President Obama: The Most Polarizing Moderate Ever

[Havakasha]

SPIN METER: GOP claims about Obama puzzle enviros
By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press – 24 minutes ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Mitt Romney says President Barack Obama blocked construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline as a gift to environmentalists. Newt Gingrich calls Obama "President Algae" for supporting research on biofuels. And Rick Santorum says Obama's environmental views constitute a "phony theology" that prioritizes the earth over people.
The leading Republican presidential hopefuls have cast Obama as environmental extremist whose policies have put him out of touch with the needs of ordinary Americans. It's a characterization that may resonate with GOP primary voters, but it has surprised environmental activists, many of whom say they are let down by Obama's record on their issues.
"The environmental movement has been at odds with Barack Obama for much of his three years in the White House," said Bill McKibben, founder of the environmental group 350.org. "The president is very much in the center — far too much in the center for many environmentalists."
As a candidate, Obama's pledge to limit the gases that contribute to global warming and embrace cleaner forms of energy pleased many environmental activists. But nearing the end of his first term, Obama's record on the environment is mixed — and many of his decisions have irked the very activists who Republicans suggest have broad sway over administration policies.
"Absolutely, he has been a disappointment," said Frank O'Donnell, president of the environmental group Clean Air Watch. "When Obama was elected, I think public health and environmental advocates thought a number of unresolved problems would be dealt in short order. And we learned that environmental protection did not prove to be a first-tier activity for the White House."
Some Obama actions have cheered environmentalists. He successfully ushered in historic increases in fuel economy standards for automobiles as well as the first-ever regulations on heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming and on toxic mercury pollution from power plants. He has invested heavily in cleaner forms of energy; the U.S. produces more energy from alternative sources such as wind, solar and biofuels now than it has at any point in history.
But Obama failed to persuade a Democratic Congress to pass promised legislation limiting carbon emissions. He abandoned the legislative effort entirely after Republicans gained control of the House in the 2010 elections.
And in a move that deeply angered environmentalists, the president in September scrubbed a plan to set a stricter health standard on lung-damaging smog, sticking with one set by his GOP predecessor George W. Bush that scientists say is too weak.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...f236ba5ae37a6f

[Havakasha]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1378213.html

Paul Volcker sounded off on critics of President Obama in an interview with CBS's Anthony Mason.

Asked whether he agrees with accusations that the president is waging class warfare by pushing for Wall Street reforms and higher taxes for the rich, Volcker said, "I don't understand the depth of that feeling. I really don't. This business that he's a great socialist and out to undermine the free enterprise system and so forth, I just think it has no connection with reality."

He balked at the notion that Obama could have taken office without going after the banks.

"How could you have a President of the United States taking office in the midst of a financial crisis and a deep recession and not be critical of the financial system? He would have been deaf, dumb and blind," he said.

Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve and Obama adviser, is the namesake for "the Volcker Rule," a major provision in the Wall Street reforms that could take effect as early as this July.

Though Obama has been critical of Wall Street, a survey from the end of last year found that he had approved fewer regulations than President Bush had at the same point in his presidency.

As HuffPost's Jen Bendery reports, Wall Street executives actually thrive under President Obama. Still, most major Wall Street donations are heading to Mitt Romney, who is perceived as much friendlier to banks.

[Havakasha]

Under pressure from Wall Street, Carter reluctantly appointed Paul Volcker to be chairman of the Federal Reserve Board in 1979. Volcker had been under secretary of the Treasury for Richard Nixon and was then serving as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. However, it is naïve to think that Volcker was given a free hand by Carter. His inability to fully implement a tight-money policy is why the inflation rate fell only to 12.5 percent in 1980, despite a sharp recession that year.

It was only after the election, when Volcker knew that Carter had lost, that he really clamped down on the money supply. This illustrates an important point: Presidents get the Fed policy they want, no matter how “independent” the Fed may be. If there had been any doubt about this, it was settled in 1967, when Fed chairman William McChesney Martin buckled under pressure from Lyndon Johnson and eased monetary policy even though Martin knew he should have tightened it. This caused inflation to jump from 3 percent in 1967 to 4.7 percent in 1968 and 6.2 percent in 1969.

It is not now remembered how much pressure there was on Reagan to get rid of Volcker and have the Fed run a more accommodative monetary policy. Yet he not only supported Volcker publicly, he appointed like-minded people to the Fed whenever he had the chance. He reappointed Volcker to the chairmanship in 1983 and appointed Alan Greenspan to replace him in 1987.

[Havakasha]

http://washingtonindependent.com/154...the-obama-camp


Volcker is certainly no liberal. He was appointed to the Fed in the last year of President Jimmy Carter’s term — but with a visible lack of enthusiasm. Carter insiders called him the “the candidate of Wall Street.” Double-digit jumps in consumer prices were destroying financial markets, and Volcker was the sheriff whose job was to restore order.
Volcker’s brand of conservatism, however, is far different from the quasi-religious, free-markets ideology espoused by the former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and the recent crop of Wall Street barons. Though Volcker had refrained for two decades from criticizing the policies of his successors, he unleashed a blistering, and wide-ranging, criticism in an April speech at the Economics Club of New York.

[Havakasha]

Facts do matter.

[SiriuslyLong]

A poll is a fact in your mind.............. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

[Havakasha]

Didnt have to look far to find this. Why are right wingers such blatant hypocrities?

(Thread from SeriouslyWrong 10 days ago)
58% Favor Taxing All At The Same Percentage Rate

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Now back to some facts.

[Havakasha]

Where were we? Oh yeah....


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1378213.html

Paul Volcker sounded off on critics of President Obama in an interview with CBS's Anthony Mason.

Asked whether he agrees with accusations that the president is waging class warfare by pushing for Wall Street reforms and higher taxes for the rich, Volcker said, "I don't understand the depth of that feeling. I really don't. This business that he's a great socialist and out to undermine the free enterprise system and so forth, I just think it has no connection with reality."

He balked at the notion that Obama could have taken office without going after the banks.

"How could you have a President of the United States taking office in the midst of a financial crisis and a deep recession and not be critical of the financial system? He would have been deaf, dumb and blind," he said.

Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve and Obama adviser, is the namesake for "the Volcker Rule," a major provision in the Wall Street reforms that could take effect as early as this July.

Though Obama has been critical of Wall Street, a survey from the end of last year found that he had approved fewer regulations than President Bush had at the same point in his presidency.

As HuffPost's Jen Bendery reports, Wall Street executives actually thrive under President Obama. Still, most major Wall Street donations are heading to Mitt Romney, who is perceived as much friendlier to banks.

[SiriuslyLong]

Didnt have to look far to find this. Why are right wingers such blatant hypocrities?

(Thread from SeriouslyWrong 10 days ago)
58% Favor Taxing All At The Same Percentage Rate

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Now back to some facts.

Only took you 12 days to pick it up lol.

[Havakasha]

Remember some people are awfully ignorant about just who Paul volcker is.

"Volcker is certainly no liberal. He was appointed to the Fed in the last year of President Jimmy Carter’s term — but with a visible lack of enthusiasm. Carter insiders called him the “the candidate of Wall Street.” Double-digit jumps in consumer prices were destroying financial markets, and Volcker was the sheriff whose job was to restore order.
Volcker’s brand of conservatism, however, is far different from the quasi-religious, free-markets ideology espoused by the former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and the recent crop of Wall Street barons. Though Volcker had refrained for two decades from criticizing the policies of his successors, he unleashed a blistering, and wide-ranging, criticism in an April speech at the Economics Club of New York."