"Are we the people we were waiting for?"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Obama On 'Daily Show': Stewart Presses President To Defend 'Timid' Policies, Hiring Of Old D.C. Hands

AP/Huffington Post First Posted: 10-27-10 08:12 PM | Updated: 10-28-10 12:03 AM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/27/obama-daily-show-jon-stewart-interview_n_775102.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama apparently thinks politics is no laughing matter, even when he's staring down a comedian. Obama barely cracked any jokes during an appearance Wednesday on "The Daily Show" despite host Jon Stewart's attempts to draw out the president's humorous side with a few of his own snarky wisecracks.

Obama suggested that his administration did so much that "we have done things that some folks don't even know about."

"What have you done that we don't know about?" he asked. "Are you planning a surprise party for us, filled with jobs and health care?"

Stewart poked at Obama for saying during the presidential campaign that "we are the ones we've been waiting for."

"So here you are, you're two years into your administration and the question that arises in my mind: Are we the people we were waiting for or does it turn out those people are still out there and we don't have their number?" the comedian intoned, suggesting that someone in the White House needs to call them up.

[Historic NY]

1. TARP bailout for one turned and 8+% profit to the american people.

[kentuck]

3. If you don't count the damage it did to Wall Street...

and the savings and 401K's of these same taxpayers. It cannot be measured by just what they paid back.

[JoePhilly]

4. If you have a 401k, and you didn't panic and sell it, you're about even right now.

If you look at the years from 2000-2006 ... the DOW, where most 401ks sit, runs between 10k and 12k. Then it spikes to 13k, to 14k, and then crashes to 6.5K ... a year after that, it was back to 10k. Today its at about 11k.

Which means, if you simply rode the crash and the recovery, your 401k is now about where it was before the spike and crash ... and probably somewhat higher than "flat" because you continued to add to it.

The only way you lost money in your 401k is if you sold it when we were down. Which I'm sure some did. But, if you have a 401k, stabilizing the financial markets helped you.

[Historic NY]

5. One of mine nose dived back then something like 12k ...

I was pleasantly surprised to see it was back up with a little extra. I was in a panic then but there was nothing to do but go with the flow. Of coure now there aren't real high yeilds.

[JoePhilly]

6. True ... here's my approach ....

Back in 2000-2006, the DOW was kind of meandering between 10k and 12k. Then, as oil went up, so did the market. When it hit about 13k or so, I rebalanced my 401k portfolio some because I didn't see a good reason for the climb. Which locked in some modest gains.

(As an aside, looking back, I WISH I had moved it all to CASH at that moment to lock in the rise. But it wasn't a bubble yet.)

As the market went up towards 14k, I was happy in some ways, but not sure what was going on. Again, I didn't see a reason for it. Then, all of a sudden, we get the announcement of the end of the world, and the market topples. But from my view, dropping back into that 10-12k range didn't seem like and unlikely possibility.

But then we passed through 10k, and 9k ... and that, like the spike, made NO SENSE.

When Obama took office the DOW was at about 7500. A friend of mine had what turned out to be a great idea ... change your 401k contribution to buy as much as possible as fast as possible starting in Jan 2009. He did it. He and his wife, mid 40s, no kids, good high tech jobs ... they maxed their 401ks between Jan and April 2009. Which means they were buying at a rough average of a DOW at 7300 (6500 being the low in March 2009).

With the return to 10,500 ... he and his wife have almost doubled their 401k contributions from 2009. Not bad.

I took his advice, although not quite as aggressively (I have 3 kids and they are expensive), but I too did pretty well as a result.

And when the DOW hit 10,500 recently, I rebalanced my 401k again. Currently, I'm young enough to play this game. But I watch my 401k like a hawk.

[Historic NY]

2. TARP bailout for one turned and 8+% profit to the american people.