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Obama
Jan 9, 2010 10:07:26 GMT -5
Post by lifedrinker on Jan 9, 2010 10:07:26 GMT -5
i had a pm from daniel wondering what peoples' opinions were about Obama in the UK so i thought i'd turn it into a thread, that way if there is anyone else here from the UK they can throw in their opinions too my own personal opinion is that Obama appears to be great. i know that's really a very pointless opinion but that's what i think! i recently read a quote from the lead singer of the band Lostprophets (they live near me) and he said that after george w bush pretty much anyone could've been elected, because bush's reputation was at such an all-time low. i was relieved when Obama won - which is strange i know because i don't live in america or have any right to vote there, but yet i felt a part of it, perhaps because whoever is the president of the united states is essentially the leader of the free world, and the uk has a lot to do with america. towards the end of bush's tenure there seemed to be a great deal of anxiety in the world about the future, especially america's future... it seemed to be a state of "what will he do next? who will he invade next?" kind of thing. it seemed to be unstable. (i know there were a lot of other contributing factors as well, such as the economy and the threat of terrorism) i guess you could say, on the surface, obama appears to bring stability. he appears to bring an aura that everything will be OK (again, i know, a very pointless observation but it is there nonetheless). i realise he hasn't actually done much since he was sworn in but i guess i can't really comment on that. i suppose my point is that the general opinion of him here in the UK is very, very good, possibly because we are not as familiar with his specific policies as american citizens and therefore cannot scrutinize him quite so closely. also its possible that its because compared to our prime minister barrack is HOT! hehe. ah well. i like him.
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Obama
Jan 9, 2010 15:22:42 GMT -5
Post by Josh on Jan 9, 2010 15:22:42 GMT -5
Thanks! It was good to hear your opinion of it. (Feel free to invite more UK people on here, I believe you're the only one so far.) Most of what you say is true, actually. Americans didn't have much hope when Bush was in office, at least towards the end of his second term. Then Obama came, and he definitely gave many Americans hope. He ran under the slogan of "Hope and Change". No doubt he gave Americans hope (and those from other countries as well, such as the UK) during his campaign. However, now that he's in office, his approval ratings have dropped faster than any other president's, at least faster than any one for a long time. His policies aren't jiving with the American people. He sent more troops into Afghanistan, which upset the left; he spent 787 billion dollars to attempt to stimulate the economy (which continued to worsen after and during the stimulus) and that upset the right (and lots of other people). So he gave people Hope, for a short while (it has now turned into fear with many Americans) but scared them off with his promised Change. That's my take on it.
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Jed
Junior Member
Ruff!
Posts: 54
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Obama
Jan 10, 2010 12:16:16 GMT -5
Post by Jed on Jan 10, 2010 12:16:16 GMT -5
I find it interesting how people from other countries view Barack Hussein Obama. To keep it short, however, I would say that everything is not as it appears to any of us. Like any of us, the tree will be judged by its fruit. With all due respect, so far, in his case, the fruit - if there has been any, has been bad and the revolt of the people is starting to swell.
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Obama
Jan 10, 2010 18:25:44 GMT -5
Post by littlebopeep on Jan 10, 2010 18:25:44 GMT -5
Obama may seem like he's bringing stability, but his constant spending will catch up with him (probably after he's out of office). He also claims that he will bring change, but he is not going to bring the change many people want. He has his own agenda. And he's going to do whatever that is and nothing else. For instance, he tried to get Chicago (major city from the state where he was senator) to be the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, even though many people from Chicago did not want it; people objected, but he went anyways, and spent over a million dollars on expenses when he made the trip to Denmark.
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Obama
Jan 15, 2010 18:18:38 GMT -5
Post by Sandy Pines on Jan 15, 2010 18:18:38 GMT -5
Here's my take on Obama: If I was old enough to vote, in the beginning of his campaign I would have voted for him because I believed all of the things he said in his campaign. But what I have recently realized is that those were just 'campaign promises' that smooth-talking Obama made that never became true. Here is a website listing some of the promises that Obama made that never became true. www.newsrealblog.com/2009/10/31/obamas-broken-promises/Like someone else said earlier in the thread, Obama's approval rating has dropped dramatically. This shows how much 'change' Obama has made to the United States (slim). With his stimulus packages he has driven the United States recession to an even worse state. True, the markets have raised a little bit, but what will happen when the banks are forced to pay back all of this stimulus package? And what about the automobile industry? Will he make them pay back their stimulus too? Guess what happens when these industries pay back the stimulus. The markets will go way down again due to the lack of money within these banks and industries possibly making us go into a depression. In my opinion, how many pointless laws have been passed during Obama's presidency that clearly had no reason to become a law? One law that I am thinking of right now is the T.V. analog switch to Digital signal. By law, all T.V. stations have to broadcast in a digital signal. How much money did this cost us? It cost one public broadcaster approximately $22 million for the switch. More money down the drain! Obama's focus seems to be on "spending" instead of Saving or Recovering. Instead of spending billions to keep our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq how come we don't withdraw all of our troops from these countries and train a specialized group to go after Osama Benladin. A secret FBI organization to go into Iraq and Afghanistan to track down Osama and other people we're currently targeting would cost way less. That's my little rant on Obama.
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Obama
Jan 15, 2010 18:38:55 GMT -5
Post by Josh on Jan 15, 2010 18:38:55 GMT -5
I agree. He's made promises and broken them countless times.
And first they bail out the banks, to "save us", then decide to tax them and take away some of their money, to pay for when they "saved us". And the "saving us" didn't actually "save us".
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Obama
Jan 15, 2010 18:44:37 GMT -5
Post by Sandy Pines on Jan 15, 2010 18:44:37 GMT -5
I agree. He's made promises and broken them countless times. And first they bail out the banks, to "save us", then decide to tax them and take away some of their money, to pay for when they "saved us". And the "saving us" didn't actually "save us". It's pretty bad that saving people comes at a cost nowadays!
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sgloe7
Full Member
Check out my site at http://talkalot.netforums.us/
Posts: 125
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Obama
Jan 19, 2010 17:36:53 GMT -5
Post by sgloe7 on Jan 19, 2010 17:36:53 GMT -5
He's spending all of our money! We won't be able to stand much of this any longer! it'll be the "Great Depression" all over again! we have to put a stop to it!
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Obama
Jan 19, 2010 19:14:50 GMT -5
Post by Sandy Pines on Jan 19, 2010 19:14:50 GMT -5
He's spending all of our money! We won't be able to stand much of this any longer! it'll be the "Great Depression" all over again! we have to put a stop to it! We won't be able to do much about it though. Obama is turning the United States into a Dictatorship in all honesty. I think that he's turning the United States into a Dictatorship because he has appointed Czar's....yes in the United States Government! They have a lot of power within the government too. (http://www.infowars.com/senior-democrat-says-obamas-czars-unconstitutional/) (http://sunnyinla.com/Lists/Famous-People/czars-appointed-by-obama.html)
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Obama
Jan 20, 2010 13:30:37 GMT -5
Post by PocketWatch on Jan 20, 2010 13:30:37 GMT -5
Yes, I think Obama definately has some issues. I don't think we'll reach a "Great depression" like sgloe7 said.
I think the main reason Obama was appointed was because many Americans were tired of George W. Bush, and they simply wanted a liberal that was the complete opposite of Bush.
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Obama
Jan 20, 2010 16:07:46 GMT -5
Post by Krashings on Jan 20, 2010 16:07:46 GMT -5
Obama is great, for the most part. The only reason he can't get so many things done is because of the Republicans and blue dog Democrats who want to stop him, Fox News and their lies about what is "true", and tea partiers as well as other extremist groups like those mobbing the town hall meetings, screaming out lies.
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ali
New Member
Posts: 20
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Obama
Feb 2, 2010 18:34:28 GMT -5
Post by ali on Feb 2, 2010 18:34:28 GMT -5
I don't agree with what Obama is doing spending-wise, but I love what he's doing with the Supreme Court and the House of Representatives. He's trying to remove corruption from the federal government and is trying to make the House completely transparent with what they're doing about healthcare. I think that's awesome, but all in all, we won't really know what kind of a president he is until we see the longterm effects.
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Obama
Feb 3, 2010 2:22:23 GMT -5
Post by Josh on Feb 3, 2010 2:22:23 GMT -5
Except, with the transparency thing, it's been so secretive that there is essentially no transparency. All of the deals are being done behind closed doors. Americans are confused about what the bill will actually cover and what it will not.
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kepi
New Member
Posts: 9
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Obama
Feb 3, 2010 20:40:44 GMT -5
Post by kepi on Feb 3, 2010 20:40:44 GMT -5
I really don't like it when people say Obama has done nothing. I mean seriously??? He saved us from economic death. And people: the economy doesn't fix it self with a snap of the thumb. We have to wait 'til it evens out. He's gotten us farther than anybody in the healthcare debate too. So what are people talking about? Things don't just happen.
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Obama
Feb 3, 2010 23:10:55 GMT -5
Post by Josh on Feb 3, 2010 23:10:55 GMT -5
He saved us from economic death. There's no proof that he actually saved us from economic death. His administration might say they did, but anyone else could say that we would actually be better off had he not spent billions of dollars to try to stimulate the economy, bail out banks, etc. We have no real way of knowing whether or not he actually saved us from anything. That is one reason I'm against Obama's spending policies. He basically said that we don't have time to "wait 'til it evens out" and that he had to immediately pass a stimulus package. He rushed to pass the huge package as soon as possible, but now that it's passed he says, "Let's be patient, now." Really, since it's passed, nothing has really improved. Sure, we are starting to (arguably) experience a slow, slight turnaround, (only after things got worse while he was in office) but how do we know that the economy wouldn't have been even better off if he didn't spend so much money? Even if the stimulus packages did create (or "save" jobs, as his administration says......), is so much money worth so few jobs? We will have debt much larger than ever before, inflation is inevitable, and yet the economy might not be any better off than if we didn't spend all that money. I don't agree that he hasn't done anything since he's been in office. I actually think he's tried to bring about too much change than people want, and that's why his approval ratings are dropping at record speeds.
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