Is Obama the worst president ever?

ironsides

Executive Branch Member
Feb 13, 2009
8,583
60
48
United States
During the Bush administration, Democrats made huge gains in some important Republican areas. For example, on the question of which party would do a better job in handling the federal budget deficit, Democrats held a 19-point advantage in a November 2005 Journal poll, a 25-point advantage in July 2007, and a 22-point advantage in January 2008.

Now all that has changed. In the new poll, the results have completely turned around, and Republicans hold a six-point advantage. On the related issue of controlling government spending, in July 2009, Democrats held a 16-point advantage. In the new poll, Republicans hold a nine-point lead.

Also in the Bush years, Democrats erased the Republican advantage on the issue of taxes. In November 2009, Democrats held a 10-point advantage over Republicans on the tax issue. That lead diminished over the next few years, but Democrats still held a five-point advantage in January 2008. In the new poll, Republicans have a seven-point advantage.

In other key areas, the Democratic lead over Republicans has shrunk considerably. In January 2008, Democrats held an 18-point lead on the issue of which party would better deal with the economy. Now, the Democratic lead is six points. In January 2008, Democrats held a 28-point lead on the issue of energy. Now, that lead is 12 points. In January 2008, Democrats held a 45-point lead on the issue of global warming. Now, that lead is 27 points.

Perhaps most ominous news for Democrats at the moment is the issue of health care. In January 2008, the party had a 36-point lead on the issue. Now, it's 17 points.

The poll has other bad news for Democrats and President Obama. The percentage of people who believe the country is on the wrong track has risen nine points since March. The percentage of people who approve of the way Obama is handling the economy has dipped below 37 percent for the first time. The percentage of people who approve of his handling of the health care issue is 21 percent, with 79 percent disapproving. The percentage of people who have a positive opinion of Obama is down eighteen points since March. The percentage of people who say the president has strong leadership qualities, can be trusted to keep his word, will work with people of different viewpoints, is non-believable -- all those numbers are down.

In sum, the poll results are bad news across the board for the president and his party. But all indications are that there is big trouble ahead for Democrats.
-Byron Dork
 

SirJosephPorter

Time Out
Nov 7, 2008
11,956
56
48
Ontario
During the Bush administration, Democrats made huge gains in some important Republican areas. For example, on the question of which party would do a better job in handling the federal budget deficit, Democrats held a 19-point advantage in a November 2005 Journal poll, a 25-point advantage in July 2007, and a 22-point advantage in January 2008.

Now all that has changed. In the new poll, the results have completely turned around, and Republicans hold a six-point advantage. On the related issue of controlling government spending, in July 2009, Democrats held a 16-point advantage. In the new poll, Republicans hold a nine-point lead.

Also in the Bush years, Democrats erased the Republican advantage on the issue of taxes. In November 2009, Democrats held a 10-point advantage over Republicans on the tax issue. That lead diminished over the next few years, but Democrats still held a five-point advantage in January 2008. In the new poll, Republicans have a seven-point advantage.

In other key areas, the Democratic lead over Republicans has shrunk considerably. In January 2008, Democrats held an 18-point lead on the issue of which party would better deal with the economy. Now, the Democratic lead is six points. In January 2008, Democrats held a 28-point lead on the issue of energy. Now, that lead is 12 points. In January 2008, Democrats held a 45-point lead on the issue of global warming. Now, that lead is 27 points.

Perhaps most ominous news for Democrats at the moment is the issue of health care. In January 2008, the party had a 36-point lead on the issue. Now, it's 17 points.

The poll has other bad news for Democrats and President Obama. The percentage of people who believe the country is on the wrong track has risen nine points since March. The percentage of people who approve of the way Obama is handling the economy has dipped below 37 percent for the first time. The percentage of people who approve of his handling of the health care issue is 21 percent, with 79 percent disapproving. The percentage of people who have a positive opinion of Obama is down eighteen points since March. The percentage of people who say the president has strong leadership qualities, can be trusted to keep his word, will work with people of different viewpoints, is non-believable -- all those numbers are down.

In sum, the poll results are bad news across the board for the president and his party. But all indications are that there is big trouble ahead for Democrats.
-Byron Dork

Who is Byron Dork (an appropriate name, incidentally)? Some far right blogger? I Googled for him but there is nothing about him on the internet, telling me that he is an insignificant speck, a nobody. If I Google for my name, i get 25 or 30 hits.
 

gopher

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 26, 2005
21,513
65
48
Minnesota: Gopher State
"Just like when Dems blame Bush for Katrina."


Dems didn't blame Bush for Katrina. They blame him for his incompetent reaction to the disaster. History proves they are right.
 

gopher

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 26, 2005
21,513
65
48
Minnesota: Gopher State
This is what the "worse" president has done:



"
New-home sales see biggest jump in 47 years

Sales surge 27 percent, the strongest month since July


New-home sales see biggest jump in 47 years - Real estate- msnbc.com



Sales of new homes surged 27 percent last month, bouncing off the previous month's record low and blowing past expectations as government incentives and better weather boosted sales.
The Commerce Department said Friday that new-home sales rose in March to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 411,000. It was the strongest month since last July and the biggest monthly increase in 47 years.
 

SirJosephPorter

Time Out
Nov 7, 2008
11,956
56
48
Ontario
"Just like when Dems blame Bush for Katrina."


Dems didn't blame Bush for Katrina. They blame him for his incompetent reaction to the disaster. History proves they are right.

Quite so, American people in general blamed Bush for Katrina, not just Democrats. Only Republicans thought that Bush had done a stellar job in regards to Katrina (and haven't they blamed Katrina on Obama?).
 

YukonJack

Time Out
Dec 26, 2008
7,026
73
48
Winnipeg
"Quite so, American people in general blamed Bush for Katrina, not just Democrats. Only Republicans thought that Bush had done a stellar job in regards to Katrina (and haven't they blamed Katrina on Obama?)."

Only the uninformed and ignorant Americans, who do not know (or refuse to know) that the Federal Government and any and all its agencies are NOT authorized to act until and unless requested by local and/or State Governments.

Democratic "chocolate" Mayor let hundreds of school busses sit idle, rather than using them for evacuation. Democratic feminist Governor never had either the knowledge of the law or the presence of mind to ask for Federal help.

Meanwhile, the Republican Governor of neighbouring Mississippi state knew what needed to be done. He also had the integrity not to ask the federal government to rebuild his own house which was destroyed by Katrina.

The liberal Democrats and their lackeys - as usual - chose the easy "blame Bush" route. No wonder, they got used to the idea of always blaming someone else. They still blame Bush (both 41 and 43) along with Reagan for just about everything.

And, NO, Republicans NEVER blamed Katrina on Obama. Show me and everyone else here a link, preferably from a NEUTRAL sorce, that might prove your idiotic assertion.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
547
113
Vernon, B.C.
"Quite so, American people in general blamed Bush for Katrina, not just Democrats. Only Republicans thought that Bush had done a stellar job in regards to Katrina (and haven't they blamed Katrina on Obama?)."

Only the uninformed and ignorant Americans, who do not know (or refuse to know) that the Federal Government and any and all its agencies are NOT authorized to act until and unless requested by local and/or State Governments.

Democratic "chocolate" Mayor let hundreds of school busses sit idle, rather than using them for evacuation. Democratic feminist Governor never had either the knowledge of the law or the presence of mind to ask for Federal help.

Meanwhile, the Republican Governor of neighbouring Mississippi state knew what needed to be done. He also had the integrity not to ask the federal government to rebuild his own house which was destroyed by Katrina.

The liberal Democrats and their lackeys - as usual - chose the easy "blame Bush" route. No wonder, they got used to the idea of always blaming someone else. They still blame Bush (both 41 and 43) along with Reagan for just about everything.

And, NO, Republicans NEVER blamed Katrina on Obama. Show me and everyone else here a link, preferably from a NEUTRAL sorce, that might prove your idiotic assertion.

Right on Y.J. I guess FEMA was as much to blame as anyone, but corruption was generally running rampant through the whole scenario - a lot of it in the N.O. police force.
 

Slim Chance

Electoral Member
Nov 26, 2009
475
13
18
This is what the "worse" president has done:



"
New-home sales see biggest jump in 47 years

Sales surge 27 percent, the strongest month since July


New-home sales see biggest jump in 47 years - Real estate- msnbc.com



Sales of new homes surged 27 percent last month, bouncing off the previous month's record low and blowing past expectations as government incentives and better weather boosted sales.
The Commerce Department said Friday that new-home sales rose in March to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 411,000. It was the strongest month since last July and the biggest monthly increase in 47 years.

What did you think would happen to the housing market shortly after it corrected to below market?

Was this in Obama's grand scheme to develop a affordable housing market?
 

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
17,467
139
63
Location, Location
"Quite so, American people in general blamed Bush for Katrina, not just Democrats. Only Republicans thought that Bush had done a stellar job in regards to Katrina (and haven't they blamed Katrina on Obama?)."

Only the uninformed and ignorant Americans, who do not know (or refuse to know) that the Federal Government and any and all its agencies are NOT authorized to act until and unless requested by local and/or State Governments.

Democratic "chocolate" Mayor let hundreds of school busses sit idle, rather than using them for evacuation. Democratic feminist Governor never had either the knowledge of the law or the presence of mind to ask for Federal help.

Meanwhile, the Republican Governor of neighbouring Mississippi state knew what needed to be done. He also had the integrity not to ask the federal government to rebuild his own house which was destroyed by Katrina.

The liberal Democrats and their lackeys - as usual - chose the easy "blame Bush" route. No wonder, they got used to the idea of always blaming someone else. They still blame Bush (both 41 and 43) along with Reagan for just about everything.

And, NO, Republicans NEVER blamed Katrina on Obama. Show me and everyone else here a link, preferably from a NEUTRAL sorce, that might prove your idiotic assertion.

Exactly, it wasn't the President's action or inaction, it's the structure of the US system which means that nobody can do anything until someone decides which level of government is going to pay for it. Katrina showed how completely paralyzing this system is - nobody was willing to just get moving and try to save lives.
 

SirJosephPorter

Time Out
Nov 7, 2008
11,956
56
48
Ontario
Exactly, it wasn't the President's action or inaction, it's the structure of the US system which means that nobody can do anything until someone decides which level of government is going to pay for it. Katrina showed how completely paralyzing this system is - nobody was willing to just get moving and try to save lives.

Quite so. But when things don't work out, people quite properly blame the president. Same as if Katrina rescue had gone very well, they would have given Bush the credit, regardless of who was actually responsible for it.

Opinion polls taken after Katrina disaster showed that people disapproved of the way Bush handled the whole thing.
 

Icarus27k

Council Member
Apr 4, 2010
1,508
7
38
In regards to Katrina, if a good President has a couple days warning that one of the strongest hurricanes ever seen is about to hit New Orleans, they would actually be in Louisiana before the hurricane struck directing federal operations.

It's called homeland security and being a leader.

To me, that seemed like a no brainer. I remember watching the news about this storm named Katrina that was in the Gulf of Mexico heading for a major city and thinking to myself, "Okay, where's our leader again?"
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
Bush new how to cut taxes and then bloat the military budget beyond all previous presidents since WWII. I think he even outspent Reagan on the military, even taking inflation into account, if I'm not mistaken.

Fiscal conservative my ass.
 

Slim Chance

Electoral Member
Nov 26, 2009
475
13
18
In regards to Katrina, if a good President has a couple days warning that one of the strongest hurricanes ever seen is about to hit New Orleans, they would actually be in Louisiana before the hurricane struck directing federal operations.

It's called homeland security and being a leader.

To me, that seemed like a no brainer. I remember watching the news about this storm named Katrina that was in the Gulf of Mexico heading for a major city and thinking to myself, "Okay, where's our leader again?"

A couple days warning that "one of the strongest hurricanes ever seen is about to hit"... Where were the state officials on this? How about the opposition in government ringing the alarm bells?

You've applied the sole responsibility to this on Bush based on the presumption that he and his government absolutely knew what was to come and then made the decision to not take pre-emptive action.

Doesn't really make that much sense, does it?
 

Cobalt_Kid

Council Member
Feb 3, 2007
1,760
17
38
It's comments like this that makes this too easy.

Too easy for what, this thread is debating whether or not Obama is the worst president ever?

Bush was a joke and few republicans raised any questions; on how he was elected, how his lack of leadership in 2001 saw the country changed forever, how he screwed the pooch on getting Bin Laden and neutralizing the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, how he let Cheney walk the nation into an unnecessary(and devatstating) war in Iraq on false pretexts, how Bush did nothing to prevent serious errosion of constitutional protections and let the financial sector run wild resulting in an international economic meltdown that American taxpayers have been forced to foot much of the bill for.

What has Obama done:

Well he's tried to patch up international relations torn apart by the last adminstration, and all the right talks about is the disgrace of him bowing to the Emperor of Japan, at least he's trying to be diplomatic. Bush and Cheney acted liked co-emperors themselves.

He's tried to bring healthcare reform to America, something that has clearly been needed for years, treating illness as just another commodity to be traded and profited on is just as shortsighted as the subprime debacle.

He's also trying to bring some sanity to a financial sector that has taken defacto control of the nation.



Of course...you're a Liberal Democrat.

When I was living in the states I was a republican and I thought Bush senior and Cheney did a good job. My opinion has changed a little bit on poppy Bush and completely on Cheney who in my opinion is damn lucky not to be in jail for all the crap he did while in office. That's one thing I'm disappointed in Obama for, he could have left Bush alone, but Cheney went too far and deserved to lose some of the same freedom he has denied so many.



Is this something new?

See how this administration rewards these guys? AIG just got there 3rd round of tax payer bonuses. One under Bush and two under Obama thus far. I thought Obama was different too. He dissapointed me on that one.

America is a huge ship of state, it can take years to change the direction of the nation. At least Obama acutally seems to give a crap about somebody besides those who put him in power. Like I said he's already going after his #2 campaign contributor Goldman Sachs. Expecting a president, any president to act independently in the current state of affairs in the US is naive IMO. McCain would have been just as bad on that account and would have been forced to continue some of the same policies that were bringing America to the brink of collapse, economically and socially.

I don't think it's going too far to say that many at the top of the socio-economic ladder look at the rest of the population as sheep to be fleeced. Whether it's the Walton family, Wall Street, con men like Madoff or the smartest men in the room from Enron. I don't hear many on the right complaining about excesses at the top of the business world, but god help any politician who actually tries to spread the wealth around even a little.