Thread: President-elect promised change, picking insiders

Originally Posted by Whiteshiva

Why do people keep referring to Obama as a black or a negro?

Because being black turned out to be his main qualification for running and getting elected.
A white man with his credentials wouldn't have been considered in a million years.

Barrack H. Obama is the "Black" pride of America.

Originally Posted by Whiteshiva

Why do people keep referring to Obama as a black or a negro? He is as much white as he is black (one white parent, one black). How many % white do you have to be before you are referred to as such?

A white has to have no noticeable African features or he is considered black, even if he is 15/16th white. It is quite weird. Almost like a stigma.

^ Yep, too smart and suave by far. Waiting for the real agenda and fallout.

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

Waiting for the real agenda and fallout.

And what might be the real Obama agenda and fallout then Jet?

I doubt, in your wildest dreams, it can match the neo-con fantasy of world hegemony that the Bush administration so unsuccesfully foisted on the first few years of the 21st century.

There's nothing wrong with populating one's cabinet with insiders if they're skillful, ethical and intelligent. After all, where else is one going to find the sort of experience needed to govern? Obama runs the show and appointees have specific, subordinate functions within their cabinet positons. However, if Hillary becomes Secretary of State, it would be a huge disappointment. She ran a sleazy presidential campaign, is highly sycophantic to Israel and has little of the charm and diplomatic skill of her husband. Isn't this the same woman who said in the presidential debates that she wouldn't talk to hostile regimes such as Iran? Now she will be in a diplomatic post where she may be forced to do exactly that. Christopher Hitchens rightly called her pending appointment a 'ludicrous embarassment".

Christopher Hitchens Calls Hillary Clinton As Secretary Of State A "Ludicrous Embarrassment"

looks like the old Clinton team is back in the WH,

Obama is a smart man, may Allah bless him

Yeh, I've got reservations about Hillary as SoS. I thought she might be destined for health- but Daschle was an excellent good pick there, imo. She carries a fair bit of political weight, so for political reasons should probably be offered something, but I don't think making her the foreign mouthpiece puts a desirable slant on the Obama administrations 'new broom'.

One insider too many, one compromise too far imo.

^
Heh...buyer's remorse already?

^ Nope, just healthy debate instead of simply swallowing everything that is handed out . . . and if you don't then you're un-American or a Communist . . . or an un-American Communist!

Sour grapes, BM?

Originally Posted by floorpotato

Now she will be in a diplomatic post where she may be forced to do exactly that.

no she won't her hubby will....she'll just be the facade.....as the analysts say she'll just be riding his well placed network..

Originally Posted by Bugs

A real risk of people questioning who is calling the shots on international issues.

posted my above before I saw this, exactly..

I don't like Hillary as SoS.

Perhaps BO is catering to her camp, to solidify himself.

BO is the boss on paper, but HRC will be conducting a lot of policies at her discretion when it comes to the bureaucracy of State: Embassy, consulates, etc.

NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama has chosen New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to be commerce secretary, adding a prominent Hispanic and one-time Democratic rival to his expanding Cabinet.

Obama planned to announce the nomination after Thanksgiving, according to a Democratic official familiar with the discussions. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations and did so on condition of anonymity.

Richardson, 61, had a distinguished and visible career in Washington before returning to New Mexico, where he was elected governor in 2002. Richardson served as U.N. ambassador under President Bill Clinton and later as energy secretary. He was in the House from 1983 to 1997.

Clinton sent Richardson on several high-level diplomatic missions while he was in Congress, including direct talks with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

In Richardson, Obama will get a secretary of commerce who has been described as relentless and competitive, with a jocular sense of humor.

Richardson is a seasoned international negotiator who mediated with North Korea over the downing of two U.S. Army helicopter pilots; hammered out a deal with Saddam Hussein for the release of two U.S. oil workers; won the release of three Red Cross workers held captive by Sudanese rebels; and was later sought out by the North Koreans to discuss nuclear issues....

Obama considered Richardson to be secretary of state and brought him to Chicago to discuss the job. The president-elect is on track to name Hillary Rodham Clinton to the top diplomatic post and was expected to announce the pick after Thanksgiving.

Full Article- The Associated Press: Official: Richardson to be commerce secretary

So Obama considered Richardson for SoS, but ended up with Hillary. My opinion is it should be the other way around- Richardson for SoS- he's a good, affable diplomat and negotiator. Hillary for Commerce- give her a decent portfolio within the USA. Oh well.

Richardson is Obamas first Hispanic pick too. I doubt this one will be controversial.

I think it was a smart move for BO but not Hil. He gets her out of his hair in the Senate and all the issues, especially health care. She no longer has a say or ability to debate the issues, even foreign affairs. Technically, she was her own boss there, now he is her direct boss. She can suggest, but he can just say no.
In four years, could she get back into the Senate? If he gets two terms, would she be able to run for prez again? She'd be 69 and not up to speed on domestic issues at all. I almost see it as Chicago politics -- give her a plum job that takes her far, far away from any say in the country's domestic biz.

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

he no longer has a say or ability to debate the issues, even foreign affairs. Technically, she was her own boss there, now he is her direct boss. She can suggest, but he can just say no.

yeah good move from Obama, always keep your enemies close

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

I think it was a smart move for BO but not Hil. He gets her out of his hair in the Senate and all the issues, especially health care.

she had already been squeezed out of healthcare policy by kennedy and baucus.

get better informed.

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

^ & ^^ Get with the programme, boys. That is what Al Q Zawahiri said. I'm just quoting his words. Hey, it's even in your favourite libbie newspaper.

Originally Posted by panama hat

You really are a racist . . . very tasteless but not unexpected.
Anyway, I don't see how using ex-Clinton staff and insiders is anathema to change . . . Obama has his policies and will use the right people (we hope) to do the job.
He gives directions and those chosen to work for him will do what they do to follow those directives.

5555555555

WASHINGTON — In a propaganda salvo by Al Qaeda aimed at undercutting the enthusiasm of Muslims worldwide about the American election, Osama bin Laden’s top deputy condemned President-elect Barack Obama as a “house Negro” who would continue a campaign against Islam that Al Qaeda’s leaders said was begun by President Bush.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/wo...t/20qaeda.html

Other sources say the translation was wrong and should read "house slave."

Come on Jettie he did come in without a mop so if that aint something I'm not playing, it just goes to prove there are more things than mops to use to clean up.

not even taken the oath and he's backpedaling like the stereotypical politician, full of change he is..full of somthin I suspect but it ain't change..

Obama's tax hike for the rich may be delayed

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press Writer Tue Nov 25, 12:51 am ET
WASHINGTON – An economic crisis, rising joblessness and a credit squeeze can make a president-elect refine his words. Today's word is "repeal." During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to repeal President George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy ahead of their scheduled expiration in 2011.
It was part of how Obama would pay for an overall net tax cut aimed at low- and middle-income taxpayers, and an effort to bring what he called "fairness" to the tax system.
No one is talking tax hikes now.
Over the weekend, Obama said he has charged his new economic team with devising a plan that would create or preserve 2.5 million jobs over two years. He said the plan would include broad spending plans as well as the middle- and low-income tax cuts he described during the campaign.
Aides later said the plan would not include any of the tax increases Obama, as a candidate, had said he would impose on taxpayers who make more than $250,000.
Asked Monday when those hikes might go into effect, Obama said, "Whether that's done through repeal, or whether that's done because the Bush tax cuts are not renewed, is something that my economic team will be providing me a recommendation on."
If repealed early, Obama's tax increase on the rich would have generated significant revenue, but not enough to compensate for the cost of his tax cuts. An analysis by the Tax Policy Center, based on January 2008 income projections, estimated that the increases would result in about $43 billion in revenue in 2009 and $45 billion in 2010. Those numbers would be smaller now, as the economy has lowered expected incomes.
Obama's economic advisers say he will not propose any tax increases in the economic plan he unveils in January. It is to be focused entirely on job creation and economic recovery.

Obama's tax hike for the rich may be delayed - Yahoo! News

what I'd like to know is was any of this new information BEFORE he claimed he was going to do these things during his campaign? or is it all just old news he glossed over to accomplish his own agenda.. don't bother...rhetorical question..

Originally Posted by DrivingForce

not even taken the oath and he's backpedaling like the stereotypical politician, full of change he is..full of somthin I suspect but it ain't change..

Obama's tax hike for the rich may be delayed

It seems that he's a politician, and conforming to Washington realities: he's moving to the Center.

first of all, of course he's a politician. secondly, he never said he was going to hike taxes on the rich...but rather bring the rates back to where they were during the clinton administration (you know, the period which had the greatest economic growth in US history).

GWB has run the economy into a ditch...and considering the current set of circumstances he faces, obama is acting responsibly....imagine that.

Originally Posted by raycarey

first of all, of course he's a politician. secondly, he never said he was going to hike taxes on the rich...but rather bring the rates back to where they were during the clinton administration (you know, the period which had the greatest economic growth in US history).

GWB has run the economy into a ditch...and considering the current set of circumstances he faces, obama is acting responsibly....imagine that.

too bad the nik "spin" is already taken as it fits you far better.. I see backpedaling isn't just a politicians talent..