barack obama has won the 2008 election

[Sofinch]

That means I won a bet from my English-teacher

[hshduppsnt]

Woooo! I'm excited! Now we can put all that election stuff behind us and remember that the economy is still not in great shape, foreign policy a joke, and military stretched thin...

why did he want this job again :-/? Next couple of years should be interesting, he clearly has a strong mandate to push through his policies.

At least we'll hopefully finally have some form of health care for everyone... man this country is such a joke sometimes...

[OffspringHead]

Woooo! I'm excited! Now we can put all that election stuff behind us and remember that the economy is still not in great shape, foreign policy a joke, and military stretched thin...

You do realize that the election has a lot to do with the economy. Because the person who wins is in charge for the next 4 years.

[ad8]

Congratulations America! Good choice.

[hshduppsnt]

You do realize that the election has a lot to do with the economy. Because the person who wins is in charge for the next 4 years.

of course.
That's why I'm excited about Obama. But at some point still need to wait
a bit before he is in charge and can start passing things. It will still take some time

[IamSam]

I hear a lot of progressive saying this, that we need to take care of the deficit etc. And quite frankly it's scares me because that would be one of the worst things that could happen.

The US is facing a depression. A balanced budget is the last thing that's needed. That would fire the economy completely from a recession into a depression straight away. Look actual wages have for the most part stagnated the last 10-15 years for most of the population. Any increase in individual wealth came basically from housing. Which also boosted consumption and thereby also the economy. Now that the bubble is collapsing (and it will collapse further) you'll automatically get less consumption and also a shrinking economy, which sort of becomes a spiral. The only way out of that is an increase in spending via government (deficit spending on new technologies etc) and consumer spending (via tax cuts for people that actually spend money, low class and low middle class).

Budget deficits are generally overrated anyway, you could have a deficit all the time and still have a drop in debt to GDP ratio as long as you're economy grows enough. The US debt as a percentage of GDP is 72.5% which isn't that big of a deal. We (Belgium) had a ratio of 140% in the 90's , now we're back to 80%. The only (small) problem the US has is that around 25% of it's debt is to foreign countries (with around 40% to Japan and China combined).



Golden! Atleast they might hear speeches written by the Bush administration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8YwJC_nBgw

Thanks, Jesus! Knew I could count on you!

[bighead384]

Shouldn't "significant" progress be measured more by what happens to masses of blacks instead of what one man has accomplished? Y'know what I mean?

It's only one man but AMERICA elected him. I think that says a lot. I'm more on your side than the "this means you can't use race as an excuse anymore" side, but I still don't quite agree with you based on the way you worded some things.

[T-6005]

Oh...and I know a bunch of McCain supporters that say they are moving to Canada to get away from Obama the socalist....

What makes them think Canada is a better political climate for them? They're probably better off under Obama than in Canada. We have a HEALTH CARE SYSTEM here. I know those are bad words. I'm sorry.

[nieh]

We have a HEALTH CARE SYSTEM here. I know those are bad words. I'm sorry.

You monsters!

[jacknife737]

As much as i think Jesse Jackson is an ass at times, i did get a bit choked up when i saw this last night. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpmCbAKdTUY

I doubt it, given that most of the western world has parliamentary democracies with proportional voting. And an Obama style campaign wouldn't make much a difference there, it might actually have a turn off effect. Because they generally don't resolve around a single person (even taking non ceremonial presidential elections into account).

I was referring more towards, his financing organization (ie embracing the internet and putting the shift towards smaller, individual donors rather then relying on larger corporate donations) and grassroots community organization. There is going to be a leadership campaign for a major political party in Canada (The Liberals) within the next couple months and i will be watching it closely to see what/if any impact is seen; the party has stated that they plan on reforming their fund-raising techniques so i think some influence will be seen there.

Also i'd like to add that rise_and_fall should either stop getting his American News from Hannity/Limbaugh, or just stop being an idiot.