Dow Closes At Highest Since '08

FYI, I'm fully aware of the difference between debt/deficit. Bragging about lowering the deficit $200B last year seems pretty shortsighted in light of the fact that he's raised the debt by over 5 TRILLION during his presidency. Regardless, to the point of this thread, I'm glad the markets are performing well.

This isn't directed at you, but a point I'd like to re-iterate: My criticism of the Obama administration should not be wrongly interpreted as an endorsement of the right wing.

Basically at this point I'm a less abrasive version of NCSkins when it comes to American politics. I'm not really feeling either side.

Good post, Scud. But when you say "Obama" has raised the debt by over $5 Trillion, that's not entirely true. What is true is that it has increased since the day he took office, but only a portion of that is a direct result of his policies. Fact is we're still paying for the wars, Medicare B, and yes, Obama decided to extend the Bush tax cuts for another 2 years.

The broader point still remains though, regardless of who's in office, the country needs to get spending under control.

Good post, Scud. But when you say "Obama" has raised the debt by over $5 Trillion, that's not entirely true. What is true is that it has increased since the day he took office, but only a portion of that is a direct result of his policies. Fact is we're still paying for the wars, Medicare B, and yes, Obama decided to extend the Bush tax cuts for another 2 years.

The broader point still remains though, regardless of who's in office, the country needs to get spending under control.

To your first paragraph- fair enough, that increase certainly wasn't all due to his policies.

To the point in bold, the massive scaling-back of our military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan should really help. May help us catch up to some of the President's domestic spending. :) But hey, I'd rather spend money on America than on wars.

To your first paragraph- fair enough, that increase certainly wasn't all due to his policies.

To the point in bold, the massive scaling-back of our military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan should really help. May help us catch up to some of the President's domestic spending. :) But hey, I'd rather spend money on America than on wars.

Agreed. Afghanistan has been such an epic waste of resources. I really hope Obama escalates his withdrawal plans if he get's reelected.

Cons favorite argument, Pres. Obama ran up record levels of debt.
And what part of that is not correct but to make you feel good he doing just a wonderful job.

And what part of that is not correct but to make you feel good he doing just a wonderful job.

I don't need to feel good about Obama, we all have a vested interest in seeing him or whomever is next succeed for the benefit of the country.

The day President Obama took office the deficit stood at $10.6 trillion. It currently stands at roughly north of $15.2trillion. If you simply look at the cost of his policies over the past 3 years, the total is probably closer to $1 trillion, not the $4.7 trillion. But there a couple of different ways to look at it.

But as it relates to this thread Wall Street, at least for now, appears to be impervious to the nation's growing deficit and Washington's inability to get it under control.

I don't need to feel good about Obama, we all have a vested interest in seeing him or whomever is next succeed for the benefit of the country.

The day President Obama took office the deficit stood at $10.6 trillion. It currently stands at roughly north of $15.2trillion. If you simply look at the cost of his policies over the past 3 years, the total is probably closer to $1 trillion, not the $4.7 trillion. But there a couple of different ways to look at it.

But as it relates to this thread Wall Street, at least for now, appears to be impervious to the nation's growing deficit and Washington's inability to get it under control.

If you're going to count score at least be good at it. When Obama took office the 2008 budget with a deficit of 1.3 trillion was already set in stone not to mention supplemental military budget during 08. In the best case the debt was at the very least 11.9 trillion. And of course you can't have successful funny math if you don't count the entire TARP and auto-bailout spending against Obama.

This is a fair explanation:

Nobody Understands Debt (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/opinion/krugman-nobody-understands-debt.html)

FYI, I'm fully aware of the difference between debt/deficit. Bragging about lowering the deficit $200B last year seems pretty shortsighted in light of the fact that he's raised the debt by over 5 TRILLION during his presidency. Regardless, to the point of this thread, I'm glad the markets are performing well.

Cool. I only meant to inform those who did not know, but I admit I wasn't clear about that.

And...

Before the market opened, the Labor Department said companies hired 243,000 employees in January. That's the strongest job growth in nine months. The increase in hiring pushed the unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent.

CURL: Obama's made-up jobless numbers - Washington Times (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/5/curl-obamas-made-up-jobless-numbers/)

I think someone else mentioned that the primary fear out there is Europe. I cant agree more and for the most part i feel the American economy is pretty healthy, its threat of contagion from Europe that worries me.

FYI, I'm fully aware of the difference between debt/deficit. Bragging about lowering the deficit $200B last year seems pretty shortsighted in light of the fact that he's raised the debt by over 5 TRILLION during his presidency. Regardless, to the point of this thread, I'm glad the markets are performing well.

This isn't directed at you, but a point I'd like to reiterate: My criticism of the Obama administration should not be wrongly interpreted as an endorsement of the right wing.

Basically at this point I'm a less abrasive version of NCSkins when it comes to American politics. I'm not really feeling either side.

It's not bragging, it's actually a huge accomplishment given that when he came into office the the deficit was 1.3 trillion and the economy was in the tank. Obama took necessary steps to right the ship that a sane person would take and for that he deserves some credit.