Obamas Farewell Speech

[opas ride]

He was elected TWICE to the highest position in the country by our country
He is an amazing father, husband, orator, who does love the country and did his best to lift up as many Americans as he could
He shattered the glass ceiling as our first president of color and set a very important precedent for other persons of color
unemployment is very low
stock market is WAY UP
gas prices - meh - stable
navigated and survived the worst recession and the huge wall street and bank scandals.
Real estate prices are steady and growing again
He would have made huge strides in improving infrastructure had his opposition gotten on board
he did something none of us have done - rose from the bottom of politics to the top - how many of us can say that?
Say what you will - He is a brilliant human being
I will offer Mr. Trump the same praise if he can earn it after his term in office.

I totally, 100% dis-agree with your assessment of Obama...He is a left wing,liberal socialist that did NOTHING to make America better period!!....I am glad he is gone and I look forward to a better country in the future....My opinion, my right to express it, as is yours.....Ride safe...

[D-Train]

He was elected TWICE to the highest position in the country by our country
He is an amazing father, husband, orator, who does love the country and did his best to lift up as many Americans as he could
He shattered the glass ceiling as our first president of color and set a very important precedent for other persons of color
unemployment is very low
stock market is WAY UP
gas prices - meh - stable
navigated and survived the worst recession and the huge wall street and bank scandals.
Real estate prices are steady and growing again
He would have made huge strides in improving infrastructure had his opposition gotten on board
he did something none of us have done - rose from the bottom of politics to the top - how many of us can say that?
Say what you will - He is a brilliant human being
I will offer Mr. Trump the same praise if he can earn it after his term in office.

+1

[ths61]

Is BHO gone yet ?

BHO's Accomplishments for America: Democrats Lost More than 1,000 Seats Under Obama

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...0-seats-obama/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016...der-obama.html

[Davidk]

Is BHO gone yet ?

BHO's Accomplishments for America: Democrats Lost More than 1,000 Seats Under Obama

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...0-seats-obama/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016...der-obama.html

That, and being America's greatest gun salesman is his only good accomplishments! His list of failures is loooooooooooong.

I LOVE the sound of liberals shaking in their boots and I oil my guns with the liberal tears!!

[53driver]

The litmus test for a divided country is in these pages....
We have most posters either feel VERY strongly one way, or VERY strongly the other.
Very little in between.

I'm sure a professional statistician would rule this particular cross section of America as not exactly statistically representative of America for several reasons.
HOWEVER, it is a valid statistical sampling of this microcosm which IS our world here as a Group.
The division is strong and seemingly defendable by each side.

Our country is divided into 2 completely different ideologies.
I'll not delve - y'all know the issues.
Race, creed, & color seem to span both sides.

But right now, this country is hurting badly - whatever the cause.
Follow the money......
We are reportedly almost $20trillion in debt and that is just the debt, it doesn't count the interest due which brings the total to almost $80trillion. Yes. $80TRL needs to be paid back.
And how is that ever going to happen? On the backs of the taxpayers. And who might they be?
The jobless rate that everyone seems to quote 4-5-6% does NOT include those people who have stopped looking for work. The real number of unemployed people is near 10% of those so able.
In this table, U3 is the "official government unemployment rate - but looking at all the classifications, you can see how the numbers are massaged. And that's assuming these numbers are not "fudged" somewhere else.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm

The taxpayer base is dwindling...
The fiscal stress funding the "social programs" is increasing as more people are allowed into the country and are not in the tax payer base...
And? It's not showing any signs of turning soon.

America's Federal government is hurting.
America's Federal government cannot survive economically like this - our own households would have fallen apart a long time ago had we run up that kind of debt.
The Government has failed the American citizens for years, taking us off the gold standard, making Social Security part of the "General Fund", borrowing money with no plan to pay it back, and the other branches just sit there and stare while havoc is wreaked by Legislative, approved by the Administrative and condoned by the Judicial.

More coffee....
Steve

[Bill1584]

The litmus test for a divided country is in these pages....
We have most posters either feel VERY strongly one way, or VERY strongly the other.
Very little in between.

I'm sure a professional statistician would rule this particular cross section of America as not exactly statistically representative of America for several reasons.
HOWEVER, it is a valid statistical sampling of this microcosm which IS our world here as a Group.
The division is strong and seemingly defendable by each side.

Very well said. Productive discourse is completely impossible when polite, well-intentioned discussion is replaced by divisive, offensive and oftentimes outright abusive language. This, I believe, is why we elect representatives - local, state and federal. We trust that they will engage in polite, well-intentioned, and productive discussion on our behalves. Sometimes, even that trust is sorely misplaced. That said, even as a regular lurker I do enjoy reading these interchanges.

Sure, this forum is a melting pot of sorts. Also, it seems to me that usually those with the most extreme views are inclined to mix it up publicly within any group, so the sampling may be a tad skewed. I'd like to think the entire spectrum is represented here, with the middle abstaining from these discussions. FWIW, I like to mix it up a little too sometimes, but normally just at home or in the voting booth. Or over a nice seafood lunch with friends...

[Davidk]

Very well said. Productive discourse is completely impossible when polite, well-intentioned discussion is replaced by divisive, offensive and oftentimes outright abusive language. This, I believe, is why we elect representatives - local, state and federal. We trust that they will engage in polite, well-intentioned, and productive discussion on our behalves. Sometimes, even that trust is sorely misplaced. That said, even as a regular lurker I do enjoy reading these interchanges.

Sure, this forum is a melting pot of sorts. Also, it seems to me that usually those with the most extreme views are inclined to mix it up publicly within any group, so the sampling may be a tad skewed. I'd like to think the entire spectrum is represented here, with the middle abstaining from these discussions. FWIW, I like to mix it up a little too sometimes, but normally just at home or in the voting booth. Or over a nice seafood lunch with friends...

I disagree with your assertion that this forum in a melting pot. I think you will find that motorcyclists, as a whole, are far more pro-freedom than liberal. I don't think you will find lots of Hilderbeast voters. Is that divisive, offensive and abusive??

[Bill1584]

I disagree with your assertion that this forum in a melting pot. I think you will find that motorcyclists, as a whole, are far more pro-freedom than liberal. I don't think you will find lots of Hilderbeast voters. Is that divisive, offensive and abusive??

The assertion was made, more or less, prior to my post. At least I believe it was. I know enough motorcyclists to know that plenty of them are middle of the road, politically speaking. I do not believe that 'pro-freedom 'conflicts with 'liberal'. This would be devisive. I personally find the term 'Hilderbeast' to be offensive. To me, for me. Not saying you should not use it, just saying. Calling someone delusional because you don't like what they write, even if you know better, is abusive. To me, for me. All of it detracts from whatever point you are trying to make.

[Davidk]

The assertion was made, more or less, prior to my post. At least I believe it was. I know enough motorcyclists to know that plenty of them are middle of the road, politically speaking. I do not believe that 'pro-freedom 'conflicts with 'liberal'. This would be devisive. I personally find the term 'Hilderbeast' to be offensive. To me, for me. Not saying you should not use it, just saying. Calling someone delusional because you don't like what they write, even if you know better, is abusive. To me, for me. All of it detracts from whatever point you are trying to make.

Liberals love big government which means gov dependency. That means anti-freedom

[tiltingf6b]

The litmus test for a divided country is in these pages....
We have most posters either feel VERY strongly one way, or VERY strongly the other.
Very little in between.

I'm sure a professional statistician would rule this particular cross section of America as not exactly statistically representative of America for several reasons.
HOWEVER, it is a valid statistical sampling of this microcosm which IS our world here as a Group.
The division is strong and seemingly defendable by each side.

Our country is divided into 2 completely different ideologies.
I'll not delve - y'all know the issues.
Race, creed, & color seem to span both sides.

But right now, this country is hurting badly - whatever the cause.
Follow the money......
We are reportedly almost $20trillion in debt and that is just the debt, it doesn't count the interest due which brings the total to almost $80trillion. Yes. $80TRL needs to be paid back.
And how is that ever going to happen? On the backs of the taxpayers. And who might they be?
The jobless rate that everyone seems to quote 4-5-6% does NOT include those people who have stopped looking for work. The real number of unemployed people is near 10% of those so able.
In this table, U3 is the "official government unemployment rate - but looking at all the classifications, you can see how the numbers are massaged. And that's assuming these numbers are not "fudged" somewhere else.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm

The taxpayer base is dwindling...
The fiscal stress funding the "social programs" is increasing as more people are allowed into the country and are not in the tax payer base...
And? It's not showing any signs of turning soon.

America's Federal government is hurting.
America's Federal government cannot survive economically like this - our own households would have fallen apart a long time ago had we run up that kind of debt.
The Government has failed the American citizens for years, taking us off the gold standard, making Social Security part of the "General Fund", borrowing money with no plan to pay it back, and the other branches just sit there and stare while havoc is wreaked by Legislative, approved by the Administrative and condoned by the Judicial.

More coffee....
Steve