Should President Obama get credit for pulling economy back from the brink?

[kentuck]

At a gathering in Hollywood last night, President Obama said that we still had a lot of problems with our economy but it appears that we have pulled back from the "brink"? Were we really on the "brink"?

If so, how much credit should Barack Obama get for saving our capitalist system? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Most of us do recall the panic and the pessimism that day when George W Bush and Hank Paulson stepped in front of the cameras to tell us that our entire economic and banking system could collapse if they did not get $700 billion dollars with no questions asked...and immediately.

No doubt, the further we are removed from that day, the more the RePUBICans want to blame Barack Obama for everything, including the terrible mess he inherited from Bush and Paulson. Although we are far from out of the woods with the economy, have we really pulled back from the brink of a total disaster? If so, how much credit should Barack Obama get?

[MADem]

1. I think we were on the brink. If we do pull out of this mess, yes, he gets the credit.

When things go well, Presidents get the credit. When things go badly, they get the blame.

It's how it works. I can't see any reason to change the unstated "rules" just because Obama doesn't look very much like the fellers who preceded him in the job.

[Justyce]

2. It hasn't happened yet, but if/when it does,

then of course he should get credit for fixing the republican mess. I believe we're still at the brink though.

I would also love to be able to give him credit for doing something about our offshoring/free trade problem, but it doesn't sound like that's going to happen as promised, and I don't believe our economy can ever fully recover without doing something about it.

[marmar]

3. I don't think we've pulled back from anything......

..... we're standing at the cliff, waiting for the next big gust to knock us over. This so-called bottoming out is all illusion and spin.

[zipplewrath]

4. Premature

Let's not have our own version of "mission accomplished" here. It isn't clear that we have "pulled back", to some extent it isn't clear we haven't "gone over the edge". There is still the possibility we just haven't impacted yet. Obama wants to believe he has been successful to this point. Can't blame him, but I'm not ready to start handing out medals yet.

[kentuck]

5. But can we agree?

That the banks and the banking system is nowhere near the point they were back in September and October? Even if we disagree with the bailouts, it does appear to have saved the banks, although the rest of the economy still sucks.

[rurallib]

6. I believe we were on a brink but not like what we have been told

and we are still very close to an edge.
We really need an objective investigation and some asses in jail cells quickly.

[HopeHoops]

7. I think faith in his ability to accomplish things has a lot to do with it.

Bush was a downward spiral. There was no reason to believe anything would get better rather than worse while he was in office. After Obama was elected, there was a shift toward optimism, a belief that he would improve things. He didn't waste any time tackling some heavy duty issues head on. Whether his policies and actions directly altered the course or not, consumer and business confidence have changed and without such change there would be no improvements. So yes, I do give him credit.

[kentuck]

8. Also, I think we tend to forget how bad it truly was...

as each day passes. We tend to focus on other problems. However, at that time, that was the only focus.

[HopeHoops]

13. And we were reminded of it every time the shrub was on TV misarticularificating things.

It is just so comical to hear the wingnuts talking about "intelligence" after 8 years of Bush.

[Captain Hilts]

9. I wish it were so. It's too soon to say. nt

[lunatica]

10. As soon as we're actually back from the brink

It isn't over yet. It'll be over when businesses stop laying off half a million workers each month and start hiring more than that back each month.

[cherokeeprogressive]

17. +10

[Coyote_Bandit]

11. If

you are one of the millions of unemployed or uninsured then you have been thrown into the abyss.

Obama's success ought to be measured by how well these folks fare. Some of them die everyday.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. One step back, but two steps forward when the dollar collapses.

The banks are doing better because we're them massive amounts of borrowed money and the bill will have to be paid by the suckers (that's us). In the meantime, unemployment is still rising, the banks still aren't lending, and nobody's dumb enough to buy anything when they're already broke.

[tavalon]

14. We were and are at the brink

If we get pulled back, I give him full credit. I don't believe we've skirted it just yet or at all. Slowed it down a bit, perhaps.

[Amonester]

15. If GM pulls the plug... and runs abroad with txpyrs' billions...

...to create jobs outside US and throws millions more in life-long unemployment misery...

...the blame lands down on (?)

...no we can't?

[WI_DEM]

16. The same way Clinton got credit when the economy recovered so will Obama. But it's too early

to celebrate yet despite some encouraging signs. One thing I will say is like FDR during the depression, Obama gives the country confidence which goes a long way.

[kentuck]

18. How bad do you think it was or is?

What did he inherit exactly?

[WI_DEM]

20. Well, Obama really has inherited the worse economic mess since the depression. Four months

won't turn it around, probably not four years. But if things are better than they were when he came in then he will get credit, as any president does, if they are worse, he will have trouble being re-elected.

[bamacrat]

19. He should.

But as soon as we see its over and are beginning to recover the pukes will say it was Ws first stimulus package and TARP that actually helped not Obamas stimulus. But O deserves the credit, because not only will our economy turn around but the rest of the world will let us back in to the circle.

[rusty fender]

21. Are you insane?

By playing it safe, by letting Geithner, Summer, and Bernanke try to "fix" what's broken, Obama hasn't pulled us from the brink; he has only postponed the super crash. Obama is trying to maintain a corrupt system, not change it.

[kentuck]

23. You may be proven right?

Does agreeing with you make me more sane? :-)

[Vidar]

22. So far he's only pushed it further over the edge.

[kentuck]

24. Is the real problem with unemployment ?

and not with the banks? And are the two inter-connected?

[Subdivisions]

25. Perhaps, once he's actually done it, he should get credit. But....

We haven't even reached the brink yet. In fact, if you think the taxpayer has been hit hard so far, you ain't see nothing yet.

And then there's also this:



And, along with all those expected defaults will come more unemployment and less consumerism.

ETA related story:

...

-- Option ARM, Alt-A time bombs. Two categories of loans used for higher-end homes are emerging as the next trouble spots, as foreclosure contagion spreads beyond subprime. Delinquencies are rising for Alt-A loans given to people with good credit who could not document their income. Meanwhile, millions of option ARMs, or adjustable rate mortgages in which borrowers can choose to start off making minimum payments that don't even cover the interest, are expected to start resetting next summer. At reset, borrowers suddenly must make sharply higher payments, which can trigger foreclosures.

The underwater issue comes into play here, too: People who owe more than their home is worth find the door slammed shut on refinancing their way out of trouble.

"Option ARM and Alt-A products will be the next big wave of foreclosures," said Jeffrey Taylor, a forensic accountant with Digital Risk LLC, which provides risk mitigation services for financial firms. "Many of those (borrowers) reached a little further than they should have. With the economy deteriorating, will those people be able to afford those houses?"

...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/25/MNRB17JFHB.DTL