I love when facts trump talking points....
Posted the following on my facebook wall and one of my former students decided to challenge me. You'd think my students would know from being the in classroom with me that it is a bad idea to come at me without facts to back up your claims.
Student Some of these I can agree on, but Obama can't take credit for Osama Bin Laden's death. That credit goes out to our military, not the president.
12:24am (21 hours ago)
ME Well, I'd argue one clear point...who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces? By your logic, generals can't take credit for what their troops do. And extend your logic (reductio ad absurdum) the troops can't take any credit for any kills they accumulate because they didn't make the gun that they used. It is parsing a point to give credit to one level of and ignore a higher level that "pulled the trigger".
7:50pm (2 hours ago)
Student So just because he sat safe here in the USA in an office and gave an order he can automatically take the credit for the kill? Then I can also take credit for the handy man on the farm fixing the fence, because "I told him to do it"
9:13pm (about an hour ago)
ME You avoided answering the question. And yes you can take credit for the fence if you put your employee to work on the fence. You are the boss, it is your job to manage those who are your subordinates and organize their labor to be effective and efficient. Simple fact of the matter is that in terms of military, there is no person higher than the President. And if you think that something as important as the mission to kill Bin Laden was left completely to subordinates with no input from the Commander in Chief, I've got a bridge in Alaska to sell you...
9:21pm (about an hour ago)
Student Yes he is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, but those "subordinates" as you call them are the ones dieing for us. Not the president. As for the other things in this post, they don't show that when Obama became President we had a AAA Credit Rating, now its only a AA rating. Gas was $1.81 average now it is $3.69. We were 10 trillion in debt, now we are 15+ trillion. Unemployment was at 7.8% now it is 8.3% as of July. How do they not look at those figures?
9:32pm (51 minutes ago)
ME The S&P SPECIFICALLY said that it lowered the credit rating because of the Republican's refusal to compromise on the debt ceiling issue after years of raising the debt ceiling as a simply procedural matter and insistence on extending the largest contributing factor to the deficit, the Bush Tax Cuts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_credit-rating_downgrade,_2011
Gas prices are dependent on OPEC and the market, not on the president. It doesn't help when we are rapidly using up an non-renewable fossil fuel like oil creating a dwindling supply while the demand is rising. Simple economics will tell you that when the demand goes up and the supply goes down, prices rise at a drastic rate. http://money.howstuffworks.com/president-gas-prices.htm
"Republicans only became sanctimoniously prudent after Obama became President. By then, conveniently, bailouts and economic stimulus plans were needed to clean up the destructive binge spending of a GOP fraternity gone wild.
Under George W. Bush, Republicans cut taxes, spent trillions on poorly defined (made up) wars, and spearheaded the continued dismantling of regulations that led to the financial crisis… all of which President Obama inherited, and Republicans refuse to help pay for.
In the past 4 years, Republicans shunned increasing revenues to pay down their debts, even scoffed at closing corporate tax loopholes." http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09/03/gop-election-strategy-exposed-link-shark-attacks-to-ice-cream/
"Republicans tout the unemployment rate to discredit the President’s economic policies. They offensively brand him the “food stamp President” and insist that Obama is intent on making Americans dependent on government, yet the GOP willfully ignores the crisis they continue to enable."
"Republicans boasted about refusing to compromise with Democrats, even publicly declared their top priority was making Obama a one-term President. As a result, government efficiencies further flatlined, prolonging the recession and unemployment.
Republicans blocked multiple job creating efforts, among the many initiatives: needed infrastructure projects, additional tax cuts for small businesses, and funding to help get teachers, police officers, and firefighters back to work.
Republicans staged unnecessary crisis’ to depress the economy. They threatened to shut down government, and brought the United States to the brink of default, causing S&P to downgrade the US credit rating, impacting consumer confidence and further impeding economic growth and hiring." http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09/03/gop-election-strategy-exposed-link-shark-attacks-to-ice-cream/
I'd say those facts pretty much dismantle the talking points you put forward without proof. As for the whole Bin Laden thing, we can go round and round, but at the end of the day, if President Obama gets the blame for the death tolls during war under his watch, then he also gets the credit for making the tactical decisions that result in major achievements in said war.
10:40pm (11 minutes ago)