## Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by drawscore » Thu May 17, 2012 3:57 pm

First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.
First President to preside over a cut to the credit-rating of the United States.
First President to violate the War Powers Act.
First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
First President to defy a Federal Judge's court order to cease implementing the Health Care Reform Law.
First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party.
First President to spend a trillion dollars on 'shovel-ready' jobs when there was no such thing as 'shovel-ready' jobs.
First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters.
First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat.
First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S., including those with criminal convictions.
First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees.
First President to terminate America's ability to put a man in space.
First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.
First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it.
First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly spoke-out on the reasons for their rate increases.
First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state it is allowed to locate a factory.
First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN).
First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago.
First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri-corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case
First President to appoint 45 czars to replace elected officials in his office.
First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office, 90 to date.
First President to write a fictional autobiography and fill it with stories of girlfriends that never existed.
First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records.
First President to bow to a King.
First President to declare that the USA is a Muslim Nation.
First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.
First President to go on a global 'apology tour'.
First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends; paid for by the taxpayer.
First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.
First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000 a year at taxpayer expense.
First President to be fully vetted for office in less than one hour by the mainstream media.
First President to have no stories of infidelities..... with females that is.
First President to tell us he thinks the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.
And we should keep him in office for another four years? I certainly hope not!
Drawscore

### Re: Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by Jason Toddman » Thu May 17, 2012 5:30 pm

How about some reliable sources for all these accusations, or did you simply make them up?
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

### Re: Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by jonny86 » Thu May 17, 2012 6:53 pm

And you wonder why people think republicans are idiots. This coming from a guy who hates Obama and is a conservative.
I mean, come on. First president to bypass congress for the Dream Act? How many other Presidents have proposed the Dream Act? Why don't you just say he's the first president to run a budget deficit for the 2011-12 fiscal year? How about saying he's the first President to ever succeed George W. Bush? First President to be the 44th President of the United States? Is this some sort of mental illness?

### Re: Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by Jason Toddman » Thu May 17, 2012 6:58 pm

> jonny86 wrote:And you wonder why people think republicans are idiots.

Precisely why I actually encourage him to run on and on... so he can show the world what republicans... or, more accurately, conservatives... are really like.
But not all Republicans are like this; some are actually decent, honest, intelligent people.
It's the ultra-conservative Republicans (a small but extremely noisy minority) who are the idiots.
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

### Re: Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by drawscore » Sat May 19, 2012 5:30 pm

>>>How about some reliable sources for all these accusations, or did you simply make them up?<<<
Because if I did, you and others would just dismiss the sources as "right wing tools," so it really wouldn't be worth taking the time to do it. However, the information IS out there on the internet if you care to look for it.
Drawscore

### Re: Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by drawscore » Sat May 19, 2012 5:34 pm

>>>And you wonder why people think republicans are idiots. This coming from a guy who hates Obama and is a conservative.<<<
No, Democrats and liberals think Republicans are idiots. Intelligent, thinking people examine all sides of an issue. They don't parrot Democrat talking points.
Drawscore

### Re: Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by Jason Toddman » Sat May 19, 2012 9:12 pm

> drawscore wrote:>>>How about some reliable sources for all these accusations, or did you simply make them up?<<<
> Because if I did, you and others would just dismiss the sources as "right wing tools," so it really wouldn't be worth taking the time to do it. However, the information IS out there on the internet if you care to look for it.

You mean like the way you consistently dismiss Jack Roper's sources (and have done so with some of mine) as "left wing tools"?

> drawscore wrote:No, Democrats and liberals think Republicans are idiots. Intelligent, thinking people examine all sides of an issue. They don't parrot Democrat talking points.
> Drawscore

They also do not parrot Republican talking points.
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

### Re: Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by dreadnaught3200 » Sat May 19, 2012 11:42 pm

Ok, before I say anything I want to make it clear that I don't mean anything personal in what I'm about to say and I certainly mean no one any offense. But I find this just too striking to say nothing about.

> drawscore wrote:No, Democrats and liberals think Republicans are idiots. Intelligent, thinking people examine all sides of an issue. They don't parrot Democrat talking points.

> Jason Toddman wrote:They also do not parrot Republican talking points.

As I seem to say just about every time I post on this forum (lol) I'm Canadian and being so allows to me to look at US issues from an outside perspective and with a measure of objectivity. At least I try to. But this conversation, to my mind, perfectly illustrates what I see as the biggest problem in US politics. The two party system on which US politics is based has become so viciously bi-partisan it has become unproductive. I've traveled in the states a number of times and one my siblings lives in California. I went to visit her a few weeks ago and had the chance to watch some news and talk to some people. From what I've observed, it seems to me that both democrats and republicans are more interested in screwing each over than they are in fixing the country's problems.
Now, I really want to stress that I'm as guilty of this as anybody else. I certainly have my own biases: I tend to side with republicans on economic issues and democrats on social ones. But after talking to my American friends and acquaintances, it seems like politics has become a form of entertainment down there. A twisted kind of sport and you are either on team republican or team democrat and there ain't no middle ground.
I'm sorry Drawscore but I do find many items on that list dubious. Such accusations have been leveled at every president and every presidential nominee. I'm reminded of the democrat Al Smith who ran against Herbert Hoover. Because he was a catholic, people said he was going to build an underwater tunnel to the vatican and give the Pope an office in the white house. Which I'm sure sounded equally absurd then as it does now.
(And yes, I did learn that from Ken Burn's prohibition documentary!)
Now, this would be fine if it were confined to the electorate. The problem is: Nowhere is this bi-partisan problem more pronounced than in congress. The republican and democratic delegates in the house are trying so hard to block each other's policies that NOTHING is getting done. Which is why the US Government has ground to a total halt twice in the last year.
I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that if hypothetically the President was to invite me into his office and ask my advice on how to improve the political climate of the country, I would tell him to do two things. 1: Shut down both the MSNBC and Fox networks. 2: Put the entire two party system up for review.
This will never happen, but it's food for thought if nothing else.
There's a permanent tension in music isn't there? On one hand you have three chords, you know, four four and three chords. Then there's the people like me, who say "Well, why don't we add a fourth chord and put it in five four?" - Bill Bruford

### Re: Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by Jason Toddman » Sat May 19, 2012 11:47 pm

> dreadnaught3200 wrote: From what I've observed, it seems to me that both democrats and republicans are more interested in screwing each over than they are in fixing the country's problems.

Yes; that - in a nutshell - is precisely what is happening. It was always a problem but it became especially acute at the turn of the century and has only been growing steadily worse ever since.
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

### Re: Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by Chris12 » Sun May 20, 2012 1:28 am

> Jason Toddman wrote:

> > dreadnaught3200 wrote: From what I've observed, it seems to me that both democrats and republicans are more interested in screwing each over than they are in fixing the country's problems.

> Yes; that - in a nutshell - is precisely what is happening. It was always a problem but it became especially acute at the turn of the century and has only been growing steadily worse ever since.

Yup, to solve it i'd say you guys need some new party's

### Re: Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by drawscore » Sun May 20, 2012 6:44 am

Drednaught, your assessment is essentially correct. Hard right and hard left elements have gained control of their respective parties, and, in many states, have squeezed the moderates out of positions of power within the party hierarchy. The primary system prevents the extremists from completely controlling the nominating process, meaning that sometimes, the party will nominate a candidate who is further toward the center, than the extreme elements would like. Before primary elections, Stevenson (twice, '52 and '56), Kennedy ('60), and Humphrey ('68), were all products of "deals made in smoke-filled back rooms." (Johnson was the incumbent in 1964, and challenging an incumbent president is a rare thing in either party. Probably why Hillary Clinton won't challenge Obama. She knows such a challenge would fracture the Democrats, and virtually assure Romney's election.) McGovern ('72) was nominated largely through the primary election process, as has every Democrat since then.)
The rank and file are somewhat more moderate than the party leaders on both sides, as indicated by the Republicans' virtual nomination of Romney, who is viewed as being more centrist and moderate. If it was up to the hard right elements, either Michelle Bachman, or Newt Gingrich would be the nominee. Romney is seen by Republicans in the primary states he won, as having the best chance of defeating Obama in November.
Drawscore

### Re: Obama's Impressive List of Firsts

Post by Jason Toddman » Sun May 20, 2012 8:53 am

> Chris12 wrote:
> Yup, to solve it i'd say you guys need some new party's

I've said this very thing myself, but unfortunately political inertia in this county is enormous and such a thing probably won't ever be done until a real emergency (such as an economic collapse, God forbid!) forces us to do so. Bad as things are, that's unlikely in the near future.
There have been separate, 'independent' parties, but these have always failed except in one state: Maine; the one I happen to live in.
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...