The People Asked To Get ROCKED & A Boulder Drops On Their Heads

Feel The Pain And Like It
The Rock Of Gibraltar, Only Backwards

Anybody want to guess what happened on Wed, January 19, 2010 right before the market fell off a cliff? The people got rocked.

If you guessed Obama delivered a politically charged speech to rally for his own support and crucify others, you're right! 

On Wed, January 19th, Obama went on national TV to tell the world, “we want our money back” and “if they want a fight, a fight is what they'll get.” The “they” of course, are “greedy rich” people.  The markets immediately started to sell-off and the S&P 500 is now down about 6% since.

Good old fashion class warfare is never good for the economy, neither is continuous political jibber jabber. Do you ever remember a president being on TV as much as our current president? 

The risk of overexposure is very real, and the record low approval rating for any president at this point in his term shows this.  The State of The Union address is supposed to be an opportunity to unify the people.  Besides the typical feel-good rhetoric, what I heard was a continued attack on others, protecting personal interest groups, and maintaining giant silos.

YOU SO CRAFTY NEBRASKA

Did you know that Nebraska is the only state in America that won”t have to pay for new Medicaid recipients if the bill passes?  What makes Nebraskans more special than other Americans? 

The answer lies in a special deal the president brokered with Senator Ben Nelson to buy his vote!  If Nebraska did have to pay for new medicaid recipients, Senator Ben Nelson wouldn't have voted for the bill!  Good for Senator Nelson for looking out for his people. 

But tell me honorable readers, how is this legal, and not frowned upon by the rest of the country?

I am absolutely for health care reform.  We have an expensive system with 40 million + people who don't have insurance for whatever reason.  We live in a society where if there's a drug that costs $100,000 to extend your life by 6 months, everybody feels they deserve to take it, but nobody is willing to pay for it.  Fine. 

Since everybody wants the best and most expensive health care, let's spread the burden among everybody, and not just to the non-Nebraskans!

THE PEOPLE ASK FOR THEIR MONEY BACK AND LOSE BILLIONS MORE INSTEAD

I wonder if the angry mob knows that the more the government is against capitalism, the more we all suffer.  With the market down 6% in a week, the people have lost over $40 billion in equity from their 401Ks, IRAs, and general stock investments.  Essentially, anybody with anything to invest just got a nice black eye.

The funny thing is, the angry mob got what they deserved.  They asked for our president to come down hard on every financial institution, instead of just targeting particular people in power, and the mob is sharing in the pain.

CONCLUSION

What used to be an absolute certainty about Obama's second term now looks tenuous at best.  The “wealthy” were instrumental in his candidacy, and now their support is gone.   If the unemployment figures do not improve over the next 12 months, there's no doubt Obama will also start losing the middle class.

It's sad, because I along with millions of Americans really wanted Obama to succeed.  He has fantastic oratory skills and knows how to galvanize people into action. 

Obama was going to change dirty politics and turn our ship around.  What we've learned from the Massachusetts Senate change (which was consistently left for 30 years until Ed died) and the low approval ratings is that the public aren't mindless idiots.

The people realize that buying votes is wrong and that punishing innocent people at non-TARP banks while protecting AIG and the auto industry who haven't' paid back anything is a double standard.  The people of America are speaking.  The question is, are the people in charge of America listening?

Related: The Best Time To Retire Is Under A Democratic President Like Joe Biden

Readers, please read more about the deal Obama struck with the Senator of Nebraska regarding the health care bill.  It sickens me to my stomach that he talks about doing the right thing when he's doing something else.

Do you think Obama knows what he did was wrong?  If so, is he thinking that the means justify the ends?

If the employment picture doesn't improve, do you think Obama will get re-elected?

Why does the government want to punish everybody making over $200,000 and not encourage and reward them instead?

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30 thoughts on “The People Asked To Get ROCKED & A Boulder Drops On Their Heads”

  1. Len Penzo :
    The biggest indication that Obama is not a true leader is his continuing claims that he inherited two wars and a recession. He went so far to say it again during the SOTU address. But remember, he fought hard in his campaign to become the President of the United States and he knew the situation going in – he told us he was going to fix the problem! Elect him, he said, and he would fix the problem! …

    Yeah, and the record number of filibusters by the Republican minority has nothing to do with this.

    As for the deficit, you are wrong. The Obama budget would decrease the deficit more than if his budget is not accepted:

    https://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/the-right-obama-and-the-deficit

    ‘It’s true that “If the Obama budget is adopted in full, federal borrowing will top $18 trillion by 2020.” What the editorial fails to say is what will happen to federal borrowing if Obama’s budget is not adopted. We are supposed to think that the debt will be lower, but it won’t. It would be higher.’

    Obama did inherit a mess, so lets allow him to clean it up, shall we?

  2. @Credit Card Chaser
    It’s important to direct the blame on “fat cat bankers” so nobody can tell what the gov’t is doing. It worked for a while, but now everybody is losing money in the markets b/c of his rhetoric, and the people caught his two-faced dealing with the Nebraska Senator! Hurray internet!

    @StackingCash
    Go 5 yr CD then. They are offering 3%+. Read “The DVD Method to CD Investing” https://www.financialsamurai.com/2009/10/02/the-dvd-method-to-cd-investing/

    @Len Penzo @20sMoney
    Yes, R or D, it doesn’t matter. It’s up to the people to keep them in check, since we elected them! The debt is scary but hey, it’s for the next generation to bear right?

    @Little House
    I wouldn’t live in Nebraska even if I got a 100% raise, well maybe for a couple years, so I can accelerate my retirement goals!

    @Roger
    Roger, sounds like you agree with my thesis and disappointment! A rarity! Good work on your “mind” posts. I highlighted in in the latest Katana b/c I think you put in some good though, and deserves more recognition.

  3. StackingCash

    You should be thanking Obama for putting the stock market on sale. Now is the time to buy more because you know in the long run you will see that historic 9 percent rate of return, maybe even more. Too bad I think the stock market is a ponzi scheme, I’m going to be poor with my 1 percent taxable savings account.

  4. love your title! I’m so bummed out with the fall in the market this week. I didn’t want to watch the speech so I lifted my spirits instead watching a hilarious impression of Obama on Jay Leno and some other jokes about the broadcast.

  5. @Len Penzo
    I couldn’t agree more! Screw the party label, elect somebody with common sense and fiscally conservative policies!!! Or else, we’re seriously screwed, and we really might already be. There is already no easy path out of our scenario.

    Oh yeah, and how bout not electing somebody Chairman of the Fed who has never worked in the private sector (Bernanke)???
    .-= 20smoney´s last blog ..Telling Day In The Market =-.

  6. The biggest indication that Obama is not a true leader is his continuing claims that he inherited two wars and a recession. He went so far to say it again during the SOTU address. But remember, he fought hard in his campaign to become the President of the United States and he knew the situation going in – he told us he was going to fix the problem! Elect him, he said, and he would fix the problem!

    Well guess what? He hasn’t fixed anything – in fact his budget policies will result in him adding more to the National Debt than all of the other presidents combined over 200 years. The deficit spending is what got everybody (gov’t and private citizens) into trouble in the first place and now his solution is to do more of the same? In essence, he’s using gasoline to put out a house fire.

    Meanwhile, he spent all of 2009 pushing a national health care plan that, if passed, would have piled on EVEN MORE DEBT! This despite poll after poll that showed his health care plan was opposed by most Americans.

    He and his advisers are in WAY over their heads.

    If we are serious about saving this country from financial ruin, we MUST elect true fiscal conservatives to Congress in November. I don’t care if they have an R or D after their names. They just need to be committed to greatly reducing the size of the government, lowering our taxes, stopping this ridiculous class warfare rhetoric, and allowing creative destruction – as opposed to bailouts – to “do the dirty work” of getting this economy back on its feet.

    Wake up, America.

    Best,

    Len
    Len Penzo dot Com
    .-= Len Penzo´s last blog ..Black Coffee: My Favorite Blogs, Money News & Opinions #31 (The “Len Penzo Sucks” Edition) =-.

  7. The deal with Ben Nelson is a depressing one, one which not even Nebraskans (aka, those who would benefit most) seem to approve of ). Of course, it’s worth noting that (a) even Nelson himself is saying he wants no part of the deal, (b) there’s no certainty that when (or more likely, if) the health care ever ends up on Obama’s desk, such a deal will be a part of it, and (c) depressing as it is, this is just politics as usual in Washington, trading favors and special deals for support on legislation. Yes, Obama campaigned claiming to want to put an end to all of this, which makes this especially grating, but for the time being, this is how it is, and without a concerted effort to change how laws are made (which is certain to get pushback from congressmen on both sides of the aisle), it’s unlikely to change in the future.

    As for Obama’s re-election chances, I honestly don’t know. If in 2012 we’re still looking at near ten percent unemployment (and that’s just the official number, not counting those who have stopped looking, for example), he’s definitely going to have a much harder slog, although any number of other factors (progress in Iraq and Afghanistan, for example) might be enough to mitigate it. It’s not as simple as ‘Unemployment greater than 7%, Obama gets the boot; less than 7%, he gets a second term’ or anything like that.

    As for why the rich get punished, it’s worth remembering that Obama and all of the members of Congress are politicians. They’re less worried about taking the most financially advantageous path and more about what course of action yields the most votes. Given that those on the left support higher taxes on the rich and corporations ) there’s quite a bit of incentive for Obama to raise taxes on the rich to capture those votes, and much less incentive to lower them. If a ‘Wealthy People for Obama’ coalition comes into existence that will give him full credit (and help deliver a lot of votes) for keeping tax rates for the wealthy low, then he’ll most certainly follow that path. Until then, he’s likely to keep up the populist rhetoric proposing higher taxes for those earning high incomes.

  8. Credit Card Chaser

    @MoneyNing

    Well said, MoneyNing. It’s the same type of deal with the auto makers. I was really glad to see that article that Mitt Romney wrote a while back titled, “Let Detroit Fail” which was an unpopular thing to say but very correct. It must have been especially tough for him because he has close ties to the state of Michigan.

    I always seem to get the feeling that Obama wants to just get his agenda done while pretending to always say the right things and please everyone but then again I guess that describes almost every politician.

    I am reading “The Gathering Storm” by Winston Churchill right now and he talks about the time after WWI and leading up to WWII where public sentiment in England was very much opposed to any kind of rearmament or sanctions against the Germans and so the leader at that time later admitted that he didn’t dare speak out because he was more concerned with just being re-elected than in really doing what is right for the people and tell them something they didn’t want to hear.

    I know that Obama has a lot of very strange anti-business idealogies floating around in his head but I wonder also if he is just wanting to take the easy way out and blame things on the “fat cat” bankers or not building “green cars” or who knows what instead of just telling people something that might be very unpleasant to hear (i.e. we are letting GM go bankrupt, we are letting AIG go bankrupt, etc.)
    .-= Credit Card Chaser´s last blog ..How Much Will an Apple iPad Cost if Buying on Credit? =-.

  9. I’m not defending Obama here, but I think we put too much stock in the presidency in general. The president (who ever it is) is held up to be government, but he’s just one man in one office overseeing a bureaucracy that mostly does what it wants. Presidents come in with big plans – because that’s what the people demand – but once in office they lower their sites and mostly work on technical details.

    I’ve seen several presidents in my life time and it’s the same with all. If we really want a president to be able to accomplish anything, we’d first have to have much smaller government–small enough to be managed–and though a lot of people talk about that, in reality no concensus can form around it because benefits might be disturbed.
    .-= Kevin@OutOfYourRut´s last blog ..Buying vs Renting a Home – Its Not All About Money =-.

  10. I was working and unable to listen to the speech…I have, however, been impressed at the fallout. I very much believe that unless Washington changes the way they do business, we have worse days to come. Lobbying should be outlawed. Deal making for votes should be a federal crime. Politicians should not win office because they can afford the best marketing team. And presidents should be required to form their cabinets and administrative advisors with people who will argue for the right thing over the party line. And they should have to pass some kind of test to prove they are qualified. Without these things, corruption and bias are all but guaranteed. Just my opinion.
    .-= Tracy´s last blog ..Another Measure of Wealth =-.

  11. @Don@MoneyReasons

    Ha – touche. I lean more towards the “conversative” side, it being more “practical”. But, really I have a low opinion of government officials to begin with.

    Any line from Borat could be transposed into speeches…
    “I am going to look through your treasures and take what I want. Do you understand me gypsy?”
    .-= FinEngr´s last blog ..Spend Less or Earn More? The ONLY answer you need to know. =-.

  12. The unemployment situation will almost certainly improve soon, and then you’ll find Obama roaring along in the opinion polls. The people are blaming him for a recession he didn’t cause and couldn’t fix in time for them not to get angry.

    That said, I agree he’s bitten off far more than he can chew. He should have just focused on the economy at a time like this, and some sensible banking reform.

    I think he got carried away with his own rhetoric, and things like winning the Nobel Peace Prize hasn’t helped.

  13. Don@MoneyReasons

    @FinEngr
    If the hole is big enough in the Ship, it doesn’t take years to sink ;) Especially when our government is banging away trying to make the hole bigger…

    As for the next Republic candidate, I expect the Republican party to wake up and get someone that is more in the middle and will represent the majority of Americans. If the candidate is too far right again, then most like I’d begrudgingly go with Mr. Obama again…
    .-= Don@MoneyReasons´s last blog ..Going With Paperless Statements, My Struggles Letting Go =-.

  14. To All – Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I wasn’t going to publish this piece today, but after the markets got slaughtered, and again yesterday after the State of the Union, and after I learned more about the Nebraska cornhusker kickback, AND the Union sweatheart deal, i’m so mad! I’m so mad at the double standards, and I’m so mad that not only are the “wealthy” getting crushed, now the middle class are getting CRUSHED with the market meltdown.

    Unfortunately, EVERYBODY in America needs to see their investments and retirement plans suffer in order to realize that when you initiate class warfare, take care of certain people over others, and do wrong, everybody loses.

    I’m so disappointed too. I’m sad about the dishonor I witness.

    @Kevin M
    I never expected things to right themselves in just one year, let alone 4 years. But, I believe Obama would change Washington and dirty politics. I did NOT expect him to do that backroom deal with Nebraska, and with the Unions.

    @Darwin’s Finance @Evan
    I knew about the Union deal, but I was too depressed to write anymore about another double standard. The Nebraska deal ALONE is enough to bring strife to me and a lot of others. Thanks for providing your thoughts on the Union deal, b/c I couldn’t go on writing. Too depressing.

  15. You forgot to mention the sweetheart deal cut with the unions. While the rest of America pays 40% on “cadillac plans” (last time I checked, millions of middle-class white collar and union workers weren’t driving cadillacs, but that’s how a typical middle class family plan is classified by Obama), any union member or state/govt worker would pay – you got it! Zero! The rest of the country would have to subsidize them through 2018. All to buy their “support”. Wait, the union votes for legislation? Well, they do – if they own your representative – which apparently they do.

    Scenario – 2 machine operators in the same town.
    – They have the same skill level, experience, etc.
    – One works at a Union shop, the other one is non-union.
    – Since unions generally drive an above market wage for given skill, the union guy is already making more.
    – Mr. Union machinist gets no healthcare tax; non-union guy gets taxes 40%.
    – Difference of thousands of dollars per year.

    Is this fair? Isn’t this the “special interest” Obama railed against?

    The indirect outcome? Everyone in the country starts clamoring to force unionization at their workplace for the freebies. It’s part of the whole agenda to shift the country further to the left.

    The fact that this was done with such contempt and disregard for even reasonable logic and debate – so openly one-sided. It’s shameless.

    I’m laughing so hard at a) the Mass. win that put this monstrosity to a halt and b) the feel-good wealthy elitists who all voted for “hope and change” and this is what they got – he’s turned against you big-time – and now you’ve gonna pay for being rich – because the rest of the country wants what you’ve got – and Obama’s gonna spread it around.

    Enjoy the next 3 years guys…
    .-= Darwin’s Finance´s last blog ..Darwin’s Inverse Leveraged Short ETF Strategy – Incredible Results Outlined =-.

  16. I made 70k a year and am 30 yrs old. I supported Obama’s candidacy, and I will not vote for him in 3 years.

    He lied to me and my family by providing kickbacks to special interest groups and denies no wrong doing. I’m not blind. I read the papers, watch TV, and see my investments go down. I’m so disappointed in him!

  17. The deal with Bill Nelson is ridiculous, and thanks for pointing it out!

    What I didn’t get about his speech was that first he said that we got into the crisis because of the financial and housing bubble, then after a few short minutes, he talks about how they are putting in tons of money to prop up the housing market to keep the value of everyone’s losing investment (their home).

    Huh? We got into trouble by having a housing bubble, so the fix is to keep the bubble inflated?
    .-= MoneyNing´s last blog ..Should I Pay Off My Mortgage Early, or Have One at All? =-.

  18. @ Thirftgal. HA! But don’t forget the banking industries & rich ARE forms of terrorism! ;)

    That’s why we’re always at code Orange on the Homeland Security threat meter
    .-= FinEngr´s last blog ..Spend Less or Earn More? The ONLY answer you need to know. =-.

  19. @ Don. Seriously?? He’s gotten through 1/4 of his term and you’re changing your tune already? Do you think the next candidate will be any better?

    @ 20sMoney. Yes – RP. Have you read any of his books?

    @ LeanLifeCoach & Kevin M. Same point. Little faith because there’s no difference. We can screw you this way or that way – which do you prefer?

    Senators serve 6 yrs, House Reps 2, and Presidents 4. Here’s how I think the time is spent.
    40% on trying to get elected
    20% on “feel good” projects to tell their constituents
    40% on blaming failed programs on others (so they can get re-elected).

    I’d like to start a 2x ultrashort RICH index. Tracking the top wealthy, you’ll make tons every time new social policy, reform speeches, and general pitch-forking against the rich occurs. Should be a good 3-yr for my index :)
    .-= FinEngr´s last blog ..Spend Less or Earn More? The ONLY answer you need to know. =-.

  20. Do you think Obama knows what he did was wrong? If so, is he thinking that the means justify the ends?
    YES 100% HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING. He admitted it saying something along the lines as this is how politics is done in DC on ABC. What happened to open gov’t? HE JUST MADE AN F’in DEAL with the UNIONS TO BE EXCLUDED FROM CADILLIAC DEALS (if the bill passes). I MEAN COME ON!

    AND ENOUGH WITH THE BUSH BASHING! Alright, he sucked get the F over it and do something about it.

    If the employment picture doesn’t improve, do you think Obama will get re-elected?
    ZERO CHANCE, as Americans we vote with our wallet always do always will. Hell, the Founding Fathers started this country because of what they perceived as unfair taxes

    Why does the government want to punish everybody making over $200,000 and not encourage and reward them instead?
    Because it the popular thing right now.

    This stuff makes me so mad, I can’t even watch those State of the Union addresses . Couldn’t when Bush was in Office, Can’t when Obama is in…and when Clinton was in I was in HS and too worried about females, I wish I could go back LOL
    .-= Evan´s last blog ..Is there Anything More Important than Money when it comes to a Job? =-.

  21. Looks like this admisinstration has a habit of generalizing and scapegoating – first lumping all big banks together and now lumping all the rich. Guess ‘terrorism’ and ‘iraq’ don’t work anymore :)
    .-= thriftygal´s last blog ..How to extend the life of your clothes =-.

  22. Does anybody really think things would be better if McCain had won? I sure as hell don’t. I voted Obama because I thought he was a better leader, better at gathering support and getting a consensus to get things done. I still think he can do that, but he needs to refocus. I do think inexperience has hurt slightly, like a boxer who gets stunned by an early punch, but there’s still 3 years left to recover. He took office during one of the most difficult times in history – high unemployment, crappy economy for almost a decade, 2 ongoing, unending wars – I didn’t expect everything to go from crap to roses in a year, did you?

  23. My view is that our society is going through growing pains.

    If we don’t make some changes, we will all go under together.

    If we accept what needs to be done (I believe we all know in our hearts the basics of what needs to be done but today lack the courage to say out loud what we know), we will enter a new era of even greater growth and fulfillment than what we have seen before.

    Obama is just one actor on the stage. He might help take us forward, he might hold us back.

    He won’t be the determining factor in either event. If we have what it takes inside, he is not going to be able to stop us. If we don’t, there’s nothing he can do to save us.

    He plays a role. He can help. But that’s all.

    Rob
    .-= Rob Bennett´s last blog ..“We Are the Market…When We Say That the Market Is Rational, We Are Saying That We Are Rational” =-.

  24. Until we can find a way to end crony politics, pork and closed door bargaining I have little faith we will really see any difference regardless of which party is in power.

    I’m not sure Obama or most other politicians care as much about if what they are doing is right as if what they are doing will help them maintain and promote their party agendas.

    Obama’s future is quickly dimming but as you said, he has a way of speaking, he just might pull another victory if those on the right cannot come up with a good candidate.

    The punish the wealthy because there are relatively few. Most votes come from those making less.
    .-= LeanLifeCoach´s last blog ..We Canceled My Wife’s Life Insurance =-.

  25. Sam-

    You’re right. Tthis “us versus them” as in “Main St vs Wall St” and “middle class vs the rich” has got to change.

    It marginalizes everyone on both sides and paints a picture that’s much more simpler than it really is.
    .-= Mike´s last blog ..3 Reasons Why the Average Joe is a Bad Investor =-.

  26. I think Obama is in trouble, but I think us Americans are in even more trouble, but the system is so screwed up, I have little faith that the Republicans (if they re-take power) will make the tough decisions to put us on the long term path to prosperity. Unless Ron Paul is elected maybe.
    .-= 20smoney´s last blog ..20smoney.com Reader Survey =-.

  27. Don@MoneyReasons

    Do you think Obama knows what he did was wrong? If so, is he thinking that the means justify the ends?
    No, I don’t! If he does, he’s taking a big gamble with our entire country.
    My opinion of Obama has changed greatly. I think he’s a good speaker (yes I drunk the Obama kool aid), but he’s not as smart as I initially supposed. He did so well in the debates against McCain, that I thought he had it together… But apparently Cain was right, Obama is too inexperienced…

    If the employment picture doesn’t improve, do you think Obama will get re-elected?
    I hope not, and even if it employment does improve, I won’t vote for him again…

    Why does the government want to punish everybody making over $200,000 and not encourage and reward them instead?
    Too many liberal democrats in office. They are not the ones you want to lead us out of a recession. That’s like hiring Winona Ryder as store security :)
    I think the media presents rich people as wicked, greedy and evil, which isn’t a true representation of them in my opinion… A lot of positive things have come from the rich folk… parks, inventions, hospitals, etc…
    .-= Don@MoneyReasons´s last blog ..Going With Paperless Statements, My Struggles Letting Go =-.

  28. For politicians, the ends always justify the means. In a few months no one will remember that Nebraska is stealing money from the rest of the country, they will be too distracted by their sky rocketing insurance premiums and decrease in quality care. Which will then allow for the next health care reform to be nationalized health care.

    As for the heartless, greedy and spoiled people stealing over $200,000 a year from the hard working middle class, there just are not enough of them for it to make sense for politicians to please. If you can make one small group the cause and solution to all of life’s problems, you can unify the majority for at least a period of time to get your way. Everyone forgets that the self made wealthy people made sacrifices at one point (college and 20’s and 30’s) to put themselves where they want to be financially.

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