BUSINESS | TRUE OR FALSE

The Power to Fix the Economy Rests With the Next President

By Daniel Gross | NEWSWEEK

July 7-14, 2008 issue

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Discuss

Posted By: RO in Reno @ 09/18/2008 3:07:43 PM

Comment: The President has a great deal of power to deal with the economy. What we have is a straight line economy the money goes to the top 2 % and stays there.

Companies such as Hewlett Packard see themselves as the supplier in a supply side economy. they are not the supplier, the manufacturer is, and the manufacturer is China and India, the true supplier clearly benefits, this short sided view so many of this countries corporations have excludes the majority of America from the economic process, I have no idea if the next president can recover or develop new products that would put the labor force in play once again, Obama says he will, Personally I believe him.

But Infrastructure has always been a key element in creating jobs and getting the economy moving again a good example of bottom up economics, most memorable Presidents used it well.

Taxes are a good way of economic stimulus, Bush's tax cuts certainly have not helped, an example is Obama???s proposal to give seniors a tax break, Those making less than $50,000 would pay no tax or even have a requirement to file. This tax break would put 12 to 14 billion annually into the economy, again from the bottom up.

The opportunity seems to be in the green technologies both in some manufacturing again developed in this country, and in infrastructure, Can you imagine what the infrastructure of this country would be if the trillion plus spent on removing Saddam had been spent in this country?

We would have looked like what we should look like in the 21st century and certainly would have no concern fixing bridges that actually go somewhere, but there are so many examples of missed opportunities by this administration they are hard to count.

An interesting side note speaking of missed opportunities is McCains view the missed opportunity was the failure of the government to entice people to community service, while most of us feel the missed opportunity was losing world support on fighting terrorists and most likely ending the war in Afghanistan when we could.
Posted By: D_Smith @ 09/16/2008 11:56:38 PM

Comment: With McCain and Palin we will have a prayer, nothing more! With Obama we will have deregulation in a market that has billions of dollars of American's hard earned dollars. Obama gets it! McCain has historically repeated the same phrase over and over like one of those, that came from a seed pod in the invasion of the presidential candidate snatchers sequel! Scary prospect huh?
There is a boycott of Alaska as it apparently lawless and not deserving of American's tax dollars. let Russia be the only ones to visit them, they already have their fishing licenses.
Posted By: bayravin @ 09/15/2008 4:06:36 PM

Comment: With Obama we may have a prayer, but with McCain, we don't even have that. Oh! I forgot, he's got Sarah who can replace Phil Gramm.
Posted By: OnlyCureJGK @ 08/05/2008 3:54:20 PM

Comment: The problem is simple corruption needs to be stopped beginning with those who have profited for years from corruption. Please look up this individual ---- Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich ---- he was the father in law of Mr. Rockefeller who's family went on to controll the private banks which became the central bank the FED which is a private institution. This individual Nelson came up with the Income Tax and The Central Bank. Follow the money and you will find the corruption behind the problems in society. For 240.00 the Central Bank the Fed can create 1 million dollars then using the IRS they can bilk the public for 1 Million plus interest. Its easy math to see they have the complete control of the US government and even the world. Money is the root of all evil. Look up the owners of Standard oil it is a circle leading right back to the FED.
Posted By: msoliman @ 07/16/2008 2:53:23 AM

Comment: Your article is cruel and not very considerate when you say "If you believe that, I've got some subprime mortgages I'd like to sell you".

There are some foriegn derivitives investors and Wall Street securitizers getting excited again!
Posted By: Nins @ 07/10/2008 7:41:21 PM

Comment: Know why McCain wants to distance himself from former Senator Phil Gramm? It is not just because of Gramm's recent obnoxious remarks calling Americans "a nation of whiners" and that unemployed Americans are in "a mental recession." In fact, those remarks were so obnoxious that I wonder if they were engineered just to provide McCain an excuse for publicly distancing himself from Gramm. This issue is a lot deeper than it looks on the surface.

When Gramm was a Senator he was chair of the Committee on Banking, and in that capacity he was able to push through the legislation now known as the "Enron Loophole." This loophole allowed US investment banks to bypass the Federal regulations governing futures trading, and is the reason why the investment banks were able to falsely inflate the prices of oil, wheat, corn and other commodities through massive futures trading, causing your costs of gas, heating oil and food to go through the roof.

Gramm was a member of McCain's campaign team, but now Gramms' name is turning to mud. In addition to the Enron loophole, Gramm pushed through the Gramm-Leach-Biley Act in 1999, which got rid of the laws that seperate banking, insurance and brokerage activities in America. Essentially, this Act did away with all of the good laws written after the Great Depression to protect us from another Wall Street/Banking Industry collapse. That's right, Gramm stripped the system of it's safe guards nine years ago, and guess what? The value of the dollar has nose-dived, Wall Street is highly unstable, and we are in the midst of a recession.

Now you could say that this is not Gramm's fault, that he didn't know what the outcome of his actions would be. However, it turns out that the same investment banks that benefited from the Enron loophole and from the Gramm Act gave more than a million dollars to Gramm's campaign. Uh oh. A Congressional hearing is going to be convened to investigate this. And McCain wants to have noting to do with Gramm, wants us to forget that Gramm has been a key player on McCain's campaign team. Gramm was McCain's campaign CO-CHAIR and LEADING ECONOMIC ADVISER.

With Gramm in the driver's seat as his leading economic adviser, now you know why economists and analysts are saying that McCain's economic policy plans are untenable.
Posted By: hestia_m @ 07/08/2008 10:24:33 PM

Comment: ...the strong economy they oversaw. They were mostly lucky SOB's to be in office at the time that they were.
Posted By: hestia_m @ 07/08/2008 10:21:52 PM

Comment: Most of the commenters apparently slept through their high school civics class and have never found the time to read our constitution. Thank you Mr. Gross for an informative article, but you failed to mention that our constitution simply does not grant much power to the president in this area. Congress has much more control because they control taxes and spending, as well as all manner of legislation that impacts trade. The biggest sources of economic woe are the large federal budget deficit, the trade deficit, and the lack of an energy independence policy; all within the power of Congress. True the idiot in the White House aggrevated the budget problem with his stupid war, but Congress could have shut off the funds at any point. Reagan and Clinton do not deserve the cudos for the e
Posted By: jlmealer @ 07/05/2008 3:36:15 AM

Comment: This is the plan that will change the face of America!! We have it in place and Obama's tax changes and anti-LLC/small Corp. and pro AFL CIO rules will kill it.

JOHN McCAIN???S 3R ECONOMIC PLAN 2008
Abbreviated version

Progressive Republican Candidate John McCain comes through for America with his 3R economic plan. In the persona of Theodore Roosevelt, McCain???s plan just makes sense.

FIRST , keep in mind that to drop the fuel tax, the local gov???ts would crash. We must use the 3R to replace taxes lost from replaced fuel through green energy (Yes, we have it ready to go!)
www.betterconstructed.com

1. RETHINK: America must see globally on what America is capable of in our current state of technology, engineering and meet the demands that face the world.

Private Sector framework is in place and current laws allow the 3R to happen. The Progressive attitude of John McCain to get things done by crossing party lines will resurrect America.

2. REFORM: The American people must demand higher quality products and less restricted trade routes for Made in USA components. We will lead the way of MFG again!

The USA will reform its dead manufacturing base

3. REINVENT: America and Americans must reinvent themselves to reach and maintain these standards and by sheer American ingenuity, control the world???s marketplace in the competitive manner, as the USA has always been proud to be #1.

NUTS AND BOLTS of the plan are simple.

Billions of savings equates to millions of lost tax revenue from energy companies. The US needs a separate tax revenue source before we can move away from fossil fuels.

McCain 3R solution.

McCain???s 3R is about technical, closely monitored and rapid hands on training from pros to create new pros. Thousands of currently-job-displaced ???once leaders in the manufacturing arena??? will be asked to train and play instructor rolls in the 3R plan. Paid, of course, as these new leaders will help create a whole new style of prosperous America. A massive restructure providing thousands New American MFG means millions of new jobs for infrastructure alone.

We have the buildings, needs and infrastructure to do this!

New jobs is the mainstay for Creating a new guard for Social Security.

This is the new place for financial speculators to invest!

McCain???s Progressive nature embodies Theodore Roosevelt more than any US presidential candidate in history since the original Rough Rider blazed the greatest era of growth in America.

We need John McCain to lead our nation with the same type of change.
www.betterconstructed.com/mccain3R.htm
(orig investor site)

THIS DRAFT COURTESY OF:
John Lewis Mealer, Founding President of Mealer Companies
- Posted By: RO in Reno @ 09/18/2008 2:22:09 PM
  
  Comment: You have to be kidding, McCain only two days ago figured out there was a problem, 25 years in the Senate and he just work up with a "plan"
  
  What McCain needs to do is go back to Sedona fire the illegals he pays $274,000.00 a year to and mow his own grass the exercise will do him good, who knows maybe he will remain consious for a month or two
  
  If he really wanted to serve America he could withdraw from the race, if Palin is the kind of person he'll pick for important posts it would be to the benefit of the country.
Posted By: jlmealer @ 07/05/2008 3:27:49 AM

Comment: THIS IS IT! We will get the reserves uncapped as they (oil reserves) will be obsolete in a few years.
JOHN McCAIN???S 3R ECONOMIC PLAN 2008
Abbreviated version

Progressive Republican Candidate John McCain comes through for America with his 3R economic plan. In the persona of Theodore Roosevelt, McCain???s plan just makes sense.

FIRST , keep in mind that to drop the fuel tax, the local gov???ts would crash. We must use the 3R to replace taxes lost from replaced fuel through green energy (Yes, we have it ready to go!)
www.betterconstructed.com

1. RETHINK: America must see globally on what America is capable of in our current state of technology, engineering and meet the demands that face the world.

Private Sector framework is in place and current laws allow the 3R to happen. The Progressive attitude of John McCain to get things done by crossing party lines will resurrect America.

2. REFORM: The American people must demand higher quality products and less restricted trade routes for Made in USA components. We will lead the way of MFG again!

The USA will reform its dead manufacturing base

3. REINVENT: America and Americans must reinvent themselves to reach and maintain these standards and by sheer American ingenuity, control the world???s marketplace in the competitive manner, as the USA has always been proud to be #1.

NUTS AND BOLTS of the plan are simple.

Billions of savings equates to millions of lost tax revenue from energy companies. The US needs a separate tax revenue source before we can move away from fossil fuels.

McCain 3R solution.

McCain???s 3R is about technical, closely monitored and rapid hands on training from pros to create new pros. Thousands of currently-job-displaced ???once leaders in the manufacturing arena??? will be asked to train and play instructor rolls in the 3R plan. Paid, of course, as these new leaders will help create a whole new style of prosperous America. A massive restructure providing thousands New American MFG means millions of new jobs for infrastructure alone.

We have the buildings, needs and infrastructure to do this!

New jobs is the mainstay for Creating a new guard for Social Security.

This is the new place for financial speculators to invest!

McCain???s Progressive nature embodies Theodore Roosevelt more than any US presidential candidate in history since the original Rough Rider blazed the greatest era of growth in America.

We need John McCain to lead our nation with the same type of change.
www.betterconstructed.com

THIS DRAFT COURTESY OF:
John Lewis Mealer,
Founding President of Mealer Companies
www.betterconstructed.com/mccain3R.htm (original promotional site)
www.mealercompanies.com (blank)
www.mealercompanes.tv (blank)
Posted By: newsviews @ 07/03/2008 3:48:31 PM

Comment: I can't believe Daniel Gross' views that a president does not have the power to fix the economy. I have lived through Presidents Eisenhower through George W. Bush. The people they surround themselves with are the key. Look at the jump in energy prices since the "oil men" Bush and Cheney took control. The credit card debit is a major scandal. If these people have no solutions, they had no business being in those jobs. Lets just do away with the President and Vice President and save the salaries if what Dan Gross says is true. Not only do these powerful peope have the tools to heal the nation, they also have the weapons to wound us all. You can bet that if the economy was great, Bush, et al, would be standing front and center glowing with smug importance. Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan.
Posted By: LaVern @ 07/03/2008 3:05:03 PM

Comment: Dear Mr. Gross,
Abosultely, the power rests with the next president and something Senator Obama can do which the Republicans won't do is day and night. Senator Obama wants to TAX HEDGE FUND DEALERS to pay for one particular program he is proposing--any senior citizen with an income under $50,000 wouldn't have to pay any federal income tax and he would pay for it by TAXING THE HEDGE FUND DEALERS. Senior citizens have mounting medical bills and their working days are done. This would be no more than fair considering HEDGE FUND DEALERS headquartered offshore down in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands making billions of dollars a year pay no federal income tax. This fact was brought out in two good books we read, one being "Free Lunch" by David Cay Johnston and the other one being "Greenspan's Bubbles--The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve" by William A. Fleckenstein with Frederick Sheehan. If Senator Obama would put a new Fed Chairman in that was a true conservative like Paul Volcker was and have a new Treasury Secretary that knew the difference between what a HEDGE FUND DEALER and a SPECULATOR is and all those many EXOTIC DERIVATIVES that they were talking about in the Basel II meeting that took place in April.2008 in Basel, Switzerland that Business Week magazine was talking about. I know there are a lot of paid lobbyists down in Washington promoting their cause for more deregulation which caused the problem in the first place. The solution is to reinstate the Glass-Stegall Act and I believe the Blue Dog Democrats in the House would back up Senator Obama and I would hope he would appoint a vice president with his same views such as Senator Hillary Clinton. We used to be a creditor nation and now we are a debtor nation. If we can't get this title back, we will never be respected as a world leader. These are some of the issues that the media should question the candidates on before the fall election.
Yours truly, Disgusted Middleclass Taxpayer, LaVern
Posted By: Nins @ 07/03/2008 1:39:38 PM

Comment: Did you know McCain has had 4 different campaign managers? McCain just can't get it right. He keeps changing managers, as if it is their fault that he can not succeed. Fact is, McCain is NOT a good candidate.

After his first run at the Presidency when he got swift boated by Bush, his manager John Weaver got McCain to play "Maverick" and cross party lines to become a NeoLiberal. McCain almost changed parties and became a Democrat and Kerry's running mate, but at the 11th hour he switched horses again and hired Terry Nelson to manage him. Nelson is a strong GOP establishmentarianist, and got McCain to throw himself behind Bush, with promises of the GOP giving him the 2008 nomination. But Nelson didn't last, because the strategy failed. The right wing was suspicious of McCain because McCain voted against abortion, for gay rights and for gun control during his "maverick" phase. They didn't know if they could trust him. Also, Nelson spent money hand over fist, nearly bankrupting McCain's campaign. So he replaced him with Rick Davis, who was at the helm for the past year. Davis is a fiscal conservative, made McCain sell that expensive big bus, and made McCain mind his manners and act polite in public. But now, Davis has been fired too. Why? Because McCain is getting desperate, and the gloves are coming off. His new manager is Steve Schmidt, a Rove disciple and former Rove employee. McCain has also hired Nicole Wallace and Greg Jenkins to head his "Communications Team." Nic and Greg are also former Rove employees, masters of the art of swift boat smear campaigns. McCain going to let the Rove bulldogs off the leash. Look out, America, this is going to get ugly.

My prediction: the 20% of America that is made up of ignorant jingoists will be cheering to see Rove's bloody tactics. But you know what? They were all going to vote for McCain anyway. The rest of America will be so disgusted by the hatchet work of the NeoCons that they will vote AGAINST McCain.

The "last resort" tactic of the GOP to win this election will be to bomb Iran, starting another war. Mark my words, if McCain is not doing well in September, Bush will bomb Iran. He is already setting the stage for this, by saying that Iran has nuclear weapons, even thought inspections by the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency have both found NO EVIDENCE of nuclear weapons. REMIND YOU OF ANYTHING? It's the fake "weapons of mass destruction" all over again.

Did you know that on June 26, Bush, very quietly, declared a state of National Emergency? During a National Emergency the President can DECLARE WAR without waiting for the approval of Congress.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/06/20080626-4.html

It is going to be a very bumpy ride, America, so hold on, and DON'T LET BUSH AND ROVE STEAL ANOTHER ELECTION. I wouldn't mind so much if they were good for the economy, but let's face it, they are destroying America.
Posted By: Nins @ 07/02/2008 5:18:37 PM

Comment: Why did the US military cancel a news conference where they were going to display the "Iranian" weapons they found in Iraq? Because there WERE NO IRANIAN weapons to display. Here are links supporting the fact that the weapons found in Iraq did not come from Iran:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013695.php
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/05/fire_next_time.html
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/05/iraq-the-elusiv.html

NOT TO MENTION that the Untied States itself has had a notable role in arming the insurgency. When the US dissolved the Iraqi Army, that flooded Iraq with weapons. More recently the Pentagon admitted that it had lost track of a third of the weapons distributed to Iraqi security forces in 2004-05, totaling 190,000 assault rifles and pistols that are currently on the streets of Iraq. The British paper that published this article got it's information straight from the US Government Accounting Office's public website: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pentagon-admits-190000-weapons-missing-in-iraq-460551.html

Ask yourself, why would America want to pretend that Iran is pushing weapons in Iraq, when actually WE (the USA) has flooded Iraq's streets with weapons? Because Bush wants to declare war on Iran, and just like the fake "WMDs" in Iraq, he needs something to frighten Americans, so he comes out with this BS about Iran killing US soldiers in Iraq. He has also said that Iran is making nuclear weapons, but recent inspections have found NO EVIDENCE of nuclear weapons in Iran. JUST LIKE how repeated inspections found NO EVIDENCE of WMDs in Iraq. The reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN inspectors and nuclear experts at the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) all agree that Iran DOES NOT have nuclear weapons. The IAEA report states that Iran only has "low enriched uranium, not the highly-enriched uranium necessary to produce a bomb." The ISIS reports states "It is important to note that they do not encompass the full scope of work required for a comprehensive nuclear weapons program. Missing is theoretical work on nuclear weapons, uranium metallurgy, and the development of a neutron initiator." http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/2008/iaea_report_on_iran.htm#_ftn9

In case you think the idea that Bush wants to bomb Iran is reactionary, you should know that John Bolton, former US Ambassador to the UN, recently told FoxNews that he can "definitely envision Bush bombing Iran before he leaves office." By bombing Iran, Bush makes it more likely McCain will be elected. But can the US Treasury, can the US economy stand more war? Even if we could afford it, we don't have the manpower in uniform. You know what that means: draft and conscription. Vote for McCain. Watch your children come home in body bags. Watch America go into a Great Depression.
Posted By: thehourislate @ 07/02/2008 1:12:18 PM

Comment: The President doesn't have control of the money, so therefore cannot fix the problem...nor do I believe that the government wants to fix the problem.

The problem is that every dollar made by the Federal Reserve is LOANED to America with interest. Which means that all money is essence belongs to the FEDERAL RESERVE. There is no solution because as long as they print money, we will always be in debt.

Changing the system is the only way...however the elite bankers own and run the politicians so the system will never be changed.
Posted By: willnotvoteobama @ 07/02/2008 11:56:10 AM

Comment: KOOL-AID??????..From the kitchen of the obama sheeple!! take one heaping spoonful of an inexperienced elitist white male seeking self validation through exploitation of his african-american genetics. Combine two parts black liberation theology clerics spewing intolerance! With two parts of unrepentant intellectuals committed to the destruction of America. Stir in one cup of militant black wife harboring the overwhelming desire to stick it to whitey and one spoonful of typical white person grandmother mix well. Pour a gallon of anti-patriotism into tall glasses and sprinkle with naïve foreign policy ideations. Serve on a platter of meaningless oratorical hyperbole with a generous dollop of wealth re-distribution. Sprinkle liberally with zest of white guilt flip it and flop it till it tastes right.top it off with a ounce of anti-semitism and Serve large portions to the undiscerning and spellbound masses convinced that the Second Coming is upon America and now you have a complete recipe for disaster
Posted By: wyomingite @ 07/02/2008 10:49:22 AM

Comment: Mr. Gross,
Good article. I wonder what you think about the weak dollar and budget defecits as troublesome economic data? There was no mention of this problem. Do you believe that Clinton's balanced budgets submitted to Congress in the nineties (I don't care who wants the credit, that's not the point) did not bolster the US economy? And today...vice versa? I'm curious because you seem to suggest that consumer confidence is more important than a balanced budget???
Posted By: Concerned Ctzn @ 06/30/2008 8:04:11 PM

Comment: Global Power Rankings:

1. Corporatism/Lobbyist (the quest for pure Geo-Privatization*)
2. Country Leaders (Presidents/Prime Ministers/Queens/Princes, etc)
3. Congress/Senate (foreign equivalents)
4. Skip the rest until ...

100. The People

*Note: Why is GP so important? Less or "NO" Gov. accountability! Let's privatize our military! Bingo: Blackwater! Just one of many examples. What's next? Prisons?

Now I'm not suggesting that all Corps are bad or evil. Actually, to the contrary! Without Big Corp we don't have jobs & healthcare. Right?

But! That doesn't mean that Big Corp (aka: Members of the Global Elitist Club) don't get a little too greedy and corrupt at times. Generally speaking, I don't like Big Gov. sticking their nose into every little thing, but we do need some gov. oversight (watchdogs/referees).

Otherwise, we all know what happens: Elaborate Stock Market Schemes (dotcom & derivatives bust), Mortgage Meltdown (Subprime my A**), Credit Crunch (no mo' easy money folks). It's called take the money and run by a selected few! While others crash and burn!!

Gee, I wonder what???s the next money-making Ponzi Scheme they're gonna create?

Hint: Go Green! (Global Warming? Nah, more like Global Weather Manipulation!)

Personally, I think it's great. My philosophy: Better safe than sorry! By going Green we'll create some new jobs, make more of our greedy politicians richer with green technology investments, clean up our skies while every other country continues to pollute it, but most importantly ... hopefully we'll develop some viable alternative fuels real soon and kick our Black Gold addiction!
Posted By: sharenews @ 06/30/2008 5:59:51 PM

Comment: Enter Your Comment
- Posted By: loriw @ 07/01/2008 7:41:12 PM
  
  Comment: OK since you invited me I will.
  
  I have an attitude and I'm not afraid to use it! How's that for a comment?
  - Posted By: sharenews @ 07/01/2008 11:02:55 PM
    
    Comment: LOL. Dont ask me how I did that. Slip of the finger. Too funny.
Posted By: Kboogie @ 06/30/2008 12:48:13 PM

Comment: GOODMORNING ALL!!!!

It's been a busy weekend for politics, folks. The GALLUP POLL - which had the candidates tied for the better part of last week - now has OBAMA back up by 4pts. RASMUSSEN is showing a 6% lead for OBAMA, and REALCLEARPOLITICS has OBAMA leading by 7%.

The ELECTORAL MAP - which the GOP never missed an opportunity to reference - has McCain LOSING by 40 points.

Although, BOTH candidates have major flaws and questionable pasts, how is it that ALL of the polls are significantly one-sided? Tracking the candidates support groups reveals that McCain has no true core supporters. His constituacy is "scattered". Evangelicals are jumping ship....the far right, hard-core conservatives are ignoring his phone-calls......and, what I've been hearing is that women (as upset as they are at OBAMA) are not viewing McC as an option.

It seems McCain's past, and caveman-like attitude towards women is rearing it's ugly head. In a recent interview, McC jokes about BEATING HIS WIFE:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/06/mccain-gambles.html

I wouldn't think this would be such an issue if he didn't already have a history of degrading women. In a press conference McC CALLS HIS WIFE THE C-WORD:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/07/report-mccains-profane-ti_n_95429.html

You'd think that McC's disrespect toward women would only be directed towards adults, but it doesn't stop there. When Chelsea Clinton was only 12 years old, McCain directed a vebal assault towards her - a defenseless young girl:

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.politics.bush/2008-02/msg00109.html

On top of the fact that he cheated on, and abandoned his ex-wife after she was severely injured in a car accident, to be w/ a rich, blonde heiress - I now understand why he's losing support of women by the day.

Wait.....almost forgot........OH HAPPY DAYS!!!!!!
- Posted By: sharenews @ 06/30/2008 6:07:23 PM
  
  Comment: Sorry about the repeats below. I submit a post and it looks like it goes thru but never see it after pressing the Refresh button on and off for at least 10 mins. Anyone else notice this happening on their end?
  - Posted By: loriw @ 07/01/2008 7:43:17 PM
    
    Comment: I thought it was my computer at work that was screwing up then went home and was having the same problems....It's these blogs, the last 2 days I have been trouble having comments post and other weird stuff.
    - Posted By: sharenews @ 07/01/2008 11:06:54 PM
      
      Comment: Yes, I started noticing the problems on Sunday. It was driving me nuts. I know that tech support for Newsweek has been doing some updates to the system/editor (e.g. on some articles when you insert a URL it turns into hyperlink which is cool, but on those same blogs I noticed there is no REPLY button anymore so I dont know if they are doing away with the replys as they update the system. I hate using the replys cuz I will be in middle of typing and if you slip the slightest with finger you lose your whole post.! Replys are very touchy these days to click on and post comments.
- Posted By: sharenews @ 06/30/2008 6:05:24 PM
  
  Comment: Kboogie, there are quite a few US Presidents, believe it or not, that were quite disrepectful of their wife, committing adultery, having a chld out of wedlock and divorced prior their White House run and of course during their White House stay. I have a feeling that McCain falling into that mix is weighted towards the bottom of the list when it comes to voters picking a candidate for President with all of the issues, problems and need for solutions that are of major importance to them.
- Posted By: sharenews @ 06/30/2008 5:33:25 PM
  
  Comment: Kboogie, hate to break it to you but there are many Presidents that have been disrespectful to their wives, committed adultery, had children out of wedlock prior to entering the WhiteHouse and DURING their stay in the White House. Gotta feeling if people are a true McCain fan for their reasons, talk about his divorce,etc. and dissing of his military service is not going to matter in the scheme of things
Posted By: flagram21 @ 06/30/2008 10:17:32 AM

Comment: Thank you, Mr. Gross, for writing the TRUTH. A rare thing in the news media lately! I'm not a college-educated person, but I am an informed citizen. This has been my belief for years, and your writing even makes sense of the issue.

I wonder, have any of other commenters really read your article?
- Posted By: loriw @ 07/01/2008 7:44:40 PM
  
  Comment: I read all the articles before i post to one.
Posted By: tippology1 @ 06/30/2008 8:38:05 AM

Comment: O but wait, Barack (Makavelli) can fix anything. This is what the American people thinks and by his talks of higher taxes and free education our economics will be lost for at least the next 10 yrs. People are just plain stupid to support Obama and his economic plan, and for the life of me I thought at least the people who have an higher education would see through all his BS, but I stand corrected. America is looking for someone or some party to blame for our own mess and this year it's the GOP Party. When in fact we have cause this economic crash our selves by not keeping up with the changing global market. George Bush is not to blame for America not updating our rail ways systems, or taking our infrastructure and making it more durable, more futuristic, and giving our too many loans to first time home buyers who can't keep up with the payments. We as American's are to blame for our problems and now you want to put a guy in office who has no clue on how to run a country much less his name. I hope now that he does get elected and he make such a huge mess that it's unable to be fix, that way I can tell you I told you so....O and by the way I have been wanting to badly for someone anyone who knows the senator directly to write me back, I have a ton of questions for him. I figure of is bold enough to run for office he surely can answer some questions. I have wrote the McCain camp and I got a response, why not from Obama.......McCain, 08
Posted By: Cazador1972 @ 06/29/2008 7:09:23 PM

Comment:
While this article can't decide whether to say the president has a lot of economic power or not, the administrative role of the Executive office and its priorities have a major effect on the economy. In a free trade country it might be less influential, but only pretend to be one.

We have spent almost a trillion dollars in Iraq since the beginning of the war. We have done so by financing it with borrowed money (which *gasp!* will have to be paid at some point), an obscene tax breaks that only really favors the super rich and no sacrifice asked of the American people in financing this disaster. We have spent more on Iraq than on any single American state. This was possible because of a very aggressive president and a spineless, eunuch, rubber-stamping congress. How is not the president crucial to the economy then? Could the housing disaster have been avoided, or at least mitigated, if there had been some type of responsible oversight?

The president role can as easily be underestimated as overestimated. The fact remains that it doesn't matter how rich one is if when administering a budget one is as irresponsible as a drunken sailor with a credit card.

The president matters to the economy a whole lot.
Posted By: collegevoter @ 06/29/2008 6:27:05 PM

Comment: With THIS president? Yeah he's definitely useless. On pretty much everything.
Posted By: eddiewhere @ 06/29/2008 5:39:56 PM

Comment: WHOEVER THINKS THAT THE PRESIDENT DOES NOT HAVE AN ENORMOUS INFLUENCE ON OUR ECONOMY KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT THE "WAY THINGS WORK" IN WASHINGTON AND NEW YORK.

THE PRESIDENT'S DECISIONS on a DAILY BASIS DIRECTLY AFFECT THE ECONOMY. JUST ASK BUSH JR. WHEN HE WAS WORKING FOR HIS DAD DURING THE LATE 80' early 90's.

THE PRESIDENT HAS an ENORMOUS INFLUENCE ON ECONOMIC POLICY and the ECONOMY AS A WHOLE. I KEEP FORGETTING THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE JUST DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE WAY THINGS WORK IN WASHINGTON AND NEW YORK.
Posted By: alvinernest @ 06/29/2008 9:51:13 AM

Comment: and when I refer to stockpiling I refer to finace as well, in fact especially finance!!!!
Posted By: alvinernest @ 06/29/2008 9:47:26 AM

Comment: The power to fix the economy is of course headed by the president, but real progress will come from grass roots principles and support from the American people for all things American. The German economy is a beacon of economic success in Europe and the world - with its successful manufacturering sector... but the German economy is underpinned by the loyalty of the German people for all things German and of course the market protection that the German language offers... I think America needs only to reaffirm its commitment to American products - I think this will come from highly distributed manufacturing across America that will expell cost associated distribution and offset that cost against higher American manufacturing cost compared to China and India... that is a huge cost and accounts for more than 50% of market prices - such a strategy could resurrect Western/American manufacturing... but this is not someting that the next president/administration can achieve independently... its must be driven by the will of the American people to shun the motives of large business that constantly seek to reduce cost through centralisation (in lower cost environments e.g. China, India) in move towards a small business ethos as a strategy towards an infrastructure with inherently greater distribution, in order to lower the price of goods "made in America"... There is a great philosophical shift here, it is one that recognises that government should do all in its power to limit wealth stockpiling in centralised points... although the capitalism permits and encourages the stockpiling of wealth it does not precude the need for physically keeping that wealth distributed geographically so as to ensure that all Americans are never too far from the stockpile... this must become a madate of the next government... I believe that Obama's change agenda and his funding structure (limiting large business influence) are clear and needed ingredients to enabale our future economic prosperity...
Posted By: TheVigil @ 06/29/2008 12:40:28 AM

Comment: The failure of George W. Bush's presidency has largely not been with most of the factors adversely affecting us, which as the author notes are somewhat beyond the president's control. The failure has been one of malignant neglect - a failure to take any effective *responses* to these factors or even to be aware of them in a larger context. Mounting world demand for oil, the subprime fiasco brought on by irresponsible lending, failing infrastructure - I think all of these things caught the Bush adminstration flatfooted, then just completely passed them by. The entire administration is more or less in a bubble when it comes to anything outside their own concerns.

The most powerful directly attributable costs, I think, are related to Bush's 8-year march backwards against environmental regulation. This presidency's duration marked the beginnings of true awareness of climate change and the urgent need to do something about it; Bush has effectively thrown the engines into full reverse and accelerated petrochemical use without regard for the consequences. I refuse to believe that the extreme weather happening *all over the world* has nothing to do with our greenhouse gas output.
- Posted By: Concerned Ctzn @ 06/30/2008 8:43:54 PM
  
  Comment: RE: "I refuse to believe that the extreme weather happening *all over the world* has nothing to do with our greenhouse gas output."
  
  Like I mentioned above, it's no longer called Global Warming. It's now called or referred to as Global Climate Change.
  
  Also known as Global Climate Manipulation (GCM).
  
  So here's the million $$$ question:
  
  Are the folks that are toying with Mother Nature doing it for the good of mankind? (China has promised or guaranteed no rain during the Olympics Opening Ceremony. Wow! Pretty cool huh?)
  
  OR
  
  Do these folks have something a little more nefarious in mind?? (Seeding the clouds huh? With what? hehehe)
  
  You decide!
Posted By: C. MacLean @ 06/28/2008 10:05:03 PM

Comment:
Did we really think going to war against an oil-producing country wasn't going to affect the price of oil? Did we really think that cutting taxes but running the defecit sky-high on two wars wouldn't cause all kinds of problems?

No, the president may not have the power to fix the economy, but s/he can damn sure screw it up.
Posted By: 492494762@qq.com @ 06/27/2008 11:34:00 PM

Comment: It is true. The economy thrives when government policies are well tailored, and it stagnate or goes down to toilet when you have some idiot running the country and burn tax dollar in meaningless wars.

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