Bursting Obama’s Balloons

Alaska Driver. I agree totally. Some people don't have the intelligence to express themselves without using expletives, and once I see those, I quit reading and go on to the next one.

yup

Hold on Newsweek. You guys promoted the chosen one to the max. I expect the all of the world's problems to be solved by the end of January. This is not the time for backpedaling. Your guy won and now he better come through. Yes we can and change were the buzzwords of 2008. Now maybe and do the best we can will be the mantra. Garbage. The shivers running up your legs better lead to the utopia we were promised. The new president better pay everyone's mortgage and fill every gas tank because that is what newsweek and msnbc suggested if the chosen one was elected. You got him elected on this hope message and now you are already covering your back. What a disgrace. I don't know how successful the new president will be. I hope for America's sake that he does well. However, I hope the media can find it's responsibility to report his failings as well as his promises. Don't back up now when he actually has to do something besides give a speech.

HarleyisHere and LudwigVanBeet need to grow up. If you can't argue your point in a civil and intelligent manner, don't resort to name calling and obsenities (like a couple of children), just keep quiet. Its a shame that every time I look to see what people's opinions are about an article, the discussion is ruined by those who cannot express themselves in a proper, civilized manner.

Well, I got concerns about Obama myself. I hope he doesn't get carried away and use the current crisis to push through his agenda and in the process make the government much larger. The points of elcidms and some others are good, honest points and shouldn't be dismissed. Moreover, Mr. Fineman is clearly very liberally biased, so such complaints I think are fair.

That said, morrigan has a point, the man isn't even in office yet. Once he is, he is our president and will need to confront a troubled economy and challenges in the Middle East. We need Obama to succeed. Also, Obama's smart, so I expect to some extent he will. We need to support our next president at this time. Especially my fellow Republicans.

The man hasn't even been sworn into office and already the Dems are talking about a proposed tax increase (gas) and the liberal media is trying to encourage Obama to lower expectations/Americans to not expect change. Throughout the campaign we kept hearing from Obama that change was coming, yet he surrounds himself with Washington insiders. If history is any indication then we can expect government to grow and our tax dollars to go up! When will they ever learn that economic stimulus will occur if they let us keep OUR money so we can spend it to stimulate the economy instead of the government growing out of control. "Change is coming"...yea right!!

I was hoping the GOP would not have enough to filibuster in the Senate.

Without Bush or Senate GOP filibuster, the Democrats have no choice but to make good on their IOU's or do what is right for America.

Let's see if the familiar bravado of Pelosi is still around in a few days......

My guess is that on Jan. 20, 2009 Mr. Zer0-Bama will do what he always does, vote 'present'. The Left wing moonbats will be very disappointed. Obama is an empty suit, a creation of the fantasies of the Liberals.

Why does this seem like the textbook "I told you so" situation? I'm sure that there will be some responses to this that rationalize the supposed need to lower expectations but realistically, it's no suprise that there has been a major shift in the media rhetoric. It's called CYA people.

The MSM is on vacation. Out of town. You can tell by the vapidity of the reportage.
I used to get paid to write the obvious myself. I got more when I repeated rumors started by my colleagues. The big money was in restating what you said yesterday and making it sound like news. My whoring days are over, thanks be to finally getting a real job.

Howard, needless to say, is making the big bucks. If you get the drift...

I read a comment on First Read that sums it up nicely: "What if an empire imploded and everyone was watching the news. Would anybody know?"

American expectations far exceed America's ability to pay. Adding to the national debt burden is easy; reducing it is hard. Expect nothing hard from Washington, so in that sense there is no real effort by this generation to pay its own way. Another helicopter drop of freshly printed Benny bucks will do nothing to revitalize the economy, but passes an even more crushing debt burden to our descendants. Ultimately the piper will be paid--that is reality that neither voters nor their elected representatives are willing to face. So until then, it's tax cuts and spending hikes, burning up our future like there is no tomorrow.

Wait....are you telling me that Obama doesn't have a magic wand that will fix all of America's problems? Why am I only finding this out now?

i think no body in their right mind expects anything from a corruption riddled country with a sick economy or its head of state who at best is proving to be man who has good taste in picking a wife and holiday cottages
and as for his cabinet it is already a laughing stock filled with failed ex terrorists to jilted american housewives

It's about time that people come back to down to planet Earth. Hope and idealism are good things, but not at the expense of the hard, cold truth. But the American people are not adept at swallowing the truth - we do better with pie-in-the-sky fantasies of some Presidential father figure who will save us all. If Obama fails, and he very well might, it won't be because of him. It'll be because of us, the American people, a nation that has yet to collectively grow up.

brydges, the issue is not whether or not he can; it's whether or not he tries, whether he puts together a lucid plan that enough reputable economists think can make a difference. Obama can't control the re-tardicans, who will put up roadblocks. If they put up roadblocks, the failure of Obama's plan will land on their plates.

"Democrats, who are livid at the way the first $350 billion was used by giant banks to buy other banks, rather than lending it to consumers and homeowners."

Howard, you are golden! I'm glad somebody realizes we are HIGLY pissed off at this use of our tax money!

Howard, we love you dearly, but sometimes your obsequiousness borders on the smarmy. Lighten up, we know you know everybody and have known everybody for 30 years, but then so has Oprah.

Chickens coming home to roost? It won't get really interesting until Obama takes his first stand. My guess is he'll stay true to form and capitulate, accommodate, go along to get along, go with the flow, and sell his supporters completely down the river. The BlowHardOSphere will scream, of course, when Rahm Emmanuel slams those White House Doors shut, firmly and forever, in their earnest, tear-washed faces. The only question is, who will deliver the flowers - Harry Reid? Nancy Pelosi?