The 2 greatest accomplishments of Barack Obama's presidency:
1) He's not John McCain.
2) He's not Mitt Romney.
Seriously, as a Liberal I've been tremendously disappointed by his presidency. He's great at getting elected ( In all seriousness, I'm very grateful that Obama's a great politician. Just imagine if another Alito and Scalia had been appointed to the Supreme Court rather than Sotamayor and Kagan. ), but he's been a terrible advocate for Liberal principals over the last 5 years, and perhaps an even worse de-facto leader of the Democratic party ( The best example of this was the run-up to the 2010 mid-terms, when he refused to use the bully pulpit to help out Democrats in Congress. He should have made the argument that Republicans in Congress were standing in the way of his plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire for those making over $250,000 ( Actually, it was more than just a plan, it was a 2008 campaign promise. ). He should have pointed out that the Bush tax cuts could expire for everyone unless Republicans in Congress voted for his plan. His should have made it clear to all voters that Republican's in Congress were willing to let all American's tax rates go up for sake of protecting tax cuts for the richest Americans. This would not have been a hard argument to make. All he would have needed do is execute a few of the simplest plays in the populist Democrat's playbook. However, he was unwilling to make that argument. In my opinion, he wasn't willing to spend any of his political capital prior to the 2012 election cycle. He hung his fellow Democrats out to dry. Not only that, but I really believe that .... well maybe it's not right for me to say what I want to say. Maybe I shouldn't commit the most common sin that political bloggers make. Maybe I shouldn't accuse a politician of having less that noble intentions without any evidence to back up my claim. Oh hell, what I worrying about? There's no such thing as a noble politician. I've written this before, but it bears repeating: There's a word for a politician who has integrity and always tells the truth, and that word is "loser". I don't think a politician with integrity could ever make it as far as the White House, so I'm just going to accuse Obama of what I want to accuse his of, even if I don't have any evidence. And hey, if that makes me a crappy political blogger, well I don't think I've ever claimed to be anything other than a crappy political blogger ( I'm not even sure if I am a political blogger. Hell, I've blogged about boots. ). Anyway, in an attempt to bring this huge tangent to a close, let me just say that I think President Obama wanted the Democrats to lose control of Congress in 2010. Obama's many things, but he's certainly not stupid, and he must have known that running against a polarizing Republican House of Representatives would have worked to his benefit ( as it certainly did ) in 2012. ).
I can kinda forgive him for the way he governed during his first term, because he did have to worry about getting re-elected, and being a liberal Democrat probably isn't the best way to win a national election in the USA these days ( and I do give him big props for coming out in favor of Gay Marriage before the election. Then again, he didn't come out in favor of of Gay Marriage until his Vice President forced the issue by coming out in favor of Gay Marriage first. ). However, now that he never has to worry about getting elected again, I'd really like to see him step up and show some balls.
Specifically, I'm talking about his battle with Republicans in Congress over the budget and Obamacare. Republicans in Congress are threatening to shut the government down ( by refusing to fund it ) unless Obama ( and least a few Democrats in the Senate ( BTW, glad to know you have the President's back Joe Manchin! ) ) agree to accept a budget that de-funds Obamacare.
Look, I've never been a huge fan of Obamacare. I was disappointed when Democrats ( Who controlled the Oval Office, the House of Representatives, and the Senate ( with a filibuster-proof 60-40 margin ) at the time ) couldn't manage to pass a single-payer system or even a system that included a public option. However, what they did manage to pass ( The Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare ) is better than nothing, and it is the law of the land. Republicans keep trying to make the point the Americans don't want Obamacare, but the results of the 2012 elections say otherwise. Mitt Romney made it clear that he would repeal Obamacare his "first day in office" ( impossible unless the Republican's won a fillibuster-proof majority in the Senate ( also basically impossible for the 2012 election cycle ), but few American understood that ), so any American voter paying attention knew that Obamacare wouldn't be repealed unless Obama was defeated in 2012. If Americans thought that repealing Obamacare was an important priority, Obama would have been defeated resoundingly in the 2012. Considering that Obama won the 2012 election relatively easily, I think it's clear that most Americans would rather see Obamacare enacted than have the government shut down.
With all that in mind, there's no reason for Obama to compromise with Republicans on Obamacare. He shouldn't give an inch. If the governments gets shut down because the Republicans refuse to fund Obamacare, Republicans will get the blame. Even if the public pins some of the blame on President Obama, why should be care? He going to be President for the next 3 years no matter what happens, and he never has to worry about being elected again. Some pundits have suggested that Obama should compromise with Republicans to protect his legacy. Some have suggested that Obama will not want to known as the President who let government shut down and the economy fall into another deep recession as a result. I hope that's not the case, because if he gives in this time, the only word that will ever be used to express Obama's legacy is "pussy" ( No offense to any real female genitalia out there, which are certainly a lot tougher than President Obama. ).
Rich
