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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (77142)	1/28/2010 1:36:08 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

Staying the Course The same agenda in more humble clothes. The Wall Street Journal So much for all of that Washington talk about a midcourse change of political direction. If President Obama took any lesson from his party's recent drubbing in Massachusetts, and its decline in the polls, it seems to be that he should keep doing what he's been doing, only with a little more humility, and a touch more bipartisanship. That's our reading of last night's lengthy State of the Union address, which mostly repackaged the President's first-year agenda in more modest political wrapping. "Our administration has had some political setbacks this year, and some of them were deserved," he said, in his most notable grace note. He also showed more willingness to engage with Republicans than he or his party have shown during the last year of bending to the left on Capitol Hill. But whether this outreach is anything more than rhetoric will depend on a change of policy. And on that score, we heard mostly what Democrats used to say about George W. Bush and Iraq: Stay the course. That was especially true on the two most important domestic issues of his Presidency—health care and the economy. On health care, Mr. Obama offered a Willy Loman-esque soliloquy on his year-long effort, as if his bill's underlying virtues and his own hard work haven't been truly appreciated by the American public. He showed no particular willingness to compromise, save for a claim that he was open to other ideas. And he re-pitched the health bill now in Congress with the same contradiction—covers more people but saves money too—that all but the most devoted partisans long ago dismissed as unbelievable. The President sounded to us like a man who is still hoping Democrats will find a way to sneak this monstrosity into law despite its unpopularity. Mr. Obama's economic pitch also differed little from last year, when the jobless rate was 7.2%. He offered a spirited defense of the stimulus, though the jobless rate is now 10%, and he promised more of the same this year, especially on "green jobs." He also offered some minor if welcome tax cuts for small business, and $30 billion in handouts for "community banks" to be able to lend more. Yet at the same time, he couldn't resist more banker baiting, and he promised that he's determined to see tax rates rise for millions of Americans next year when the Bush rates are set to expire. He also pushed more exports while saying he'll raise taxes on some of our biggest exporters, otherwise known as multinationals that "ship our jobs overseas." Mr. Obama believes he can conjure jobs and a durable expansion from the private sector while waging political war on its animal spirits. It can't be done. This reflects a larger problem, which is his belief that economic growth springs mainly from the genius of government. Thus Mr. Obama presented a vision of an economy soaring to new heights on "high-speed railroad" and "clean energy facilities" and 1,000 people making solar panels in California. He seems not to appreciate that what really drives growth are the millions of risks taken each day by millions of individuals, far from the politicking and earmarks of Congress or the Department of Energy. Many of the President's opponents will welcome this failure to change because they sense partisan opportunity. But our guess is most Americans will be disappointed because they sense a Presidency that began with such promise but now finds itself at a crossroads and doesn't really know what to do—except to stay on the same road that got it into trouble. This could be a long year. Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A18 online.wsj.com

To: Sully- who wrote (77142)	1/28/2010 1:44:56 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

This Just In By Ed Driscoll on Oh, That Liberal Media! <<< “Mr Obama is in danger of being perceived as someone whose rhetoric, however skillful, cannot always be trusted.” >>> – Bob Herbert of the New York Times. Joe Wilson and Sam Alito could not be reached for comment. pajamasmedia.com

To: Sully- who wrote (77142)	1/28/2010 8:53:11 AM
From: Brumar89	2 Recommendations Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 90947

Hey, even Dull Baker realizes Obamacare, indeed the Obama moment, is dead. His little crew of disciples are licking their wounds, commisserating over their weak emasculated leadership in WA. the Dems had a 60-vote majority in the Senate for 7 months and couldn't pass healthcare because they couldn't master their own internal divisions and individuals running off in their own directions with no regard for what they would accomplish in terms of governance. Message 26276883 Actually the Democrats couldn't pass Obamacare because its wildly unpopular and many Democrats are scared of being retired. He's not happy Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are failures: This should have been the pivotal moment for change. Thanks to the Dems on Capitol Hill, they are reverting to business as usual as practiced for the last 20 years.

To: Sully- who wrote (77142)	1/28/2010 5:26:58 PM
From: greenspirit	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 90947

The way Obama uses binary red-herring references is comical. I doubt anyone is fooled by the silliness. It goes something like this.....There are some who say we should do nothing in regard to health care and continue with business as usual where we bankrupt the country, others say we should completely take over the health care system and make it a government run entity. Well, I reject both these positions and believe yack, yack, yack, yack..... Using this technique to discuss serious policy issues is ridiculous and points out one of two things 1) They're idiots and can only grasp the most basic surface level of an issue 2) They think Americans are idiots who can be fooled by rhetoric intended for the boards of yahoo in 1999. I suppose the Dale Baker crowd of hard core leftists see the technique as some kind of brilliantly conceived oratory skill. All I see is a pathetic former professor, so full of himself he can't muster the most basic leadership skill to effectively carry out the office of President of the United States and Commander in Chief. That being; projecting the smallest amount of integrity humanely possible.