Huckleberries Online

WND Poll: Obama & National Economy

Feb. 9, 2009 8:12 a.m. • 21 comments

Do you think Obama is looking to nationalize the U.S. economy?/WorldNetDaily

No, and the suggestion is absurd
No, only right-wing nutjobs or conspiracy theorists would think that
No, but he should nationalize the economy. It’s a sure-fire recipe for success
No, while some of the measures he’s considering seem extreme, they’re necessary in this time of turmoil
No, he’s merely doing his best to rescue the national economy after George W. Bush broke it
No

I don’t know, but it looks like he’s leaning that way
Yes, and it’s a good thing
Yes, the people voted for change, and a nationalized economy is a major change
Yes, and he has willing accomplices in Congress
Yes, this is the lifelong dream of many Democrats for government control of everything
Yes, and like virtually everything else, the government will run the economy into the ground
Yes, and it means the end of America’s freedom and glorious history
Yes
Other

21 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

BethB on February 09 at 10:14 a.m.
You know, this is just a knee-jerk headline to try to box up what Obama is trying to accomplish. The economy is in desperate straits. I don’t even care about blame. It is what it is. We may suffer a period of government involvement, but two things: First, this is America, and we have the American spirit. It is not possible, given our personality, for this country to end up anything other than fundamentally free enterprise. Second, whatever Obama is doing, he intends it to be smart and helpful, and not to drag the country down. As he said at the Inauguration: “The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”
Cabbage Boy on February 09 at 10:25 a.m.
Beth,
“this is America, and we have the American spirit. It is not possible, given our personality, for this country to end up anything other than fundamentally free enterprise.”

Sorry, but we already are something other than free enterprise. The government has been involved in the “free market” since Hoover was president.

And our American spirit is now, “What’s in if for me?”
GaryIngram on February 09 at 12:02 p.m.
Number two, of course. We thought of it and said so and now it is true, really happening, right before our very eyes! Why can’t you cross threaded, knuckle headed, wet diapered know it alls face the truth?
misc on February 09 at 12:19 p.m.
People take WorldNetDaily seriously? It’s a wingnutter political tabloid.
Sisyphus on February 09 at 12:35 p.m.
Thanks CB but you’re quibbling over semantics. And there never has been free enterprise the way you seem to be using the term. Every time we de-regulate, well, you see what happens.

misc, Gary does. ;-) It is a ridiculous question. The only serious feint towards nationalism occurred on Bush’s watch with the TARP program and the purchase of equity stakes. And if the financial sector doesn’t pull their heads out and run bank like a bank then that may be the only solution.
Cabbage Boy on February 09 at 1:16 p.m.
No Sis, not semantics. I was responding the the pie-in-the-sky optimism of Beth. To assume our welfare society wouldn’t accept socialism is just plain blind to the facts.
toadman on February 09 at 1:46 p.m.
I agree with Cabbage.. the only difference is, I welcome socialism.

WHERE’S MY GRAY JUMPSUIT DAMMIT!?!?

;-)

But seriously, it’s more complex than people really think, I think. It’s not about what our “national economy” or whether we like it or not.. it’s about what’s working for us at the moment.

I contend that there are times when a more socialized model will work, and times when a less regulated model will work. The only time people bitch and moan is when we shuttle back and forth between the two models.

People need to chill out. It’s gonna be ok, no matter what happens. If we’re eating our pets next month, well, at least we’re still eating, right?

Next, we arm the unemployed and send them to Afghanistan. That’s spending that I’m sure SOMEONE can get behind, right?
thawtfulreader on February 09 at 2:34 p.m.
This is beyond ridiculous. The premise for the WND poll is an article they did about some whackjob who’s the head of the Communist Party of the USA, and a bunch of pontifications this genius said regarding what he thinks Obama should do, with nary any evidence to show that Obama is inclined to do any of these things.

And then there’s the usual WND union-bashing.

SSDD.
Arch_Druid on February 09 at 11:15 p.m.
I think that WND does a lot of blog searching before they post a poll. Looks like something I’D blog about. Like from http://jeh15.wordpress.com… The Panic 8 years too late.
thawtfulreader on February 09 at 11:17 p.m.
“What we have in this country is socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the poor.”
–Gore Vidal
Arch_Druid on February 09 at 11:19 p.m.
And I am definitely not a “Communist nut job.” Of course, GW broke the economy. You have to have money to rebuild from scratch.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.