Reply #51: A longish response [View All]

[Sentath]

I posted this in the other thread, figured I'd put it here too.

health care: Err, no. Insurance accessibility perhaps

a stimulus bill that helped avoid a Depression: Yup, tho more was, is and will be needed.

a groundbreaking financial reform bill that is too complicated to be popularly described: Which worries me that it may be too complicated to have the heartening effect on public confidence in the financial sector that it needed to have. It may also be too complicated to have its intended effect in some areas, too many loop holes and sidesteps, but we will see. I'm hopeful.

a bailout that enabled General Motors and Chrysler to survive: Yes! (and wasn't one of those even profitable?)

He nominated two estimable women to the Supreme Court: Yup, absolutely.

He restored America's image in the world: Err, we certainly had a wild upsurge in popularity there for a while. I wonder what that looks like 'bout now what with Gitmo and the 2 wars and associated ugliness?

He delivered a stealth tax cut to 95% of the American people; I've never seen a politician cut taxes and not take sufficient credit for it before: Agreed, this is a real problem.

He made it impossible for Americans to be denied health care coverage because of pre-existing conditions or chronic problems; somehow this has gotten lost in the "socialist" shuffle as well: Yes!, this item from the Insurance Reform is Awesome. Whether this will make any practical difference in the availability of Health Care for these conditions is still a developing situation.

He ended major combat operations in Iraq, on time and without much fuss--without using the word "victory" or denying the continuing problems involved in cobbling together a coherent government there. Another President might have hyped this "achievement" relentlessly: I dunno. It still feels like weasel words with so many still there and going to be there forever.

Thats the first 3 paragraphs, the next one says: the recession/depression and culture wars are a mess. I agree.

Para 5: Yeah, we'd still be in trouble. But maybe we could be jubilantly defiant in our distress.

Para 6: Here we need one of those candidate v.s. president montages. Yeah, he has done alot. Historic amounts maybe. But I still believe we have reasons to be less than jubilant.