The used car salesman? I'm not sure what that is about, but I've also been frustrated at times with how Obama has handled things, but you are right.... he generally comes out with the winning hand in the end.

Like all the recent budget negotiations with Boehner to prevent the government shutdown. We kept hearing that Obama and Reid agreed to all these cuts, and I thought...."What in the hell are they doing agreeing to all those cuts?"

In the end, it turns out many of the cuts were mainly to left over funds from the census, etc that weren't going to be spent anyway... so Boehner and the Tea baggers didn't end up with as good a deal as they were spinning it.

We have to give this to Obama, he's a smart one... and I think his off-hand remarks in Chicago about those budget negotiations said it all.

"That after spending 18 months getting the health reform passed, Boehner thought he would allow them to kill it simply by defunding it. Did they think he was stupid?"

Of course he isn't!

Well let's see... he might have had a screw loose back in the days when he was a Repugnicon.... and I think ED might even agree with me. But that loose screw obviously got tightened up when he came over to the Democratic and progressive side at that.

Just like those Florida men he just interviewed along with Michael Steele. Those men have finally gotten their loose screws tightened and come to their senses about who the Repugnicon leaders are really working for. I wonder when Michael Steele will stop fighting on the wrong side and come on over. It's not like the Repugnicons ever really gave him much respect.... he was just their token black guy for awhile.

who cares? There are so many more significant problems and issues with Obama that will help enable the Republicans to easily win in 2012 - it doesn't make a difference anymore. We all know he's a Keynesian!

@Mike-22030

The Repugnicons will win easily huh? I've known for a long time that there was quite a bit of delusional thinking and hypocrisy in the GOP, so I guess that doesn't surprise me. Especially with the numbers in the GOP watching Fox news as their one and only outlet for information... or rather misinformation.

But did you not pay attention to the 2 former GOP members who have left the party and don't like what the Repugnicons are doing or even stand for anymore? They said they believe their party has left them behind and is now out to get them as public workers.

Did you discount the conservative constitutents shown earlier in the week, booing pretty boy Ryan about his plans to take away their medicare while giving more tax cuts to the rich?

Did you ignore the fact that signatures are being easily collected by the Democrats in Wisconsin to recall the Repugnicon Senators, but apparently the only way the Repugnicons can get signatures to recall Democratic Senators is to offer drinks for those signatures?

It's amazing to me that even with a generally ignorant, uninformed and gullible electorate that the Repugnicons have, they still have to go to such ridiculous and even shading extremes to win elections.

Like the County clerk in Wisconsin who just happened to be a Repugnicon, suddenly coming up with these mysterious extra votes when it looked the like Repugnicon judge was loosing the election.

Not to mention those bribing people to sign recall lists with alcoholic drinks.... or Scott Walker being caught in a fake phone call with David Koch and fooled into revealing his true reasons behind plans for doing away with the unions, and his seemingly close relationship with Koch in connection with those plans.

Like the fact that Repugnicon governors in states across the country are coincidentally and suddenly all at the same time attacking public workers and their unions as the cause for budget problems. Yet they have no problems giving huge tax cuts and subsidies to the rich corporations in their states. And the laws they are all suddenly made to prohibit those unions from bargaining for their people or collecting dues from them... a clear effort to defund the unions who promote Democratic candidates and policies.

The scary thing is that these things aren't singular occurrences, but they are the normal way that the GOP operates when it comes to the electoral process. It seems like the GOP will do just about anything to win an election, if they think they can get away with it. Then they turn around and accuse the Democrats of doing all the illegal and immoral things that in reality they are doing.

The GOP is always accusing the Democrats of voter fraud... first in an effort to get rid of ACORN, and now again Repugnicon state legislatures across the country are passing laws requiring ridiculous extremes in proving one's citizenship to simply register to vote. By trying to prevent democrats from voting or even being able to register to vote, they hope to stack the deck in order to win elections.

In a country where the GOP constantly wrap themselves in the flag and promote themselves as the only patriotic Americans, yet they have no qualms about denying other Americans the right to vote.... a right that is given to all Americans in the Constitution.

Oh that's right... the GOP only likes the parts of the Constitution they agree with.... like the parts about bearing arms and freedom of religion.... unless of course it's not a religion they don't particularly like.

Talk about hypocritical... but that's not surprising either considering the GOP's lack of ethical behavior on many other levels... like Newt Gingrinch and John Ensign's being involved in affairs while at the same time insisting that President Clinton had to resign over his affair.

Still think the Repugnicons will win in 2012? I guess that's why none of the GOP's usual candidates seems particularly anxious to throw their hat into the ring against Obama.

DScully: Good post. And how about the EDITED video of the woman (Black) who fought back!! where they (Mike and his kin) "caught her saying something like 'not helping the white farmer.' Then she gets on TV with the Black couple whose farm she saved a decade ago and has since been pitching in to help all peoples. That's the repub way.

No sense in pointing out facts to Mike, he's on all the blogs w/his name calling and insults--that's the repub way. The repub thinking is very limited. What is interesting is that they are the very minority, low class that Pres. Obama is trying to elevate by education. Repubs are anti-ed, anti-health, anti-clean air & water, anythng that would get Mike and his kin to open their minds to something better. (We call 'em white trash.) And I say this with some hesitation.

In any event, this coming election will be a toughie only because those listening to the dark rimmed, chalk and pointer holding, tie on white shirt in front of his chalkboard and charts/graphs has learned marketing well. He gives the impression of a professor talking to students. What they don't know is this is pure marketing 101 we learned in Rove Univ., "tell 'em what you want 'em to hear, scare 'em, tell 'em to fight back, use words that will get 'em hot, angry. Bring 'em up the rear. They'll come back for more. They need to hate someone and we'll pick the ones they should hate." Sorry to say, but the average American falls for it each time. Shows their intelligence level.

I know the story you're referring to and I laughed when Hannity and O'Reilly got that story wrong on Fox, but I noticed Glenn Beck got it right and in the correct context - kinda surprised. If I remember right Beck defended that lady and took on Obama and their decision to fire her or something. Interesting twist of events on that story....

lets stay with obamas plan of having oil and gas DOUBLED since obama has been in office

lets stay with the plan where obama in 2 years has amassed more debt in a shorter amount of time then any other president]

lets stay with obama foreign policy that has kept us in iraq and afghan and put us further into Liyba (kinetic military action) and pakistan

@Beeba-3318481

Are you kidding? They can't even be too smart if they voted for the little man, George Dubya Bush. For that matter, I question the sanity of anyone who voted for Ronnie Reagan back in the day. I remember even trying to explain to some of those naive and gullible that they were voting against their own best interest even then.

@politcalwatcher

And now... let's clear up the misinformation you probably got straight from Fox news.

1. As we learned first right here on Ed's show over a month ago, the prices of oil and gas are being manipulated by Wall street through their unethical practices of speculation and gambling without regard for how it effects ordinary people's lives.

2. A good portion of that debt was amassed by Bush and the Repugnicons and probably with the very purpose of putting the government into debt... with the goal of defunding the social programs that the majority of citizens in the country not only depend on, but love. Then through deregulation of nearly all safeguards to the economy, they precipitated the collapse of the economy... which required Obama to increase stimulus spending just to keep the economy afloat and boost growth. Spending he wouldn't have had to do, if the previous Repugnicon administration had left behind the same flourishing and prosperous economy that Bush was left with by Clinton 8 years earlier. So technically.... the spending was the result of the drastic situation Bush left behind.... and ultimately the Repugnicons' fault.

3. The last I heard, Obama had already withdrawn fighting troops from Iraq and there is a plan to withdraw from Afghanistan in the near future. Obama has in fact done what he said he would do when he was running for office and has kept nearly all of the campaign promises he has been able to keep.... even with opposition from Congress... particularly those in the GOP. The efforts in Pakistan have been extended due to the fact that is where the enemy has now moved to. There is no point in keeping the only fighting going on in Afghanistan if the enemy is no longer there.

Thanks to Obama's efforts in working with the UN coalition forces, Libya involvement has been minimal and shared with those other country's forces instead of the situation Bush got US into by invading Iraq all by our lonesome so that we were left holding the entire bag.

At the end of the day, I'll take Obama's reasonable and well thought out leadership anyday, rather than the irrational and impulsive leadership of Bush or any other flaky Repugnicon candidate out there.

@DScully-2892243. What impact do you think global demand, such as China and India, are having on the price of our gas and oil, along with inflation? I've been thinking about the role of speculators, but don't they have to have buyers for their sells? I'm trying to make sense out of this.. Thanks.