I will not trust the Republicans either. But I am losing my trust for the Obama people who I supported over other Democrats in the primary. He has a bunch of idiots in charge. That Goldman charade we saw was just that. The time to implement the strongest reforms was when the government had all the leverage. They can still implement reforms now, but whatever they try to do now will still be weaker than what they could have a year ago. Obama and the Democratic Senate(including the likes of the shameful Dodd who is trying belatedly to redeem himself) have dropped the ball with respect to financial issues.

I am also disillusioned with the likes of the liberal senators who havent done a good job fighting back against other democrats selling out the party ideals. Fighting back means finding political ways of increasing your own leverage. They should have made their own demands making the catering to any niche group of senators a failed strategy. By keeping quiet, they let the Liebermans and Nelsons rule the roost the first year.

I have become more libertarian after observing the one year of the Obama administration. They talk a lot, but I do not see enough accountability. What use is increasing regulations if the government won't enforce them strictly? Some of these Wall Street abuses were happening unchecked under the Clinton administration and there were rules back then that could have been enforced. Until government injects a sense of accountability into cabinet members and their underlings(if your department dropped the ball repeatedly, RESIGN), no amount of regulations will make a real significant difference. All it does is create more government bloat.

What we need to see is a blacklisting of disgraced ex-government officials. If they failed spectaculary while in government, any real patriotic Democrat or Republican will cut off access to this guy when he becomes a lobbyist or liaison to some multi billion dollar group.

I still do not see the benefits of this healthcare bill when it comes to controlling costs.  Yeah, 30M more insured. I dont care. Maybe they could have just rolled over that 30M into Medicare without making any changes and wasting our time over such a marginal bill. I would have preferred that option. The extra money Medicare would spend would be offset by the savings of not getting such a bill passed.

Mining and environmental stuff: Let's see what Obama is made of. Is he going to crack down after the mining disaster?

Obama has dropped the ball on the war on terror too. He is wasting money on Afghanistan. He is not as clueless as the neocons and Bushies. But he still lacks courage. Now I read this http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/2010/04/28/Outside-View-The-United-States-India-and-the-politics-of-benign-neglect/UPI-48551272455580/

Imagine if India invaded the US(not that it is practical considering US could crush India) on the pretext that the US is harboring terrorists. Read that link and see what I mean.

Watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution series on ABC. Sure, it was a reality show but it exposed problems with government monopoly on education. You had these inane government regulations about food balance and yet the beauracrats ended up taking policies which had good intentions and used them to serve bad food to kids while rejecting healthier alternatives because they did not meet regulations.  That is not a republican problem, last time I checked.

At this point, I see no reason but to vote third party in 2012. I am tuned out. THis year has been a massive joke, and it's all not Obama's fault. I have contempt for our Senate and do not see a lot of good happening there. I do not care anymore at this point and will just worry about my own career.

That is what's behind the change in poll numbers. Not long ago I read an essay in Huffington Post, which basically posited that the current adminisration in its misguided effort at bipartisanship was blurring the lines between what are Democratic ideas and what are Republican ideas. As we all know that the healthcare bill has few if any Democratic ideas, because it is entirely based on a proposal originally made by the Heritage foundation that they now disavow. Why did that happen? I think because Obama truly believed in his "post-partisan" image, that he would be able to get Democrats and Republicans work together and coalesce around him. That did not happen. And by blurring the lines and not standing firmly behind Democratic ideas, we have, as Ed Rendell puts it, a crisis in the Democratic party. By trying to accomodate the party that is unwilling to cooperate, Democrats are now on the defensive, "hiding behind the shower curtains".

Republicans on the other hand have used the public disenchantment of TARP, the rancorous healthcare fight, which the now portray as another corporate giveaway and have donned the libertarian mantle. They no longer speak of social issues like abortion, guns etc, even though as we have seen in VA it is still at the heart of their social and political agenda. Right now in NC, my friends who were vocal supporters of Obama, are now talking about voting for BJ Lawson, a Republican who comes in the garb of a libertarian trojan horse. His mantra is the same old Republican song and dance minus the social issues. And the sad news is, given the current state of affairs, even in a disavowedly blue district like the NC-4, Lawson just might defeat the long incumbent David Price.

Moral of the story, the Democratic administration has a lot of the goodwill by trying to become Republican-lite. So now we are trying to make people believe that they are paying the lowest tax rates ever (which they are, but don't believe), that the healthcare bill will make is easier for them to buy insurance (which it will but no one believes) and that Democrats will be tougher on big banks (which they will but few believe that). That is the price of a years' worth of misguided and ill-advised bipartisanship.

Is this thread the PUMA reunion party?

I supported Hillary Clinton, and didn't not care an ounce for Obama.  But I have to admit he has done a great job, probably better in many ways than Clinton could have done.

The guy seems to be handling the problems of the day better than most would, and he seems to be checking off the campaign promises.  

The same could be said for Democrats in Congress.  

So I think it is time to throw the support behind them all, fire up the energy, take it to the Republicans, and make sure that the Republicans don't get control of the House or the Senate and put the brakes on and obstruct obstruct obstruct.

Imagine the hearings and the nonsense and petty bs if the Republicans had the power to call hearings?    Nothing would get done.    NOTHING.

Besides it is FUN kicking Republicans ass in November.