Warning: Do not open this post if partisanly-handicapped...

[kentuck]

You were pre-warned. :-)

..

A TALE OF TWO OBAMAS


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/a-tale-of-two-obamas_b_382061.html

<snip>
It was the best of Obama, it was the worst of Obama.

I was pleasantly surprised to be invited to the White House jobs summit last Thursday, where I got to watch President Obama engage with about 130 people off the cuff. And I was reminded, first hand, what drew so many of us to the promise of this remarkable outsider -- the decency, the intellect, the idealism, and the evidently progressive impulses. I came away even more bewildered and dismayed at the reality that this president, who could have been such an insurgent at a moment demanding insurgency, has been so utterly captured by the Wall Street elite, the health insurance industry elite, and the military elite.

As a friend said, "I so wanted to be supportive of a great progressive president this time instead of being back in opposition."

At the jobs session, Obama began with a ceremonial introduction, then sent the summiteers into six working groups for about two hours. He circulated among them, and concluded with an extended on-the-record plenary session leading a discussion of the jobs challenge. He was absolutely masterful, with a fine grasp of detail, and values that one could only applaud. What a contrast with George W. Bush!

All afternoon, people put forward thoughtful ideas for getting unemployment down. The elephant in the room, however, was the question of whether to increase the deficit, especially with the White House under pressure to back the scheme for a deficit-reduction commission.

So, when my turn came to ask a question, I pressed President Obama on the issue, and he did not disappoint me.

.....more

[ItNerd4life]

1. Were there small business owners present?

Small business owners employee 70%+ of the population. Conservatives said none were there. Were there?
Even if there were, why didn't they make up a majority of the people present? They are the people who
know how to create jobs.

I was disappointed in the results and 'ideas' I've heard so far. Nothing about creating an environment where
companies will keep jobs in America. Nothing about helping small businesses with their issues.

[kentuck]

2. I'm sure they were present?

However, I don't think they should make up 70% of the ideas. If they have all the ideas, why aren't they hiring? I think they need as wide an array of ideas as can be found.