I wish I could help, but he has (presumably accidentally) chosen a rational position on this topic. barfo
MarAzul, first let me pre-face my entire response by stating the obvious - yesterday was the first national Republican debate, not the Democratic debate and thus I was commenting on that fact simply due to the time frame. Also if you read my response, or my other responses in other political threads you would take note in the fact that I am A) Registered independent, B) Do not like Hillary, C) would like to vote for Kasich in the general election. Now, with that said, can you explain to me when America fundamentally started changing? Unless you're going to go back to 1861 when Lincoln used unprecedented executive action to use the federal army to maintain the union, 1901 when Teddy Roosevelt started using the federal government to break up the trusts and help average Americans by starting administrations like the FDA, or 1932 when FDR was elected and started new deal policies, 1941 when the military industrial complex really started to take root after Pearl Harbor, or 1965 when LBJ signed in Medicare, I am not sure when you're referring to. The only other other significant time I can think of in which the country has "changed fundamentally" since 1965 was in 2001 when our civil liberties were eroded lightning fast after 9/11. Since 2008 the country hasn't change all that "fundamentally" under Obama that I can really pinpoint, well, with the exception of social changes such as the major shift in public opinion on gay marriage for example. But that are frankly is not brought on by anyone in any elected office, including Obama, that is just generational social changes that happen over time. You may not be able to admit it, because, well, clearly you're a Republican, and apparently Republicans (note, not all, but most) generally don't like facts in politics. But let's review how well Obama has done based on some of the key indicators of a presidency for success based on generally accepted benchmarks. Check out the following: Here's some more shocking data that Republicans have a hard time accepting, even though they are literally facts: By the end of Reagan’s terms the total number of nonmilitary federal employees was 3,113,000. That is an INCREASE of 238,000 under his tenure as president. As of 2014 the most recent year data is available under Obama the federal government's nonmilitary employee total was 2,726,000, that is 387,000 less than under Reagan's last year in office and 114,000 less than his first year in office. Source: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/data-analysis-documentation/federal-employment-reports/historical-tables/total-government-employment-since-1962/ I know this is hard to believe because the Republican message is so consistent, but objectively, using actual data, the federal government in terms of size based on employment has actually shrunk 13% under Obama from Regaen era government. Spending under Obama relative to year over year growth of spending has also been the slowest in the last five presidents. Honestly if Obama were a Republican, Republicans would love the guy. He is literally the only president in modern history that actually has shrunk government in most ways you can measure it. It's absolutely mind blowing to me that Republicans hate him so much when the alternative Democrat is Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Say what you will about Obama, but the guy is a freaking moderate when you look at it objectively and get past the rhetoric. The major failing Obama has had has been weekly wage earning increases have been almost non-existent. The amount of money, and the relative worth of those dollars has regressed since he has been in office. That is not hardly unique to the US right now, and most of the western world is suffering from the same wage stagnation, and it's only just now multiple years after the recession just beginning to change. This wage stagnation has really hurt government revenues and deficits as well, as the less people make, the less amount of money there is to tax. I should also point out just how much of a drill baby drill president Obama has been, US oil production has exploded under this administration for better or for worse.
Wow! That is an impressive list of stuff. Some more impressive stats could be added. The debt has doubled. (Doesn't that make Obama the worst in history?) The labor force is shrinking. I lost my healthcare as did my wife. So did millions of other retirees because the ACA leveed a tax on the employer. It sure wasn't designed to produce revenue. I could go on until tomorrow but this is enough. As far as me being a Republican, I think you might be assuming. I think the Speaker and the majority leader should be retired for lack of leadership. My voting record is 2 to 3, Voted for two Democrat Presidents and three Republican Presidents. But I doubt I will ever see another Democrat that gets my vote since there are no Democrats that can be identified as such.
