Obama: about to become even more hated in America

[Anthea]

The Telegraph

Barack Obama: the end of a love affair

Six years after offering hope and change, polls show America public has fallen out of love with their president – so where did it all go wrong?



Barack Obama romped to the presidency of the United States in 2008 on a tidal wave of ‘hope and change’. Back then, the financial crisis was raging and US troops were still engaged in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, but a fresh-faced Mr Obama brimmed with confidence.

He predicted that future generations would look back on his election and see the moment “when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal…when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth.”

Six years later, Mr Obama is weary and greyed and finds his job approval ratings stuck in the low-40s. This October is the 17th consecutive months in which polls show that a majority of Americans disapprove of his leadership.

With November’s mid-term elections less than a month away, even fellow Democrats won't be seen dead with the man who once transformed their party's fortunes. Apart from some closed-door fundraisers, Mr Obama is all but invisible on the campaign trail.

So where did it all go wrong?

It was the economy, stupid…

Since Mr Obama took office facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, unemployment has fallen from 10pc to 6pc and American businesses have created 10 million new jobs – that’s more than Japan, Europe and every other advanced economy combined.

So why do only 39pc of Americans approve of his handling of the economy, according to YouGov? It’s because too many of those jobs are “McJobs” – that is, low-paid and part-time work that don’t leave people feeling better off.

In numerical terms, GDP has risen by 8pc since Mr Obama took office, but median household incomes are down 4pc and – unlike during the George W Bush years – there is no housing boom or easy credit make up the difference.

Then there were healthcare reforms…that were bad for a president’s health

Elected on a wave of euphoria, Mr Obama bet the house on reforming America’s Byzantine healthcare system – quite literally as it turned out.

He succeeded in forcing the Obamacare reforms through Congress, but the payback came in the 2010 mid-term elections. The Tea party movement was born and a fired-up Republican base took back the House of Representatives. Washington has been gridlocked pretty much ever since.

The big hurdle was the ‘individual mandate’ that forced all Americans to buy health insurance on pain of a fine. Mr Obama appeared to underestimate how little Americans, born to be free, like being mandated to do anything.

Then came the roll-out fiasco…

Mr Obama had promised America they could go online and buy insurance “the same way you'd shop for a plane ticket on Kayak or a TV on Amazon”. In the event all they got was error messages and spinning egg timers as the Obamacare website crashed day after day.

Americans are naturally suspicious about the role of big government, and the disastrous Obamacare rollout only confirmed many in that prejudice. Suffice to say Amazon and Kayak would have filed for bankruptcy long ago if they handled their product launches like Mr Obama’s department of Health and Human Services rolled out Obamacare.

To confirm the Obama administration’s reputation for incompetence…

Like George W Bush after Hurricane Katrina, Mr Obama’s approval numbers never recovered from the sight of his flagship piece of legislation capsizing so ignominiously before it had even left the harbour.

The ship has been righted and re-floated, but with further legal challenges pending no-one is too confident of her structural integrity.

Add to that the Benghazi disaster, where Mr Obama lost his ambassador to Libya, and the on-going crisis in the administration of Veterans Affairs, and it seems too many voters are no longer inclined to give Mr Obama the benefit of the doubt.

And all this, just as everyone was getting sick of him anyway…

Call it the whip-lash effect, but as the saying goes, “nothing turns to hate so bitter as what once was love.” Having been elected on a wave of such stratospheric adulation, it was perhaps inevitable Mr Obama would disappoint more deeply.

Still, America elected to give him a second shot, and at the start of Mr Obama's second term the nation was brimming with hopes for a grand bargain on American finances and for a bolder, more engaged President Obama.

The second honeymoon didn’t last long: from a January 2013 high of +13, the presidential ratings – the difference between those who approve or disapprove of the president – had slipped underwater by June and in November hit a rock bottom: -15. They have been gurgling along in the -10 region ever since.

And then along comes Islamic State to blow up the Obama foreign policy doctrine…

In the past, second-term presidents facing trouble at home – think Ronald Reagan after Iran Contra, Bill Clinton after impeachment – have turned to events abroad to restore their presidential credibility. For Mr Obama, the reverse has proved true.

As a president who campaigned on ending foreign entanglements, it has been nothing short of humiliating for Mr Obama to be forced to intervene in Syria and Iraq. It didn't help matters when he admitted in August that "we don't have a strategy yet" for confronting Isil.

Now, two former top aides have released books criticising Mr Obama for his lack of leadership over Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and for the hands-off foreign policy doctrine which the president once memorably summarised as “don’t do stupid stuff”. Hillary Clinton stuck the knife in ever further: “Great nations need organising principles,” she observed, “and ‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organising principle.”

But there is always golf to take your mind of things…

Golf is usually a retirement option, but to many observers Mr Obama seems to have taken his early, completing nearly 200 rounds since taking office – including nearly 40 this year alone.

It’s not that the president doesn’t have a right to relax, but it wasn’t just Republicans who were angered by the sight of Mr Obama laughing and joking on a golf cart just minutes after making an announcement condemning the beheading of the journalist James Foley.

Which perhaps explains why it’s personal now…

For much of the Obama presidency, voters have tended to draw a distinction between the man and the problems faced by the nation – many of which, like high deficits, wars and unemployment, were blamed either on the George W Bush era or global factors beyond the president’s control.

It was that buffer that explained how Mr Obama broke all historical precedent and won re-election with unemployment running at nearly 8pc. While some of his policies were unpopular, a strong majority still found the president to be an "honest and trustworthy" leader.

Now those ratings too are under water, and Mr Obama is identified as part of the problem, with only 27 per cent of Americans believing that “things in the United States are heading in the right direction” according to a CBS/New York Times poll this week.

The Obama love affair looks well and truly over.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ffair.html

[RomaMater]

Barack Obama campaigned on false pretenses and prior to being elected President of the U.S. for the first time his political experience was limited to less than full six-year term on the U.S. Senate and couple of terms in the Illinois senate. Compare this to the political career of John F. Kennedy: three two-year terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and two terms in the U.S. Senate (one complete, one incomplete). Obama has nothing on Kennedy and he's the most obvious example of the fact that there are few- if any- standards in American politics at the moment.

[Anthea]

Barack Obama campaigned on false pretenses and prior to being elected President of the U.S. for the first time his political experience was limited to less than full six-year term on the U.S. Senate and couple of terms in the Illinois senate. Compare this to the political career of John F. Kennedy: three two-year terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and two terms in the U.S. Senate (one complete, one incomplete). Obama has nothing on Kennedy and he's the most obvious example of the fact that there are few- if any- standards in American politics at the moment.

I think that the puppeteers wanted a black president with very few brain cells who could be controlled easily - and chose Obama

[RomaMater]

I think that the puppeteers wanted a black president with very few brain cells who could be controlled easily - and chose Obama

I don't think that Obama is dumb- he's a snake-in-the-grass who knows exactly what he's doing: destroying the U.S. from within. He's a leftist on steroids who had a rubberstamp for a couple of years that he used to cram his hope and change down the throats of the American people- and it's unfortunate that so many blacks in my country drunk the kool-aid and threw in with him and the Democratic Party (the same political party that founded the Ku Klux Klan in the south after the U.S. Civil War to terrorize blacks who voted Republican!).

[Anthea]

I don't think that Obama is dumb- he's a snake-in-the-grass who knows exactly what he's doing: destroying the U.S. from within. He's a leftist on steroids who had a rubberstamp for a couple of years that he used to cram his hope and change down the throats of the American people- and it's unfortunate that so many blacks in my country drunk the kool-aid and threw in with him and the Democratic Party (the same political party that founded the Ku Klux Klan in the south after the U.S. Civil War to terrorize blacks who voted Republican!).

American politicians are a strange breed - the Kennedys are a powerful and wealthy clan

Someone - or a group of very rich and powerful people had to be behind Obama

Bush did not have 2 brain cells to rub together

[RomaMater]

Someone - or a group of very rich and powerful people had to be behind Obama

Someone like George Soros?

[Anthea]

Someone like George Soros?

I had not thought of him but he does have a finger in a lot of pies

[Anthea]

Reuters

Obama to announce go-it-alone plan on immigration Thursday
By Steve Holland and Richard Cowan

President Barack Obama will outline a plan on Thursday to relax U.S. immigration policy and grant relief from deportation to as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants in a go-it-alone move that will deepen a partisan divide with Republicans.

The White House said Obama will deliver a televised speech on Thursday night laying out the plan followed by a trip to Las Vegas on Friday to build support. Nevada is home to the highest proportion of undocumented immigrants in the country.

Frustrated by years of congressional inaction on what most in Washington agree is a broken immigration system, Obama said in a web video posting that he is now prepared to act unilaterally.

"So what I'm going to be laying out is the things that I can do with my lawful authority as president to make the system work better even as I continue to work with Congress and encourage them to get a bipartisan, comprehensive bill that can solve the entire problem," he said.

Some conservative Republicans have threatened to fight the immigration move by imposing funding restrictions in a must-pass spending bill, which could conceivably lead to a government shutdown. Republican leaders, however, have stressed they will not allow a shutdown after facing heavy criticism for the last one a year ago.

Obama's executive orders are expected to remove the threat of deportation for as many as 5 million of the estimated 11 million people living illegally in the United States. This is a significant step for a president known for having deported thousands of illegal migrants.

Sources close to the administration said Obama is planning to issue a reprieve from deportation that will cover some parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.

That initiative would expand on a 2012 executive order by the president that gave relief from deportation and work permits to undocumented children brought to the United States by their parents.

There is also expected to be a border security element and Obama will act to help companies hire and retain high-skilled workers from abroad, the sources said.

"We've identified a number of ways that we will (fix the system) which the president will speak to in the coming days," Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said at a National Press Club event on Wednesday.

Obama's move, coming little more than two weeks after elections in which Republicans seized the Senate, is certain to provoke a backlash and House of Representatives Republicans are weighing a range of responses.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, said in a statement: "If 'Emperor Obama' ignores the American people and announces an amnesty plan that he himself has said over and over again exceeds his constitutional authority, he will cement his legacy of lawlessness and ruin the chances for congressional action on this issue and many others."

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who will become Senate majority leader when Republicans command the Senate in January, has warned that Obama will poison the well for future cooperation if he acts unilaterally.

The White House hopes that by acting now, Obama will spur House Republicans into acting on long-stalled immigration legislation, an idea that many on Capitol Hill see as far-fetched.

It is not out of the question that Obama early next year could offer to approve the long-stalled Keystone XL pipeline from Canada in exchange for a deal on immigration legislation.

The president on Wednesday night will host 18 congressional Democrats at the White House to talk through his immigration action, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

Obama's move could potentially have the unintended effect of increasing illegal immigration along the U.S. southern border with Mexico, if it is perceived as a softening of U.S. policy toward future migrants.

Homeland Security's Johnson said on Wednesday he was concerned about another rise in illegal immigration, citing seasonal increases and a recovering U.S. economy. He also cited the influx of Central American child immigrants earlier this year and said U.S. officials need to retain safeguards against a repeat of that.

The migrant crisis last summer contributed to some ill feelings among Americans about undocumented migrants. A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll in August found that 70 percent of Americans believed immigrants threatened the country's beliefs while 63 percent believed they burdened the economy.

(Additional reporting by Julia Edwards, Doina Chiacu, Amanda Becker, Susan Heavey and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Tom Brown)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/ ... N820141119

[RomaMater]

I had not thought of him but he does have a finger in a lot of pies

From what I've read George Soros has had a lot to do with Obama behind-the-scenes.

[RomaMater]

Obama to announce go-it-alone plan on immigration Thursday

Which is illegal- Congress clearly controls immigration policy as defined in the U.S. Constitution in Amendment XIV. But the U.S. Constitution apparently doesn't apply to Obama because he's all about hope and change.

[Anthea]

Obama to announce go-it-alone plan on immigration Thursday

Which is illegal- Congress clearly controls immigration policy as defined in the U.S. Constitution in Amendment XIV. But the U.S. Constitution apparently doesn't apply to Obama because he's all about hope and change.

A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll in August found that 70 percent of Americans believed immigrants threatened the country's beliefs while 63 percent believed they burdened the economy.

As these are the current figures - they will rise even higher due to this - it will not only cause problems for Obama but his entire political party - surely his party will turn against him

[Anthea]

The Washington Times

Obama sets off on scorched-earth rampage
By Joseph Curl 0

President Obama, fresh off a shellacking in the 2014 midterm elections — in which he made himself a centerpiece, much to the chagrin of embattled Democrats — is about to embark on a scorched-earth rampage that will change the face of America forever.

Although the Harvard graduate and former professor often speaks of “teachable moments,” the president saw nothing worth learning in the outcome of the Nov. 4 elections, when voters gave Republicans their largest majority in the House since World War II and drummed the Democrats out of control of the Senate.

More, he doesn’t care that poll after poll shows a growing disillusionment with his signature policy as president, Obamacare, which now holds a record low approval rating of 37 percent. And his plan to use executive authority to grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens rates just about the same — just 38 percent of Americans approve.

But Mr. Obama couldn’t care less. He doesn’t care that he has said at least 22 times in the past that he couldn’t simply create his own immigration law or ignore the statues already on the books. “Congress’s job is to pass legislation. The president can veto it or he can sign it. … I believe in the Constitution and I will obey the Constitution of the United States,” he said in 2008.

And in 2010, he was more blunt: “I am president, I am not king. I can’t do these things just by myself.” That’s right, he can’t. The Founders, fearful of the power of a monarch, designed the American government so that the president is the least powerful of the triumvirate, giving far more power to the legislative branch and the judiciary.

All that talk was from before the drubbing the president took in the midterms. Now, Mr. Obama, with just two years left in office, has jettisoned his once-lofty rhetoric about the limits of presidential power.

After his party’s historic losses, he refused to even acknowledge the thrashing. Instead, he said the real lesson from that day was that Americans want everyone in Washington to “work together.”

Yet behind the scenes, the president was busy directing his team of lawyers to find real or perceived loopholes in the law — even the Constitution — in order to wave his royal scepter and instantaneously turn as many as 12 million illegal aliens into America citizens. Already he had quietly ordered the federal government to stop deporting aliens and unilaterally allowed some 60,000 “unaccompanied minors” to enter the U.S.

So he never had any intention of “working together” with Republicans, who in six weeks will control both chambers of Congress. Instead, he set off to circumvent Congress by granting amnesty to millions. Throughout, he knew that he would be, as GOP leaders said, “poisoning the well” and “waving a red flag in front of a bull.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the president announced — on Facebook — that he will be delivering a speech Thursday night detailing his intent to change U.S. law by executive fiat. The timing is deliberately designed to throw gasoline on an already blazing fire.

With just weeks to go before the end of the 113th Congress, and with funding for Ebola, a continuing resolution to keep the government open that expires Dec. 11, and a slew of others set to come up, the president has made unilateral action on immigration his top priority.

Despite his vow to work with Republicans, he will shove his executive order down their throats, intent on bringing conflict with the soon-to-be ruling party.

“That’s not the intent,” Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said Wednesday before blaming congressional Republicans for not passing a budget. “This is not an effort to provoke a standoff here in fact, the fact that Republicans have refused to act on immigration reform is why we are where we are anyway.”

He said this with a straight face. But like the Joker, the president is intent on bringing chaos to America. In that “Dark Knight” scene, Alfred explains the Joker’s true goal: “Because some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

Mr. Obama will say otherwise in his address Thursday night, but this is who he really is. And like the Joker, he is to be truly feared.

Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter @josephcurl.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... #pagebreak

[Anthea]

The Washington Times

Slumlords rejoice: ‘Amnesty’ Obama to the rescue
By Rusty Humphries

Within moments after it was announced that President Barack “I’ll give away everything before I go” Obama will lay out details of his executive order amnesty plan in Las Vegas on Friday, CNBC’s Jim Kramer said this about giving amnesty to immigration scofflaws: “This is about housing and a return to growth.”

A return to growth? Are you insane, or paid off? (There’s a guy I won’t be taking stock tips from.) This may be good for growth of slumlords and those who take advantage of the poor and weak. But this most certainly will not bring growth for the average middle class American who will be paying the bill.

Americans aren’t worried about highly skilled, highly educated people respectfully and excitedly immigrating to our country. We welcome and encourage them. Please come to America like my forefathers did, and help us with the mess we have gotten into.

What the American people overwhelmingly are rightfully worried about are the low-skilled, low-educated immigrant who comes to our country, taking jobs that Americans will do and others who immigrate because they have been told they’ll get something for just showing up. Let’s also include the waves of dangerous drug dealers and violent criminals who have neither loyalty nor respect for our great nation or our laws.

Free food, clothing, education, voting rights and an increasingly blind government eye toward lawbreaking by the illegal immigrant class is a sweet deal, and millions upon millions more people will be more than happy to exploit us. The truth is, if you learn how to work the American system, U.S. taxpayers can be milked for a lot of money.

It’s true that many illegal immigrants are good people and very hard working. Also, there are terrible, heart-wrenching stories of perilous border crossing, and troubled lives in squalid home countries, that can be brought up every day. We are not heartless, we do care, but we can no longer afford this madness.

On Fox News Sunday, elitist columnist George Will, who was debating talk radio goddess Laura Ingraham said, “The welfare state needs its workforce replenished. As the elderly retire, 10,000 Baby Boomers a day become eligible for Social Security and Medicare.”

He’s right, when we as a nation have aborted more than 55.7 million now-nonexistent taxpayers since Roe v. Wade in 1973, and we are ending up shorthanded and shortchanged. The problem is the elites believe if they import more people their precious big government-welfare state will be saved — along with their cushy, high-paying jobs.

But there’s another part of this story that nobody is willing to talk about and I’m sure to infuriate and offend. Unlike their parents who were a part of “The Greatest Generation,” the Baby Boomers have become “The Lousiest Generation.” Don’t get me wrong - not every Baby Boomer is bad (I’m sure you are great), but a large percentage have really been putting the “suck” in “succeed.”

This generation has sucked God out of our schools, babies out of the womb, morality out the window and our money down the drain. Now the Boomers are going to “suck-ceed” in legalizing recreational drugs, destroying our American culture, and wiping out any hope of fixing our economy or saving our beloved middle class.

We are at a turning point in our nation. The elites in the Republican Party better grow some huevos and fast. Stop this president from fulfilling his unattainable utopian dreams. Soon he will be out of office, but we all will be living the nightmare he and his ilk have created.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... -obama-re/

[RomaMater]

Goodness will the Republicans hurry up and impeach this guy.