Has Obama's "Economic Fix" Already Failed?

[John317]

Gingrich at Republican Fundraiser Says Obama's 'Already Failed'

Heidi Przybyla – Tue Jun 9, 12:58 am ET

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said President Barack Obama’s plan to fix the economy through stimulus spending and government intervention to boost companies like General Motors Corp. has "already failed."

Gingrich was the keynote speaker at a fundraising dinner for the Republican House and Senate campaign committees, filling a role President George W. Bush had served for the past eight years.

"Bureaucrats managing companies does not work, politicians dominating the economy does not work," Gingrich told about 2,000 Republicans who attended the event at the Washington Convention Center last night.

Some Republican leaders hailed Gingrich, the leader of the 1994 "Republican Revolution," as a de facto head of the party at a time when Republicans are looking for ideas to lead them back to the majority.

In introducing Gingrich, Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin called him the “architect of the last reform movement” and “the man of ideas.”

Gingrich was preceded by a series of Republican leaders who also took aim at Democrats and the government bailout of Detroit-based GM, New York-based American International Group Inc. and other companies.

Congress in February passed a $787 billion stimulus measure that Republican lawmakers have criticized, saying it hasn’t lived up to administration promises.

Obama said yesterday there are signs the economy may be headed toward a recovery. "We're seeing a reduction in the fear that gripped the market just a few months ago," he said at the White House.

‘Radical Agenda’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Obama has a "radical agenda." Republicans have "watched them take over banks, insurance companies, auto companies," he said, “and now they want to take over your health care.”

"We’re going to need some wins next November to slow down their agenda," said McConnell. House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio said Democrats are using their control of Congress "to bury our children and the middle class under a mountain of debt."

Actor Jon Voight, the master of ceremonies, opened the evening with a series of sharp attacks on Obama, something many Republican leaders have been hesitant to do in light of the president’s high approval ratings.

A USA Today/Gallup Poll taken May 29-31 gave him a 61 percent approval rating.

‘Weak Nation’

"We are becoming a weak nation," said Voight, calling Obama a "false prophet." Republicans need to find their way back to power to free the nation from "this Obama oppression," he said.

Both McConnell and Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, who followed Voight, seemed pleasantly surprised.

"I’m still just reveling that someone from Hollywood made a speech like that. I hope you’re going to be able to find work after this," said McConnell. "I really enjoyed that."

Senator John Cornyn of Texas called the speech "refreshing."

The dinner, which included 150 members of Congress, raised $14.5 million for the Republican House and Senate campaign committees.

Alaska Governor and former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell were among the special guests.

[fccool]

BEIJING, June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday reaffirmed his faith in a strong dollar and reassured the Chinese government that its huge holdings of dollar-denominated assets are safe.

"We believe in a strong dollar," Geithner said in a question-and-answer session after a speech to students at Peking University.

A major goal of Geithner's maiden visit to China as Treasury secretary is to allay Beijing's concerns that Washington's mushrooming budget deficit and ultra-loose monetary policy will undermine both the dollar and U.S. bonds. China is the biggest foreign owner of U.S. Treasury bonds.

"Chinese financial assets are very safe," Geithner said. His response drew laughter from the audience.

[Bravus]

Markets back up, banks paying 68 bn back to Treasury. I guess everyone's entitled to their own definition of 'failure', but this seems like an odd one...

[Woody]

Yep. That would be correct.

Go Sarah

[Dr. Shane]

I don't think Obama has been in office long enough to know if his programs are going to be successful or not. Turning the economy around is like turning a big ship - it turns very slowly.

President Obama inherited this recession which was caused primarily by the Federal Reserve making cheap money and somewhat by both parties in Congress playing politics with the banking industry. I think it unfair to blame President Obama for the recession.

That said, I am not sold on his stimulus as being the solution that will pull us out. I am very concerned that his stimulus is going to cause inflation. We have already seen the price of oil start going back up.

Just to be fair and balanced, President Bush also inherited a recession which was caused by the high-tech bubble bursting. I think the Federal Reserve played a role in that bubble happening too. President Bush also passed a stimulus in addition to cutting taxes. That worked and turned the economy around but the value of the dollar also fell and the price of oil skyrocketed. Inflation was nearly 5% during one of the years toward the end of his administration.

[Dr. Shane]

banks paying 68 bn back to Treasury.

Interesting thing those banks paying the money back so quickly. Anyone wonder why?

One big reason is the government not allowing them to give out bonuses is costing the banks a lot of their best managers. Many managers have left these banks and went to work for foreign banks or banks that did not take government money.

[Dr. Shane]

Loser political rhetoric...

So should have Republicans used this language every time someone criticized the Bush Administration?

I seem to recall Hillary Clinton saying she was sick and tired of people saying it was unpatriotic to criticize the Bush Administration. Well if it was "patriotic" for dissenters to criticize the Bush Administration, isn't equally patriotic for dissenters today to criticize the Obama Administration?

[Bravus]

Yep, but some facts in the criticism would be nice. Under what criteria has Obama's economic plan already failed?

[Dr. Shane]

As I have already stated, I think it is too early to say Obama's plan has failed. And, Obama's plan is just a ramped up version of what Bush did. Obama has a stimulus package - bigger than Bush's was. Obama doesn't have tax cuts... or does he? Actually he isn't letting the Bush tax cuts expire when they were scheduled to.

My point is that calling the political minorities "losers" is not a means to have a healthy exchange of ideas.

[fccool]

I certainly don't think it's too early to see what's going to happen. At this point of time, the government is panicking and giving away 8k to home buyers people just to prop up the housing market so the banks would not be stuck with all of the devalued abandoned houses.

How long will that last. For once I actually did feel optimistic, and forgot about the reality, but the reality is that nothing has really drastically changed in US economy. More debt is being taken out, and government is now compensating for where people are actually started saving. The government decided to step in and make sure people spend enough.

The most hilarious thing is that Timothy Geitner is giving lessons to China on how to improve their economy. That's hilarious! It's like drunken F student who is about to get expelled giving academic advice to a valedictorian. And the advice is ... "skip classes and get stoned more often".

People laugh at this guy now, and they should. He's going to China and tells them that Government needs to step in and spend more on programs because apparently people are saving too much. The Capitalist US tells Communist China that they should be more Communist ... like the US .

[olger]

If the housing crisis was a prob-lem, wait until the national debt crashes in. That will really be a problem. The current woes are but a sample of what is coming because of our foolish debt load.

g

[fccool]

I really think that the dollar collapse is eminent, which will essentially result in people depending less on US consumption and enjoy their own savings... like people in China. China really should stop buying the US debt. I realize that it would probably mean the world of hurt for people like me, but for the things to get better... they have to really get worse for us to grasp the sad reality... that we essentially enjoyed the handouts from the rest of the world while squandering whatever is left of our economy.

We need to go back to the days of efficient public transportation, more functional suburbia, with less highways and more local commerce, because the days of 3000 mile lettuce are winding down.

[Bravus]

I think that puts us in the 'Conspiracy Theory' forum. ;-) :-P

[carolaa]

There's an interesting article in NYT today blaming GWBush for the financial mess we're in (primarily the national debt) and blaming Obama for not addressing it enough.

[Dr. Shane]

There's an interesting article in NYT today blaming GWBush for the financial mess we're in (primarily the national debt) and blaming Obama for not addressing it enough.

That would be a typical NYT story. The kind you try to remember to cover your mouth when yawning.

[carolaa]

You mean because they are trying to disguise the obvious as news?

[Dr. Shane]

I really think that the dollar collapse is eminent...

When we look at the ratios of debt to GDP, we are not that far out of line from where we have been before. Personally, I favor a balanced budget but I don't want to be Chicken Little crying that the sky is falling either.

What is going to happen is impossible to predict because it depends a lot on human behavior which tends to vary in an unpredictable way. There are generalities that are normally true. For example, when the price of gas goes up people normally drive less and buy smaller cars. When taxes go up, whatever activity is being taxed normally decreases.

[Dr. Shane]

You mean because they are trying to disguise the obvious as news?

They have an agenda that hasn't changed in years. Their subscription rate has been decreasing dramatically over the past decade as they have lost their status of being an objective source of news.

[Dr. Shane]

No, it doesn't. I like my news fair and balance or objective. That means I don't want the media source telling me what to think. I like the media source to present the facts to me so I can think for myself. The New York Times is more interested in telling me to think like they think. They are in the indoctrination business. If I wanted to let someone else to my thinking for me I wouldn't be a Seventh-day Adventist.