Worst US president of the last 50 years

[accountantNOT]

..but I don't think that it's unreasonable for others to pick Obama as the worst. Really, when is the spending going to stop?

Not really

Do you have the vaguest idea how much interest we'll be paying on this monumental debt?

Makes a good case for getting rid of the Bush tax cuts right since they are the single biggest driver of the federal debt.

Legislative drivers can be further broken down using CBO cost estimates for six high-profile laws enacted over the last 10 years as well as the cost of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan

1. The 2001/2003 tax cuts (Republican President + Republican Congress)
2. The overseas operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; (Republican President + Republican Congress for Iraq War, Both Parties for Afghanistan war)
3. Medicare Part D (Republican President + Republican Congress)
4. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)(Republican President + Both Parties in Congress)
5. The 2009 stimulus (Democratic President + Democratic Congress)
6. The December 2010 tax legislation. (Democratic President + Both Parties in Congress)

The excess growth in publicly-held federal debt beyond 2001 expectations has been the result of a variety of factors. However, new legislation enacted since January 2001 has been responsible for two-thirds of the debt growth. In the new legislation, roughly three dollars of new spending has been enacted for every two dollars in tax cuts between 2001 and 2011. No single policy or piece of legislation, however, is overwhelmingly responsible for the $12.7 trillion shift in CBO’s debt projections for 2011 that occurred between January 2001 and March 2011.

Full Report
http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Fact_Sheets/Eco nomic_Policy/drivers_federal_debt_since_2001.pdf

Listen, I know what Obama is doing, he's implanting as many socialist programs as possible,

Like 'Obamacare' which the leading Conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation proposed in the 1990s.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Re...Credits-to-Create-an-Affordable-Health-System

be they high income (those greedy-evil rich private jet guys),

Or Buffett, Gates, Soros, Spielberg etc etc

sub $200k per year (middle class)

or low income earners

His tax plan for them gives a different picture.

thanks to 'w' and obama the big spenderswe get to get acquainted with the value of a trillion... lucky us!

Well, you could have done that easily if you looked at Reagan's debt in current dollars.

 

[adeptblue]

Carter

I voted for Bush II, but you may enjoy this...

 

[Awsome]

Bush II by faaaaaaaaar!!

 

[Johan]

Bush II, hands down

 

[larss]

Including Obama on the poll is somewhat unrepresentative as he has not completed a full term to be judged on as yet. Also, there are very few leaders that are popular half way through their first term - Margaret Thatcher was widely disliked at around this point in her first term, Thatcher's job approval rating fell to 23% by December 1980, lower than recorded for any previous Prime Minister and yet she eventually held the post for almost 12 years.

Most of Obama's reforms seem (from the outside) to be reasonable and well balanced.
Healthcare reforms that are desperately needed to take care of the less well of are well under way - something that most of Europe takes for granted.
One of the first things that he did was to order the closing down of Guantanamo Bay detention camp. However, this has been scuppered by congress and the senate - this closure alone would have made him one of the best, not worst, Presidents in history. The camp is a dark stain on the USA, filled as it is with human rights violations originally even denying detainees basic Geneva Convention rights. It is populated by terrorist SUSPECTS that are not accorded with basic legal representation - which they would be entitled to if they were detained in the US. The only reason for it's existence is so that the US could do what they liked with the prisoners, including torture.

 

[Hot Mega]

Including Obama on the poll is somewhat unrepresentative as he has not completed a full term to be judged on as yet.

I tend to agree. Just think of all the votes Obama is stealing from GWB.:o

j/k...an Obama vote wouldn't likely be a GWB vote which leads me to;

The OP did his cause a disservice by diluting the Carter vote and cinching it for GWB by adding Obama when in real terms he doesn't qualify to be rated at this point.:angels:

 

[Red Spyder]

I don't think Obama should have been on this poll as he stil can salvage his presidency. He won't, doing so would require him to set aside his ideology and an ideologe just will not do that but one has to, shall I say, hope. Having said that, it definetely has to be Carter. As bad as Bush II might have been for those of you too young to remember Carter, compare the economic numbers from Carter's four years to Bush II's first four years or even second four years.

 

[The Grasshopper]

Chester A Arthur he's history's greatest monster!

True story... look it up bitches. JK why bother...

 

[Hot Mega]

I don't think Obama should have been on this poll as he stil can salvage his presidency. He won't, doing so would require him to set aside his ideology and an ideologe just will not do that but one has to, shall I say, hope. Having said that, it definetely has to be Carter. As bad as Bush II might have been for those of you too young to remember Carter, compare the economic numbers from Carter's four years to Bush II's first four years or even second four years.

Frankly R/S, how can Carter compare to a president who left the country having authored 2 all but failure war efforts, bankrupt banking system, bankrupt auto industry, high gas prices, worst housing crises in generations all the while running things like tax breaks and wars exclusively on the company credit card. In fact, Carter left Reagan a slightly lower unemployment rate than Bush did for Obama.:eek:

As bad as Carter's reputation is, even HE was light years ahead of GWB when you think about it.

People make the claim that Obama had little to do with OBL's demise... Well, had OEC worked and not failed miserably Carter very well might have been re-elected.

It's failure was just about the final 5 nails in his coffin IMO.

All that said, what specific ideology must Obama change to salvage his presidency? The tax cuts persist, the war effort against AQ persists...what exactly must he change course on?:dunno:

 

[Mayhem]

I don't think Obama should have been on this poll as he stil can salvage his presidency. He won't, doing so would require him to set aside his ideology and an ideologe just will not do that but one has to, shall I say, hope. Having said that, it definetely has to be Carter. As bad as Bush II might have been for those of you too young to remember Carter, compare the economic numbers from Carter's four years to Bush II's first four years or even second four years.

Carter was the epitome of a being stuck in a shitty situation. The end of the Vietnam War, Arab Oil embargo, Nixon's resignation and just the general socio-economic situation was a no-win situation. I have always given Carter points because he was an honest man when we desperately needed one. I would have liked if he had been more effective, but his integrity is beyond reproach.

Bush II was despicable and incompetent. We never need one of those.

 

[Master_Gio]

Bush II, no doubt about it. He's the one who left us in the economic mess.

 

[The Grasshopper]

^ Are you kidding br0.... he might be the downfalll, but he's not the probl3m. :2 cents:

 

[adeptblue]

I think on election day the majority of people are going to look at the choices in the booth and realize Obama is the sane choice.

 

[Mayhem]

^^^ I agree

 

[titsrock]

Bush II, and it's not really that hard a choice to make

 

[Galactic]

Historical perspective is completely lost on this poll.

But...but...you just made sense...I thought that wasn't allowed here?

My vote? Fuck that, I'm not touching this thread with a ten foot stick.

Even though I just did.

 

[Hot Mega]

Bush II, and it's not really that hard a choice to make

Isn't Bush II leading the get out the hate for Obama vote and Carter combined...:1orglaugh

 

[pornomania82]

Jimmy Carter or George Bush are by far the worst

 

[ManifestDestiny]

i think Obama sure is continually showing his true colors and making a run for this poll, lol. cant say any of the candidates that are running now though are much better. its going to be a rough next 5 years.

 

[ralph furley]

bush jr