Here’s a somewhat surprising result from the new Fox News poll. Asked which president is “more responsible for the current state of the economy,” only 18 percent say President Obama. Fifty-eight percent say former President George W. Bush. Nine percent blame both of them. Republicans are the only subgroup of voters who blame Obama, and only by a six-point margin of 35 percent to 29 percent. What’s striking about this is that the numbers have only marginally gotten worse for President Obama in the three months since Fox News last asked this question. In July, it was 16 percent who blamed Obama and 61 percent who blamed Bush. That is, needless to say, not what Fox News viewers hear when they tune into the network. But it’s essential to understanding why the president remains popular and why Republicans are failing to really capitalize on economic gloom. http://washingtonindependent.com/65841/fox-news-poll-most-blame-bush-for-economy
Obama is not to blame for the current state of the economy, and, as the poll shows, very few people think that he is. I would challenge you to provide a clip or a quote from Fox where any of the hosts of the shows "blamed Obama for the current state of the economy." But I will not be holding my breath waiting for that to happen, as I do not believe that any such clip or quote exists. What is with the blind, completely unsubstantiated attacks on Fox News? If your animosity towards Fox was based on truthful, fact-based accusations, then you would be able to provide support for your statements with clips or quotes. But that is just not the case, is it?
the more relevant question is do they think he is helping/hurting? specifically stimulus, and up coming healthcare reform (hopefully)
So when conservatives blame Obama for the current state of the economy and that it's not Bush's fault, they are saying if Bush had still be president today the economy would be humming along right?
America's credit and CMO problems exist because the the industry took advantage of the fear of the Dotcom bust to set up an unregulated system of cheap money, high fee loans. The aim was generating value in the housing market to offset the losses in the equity market, while making bankers and brokers rich. The scheme as with all ponzi plans was to pawn off the an ever growing risk of losses on the retail markets. The lobbyist and bureaucrats were from the inside of the industry, and were either naive in their understanding of the endgame or complicit in a deception and guilty of a criminal breech in their fiduciaryduties . But this crisis was 8 years in the making.
You could say the crisis was inevitable as long as the dollar is the world's unofficial currency. Some people think that a fiat based currency caused our country's profligate money printing and spending, but it was because US couldn't cope with honoring the gold system while the economies of other nations (Europe during Breton Woods) where becoming stronger and more competitive. The American consumer has been the center cog for the world's economic engine. Without a primary driver to buy goods, the globalized world as we know it can't grow or function. But since we're tapped out, everyone is scrambling to find another way to sustain the engine.
then I am confused at how you are interpreting that poll. Additionally, the evidence shows that Obama's stimulous has helped us get out of this mess faster than most expected. Shouldn't he deserve some credit for making the right call?
Though many of our economic troubles stem from George W. Bush based on "the buck stops here" principle, I commend George W. for going against everything he believes in as a free-market conservative, by passing TARP. That is a hard thing to do, and he did the right thing.
That is a bunch of BS. People will cry for whatever makes the money. Wall Street will say why want free market until they need a bailout.
I forgot to mention that this is a very interesting poll. We should not veer this conversation about Fox News. The poll shows that the Tea Party and Thumbs are a fringe group, and the GOP is in serious trouble. The most interesting part to me is that the Tea Party group is splitting the GOP. There will be no tea party success because they are too far right, but they will have influence in the Republican Party. 1) Either they will split votes amongst conservatives if a Tea Party member runs as an Independent, 2) or they will have the GOP primary select a Tea member. Once the Tea member wins, he is too far right to get support from moderates as indicated in this poll. This poll is refreshing because it shows that the American people are smarter than what Glenn Beck and Thumbs thought. (Rest assured, I still love you Thumbs.) When the economy starts rebounding as of today, the GOP, Thumbs, and the Tea Party are going to be in serious trouble.
Good post. But regarding your last sentence, IMO people will start blaming Obama for the economy at an accelerated pace. The more politicized things get as the 2010 mid-terms approach, the more the GOP will use the economy against Obama. What must happen for him and the Dems to escape a lot of damage is for the economy to grow fast enough to lift general confidence in where things are heading. If this doesn't happen, the usual mid-term setback could bite the Dems pretty hard. On the other hand, if the economy starts gaining enough momentum before, say, March or April, the timing of the mid-terms will be right at the Dem "sweet spot". There is a lot of uncertaintly out there. The recent numbers are encouraging, but people I talk to are still gloomy and many of them WANT to blame somebody currently in office. I sense there is a growing fatigue with blaming Bush. 12 months from now, I don't think our former catastrophic disaster of a president will be a useful campaign weapon for the Dems.
The true test will come from states using the stimulus money for budgetary needs rather than projects originally intended to help stimulate and sustain the economy. The first phase came mostly through tax cuts and increased unemployment benefits and wasn't intended to last long. Private industry definitely needs to pick up the slack.
In my adult life of some forty plus years, I’ve seen many new taxes proposed and enacted for the purpose of “ïmproving” many different things. Not a one has improved anything and all have resulted in a lower standard of living for almost everyone. Lowering the standard of living is the PURPOSE of taxes, and they are necessary to keep the money flowing into the coffers of the bankers and industrialists.
Let's start with one big thing taxes in the last 40 years have done. The internet. Taxes which paid for the technology used in the military which was later developed into the internet. That's just a start.
