Barack Obama -- February 9, 2009

February 09, 2009

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"This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal"

Barack Hussein Obama

event	description
$9.7 Trillion Gamble	The stimulus package the U.S. Congress is completing would raise the government’s commitment to solving the financial crisis to $9.7 trillion, enough to pay off more than 90 percent of the nation’s home mortgages.
Not Presidential	From crisis to catastrophe. Off a cliff. Dark, darker, darkest. Mortal danger of absolute collapse. Armageddon. Obama and top Democrats on Capitol Hill are deploying these and other stark predictions of doom and gloom to push through their economic-stimulus package. In terms not heard in Washington since the late 1970s under President Jimmy Carter's watch, the Obama has sought to terrify Americans into supporting the $800 billion-plus bailout bill. While President Bush was accused shortly after taking office in 2001 of "talking down the economy" -- and for saying the economy was "slowing down" -- Obama is using ever-heightening hyperbole to hammer home his message. But the strategy brings great risk for the "Yes, We Can" man, who just three weeks ago told America in his inaugural address that despite "a sapping of confidence across our land," his election meant Americans had "chosen hope over fear." "Mr. Hope has to be careful not to become Dr. Doom," said Frank Luntz, a political consultant and author of the book "Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear." "The danger for him is using the Jimmy Carter malaise rhetoric, particularly for Obama, who was elected because people thought he was the solution. There's only so much negativity they will tolerate from him before they will feel betrayed," Mr. Luntz said. Obama is just falling back on what he knows -- Alinsky's Rule 9, "The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself."
Polls	Obama’s approval ratings began to plummet even prior to Tuesday’s admission that he "screwed up" over the failed nomination of former Sen. Tom Daschle to serve as his secretary of Health and Human Services. Prior to his inauguration, Obama basked in glowing media coverage and enjoyed an approval rating of 83 percent. The numbers naturally declined as Obama moved into the Oval Office and began making tough decisions, such as closing the Guantanamo prison. Still, his 69 percent Gallup approval rating based on Jan. 21-23 polling "ranks him near the top of the list of presidents elected after World War II," Gallup reported on Jan. 26. In fact, only President Kennedy, at 72 percent approval, had a higher initial approval rating once in office. That was then, this is now. The most recent USA Today/Gallup poll, based on surveys of 1.027 adults from Jan.30 – Feb.1, show only 64 percent approve of Obama’s job performance as president, compared to 25 percent who disapprove.