After seeing Markle's repeated references to Obama's vacation, I thought it would be a good time to have a look at the vacation day scoreboard over the last several decades

boards of FL wrote:

Bob wrote:You democrats and republicans tickle me.  You sit around arguing with each other about which president is more wasteful when the reality is presidents of both your political parties throw away fortunes on vacations.

If only there was data or some sort of objective information that we could look to in order to quantitatively see which party is worse...then perhaps we could cast an informed vote for the party that is the lesser evil.

That information has already been posted to this thread. Obama and Bush, just like many republicans and democrats before them, have spent fortunes on personal travel paid for by the taxpayers. These fuckers see themselves as royalty.
So no the answer is not the "lesser of evils". If that was the way to solve problems then we would have chosen either Hitler or Mussolini to support after we decided which is the lesser evil. But we decided instead not to support either.

Bob wrote:That information has already been posted to this thread.  Obama and Bush,  just like many republicans and democrats before them,  have spent fortunes on personal travel paid for by the taxpayers.  These fuckers see themselves as royalty.
So no the answer is not the "lesser of evils".  If that was the way to solve problems then we would have chosen either Hitler or Mussolini to support after we decided which is the lesser evil.  But we decided instead not to support either.  

We have a set of facts:

1) Vacations are costly

2) Over the last several decades, republican presidents have used 2,047 vacation days

3) Over the last several decades, democratic presidents have used 353 vacations days


Are you honestly telling me that you see no discernible difference here with respect to vacations?  Assuming vacation days used or money spent on vacations is an important issue to you, are you telling me that there is no difference here between democrats and republicans?  

X = 5X  (???)

Help me understand Bob logic here. Also, your analogies need some work.

boards of FL wrote:

Bob wrote:That information has already been posted to this thread.  Obama and Bush,  just like many republicans and democrats before them,  have spent fortunes on personal travel paid for by the taxpayers.  These fuckers see themselves as royalty.
So no the answer is not the "lesser of evils".  If that was the way to solve problems then we would have chosen either Hitler or Mussolini to support after we decided which is the lesser evil.  But we decided instead not to support either.  

We have a set of facts:

1) Vacations are costly

2) Over the last several decades, republican presidents have used 2,047 vacation days

3) Over the last several decades, democratic presidents have used 353 vacations days


Are you honestly telling me that you see no discernible difference here with respect to vacations?  Assuming vacation days used or money spent on vacations is an important issue to you, are you telling me that there is no difference here between democrats and republicans?  

X = 5X  (???)

Help me understand Bob logic here.  Also, your analogies need some work.

Why don't you subtract vacations spent at the family homes.......Reagan's "western whitehouse", Bush's Kennebuckport home, Bush's Crawford Ranch, and the trips to Camp David. These locations were already set up for the presidents and their security.

Joanimaroni wrote:

boards of FL wrote:

Bob wrote:That information has already been posted to this thread.  Obama and Bush,  just like many republicans and democrats before them,  have spent fortunes on personal travel paid for by the taxpayers.  These fuckers see themselves as royalty.
So no the answer is not the "lesser of evils".  If that was the way to solve problems then we would have chosen either Hitler or Mussolini to support after we decided which is the lesser evil.  But we decided instead not to support either.  

We have a set of facts:

1) Vacations are costly

2) Over the last several decades, republican presidents have used 2,047 vacation days

3) Over the last several decades, democratic presidents have used 353 vacations days


Are you honestly telling me that you see no discernible difference here with respect to vacations?  Assuming vacation days used or money spent on vacations is an important issue to you, are you telling me that there is no difference here between democrats and republicans?  

X = 5X  (???)

Help me understand Bob logic here.  Also, your analogies need some work.

Why don't you subtract vacations spent at the family homes.......Reagan's "western whitehouse",  Bush's Kennebuckport  home,  Bush's Crawford Ranch, and the trips to Camp David. These locations were already set up for the presidents and their security.

What is it about these people that you find so compelling? Their MONEY?

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/50-reasons-you-despised-george-w-bushs-presidency-reminder-day-his-presidential

50 Reasons You Despised George W. Bush's Presidency: A Reminder on the Day of His Presidential Library Dedication
He's one of the worst presidents ever.

April 24, 2013

On Thursday, President Obama and all four living ex-presidents will attend the dedication of the $500 million George W. Bush Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Many progressives will remember Bush as a contender for the "worst president ever," saying he more aptly deserves a multi-million-dollar prison cell for a litany of war crimes.

Amazingly, the Bush library seeks to ask visitors "What would you have done?" if you were in this president’s shoes. The ex-president’s defenders are betting that the public will reconsider their judgments after a hefty dose of historical amnesia. Bush has been absent from political debates in recent years, instead making millions in private speeches. Today, his popularity is even with Obama's; both have 47 percent approval rating.

Let’s look at 50 reasons, some large and some small, why W. inspired so much anger.

1. He stole the presidency in 2000. People may forget that Republicans in Florida purged more than 50,000 African-American voters before Election Day, and then went to the Supreme Court where the GOP-appointed majority stopped a recount that would have awarded the presidency to Vice-President Al Gore if all votes were counted. National news organizations verified that outcome long after Bush had been sworn in.

2. Bush’s lies started in that race. Bush ran for office claiming he was a “uniter, not a divider.” Even though he received fewer popular votes than Gore, he quickly claimed he had the mandate from the American public to push his right-wing agenda.

3. He covered up his past. He was a party boy, the scion of a powerful political family who got away with being a deserter during the Vietnam War. He was reportedly AWOL for over a year from his assigned unit, the Texas Air National Guard, which other military outfits called the "Champagne Division.”

4. He loved the death penalty. As Texas governor from 1995-2000, he signed the most execution orders of any governor in U.S. history—152 people, including the mentally ill and women who were domestic abuse victims. He spared one man’s life, a serial killer.

5. He was a corporate shill from Day 1. Bush locked up the GOP nomination by raising more campaign money from corporate boardrooms than anyone at that time. He lunched with CEOs who would jet into Austin to "educate" him about their political wish lists.

6. He gutted global political progress.He pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol which set requirements for 38 nations to lower greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change, saying that abiding by the agreement would “harm our economy and hurt our workers.”

7. He embraced global isolationism. He withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, over Russia’s protest, taking the U.S. in a direction not seen since World War I.

8. He ignored warnings about Osama bin Laden. He ignored the Aug. 6, 2001 White House intelligence briefing titled, “Bin Laden determined to strike in the U.S.” Meanwhile, his chief anti-terrorism advisor, Richard Clarke, and first Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill, testified in Congress that he was intent on invading Iraq within days of becoming president.

9. Ramped up war on drugs, not terrorists. The Bush administration had twice as many FBI agents assigned to the war on drugs than fighting terrorism before 9/11, and kept thousands in that role after the terror attacks.

10. “My Pet Goat.” He kept reading a picture book to grade-schoolers for seven minutes after his top aides told him that the World Trade Centers had been attacked in 9/11. Then Air Force One flew away from Washington, D.C., vanishing for hours after the attack.

11. Squandered global goodwill after 9/11. Bush thumbed his nose at world sympathy for the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, by declaring a global war on terrorism and declaring “you are either with us or against us.”

12. Bush turned to Iraq not Afghanistan. The Bush administration soon started beating war drums for an attack on Iraq, where there was no proven Al Qaeda link, instead of Afghanistan, where the 9/11 bombers had trained and Osama bin Laden was based. His 2002 State of the Union speech declared that Iraq was part of an “Axis of Evil.”

13. Attacked United Nation weapons inspectors. The march to war in Iraq started with White House attacks on the credibility of U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq, whose claims that Saddam Hussein did not have nuclear weapons proved to be true.

14. He flat-out lied about Iraq’s weapons. In a major speech in October 2002, he said that Saddam Hussein had the capacity to send unmanned aircraft to the U.S. with bombs that could range from chemical weapons to nuclear devices. “We cannot wait for the final proof—the smoking gun—that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud,” he said.

15. He ignored the U.N. and launched a war. The Bush administration tried to get the U.N. Security Council to authorize an attack on Iraq, which it refused to do. Bush then decided to lead a "preemptive" attack regardless of international consequences. He did not wait for any congressional authorization to launch a war.

16. Abandoned international Criminal Court. Before invading Iraq, Bush told the U.N. that the U.S. was withdrawing from ratifying the International Criminal Court Treaty to protect American troops from persecution and to allow it to pursue preemptive war.

17. Colin Powell’s false evidence at U.N. The highly decorated soldier turned Secretary of State presented false evidence at the U.N. as the American mainstream media began its jingoistic drumbeat to launch a war of choice on Saddam Hussein and Iraq.

18. He launched a war on CIA whistleblowers. When a former ambassador, Joseph C. Wilson, wrote a New York Times op-ed saying there was no nuclear threat from Iraq, the White House retaliated by leaking the name and destroying the career of his wife, Valerie Plame, one of the CIA’s top national security experts.

19. Bush pardoned the Plame affair leaker. Before leaving office, Bush pardoned the vice president’s top staffer, Scooter Libby, for leaking Plame’s name to the press.

20. Bush launched the second Iraq War. In April 2003, the U.S. military invaded Iraq for the second time in two decades, leading to hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and more than a million refugees as a years of sectarian violence took hold on Iraq. Nearly 6,700 U.S. soldiers have died in the Iraq and Afghan wars.

21. Baghdad looted except for oil ministry. The Pentagon failure to plan for a military occupation and transition to civilian rule was seen as Baghdad was looted while troops guarded the oil ministry, suggesting this war was fought for oil riches, not terrorism.

22. The war did not make the U.S. safer. In 2006, a National Intelligence Estimate (a consensus report of the heads of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies) asserted that the Iraq war had increased Islamic radicalism and had worsened the terror threat.

23. U.S. troops were given unsafe gear. From inadequate vests from protection against snipers to Humvees that could not protect soldiers from roadside bombs, the military did not sufficiently equip its soldiers in Iraq, leading to an epidemic of brain injuries.

24. Meanwhile, the war propaganda continued. From landing on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit to declare “mission accomplished” to surprising troops in Baghdad with a Thanksgiving turkey that was a table decoration used as a prop, Bush defended his war of choice by using soldiers as PR props.

25. He never attended soldiers' funerals. For years after the war started, Bush never attended a funeral even though as of June 2005, 144 soldiers (of the 1,700 killed thus far) were laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetary, about two miles from the White House.

26. Meanwhile, war profiteering surged.The list of top Bush administration officials whose former corporate employers made billions in Pentagon contracts starts with Vice-President Dick Cheney and Halliburton, which made $39.5 billion, and included his daughter, Liz Cheney, who ran a $300 million Middle East partnership program.

27. Bush ignored international ban on torture. Suspected terrorists were captured and tortured by the U.S. military in Baghdad’s Abu Gharib prison, in the highest profile example of how the Bush White House ignored international agreements, such as the Geneva Convention, that banned torture, and created a secret system of detention that was unmasked when photos made their way to the American media outlets.

28. Created the blackhole at Gitmo and renditions. The Bush White House created the offshore military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as secret detention sites in eastern Europe to evade domestic and military justice systems. Many of the men still jailed in Cuba were turned over to the U.S. military by bounty hunters.

29. Bush violated U.S. Constitution as well.The Bush White House ignored basic civil liberties, most notably by launching a massive domestic spying program where millions of Americans’ online activities were monitored with the help of big telecom companies. The government had no search warrant or court authority for its electronic dragnet.

30. Iraq war created federal debt crisis.The total costs of the Iraq and Afghan wars will reach between $4 trillion and $6 trillion, when the long-term medical costs are added in for wounded veterans, a March 2013 report by a Harvard researcher has estimated. Earlier reports said the wars cost $2 billion a week.

31. He cut veterans’ healthcare funding. At the height of the Iraq war, the White House cut funding for veterans’ healthcare by several billion dollars, slashed more than one billion from military housing and opposed extending healthcare to National Guard families, even as they were repeatedly tapped for extended and repeat overseas deployments.

32. Then Bush decided to cut income taxes. In 2001 and 2003, a series of bills lowered income tax rates, cutting federal revenues as the cost of the foreign wars escalated. The tax cuts disproportionately benefited the wealthy, with roughly one-quarter going to the top one percent of incomes compared to 8.9% going to the middle 20 percent. The cuts were supposed to expire in 2013, but most are still on the books.

33. Assault on reproductive rights.From the earliest days of his first term, the Bush White House led a prolonged assault on reproductive rights. He cut funds for U.N. family planning programs, barred military bases from offering abortions, put right-wing evangelicals in regulatory positions where they rejected new birth control drugs, and issued regulations making fetuses—but not women—eligible for federal healthcare.

34. Cut Pell Grant loans for poor students. His administration froze Pell Grants for years and tightened eligibility for loans, affecting 1.5 million low-income students. He also eliminated other federal job training programs that targeted young people.

35. Turned corporations loose on environment. Bush’s environmental record was truly appalling, starting with abandoning a campaign pledge to tax carbon emissions and then withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases. The Sierra Club lists 300 actions his staff took to undermine federal laws, from cutting enforcement budgets to putting industry lobbyists in charge of agencies to keeping energy policies secret.

36.. Said evolution was a theory—like intelligent design.One of his most inflammatory comments was saying that public schools should teach that evolution is a theory with as much validity as the religious belief in intelligent design, or God’s active hand in creating life.

37. Misguided school reform effort. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” initiative made preparation for standardized tests and resulting test scores the top priority in schools, to the dismay of legions of educators who felt that there was more to learning than taking tests.

38. Appointed flank of right-wing judges. Bush’s two Supreme Court picks—Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito—have reliably sided with pro-business interests and social conservatives. He also elevated U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pickering to an appeals court, despite his known segregationist views.

39. Gutted the DOJ’s voting rights section. Bush’s Justice Department appointees led a multi-year effort to prosecute so-called voter fraud, including firing seven U.S. attorneys who did not pursue overtly political cases because of lack of evidence.

40. Meanwhile average household incomes fell. When Bush took office in 2000, median household incomes were $52,500. In 2008, they were $50,303, a drop of 4.2 percent, making Bush the only recent two-term president to preside over such a drop.

41. And millions more fell below the poverty line. When Bill Clinton left office, 31.6 million Americans were living in poverty. When Bush left office, there were 39.8 million, according to the U.S. Census, an increase of 26.1 percent. The Census said two-thirds of that growth occurred before the economic downturn of 2008.

42. Poverty among children also exploded. The Census also found that 11.6 million children lived below the poverty line when Clinton left office. Under Bush, that number grew by 21 percent to 14.1 million.

43. Millions more lacked access to healthcare. Following these poverty trends, the number of Americans without health insurance was 38.4 million when Clinton left office. When Bush left, that figure had grown by nearly 8 million to 46.3 million, the Census found. Those with employer-provided benefits fell every year he was in office.

44. Bush let black New Orleans drown. Hurricane Katrina exposed Bush’s attitude toward the poor. He didn’t visit the city after the storm destroyed the poorest sections. He praised his Federal Emergency Management Agency director for doing a "heck of a job" as the federal government did little to help thousands in the storm’s aftermath and rebuilding.

45. Yet pandered to religious right. Months before Katrina hit, Bush flew back to the White House to sign a bill to try to stop the comatose Terri Schiavo's feeding tube from being removed, saying the sanctity of life was at stake.

46. Set record for fewest press conferences. During his first term that was defined by the 9/11 attacks, he had the fewest press conferences of any modern president and had never met with the New York Times editorial board.

47. But took the most vacation time. Reporters analyzing Bush’s record found that he took off 1,020 days in two four-year terms—more than one out of every three days. No other modern president comes close. Bush also set the record for the longest vacation among modern presidents—five weeks, the Washington Post noted.

48. Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld. Not since Richard Nixon’s White House and the era of the Watergate burglary and expansion of the Vietnam War have there been as many power-hungry and arrogant operators holding the levers of power. Cheney ran the White House; Rove the political operation for corporations and the religious right; and Rumsfeld oversaw the wars.

49. He’s escaped accountability for his actions. From Iraq war General Tommy Franks’ declaration that “we don’t do body counts” to numerous efforts to impeach Bush and top administration officials—primarily over launching the war in Iraq—he has never been held to account in any official domestic or international tribunal.

50. He may have stolen the 2004 election as well. The closest Bush came to a public referendum on his presidency was the 2004 election, which came down to the swing state of Ohio. There the GOP’s voter suppression tactics rivaled Florida in 2000 and many unresolved questions remain about whether the former GOP Secretary of State altered the Election Night totals from rural Bible Belt counties.

Any bright spots? Conservatives will lambaste lists like this for finding nothing good about a president like W. So, yes, he created the largest ocean preserve offshore from Hawaii in his second term. And in his final year in office, his initiative to fight AIDS across Africa has been credited with saving many thousands of lives. But on balance, George W. Bush was more than eight years of missed opportunities for America and the world. He was a disaster, leaving much of America and the world in much worse shape than when he took the oath of office in 2001. His reputation should not be resurrected or restored or seen as anything other than what it was.

Lol

Joanimaroni wrote:Why don't you subtract vacations spent at the family homes.......Reagan's "western whitehouse",  Bush's Kennebuckport  home,  Bush's Crawford Ranch, and the trips to Camp David. These locations were already set up for the presidents and their security.

Because I don't have that data. If you feel it will make a difference in the enormous gap that exists between republican and democratic presidents, feel free to do some research and add it.

Floridatexan wrote:

Joanimaroni wrote:

boards of FL wrote:

Bob wrote: 

What is it about these people that you find so compelling?  Their MONEY?

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/50-reasons-you-despised-george-w-bushs-presidency-reminder-day-his-presidential

50 Reasons You Despised George W. Bush's Presidency: A Reminder on the Day of His Presidential Library Dedication
He's one of the worst presidents ever.



Let’s look at 50 reasons, some large and some small, why W. inspired so much anger.

Your fascination with a long gone dude is somewhat disturbing. Perhaps you should seek help. Now these tidbits concern the present President.

Foreign Policy

1. Continued the practice of indefinite detentions for alleged terrorists without review (link, link)

2. Dropped threat to veto NDAA (link) and signed it, encoding severe government power advances into law (link)

3. Announced “Withdrawal Plan” that leaves more troops in Afghanistan than when he started (link)

4. Authorized military intervention in Libya without the approval of Congress (link)

5. Did this after emphatically stating as a presidential candidate that the president did not have the authority to do that (link)

6. Defended intervention in Libya by redefining the word “hostilities” (link)

7. Revived “Prompt Global Strike” weapons system, considered too controversial by Bush Administration (link)

8.Announced a $60 billion sale of arms to the Saudi Arabian dictatorship, the largest arms deal in history (link)

9. Sold arms to abusive Bahrain regime and used legal loophole to avoid telling Congress about it (link)

10. Granted a waiver allowing four countries to continue receiving US military aid even though they use child soldiers (link)

11. Argued that the widespread use of Predator drones is a justifiable form of self-defense (link)

12. Claims ACTA could be ratified without Congressional approval and that it would override US law (link)

13. Ordered drone attacks in Yemen (link)

14. Ordered a cruise missile and cluster bomb attack in Yemen that killed women and children, suppressed the civilian casualties, and then imprisoned a journalist who revealed the truth (link)

15. Would seek international permission for intervening in Syria before consulting Congress (link)

16. Broke promise to reject the Military Commissions Act (link)

17. Continuing policy of maintaining thousands of troops at over a thousand military bases around the world (link)

Honorable Mention: Backed off on his promise to close the prison at Guantanamo (link) (Yes, I know you can blame Congress for this. But he backed away from it while Democrats still controlled Congress, and his promise to close Guantanamo was often cited as a reason to vote for him.)

Civil Liberties and Homeland Security

18. Authorized the assassination of US citizens abroad, an unprecedented declaration of executive power (link)

19. Says American citizens can be targeted for killing without judicial review (link)

20. Assassinated an American citizen without due process (link) (Yes I know he was a terrorist who wanted to kill me, but the government can make mistakes and I don’t want the government having the power to make mistakes about killing American citizens with no limits)

21. Two weeks later, assassinated that citizen’s 16-year-old son (link)

22. Announced the rules about assassinating American citizens, basically telling the other branches of government whats its own limitations are (link)

23. Requested thousands of secret spying warrants (link)

24. Defended the use of warrantless wiretapping (link)

25. Tried to stop the Supreme Court from hearing a challenge of warrantless wiretapping (link)

26. Pushed to overhaul federal law making it easier to wiretap (link)

27. Refused to declassify a secret memo regarding the president’s power for warrantless spying (link)

28. Defended the use of warrantless GPS vehicle tracking, which was ruled unconstitutional (link)

29. Continued and expanded Bush’s police state (link) (You could really make multiple reasons from all the examples in this article)

30. Allowed TSA to continue and expand its outrageous security theater (link)

31. Specifically requested additional money for more TSA full-body scanners (link)

32. Helped pay for surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods (link)

33. Unaccountable, unjustifiable drug war spending (link)

34. Heavy crackdown on medical marijuana (link)

35. Raided Gibson Guitar Factory without filing charges (link)

36. Supports mandatory DNA testing of those arrested for crimes, regardless of whether they have been convicted (link)

37. Allowed weapons to pass into the hands of Mexican drug cartels which were later linked to deaths of American border patrol agents (link)

38. Sealed records on the death of one of those agents (link)

39. Signed Trespass Bill, making it a federal offense to be “disruptive” at political events (link, link)

40. Pushing for creation of “Internet ID” for every American (link)

41. Signed extension of the Patriot Act with snooping provisions intact (link, link)

42. Invoked “government secrecy” against a lawsuit by AT&T customers “who claim federal agents illegally intercepted their phone calls” (link)

43. Raided homes of peace activists in Minneapolis (link)

44. Wants warrantless access to cell phone location data (link)

45. Sought access to private e-mail correspondence without needing to go through a judge (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: Allowed FDA to secretly monitor thousands of private emails of its own scientists (link)

Ethics and Transparency

46. Broke promise to allow five days of public comment before signing bills, repeatedly (link)

47. Broke promise to broadcast health care negotiations on C-SPAN (link)

48. Broke promise to reduce earmarks to 1994 levels (link)

49. Broke promise to create a public “contracts and influence” database (link)

50. Issued signing statement that he would not abide by provisions in a budget bill regarding “czar” funding (link)

51. Issued signing statement that he did not need to abide by provisions addressing aid for the IMF and World Bank (link)

52. Did this despite promise not to use signing statements to nullify instructions from Congress (link, link, link)

53. Tried to force a New York Times reporter to reveal confidential sources (link)

54. Claimed the government can never be sued for surveillance that violates federal law, a position more radical than the Bush Administration’s (link)

55. Failed to disclose visits by industry executives while crafting health care reform legislation (link)

56. Tried to block a ruling that White House visitor logs had to be released to the public (link)

57. Eventually released the records and claimed that release was evidence of his “transparent” government, despite the fact that he went to court to keep them secret (link)

58. Frequently met with lobbyists off campus to hide from the public and keep visits out of White House visitor logs (link)

59. Tried to block a court-ordered release of detainee abuse photos (link)

60. Cited exceptions to open records laws thousands of times more than Bush (link)

61. Repeatedly invoked “state secrets” privilege to get cases thrown out of court after criticizing Bush for doing the same (link)

62. Blocked Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding ties with Monsanto (link)

63. Refused FOIA request to reveal who was on the Intelligence Oversight Board (link)

64. Aggressively fighting FOIA requests with long delays, blocking release whenever possible, and using bolder arguments than the Bush administration (link, link, link)

65. Appointed 5 RIAA lawyers to the Justice department (link)

66. Appointed serial tax dodger Timothy Geithner to be his Treasury Secretary (link)

67. Appointed Monsanto executive Michael Taylor to the FDA (link)

68. Appointed H&R Block CEO Mark Ernst to the IRS, where he wrote tax regulation to require licensed tax preparers. Congress never gave the IRS authority to do that, but this regulation benefits H&R Block, who had lobbied for it. (link)

69. Told the Air Force it was illegal for their families to read Wikileaks (link)

70. Did all of these things after promising that his administration would be “the most open and transparent in history.” (link)

Honorable Mention: Accused of violating subpoenas related to thousands of documents (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: 36 Obama staffers are delinquent on more than $800,000 in taxes (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: Lied (until they were caught) about connection to an ad that accused Romney of being responsible for a man’s death (link)

Health Care Reform

71. Required American citizens, for the first time, to purchase a product from a private business through the “individual mandate.” I don’t care if Republicans came up with the idea first; I don’t care if you need it to make the health care bill work; and it’s not like state car insurance, either. It is (I believe) a severe and unconstitutional overreach that sets a dangerous precedent of almost unlimited government, and conservatives and liberals alike should agree that this insurance company hybrid system is a far worse health care solution than either free-market or government-run “single payer” systems. (link)

72. Argued the individual mandate penalty was not a tax increase to make the bill more attractive and then argued that the penalty was a tax increase to justify its constitutionality under the commerce clause (link, link).

73. Cut a benefit program from health care reform that was supposed to reduce the overall cost after realizing it would actually dramatically increase it (link)

74. Established unreasonable requirements on organizations and then granted over 1500 waivers from those requirements to those with the connections or resources to get approved (link), with labor unions receiving the overwhelming majority (link)

75. Broke promise to require employers to provide seven days paid sick leave (link) (From my bias I’m actually glad this promise was broken. I’m including it because the pro-bama list actually uses this promise as a reason to vote for Obama. Seriously? I could make up 218 nice-sounding promises. That’s not a reason to vote for me. But if I become president and break those promises? That’s definitely not a reason to vote for me again.)

76. Broke promise to allow imported prescription drugs (link)

Budget and Finances

77. Broke promise to cut deficit in half by the end of his first term. (link) (All of Obama’s deficits are larger than all of Bush’s, and not just because of the inherited crisis – his projected deficits for the next four years are still much larger.)

78. Broke promise to repeal Bush tax cuts for high earners, signing bill to extend them (link)

79. Broke promise that families making less than $250,000 a year would not see “any form of tax increase” (link)

80. Broke promise to end no-bid contracts over $25,000 (link)

81. Loaned $500 million at a low rate to an unsustainable green company that went bankrupt (link)

82. The program behind that loan has only created a few thousand jobs compared to the 65,000 promised (link)

83. Reneged on accepting public financing limits for his presidential campaign (link)

84. Broke promise to expand the child and dependent care credit (link)

85. Broke promise to end income tax for seniors making less than $50,000 a year (link)

86. The Senate has not passed an annual budget for over 1000 days, including the second year Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress, (link) and a 2011 budget proposal from the White House was so bad it was rejected by the Senate 97-0. (link)

87. Broke promise to form an international group to help Iraq refugees (link)

Ethics and Transparency, Part II: Whistleblowers

88. Prosecuted whistleblower Bradley Manning for disclosing video, cables, and intelligence reports (link)

89. Obstructed investigation into Bradley Manning’s inhumane treatment (link)

90. Prosecuted whistleblower Thomas Drake, who helped reveal an ineffective $1.2 billion NSA contract that could have been done for $3 million (link)

91. Prosecuted whistleblower Stephen Jin-Woo Kim for “allegedly leaking nuclear information about North Korea” (link)

92. Prosecuted whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling for “allegedly disclosing unauthorized national defense information” (link)

93. Prosecuted whistleblower John Kiriakou for “allegedly leaking to reporters the names of two agency operatives” (link)

94. Launched a criminal investigation against Paul Hardy for blowing the whistle on safety problems with a breast cancer detection device (link)

95. These prosecutions are more than all previous presidents combined (link)

96. These prosecutions are happening after Obama formerly praised whistleblowers, represented one as a young law and vowed to strengthen whistleblower protection laws (link, link).

Various and Sundry Administrative Overreaches

97. Used executive order to establish “Intellectual Property Enforcement Advisory Committees” (link)

98. Seized and suspended websites without due process (link, link)

99. Gave permits to BP and other oil companies, exempting them from environmental protection laws (link)

100. Granted waivers to 10 states that failed to meet education standards if they accepted administration-approved policies (link, link)

101. Forced CEO of General Motors to step down (link)

102. Announced the Home Affordable Modification Program which the New York Times called a “colossal failure” (link)

103. Sued four states over immigration laws (link, link, link, link). I can’t find solid proof one way or the other, but I’m fairly sure this is more states sued than by any previous administration.

104. Did not tell Arizona about plans to sue; Arizona governor found out through an interview Secretary of State Clinton did in Ecuador (link)

105. Plans to sue Apple and other publishers over e-book pricing (link)

106. Record amount of prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, pushing the boundaries and getting multiple cases thrown out of court (link, link, link)

107. Raided Amish farm selling raw milk (link)

108. Brought a lawsuit against a manufacturing company for creating jobs in a non-union state (link) and then refused a congressional subpoena for information about that lawsuit (link)

Honorable Mention: banning imported rifles (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: Cut off funding to a Texas health program as retaliation for a state anti-abortion bill even though 29 other states have similar laws and continue to receive funding (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: Tried to ban children from farm chores despite a huge decrease in youth farm injuries (link)

Ethics and Transparency, Part III: Lobbyists

109. Granted waivers to lobbyists to get around his own supposed restrictions on lobbyists (link)

110. After attacking auto, financial, and health lobbyist Steve Ricchetti for his political connections, Obama appointed him as Biden’s top aide (link, link).

111. Appointed former lobbyist Islam Siddiqui as America’s Chief Agriculture Negotiator (link)

112. Appointed telecom lobbyist Eric Holder to attorney general (link). Holder was also a top fundraiser (link)

113. Appointed education lobbyist Tom Vilsack to secretary of agriculture (link)

114. Appointed defense lobbyist William Lynn to deputy defense secretary (link)

115. Appointed anti-tobacco lobbyist William Corr to deputy health and human services secretary (link)

116. Appointed energy lobbyist David Hayes to deputy interior secretary (link)

117. Appointed Goldman Sachs lobbyist Mark Patterson as chief of staff to treasury secretary Geithner (link)

118. Appointed variety lobbyist Ron Klain as chief of staff to Joe Biden (link)

119. Appointed lobbyist Mona Sutphen to deputy White House chief of staff (link)

120. Appointed civil rights lobbyist Melody Barnes to domestic policy council director (link)

121. Appointed Hispanic lobbyist Cecilia Munoz to director of intergovernmental affairs (link)

122. Appointed union lobbyist Patrick Gaspard to political affairs director (link)

123. Appointed lobbyist Michael Strautmanis to chief of staff to the president’s assistant for intergovernmental relations (link)

124. Appointed lobbyist Erik Hirschhorn to the Commerce department (link)

125. Appointed lobbyist Michael Punke to represent the US before the WTO (link)

126. Appointed lobbyist Jacqueline Barrien to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (link)

127. Appointed lobbyist Emmitt Beliveau to Deputy Assistant for Advance at the White House (link)

128. Appointed lobbyist Cassandra Butts to Deputy Counsel at the White House (link)

129. Appointed lobbyist Martha Coven as Special Assistant at the White House (link)

130. Appointed lobbyist Phillip J. Crowley as assistant secretary for public affairs at the State Department (link)

131. Appointed Fannie Mae lobbyist Thomas Donilon as Deputy National Security Adviser at the NSA (link)

132. Appointed lobbyist Derek Douglas as Special Assistant for Urban Affairs at the White House (link)

133. Appointed lobbyist Jocelyn Frye as Director of Policy and Projects at the Office of the First Lady (link)

134. Appointed education lobbyist Gabriella Gomez to assistant secretary at the Department of Education (link)

135. Appointed lobbyist Krysta Harden to assistant secretary at the Department of Agriculture (link)

136. Appointed lobbyist Alan Hoffmann to Deputy Chief of Staff to the vice president (link)

137. Appointed AT&T lobbyist Sean Kennedy as special assistant at the White House (link)

138. Appointed MPAA lobbyist Jon Liebowitz as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (link)

139. Appointed lobbyist Robert Litt to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (link)

140. Appointed lobbyist Demetrios J. Marantis as deputy U.S. trade representative (link)

141. Appointed lobbyist Dennis McDonough as deputy assistant to the president (link)

142. Appointed lobbyist Leon Panetta as director of the CIA (link)

143. Appointed Audubon Society lobbyist Robert Perciasepe to deputy commissioner of the EPA (link)

144. Appointed lobbyist Daniel Poneman to deputy secretary at the Department of Energy (link)

145. Appointed lobbyist Peter Rundlet to deputy assistant at the White House (link)

146. Appointed lawyer lobbyist Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services (link)

147. Appointed lobbyist Susan Sher to chief of staff at the Office of the First Lady (link)

148. Appointed lobbyist Dana Singiser to Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs (link)

149. Appointed lobbyist Nancy Stoner to Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water at the EPA (link)

150. Appointed lobbyist Thomas Strickland to assistant secretary at the Department of the Interior (link)

151. Appointed lobbyist Karl R. Thompson as a lawyer at the Department of Justice (link)

152. Appointed lobbyist John Trasvina to assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (link)

153. Appointed lobbyist Dan Turton to Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs at the White House (link)

154. Appointed lobbyist Christine Varney to Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust at the Justice Department (link)

155. Appointed lobbyist Richard Verma to assistant secretary at the State Department (link)

156. Appointed lobbyist William J. Wilkins to Chief Counsel at the IRS (link)

157. Appointed Tom Daschle to health and human services. Daschle was not technically a lobbyist but received millions advising health insurers and hospitals (link), and was also severely delinquent on his taxes (link)

158. Not only did he appoint all these lobbyists, but he did this after vowing to ban them (link)

Honorable Mention: Hired Keystone pipeline lobbyist as a top adviser to his reelection campaign (link)

Petty Hypocrisy

159. Insisted that Americans should not be required to buy health insurance during campaign before championing health care bill that does just that (link)

160. Signaled support for taxing employer health benefits after severely criticizing McCain for the same thing (link)

161. Slammed Bush for high gas prices in campaign and now is upset that the GOP is doing the same to him (link) (Note: I don’t think the President has that much power either way)

162. Changed his mind about opposing Super PACs and urged fundraisers to support them (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: Now trying to expand the Export-Import Bank, one of the few government programs he said should be scaled back as a candidate, calling it “corporate welfare” (link)

Honorable Mention: Telephoned a liberal activist when she was called a slut by a conservative commentator but didn’t do anything about a conservative commentator who was called a slut by a liberal commentator. He also accepted a $1 million Super PAC donation from Bill Maher, who has called conservative women worse things. (link, link)

Ethics and Transparency, Part IV: Top Fundraisers

163. Appointed top fundraiser Cynthia Stroum as ambassador to Luxembourg, who wasted time and money hunting for a fancy residence and remodeling its bathrooms (link)

164. Replaced Stroum with top fundraiser Robert Mandell (link)

165. Appointed top fundraiser Nicole Avant as ambassador to the Bahamas, who was largely absent from post (link)

166. Appointed top fundraiser Donald Gips as ambassador to South Africa, while his company received millions in government stimulus contracts (link)

167. Appointed top fundraiser Dan Beyer as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein (link)

168. Appointed top fundraiser Julius Genachowski to chairman of the FCC (link)

169. Appointed top fundraiser Steve Spinner to the Energy Department. Spinner also happened to push for the loans to the now-bankrupt Solyndra (link)

170. Appointed top fundraiser Matthew Barzun as ambassador to Sweden (link)

171. Appointed top fundraiser Jeff Bleich as ambassador to Australia (link)

172. Appointed top fundraiser Richard Danzig to the foreign policy board (link)

173. Appointed top fundraiser William Eacho as ambassador to Austria (link)

174. Appointed top fundraiser Howard Gutman as ambassador to Belgium (link)

175. Appointed top fundraiser Scott Harris to the Department of Energy (link)

176. Appointed top fundraiser William Kennard as ambassador to the European Union (link)

177. Appointed top fundraiser Spencer Overton as the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General (link)

178. Appointed top fundraiser Thomas Perrelli as Associate Attorney General (link)

179. Appointed top fundraiser Abigail Pollack to the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of the American Latino (link)

180. Appointed top fundraiser Charles Rivkin as ambassador to France and Monaco (link)

181. Appointed top fundraiser John Roos as ambassador to Japan (link)

182. Appointed top fundraiser Francisco Sanchez under the Secretary of Commerce for International Trade (link)

183. Appointed top fundraiser Alan Solomont as ambassador to Spain and Andorra (link)

184. Appointed top fundraiser A. Marisa Chun as deputy associate attorney general (link)

185. Appointed top fundraiser Gregory Craig to the White House counsel (link)

186. Appointed top fundraiser Norman Eisen to the special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform (link)

187. Appointed top fundraiser Michael Froman as deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs (link)

188. Appointed top fundraiser Mark Gallogly to the Economic Recovery Advisory Board (link)

189. Appointed top fundraiser Max Holtzman as senior adviser to the Agriculture secretary (link)

190. Appointed top fundraiser James Hudson as director of the European bank for Reconstruction and Development (link)

191. Appointed top fundraiser Jeh Johnson to the Department of Defense (link)

192. Appointed top fundraiser Samuel Kaplan as ambassador to Morocco (link)

193. Appointed top fundraiser Nicole Lamb-Hale to the Commerce Department (link)

194. Appointed top fundraiser Andres Lopez to the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of the American Latino (link)

195. Appointed top fundraiser Cindy Moelis as the director of the Commission on White House Fellows (link)

196. Appointed top fundraiser William Orrick as counselor to the assistant attorney general (link)

197. Appointed top fundraiser John Phillips as chairman of the Commission on White House Fellows (link)

198. Appointed top fundraiser Penny Pritzker to the Economic Recovery Advisory Board (link)

199. Appointed top fundraiser Bob Rivkin to the Transportation Department (link)

200. Appointed top fundraiser Desiree Rogers as the White House social secretary (link)

201. Appointed top fundraiser Louis Susman as ambassador to the United Kingdom (link)

202. Appointed top fundraiser Robert Sussman to the Environmental Protection Agency (link)

203. Appointed top fundraiser Christina Tchen as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement (link)

204. Appointed top fundraiser Barry White as ambassador to Norway (link)

205. Appointed top fundraiser Preeta Bansal to the Office of Management and Budget (link)

206. Appointed top fundraiser Laurie Fulton as ambassador to Denmark (link)

207. Appointed top fundraiser Fred Hochberg as President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (link)

208. Appointed top fundraiser Valerie Jarrett as senior adviser to the president (link)

209. Appointed top fundraiser Kevin Jennings as assistant deputy secretary of Education (link)

210. Appointed top fundraiser Steven Rattner as Treasury Department adviser (link)

211. Appointed top fundraiser Miriam Sapiro as deputy U.S. trade representative (link). Sapiro was also a VeriSign lobbyist (link)

212. Appointed top fundraiser Vinai Thummalapally as ambassador to Belize (link)

213. Appointed top fundraiser David Jacobson as ambassador to Canada (link)

214. Appointed top fundraiser Ronald Kirk as U.S. trade representative (link)

215. Appointed top fundraiser Rocco Landesman to the National Endowment of the Arts (link)

216. Appointed top fundraiser Susan Rice as ambassador to the United Nations (link)

217. Gave jobs to over 200 top fundraisers after vowing to banish “special interests” (link)

218. Appointed as many top fundraisers to administrative posts in 2 years as Bush did in 8 (link)

VectorMan wrote:Obama and crew seem to have taken some pretty lavish vacations in recent years. At a time when so many are struggling. Makes him and his look out of touch with most Americans. Does Obama even care? I don't think so. Then going on fund raisers during this turmoil around the world. That being said, Obama sucks! He is the CURRENT president and that trumps the past. Which we can do nothing about. The present and the future? That's something we can work on.

There is no way in hell I could work on anything with you. Your brain is shut like a steel trap.

boards of FL wrote:Vacation days used by each president

Jimmy Carter: 79

Ronald Reagan: 484

George H.W. Bush: 543

Bill Clinton: 152

George W. Bush: 1,020  490 @ Crawford Ranch / 487@ Camp David

Barack Obama (to date): 122


Republican presidents total: 2,047

Democratic presidents total: 353

490 + 487= 977


1020- 977 = 43 vacation days other than his home and the presidential retreat @ Camp David.

Uh, Gator. You didn't give a link for your extensive list of mainly BS, so I took the trouble to look up your source...a 23-year-old web designer. If you start checking the links, you'll find they're not credible.

Work? Vacation? Who cares.

We've already established that, with all the entourage included, it costs a cool quarter million bucks to take that spruce goose from Maryland (btw, I stayed at the Super 8 across the street from Andrews and watched a Blue Angels show from the parking lot) to Texas. And of course even more to take it farther.

The dude is always "working". It doesn't matter where he is, air, ground (or even sea if need be). His job description was very aptly put by that hayseed as being the "decider". He has to be on call to do the decidin 24/7 and wherever he is. You can call it work or vacation or jacking off or whatever else, but regardless of what you call it, he's decidin the whole time. lol

I say put the motherfuckers on Delta or U.S. airways and make them do a stop in Atlanta like the rest of us and fly coach. After they try to get their legs comfortable in a one foot wide space, let's see how much of our money they still wanna waste on traveling.

Bob wrote:  You can call it work or vacation or jacking off or whatever else,  but regardless of what you call it

edit to add the word "campaigning" to that list.

Joanimaroni wrote:1020- 977 = 43 vacation days other than his home and the presidential retreat @ Camp David.

Well that's interesting.  Let's do some more math.

So the original presidential vacation totals over the last several decades were as follows:

Republicans: 2,047

Democrats: 353


Joani feels we should deduct 977 days from the republican total because they were days that "W" spent at Camp David or at home.  OK.  I won't even subtract these days from any of the democrats totals.  And while we're at it, let's just round that 977 up to an even 1000, because....well....GOP supporters read this.

OK.  2047 - 1000 = 1047

So the new totals after our magical adjustments are as follows:

Republicans: 1,047

Democrats: 353


Hmm.  This still doesn't seem right.  Here is what I'm thinking:  Why don't we triple the number for the democrats?  Why?  Well.  Because....GOP supporters?

353*3 = 1059



So after this second magical adjustment, our new totals are as follows:

Republicans: 1,047

Democrats: 1,059


And there you have it!  If we objectively reduce "W"'s vacation days by 1000, and then simply triple the vacation days for the democrats....well....anyone can clearly see that both these parties are essentially equal here.  There is no discernible difference.  Right?  I mean, they clearly both go on vacation quite a bit, right?!  Right?!?1


Cough bullshit cough.

I'm guessing most of these "vacations" are actually just trips to home for a spell. "Home" meaning where you came from before you went to live in the fishbowl. So that would be both the trips to Texas or Hawaii.
I'm guessing part of the reason Bush took more of those trips is because Texas is so much closer to DC than Hawaii.

Wait a minute.  I guess Obama has a "dual" home situation going.  So make that the trips he took to Hawaii or Chicago either one.

Joanimaroni wrote:

boards of FL wrote:Vacation days used by each president

Jimmy Carter: 79

Ronald Reagan: 484

George H.W. Bush: 543

Bill Clinton: 152

George W. Bush: 1,020  490 @ Crawford Ranch / 487@ Camp David

Barack Obama (to date): 122


Republican presidents total: 2,047

Democratic presidents total: 353

490 + 487= 977


1020- 977 = 43 vacation days other than his home and the presidential retreat @ Camp David.

Lame, even for you.

boards of FL wrote:

Joanimaroni wrote:1020- 977 = 43 vacation days other than his home and the presidential retreat @ Camp David.

Well that's interesting.  Let's do some more math.

So the original presidential vacation totals over the last several decades were as follows:

Republicans: 2,047

Democrats: 353


Joani feels we should deduct 977 days from the republican total because they were days that "W" spent at Camp David or at home.  OK.  I won't even subtract these days from any of the democrats totals.  And while we're at it, let's just round that 977 up to an even 1000, because....well....GOP supporters read this.

OK.  2047 - 1000 = 1047

So the new totals after our magical adjustments are as follows:

Republicans: 1,047

Democrats: 353


Hmm.  This still doesn't seem right.  Here is what I'm thinking:  Why don't we triple the number for the democrats?  Why?  Well.  Because....GOP supporters?

353*3 = 1059



So after this second magical adjustment, our new totals are as follows:

Republicans: 1,047

Democrats: 1,059


And there you have it!  If we objectively reduce "W"'s vacation days by 1000, and then simply triple the vacation days for the democrats....well....anyone can clearly see that both these parties are essentially equal here.  There is no discernible difference.  Right?  I mean, they clearly both go on vacation quite a bit, right?!  Right?!?1


Cough bullshit cough.

Well......you are still considering all time away from the White House as a vacation. The Crawford Ranch and Camp David were/are set up for working and carrying out presidential business. Business and meetings were conducted just like in Washington. I would consider it like it was set up to be .......Reagan's home .....the Western White House.

I would consider it like it was set up to be .......Reagan's home .....the Western White House.

Of course you would . . . . you are a Republican!!! LOL

knothead wrote: I would consider it like it was set up to be .......Reagan's home .....the Western White House.

Of course you would . . . . you are a Republican!!! LOL

Why not.....that is how Camp David is set up. Clinton spent a lot of time there. I can't imagine living in the White House and never going home for 8 years, especially with a family.


Interesting the Obamas never go to their family home in Chicago, seems like the kids would want to go home sometimes. Of course they don't have a home in Hawaii.....they use rentals paid for by political supporters, I assume . $25-50,000 a week is expensive.

I sincerely don't hold it against you but . . . . you are a died in the wool Republican . . . . . end of story Joan.

I'm going to speculate that the ones who live highest off the taxpayer tab are the ones who were already used to living with wealth before they got there.
It's my theory that you move up the ladder of living like the "rich and famous" over time and in steps.  So the ones who were already flying in private jets wouldn't even think twice about what an Air Force One trips cost.  But the ones who were used to flying commercial would better understand the decadence of it.

There's no doubt there's an unprecedented hatred of a president. But the hatred of Bush and Cheney, and Clinton before them, got that ball really rolling.
Is there a racial element to the hatred of Obama. Of course. But there's a lot more to the hatred than just that (regardless of seaoat wanting to blame it all on racism), but there's no doubt racism does play a role in it.

But the racism now goes both ways.  And the reverse racism has it's proponents and it's mindsets just like the rednecks do.  Anyone who does not recognize that is not paying attention no matter how loudly they object to it.