The problems of the economy are Obama's fault?

I feel a little like the choir, Reverend. I don't know why not (there being so much evidence that it is fruitless endeavor), but I have not yet ceased believing that when people are given good information, they might just reexamine their positions.

What causes a person to adhere blindly to point of view? Does he or she so completely identify with that point of view that any questioning is viewed as a personal attack?

There has to a be a way for an intelligent person to view information somewhat objectively or dispassionately--regardless of political affiliation. I'm about as blindly adoring of President Obama as I have been of any President since JFK. But I can still be critical of instances of bad judgment--as in comments he made about the local police who were responding to a phone call about a possible break in.

(The 'suspect' in question turned out to be a Harvard professor trying to get into his own house.) The President hadn't gotten all the facts when he spoke, and should have said so. The fact that he didn't has become a huge gaffe and detractor from an important issue.

But I can't criticize him about the economy--or the rest of the conflagration he is fighting.

Here is the reality (for those who can't remember, never listen to the news, or read a newspaper).

1. The President walked into a situation where the country was mired in debt and on the verge of economic collapse.

2. The sub-prime mortgage lending fiasco spanned two presidencies, and the bail out was necessary no matter what the white wash used to get it through Congress. Doesn't anyone remember that the economic free-fall began before the President took office, and that the public was clamoring for him to start making policy before he had been sworn in?

Money needed to go to the banks no matter what. The fact that most of it has gone towards housekeeping tasks long overdue was a viable use of the money--which lead to their ability to begin lending again.

3. The President is dealing with the ongoing aftermath of an illegal war. We KNOW it was an illegal war--in addition to being an unsubstantiated occupation of a foreign nation.

Those are the big 3 right off the top. What reason does the conservative right give for the Stock Market's move back up? Bush did it? Sorry folks, think again.

What reason does the conservative right give for the rebound in world opinion regarding the United States? The world now loves Bush? Sorry folks, think again.

(Sigh.) Like I said, Rev. I'm part of the choir.

You can't blame the current economic mess on any one person or party. It is more the result of institutional failures and a culture of greed and quick money. 9/11 is more complicated than that. While I disagree with the notion that Bush masterminded the attacks (OK maybe Cheney), there is some really fishy stuff surrounding 9/11 that suggests at the very least that the neocons in the Bush administration knew more than they let on. That does not preclude some foreknowledge by elements of the Clinton administration either. There is little difference between the neocon foreign policy and the Clinton foreign policy except that Clinton didn't go all the way in Iraq, although I think he would have given a few more years. The Clinton administration apparently also talked with Bush about the possible need for action in in Afghanistan.

In truth no.

The problems we have to day stem back years ago. Much of the problems can be found with Daddy Bush and then Clinton. Both of them set up Trade policy's that kills us manufacturing over years.

This has been coming now for may years.

Obama can make thing much worse or help some only time will tell.

But if he hits us with higher taxes we are dead.

I do not buy the line he only going to tax the rich for one sec.

Liberal agendas no matter how noble are often met with the consequences of reality.

That's what Obama is meeting.

If he had done nothing the recession would be over. His policies keep hurting the countries recovery, so yes it is his economy now.

Example,

Raise minimum wage during hard economic times when businesses are struggling is projected to cause 400,000 to be laid off from work.

Obama used a "crisis" to spend billions (trillions?) to line the pockets of his friends, and to fund pet pork projects. The stimulus bill says it all. He had the perfect opportunity to pass legislation that would create jobs, ease economic pressure off of small businesses, and actually stimulate the economy. Instead, he let Nancy Pelosi take the reigns and pass a massive pork bill, that included less than 12% stimulus. We have no way to pay for this massive pet project, and it did little to effect the state of the economy.

"Never let a crisis go to waste." Rahm Emanuel.

Let me ask you this did Obama or any other Democrat ever once raise his voice and try to put the brakes on Fannie or Freddie ? Even once ? The answer is NO !!! And Obama sending a letter to the treasury a mere month before the meltdown "voicing his concerns" does not count in my book.

Of course not. But people need someone to blame right away and so it will be the current president.

Lows and highs in the economy take many years to develop and many more years to correct itself. No one person is at fault when nearly all our politicians readily forget why they were elected in the first place.

He was a State Senator and a US Senator before becoming President... So YES it is HIS FAULT! Along with the others that hold Political office!

In my mind, the minute the stimulus was signed, it became Obama problem if the economy got worse. Remember? We have to pass this stimulus right now, hurry because by signing this bailout, unemployment will not go above 8%.....LOL! Ramjet the Rookie did real well with his figures there didnt he? And it keeps going downhill since, harder and faster.

No President in history has ever truly deserved the blame they received for the state of the economy during his term(s) as President.

Presidents don't have the power to affect the economy in ways that would cause recessions, depressions or rises.