He is not a complainer.
He is working as best he can in the reality he works in. The party of no has realized how much more powerful they can be as the party of no. I think Republicans now, looking like the minority in the senate and without the presidency...have more power than they did when they were the majority.
They can stop ANYTHING the President does. And the Democrats won't change the rules, which they can't and won't since they'll need them when they become the minority again.
Being a Democratic President in 2010 is like being the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles. It's a lose lose proposition.
This post to an inflammatory HUFFPO article puts into words what I cannot and backs it up with facts. Very much worth a read. To Wit:
"Republicans control neither the House nor the Senate – and certainly not the White House."
The VERY first sentence of this AP/HP article is alreay a LIE.
Republicans don't control the House. So what did the House do? End the tax cuts for the rich, as almost all Dems, a majority of the American people, and the WH and president want.
But Republicans DO control the Senate, as "WE THE PEOPLE" gave them 41 Senators, which means they can block or strongly water down EACH AND EVERY BILL.
As a consequence, since the beginning of 2010 only ONE question is relevant: will the GOP block the next Dem bill (as they did with FOUR HUNDRED bills coming out of the House and that the president asked Congress to pass), or will they allow the president to sign it into law but will strongly water it down first?
The other question people on the left AND pundits continue to ask "will Obama cave?", or in more neutral words, "will he accept a compromise?", has become TOTALLY IRRELEVANT, as the president has NO choice but to accept a compromise IF he wants to sign bills into law.
And as Obama rightly said in this case: true, we Dems don't want additional tax cuts for the rich, because they increase the deficit and don't translate in jobs. BUT what is MOST important today is JOBS. In the aftermath of a recession, you can only have more jobs if there's more demand. To increase demand, the middle class has to buy more. Whereas Main Street just saw its income go down by 5% under Bush, and many lost their job during the 2007-2009 recession.
In these circumstances, the most reasonable thing to do would certainly be to end the tax cuts for the rich AND the middle class, but to pass a second big stimulus, so that the fact that the middle class wil have to pay $3,000 more is compensated by increasing services and other kinds of help.
BUT the GOP has BLOCKED the second big stimulus the House passed in the Senate, and every other jobs bill since then. Now that they know that being the party of 'no' is the best way to win elections, they certainly won't allow a new stimulus in 2011-2012. So IF we care about Main Street and IF we want more jobs, there's only ONE solution left: keeping the Bush tax cuts for the middle class (= higher income for those who work), and extending unemployment benefits (= income for those who still look for a job). Extending unemployment benefits alone will translate in 600,000 jobs.
Whether we like it or not, THIS is the sad reality we're in, NOT the FAIRY TALE where Dems control the House AND Senate.
The VERY first sentence of this AP/HP article is alreay a LIE.
Republican
But Republican
As a consequenc
The other question people on the left AND pundits continue to ask "will Obama cave?", or in more neutral words, "will he accept a compromise
And as Obama rightly said in this case: true, we Dems don't want additional tax cuts for the rich, because they increase the deficit and don't translate in jobs. BUT what is MOST important today is JOBS. In the aftermath of a recession, you can only have more jobs if there's more demand. To increase demand, the middle class has to buy more. Whereas Main Street just saw its income go down by 5% under Bush, and many lost their job during the 2007-2009 recession.
In these circumstan
BUT the GOP has BLOCKED the second big stimulus the House passed in the Senate, and every other jobs bill since then. Now that they know that being the party of 'no' is the best way to win elections, they certainly won't allow a new stimulus in 2011-2012. So IF we care about Main Street and IF we want more jobs, there's only ONE solution left: keeping the Bush tax cuts for the middle class (= higher income for those who work), and extending unemployme
Whether we like it or not, THIS is the sad reality we're in, NOT the FAIRY TALE where Dems control the House AND Senate.
So... to all you people on the left calling Obama a "pussy" and a "caver" I have one simple question.
What would you do in his place?
Take a symbolic victory that kept people from working?
Make the Democrats change the rules in the Senate to end the filibuster? Just keep talking mad shit online without a firm sense of how our government actually works?
Yeah... I thought so.
My friends are worse than my enemies.
---
FYI - there is one thing the President could do. He could tell on the Republicans. Get out there and try and take control of the media cycle. I'm talking PR blitz all day and all night. But he doesn't work like that and he sees that as complaining and, as I know now he models himself after Lincoln (watch Ken Burns' Civil War Doc to see Obama taking pages straight from Lincoln's playbook)... I think he equates a certain amount of "underdog-ism" with doing the right thing.
But I think his handlers are misreading the terrain at their peril. Narratives matter. And the Republicans are controlling the narrative. And he will be one termer if he doesn't take control of the narrative...I know he's hoping for a jobs turnaround on which to pin his "comeback" story... but that's a long shot.
4 comments:
He will land on his feet. He's a better president than they have given him credit for being
its like the left is starting an "anti-Tea Party" only, they feel that folks aren't taxed enough. I agree that the rich should be taxed more, but the republicans are running down the game clock. the number of options are running out. We will see what happens in congress, and I'm paying special attention to what the House Rules committee allows in terms of amendments to this bill.
A majority of people I've encountered on this issue have very little idea of how the processes or general civics work for that matter. It's sad seeing the media and republicans play this ignorance up.
finally, in some ways, Obama is very Andrew Jackson-like, while maintaining a Woodrow Wilson like intellect. Its funny that as I read about previous presidents, I see where Obama has taken pages from the many past administrations.
Obama may be a better president than he's given credit for, but it doesn't matter if no one knows. I agree that Obama, and the Dems in general, need to begin to take control of the news feed. I am baffled as to why the other side continues to lay prostrate as the Republicans back the car up over them, over and over and over and over and......... again. It's my one complaint with Democrats. Grow some balls already.
THANK YOU. Man, I've been saying this same thing the past two days to people and most of them still don't get it. As it's been said Obama is a better President than he's been given credit for (which I equate to a degree of racism, sorry my white friends, but once they called him a liar in Congress, and questioned the fact he's an American citizen, it's kinda obvious). This article also helps with your point: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/12/obama_dumps_the_dems.html
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