Bush or Obama: The Quiz

[clarity]

November 09, 2009

Bush or Obama: The Quiz

By Randall Hoven

1. President Bush was famous for lacking "intellectual curiosity," while President Obama has been called "the smartest guy ever to become President." Who reads more books: Bush or Obama?

2. Bush was often considered to be in the grip of Big Oil. In contrast, Obama is a Harvard-educated lawyer. Which industry contributed more than five times as much as the other to politicians: the oil & gas industry, or lawyers/law firms?

3. Bush's Christian faith was at the core of his political identity, and he was considered to be in the grip of the "religious right," while Obama is considered more open-minded. In fact, Obama has said, "my faith is one that admits some doubt." Which one refers to Jesus more in public speeches?

4. Bush was criticized for excessive federal spending and running up huge deficits. Bush's deficit in 2008 was the largest in history. In fact, President Obama said,

It's a little hard for me to take criticism from folks about this recovery package after they've presided over a doubling of the national debt ... What I won't do is return to the failed theories of the last eight years that got us into this fix in the first place.

Whose deficit was more than triple the size of the other's: Bush's in 2008 or Obama's in 2009?

5. While Obama criticized Bush for "a doubling of the national debt," the federal debt held by the public went from 35.1% of GDP in 2000 to 40.8% of GDP in 2008 -- an increase of 16% as of fraction of GDP. What is it expected to be in 2016 under Obama's budget plan?

6. Obama criticized Bush for Guantanamo, military tribunals, wiretaps, troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and "signing statements." Which one of these Bush practices has Obama ended?


Answers:

1. Bush. Obama started reading a book in April and had not finished it by June, putting him on a pace of no more than ten books per year. Bush read forty to ninety-five books a year while President, not counting a new and complete reading of the Bible every year. Bush scored 1206 on his SAT, putting his IQ in the 125-130 range, smarter than 95% of the population and in the company of Lincoln, Rousseau, and Thackeray. He graduated from Yale and earned an MBA from Harvard. Obama earned a law degree from Harvard, but has not released any of his academic records. Despite what you might have heard, we know nothing of his IQ, test scores, or grades from any of the schools he attended.

2. Law firms. In the 2010 cycle so far, Lawyers/Law Firms have contributed $33,779,866 (81% to Democrats), and the Oil & Gas industry has contributed $6,293,631 (34% to Democrats). In the 2008 cycle, the numbers were $233,499,989 (76% to Dems) from lawyers and $35,564,322 (23% to Dems). In all, lawyers contributed about six times more to politicians than the Oil & Gas industry.

3. Obama. Per Eamon Javers at Politico, "As president, Barack Obama has mentioned Jesus Christ in a number of high-profile public speeches -- something his predecessor George W. Bush rarely did in such settings."

4. Obama's 2009 deficit, the largest in U.S. history. It was more than three times that of Bush's record 2008 deficit. Per the Congressional Budget Office, the 2008 deficit was $455 B, and the 2009 deficit was $1,417 B. As a fraction of GDP, it was the largest deficit since 1945.

5. The CBO expects the debt held by the public to be 77.1% of GDP in 2016 under Obama's plan, or an increase of 89% as a fraction of GDP, and the highest level since 1950.

6. None.

* Guantanamo is still open and probably will be into 2010, maybe longer.
* Obama is keeping military tribunals and clandestine wiretapping programs.
* Obama plans to keep most troops in Iraq until the summer of 2010. Even then, he is talking of keeping about 50,000 troops there (compared to about 124,000 now). The number of US troops in Afghanistan increased from 37,000 in January 2009 to 62,000 by August 2009, and Obama is expected to send over 30,000 more. Total number of US troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan has increased under Obama so far (from about 184,000 in January to 186,000 in September).
* Obama has used signing statements himself.



How's that change working out for ya?

[6koala8]

How's that change working out for ya?

Very well, thanks for asking.
And for you?

[Kaonashi]

1. President Bush was famous for lacking "intellectual curiosity," while President Obama has been called "the smartest guy ever to become President." Who reads more books: Bush or Obama?

[Akuma]

now where's that darn quiz?

[alongdriver]

So Bush was Reading instead of Leading?

DAMN those R's and L's.

I was hoping a person would be smart before becoming President, not relying on learning the ropes while in office.

"Hyuk Hyuk! My Daddy was president so I am qualified." Sounds a lot like Japan.

[TJrandom]

And who created this economic melt down? Maybe the current deficits and those in the coming years should more correctly be labeled as those of Bush.

[Marius_II]

And who created this economic melt down? Maybe the current deficits and those in the coming years should more correctly be labeled as those of Bush.

Hmm. As tempting and easy it is to blame Bush wouldn't you just point the blame (and finger) the faults in the market that set the stage for this to happen? Would you also blame any lone political leader for the IT-bubble and its pop?

[TJrandom]

the faults in the market

The fault in the market - was the refusal to regulate and to oversee/audit the financial entities to ensure that they were following the regulations that existed. Kinda like just letting the fox guard the henhouse.

[Marius_II]

The fault in the market - was the refusal to regulate and to oversee/audit the financial entities to ensure that they were following the regulations that existed. Kinda like just letting the fox guard the henhouse.

Fo shizzle.

But regulations were followed, no? Exploited perhaps, but followed.
Were it not for housing it would have been something else. That's why, imo, you can't really put blame on anyone besides the ones who done did the exploitation.

Also, me, for not have gotten in on it.

[Akuma]

i request that this thread is being closed, because of false advertising...there is no quiz. grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

[Trichophyton-in-my-pants]

i request that this thread is being closed, because of false advertising...there is no quiz. grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

I vote for this to be closed because Marius has posted a reply.

[Marius_II]

What does that mean, Trichophyton?

[Trichophyton-in-my-pants]

What does that mean, Trichophyton?

Hurry up admins. It's the Swedish invasion.

[rubirosa]

Sure, I believe W read 95 books in 2006.

Just look how good of a reader he is !

He can even read upside down !



The causes of the economic meltdown can be traced back to Reagan but there is little doubt W screwed the working man over good during his 8 years of missrule.

Think of:

No child left behind

The donut hole in the senior prescription drug plan

Tax cuts for the rich

Raping the nation's natural parks

Reducing standards for clean air and water

Etc, etc.

[jinseinosensei]

There's only ONE single action that would have prevented the collapse we're experiencing now... The Democrats clawed, scratched, and stumped for the FannieMay and FreddieMac gurantees of loans to people who had NO business getting money lent to them in the first place. The banks knew there would be massive foreclosures and warned of such. Many a Republican spoke against the utopian guarantees, but were out numbered and out maneuvered by Liberals like Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, etc... Anything said about the collapse which doesn't allow for the acknowledgment of this enormous Democrat mishandling of social bribes, should be ignored, as it's obviously nothing more than political hackery. No other single thing is more responsible for the collapse than the unconstitutional acts of the socialists and communists in our government.

[alongdriver]

Surround yourself with intelligent people


Barack Obama meets with the Queen of England. He asks her, "How do you run such an efficient government? Are there any tips you can give to me?"


"Well," says the Queen, "the most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people."


Obama frowns. "But how do I know the people around me are really intelligent?" he asks.


"Oh, that's easy," says the Queen. "You just ask them to answer a simple riddle."


Just then Gordon Brown walks into the room.


"Gordon, your mother and father have a child," says the Queen. "It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?"


Brown answers, "Oh. That would be ... me, your majesty?"


"Yes! Very good," says the Queen.


Upon his return to Washington, D.C., Obama asks Joe Biden the same question. "Joe. Your mother and your father have a kid. It's not your brother and it's not your sister. Who is it?"


"I'm not sure," says Biden. "Let me get back to you on that one." He goes to his advisers and asks every one, but no one can give him an answer. Finally, he ends up in the men's room and recognizes Robert Gates' shoes in the next stall. Biden asks Gates, "Robert! Can you answer this for me? Your mother and father have a child and it's not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"


Gates responds, "That's easy. It's me!"


Biden smiles, and says, "Thanks!" Then, he goes back to speak with Obama.


"Say, I did some research and I have the answer to that riddle. It's Robert Gates."


Obama gets up, stomps over to Biden, and angrily yells into his face, "No, you idiot! It's Gordon Brown!"

[Jacque_S]

The causes of the economic meltdown can be traced back to Reagan but there is little doubt W screwed the working man over good during his 8 years of missrule.

So what did Clinton do during his 8 to save the working man?

[rubirosa]

Clinton was a lady's man.

He didn't give a damn about no men.

[TJrandom]

There's only ONE single action that would have prevented the collapse we're experiencing now... The Democrats clawed, scratched, and stumped for the FannieMay and FreddieMac gurantees of loans to people who had NO business getting money lent to them in the first place. The banks knew there would be massive foreclosures and warned of such. Many a Republican spoke against the utopian guarantees, but were out numbered and out maneuvered by Liberals like Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, etc... Anything said about the collapse which doesn't allow for the acknowledgment of this enormous Democrat mishandling of social bribes, should be ignored, as it's obviously nothing more than political hackery. No other single thing is more responsible for the collapse than the unconstitutional acts of the socialists and communists in our government.

Please read for the genesis – and decide for yourself if this was good old boy Wall Street Republicans or Democrats at the root of the mortgage problem that has cause this world-wide financial melt-down.

http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2009...my-in-decades/

Heavily quoted below……….. and massively reduced.

In 2003, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC” – a US Federal agency), proposed a regulation that would preempt all state banking and financial services laws as applied to national banks and their operating subsidiaries. If a state’s governor, legislature or Attorney General didn’t like the way a bank was operating for whatever reason, not much could be done about it. The regulation meant that only federal agencies could do much of anything as far as the national banks were concerned. The regulation was opposed by the National Conference of State Legislatures, but in 2004, the OCC got its way and their proposed regulation went into effect.

In 2005, New York’s then-Attorney General, Elliot Spitzer (a Democrat) decided he’d better take a closer look into the lending practices of national banks. In response to Spitzer’s “letter of inquiry,” the Clearing House Association (“CHA”), a “cabal” of national banks, filed a lawsuit against Spitzer, asking the court to issue an injunction stopping Spitzer from issuing any subpoenas in his investigation. The OCC brought a similar action and the two suits were combined into one. The courts agreed with the position taken by the CHA and OCC, and issued an injunction against Attorney General Spitzer that prevented him from issuing any subpoenas or demanding an inspection of any national banks’ records.

In 2009, New York’s Attorney General is now Andrew Cuomo (a Democrat) argued that the OCC’s interpretation made national banks immune from any state enforcement of consumer protection and/or antidiscrimination laws. The Supreme Court overturned their previous decisions on the OCC interpretation (Cuomo v. Clearing House) and as of this past June 28th ruled 5-4 that federal banking regulations did not preempt the ability of states to enforce their own fair-lending laws.

In reaching that decision, the court opened up the national banks to being investigated by state attorneys general related to violations having to do with state consumer protection laws.

Every state has laws that prohibit fraud in consumer lending, and states are now exploring the idea of litigation alleging that the banks engaged in massive fraud against consumers by marketing unintelligible loans that they knew would be impossible for most people to repay. Banks did so to earn what added up to billions in short-term fee income from originating the loans, and then quickly sold the loans to government entities, like Fannie and Freddie, who then required costly taxpayer funded bailouts.

The banks are lobbying Congress to block the states from being able to take aggressive legal action and preempt any state laws that are more restrictive than federal statutes.

Ohio’s Attorney General, Richard Cordray (a Democrat) was quoted by the Times as saying: “For the better part of eight years, the federal regulators were not being aggressive, and at the same time we were disabled. There was nothing holding back irrational and irresponsible practices.”

There should be no question in anyone’s mind at this point that our government is being driven by the financial oligarchy that has amassed too much legislative clout over the last thirty years of bull market. What’s in the best interests of Wall Street should no longer be seen as being in the best interests of the country as a whole.