Help say goodbye to George Bush!

Mirage wrote:

If a company is broke, gets a ton of money from the government, both before after receiving the money makes donations to government officials who voted for that gift, then comes right back to ask for yet more money from the taxpayer in my mind that's an illegal contribution and possibly a crime.

This is whjy Citi needs to drop it

Notice who made the most waves when that state senator from New York stated it should be called "taxpayer park". Thats right, it was Citibank.

that money was not all paid at once, it was a contract, guess what, situation has changed, no way should any company that is getting bailout funds, be allowed to sponsor anything, regardless of prior commitments

If that was the case, Houston should have gotten a huge chunk of the stuff from Enron

How nice, the guy who got a bailout package and golden parachute donated to his inauguration


What happened to CHANGE?

So far it looks like the same old situation, different day in Washington DC with a new administration

Is Bush getting TV time tonight?

Artie60438 wrote:

Is Bush getting TV time tonight?

Wouldn't know or care.

Just like I wouldn't know or care about the inauguration and any subsequent stories from it either


I have stored lots of stuff on my Tivo to watch when that garbage is on

yes, just as President obama will in the future

Artie60438 wrote:

Is Bush getting TV time tonight?

Hope so, gotta have something to watch while the President is on

edge540 wrote:

Mirage wrote:

Speaking of the inauguration why was it considered a waste of money for Bush to spend like $40 - $50 mil for his 2nd but Obama's party is apparently topping $160 mil - but that's OK?

$160 mil ?...where did you get that figure?...
anyway...
Looks like the "fat cats" are sucking up to the new prez:

Quote :

Obama raises $27 million for inaugural
Despite recession, Obama inaugural raises $27 million from 2,000 donors; 378 gave $50,000
Sharon Theimer, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday January 6, 2009, 4:40 pm EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Despite the economic hard times, money keeps pouring in for President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural festivities.

The inaugural committee has raised at least $27 million, donor information on its Web site Tuesday showed. Most of that has come in over the past three weeks.

If fundraising continues at that pace, Obama's committee will have no problem reaching or exceeding the roughly $40 million raised for each of President George W. Bush's two inaugural celebrations.

More than 2,000 donors are helping to finance Obama's Jan. 20 swearing-in festivities. At least 378 gave the maximum $50,000.

Top donors include financier and major Democratic donor George Soros, actors Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Sharon Stone and Samuel L. Jackson, producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and directors Ron Howard, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis. Lisa Henson, daughter of "Muppets" creator Jim Henson and the co-CEO of The Jim Henson Co., also gave the maximum.

Math teacher Jon Mormino of Washington's Sidwell Friends School, where Obama's daughters Malia and Sasha started classes this week, gave $250.

The $50,000 donors get access to inaugural events including candlelight dinners with appearances by members of Congress and the Obamas and tickets to an official ball, the swearing-in ceremony and parade seating.

The committee expects to raise about the same amount as Bush did for his last inauguration. Americans shouldn't get the impression that the money will be spent on caviar and champagne, inaugural committee spokeswoman Linda Douglass said. Light fare and snacks will be served at the official balls; there will be no caviar, and people will have to pay for their drinks, she said.

"One of the reasons that we have to raise all of this money is that we're trying to make this the most open and accessible and inclusive inauguration in history," Douglass said. Among other things, the fundraising will cover the installation of 10 giant screens on the national mall so people can witness Obama's swearing-in within sight of the Capitol, she said. Other expenses include 5,000 portable toilets, free or low-cost youth and neighborhood balls and organizing a community service day, she said.

The inaugural committee is releasing the names of those who give $200 or more. It is refusing money from labor unions, corporations, political action committees, foreigners and Washington lobbyists.

The committee isn't turning away contributions from those whose enterprises lobby in Washington, however.

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and five others at the Internet company gave $25,000 each. The inaugural committee received a total of $150,500 from six Microsoft employees, including the maximum $50,000 from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Also giving the limit were Thomas Strickland, UnitedHealth Group executive vice president and chief legal officer, and two Indian tribes with casinos, the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in California.

Microsoft, Google, UnitedHealth and the two Indian tribes have all lobbied in Washington over the past year.

Other maximum donors include Louis Susman, who retired this month as vice chairman of Citigroup, a banking giant that has received a multibillion-dollar bailout from the U.S. government.

It's all over the internet. Even the Brits are claiming £110m. I added $10 mil to cover the additional added security costs just approved within the last few hours. What it's to be used for I haven't a clue.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1115942/Bush-declares-state-emergency-Washington-cost-Obamas-swearing-ceremony-soars-110m.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/14/barack-obama-inauguration-cost

http://xomba.com/obama_inauguration_cost_predicted_reach_over_150m

I guess all the fiscal democrats will be up in arms as in 2004

tater wrote:

I guess all the fiscal democrats will be up in arms as in 2004

did you see Boehmers reaction to the Stimulus package that Obama sumbitted?

Lots of waste in it

Line item veto

tater wrote:

I guess all the fiscal democrats will be up in arms as in 2004

Na, they're too busy confirming the guy who forgets to pay taxes to be head the IRS to be concerned with such things now.

Remember what they said about the cost of Bush's? Could have used the money for the troops & such. I honestly feel this amount of money spent on this 1 minute swearing in event has got to be the golden porker of the year so far! I'd say of the century were it not for all these multi $bil bailouts, oddly which some of that money is going directly or indirectly to pay for the so-called private donations for the inauguration. :headbang:

tater wrote:

Line item veto

Its Obama's bill tater. Its what HE drew up lol

mike3775 wrote:

tater wrote:

I guess all the fiscal democrats will be up in arms as in 2004

did you see Boehmers reaction to the Stimulus package that Obama sumbitted?

Lots of waste in it

What's really amazing is that Boehner is still in a leadership position,despite the Repubs getting buried in the last 2 elections.

I notice you don't disagree about the waste in the bill


So far all I have been seeing while reading up about the Obama Stimulus plan, is it looks a lot like the same that Bush passed, full of waste

Same old situation, different letter after the name in DC, which means CHANGE has been replaced by "business as usual"

Lets see, what is the difference between a stimulus package created bty a President with R after the name, and the stimulus package with a President with a D after the name? Nothing, except the D bill is more and has more waste

mike3775 wrote:

I notice you don't disagree about the waste in the bill

To tell you the truth,I haven't paid that much attention to it.

Quote :

So far all I have been seeing while reading up about the Obama Stimulus plan, is it looks a lot like the same that Bush passed, full of waste

Same old situation, different letter after the name in DC, which means CHANGE has been replaced by "business as usual"

Lets see, what is the difference between a stimulus package created bty a President with R after the name, and the stimulus package with a President with a D after the name? Nothing, except the D bill is more and has more waste

Exactly what waste are you referring to?

Historic Fail: Bush Leaves Office At 22% Approval
by DemFromCT
Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:30:05 PM PST

From CBS:

Quote :

Mr. Bush's final approval rating is the lowest final rating for an outgoing president since Gallup began asking about presidential approval more than 70 years ago.

That's 10 points lower than Gallup's Truman rating, the previous low.

From NY Times:

Quote :

President Bush prepares to leave office with no evidence that public opinion toward him is softening during his final days in power, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Big fail for the Bush legacy reclamation project: the feeling is personal.

Quote :

Still, not only do Americans disapprove of the overall job Mr. Bush has done, but record numbers also have an unfavorable opinion of him personally. Six in 10 of those surveyed said they viewed him negatively, while about one-quarter viewed him favorably.

Americans’ historically negative assessment of the administration is not limited to the president. Vice President Dick Cheney’s favorability rating in the new poll is 13 percent, the lowest of his time in office.

This, of course, comes after the Gallup poll puts Bush in Nixon territory. Hey, how about another round of "this is a center-right nation"? Anyone?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/16/194314/470/404/685056

How about the congressional approval ratings of between 19 and 23%?

Bill B wrote:

How about the congressional approval ratings of between 19 and 23%?

When broken down,Repubs have worse approval ratings then Dems.

USA Today/Gallup Poll. Dec. 12-14, 2008.. N=1,008 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Republicans in Congress are handling their job?"
Approve Disapprove

Unsure

% % %
12/12-14/08 25 69 6
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Democrats in Congress are handling their job?"
Approve Disapprove
Unsure
% % %
12/12-14/08 37 55 7
http://www.pollingreport.com/CongJob.htm

Now that the Republicans aren't going to be able to obstruct things as easily as they used to,I suspect the numbers will rise.