Huckleberries Online

Sign of the Times?

Posted by DFO

Sept. 7, 2010 5:48 p.m. • 36 comments

On the front window of the going-out-of-business Denally’s decor store in the 6000 block of Government Way (across from Beau Monde’s/Country Primitive) is this sign: “So much for Obama’s stimulus package.”

36 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

toadman on September 07 at 4:59 p.m.
I got laid off during the Bush administration, and I didn’t blame Bush. They’re just being ignorant.
kamm on September 07 at 5:09 p.m.
We’re in a recession; we’ve been in a recession for a while. People don’t spend money on furniture or cutesy items when a recession makes them worry about money. I feel bad for them but this is Life 101.
bpoole on September 07 at 5:17 p.m.
People don’t need furniture when their losing their homes!
Christa_Hazel on September 07 at 5:34 p.m.
I saw they had a sale in the last few months. I went in to purchase a light if I found one I liked. Their prices were high and I found something at Lowes instead. Obama had nothing to do with my decision. It was purely based on the good ol’ free market system.
fortboise on September 07 at 5:44 p.m.
It’s easier to find someone else to blame than to accept your own failings.

It’s also easier to sabotage things than to build them. Think two-year-olds playing with blocks, and you’ve got a snapshot of where the Republicans are coming from. And where we’re headed.
Mr_Bloggy on September 07 at 8:31 p.m.
Although “Country Primitive” most definitely describes the vast majority of the demographic of potential CDA and North Idaho shoppers at said establishments, I must agree with BPoole’s pithy yet nearly proverbial sentiment (see: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Home Ownership and Decor).
hmoffsuite on September 08 at 6:29 a.m.
The sign speaks volumes. Had Obama actually placed a priority on jobs and the economy rather than merely furthering his political agenda, things would have been much different by this time.
Kage_Mann on September 08 at 6:54 a.m.
“I went in to purchase a light if I found one I liked. Their prices were high and I found something at Lowes instead”.

This scenario does not bode well for Mom and Pop stores, because their prices are higher and were in a recession. More
people are gravitating towards the Walmarts and Winco’s and Lowes to save money.
blueeyes7594 on September 08 at 7:43 a.m.
I think if you want me to shop at your store even if it is going out of business, do not put a political message on your store. You might be going out of business because of high prices, wrong type of merchandise for the area, bad business plan, etc. God forbid, you actually accept responsibility for not succeeding at your business. It’s always easier to blame someone else other than yourself when something doesn’t go right.
girlfridaycda on September 08 at 9:48 a.m.
Saw going out of business sign and the other yesterday while out riding. I agree with everyone except the comment on the Mom and Pop stores. If they are running their business correctly and have quality products that people “need” and innovative ways to keep current customers and grab new ones they will be fine.

I think, besides carrying products that people don’t really need, is location, location, location. Government Way is a nightmare on a good day.

I would ask the question: How many people shop at any of the stores along Govt. Way from Dalton Ave. north to the Mall?
bpoole on September 08 at 11:52 a.m.
Perhaps, there is more to the story as to why, said business is going “out of business”? Could it be that the owner has leased the property to another business? I think it might!

Original HMO, purely, Original.
MJHart on September 08 at 11:55 a.m.
Why do people think that Obama can snap his fingers and pull us out of a recession that the Republicans spent 8 years getting us into?
toadman on September 08 at 12:01 p.m.
“The sign speaks volumes….” - hmo

…about the inability of the writer to understand the complexities of the economy. That’s how I see it…

HMO - are you a paranoid person? Do you see evil around every corner and conspiracy in every statement made by Obama? It must be absolute hell to keep up with all that stuff, man.
etorreal on September 08 at 12:05 p.m.
@ MJHart - Umm, maybe because with a snap of his fingers he borrowed $800 billion to do just that.
Sisyphus on September 08 at 12:22 p.m.
Anyone looked at the Republican proposals to address the economic crisis? Anyone? Bueller?

Tax cuts for the rich, cause if its one thing Wall Street has demonstrated time and again, they are fantastic stewards of the economy and should be trusted to do the right thing. That’s why Republicans have earned this election, to make sure that the rich continue to deliver “clean coal”, waterless oil and detoxified assets. All they need is more operating room and to be free from pesky regulations. To make things even better we should carve up and deliver Social Security to them to make our money grow.

/sarcasm
kamm on September 08 at 1:13 p.m.
@hmoffsuite
Who do you blame for the problems we were experiencing before Obama took office?

The housing marked started its downturn in 2006 and the cascade of effects-foreclosures, banking losses, investment losses, diminished construction and selling of homes, tightened credit-resulted in our recession now.

Who was in charge at the beginning of this recession? Did it start in January 2009? Did it start sooner? Why wasn’t it resolved by the previous administration?

Huh?
hmoffsuite on September 08 at 3:01 p.m.
kamm >>> “The housing marked started its downturn in 2006 and the cascade of effects-foreclosures, banking losses, investment losses, diminished construction and selling of homes, tightened credit-resulted in our recession now.

Who was in charge at the beginning of this recession?”

You are right that the current recession was triggered by the housing market collapse and your timeline is about right. The democrats were in control of the congress at that time and the biggest contributor to the housing collalpse was Fannie and Freddie. Who was in charge of them? Barney Frank, Schumer and Dodd, all democrats.
Sisyphus on September 08 at 3:38 p.m.
More conspiracy lunacy from the party of loons. I know your right wing sources all believe its true hmoff, but you should know better than to spread lies like manure, particularly when we’ve given you the facts countless times. But don’t take my word for it. You’re a greedy guy. Here’s someone who will give you $100,000 if you can demonstrate that Fannie and Freddie caused the collapse.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/05/rewriting-the-causes-of-the-credit-crisis/

Here are two economists who say the same. One is a Nobel Prize winner.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/opinion/14krugman.html?_r=2&oref=slogin

http://seekingalpha.com/article/98533-fannie-and-freddie-did-not-cause-this-crisis

Here is a Bush economist who also agrees that Fannie and Freddie were merely following the market.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/business/economy/28view.html

Here is a GAO report that supports those conclusions.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09782.pdf

That is not to say Fannie and Freddie don’t need reform, they do. But they didn’t cause this collapse. Next you’ll tell us that Republicans opposed the bailout.
hmoffsuite on September 08 at 4:04 p.m.
Sis. Nice spin work, of course. I can cite an equal number of links, opinions and references supporting the argument that Fannie and Freddie were an intregal, perhaps the biggest, part of the housing collapse. It just doesn’t reconcile with you guys as you would then not be able to blame the ENTIRE recession on the non democrats. And, this ‘everbody should own a home’ crap started with Clinton, and you know that. Everyone should be able to own a home, if they can afford it. And, btw, if Freddie and Fannie DO need reform, why weren’t they included in Obama’s Finreg bill? Huh? Weren’t Raines and Obama buddies? I think so.
toadman on September 08 at 4:18 p.m.
“Weren’t Raines and Obama buddies? I think so. ”

What? Ending this rant with a dark and shady conspiracy? How original HMO.

Dude.. you’re beyond help.
Sisyphus on September 08 at 4:19 p.m.
Poor hmoff. You still can’t come up with anything. I give you facts and you give me bupkis. Its fine to be ignorant unless of course your asserting something demonstrated to be false. Then that makes you something else altogether.

Republicans cow tow to Wall Street, deregulate everything the fat cats want, making them free to invent toxic assets and put them in the stream of commerce, and when the trust you placed in them appears worthless, you guys immediately abandon your conservative principles and rush in to bail them out from their own folly. Then when you justifiably lose your shirt in the next election you blame Democrats for the collapse by inventing the Freddie and Fannie bugaboos and cry that Democrats can’t fix the economy fast enough. It appeals to the ignorant and stupid, but not anyone who can sort out the facts.

And your ideas for fixing the economy again? Not that you have any cred.
toadman on September 08 at 4:22 p.m.
When fear has taken over your ability to be rational, everything looks like a conspiracy.

I shudder at HMO’s mental state. I fear he may one day figure out that he himself might be a part of a vast conspiracy or plot of some sort, and hence begin blaming himself for everything from the economy to the smell in the bathroom.

;-)
idawa on September 08 at 4:29 p.m.
Even if you bought the mantra from some that FNMA and FRE were PRIMARILY responsible for the crisis (which I don’t as 1, they came late to the party, and 2, they were far from the biggest mover in the affected markets), they still never tell you why FNMA and FRE were doing what they were doing.

It was because we gave in to Republicans and other conservative minded Democrats and made FRE and FNMA FOR-PROFIT, privately managed companies that were traded on the exchanges. They did what they did because they were simply following the private banks and investment houses on WSJ and trying to maximize shareholder wealth. It’s the old conservative solution, privatize entities and make them for profit institutions and they’ll make better decisions than government, non-profit bureaucracies.

Well, we did it, and look how it turned out. Elect the republicans and we’ll get more of the same policies that created this situation. Supply side economics is a solution to a economic condition that hasn’t existed in thirty years (capacity constraints) - using these solutions and bucket of tools will lead to more of the same.
hmoffsuite on September 08 at 4:42 p.m.
Sis. Let’s see. The GDP has gone down for 2 successive quarters and unemployment is at 9.6% and going up. True figure more like 18% now. You have it all figured out, right? Toad, my mental state is just fine, thank you. You must either be blind or simply ignorant if you can’t see what is going on with our economy. I talk to business and commercial property owners every single day. It is an unhealthy situation now with our economy and, yes, it concerns me. My concerns with Obama are mostly economy based but I do have reservations about his immigration policy (none, after campaign promise), what will happen now in Iraq, Afghanistan policies etc. etc. What about the trials for the 9/11 bombers? What about the Ft. Hood terrorist, or the other two on Obama’s watch? There is no conspiracy, toad. Just intelligent people noticing what is going on and don’t like what they see. Open your eyes, take notice, and you might be one.
nic on September 08 at 4:51 p.m.
“Had Obama actually placed a priority on jobs and the economy rather than merely furthering his political agenda” hmo @ 6:29 a.m.

So… you’re saying the stimulus isn’t working? I believe you’re the one that said that money never went to any “shovel ready” work.

“Fortunately for the cilizens of Coeur d’Alene our engineers were prepared with plans for that stretch of road and we were able to get stimulous money for approximately 7 million dollars.” Deanna @ 1:29 p.m.

Oh, snap! The stimulus money is actually being put to use.
nic on September 08 at 4:57 p.m.
“The GDP has gone down for 2 successive quarters…”

What you fail to mention is that the GDP is still higher now than when Obama took office. You also omit the fact that the GDP went up for four consecutive quarters prior to this recent drop.

Omission of facts, hmo. Nice spin work, of course.
hmoffsuite on September 08 at 4:58 p.m.
nic >> “Oh, snap! The stimulus money is actually being put to use.”

Some did, but do a little homework and find out how much of the stimulus actually went to infrastructure work. Much more of it should have been but the bulk of the stimulus went to non stimulative use and was worthless for helping the economy. But, a lot of it did further Obama’s personal agenda. Unfortunately, the economy isn’t high on his list of 50 ‘top priority’ items.
hmoffsuite on September 08 at 5:00 p.m.
nic >> “You also omit the fact that the GDP went up for four consecutive quarters prior to this recent drop.”

It’s the direction of the trend, nic, not it’s history that counts.
nic on September 08 at 5:00 p.m.
“What about the Ft. Hood terrorist, or the other two on Obama’s watch?”

You say it as if terrorism was non existent under the watches of previous presidents - as if its some new thing.
nic on September 08 at 5:03 p.m.
“not it’s history that counts.”

Spin away. I’m joining Toad: you’re beyond help.
nic on September 08 at 5:09 p.m.
“do a little homework”

How about you do some homework. See, the government has a handy website that tracks 100% of the stimulus dollars. It tells you where the money is going and how much money is going.

So please, feel free to point out which of those recipients only “further Obama’s personal agenda.”
nic on September 08 at 5:16 p.m.
In Idaho alone, here’s the top winners of stimulus funds:

Department of Energy $651,088,491
Department of Education $352,220,225
Department of Transportation $213,287,335
Department of Agriculture $109,297,280
Department of Health and Human Services $69,729,242

So unless you consider keeping teachers, farmers, and road workers employed as Obamagenda… then by all means, whine to your heart’s content.
hmoffsuite on September 08 at 5:18 p.m.
nic >> “You say it as if terrorism was non existent under the watches of previous presidents - as if its some new thing.”

No, its not new. Bush had the 9/11 attack. Then, no domestic terrorism for 7 years. Obama has had 3 domestic terrorist acts in 18 months. And, then won’t follow through on prosecution in a timely manner. Where are those trials to have been held in NYC being held, anyway? Not a convenient issue for Obama so it gets swept.
nic on September 08 at 5:29 p.m.
North Idaho Maritime LLC got $82,000
NIC got $809,000
Cd’A School District got $9,400,000
KootCo Boys & Girls club got $21,000
Dirne Clinic got $67,000
Post Falls SD got $5,100,00

Any of those Obamagenda?

How about these local businesses that receive either a grant or contract because of the stimulus:

Architects West, Cedar Mountain Supply, Triune Construction, Alpha Services, Great West Engineering, Specialty Construction Systems…

Any of those Obamagenda? Think any of them were able to either keep or create jobs thanks to the Obamagenda?
nic on September 08 at 5:40 p.m.
“Then, no domestic terrorism for 7 years.”

Well, that’s just not true. You’re forgetting the anthrax attacks that killed five people under Bush’s reign. And you’re also forgetting Richard “shoe bomber” Reid attempt to blow up a commercial flight in December ‘01.

Obama had three attacks in 18 months. That’s nothing. In four months, Bush had 4 hijacked planes, 7 anthrax attacks, and one shoe bomber. Thats…. 12 acts of terrorism.
hmoffsuite on September 08 at 5:41 p.m.
nic. Only about $100 billion of the $825 billion went for worthwhile infrastructure projects such as you outlined. That was good. Why not more of it? The bulk, as I mentioned, went to silly little agenda items like Pelosi’s pet project. Most of it was useless (for the economy) pork,

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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.