Congress may actually pass an economic stimulus bill this week, which is good news for the short-term needs of the country. There is no question the economy is tottering, and could easily tip over from recession to depression, so a bill that focuses on saving jobs and creating jobs is desperately needed. The good news is that the bill will definitely help achieve some of those aims. The bad news is that it will lay a crushing debt burden on taxpayers for the future, which can only be addressed if government becomes far more efficient in the use of tax dollars than it has in the past. That could very well force, down the road, what many of us have wanted for years, a smaller, more efficient government. But somehow, that doesn't seem likely. Because Congress hasn't figured out that the model for government is, and should be, changing. And the best example is the stimulus package. Despite billions of dollars in cuts, it still contains way too much pork. And some of the cuts (to make way for that pork) seem to make no sense, such as dropping $40 billion to help keep schools from having to fire teachers. That's counter-productive. The bill is supposed to save or create jobs, not leave them threatened. Both sides of the aisle bear the blame. The Democratic leadership rolled over on way too many pet projects among its members, losing sight of the long-term goal of the bill. And Republicans kept insisting on sticking to the same failed policies of the past, and playing the same old games where personal and party political power carried more weight than the needs of the nation. One GOP leader actually admitted his goal for the bill, and the amendments he introduced, were designed to divide the Democrats and make them look bad. So much for caring about the people of this country. Both parties should be ashamed. It is time for Congress to look up from its myopic and petty party power games, and its proclivity for pork, and look at the desperate state of the nation, focusing solely on programs that stand a good chance of meeting the goal of keeping people working. Making things work should be a bipartisan issue. This bill should be about America, not the Republican or Democratic parties. -- Kelly Everitt

Obama gets low marks

Posted Tuesday, September 7, 2010, at 8:39 AM

In 10 weeks, the voters will go to the polls for the off-year general election -- an election that many pundits believe will be a referendum on the president's policies.

No president does well in their first-term off-year election. Even Kennedy and Reagan, arguably the two most popular presidents of the last 50 years, suffered reverses. Part of that was due to the fact that problems they'd inherited from previous presidents hadn't been fully fixed, and part because people didn't like some of the programs they'd pushed through Congress.

So any losses Obama suffers have to be considered as a matter of scale. And the scale of house and senate seats he's going to lose could be significant, far beyond what is "normal." The dream of Republicans, and they have a shot at it, is to regain control of the House of Representatives and get enough senate seats to restore their ability to filibuster bills.

But even Republicans are concerned about the elections, with a number of incumbents falling in their own party primaries, largely to more radical Tea Party candidates. So even a "victory" by Republicans may be a pyrrhic one. Party unity could be shattered. The result would be to only add to the stagnation in Congress.

In Idaho, two of the three incumbents for national office -- Rep. Mike Simpson and Sen. Mike Crapo -- seem destined for easy re-election, having brushed aside their primary challenges and facing disorganized and underfunded Democratic opponents this fall. Only incumbent Rep. Walt Minnick, a Democrat, may have anything to worry about, despite having cast a lot of "Republican" votes during his first term in office.

So Idaho won't be the test the election will be in much of the rest of the country to let us know where the voters stand on Obama's policies.

Let's take a quick look at where we think he stands.

He's ending the war in Iraq, but realistically, this was pretty much the timetable Gen. Petreaus had set during the Bush administration, so we don't give him too much credit for that. He's amped up the war in Afghanistan, but his timetable for withdrawal will make it hard to achieve all of our goals in that country. At best he gets a C- for his military foreign policy, and that may be generous.

He got his promised health-care reform through Congress, but it wasn't the bill most of us were looking for. It will help many individual Americans to get insurance, but it did nothing to control costs and its impacts, especially those on small business, have yet to be fully felt. Furthermore, we expect it will be heavily revised in the next Congress. Let's give him an incomplete on that one.

His response to the oil spill was only marginally better than Bush's response to Katrina, and exposed a bureaucracy that was not only incompetent, but possibly corrupt as well. Add that to the poor work of health inspectors in the food chain and he's really got egg on his face. Call it a D for oversight of the federal bureaucracy, and he gets a barely passing grade only because he's promised reforms that might actually work.

On the economy, he inherited a massive mess and the only hope was to throw money at it. Doing nothing would have been worse.

We avoided a depression but seem stuck in a recession, and frankly, the "fight anything Obama proposes" attitude of the Republicans hasn't helped fix this mess. There haven't been a lot of alternatives proposed, except to keep giving the rich tax cuts. That really won't help, because the first rule of the rich is never to invest your own money in your business (borrow it or sell stock and put enough cutouts in the way you don't personally get hurt if it tanks).

The famous stimulus money helped, but didn't really kick-start the economy like everyone hoped. The Wall Street reforms were largely a good package of laws, but they haven't done anything to get the banks to start loaning money to small businesses again, and that's the one thing that's really needed. Bailing out the banks left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth but the alternative was to see a series of massive bank failures all across the country, which would have been worse.

Still, in the end, it's all about jobs, and they're still not coming back like everyone hoped they would. And the long-term debt, which probably had to be incurred to save the short-term economy, is really, really scarey.

He gets a C- on this one for simply avoiding disaster, but at a cost that may create another one in the future. Once again, that grade may be generous.

As a leader, he probably gets a B. He can still inspire crowds, but the body of work he's produced so far doesn't inspire quite the adulation he generated during his campaign.

Overall, however, it's not an impressive report card -- average at best. The question now is what viable and better alternatives will actually be proposed by candidates getting elected this November? Are they going to run FOR something, or simply against HIM. We hope it's the former. We fear it's the latter.

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dont know what happened to my post it seems to have disappeared......dont know why?????i didnt curse or attack anyone or anything......whats up????or is this for the right wing only????????

-- Posted by lamont on Fri, Sep 3, 2010, at 9:33 AM

Brenda Fincher Bus. Mgr. MHN
OK, I left you a personal voice mail message. Right Wing??? Really??? I have posted this a zillon times. Abbreviated cursing counts. Everyone have a wonderful weekend. B
sorry......i had noticed other abbr wont do it again........smile

-- Posted by lamont on Fri, Sep 3, 2010, at 1:34 PM
well i see we are distorting again.....with glee...1----the suit against the sheriff stems from and investigation over a year old....he refused to provide documents ....and has done so for over 15 months.....but i guess that doesnt count.....the border has gotten more manpower,more money troops,and agents just what is it you want them to do?????????that we can do.....maybe a soldier every 6 FT AND WE DONT HAVE ENOUGH.......stimulus money goes to the states and they decide what projects......i think you should point fingers at the states......for there stupity......700 thousand to professor the school alloted that.....because they have the final say.........illegal votes how do we do that?????? now thats a stretch for sure........the contractor in NY will be sued for sure......and that is not the way we conduct business in this country or so im told.......lets see.....the catholic church condone and facilatated child molestation.........no more churches for them......the morman church condones child molestation and poligamy no more churches for them......the baptist church condoned segragation and facilitated it in the south no more churches for them......and the people who attended those churches .....are all enemys of the state.....so im saying were will it stop?????? answer it wont .......you zook we are on the list too.......got and ex (r) senator who says we vietnam vets got to much and should be cut....what do you think about that???????you know i sometime dont like the rants but we can at least tell the whole story and not half of it......why is the bill for small busness being held up???????? im poor and i hire people .....i dont make 250.000.......i pay about 2300.00 in taxes a year and in the whole scheme of things its ok......i guess we would rather not pay anything.......and then what???????i can see a lot of services and things we take for granted going away..........lets start wirh I-84....the FAA,.......the armed forces thats just a few......health care i have a friend who has put herself in a place to lose everything her husband left her to include house car everything....at 80 yrs old to medical bills for a child.....we are talking 250.000.00 or more in 18 months ......is that right????????? i dont think so......but by all means lets make money......and you know there will be a change and that change will bring another war......stimulus.......iran or north korea......possibly both....but the economy will revive...and thats all that counts right.....well me personally im tired of feeding the undertakers with our children for no reason and or lies........so that some billionaire can continue to fuel his yaught......poor people hire to and small people provide jobs.....but thats not what some want. they want cooperate america otherwise they would pass the bill........it tells it all......and the good sheriff has been under investigation for civil rights violations for yrs.....you dont really think this just started....there doing there jobs.....what they need is some understanding and help would go a long way but we would rather marginalize a president....thats more important......shame on us.......not the america i shed blood for......and please dont tell me about fairness there has been nothing fair about this whole process....it reeks.....and you shall see........we do the fighting and dying......and some say thats the way it is .....the rich get richer ......remember.... arnt you tired of that....and by the way that is what is happening.....checkout that stats on wages in the 70 s compared to wages now.....have a great day7

-- Posted by lamont on Sat, Sep 4, 2010, at 10:27 AM
good guys????????? hmmm.....you didnt addresse one thing that has to do with the wrongs that are being perpertrated on us.......how about the small business bill???????how about the fact that the right wants to privatize social security.......what they want is your money to put in cooperate america ......if that had been in place now.......nobody would have a retirement......how come you didnt comment on the senators proposal.....to cut you and i .....we got to much........i guess he figures we lost.....he needs to look in the mirror........i dont care about mexicos laws or any other country for that matter i am only intrested in what WE stand for,because thats what i fought for..........do you know how far a city block is in new york??????????? it is about the distance of 4 in mtn home........and thats a fact did you know that at least 30 muslims died in the towers and some of them were first responders.........kinda like the 444 in world war 2 ........we forget to easy......this thing with the mosque is going to get some innocent people killed and i guess that will make some people happy ......(REVENGE).....and you know what they will probally be US citizens......how ironic......but thats never stoped haters before why now????????? this administration has deported more illegals than any other........the economy has slowed the illegals to a record low.......as stated before stop hiring them they will stop comming.......but cooperate america needs slaves so guess who is on the selling block.......again how about no taxes at all will that make you happy ????????...you didnt answer that why not????... has anyone really stoped and thought about what it is we really want or better still need........and to not talk about that skirts the issues......i noticed that things that touch you hard zook you dont mention......i think you should think about some of them.......me i really have a hard time with constant non stop war.....constant nonstop degrading of wages and our humanity as a whole......the world aint perfect.......and we are not helping it any or ourselfes.....we need to get to the center and if we dont we are doomed to the same old stuff.....got to go .......gig to pl,ay

-- Posted by lamont on Sat, Sep 4, 2010, at 6:13 PM
oh......paper work gw paperwork showed he would probally have jailed you and me.........and someplace were there was no habeus corpus.......that administration was as tyrannical as it gets......dont cast stones when you live in a glass house........this administration went about protecting the country and gw by not making those papers public we need to remember that

-- Posted by lamont on Sat, Sep 4, 2010, at 6:22 PM
the bill contains no stimulus,its paid for ,does not increase deficet,all it does is make the banks that took stimulus have to loan to small business, the dems do not have a 60 vote majority,and the repubs will vote like the dems in block to block it.......now that is not what we pay them for.......and they have admitted that non passage is a political move and nothing more.....amnesty i havnt heard about anyone proposing amnesty for amnesty sake......we will never be able to just up and deport 11 to 12 mil people at once unless you want a police state because thats what it would take and at that point EVERYONE WOULD BE SUBJECT TO SEARCH WITHOUT WARRANTS ETC.......so again you can be for that if you want but again were does it stop once it starts.and as long as you figure it cant happen to you you will say its ok......but when it does the question will be how did this happen....WE CANNOT SUSPEND OUR RIGHTS AS CITZENS TO ATTEMPT TO ROUND UP ALL THESE PEOPLE........there has got to be a better solution.....through attrition......we wont get them all i dont care what we do........ i cant believe you want to privatize social security........after what the financial instituions did in the last 10 yrs.....if we had our money there you whould have exactly zero now.........and no recourse to get any......they would say thats tough that is the chance you take investing i dont buy it..........ask the people who have lost........now what about the senator who wants to cut you off???????? is that ok too ????????? come on spit it out i think his attitude should tell you what he thinks sbout us.....those are the kinda things that sneak up on you.....he is the same guy who wants to privatize.....so next he will want us to pay into a fund for our treatment........problem private... sector will hold that too,,, use it for what they want... if it doesnt work out oh well......both of these partys are not in our best intrest just one is more than the other........big busness is not my savior but there are people who think they are........and as long as they are making money they will throw you and i to the wolfes .......get off the mexicans they are not the problem. they con tribute to it... the problem is government and corperate america..... the problem is greed and the use of people to foster that need.....as long as we could use those people without a cost we did... now that it could cost we have no need......how about getting on the corperations that have out sourced jobs with our tax money ........the immergration problem is a smoke screen to hide what has really happened.....look at it that way and you might see it differently..... and im not saying im right...... i just say lets look at it a different way......got to go...... think about it

-- Posted by lamont on Sun, Sep 5, 2010, at 10:40 AM
zook why the sarcasm concerning the muslims that died in the world trade center??????? i dont get that......did you forget that we have born americans who are of the islamic faith,or do we just need someone to hate ? that was uncalled for and they are full paricipants in our society it was not about MAJORITY ENOUGH and HUMAN LIFE...it was about our citzens being attacked.......ALL OF THEM.....from what you said i guess your only and AMERICAN AS YOU DEEM FIT..........SO MY GOOD MAN WERE DOES THAT LEAVE ME???????? OR ANY NUMBER OF PEOPLE.......what is says is if you are not WASP you dont count.....and dont say thats not true... read what you said.....and think about that hard.......citzen

-- Posted by lamont on Sun, Sep 5, 2010, at 12:01 PM
rhe risk for ssi would would be far greater ......think when you were 20 you were not thinking of saving any thing we ran around sayin"im not going to live to 30' and then we went about drinking and acting crazy trying to prove what we said well it didnt work....were here now think....enron,arthur anderson,bernie madoff etc......the companys that pay there ceo millons to manage our money and when they mismanag they leave with golden parachutes and we get to jump out the window without a parachute.....save you are joking ......what do you do with those who cant or wont ....eliminate them????????? you got to get real.....i am sure some people need the 60-70 dollars a month they take ......i dont need carpetbaggers playing with my money in the market....they need to play with there own so when they loose or get stuped they pay......SEEMS TO ME THAT YOU ONLY HEAR WHAT YOU WANT......THE REPUBS WANT REFORM TOO.......BUT THEY ALSO WANT THE BORDER SEALED NOW WELL WE BOTH KNOW AND THEY DO TOO THAT THAT CANT HAPPEN NOW...so lets get to it i have always said secure the borders.....the smoke screen is that those people were used and now that they are costing us they are no longer wanted.......i pass the fields every day and you dont see a black or white face out there......i have talked to the farmers and they have said they cant get a white or black kid to do that work.....now about the prayer rugs islam is a faith not a peoples you cannot as i pointed out before condemm a peoples for the deeds of some simply because they share a religion......if we could you would sure as heck have to look at every religion on the face of the earth......and when we secure the borders that includes canada too.......and if you had payed attention i am very aware of the potntial for terrorist to cross the borders are you aware that more come legally,,,,school,work permites etc not one of 911 camee"illegally".........here is what was said by the president and others .....they have the legal right to build there.......that is what i said i did not say i thought it was right......i did say it is not next door and if you knew how long a block was in NY you would understand a little better......i would say the same for the KKK...... THOSE ARE..... the rights that i wore a uniform for.....that doesnt make it right,decency,respect etc so dont try and turn that into something its not......and i have been to birmigham ......I WAS BORN AND RAISED HERE ALSO WHAT IS THAT SOPPOSED TO MEAN???????......get in touch that we dont do anything that is not in our national intrest ......so we didnt have to do anything we didnt want to is a joke......our national security was at risk....ww2.....korea.....vietnam....thats what was determined .....the same was determined for gulf 1 and gulf 2.....now those determination can be questioned but we did not go just to go.......so we can say they owe us they may not feel that way.......i dont question you being and american........i question when someone trys to decide how much is and american and who should be one.......you dont like your allegiance questioned ????????? there is a lot of americans out there who dont want theres questioned also......just because they look different than you..........thats the point.......they would also say they are americams first try to remeber that,,,,,,,,now you asked i forgot to tell you not that i need to qualify me,,,,,,f-100 rf101c...f102 ab...f -105fg....f-106 ab....f-111f..ef-111a....eb-57.....eb-66......f-15c.......iv been around......did some things in namm cant put in a blog.........hey quite being so angry its not good for your health.....besides your getting to old for that it will kill you........have a good day

-- Posted by lamont on Sun, Sep 5, 2010, at 9:36 PM
oh i forgot......corperate america is not my enemy but they are our nemiss ......and you spewing the party line about not knowing whats comming......thats garbage ......besides arnt we always talking about small businees being the engine so which is it???????corperate america works in its own self intrest...there is no national allegiance if there were they wouldnt be outsourcing to the point they are.....we have been losing jobs before bush.....it has just come to crical mass,,,,,,,,,,so now that they have been called on it some are bringing jobs back......the way to keep them is when they outsource we take there tax exemptions,and incentives......right now they are taking those things and still moving the jobs .......wrong... the greed is out of control........and thats why they keep wanting to depress wages.........people cannot live on 5$ and hr......this is not 1960......and if thats what they want us to do then the cost of living has to be reduced and lets start with health care........what say you????? 40 thou for a decent truck that is crazy........median cost of a house 150.000.00 that use to be a mansion and that wasnt that long ago.......anyhow you get the point......we get gouged for gas we are always 30 cents above the national avg,,,,,,,,,why???????? you never get a straight answer from our att general(idaho).....so there all doing the same thisng......so when you point fingers remember the r and the d ..........gotcha......smile

-- Posted by lamont on Sun, Sep 5, 2010, at 11:04 PM
front of the line???????? no what was said was that there should be a path to citezenship there is no proposal for them to move to the front of the line........at least not one iv heard........so again i think thats a matter of perception......and yes muslims are comming across like everyone else the easiest way they can........and i mean everyone else...asians,serbs,you name it........that doesnt mean there all comming to attack us....... you hate to much........the KKK I SAID THEY ARE A TERRORIST ORG THAT NO ONE SCREAMS ABOUT WHO STILL EXIST TODAY........BUT IF THEY ARE CITZENS OF THIS COUNTRY AND HAVE THE MONEY AND THE PROPERTY THEY CAN BUILD WERE THEY WANT.....LEGALLY THEY HAVE THE RIGHT.....THAT DOESNT MAKE IT RIGHT......THATS WHAT I SWORE TO UPHOLD.....AND WOULD TO THIS DAY.......THE JOE LOUIS STORY IS WELL KNOWN IT IS CITED BY EVERY CIVIL PERSON WHO KNOWS IT.........what is not well known is that the irs did not do the same to other celebs who did the exact same thing but were lesser known.........what a lot of us feel was it was and attempt to marginalize a black hero but they didnt succed........let me tell you something a lot of us will not loose our dignity and there have been very vicous things done to us to attempt that to happen.....you have no idea you have only scratch the surface.......i could tell you things that have happened to me that would never happen to you and some of those things still happen.......you dont walk in a minoritys shoes so you have no idea how some of the things you say come across.......just and examle......archie bunker by no means was a hero to us......he symbolized the things that were happening to us and the attitude that prevailed about it.....and he still does........the other reason I DONT FEAR THE kkk i can buy guns and bombs too.....i am not MLK you smack me I will smack you back......and not tomorrow.........answer the question of what are you going to do with the people who dont save???????? AND WHY DO YOU TRUST CORPERATE AMERICA TO INVEST YOUR MONEY,AND WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE SENATOR WHO WANTS TO CUT YOU AFF?????? i want to know what you think of that...........have a great day

-- Posted by lamont on Mon, Sep 6, 2010, at 10:17 AM
here is a waste of money for you.....went to F-4 school in 1970 ,,,went back over but i never touched one, hows that?.....right back to old sqd and the F-105fg......the test at times were a joke, i protested the one i took for tech although i got promoted.....if you had never worked on a F-106 there was no way you could pass that test.....so i said so.....i got a 96.....and hadnt worked on the bird in 5yrs....worked f111f here i was phase dock night super pulled the acceptance insp for everyone of them in the af......i go back a ways to say the least..F-106 dover del.....95th FIS..........i thought i answered the amnesty thing i have not heard about any fast track to citizenship.....i have heard about....fine,background cks,proof of employement....things like that......that CANT be accomplished by 2012.....so thats is a smoke screen for politics.....but i have come to know that......sorry i feel it has a LOT to do with the president being black......this sellout didnt just start so why all the garbage now ??????? and we seem to attack everything.....to include his family......and not one reb has said that is wrong......so again as a black man i ask why has this been allowed to happen .........I say because there are people who do not see me as and equal and never will therefore attacking me in any way is ok........that concept may be hard for you to grasp......but if you can lynch a man wearing your countrys uniform you have no limits.....if you can use the N WORD ON A PLANE RIDE FOR 4 HRS with a soldier sitting in the row in front of you please tell me what i should think( this happened to me)....what i am saying for some. the tea party is ok i personally dont think so. there posters and rehetoric is not what i would call inclusive......but thats me.....i will not be used...through all these conversations i have said wrong is wrong...... other things i usaually can figure out what happened.......when the tea party sees me as a viable part of the solution and not the problem then maybe i will look at them in a different light.......belive it or not iI AM A PATRIOT AND PROUD OF IT.....but i also paid my dues ........keep up the good fight........agent orange our nemiss......and he wants to cut us off......he only tried to kill us.......smile.......when i get ready....see ya

-- Posted by lamont on Tue, Sep 7, 2010, at 7:43 PM
palin is not the president........there should be a different level of respect......and the writer who moved in next door to her .....it was assumbed he was there to spy not proven ......did you know he went on tv to refute those charges.........for me palin is a narcessitic,egotistical,carpetbagger......i dont know how people see her as viable .....she doesnt even know how this republic works sorry but that has been shown time and again.......i agree geitner was wrong.....however the tax was about a vehicle allowance......i dont get one but the irs is a pain about milage and servicing etc....you woould think they had bigger things to worry about.......i know small business we have to keep logs etc you would think we were running a fleet....anyhow........i was glad to see you kinda got a handle on some things and showed some understanding......we shall see what shakes out........i will say that the espectation that the president could fix this mess in 18months was unreasonable but well see.......taxe cuts will not solve the problem......it will keep it alive .....saying no to everything wont solve it either........ we need some people who are honest and we dont have any........i for one am tired of the contiouse lies .......they are nonstop from both sides it needs to stop.......they are power crazed its all about the title.......they will do and say anything to remain senators and congressman.......there not there for us.......hey have a great day will see ya

-- Posted by lamont on Thu, Sep 9, 2010, at 9:14 AM
no......the notables would speak because they would feel they had to......the media knew this story would sell so they packaged it and sold it.......they had to know because of what happened before with the cartoon.....thats what i mean when i say look at all of it from different angles.....its not the quran,the people.or the preacher in this case its the media........and the need to make money........our guys get killed ......they say oh well cost of doing business........and im saying it nice.....what i feel is beyond desribing here......see ya

-- Posted by lamont on Sun, Sep 12, 2010, at 7:07 PM
Bazook

The Republicans need your money

http://www.firepelosibus.com/home.aspx

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Mon, Sep 13, 2010, at 11:25 AM

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