Official Obama Presidency prediction thread

[RandomGuy]

Make no mistake however:

A lot of the people at Gitmo are either very low threats or truly not threats at all.

Some of them have been radicalized by their incarceration, but there are more truly innocent guys there than anybody in the Bush adminstration will admit to.

[101A]

I would simply , as the really dangerous ones are released, spend a lot of effort to keep tabs on them, and quietly kill them a few months to a year down the road, if they aren't immediately jailed by a friendly government.

Oh holy .

You bleeding heart humanitarian you.

[RandomGuy]

I don't know....Obama's first pick in his cabinet his "Chief of Staff" is a Jew. "They're" gonna make a HUGE deal out of that.

We've done all of that in Afghanistan - as far as I can tell, hasn't helped. (of course we've also stopped the beheading of women and gays and that didn't endear Bush to those factions in this country AT ALL)

They may indeed make a big deal out of the chief of staff being Jewish. Scary thing is that it will be made a big deal out of in right-wing Europe as well. Not sure how that will pan out.

We have done a fair amount for Kabul, but have done virtually NOTHING for most of the rest of Afghanistan. If you will remember the much-touted statistic that we have been spending more in 3 weeks in Iraq as we have in eight years in Afghanistan.

If we can REALLY make a difference, as Obama seems determined to do, we will start seeing results.

We got rid of the Taliban but didn't replace them with anything, and essentially abandoned a lot of the country to bandits. These thugs have made it even more difficult to do the kinds of infrastructure projects that might make a difference in the life of the average Afghani.

[RandomGuy]

Oh holy .

You bleeding heart humanitarian you.

I keep telling people, I am not the bleeding-heart liberal that some seem to think I am.

I generally and truly believe that ethical behavior is the best way to go with foreign policy, but one MUST temper this with realism about how dedicated some of these people are to killing.

Some amount of those detained at Gitmo are truly threats and would truly kill people down the road if left to their own devices.

If we are truly convinced they are threats and have enough evidence, detaining them, but keeping that evidence secret is stupid. If you aren't willing to put them in a fair trail with open evidence, then detaining them at Gitmo is harmful to your long-term interests.

Remember, we are fighting for public opinion ultimately.

Better to simply "disappear" them after they have quietly been released and off the public radar.

Either give them trials, or don't bother with picking them up in the first place.

[~~~~~~]

More "truth squads".
http://votersthink.org/?p=720

[Nbadan]

Better to simply "disappear" them after they have quietly been released and off the public radar.

That's exactly what I expect, the low-level guys will be released and any enemy combatants will be turned over to their home countries to face 'enemy of the state' trials...

[Nbadan]

We got rid of the Taliban but didn't replace them with anything, and essentially abandoned a lot of the country to bandits. These thugs have made it even more difficult to do the kinds of infrastructure projects that might make a difference in the life of the average Afghani.

Until we pull major combat troops out of Iraq, which could take a couple years, don't expect there to be much significant movement in Afghanistan, although, I fully expect NATO to carry more of the load....

[RandomGuy]

Until we pull major combat troops out of Iraq, which could take a couple years, don't expect there to be much significant movement in Afghanistan, although, I fully expect NATO to carry more of the load....

That will probably be the first real result of the Obama presidency, as I think I have mentioned.

Time for the Europeans to pony up a couple brigades.

[shelshor]

From talking to a variety of farmers, ranchers, crop insurance agents and implement dealers:
With all the other costs of producing crops rising, when the expected rise of fuel kicks in, farmers are going to be looking for the best return on produce; sadly that looks like more land being turned from food (and clothing) production to more corn for the ethanol plants and the greater subsidies that go along with it--especially if Tom Daschle, now a lobbyist for the ethanol industry, continues to be an Obama advisor
So the price of food at the store is going to continue to rise, and some things are going to be much harder to find
Agricultural trade will also decline, resulting in even larger trade deficits
More of the small "family" farmers will go out of business only to be bought up by the corporate farms

[RandomGuy]

It's going to be more corrupt and more easily influenced by outside elements than it ever has been before.

Given that he has already ins uted some lobbying reforms that make it harder to bounce back and forth between lobbying firms and the government, and has stated that he intends to do more, I guess we will check back in on this one in 3.5 years.

[RandomGuy]

I predict he will be the best President we have had in a long, long time,

I wonder if Dan still thinks this?

[RandomGuy]

The campaign that, at least for the ENTIRE stretch run, was almost exclusively about domestic issues; will ultimately lead to a presidency dominated by foreign policy ones.

Just a prediction.

Hmmm. Not really, vis a vis Obamacare et al.

[RandomGuy]

I think early on you can expect to see some key legislation. You're probably going to see a push very quickly to move toward greener energy and I think you'll see legislation that pushes this forward.

Probably the first big thing they'll do is try to get a federa program in place to repair our countries infrastructure. This is an excellent way to create jobs and the fact of the matter is that we severely need to do this. I don't see how anyone will oppose this if they truly want to work in a unified manner so I guess this will be a key test on how the GOP plans to deal with Obama early on.

I think you'll also see Guantanamo Bay closed. You'll see a move away from torture in any form and you'll likely see some intelligence reform as well.

But in the end priority number one is the economy and that will dominate his early first term unless we're attacked in a huge manner. Thats why I think you'll see a large infrastructure plan and/or a green energy plan as well since both can address large issues while creating economic stimulus.

Ouch.

Tea anyone?

No infrastructure for you/us.

[boutons_deux]

"move toward greener energy"

another HUGE diff in the choice: Barry vs Gecko

Gecko wants to kill all wind and solar tax expenditures and loan guarantees.

[boutons_deux]

"production to more corn for the ethanol plants"

ethanol plants are closing due to high corn prices making their ethanol too expensive.

Dems MUST kill the ethanol rule that says it must be in gasoline, one of the stupidest and most blatant corporate welfare scams of the Repugs.

[CosmicCowboy]

"production to more corn for the ethanol plants"

ethanol plants are closing due to high corn prices making their ethanol too expensive.

Dems MUST kill the ethanol rule that says it must be in gasoline, one of the stupidest and most blatant corporate welfare scams of the Repugs.

GFY

Farm state dems and whacko dem greenies were all over that too.

[CosmicCowboy]

Damn

I nailed the out of that one 4 years ago...

Originally Posted by CosmicCowboy
It is going to be very interesting watching him now that he has to actually govern instead of just promising hope and change.

Reality is gonna be a .

We will see just how much you guys like him within a year when he comes back and tells you:

* The deficit will be more than $1 trillion a year for several years
* The country needs a massive new fiscal stimulus
* The housing market will continue to decline through at least 2010
* Interest rates and taxes will eventually have to rise (after the economy stabilizes)
* Weak corporations have to be allowed to fail
* Millions of homeowners will lose their house
* Unemployment will probably rise to 10%
* The government simply cannot "bail the country out" -- not because it lacks the will, but because it lacks the power

Oh yeah...all those things I promised you in the election? woops. I lied.

[Wild Cobra]

Damn

I nailed the out of that one 4 years ago...

Notice any of mine while you were at it?

[RandomGuy]

(8) Obama will likely win re-election, unless the Republicans get their together.

DING!

You win.

Republicans did not get their together.

[RandomGuy]

As for Gitmo; I've got a hunch liberals are gonna be disappointed in the results there. I bet it stays open for business.

DING! Another winner.

Something of a Pyrrhic victory, but spot on, nonetheless.

[RandomGuy]

Damn

I nailed the out of that one 4 years ago...

Pretty much.

[RandomGuy]

Americans and their wallets are going to need a giant jar of this to make it through all of Obama's socialist programs he crams down our throats.

mandatory health insurance. Slightly right. We had health costs socialised already.

[RandomGuy]

Of course...look it was a pretty bad miss, but it's still just one miss...I'm 4-2 now and that's still better than most people I know.

Most of the people talking now got ing owned badly in 2004....for instance Nbadan. Did they shut up? No...


The way I look at it...even if I was wrong about the election, I'm not wrong about Obama.

I mean I expected W to lose in a landslide in 2000, he didn't, but that doesn't mean I was wrong about how ty of a President he was going to be....

Sometimes the American people up...this was a worse up than 2000 though...although without that up this up likely wouldn't have happened.



The question now is will the Republicans respond as the Democrats did by becoming tier than the Republicans? If they do..who knows, I might wind up voting for Obama in 2012.

RIP, whottt.

Republicans responded with ... Donald Trump. Lucky you didn't live to see it.

[Trill Clinton]

relevant bump

[baseline bum]

I sincerely hope the Dems aren't stupid enough to use the nuclear option of eliminating the filibuster.

That would be a mistake of epic proportions.

Well that was a mistake not using reconciliation, considering the Republicans now use it. For instance, on the 61st repeal of Obamacare and likely the 62nd one too in January.