Touchy Subject: Of the people that voted for Obama...How do you feel about the choices he's made so far?

Tea Party !?! I'm a coffee drinker!

Sorry, you just came off sounding like any typical tea party moron. My apologies for not being able to read your mind! Yes, I agree that the health care bill is not as good as it could have (should have) been, and that it is basically a huge giveaway to the insurance companies. They're coming out ahead in all of this (due to having millions of new customers) yet we're still without a public option. I think they should have just extended Medicare benefits. That probably would have been easiest! But I believe that Medicare extension and/or a public option will come, in time, and that this is a necessary first step. The fact that they will no longer be able to discriminate against people because of pre-existing conditions alone makes it a huge step forward. But if you're going to think that we would be better off without this and wait for a single-payer system to come along, then you'll die waiting. It just ain't gonna happen. Hell, with as many concessions for the Republicans that this bill had, it still didn't get one Republican vote! How would we ever be able to push a single-payer system through? Yes, I am disappointed that the (un)Patriot(ic) Act was renewed, but I can also imagine how much flack he would get from the wingnuts on the right if he were to discontinue (or greatly alter) it. He's already being portrayed as "soft on terror," so could you imagine what they'd say if he did away with this? Bush entered office with a budget surplus, so saying that we've had the deficit "over many a presidency" is incorrect. It was Bush's doing. And look at the mess he left us with. Worst president ever. 66% of registered voters voting is actually a pretty good number, but not the 70% they were shooting for. Why do people not vote? Who knows! But if you don't vote, then you're not even represented by a mandate, no matter who wins. So counting those people who either did not vote by choice, or who were not eligible to vote, is not really fair. But this was the highest voter turnout we've had (percentage wise) since 1968. Re: Campaign promises kept... Obama is actually doing very well. Not perfect, but better than even I (who also voted for him) could have dreamed (thanks mainly to healthcare). Check this out: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

Hey slow down there! First of all, I voted for Obama! Now, I'm for healthcare for Americans, I'm not for insurance companies!!! I do not believe that Americans should be forced to pay a private company that belongs to an industry that is already bloated with inequity... I also voted for Gore! And if you check your facts only 66% of the people registered to vote, voted, and out of that percentage, 53% of those people voted for Obama. Which works out to about 34% of the American people actually voting for Obama, which is not actually the mandate that you and he are claiming. Now when it comes to voicing my opinion about riding roughshod over the civil rights of Americans during the Bush administration, I wasn't happy at all with the Patriot Act ( and many other things ), but, wait a second...didn't Obama just renew that? YES! About the 2 expensive wars...wasn't Obama going to get our people out of both Afghanistan and Iraq within 1 year? Instead he has sent more troops, and money, further escalating the situation. I never liked the deficit...EVER! It's been building for far too long, and over many a presidency. If America were a person that person would be required to have credit counseling...or be in jail for bouncing checks. By the way I don't approve of any government spending that is left open ended...amount to be determined later. How many of the promises made during his campaign have actually materialized? I only mentioned the voter fraud as an aside in response to a comment originally made by Mina! So please don't be angry at me for expressing an opinion that may not be popular. We may not agree, but I''ll fight for our right to disagree!

OK, hold on a sec here. Who's running roughshod over our civil rights? The fact is that George W. Bush ran roughshod over them for eight years and no one batted an eye (except the left). He even suspended Habeas Corpus for crying out loud! Did you complain when that happened? We were basically living in a fascist dictatorship under Bush. He even declared war himself, without congressional approval, and LIED to the American public as to WHY he did it. And you're complaining about the Health Care bill? Get a grip. And don't even bring up voter fraud. First of all, that was never confirmed, nor was it anywhere near as bad as what happened when Bush was elected BOTH in 2000 and 2004 (when he was elected president but lost the election!). At least Obama won by a healthy margin and with a mandate, meaning a large majority of the population voted for him. So what's he doing now? He's carrying through on his promises. The bailout was necessary to keep us from a depression. And what of this deficit we're facing? That was Bush's doing, not Obama's. Obama inherited a 3 trillion dollar deficit from him (not to mention TWO costly wars), and it's gone up a bit since then (expected), but how long do you think it's going to take to fix the shit that Bush created? Just two years? Obama's a good president, and he's doing the best he can, but he's not a magician. Also, the health care bill is not unconstitutional. In fact, the mandate to buy insurance was a Republican idea (Mitt Romney's). That was one of the concessions Obama made to please the Republicans. caryn lavender said:

And how does everyone feel now? Instead of just voter fraud, how about riding roughshod over our civil rights? The unconstitutionality of the health care bill...and the fact that our lawmakers just made the American people write a blank check...where's the K.Y. we just got reamed!

And how does everyone feel now? Instead of just voter fraud, how about riding roughshod over our civil rights? The unconstitutionality of the health care bill...and the fact that our lawmakers just made the American people write a blank check...where's the K.Y. we just got reamed!

I read that article also! I guess I should have encouraged the opinions of others too...not just those that voted for him...also the opinions of people from other countries as well. Not that I am under the impression that everyone in the world really keeps in touch with, or really cares what happens in U.S. politics. I do realize, as I think most Americans do, that we are not the center of the universe. But I would like to see how this discussion plays out!