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usc
politics
Obama Hypocrisy: Fundamentals of the Economy Are 'Sound'
"The fundamentals [of the economy] are sound," Obama economic adviser Christina Romer declared Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press.
The irony of the statement was not lost, even on the ears of the media elite, in light of candidate Obama's harsh rhetoric towards then-rival John McCain for saying "the fundamentals of the economy are strong."
"It's not that I think John McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of most Americans," Obama said then. "I just think he doesn't know ... Why else would he say, today, of all days -- just a few hours ago -- that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong?
"Senator – what economy are you talking about?"
President Obama last week: "If we are keeping focused on all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy, all the outstanding companies, workers, all the innovation and dynamism in this economy, then we're going to get through this," Obama said, contradicting his own budget director's recent assertion that "fundamentally, the economy is weak."
So what has changed since the campaigns ended?
Sept. 15, 2008: The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 10,917. Sen. McCain says that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
Nov. 4, 2008: Election Day. The Dow has dropped to 9,625.
Jan. 20, 2009: Inauguration Day. The Dow has plummeted further to 7,949.
Mar. 15, 2009: Obama economic adviser Christina Romer says, "Well, of course the fundamentals [of the economy] are sound..." The Dow is just over 7,200.
Prompted by MTP host David Gregory to explain Obama's about-face, Romer dodged before reinforcing the McCain/Obama comparison:
DR. ROMER: I think when the president says he's focusing on fundamentals, what he means is, is we're focusing on, on fixing the fundamentals; that we've always said we're not looking at the ups and downs of the stock market, we're looking for those crucial indicators: when are jobs turning around, when are sales turning around, when do we see consumers coming to life? That's the kind of thing that--certainly that I'm looking at in terms of when's the economy going to be doing better and, and when can we see some hope.
MR. GREGORY: Are the fundamentals of this economy sound?
DR. ROMER: Well, of course the fundamentals are sound in the sense that the American workers are sound, we have a good capital stock, we have good technology. We know that, that temporarily we're in a mess, right? We've seen huge job loss, we've seen very large falls in GDP. So certainly in the short run we're in a, in a bad situation.
--
You might remember that Sen. McCain also explained his statement by saying he was referring to the strength and ingenuity of the American worker.
President Obama recognizes now what Sen. McCain understood last year - consumer spending will not rise significantly until consumers believe that the economy is about to improve. While Candidate Obama rode to electoral victory by overstating the most depressing economic news and promising "change," his Administration is now burdened with a country suffering from a crisis of confidence.
That the stock market has continued to crumble since Obama's election certainly doesn't help. It would appear that governance can be a lot tougher than a political campaign.
The irony of the statement was not lost, even on the ears of the media elite, in light of candidate Obama's harsh rhetoric towards then-rival John McCain for saying "the fundamentals of the economy are strong."
"It's not that I think John McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of most Americans," Obama said then. "I just think he doesn't know ... Why else would he say, today, of all days -- just a few hours ago -- that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong?
"Senator – what economy are you talking about?"
President Obama last week: "If we are keeping focused on all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy, all the outstanding companies, workers, all the innovation and dynamism in this economy, then we're going to get through this," Obama said, contradicting his own budget director's recent assertion that "fundamentally, the economy is weak."
So what has changed since the campaigns ended?
Sept. 15, 2008: The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 10,917. Sen. McCain says that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
Nov. 4, 2008: Election Day. The Dow has dropped to 9,625.
Jan. 20, 2009: Inauguration Day. The Dow has plummeted further to 7,949.
Mar. 15, 2009: Obama economic adviser Christina Romer says, "Well, of course the fundamentals [of the economy] are sound..." The Dow is just over 7,200.
Prompted by MTP host David Gregory to explain Obama's about-face, Romer dodged before reinforcing the McCain/Obama comparison:
DR. ROMER: I think when the president says he's focusing on fundamentals, what he means is, is we're focusing on, on fixing the fundamentals; that we've always said we're not looking at the ups and downs of the stock market, we're looking for those crucial indicators: when are jobs turning around, when are sales turning around, when do we see consumers coming to life? That's the kind of thing that--certainly that I'm looking at in terms of when's the economy going to be doing better and, and when can we see some hope.
MR. GREGORY: Are the fundamentals of this economy sound?
DR. ROMER: Well, of course the fundamentals are sound in the sense that the American workers are sound, we have a good capital stock, we have good technology. We know that, that temporarily we're in a mess, right? We've seen huge job loss, we've seen very large falls in GDP. So certainly in the short run we're in a, in a bad situation.
--
You might remember that Sen. McCain also explained his statement by saying he was referring to the strength and ingenuity of the American worker.
President Obama recognizes now what Sen. McCain understood last year - consumer spending will not rise significantly until consumers believe that the economy is about to improve. While Candidate Obama rode to electoral victory by overstating the most depressing economic news and promising "change," his Administration is now burdened with a country suffering from a crisis of confidence.
That the stock market has continued to crumble since Obama's election certainly doesn't help. It would appear that governance can be a lot tougher than a political campaign.
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mahalapril
12:10PM 12:10PM Mar 17th 2009
OBAMA HAS NO SHAME AT ALL. HE WILL LIE, USE EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING THAT HE CRITICIZED BEFORE JUST FOR HIS OWN POLITICAL ADVANTAGE. THIS IS GETTING SO RIDICULOUS. THE WORLD KNOW AND ARE LAUGHING AT US FOR ELECTING AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WHO IS A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR AND DOES NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE ECONOMY AND THE MILITARY.
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ANGELA
10:02PM 10:02PM Mar 18th 2009
HI, I NORMALLY DON'T COMMENT ON THINGS, BUT I THINK I HAVE THE BEST SOLUTION TO OUR ECONOMIC PROBLEM. THEY ESTIMATE WE HAVE 305 MILLION PEOPLE LIVING IN THE USA.
IF THE GOVERMENT GAVE EVERYONE WHO MAKES UNDER $250,000 PER YEAR A $500,000 BONUS, WE COULD PAY OUR BILLS, START NEW BUSINESS, BUY HOMES, CARS, TAKE VACATIONS, ETC. THE ECONOMY WOULD BE BOOMING. INSTEAD THEY THROW MONEY AWAY WITH AIG, THE HUGE CORPORATIONS WHO ARE GOING UNDER ANYWAY. OR THEY SPEND ALL THE MONEY ON PAY BACKS. GIVE THE MONEY TO THE PEOPLE IF YOU WANT THE ECONOMY TO GET GOING AGAIN!!! WE NEED IT NOT THEM. WELL THANKS FOR LISTENING. JUST MY OPINION.
THANKS, ANGELA
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Jack Kirkpatrick
3:01PM 3:01PM Mar 19th 2009
Thanks for reporting this story.
While the fundementals seem sound, the oversight and some additional regulation by government needs a tune up. Secondly, no money should be given until contracts are reviewed with real understanding of the company and renegotated so executive are receiving a lower, by fairer salary and no bonuses are paid. No additional income for executives until the governments is paid back with interest. Al all segements of a company including stakeholder, bondholders and shareholders have to eat some of their bad decisisons.
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BJVERALDI
4:05PM 4:05PM Mar 17th 2009
THANK YOU FOR REPORTING THIS- WATCH OBAMA- EVERY DAY HE COMES OUT WITH ONE HAND TELLING US[WITH THE HELP OF MR. TELEPROMPTER] WORDS OF WISDOM-WATCH HIS OTHER HAND THAT'S SCREWING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE OUT OF SOMETHING ELSE.
THIS MAN IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED- PLEASE REMEMBER THAT.
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DebP
5:24PM 5:24PM Mar 17th 2009
Joshua...I couldn"t have said it better!!!
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Ed
6:34PM 6:34PM Mar 17th 2009
Hmmm let's see. What happened in 1991 to increase global temperatures? Sadam Hussain torched all of the oil wells in Kuwait and put a tons of carbon dioxide, soot and smoke high into the atmosphere. Some of these oil wells burned for two years. This intensified the "green house" effect and caused most of the global warming that the earth has been correcting. We have been in a global cooling period since 1998. Only the Democrats would take a political stand against the earth regulating itself. How conceited, arrogant and irresponsible. Their ally was Sadam but so are a lot of other lunatic madmen. Shame on you Al Gore.
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ed
6:36PM 6:36PM Mar 17th 2009
Hmmm let's see. What happened in 1991 to increase global temperatures? Sadam Hussain torched all of the oil wells in Kuwait and put a tons of carbon dioxide, soot and smoke high into the atmosphere. Some of these oil wells burned for two years. This intensified the "green house" effect and caused most of the global warming that the earth has been correcting. We have been in a global cooling period since 1998. Only the Democrats would take a political stand against the earth regulating itself. How conceited, arrogant and irresponsible. Their ally was Sadam but so are a lot of other lunatic madmen. Shame on you Al Gore.
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Sergeant
7:16PM 7:16PM Mar 17th 2009
After hearing the idiotic, self-contradicting comments spewing forth from the politicians, does anyone really believe these fools are going to solve our problems? The fact is that capitalism is a failed system, and nothing can save it. Arrest the Wall Street crooks and put them on trial, live on the Internet! See the plan: ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ9vTJLIA8M
www.thirdpositionjustice.net
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longwalker
10:11PM 10:11PM Mar 17th 2009
Sergeant : As a former sergeant (S/SGT, in fact) I would like to see why you consider capitalism a failed system. Facts, please, not conclusions. Also, calling Wall Streeters crooks don't make it so. Once again, I would appreciate evidence of a criminal act before I would call anyone a crook. The dumbest person I ever met has a right to his own opinion but not to having that opinion respected in political discourse. To uphold the honor of all sergeants, please think twice before you write or chose another nom de plume.
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jan
10:14PM 10:14PM Mar 17th 2009
Can no one understand the written word? Focusing on those fundamental aspects of the economy which are sound means there are some things we do right, and it's those we should promote and depend on. It in no way means the economy is strong.
The vagaries of the stock market are unrelated to anything President Obama did or didn't do. It takes a hell of a lot longer for such things to move than the time Obama's been in office.
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paul
8:20AM 8:20AM Mar 18th 2009
Never seen an official rise to the level of incomptency so incredibly fast. He lies as well as Billy Clinton. I did not have sex with that woman. Yeah. Let's ask Billy boy that question again and see if he blinks........What Obama needs now is some counsuling from the Rev. Wright......
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paul
8:23AM 8:23AM Mar 18th 2009
Never seen an official rise to the level of incomptency so incredibly
fast. He lies as well as Billy Clinton. I did not have sex with that
woman. Yeah. Let's ask Billy boy that question again and see if he
blinks........What Obama needs now is some counsuling from the Rev.
Wright......
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rick
9:04AM 9:04AM Mar 18th 2009
I agree that Obama seems to have contradicted himself by saying that "the fundamentals of our economy are basically sound".
At the same time, I'm watching to see how he resolves the AIG fiasco, and watching to see how his economic stimulus works out. Right now only time will tell, and anyone who thinks otherwise isn't living the the real world.
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sam spade
11:29AM 11:29AM Mar 18th 2009
Anyone foolish enough to believe that His Royal Highness King Osama Obama gives a flying rats ass about the average person deserves what they get. UNEMPLOYED!!!!!. WE are talking about a man that went to a private school on the taxpayers money, then went to an Ivy League college that his EXECUTIVE grandmother payed for (though I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he played the race card for a college grant). He's never worked a day in his life. What does he know about anything but getting elected. He's serving us up on a silver platter to any terrorist organization with his socialism and cowardice in the face of the enemy. Destroy us Financially, then militarily. Then it's "come on in and take over our country, all you Islamic extremists". After all, converting FROM Islam is punishable by death, and yet here he is, still alive. Makes you wonder.
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Freddy Vicente
11:39AM 11:39AM Mar 18th 2009
LOL!!! YOU LIBS---WHEN YOU GET CAUGHT BEING HYPOCRITS YOU START FOAMING AT THE MOUTH LIKE RABID RATS----THE TRUTH HURTS!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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bob
4:24PM 4:24PM Mar 18th 2009
Feb. 09 saw an 87 billion shortfall in taxes collected by the federal gov't. What will mar. and april be? The American taxpayers money is still being given away while the taxpayer is losing his job and has nothing to pay. Bills are rushed through, later to be found that no one knew WHAT the bill encompassed. Do you really believe them? This admin. should be stamped INCOMPOTENT while there is (hopefully) time to save this nation.
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FINN
6:29PM 6:29PM Mar 18th 2009
The fundamentals of this blog post are weak!
First off, I'm glad you placed Dr. Romer's ACTUAL quote after misquoting her at the beginning of your article. She said the fundamentals are sound in certain senses not overall like John McCain originally did last fall before he backpeddled later and said he was referring to the American worker.
Secondly, there is a big difference between John McCain saying that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" and President Obama saying that we need to keep "focused on the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy". There really is no comparison between these two quotes at all! Why don't you grab a dictionary dickhead and look up the word "sound" and then compare it to the word "strong".
Your entire premise of your post is misleading and false. However, as I can tell from the comments, you have a lot of supporters for this kind of gotcha politics. It's just business as usual for you guys, huh? Don't your fingers smell bad after having them so far up your ass for all of the Bush years and now pointing them at our new President who is trying his best to restore the faith, hope and confidence of the American people????
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Maggie Denson
6:57PM 6:57PM Mar 18th 2009
You would think that by now, some of those that thought they were voting for a person who could help us, have finally begun to find out just how wrong they were! My reply will probably be, just give him time. Well what do we do while we wait? How do we get food, medicine and shelter while we wait for this person to help the USA? He said he was going to fix everything when he got into the office. Please tell me who or what the heck he has helped? IMO he has caused us to be so deep in debt, we will never see daylight again. He even wants us to let him pass whatever bill he writes, without reading it. How stupid are you in Congress? He doesn't care about you either, so look out you don't know what he may do to you! He is so incompotent, what are we going to do?
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CRAMER
7:37PM 7:37PM Mar 18th 2009
Finn, stick your argument up your ass! Don't complicate the issue with liberal garbage. The man you voted in is a fraud.
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jabber
8:45PM 8:45PM Mar 18th 2009
WOW WHERE DID WE HEAR THAT BEFORE? HE MADE A FOOL OUT OF MCCAIN FOR SAYING IT, AND HE NOW DOES THE SAME? I JUST GO AN EMAIL OBAMA WANTS TO TAKE THE GUNS FROM THE COMMERCIAL PILOTS, SO TO BE FAIR, LETS ASK HIM TO TAKE THE ONE AWAY FROM HIS PILOT, AND HIS SECRET SERVICE TOO? HEY FAIR IS FAIR, RIGHT? HE WILL BE GOING ON HIS SPRING VACATION BEFORE THIS AIG THING IS SETTLED, SO WHO WILL MIND THE STORE? OMG, NOT BIDIN!!! HIS BRIDGE TO NOWHERE IS NOT FINISHED YET EITHER!!!
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