Who says the MSM is biased? Here is the NY Times explaining away all of Obama’s troubles (ie…his economic plans…cough Socialism plans cough…., Afghanistan, Iran, China and the view that he is a paper tiger) on…..wait for it…..Bush! (h/t Jules Crittenden)
The challenges stem in part from lingering unhappiness around the world at the way the Bush administration used American power. But they have been made more intense by the sense in many capitals that the United States is no longer in any position to dictate to other nations what types of economic policies to pursue — or to impose its will more generally as it intensifies the war in Afghanistan and extracts itself from Iraq.
~~~“The rest of the world is yearning for him,” said Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard economist. “On the one hand, they’ll all be criticizing him, and criticizing the American model. But they all want to hear that he does have a miracle to deliver.”
A miracle from the messiah….it must be coming right?
Love this line from the article:
“an immense popularity around the world…”
Yes, he is so popular. Why wouldn’t he be? He insults the British PM, angers the Israelis by not backing them against terrorism, sends secret letters to Russia offering to throw Poland and other Eastern European states under the bus if they would only help with Iran, throws Tibet under the bus, insults Switzerland, reaches out to the Taliban, and on and on….such a great leader.
Expect more of the same “it’s all Bush’s fault” type crap to lower expectations of the messiah.
See author page
the rest of the world will just love us when we are just like france,
Wait I thought we were on a listening tour……..should we “tell” the Europeans how much money they need to spend on bailouts? Or should we listen as they tell us that they really can’t afford to send more troops to Afghanistan. Well, we already knew that they had pull out plans, they have set dates. Come on, didn’t we give up on old Europe last century when Rummy was asking. We are all in this together sounds lovely……really everyone first takes care of themselves and then we collect if we have the time, money and backbone.
Hussein and his minions have been using this scam from the beginning. Naturally his conspirators in the MSM are going to play as well.
How will the employee’s of the NYSlimes feel when O’Dumbo uses his power derived from the Koran to close them down? At no time in history has a president ‘fired’ the CEO of a major ‘civilian’ corporation. O’Dumbo is a man of ‘first’, First he is a freakin idiot who should be impeached this week for using the office of POTUS to punish a private citizen without a trial. Congress should be rode out of town on a rail, no problem if they get dropped off a high bridge on the way out.
Isn’t it kind of funny that the ‘self proclaimed’ super educated elitest are the ones getting it shoved up their butt by O’Dumbo. If he follows the pattern of his hero’s every person with a college degree will be executed immediately after he is declared dictator for life. No complaining allowed, You ask for it by voting for a known idiot and you will get it in the end.
Hey, y’know what’s really Bush’s fault? Weakened terrorists and a stable Iraq.
I liked when Obama wrote the letter to Pres Chirac thanking him for his opposition to the war Obama now wages in Iraq (the current French President was not amused).
I also liked how Biden thanked the Spanish President for his support in Iraq, but the President he thanked is the one who pulled his forces out of Iraq, abandoned the effort there after AQ did the Madrid bombings.
Speaking of the Madrid bombings, looks like Obama was giving a speech about AQ attacking around the world, and he listed off attacks in London, Bali, etc., but forgot the hundreds killed and almost 2000 wounded in those Madrid bombings (oops! Damn teleprompter).
Best of all, the guy who opposed the war in Iraq and dismissed all the help from the US allies there, is now getting ready to go to Europe to get those countries and more to actually fight in Afghanistan. Pssssst, they might not have liked Bush, but they didn’t go belly up in Afghanistan because of that dislike. They did it because of anti-war sentiments (like those from Obama and Dems for years) in their countries. SO, if Obama wants to get their support, he’s got to flip flop on opposing war in general, and get the foreign anti-war/appeasement crowd to go along.
Ain’t gonna happen.
France won’t (not after being insulted)
Spain won’t (not after being insulted)
Germany can’t (never could because of post-WWII agreements)
Russia (hmmmm, might not be too good an idea to get cozy w the Russians in Afghanistan as they’re not real popular there)
China (freakin dream)
Awwww, I feel so sorry for Obama and the left running into the very problems Bush did, but problems they themselves helped create and sustain.
Honestly, every morning, every intel briefing, every economic meeting must be like a bucket of cold water thrown on Obama.
I noticed that the coverage of “The Won”-s European Vacation seem not to understand or mention that the talk at the G-20 about a stimulus is in regard to yet another stimulus, not the already passed burden on future taxpayers.
Obama, Pelosi and Reid have been talking about another round of stimulus, call it “Stimulus II,” served up just in time for the November 2010 elections, but the polls don’t show any public support for another round of audacious opulence, so Obama was hoping that the G-20 would give him cover.
I’m waiting to see the response when Madame Speaker Pelosi finds out her plan for “Stimulus II” is out .. killed by another woman German Chancellor Merkel.
The only remaining question ………
will Obama/Pelosi/Reid do it unilaterally ?
He is just as popular around the world as the newest american reality show.
We’re polite to him because we want to see what we can get from him.
Otherwise, we think he’s crap.
Most chinese would have respected GWB, even if they criticized or disagreed with him. He was a POTUS with balls and class. We have yet to clearly define Obama, but low-class conman sounds like a good start.
Most of the G20 folk I heard from were much more concerned with Obama and Congress’ spending rather than any holding any supposed Bush beefs.
Aside from Gordon Brown who’s party has also spent like a ‘valley girl’ with a credit card.
The rest of the world doesn’t love France – at least not it’s politics and with them still trying to pretend that French is somehow still the language of diplomacy.
@ditto
Seems like a lot of countries – plenty from the G20 – are acting like ‘valley girls with credit cards.’
China 586 16.23% infrustructure 263.7 billion
social welfareprojects 41 billion
disaster reconstruction 146.5 billion
value-added tax cuts 17.5 billion
rural basic construction 54 billion
technological innovation 23 billion
education and healthy care 5 billion
environmental protection 51.2 billion
Japan 516.3 11.70% First package total = $278.3 billion, Second package total = $238 billion; $111 billion for tax cuts, More than half of total for capital injections for lenders and financial institutions
Brazil 283.3 14% Tax Cuts for business. Public and private infrastructure improvements. Curb Decline of real
Argentina 3.8 0.64% Provide low cost loans to industries hurt by slowed demand for exports.
Chile 4 1.50% Beef up infrastructure, subsidies, and create tax cuts. Increase public spendingto create more jobs
Mexico 5.8 0.37% Infrastructure development, tax cuts, government spending
South Africa 3.6 24% This stimulus package is an infrastructural expenditure plan, expected to help the economy achieve a growth rate of 4%. Little tax relief and limited spending are involved with this plan, relying on increased investment in state-owned companies, and the government is exploring alternatives to job cuts in order to cap the rising unemployment rate which reached 23% last year.
Israel 5 0.026 $1.552 billion state guarantee in order to ease its credit crunch
$1,293 to back corporate bonds and various VAT mitigations
Italy 2 0.09% infrastructure; money transfers to lower income people;
incentives for purchases of cars & home appliances
France 33 1.30% infrastructure; loans to carmakers
Sweden 1 0.23% infrastructure; investments in human capital
Finland 2 0.80% infrastructure; tax cuts on workers’ social insurance contributions
Portugal 2 0.90% infrastructure; support to SMEs; education
Germany (1st) 29 0.80% infrastructure; tax relief & support for SMEs; education;
Germany (2nd) 67 1.80% aid to auto industry; tax relief for households
Britain 30 1.10% 2.5% cut in VAT; govt. guarantees for loans to SMEs
EU-wide 254.6 1.50% “judicious tax cuts”; public works projects; reductions in interest
Hungary 15.7 11% “Fiscal Sector goals:
• reduction in the size of the public sector through lower expenditures
o this is hoped to decrease the size of the government’s debt and also encourage private sector growth
o one way in which public sector expenditures will be reduced is reductions in the overall government wage and pension bill. Nominal wage adjustments will be postponed and pension bonuses suspended (low-income pensioners are excluded from the benefit reductions).
”
“Banking Sector goals:
• a preemptive recapitalization of eligible banks will ensure that banks’ capital remains high
• strengthening of the supervisory and crisis management abilities of the Hungarian Supervisory agency
”
India 8 0.80% $1.5 billion is to go to small businesses;$1 billion allocated as a “refinance option” that will be handed out by the National Housing Board; lowering tax by 4% in sectors like autos, cement, and textiles;subsidizing gas and diesel prices by 6% and 10% respectively; full exemption from basic customs duty on industrial intermediate naphtha; withdrawal of export duty on iron ore fines; cutting down the levy on export of iron lumps from 15 per cent to 5 per cent; increase funding for infrastructure projects through tax-free bonds
Indonesia 6.3 1.50% tax incentives for companies and individuals, cuts in fuel and electricity prices, and infrastructure spending
Thailand 3.3 1.30% cash handouts for low earners, tax cuts, expanded free education, subsidies for transport and utilities
Vietnam 6 8.50% tax cuts, spending on infrastructure, housing, schools, and hospitals
Singapore 13.6 8.40% tax cuts for corporations, subsidizing wages, guaranteed bank loans (gov’t to assume 80% risk on private loans), infrastructure spending, cash handouts to low earners, and a 20% personal income rebate of up to $2,000 per worker.
Egypt 5.40 4.20% infrastructure improvement including roads, utilities, water, sewage; industrial and commercial development
Russia 5 auto bailout
United States 787 5.69% *Tax Relief
$288
*State and Local Fiscal Relief
$144
Infrastructure and science
$111
Protecting the Vulnerable
$81
Health Care
$59
Education and Training
$53
Energy
$43
Other
$8
* Tax Relief – includes $15 B for Infrastructure and Science, $61 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $25 B for Education and Training and $22 B for Energy, so total funds are $126 B for Infrastructure and Science, $142 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $78 B for Education and Training, and $65 B for Energy.
State and Local Fiscal Relief – Prevents state and local cuts to health and education programs and state and local tax increases.
Norway 2.2 0.46% The package comprises investment in construction, infrastructure and the renovation of state-owned buildings, as well as tax breaks for companies
Poland 31.4 5.50% Bank guarantees, business loans, developing renewable energy sources
Canada 30 1.90% Massive investments in infrastructure, tax relief and transfers, and other new initiatives
http://rodrik.typepad.com/dani_rodriks_weblog/2009/02/a-global-survey-of-stimulus-plans.html