organisations on a "gift tax" issue on June 3, right?

Lerner reported to him directly per the IRS org chart. Right?

Lerner didn't hear about any of this until a month after the letter, and two weeks after her hard drive failed. Right?

With me so far? Anything in the above false?

Lerner sent out a blast email when her hard drive failed. Right? We have seen it entered into evidence.

So her boss knew about the request for correspondence and documents that concerned Lerner.

I guess that she never copied her direct boss on the org chart that she had lost all her emails or he would have insisted that proper rules be followed with the care of documents and correspondence in light of the notification by Congress! Now it all makes sense!.; 7/3/14, 10:35 AM
Tank said...: If Bush or Zero had sealed the border during the last 14 years (which they could have done), we could have a conversation.

It still wouldn't be a good conversation. We don't really need any more people at this time. Legal or illegal. Black, white, redskin or yellow.; 7/3/14, 10:40 AM
Tank said...: PS This; 7/3/14, 10:41 AM
Levi Starks said...: I can understand the emotional reasoning for electing the first black president, I fail to see how emotion could override logic in giving a proven narcissist 4 additional years.
As detestable as I find VP Biden, America would still be better off if Obama would face the fact that he's poisoned the political water with his incessant rhetoric of hate,and resign.
At this point any Democratic, or Republican president would look good by comparison.; 7/3/14, 10:41 AM
Krumhorn said...: Dear Leader has brought this entirely upon himself. From the first day of his presidency, his arrogance and profound contempt for political opponents ("I won!")has been the hallmark feature for which he will be sadly recalled.

An arguably idiotic Quinnipiac poll reports that The One is regarded as the worst president since WW II. Well, part of the problem is that there are too many who weren't around to enjoy Jimma's presidency.

However, Reagan is regarded as the best. Reagan and the librul Speaker of the House slapped on their game faces and worked together on a great deal of legislation. Our Savior and his Democratic congress used their first two years proving that if you merely scratch the surface of a leftie, a tyrant is screaming to be let out.

They got greedy and passed that ridiculous trillion dollar spendulous bill and Obamacare on party line votes and procedural trickery. The Supreme Court has repeatedly repudiated his use of executive power...unanimously.

And now he is heard whining that the Republicans think he is nefarious and at war with the Constitution.

I have tried hard to just disagree with him. Now I despise him. He and Jimma belong in the same squalid hole in history.

- Krumhorn; 7/3/14, 10:45 AM
James Pawlak said...: What" No trim of the leaves of "Cannabis Coloradis"? Or, did they eat or smoke those before performing?; 7/3/14, 10:47 AM
Krumhorn said...: If it's "what needs to be done" then what's the problem?

Oh yeah - America - where the darkie's "needs" don't count,...

You know, Crack, you have amused me on this blog and your own blog for years, and this recent fixation on race I have categorized as an elaborate and entertaining over-the-top hoax......but I'm beginning to wonder now.

- Krumhorn; 7/3/14, 10:53 AM
Thorley Winston said...: Do you support the impeachment of Pres. Obama?

Why, why not?

Because there aren’t 60 votes in the Senate for removing him now and even if Republicans take control of the Senate after the next election, they’re unlikely to have 60 votes.

A President who survives an unsuccessful attempt to remove him from office is going to be stronger than he was going in. His base will rally to support him and he will claim that the failure to convict him means he was “acquitted” and that it proves that the charges against him were frivolous. Which means Obama would spend the remainder of his term feeling even more emboldened than he was before.

Better to just deny him the Senate and block attempts to legislate via executive order and he can spend his time gnashing his teeth in petulant anger on the golf course while we try to elect an adult to replace in him 2016.; 7/3/14, 10:56 AM
Econophile said...: Re: "immigration reform"

Walking across the UW campus to my office, I passed by four presumably immigrant kids, probably ages 10-16, holding up some homemade immigration "facts" posters. The oldest, prompted apparently by my lack of engagement, shouts at me, rather aggressively "Hey! Are you an immigrant too?!" (He's assumes I, a young fair-skinned female, am not.) He continued with something equally hostile, I'm sure, though I did not stop to listen.

I should have stopped and confronted him about his absurd sense of entitlement and anger towards a me, a member of the culture he wants to be able to leech off of and be given praise for doing so. Where do these people come from? Why should such barbarians essentially be given preference?

Derbyshire is right. We are doomed.; 7/3/14, 11:02 AM
Drago said...: The Crack Emcee: "If it's "what needs to be done" then what's the problem?
Oh yeah - America - where the darkie's "needs" don't count,.."

Come on Crack. You're not even trying now. Stop phoning it in.; 7/3/14, 11:07 AM
Krumhorn said...: Do you support the impeachment of Pres. Obama?

I realize that this was directed at our hostess, but I cringe when I hear the word used in connection with Obummer. U.S. Const. Art. II, § 4 provides for the impeachment and conviction for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Our Savior has been a miserable failure, but anything he has done or not done cannot possibly be characterized as treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Wilfulness, arrogance and disdain for our country are the usual traits of your average leftie, but they aren't crimes.

In contrast, BillyBoy certainly qualified for impeachment and conviction, but the political climate was such that the senate was too nutless to convict. It was ok, as the chief law enforcement officer of the nation, to commit perjury with respect to extra-marital sex.

The very utterance of the word impeachment in connection with Dear Leader is more than enough to enshrine him as the fifth figure on Mount Rushmore.

It's bad enough that some magnificent aircraft carrier is likely to be named after this prick.

- Krumhorn; 7/3/14, 11:08 AM
Martha said...: Obama sounds more and more like an adolescent male full of disrespect for responsible adults.

His "So sue me" taunt makes me cringe. That the President of the United States regularly sounds like a playground bully-- sad. Very sad for this country.; 7/3/14, 11:09 AM
Original Mike said...: "It's bad enough that some magnificent aircraft carrier is likely to be named after this prick."

Now there's a stomach-turning thought.; 7/3/14, 11:25 AM
rhhardin said...: Subscribe to best of the web emails, which is free.

Then snarf a line of the sample email text into the google search box.

That takes you to the day's best of the web.

This approach minimizes typing.; 7/3/14, 11:27 AM
Auntie Ann said...: You can often get through on Bing now too, not just Google.; 7/3/14, 11:28 AM
Michael K said...: "Derbyshire is right. We are doomed."

Yup and he looks more prescient every year. His book was about a sort of wry humor and I laughed out loud at parts. Now, it's no longer funny.

Crack, there's a book you should read .; 7/3/14, 11:38 AM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: The Crack Emcee said...
If it's "what needs to be done" then what's the problem?

Oh yeah - America - where the darkie's "needs" don't count,...

If I were a 'darkie', I would be SO tribally embarrassed by this first 'darkie' President's performance that I would hardly know what to do.

Gonna be a L O N G time before voters take that kind of chance again, I bet.; 7/3/14, 11:40 AM
garage mahal said...: If it's "what needs to be done" then what's the problem?

The problem is Boehner and Republicans can't do immigration because of their base. But Boehner is screwed if they don't. So blame Obama.; 7/3/14, 11:52 AM
Robert Cook said...: To answer St. George's question:

I do support the impeachment of Barack Obama. It's too bad George W. Bush wasn't impeached. It's too bad neither of them, nor any in their administrations, will be tried for mass murder and war crimes. It's too bad our country is in the hands of a heedless ruling class who think only of aggrandizing their own power and comfort even as the republic has been interred without acknowledgement, and the world itself hurtles toward multiple catastrophes.; 7/3/14, 11:55 AM
Brennan said...: You can't take the Chicago out of our President. It's his willfully adopted cancer. He's loyal to his political heritage only because he cannot afford to abandon it.; 7/3/14, 11:56 AM
Krumhorn said...: "It's bad enough that some magnificent aircraft carrier is likely to be named after this prick."

Now there's a stomach-turning thought.

As former Marine Corp fighter pilot with close to 175 carrier missions, it wouldn't exactly be with a sense of relief anticipating the welcoming embrace of the wires that I would enter the break and turn onto final.

I think I'd rather step over the side and get picked up by an escort destroyer.

- Krumhorn; 7/3/14, 12:04 PM
Rocketeer said...: Since "Better than nothing is a high standard" is already taken, I'm going to adopt "Doing nothing is doing something" as my own.

That President Fey doesn't like that particular something doesn't grant him the power to

upend even the pitiful vestiges of the republican experiment that still remain.; 7/3/14, 12:26 PM
MadisonMan said...: Now there's a stomach-turning thought.

But after a while it'll be scuttled.; 7/3/14, 12:27 PM
Gahrie said...: Oh yeah - America - where the darkie's "needs" don't count

Every year, we Whities transfer billions of dollars from White people to "darkies" so they can buy $200 sneakers, gold chains and cell phones, as well as satisfy their "needs".; 7/3/14, 12:29 PM
CatherineM said...: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:online.wsj.com/articles/henninger-obamas-troublesome-congress-1404342045; 7/3/14, 12:29 PM
Richard Dolan said...: " ... and so he rants."

Rather than ranting, I think Obama is reverting to his preferred mode of speech, which is 24/7 campaign mode. It's a window into how the inhabitants of this White House talk amongst themselves, too. And how they talk is how they think.

Remember all the clucking when Tommy Vietor dismissed a question from Bret Baier about Benghazi with "Dude, that was so like two years ago." Listening to Obama now, he's not very far from that. His speechifying is now loaded down with snark and sarcasm -- just what a bunch of Vietor-like overgrown adolescents would sound like.

I can't recall another President who ever spoke publicly this way.; 7/3/14, 12:33 PM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Someone,
"Gonna be a L O N G time before voters take that kind of chance again, I bet."

You mean Nov 2016, when Hillary or Elizabeth Warren are the first female presidential candidate.; 7/3/14, 12:38 PM
exhelodrvr1 said...: "It's bad enough that some magnificent aircraft carrier is likely to be named after this prick."

I don't know - I think it would be pretty cool to do a deployment on the first nuclear powered golf course.; 7/3/14, 12:39 PM
Lnelson said...: Petulance is the word of the day.

At least it's been awhile since he's scratched his nose with his middle finger.; 7/3/14, 12:51 PM
readering said...: Harry Truman had success running against the "do-nothing Congress." Obama is trying out the same tactic. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't. Don't see the harm in trying.; 7/3/14, 12:53 PM
jacksonjay said...: The "needs" of the darkies have not been met by the Darkie-in-Chief! Darkies are worse-off, not better. BTW, is the DOJ still looking into the violation of Travon's civil rights?

Obama is really not to blame. The MSM, Democrats, Celebrity Opinion Leaders and even the GOP have been compliant! Any near-normal level of push-back, from the beginning, would have been a check to his arrogance and childishness. Now he thinks he's cute. Barack is a very spoiled child. This is not complicated or racist.

Even the SCOTUS let him run amuck on the GM bankruptcy reorganization! After being scolded at the SOTU, John Roberts ran scared on the ACA decision. I am surprised that the Nobel Bell Prize winning, Constitutional Lawyer in the White House isn't more defiant that he is!; 7/3/14, 12:58 PM
Alex said...: So deliberately refusing to enforce our border is not an impeachable offense?; 7/3/14, 1:28 PM
holdfast said...: The Crack Emcee: "If it's "what needs to be done" then what's the problem?
Oh yeah - America - where the darkie's "needs" don't count,.."

Um, Crack? This immigration "reform" is going to be very, very bad for African Americans. I honestly don't know why any would support it (except Obama, since his only real allegiance is to the left, not to either of his races) - it will create more ethnic tensions in the inner cities and depress wages for unskilled labor. It will also lead to more pressure to replace hiring preferences for blacks with preferences for Latinos.; 7/3/14, 1:41 PM
Sebastian said...: ". . . what seems to be Obama's idea: If Congress won't give him want he wants, that justifies executive power to do what needs to be done."

True, though progressive politicians don't need any justification for wanting to expand executive power to "do what needs to be done" -- as long as they have the power.; 7/3/14, 1:57 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: I think that the chances at getting comprehensive immigration through Congress this year were not that good, esp. after Cantor's primary loss. Immigration "reform" is a pet peeve of much of the Tea Party.

Here is the problem, as I see it. The big tech companies want more H1B visas so that they can being in more highly skilled engineers and scientists. This has been a problem at least since I first dealt with H1B holders (as inventors) almost 20 years ago. And, note, that H1B visa holders do not, and would not, have a pathway to citizenship. That is intentional. On the flip side, the Dems want amnesty, and therefore the right to vote, for all the illegal Hispanics in this country, because they believe that would give them a strong majority for the foreseeable future. The problem is that amnesty for illegals isn't going to move on its own in the House, and Harry Reid, knowing this, won't let H1B visas move in the Senate. So, "comprehensive" immigration reform was invented coupling these two interests.

The problem though is that the Republicans are not uniform in their beliefs here. Many don't see why Microsoft, Intel, etc. need to make more money, at the ultimate cost of a long term loss to Republicans of political power in favor of the Dems (thanks to all the new Dem voters).

The reason that the Republicans have seemed to schizoid this year on this subject is that their rank and file oppose amnesty, but there are tens of millions of dollars being spent pushing the H1B visas. So, when the Republicans in Congress listen to their constituents, they hear opposition, but then, they hear just the opposite from the legions of former members, former staffers, etc. hired by the tech companies, etc., that have been thronging them this last year. And, yes, the Republican House leadership, being the leadership, is the most vulnerable to this pressure, because they have, until Cantor's loss, seen much more of the money and lobbying, than they have the ire of the constituents. So, you have them stating opposition when cornered, but when the constituent pressure let up, hinting at passage.

The insanity is that Obama's refusal to enforce immigration law wasn't really affecting the Republican leadership, until one of their own (Cantor) lost his primary.; 7/3/14, 2:38 PM
djf said...: Most of the Republicans in Congress are as much in favor of "comprehensive immigration reform" as the abortion of a president currently infesting the White House. The reason the GOP congress-critters won't vote for "reform" has nothing to do with "trust" in Obama - they know he won't implement any "enforcement" regime that might be enacted, and that would be just fine with them. Rather, the selfish little bastards are scared of being ejected in primaries by their own party's base, as happened to Eric Cantor. On immigration, the Wall Street Journal editorial page is nothing but advertising for open borders, and is not worth reading.; 7/3/14, 2:40 PM
damikesc said...: If it's "what needs to be done" then what's the problem?

Some people see "kill all blacks" is "what needs to be done".

Perhaps allowing random yahoos who know "what needs to be done" to pursue their goals is a poor idea.; 7/3/14, 2:42 PM
Oso Negro said...: Crack, PLEASE accept my previous offer to repatriate you to sub-Saharan Africa! It will be best for us all in the long run. I don't think poorly of you, by any means. It had been great to have you on this continent, sorry about how you arrived, now please go on home and do the super-brother-gets-in-on-in-the-motherland thing.

What you need to understand is this. A majority of us white men, and let's be honest, when it gets down to the killing, that is who is going to be doing it, the men, are still prepared to die for the ideals of the Founders. I know, I know, you mightn't think it for all the noise of the past 40 years, but I promise you, at such time as Obama goes full African-style big man, ala Mugabe, Amin, etc, to impose your collectivist vision, there will be a lot of killing. Your side is going to lose. You might want to study on this.

Love,

Oso

p.s. Now go ahead and call me racist, I will feel disappointed if you don't.; 7/3/14, 2:56 PM
CWJ said...: SomeoneHasToSayIt wrote -

"Gonna be a L O N G time before voters take that kind of chance again, I bet."

Actually it was less than two years ago that they did.

I'm not questionning your logic, and no one wanted a President Romney more than me, but the fact on the ground is that B Obama was reelected. If some one else runs on more free stuff and those who would ask you to pay for it are denying your fundamental rights, why wouldn't they win?; 7/3/14, 3:45 PM
wildswan said...: Crack Said: "Oh yeah - America - where the darkie's "needs" don't count,...".

Is Crack wrong?

The unemployment rate for African-Americans is double that for those of European background. But the President of the United States in going give amnesty to 11 million Hispanics who will then be free to compete against the African-Americans for jobs. This intention is so well known that children are trekking on their own from Central American countries in order to cross the border by claiming refugee status so as to be here and get amnesty.

"Oh yeah - America - where the unemployment situation among African-Americans doesn't count,...".

After all, because the African-American birthrate has fallen below replacement level the African-Americans are expected to be 13% of the population when Hispanics are 30%. That will happen faster than expected because under Obamacare free contraception will be more prevalent and this is expected to impact minority birthrates, especially that of the African-Americans. And the African-Americans support this initiative. So naturally the politicians are courting the Hispanics - there is no forseeable downside in the present or the future.

"Oh yeah - America - where the destruction of the African-Americans doesn't count even among African-Americans,...".; 7/3/14, 3:49 PM
Hagar said...: As far as I can see, the only "black" thing about Obama is his skin color, and that is not all that dark.

Imagine him in whiteface - like a reverse Keenan Wynn in "Finian's Rainbow" - and nothing changes; he is still the same Barack Obama.; 7/3/14, 4:08 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: I'm pretty convinced this is one of the reasons why Republicans have intentionally decided to keep unemployment high: So that they'd have added support to get people agitated over Mexican migrants as job thieves.; 7/3/14, 4:58 PM
readering said...: I see no problem in naming an aircraft carrier after the current president but I don't see it happening. First they would use FDR, LBJ, RN, and Jimmy Carter, who all served in the Department of the Navy or the Navy itself. After that there won't be any more aircraft carriers. Too expensive and vulnerable.; 7/3/14, 5:16 PM
donald said...: It's funny about the Carrier thing, cause if there's like any delay in building it during a period of mothballing perfectly great shops and slashing our defenses, it's gonna be cause a racism.

Never mind his complete hatred of our country and our defense department (In principle).; 7/3/14, 5:51 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Michael K,

"Crack, there's a book you should read ."

Saw the review a few days ago - to each his own.

Blogger SomeoneHasToSayIt,

"If I were a 'darkie', I would be SO tribally embarrassed by this first 'darkie' President's performance that I would hardly know what to do."

Why? He became president, delivered on healthcare, scared the Right, and didn't sell out - what's not to love? That whites aren't happy?

I don't even think he cares about that.

"Gonna be a L O N G time before voters take that kind of chance again, I bet."

Maybe but, thanks to him, it'll be even longer for a racist Republican,...; 7/3/14, 6:34 PM
Zach said...: The Obama presidency has really underscored how many moves to seize power are made from weakness, not strength.

Obama isn't making unilateral moves on immigration because he has lots of great ideas. He's been trying to assemble a legislative coalition since the election, and right now it looks like he's not going to get it. So he has to scramble to redeem promises he made to important parts of his constituency.

That's a very good reason for not allowing too much executive action. There are many ways you can form coalitions to get a majority of 435 votes in the House. But every president represents only one coalition. Too much presidential power means that margional groups which are important to the president get too much power.; 7/3/14, 7:16 PM
Marty Keller said...: Thurston said: "Because there aren’t 60 votes in the Senate for removing him now and even if Republicans take control of the Senate after the next election, they’re unlikely to have 60 votes."

It's worse; you need 67 votes to convict.; 7/3/14, 7:32 PM
richard mcenroe said...: That's right, Crack, they don't... now that the Dems are getting their dream come true of flooding the country with Hispanics. Your votes aren't needed anymore, except by Tad Cochran, and your clout in DC will diminish with each Congressional election.

Or can you tell us why the Democrats are grooming the Castro Brothers from San Antonio, white "fauxcahontases" from Massachusetts and not one credible black candidate for a major office.

Meanwhile the one- ONE - black Senator in the whole damn country, a Republican, is scorned and mocked in whiteface.

You make the Palestinians look like masters of Realpolitik.; 7/3/14, 8:04 PM
DanTheMan said...: Crack'd can once again find racism in a glass of water.

He's so skilled, he can detect it 10 out of 5 times.

Crack, you know AA just uses you as link bait, right?; 7/3/14, 8:14 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Meanwhile the one- ONE - black Senator in the whole damn country, a Republican, is scorned and mocked in whiteface.

That's not fair. It's a little known fact that John Boehner is actually white.; 7/3/14, 8:29 PM
chillblaine said...: "America - where the darkie's "needs" don't count"

Someone's having a sad. Just let a smile be your umbrella!; 7/3/14, 9:00 PM
gk1 said...: How durable will any of the crap Obama winds up doing be? Dems in power will disown it if they are in a tight race and republicans will vow to undo it if elected. If only there was some tiny victory he could crow about (other than having Bin Laden killed)maybe he would just chill.; 7/3/14, 9:09 PM
D. said...: >? He became president, delivered on healthcare, <

delivered what? lol; 7/3/14, 9:16 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: I'm pretty convinced this is one of the reasons why Republicans have intentionally decided to keep unemployment high: So that they'd have added support to get people agitated over Mexican migrants as job thieves.

This is just plain silly. Government jobs might help a little bit early in a recession, but within a year or two, they are a drag on the economy. One reason is that they consume wealth, but almost never create it. And, here, you are ignoring all of the crony capitalist jobs that the Obama Admin and their Dem colleagues in Congress created to benefit their friends and families. Much of the stimulus, that was supposed to into "shovel ready" jobs, went instead into silly Green Energy scams and the like, where those closest to power creamed off their share, leaving taxpayers to pay the tab.

And, that doesn't include the great number of new regulations that, no matter how well intentioned, end up costing jobs. And, in the case here, millions of them. Not just ObamaCare, but Dodd-Frank (where the big banks that created the financial scandal were exempted, and now have more of the banking money than ever before), the EPA, essentially banning coal fired power plants (on bogus AGW/AGCC grounds), etc. Worse of these probably is ObamaCare though, given its penalty on full time employment. Also hurting the recovery are the greatly increased numbers on Food Stamps, Medicaid, SS Disability, etc., which is, again, money being transferred from the makers to the takers. Finally, the Feds Quantitative Easing isn't helping either - they are printing money to buy down interest rates, as they were essentially doing throughout much of Carter's Administration, and, it doesn't work any better now.; 7/3/14, 9:48 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Michael K said...
"Derbyshire is right. We are doomed."

Yup and he looks more prescient every year. His book was about a sort of wry humor and I laughed out loud at parts. Now, it's no longer funny.

Old men talk like this. Young people have something to live for.; 7/3/14, 10:32 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Rhythm and Balls said...
I'm pretty convinced this is one of the reasons why Republicans have intentionally decided to keep unemployment high:

I like one of the comments: "So Reagan used government employment to pull us out of recession, while the Obama administration has not?"; 7/3/14, 10:36 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Hagar said...
As far as I can see, the only "black" thing about Obama is his skin color, and that is not all that dark.

So in your mind black people can't be successful, well educated and happily married? That's just a white thing for you?; 7/3/14, 10:38 PM
Gahrie said...: So in your mind black people can't be successful, well educated and happily married? That's just a white thing for you?

No...those are behaviors that all successful people use, so they are neither "Black" nor "White".
A "Black thing" would be something that is common among Blacks, but rare among others.

Ebonics would be an example.; 7/3/14, 11:56 PM
Gahrie said...: I'm pretty convinced this is one of the reasons why Republicans have intentionally decided to keep unemployment high

Because of course, It was the responsibility of the Republicans, and possible for the Republicans to lower unemployment...what with controlling one half of one third of the federal government for the last four years.; 7/3/14, 11:58 PM
Gahrie said...: That's not fair. It's a little known fact that John Boehner is actually white

And he's also a Representative, not a Senator.; 7/4/14, 12:00 AM
Hyphenated American said...: Crack, one quick point. When Obama is finished with America, it will look like a bustard child of Mexico and Africa - poverty, corruption and infighting. I know it will make you feel good, but here something to ponder. We, evil white people with engineering degrees and skills will move to Australia, Europe or Canada. Where would you go? Detroit?; 7/4/14, 1:40 AM
donald said...: Hagar said...
As far as I can see, the only "black" thing about Obama is his skin color, and that is not all that dark.

So in your mind black people can't be successful, well educated and happily married? That's just a white thing for you?

7/3/14, 10:38 PM

Pretty fucking moronic there boy.; 7/4/14, 5:30 AM
Rusty said...: Old men talk like this. Young people have something to live for.

There are a lot of pissed off millinnials out there and they're blaming you.

I like one of the comments: "So Reagan used government employment to pull us out of recession, while the Obama administration has not?"

I don't know why you would. It happens to be true.; 7/4/14, 6:16 AM
Curious George said...: "The Crack Emcee said...
If it's "what needs to be done" then what's the problem?

Oh yeah - America - where the darkie's "needs" don't count,..."

No more assured way to make the darkie's "needs" not count than to pass your half black heroes "immigration reform".

What's funny is that you are so invested in the "first black POTUS" that you will drive off the cliff for him.; 7/4/14, 6:25 AM
Hagar said...: What I mean is that Barack Obama Jr. has the genes of an itinerant Kenyan ex-pat, but other than that he is the product of "white" privilege. As an adult, he has run for office as a "black" man, but his actual behavior has been more that of a missionary than "a man of the people."

If Obama should remind me of anybody, it would be Alger Hiss, not Martin Luther King.; 7/4/14, 8:18 AM
Humperdink said...: AReasonableMan said: "Old men talk like this. Young people have something to live for."

You referring to the $1+ trillion in student debt? College graduates living in mommy and daddy's basement? The majority of new jobs being part time? Help me here, oh reasonable one.; 7/4/14, 8:24 AM
Hagar said...: The causes Obama has been proselytizing for have all been "white" gentry liberal causes. He has used his "blackness" as a means to his ends, but "black" is not where he is coming from.; 7/4/14, 9:15 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: donald said...
Pretty fucking moronic there boy.

Clever comeback. Stay up all night working on that?; 7/4/14, 9:42 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Humperdink said...
You referring to the $1+ trillion in student debt? College graduates living in mommy and daddy's basement? The majority of new jobs being part time?

The world is ending. The world is ending.

It actually is ending for you old guys but for young people not so much.; 7/4/14, 9:43 AM
Chris Lopes said...: "It actually is ending for you old guys but for young people not so much."

Yep, nothing like a hundred grand in student loan debt and no real job prospects to really make life worth living. ;); 7/4/14, 2:00 PM
Birkel said...: One trillion dollars in non-dischargeable student loans = no biggie.

Computer models that have been ginned up with fake numbers and inadequate science = actual world ending crisis.

"AReasonableMan" summarized.; 7/4/14, 4:16 PM
Rusty said...: It actually is ending for you old guys but for young people not so much.

What does the country have to offer to young people today?; 7/4/14, 5:53 PM
Humperdink said...: "Not a smidgen of evidence the US is on the wrong track."

AReasonableMan Summary II; 7/4/14, 5:58 PM
Jaq said...: Wouldn't Cook be a lot more believable if he chose to live outside the warm embrace of US military power.

No, no moving to New Zealand, they are pacifists who are protected not just by geography, but the fact that the ocean surrounding it is basically an American lake.

No, move to Africa, or the Middle East, Russia or China. One of those places where the evil reach of the United States is effectively countered.; 7/5/14, 6:03 AM