“I understand that on any given day, Wall Street may be more comforted by an approach that gives banks bailouts with no strings attached, and that holds nobody accountable for their reckless decisions.”

Uhm could signing a bill that gives 170 Million in to the folks that caused this mess without reading the frigging bill be considered a “reckless decisions”?

“This time, CEOs won’t be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over”

Okay, technically this is true, and yes he has accomplished this.

Note: the CEO’s didn’t “pad their paychecks” Obama him self “pad their paychecks”

“I understand that when the last administration asked this Congress to provide assistance for struggling banks, Democrats and Republicans alike were infuriated by the mismanagement and results that followed. So were the American taxpayers. So was I”.

And then along came AIG

What remains unclear is how it makes sense to compare a fabric-roofed, four-seat car to a seven-passenger truck stuffed with high-tech accoutrements.

It makes sense because the unstated question that he’s asked is, “What does a type family of four drive?” Obama’s not upset about the slow pace of technological progress alone, but the very fact that we’ve driving way more car than we need. You can argue that government should or shouldn’t take a role in this, but his point remains: Many families — on average smaller than those in 1908 — will have to use more gas to go 100 miles than a family from 1908. If gas use is a problem, then this is a problem, too.

Obamateurism of the Day…

Ich bin ein Beginner!
Steve Z on March 23, 2009 at 10:14 AM

Brilliant!

Either that or Will Hearst is trying to save the Chron from extinction…

Obama’s ignorance about industrial history is manifold. He compared a Model T to a SUV, but the T was the cheapest car available in 1908. A more appropriate comparison would be to Ford’s cheapest car in North America, the Focus. An ’09 Focus weighs about 2600 lbs, a bit more than twice as much as the Model T. A lot of the difference in weight is due to safety engineering, like high strength steel passenger cells, and engineered crush zones. Materials science has advanced so far in the past century that when Ford had six reproduction Model Ts made for their centennial celebration in 2003, and they attempted to make the reproductions as accurate as possible, they could not “accurately” reproduce Model T engine blocks because you simply cannot get casting iron in as poor quality as was used by Ford 100 years ago.

Side intrusion beams also add to weight as do the 6 airbags that the Focus has. Heating, ventilation and cooling add weight as well. The Focus comes with a 2.0 liter engine that produces 140 HP and the car can be driven safely at all highway speeds. It comes with power disc brakes up front and ABS as standard equipment, and you can order the car with 4 wheel discs.

The ’08 Model T got between 13 and 21 mpg, with T enthusiasts and Ford saying that 15 mpg is an avg result. The Focus is EPA rated at 24/city, 35/Hwy, so an average result should be close to 30 mpg, about double what the Model T got.

In 100 years we’ve been able to make cars that weigh twice as much and use half the fuel, while making quantum leaps in performance, safety and comfort, and the President, a historical ignoramus, believes that no progress has been made.

Obama may be smart, but outside of politics he’s an ignoramus.

I might also mention that the Model T had narrow, solid rubber tires, that would be completely illegal today.

This is an outstanding feature. I am looking forward to what each new day may bring. I hope you have plans on collecting all the Obamateurisms in one location, perhaps with a link on the side bar on the main page. It would be handy to be able to direct others to the page. I can think of some liberal friends that I would like to see a massive collection of Obamateurisms to help correct the image of Mr. Can’t-Do-No-Wrong.

Thanks.

I doubt seriously that that type of language was present in your high school German class.

Snowed In on March 23, 2009 at 11:36 AM

Strangely enough, I think it was, although it’s too long ago to remember the context or logic of it. Maybe my memory’s filling in the blanks and I picked that up from “unofficial” sources, and was just enough of an idiot at the time to try to slip that into one of the weekly 2-minute talks in German we had to do in front of the class.

Not sure why you should stop doing this when Obama leaves office, though. But keep promising it anyway. It’s just words, and hopefully when he leaves office, you will get to say “we won”.

obama forgot that the Model T had wooden wheels, so inflating the tires a bit more was out of the question.

keep the change on March 23, 2009 at 8:06 AM

.
Wooden Wheels, rubber Tires. Punctures were to be expected, not the exception.

mr.blacksheep on March 23, 2009 at 11:34 AM

I doubt seriously that that type of language was present in your high school German class.

Obama, a true Citizen of the World. Ich bin ein Beginner!

Steve Z on March 23, 2009 at 10:14 AM

Er ist ein sheissekopf, if my high-school German serves me.

You not only need to have the daily entry, but you need to list the prior incidents. (All of them)… Maybe even 2 or 3 a day if that’s the creation speed.

A look at the whole thing would be truly impressive.

And a horse got…

right2bright on March 23, 2009 at 8:50 AM

…more brains than this administration?

Sarkozy is President of France. Jacques Chirac is no longer President of France.

Obama looks forward to four years of working together with Chirac?