Obama's knowledge (or ignorance) of economics

This video "tells it like it is", in my opinion. It's coming from a surprising source...old-school comic Jackie Mason.
We all know any story can be spun a hundred different ways, but IMO
this rant of Jackie's really cuts through the b.s.
Pelosi and company have a lot of gall to blame it all on the republicans.
This video points out the dems culpability very clearly.
Back to Obama....Jackie asks the question that many of us want answered:
What makes people think Obama has what it takes to be POTUS??????

I agree. Obama does not have what it takes to be POTUS. Unfortunately for us, neither does McCain.

I won't be voting for either of them, but I do think that Obama is quite a bit more creative than McCain. His Tax plan is more logical, as is his healthcare plan.

Perhaps we should let Sen. McCain continue with the Bush economic model. He has endorsed the Presidents economic model 90% of the time and it's worked great so far!

[edit on 8-10-2008 by whaaa]

the only thing i can say after watching this is...if you pay people at the bottom and the middle class more, the stimulus affect of hundreds of millions of people going out and buying more, will increase ecomonic growth expotentually, that will feed on itself and create more jobs. more tax revenues will come into the treasury and as a by-product of this happening, the wealthy will have substancial increases. this is exactly what has happened when there has been an increase of the ordinary peoples income down through history. this isn't rocket science

Jackie says Barack Obama never had a bill that had to do with economics. "It's a very simple fact", he says... He couldn't be more wrong.

Firstly, Obama had 97 economic bills while he was in the State Senate. 97 bills that had to do with economy, business and finance.

Barack Obama's Record

And regarding his economic bills in his few years in the Senate?

S.1770
S.2261
S.2446
S.3475

Those a just a FEW of his 152 Senate Bills. They are listed there.

I don't think Jackie knows his butt from a hole in the ground. And shame on you for listening to him and just taking his word for it.

As regards what makes people think Obama has what it takes to be POTUS? Speaking for my self, Experience, Drive and Change.


[edit on 8-10-2008 by Benevolent Heretic]

A man who never has done anything? Try W. Bush owner of some failed business and a well connected father. Since when have you had to vote on something in order to be credited with being capable of accomplishing it. The man knew he was going to run for president, so he took the nuetral posistion to keep his record clear. Can you blame him running against these trailer park idiots who say hes associating with terrorists on live tv. What is this a 5th grade election. Jesus. He is on the federal senate and they dont just hand those seats out. ..and also about Fannie May, thats a lie that came from fox news. check it out. Obama has recieved only $16,000 from FM graphics8.nytimes.com... McCain Recieved plenty more. /////////Barack has never done anything? Hes authored 890 bills including 97 economic bills in the u.s senate. Wow this guy hasnt done his research. Obama is a freshman senator (3yrs) and has done plenty of fine work. Name a few? Coburn-Obama Goverment Transparency Act. Now a law. The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act (Now a law) The 2007 Government Ethics Bill ( Now law) The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill and The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act which passed senate. Its absolutley ridiculous and ignorant to claim that this man has not done anything. And if you still think that then please do some research. Now to say you dont like what he has done is your own opinion. But to say he has done nothing is false. McCain never told a lie he says? This guy is to old to be speaking about politics. Does he not know how to go on the internet and check facts? Hes told plenty of lies, but what politician doesnt? To name one though, McCain said palins plane sold on ebay for profit. It did not sell on ebay and they lost 600,000. Thats just the simplest lie though because im getting tired of debunking. Look up some more. This man wants to talk about name calling. Who the hell are the ones saying he hangs out with terrorists? What the hell is this a school board election. If thats not outright childish I dont know what is. This video is dumb. Please dont follow this man with absolutely no facts and all mouth.

[edit on 8-10-2008 by headintheclouds]

Was funny though, i doubt he will change anyones mind, but was funny.

I don't even know where to start here...

First, I'm neither republican nor democrat. I voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 and 2004. IMO we need someone outside of either party. Neither party has the people's needs in mind. It will just be more of the same.

I agree totally with the posted comments about Bush...he's a disgrace.

Regarding OBama...Benevolent Heretic pointed out what she considers an impressive voting record. I disagree. A review of his voting record reveals he has sidestepped dozens and dozens of important votes by simply voting "present".
Hillary Clinton seized on this by saying Obama is a talker, not a doer.
Obama's aids always have an endless stream of excuses for his lack of conviction in his voting.

As far as Jackie Mason's video, I realize he may make some innacurate comments, but I think the gist is valid. The democrats are hypocrites of the worst kind. The republicans are useless too, but the dems
(Pelosi, Shumer, the Clintons)
are more shameless in their approach, which is to constantly take credit
for EVERYTHING positive, and blame all the negatives on "the other party".

Obama and Biden voted with most of Congress for the 2005 highway bill, which included 6,000 earmarks worth more than $24 billion.
Obama and Biden attacked Sarah Palin over the "Bridge to Nowhere", yet they both voted to keep it alive TWICE!

We could debate back and forth for days, which would be unproductive.
So, I'll just say again that I think both McCain and Obama are liars and hypocrites. I couldn't vote for either one.

Originally posted by lw2525
Regarding OBama...Benevolent Heretic pointed out what she considers an impressive voting record.

No. I didn't. I was answering the original post, in which you said:

This video "tells it like it is"...
this rant of Jackie's really cuts through the b.s.

In fact, Jackie lays the BS on quite thick, passing off the "FACT" that Obama had never sponsored an economics bill. That is TOTAL BS. It's fantasy. And I backed up my "disagreement" with REAL facts and sources to those facts.

So, I didn't say Obama had an "impressive voting record" and you are disagreeing with something I didn't even say.

Obama and Biden attacked Sarah Palin over the "Bridge to Nowhere", yet they both voted to keep it alive TWICE!

They attacked her on it because SHE supported it during her campaign for Governor, accepted the money for it and then rejected it once she got elected. And kept the money!

Source

On Oct. 22, 2006, the Anchorage Daily News asked Palin and the other candidates, “Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?”

Her response: “Yes. I would like to see Alaska’s infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now — while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.”
...
A year later, she issued a news release as governor saying Ketchikan needed better airport access, but a $398 million bridge was not going to happen.
...
The money was not sent back to the federal government, but spent on other projects.

That's not what I call "Thanks but no thanks".

We could debate back and forth for days, which would be unproductive.

It could be productive. You could actually learn something. You clearly haven't educated yourself on the subject. I don't know who you're listening to (besides Jackie, of course) but whoever it is doesn't have the facts.

But I certainly won't push it but I would encourage you to do your own research. Educate yourself. Regardless whether or not you vote or who you vote for, do it from an educated position.

[edit on 8-10-2008 by Benevolent Heretic]

Not only that, Jackie sounds like a Yankee duffus. Know what I mean?

I thought it was only the Democrats that like celebrities parroting the official line.

What a schmuck!!

[edit on 8-10-2008 by whaaa]

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic



OK... you DONT think Obama has an impressive voting record. Thanks for pointing that out. It's too bad you feel that way, since you'll be voting for him.

You seem to be missing my point. I've already said I concur that Jackie Mason uttered some inaccurate statements. When I said it cuts through the b.s. I meant he IS in fact pointing out the hypocrisy of the democratic party.
If you deny that the democrats played a large role in the dynamics that
brought about the economic crisis we now face, then you're in denial.

I didn't defend or support Sarah Palin. I know about the bridge to nowhere issue. Are you denying that Obama and Biden voted for the transportation bill that approved it?

Back to Jackie Mason for a minute. You say he is full of b.s., OK,
duly noted. Well, it's my contention that the man you are going to help put
in office is heaping tons of b.s. on the American people. I could go on for days. The Reverend Wright scandal, the Don Imus issue, the non-existent Life magazine article, etc, etc... B.S. on a grand scale.

I don't need to post the lies and hypocrisy Obama has perpetrated.
They're common knowledge. If you think he's the right person for the job,
so be it.

Originally posted by lw2525
OK... you DONT think Obama has an impressive voting record.

I didn't say that, either. Why don't you stop putting words in my mouth and either address what I said or not. Making things up doesn't work.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
Firstly, Obama had 97 economic bills while he was in the State Senate. 97 bills that had to do with economy, business and finance.

Barack Obama's Record

And just because the NY Times says it, that makes it gospel? Oh Dear.

99-00 Illinois Senate Bills
Obama Bills? 4 None on economy

01-02 Illinois Senate Bills
Obama Bills? 2 None on economy

03-04 Illinois Senate Bills
See pages 368-381 There are too many bills to list here, a large percentage of them died without ever going to a vote or were vetoed.

I challenge you to find 97 Obama bills in there that made it to a vote that had to do with "economy, business and finance"

And regarding his economic bills in his few years in the Senate?

S.1770 Stable Fire Funding Act of 2006 (Introduced in Senate by Mr. BAUCUS and Mr. TESTER)
S.2261 Discount Pricing Consumer Protection Act (Introduced in Senate by Mr. KOHL, Mr. BIDEN, and Mrs. CLINTON)
S.2446 Citizenship Processing Backlog Reduction Act of 2007 (Introduced in Senate by Mr. SCHUMER and Mr. HAGEL)
S.3475 Bottled Water Safety and Right to Know Act of 2008 (Introduced in Senate by Mr. LAUTENBERG and Mrs. BOXER)

Really important economic bills there, huh? Granted, the Fire funding IS, but the funny thing... not ONE of these was an Obama Bill, see those who introduced them notes? Those are the sponsors.

Those a just a FEW of his 152 Senate Bills. They are listed there.

Yep they sure are. Only 3 of the "152" passed, 15 of the "152" are nothing more than amendments.

Again, I challenge you to find the ones that are "economy, business and finance" related.

I don't think Jackie knows his butt from a hole in the ground.

And shame on you for listening to him and just taking his word for it.

And shame on you for taking the NY Times word for it and not taking the time to do the homework to verify things. All of this took me less than 30 minutes.

Why are we even looking to a comedian as a source of reputable news. If I want to listen to a comedian put a spin on politics, I'll listen to Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. At least their shticks are based on fact.

Seriously, Jackie Mason.

Originally posted by redhatty
I challenge you to find 97 Obama bills in there that made it to a vote that had to do with "economy, business and finance"

I was refuting the video that is the basis of the OP. Mason makes the claim that Obama never had a bill, a thought, or idea about economics.

This has been refuted. Sorry you spent all that time researching, but it doesn't address the original claim or my argument to that claim. And I'm not going to take you up on your challenge because I didn't make a claim that they all went to a vote or that they passed or that they were even "important", which is pretty subjective. I'm sure they were important to some people.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
Mason makes the claim that Obama never had a bill, a thought, or idea about economics.

Having done the research, I agree with Mason.

This has been refuted.

Actually it hasn't, in fact, if you consider what you posted a refutation, sorry, but I blew it apart. Positing something as a proof, without verifying it's accuracy, is setting yourself up to be proven wrong.

And I'm not going to take you up on your challenge because I didn't make a claim that they all went to a vote or that they passed or that they were even "important", which is pretty subjective. I'm sure they were important to some people.

No, you made a claim that he had "97 economic bills while he was in the State Senate. 97 bills that had to do with economy, business and finance. " He didn't. I know it for a fact, I looked them all up. But if you want to go on blindly believing that he did, I sure can't stop you. No apology necessary, btw, I enjoyed doing the research, I'm kinda made that way

Whether Obama participated in, sponsored or just amended the "97 financial bills" is not an issue for me. It clearly matters to you and Jackie Mason. That's fine. If he was involved in the bills, that's enough for me to say that he deserves SOME credit. Whether or not they were passed is also not at issue, because that claim has not been made.

The assertion of the OP is that Obama knows nothing about the Economy (according to Jackie Mason). I disagree and have shown sources to the contrary. Here is more pertinent information.

List of Bills Sponsored by Barack Obama in the US Senate

List of bills sponsored by Barack Obama in the United States Senate is a compilation of legislation sponsored by United States Senator Barack Obama in the 109th United States Congress and the 110th United States Congress.

Obama has sponsored 136 bills since Jan 4, 2005. Two have become law.[2] This figure does not include bills to which Obama contributed very substantially as cosponsor, such as the Coburn-Obama Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 or the Lugar-Nunn Cooperative Proliferation Detection, Interdiction Assistance, and Conventional Threat Reduction Act of 2006. Nor does it include amendments to other bills, although in the Senate these are not required to be germane to the parent bill and can therefore effectively be bills in their own right.[3] Obama has co-sponsored 619 bills during the same time period.

Sponsor

A sponsor, in the United States Congress, is a senator or representative who introduces a bill or amendment and is its chief advocate.

State Senate Bills

During his first years as a state senator, Obama was a co-sponsor of a bill which re-structured the Illinois welfare program into the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. He was also involved in various pieces of legislation which established a $100 million Earned Income Tax Credit for working families, increased child care subsidies for low-income families, and required advance notice before mass layoffs and plant closings.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


So if Obama wrote, sponsored, co-sponsored, or voted yes on a bill that had to do with economy, finance or business, and that bill was a horribly bad bill that didn't really help fix or change anything, and maybe even had a ridiculous amount of pork spending hidden in it, it's still okay with you, because he participated in some degree with the bill.

Please explain to me, because I really cannot understand, how this equates to Obama having any real knowledge about economy, finance or business.

and, on that same note, if it was a horribly bad bill does he then also deserve an equal amount of the blame?