Obama's picks

[NOTaDIME]

You think the President of the U.S. should behave like everybody else with a job? Really?
I think that the President, of either party, and the entire elected Congress should be in crisis mode, and I think that they should have been for the last 10 years or so.
You get elected to the most important job in the world for 4 years, you should spend all of it attempting to right this sinking ship, not playing golf, going on vacation, throwing out pitches, and so on.
Hey, just my opinion.
If you believe the country is "in recovery," then you're all set. No worries. Make comments about "moving to Mexico."
If, on the other hand, you see gasoline caroming toward 4 bucks a gallon, more people without work since 30 years ago, 1 in 14 on welfare and growing rapidly and the most since the depression, and on and on and on, then you should be pissed that elected leaders waste time on such meaningless crap.

Taking 30 minutes out of his day is going to ruin the world. Someone inform him and the mass public that because he took time to do this now all of those terrible things that you listed can never get better. I told myself to keep away from the political side, but as a Political Science Grad, I can't refrain. Congress won't get anything done until both sides are the same party majority. They are in a stubborn gridlock that isn't going to get anything accomplished in the next six months. As long as Congress is split it will be this way. No one cares about crisis mode, they just care about their own agendas (getting reelected) and party affiliations.

 

[jibsey]

Gas prices are related to supply and demand. A president for example can open up the gulf to drilling, open up Alaska to drilling, approve a pipeline from our closest ally. Will it change prices tomorrow, no, but don't be naive that a president can't effect gas prices.

Behind Canada, the US has the largest reserves in the world as stated by the US Geological Survey. We are laughed at by OPEC and others. We can even become an exporter. Just
sayin.

We have 2% some say of the world oil reserves, more drilling rigs in operation than ever. When gas went to 4.50 a gallon under Bush, it only came down with a world economic crash. China and other developing countries are driving and using more oil, so even if we don't buy it, the world prices will be unaffected. As far as Obama taking vacation, he has a long way to go to equal howmuch time Bush spent in Texas " cutting brush". I think he should go to the final four.

 

[NOTaDIME]

Neither the president nor congress can change gasoline prices - to be sure. But what they could do, if they weren't busy taking vacations and dicking around with NCAA brackets, is work on ways to mitigate the huge impact of fuel prices on the economy.
Multiple studies show what? That if you take time off, you're more efficient when you do work? No crap. They needed studies to conclude that? I could have told you that after working at a pizza joint for 3 months when I was 16.

It's the president. You should be working harder and longer, to increase total productivity, and not taking constant vacations to "increase efficiency."

It's symbolic more that material, to be sure - it's like telling knock-knock jokes at a funeral - it's indicative that you're not clear about the seriousness of the situation.

Obama isn't at a funeral. Going by your logic, he should not sleep until gas is back around a dollar a gallon and there are no unemployed people and all the overseas conflicts have been resolved and a perfect resolution for medicare has been devised and a cure for cancer and aids have been found. Then he still would have to sweep the floor of the oval office himself before he could have time to fill out a bracket.

 

[Fishy]

First, I can't stand it - it's the most agonizing thing about March Madness. We get an ESPN personality and a politician circle-jerking their egos for 20 minutes on Sportscenter. It's just plain painful.

Second, he didn't go chalk, he went swing states.

He tried to play both Ohio and Florida - crafty. He had FSU knocking out Cincy, but then Ohio State knocking out the Seminoles.

He may regret not taking Indiana in November. Kentucky is not going to go blue and he needs to hang onto Indiana.

Personally, I think he took Connecticut for granted with that Iowa State pick.

 

[buckley503]

We have 2% some say of the world oil reserves, more drilling rigs in operation than ever. When gas went to 4.50 a gallon under Bush, it only came down with a world economic crash. China and other developing countries are driving and using more oil, so even if we don't buy it, the world prices will be unaffected. As far as Obama taking vacation, he has a long way to go to equal howmuch time Bush spent in Texas " cutting brush". I think he should go to the final four.

alright than let's change the discussion to why not develop our own and not be beholden to world demand and dirty opec ministers plus we can argue "reserve" numbers forever.

to you and prez, let's agree to disagree, and drink beer and watch the tourney.

 

[ZenConn]

Leaving aside some of the politics of this post (like how the president can actually change gas prices), multiple studies show that people do a better, more efficient job with more time off. Being stressed all the time is actually detrimental to effectiveness. US produces more, but works a lot more, than countries like Germany and Norway, which compare very favorably to US workers (often rank higher) in productivity.

Threads like these on the BY decreases the productivity of 1000 or so people here ...

I can readily admit that my lack of productivity at times isn't necessarily from the stress but from this board

 

[sparky]

politics aside He is entitled to his pics. He's a sports kind of Pres, so be it. The country can survive the time it took him to pick his teams, after all he ain't dine in 3 years anyway.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Absolutely, anyone is entitled to pick some teams that may or may not win March Madness. Any US citizen bothered by that is overreacting. It's not as if the guy flew with UK Prime Minister David Cameron for a fairly meaningless NCAA play-in game on the taxpayer dole. Brackets, smackets, no big deal.

 

[990411champs]

based on his pick of Solyndra in his "energy" bracket, noone should be expecting any winners

 

[uconnfan68]

If Obama didn't select a chalk Final Four but instead picked some less fashionable teams and got the champion right, I'd say he spends way too much time watching hoops and should spend more time analyzing the economy. Chalk is the politically correct way to go.

More time analyzing the economy? Are you serious? Bush couldn't even spell "economy" and we never heard a peep out of you.

 

[tzznandrew]

Can this be locked or sent to the Cesspool?

Today is not a day to divide Husky fans, but to unite them. This is bad mojo.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Didn't Mitt Romney say that he was friends with the owners of the Kentucky and Baylor basketball teams?