It's a response that might incite laughter, as it did from conservative pundit Monica Crowley and MSNBC paleocon talker Pat Buchanan. According to Newsweek's Eleanor Clift, the current problems facing the country and President Barack Obama are due to capitalism.
Clift, appearing on the syndicated April 26 "The McLaughlin Group" gave Obama high marks for his first hundred days and said Republicans were misguided for attacking the growth of the size of government.
"I give him a B+ because there's a lot of outcomes that haven't come in yet," Clift said. "But look, this isn't about the failure of government and the Republicans are on the wrong tact talking about big government. This is a failure of capitalism. He's trying to save capitalism."
According to Clift, Washington is where the public are seeking answers to problems and she condemned naysayers for their stance on government.
"People are looking to Washington and to government for help," Clift said. "And to argue to get government out of the way makes no sense in this political climate."
Crowley, who is conservative talk show host, scoffed at Clift's suggestion that Obama is trying to save capitalism but pointing to all the policy measures he is pushing.
"He's talking about saving capitalism?" Crowley said. "He's trying to nationalize health care, nationalize the energy sector, he's done a ham-handed effort to nationalize the financial sector, federalizing education - there's no saving capitalism going on. His apology tour on three continents makes the United States look weak. I give him a C."
Clift questioned Crowley's interpretation of nationalization, despite efforts by the federal government to convert their current holdings in bailed out banks from preferred shares of stock to common shares of stock with voting rights that would give the government more say in the day-to-day operation of some institutions.
"You ought to check the dictionary and understand what ‘nationalize' means," Clift fired back.
Jim Warren, the former managing editor for The Chicago Tribune, now an MSNBC contributor, gave Obama a higher grade than even Clift and also dismissed the whole notion that Obama was attempting to nationalize everything.
"The well-reasoned empirical answer to this, Monica, from the heartland is he gets an A," Warren said. "The fact is he's not trying to nationalize everything. You look at the criticism from the left and you realize that in fact he hasn't gone anywhere near there. He's booted one CEO, the guy from GM and that is it. He's not nationalized the auto industry, he's not taking over Wall Street, and I think he's been rather moderate when that goes.
Warren's remarks come as reports are surfacing that the Obama administration is looking to have Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit removed from his post. However, he gave "Professor" Obama credit for his skill of explaining the issues to the American public.
"And I think stylistically, the most fascinating thing - the most fascinating thing is the way Professor Obama is using the traditional bully pulpit as if it was some teaching lectern. And, I think that at this point is resonating, that is resonating America. And what could that undoing be? That's obvious - it's the economy. He does not own the cause, but he certainly does own the solution."
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Swine flu
April 27, 2009 - 10:30 ET by cvgbuckeyeCan we not also say "That doggone swine flu that I inherited from the Bush administration"? They'll find some way to say it;;;if they haven't already.
So, he has to destroy
April 27, 2009 - 10:33 ET by robert108So, he has to destroy "capitalism" in order to save it?
People like Swift
April 27, 2009 - 10:44 ET by NavyBuckeyeare the reason we are in this mess now.
They assume that when people look to government for answers they want more government.
Maybe, just mabye Swift, when people look to government for answers they want lower taxes and the government to get the f out of the way.
But no...in their eyes the only answers are bigger gubment and bigger gubment programs. Jeesh get a clue libs.
"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter” - Thomas Jefferson
Does Eleanor ever disappoint us?...
April 27, 2009 - 10:45 ET by ThalpyDoes Eleanor ever disappoint us? She's always trying to pin the blame on someone, forever neglecting Senator Kennedy's immigration reforms that go back to the mid 1960s, Carter with his affirmative action loans, Clinton with his affirmative action loans, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and all of the rest--including "no down payment" Bush. Is this a failure of an economic system or is it a failure of people?
**thalpy
April 27, 2009 - 12:21 ET by pelicanmarsh..
Illegals got 5 million home loans
April 27, 2009 - 11:20 ET by Daniel BakerThey sure are expensive labor
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IOWA shall not be taken over by high priests of redefined marriage(liberal judges). We must fight! Good men want freedom, Evil men want license
"Illegals got 5 million
April 27, 2009 - 12:00 ET by NL207"Illegals got 5 million home loans"
This is a broad accuasation. You would do well to provide substantiating references or shut your pie hole.
Try googling my subject line
April 27, 2009 - 12:18 ET by Daniel BakerWhy do you think the southwest is hardest hit
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IOWA shall not be taken over by high priests of redefined marriage(liberal judges). We must fight! Good men want freedom, Evil men want license
that report was denied
April 27, 2009 - 12:25 ET by katainkentby the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development - Oct 9, 2008 according to the Phoenix Business Journal. The original article at KFYI no longer exists.
I love to help the helpless but I'm not gonna help the clueless ~Dennis Miller
I think it highly unlikely
April 27, 2009 - 16:33 ET by NL207I think it highly unlikely that illegals got 5 million home loans over the last 8 years or similar period.
Why? Even if there are 20 million illegals in the country, which there might well be, given their large family size, they are unlikely to occupy more than about 5 million distinct living units, many of which will be rentals or mobile homes not mortgagable by the occupant.
We had to destroy the village in order to save it.
April 27, 2009 - 10:47 ET by IamTinmanThat was the plan in Vietnam. That worked well didn't it?
Clift is an idiot.
Eleanor Clift
April 27, 2009 - 10:59 ET by merlin61She never disappoints me, she's just another
liberal idiot. She's got to be kidding, right?????
Can't stand to even listen to her.
Let's elect a community organizer what could go wrong?
April 27, 2009 - 10:59 ET by lareeStimuls bka Porkulus who is surprised we have a Swine Flu Breakout?
Pigs Feet Dupree has "The Swine Flu Blues"
http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/04/pigs-feet-dupree-swine-flu-blues.html
We all know that
April 27, 2009 - 11:02 ET by fitzfongWe all know that intellectual lightweights like Jim Warren and Eleanor Clift are going to give grades that are inversely proportional to the quality of work, but Monica Crowley giving Obombast a C? That's some generous curve she's got him on. The only explanation is that she gave Carter a B- and every other President an A+.
And I suppose capitalism is to blame for Eleanor Clift's turkey neck and Monty Burnsian posture.
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -Winston Churchill
Isn't it amazing???
April 27, 2009 - 11:05 ET by AZTech2020Now that we have a Marxist in the White House, all the "formerly-identified-as-liberal" columnists and bloggers are beginning to openly show their Socialist credentials and beliefs. They criticize and lambast the very system that allowed them to be what they are. I don't know where the hell these clowns were during the past 50 or 60 years, but all the examples of 100% Marxist failures around the world obviously had no impact on their grey matter. Oh, yeah! We can do Socialism right!! 'Cause we're so much smarter than them foreigners! Bottom line: Gov't, no matter what stripe, does very little right! The Framers had it right, minimalist government.
Mexican Travel
April 27, 2009 - 11:05 ET by slickwillie2001Beck pointed out on his radio program this morning that, while we now have a travel advisory re Americans going to Mexico, the border is still wide open for Mexicans coming North. No changes in border policy there!
I Have An Idea
April 27, 2009 - 11:11 ET by HoosierEmWhy don't these highly paid socialist-loving MSM people, politicians and the citizens of this country who believe the government should provide everything for everyone make up their own little government and let the rest of us continue on with our capitalist-loving ways?
Oh, that's right - hope and change aren't very profitable.
A Wild and Crazy Girl!
April 27, 2009 - 11:11 ET by metaphorsbwithuShouldn't Eleanor be required to wear with a fake arrow (a la Steve Martin) and maybe a red nose too whenever she appears on television?
Maybe all liberal pundits should. At least it'd cue people that we're supposed to find this stuff amusing.
metaphorsbwithu
liberal dain bramage
April 27, 2009 - 11:16 ET by katainkenthave some more kool-aid people.
Professor "now children, this is how we get things done" Obama has tasked us all to work harder and make sacrafices.
All I can say is - Gub'mint peoples - you first!
I love to help the helpless but I'm not gonna help the clueless ~Dennis Miller
Conservative Crowley gives the Bamster a "C"..???
April 27, 2009 - 11:27 ET by gopcongressLook, Clift is a known liberal. She's expected to toe the party line and promote socialism.
But when you get a "conservative" who lambasts the president and goes point by point regarding Obama's massive socialist policies that are being implemented, then she grades him with a "C"..?? What gives?
To be honest, I am far harder on people whom are supposed to be on "our" side. I cannot in good conscience even say that Obama deserves anything less than an F. No real conservative would even put him in the classroom, in my opinion.
______________________
Moderate... Democrat... Liberal... Progressive... Socialist... Communist—The progression is clear as day.
→ Crowley
April 27, 2009 - 11:39 ET by Cool ArrowBut you can't deny Obama is succeeding. He gets an A+ for results.
Soon Obama's home country of Kenya will be equal in stature to America.
It's hard to talk when you're teabagging - Anderson Cooper
Of course it is, Eleanor
April 27, 2009 - 11:33 ET by Paul AtreidesWhat other explanation could there be to explain all the woes that face an affirmative action president with his affirmative action cabinet.
Poor Barry, being a messiah is just so difficult. That pesky thing we call the real world just keeps creeping in on all the fawning articles, the personal playground that is the White House, the adulation of a sycophantic media, the celebrity hobnobbing, the partying, and getting applause for reading a teleprompter.
Christmas is over and the presents have been unwrapped. Time to wait for the media to start their coverage of The Second 100 Days and so on.
Look, I'm not surprised at
April 27, 2009 - 12:12 ET by Chris NormanLook, I'm not surprised at all that these media types support Obama. After all, they all share the same liberal philosophy. What's really creepy is the fact that, where Obama's concerned, they have completely lost all their journalistic cynicism and speak of Obama in rapturous terms that rival, if not pass, his most ardent political groupies. They are like creepy cultists.
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
Not only that
April 27, 2009 - 12:45 ET by Paul Atreidesthey expect us to all fall into doublethink mode and accept that they are not biased in their reporting.
Eleanor Clift a socialist-trained TV slut
April 27, 2009 - 12:17 ET by j17ghsMenopausal old bats like Eleanor Clift have caused the mess, not the Western world that has given this socialist-trained parrot her easy, privileged life. She's a whiner, with an IQ right below room temperature and Obama. Hope she ends up in the New Age gulag when the Marxists are done with this TV slut.
Clift & Warren
April 27, 2009 - 13:25 ET by east tennessee johnWhat EXACTLY did you expect from a dedicated, diciplined Marxist, who hasn't read, let alone understand, a book on market economics that wasn't a critique? I'm sure Ms. Clift can give us a long dissertation on the benefits(?) on Keynesian economics, but she can't avoid 1 fact: For the government to take money from somewhere, in order to spend it, it either has to tax for it; borrow it; or print it. How do we deal with the subsequent inflation and who does it hurt the most, Ms. Economics? Also, wasn't Warren managing editor of the Tribune just as it began its nosedive in readership? He's an expert then on evaluating success. I guess so, in liberal terms.
Clift is a LIAR. Just
April 27, 2009 - 14:27 ET by mattmClift is a LIAR. Just like her fantasy lover O-blama. They seek to destroy capitalism while claiming to be trying to save it. Hell isn't hot enough for people like this.
Remember Clift was in the
April 27, 2009 - 19:09 ET by Mr. MikeRemember Clift was in the bag for Der Slickmeister for 8 years. She stays in perpetual denial of reality. Lying is like breathing for her. I wouldn't trust her opinion on a piece of pecan pie!
And now something a tad OT:
And this leads me to my little theory that the president in the movie Independence Day was a Republican. Clift is in the movie with a few other PBS pundits and she takes a jab at the fictional president by saying, "The country thought they were electing a warrior and they got a wimp." Eleanor Clift would never, never call a Democrat president a WIMP!
OK, I finally got that off my chest. I feel better now.
Yeah, all that tricky
April 27, 2009 - 21:13 ET by RR GOPYeah, all that tricky financial stuff and junk having to do with money that gets even PhDs with degrees arguing.
If it only weren't for reality...*sigh*
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
I blame Obama for giving
April 28, 2009 - 23:43 ET by rbosqueI blame Obama for giving Capitalism owes.