Over Promised and Under Delivered

Comments on the POTUS ratings

 

“Under Promise and Over Deliver.”

That is probably the oldest adage you will find in business. It makes sense to not promise too much but deliver on as much as possible. When you can’t deliver, your customers go elsewhere.

Apparently the POTUS doesn’t understand that, but then again, he’s never been in business. He's approval rating has gone from a juggernaut 66% in May to a 52% as of July 30th.  Although the rating is still more than 50 percent, it is a significant drop in only sixty days.

It might have to do with the 513 (www.politifact.com) political promises he has made. That's a lot to deliver on in a relatively short period of time.

So far the stimulus package has not panned out. Unemployment still hit 10% and the market has started to rebound, without the remaining funds even being released.

The cash for clunkers program will bankrupt what is left. Several states have attempted this same program, with nothing but failure.

Now the health care/insurance reform bill is in jeopardy, adding to that, the American public is showing up at town halls to show their disapproval of the current bill, or should I say bills since there are five of them.

According to Gallup from June 29th to present, support is falling mostly from Hispanic groups, approximately 9%, surprisingly with the confirmation of Sotomayor.  For those under the age of fifty (all ethnic identification), it is 13%, his base supporters, and The Advocate the premier LGBTG magazine ran a scathing article in their August issue about Obama’s lack of support..

 

Finally, one of Obama’s loyal supporters had this to say in a recent interview: 

 

“Health care reform and many of Mr. Obama’s other initiatives are “important” to Americans…’ “one of the cautions that has to be given to the president — and I’ve talked to some of his people about this — is that you can’t have so many things on the table that you can’t absorb it all.” …”And we can’t pay for it all…”

 

“I’m concerned at the number of programs that are being presented, the bills associated with these programs and the additional government that will be needed to execute them,” Colin Powell.

 

Perhaps it is a case of dissatisfied customers.

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

I too can see what you are saying but i also agree that we can't fix 8 years of Mr Bushes greedy tactics in just a few months... it will take time and patience with some trial and error. I too worry but I am holding on to hope cause I think the right intentions are there it is just a matter of finding a way to make it work.

[Mark Pearce]

What?

Structural change can't take more than 7 months?

What?

The world's (possibly worst ever) economic dilemma can't be 100-percent cured in 7 months?

What?

The POTUS is moving too fast?

What?

Why isn't everything competed by now?

What?

I'm sorry if I seem to have little respect for a rehash of Shawn Hannity's talking points.

At least this POTUS is opening important issues to discussion. We're FACING them. Not ignoring them at the behest of the people who are getting along just fine with the ever unsustainable status quo.

America is great BECAUSE it is a democracy and has the self-correcting mechanism (called the electorate) to correct for abuses that evolve over time�and we've certainly been through our share of abuses.

I don't expect this to be a quick and easy process. We've seen millions poured into political coffers to promote fear and uncertainty, just like espoused in this piece and we will see many more millions designed to delude, rather than to discuss and debate.

That's the shame.



.

[Lizanne]

We as humans want to hold onto hope as long as possible. To me this in not a democrat or republican issue. It is the solving of problems that exist in our political structure. We cannot do this without the American people getting up off their docile butts and fighting back. This should have been done long ago. But we found it easier to sit and fume silently to ourselves until the problem has reached epic proportions. We now have someone that speaks with a forked tongue and nothing that is said can be believed. They twist everything to suit their agenda. The meetings are staged so that only the accepting are in the same vicinity as the president. It is getting to the point that with our political out-spokeness we will be left standing alone. Ceasar O will wash his hands and leave the dirty work of dealing with us to his newly established departments. Watch to see if there is not a rapid rise in the return of vehicles that people really could not afford, in this cash to klunkers deal. They will buy, get the check and buy a cheaper car paid in full, then allow the "cash" car to go back. The ingenuity of the public will surface, if they allow these statistics to be brought before the general public.

[JC]

As said town crier, here is my solution...

Congress needs to step back and work on a solution that does not, place us in an additional trillion dollar debt or divide the country any farther than it all ready is. The conservative left and moderate right, where most of the country is, as well as myself, are concerned with the amount of spending that is going on, with little to no results. Unlike the free falling ecconomy, this is not a "state of emergency" and the American people deserve the diginity of having those who were elected to do their job and produce a quality product, not some half cooked idea because of a preceived time line. I would go so much as to say every citizen should demand that their senator(s) should be reading this bill before coming back, not relying on assistants to give them the Cliff notes, as what happened with the stimulus package.


Our president is included in the moderate middle, his Speaker of the House is not. If a Healthcare Reform bill is passed, and it becomes a quagmire of red tape and expense, what good will it do to the public it is suppose to help?

The point of the story is that our President made several promises during and after his campaign. Promises to several groups that he cannot possibly keep. Those same groups are holding his feet to the fire, because of the expectation he set. If their apparent power could rally him to his president, how fast do we think they can take him down?

I appreciate the comment C&J. I believe you are either a part of the problem or a part of the solution, thanks for being part of the solution.

JC

[Charles D. Moorer]

JC, you have a way of distilling the obvious, but in all you say, I have yet to hear you offer a solution.

Or is your job town Crier?

We live in an age of multitasking, and the Senators and Congressmen/women who are used to doing one thing at a time need to get off their lazy buts and do the work of the people and stop complaining. We pay the Senators and Congresspeople very well.

We are already in debt but that is not the issue, how we will pay for it is not the issue, the issue is capitalism that has gone crazy, capitalism on steroids, where nobody under the Bush administrtation was watching. So here we are only able to breath when we tiptoe, but it won't last forever.

[Legion]

Time will tell and I hope for all our sakes it tells a tale well. Good write.

[Greg Close]

All good points. But, on the other side of that argument, you can't undo years and years (perhaps decades) of questionable economic practices (on both sides of the aisle) in the space of 6 or 7 months, or maybe even 4 years. Given how patient we were while we were destroying our economy, maybe we can muster up some to repair it. Character is only truly tested, national or individual, in times of adversity. Here we are. Let's see if we rise to the occasion, or take a header... Regardless, the point of your essay is valid - this is also the litmus test for the President. How much can he deliver? At what cost? Time will tell.