The 2008 US Election thread

[J70]

There is some speculation on Freerepublic.com that Obama may in fact be the ANTICHRIST!

Fantastic, historic victory for Obama - it was like New Years Eve in New York City last night!

The hard part is obviously yet to come, but I think he can make a success of it.

Very nice speech from McCain, and much more like the man we knew.

So much for the Republican building majorities to last a generation (they were really talking about this in 2004). Four years is a long time in politics!

[Denn Forever]

I thought that the american public would balk at electing a black man.  Thank god I was wrong.

The republicans will say Obama bought the election, spending much more than McCain.  Didn't know that McCain was limiting the amount he could spend.  You would wonder about his ability if he expected that Obama would also limit his spending.

[Zapatista]

This might already have been covered as I haven't read through the thread. Are we all delighted for Obama because he is black or do we think he will be a better President? Is it the fact that it is historic that we a delighted?

[AZOffaly]

I wouldn't say I am 'delighted', but I am glad that Obama will get his chance to put his stamp on the US, both foreign and economic policies at least. I have a feeling that some of his internal economic policies may be a bit unwelcome, but I hope his foreign policies will bring a bit of calmness to the scene.

I'd safely say, however, that the only sure thing about Obama's presidency will be that he will disappoint. Not necessarily because he will be a bad president (I don't think he will be) but because the expectations for him, and his 'Change' message have set the bar impossibly high.

[ziggysego]

I'd forgotten how much I liked McCain, until I saw his speech last night. Very gracious. It's a pity he couldn't be the man he wanted in the elections, rather than the man the Republican's wanted. Still, I was always supporting Obame anyway, so it's all good.

[Declan]

It's a pity he couldn't be the man he wanted in the elections

There in lies the problem with the political system as it is in the 21st century.

Delighted Obama won - tough times ahead for him and his team but it sure gives you a sense of hope for the future.

Any chance he'll cancel Fox's licence?

[Zapatista]

Delighted Obama won - tough times ahead for him and his team but it sure gives you a sense of hope for the future.

Why is that Declan?

[Minder]

Will "disadvantaged" black areas be better off now that Obama is in office?

[Zapatista]

Will "disadvantaged" black areas be better off now that Obama is in office?

Such as the Congo?

[Tony Baloney]

Will "disadvantaged" black areas be better off now that Obama is in office?

People (black people and liberal whites) need to wake up to the fact that although he is a black man he is essentially running a business and cannot spend all his dough on helping the poor and downtrodden. Zap hit on a point I.ve mentioned in work that people are losing the run of themselves a bit in the fact that Obama is black so that must be a good thing for progressive legislation. Voting him in is not a social experiment like Eddie Murphy in Trading Places. He has a job to do whether he black, white or purple and it won't be an easy job with the current financial and foreign affairs difficulties.

[FL/MAYO]

Delighted for Obama, if runs the country like he ran both his primary and presidential campaigns he will be a great leader. Great to see Florida go with Obama, I never thought I would see southern states elect a black man as their choice as president. America has come along way in forty years.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

[Zapatista]

Delighted for Obama, if runs the country like he ran both his primary and presidential campaigns he will be a great leader. Great to see Florida go with Obama, I never thought I would see southern states elect a black man as their choice as president. America has come along way in forty years.

By spending 0.5 million a day on advertising in Virginia?

[Declan]

Why is that Declan?

I think his approach to international affairs will be infinitely more inclusive and conciliatory than war criminal GWB. His rhetoric on domestic and economic policy indicates a willingness to tackle some of the obvious inequalities in America today. It remains to be seen what he can deliver given the macro economic difficulties etc but even the way he speaks and carries himself is impressive to me. I'm not naive enough to think he can disentangle the whole military industrial complex that has governed America in the last 8 years but I think it's a defining moment in history and this line from his speech this morning tells me we can look forward with a certain degree of confidence"So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other".   

[heganboy]

well, what about that for a result?

I'm quite optimistic about the fact that Obama won, and I think that the biggest impact that he will have will be the view of the US from abroad. No matter your background, its impressive that a minority has just won the presidency of the US with a support majority of the voting public.

The next question is whether as president Obama will have the sense to avoid forcing through legislation over the heads of the republicans- if that is the case then don't expect the result to live up to the rhetoric, however if he can get bipartisan support for his initiatives, then expect this to be one of the busiest terms of any president. And realistically he needs it to be in order to keep the popular support that he has.

My personal experience this morning of a number of very committed republicans is that they appreciate that this is a historic result and that they actually are a lot more supportive of Obama now that he has got in than I expected.

This morning saw the dollar strengthen, and although the dow is down that can be accredited to the fact that the Oil companies and big pharma will no longer see the huge profits they have under a republican government. On the flip side, natural gas and alternative energies are up.

The bad news is that we'll have to wait for a while to find out. Expect a few announcements this week on Cabinet positions- esp Treasury.

*************************

A vote for either of those two puppets is a vote for more slavery. Only a short few weeks ago they both campaigned for the treasonous bailout. Will people ever learn?
 

FFS Seamus- I'm a huge fan and believer in the fact that we as the general public only ever hear half the truth (and that's optimistic) But the bailout being treasonous- come on. The lack of legislation and direction about mortgages being granted is the biggest factor in the requirement for the bail out. Then whenever these unsafe mortgages ended up in the hands of the investment bankers (and more importantly the quants) they were treated as if they would have the same level of default as mortgage debt previously and the risk models applied went unchallenged. The ratings agencies were more interested in selling more and more data rather than investing in understanding the risk of the instruments they were pricing and voila- a house of cards.

Although the government did not tell people to get these unsafe mortgages- they share an element of the blame and therefore some of the responsibility. Had they not stepped in the human suffering would have been huge, job loss, property being owned by the banks- spiraling crime and less and less people having health care which would have caused health care collapse, social security collapse and less innovation and expenditure on R&D the engine of any economy. The government has an obligation to prevent the suffering of its people and that is why I feel the bail out was a necessity.

One of the biggest differences between the tax system in the US and Ireland or the UK is that there is a huge incentive in the US to become a home owner, because all of your mortgage payments (up to a mortgage amount of $1m) are tax free. Thus for your average joe punter, the amount of house they can get for a set amount of rent is about 35-45% less than that they can get if they buy. This leads to a lot of short cuts being found to getting a mortgage: interest free loans, intro rates for 2-3 years, 100% mortgages. More people getting these mortgages leads to increased demand for houses which then drives up prices.

As the crunch hit, less people got mortgages and the house prices started to drop, as the intro rates expired many people had to sell their house, and prices dropped further, then defaults increased and the market crashed.

Thus the need for the bail out- treasonous for some reason. I'd like to hear your alternative, I have heard a number of suggestions but not yet one which I feel could have achieved the desired result, and I remain unconvinced that this bail out will work, however it did buy time for the markets, many firms, and many households to adjust to the new financial reality that there is no such thing as free money and that there need to be caps on borrowing in relation to ability to repay.

Lets see if Obama is really for change. The first actions he should take is to repeal The Patriot Acts, The 2006 Military Commissions Act, John Warner National Defense Authorization Act, reinstate Posse Comitatus, bring US troops home from all foreign wars and have a proper investigation into 911 and that is only for starters.

all in good time, well maybe not all, you're not going to get the 911 report. The JWNDAA and Posse Comitatus? Did the NDAA 2008 not address your concerns? You'll get troops out of Iraq quickly and Afghanistan slowly. What else concerns you?