President Obama News

Obama Vs. Paralysis

10:38 am EST September 9th, 2011 | Politics | 19 Comments

President Obama gave one of the better speeches of his political career last night. It hit the right notes, pre-countered a lot of the predictable GOP objections, and gave a strong defense of a progressive agenda. I wish we had seen more of this in the last two years. But that’s the past and we can only fight future battles.

The biggest problem is, of course, that the GOP is unlikely to pass much of this bill. It really doesn’t matter to them that it consists of ideas that they supported in the past, or that it could help America. Their priority is party, not country. The right figures if something is a “loss” for Obama and Democrats, who cares if it hurts the country?

So we will have paralysis. But this President needs to keep fighting even in the face of GOP obstruction. You don’t beat cancer by making accommodations for it. You fight it, and you hope to win.

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Why I Criticize Obama

3:42 pm EST September 7th, 2011 | Politics | 47 Comments

ObamaTo read some folks on Twitter and elsewhere, I’m simply an Obama-hater, someone who thinks because Obama hasn’t delivered a winged unicorn that poops rainbows I’m just stamping my feet in frustration. Why? Because I criticize actions by the Obama administration. I refer to actions as “weak” or call them a “cave-in.”

Balderdash.

I criticize President Obama because I think he and his team can do better. I critique them because we are in a world filled with gigantic problems and only a Democratic president is going to seriously address them. In addition to years of praise of Obama, I also verbally rap them on the knuckles when they screw up. And they have.

The stimulus should have been larger, and even within its limited size it should have been less about tax cuts and more about directly stimulative spending that had more of an effect on the employment figures.

On health care reform, Obama and the Democrats should have fought harder for a public option. I understand the votes weren’t there, but there is value both movement-wide and electorally in making the Republican party the one who killed the option, rather than have the Democrats take it off the table pre-emptively. As I’ve written before, there is value in inching the ball ahead for an initiative that you are destined to lose in the short run.

The inability to articulate a simple message around health care reform, and allowing congress to take the lead role on it past the point of absurdity were key factors in Republicans winning the House in 2010. It energized the conservative vote without a counterpart on the Democratic side. Had the fight for a public option gone on to the point where Republicans were the bulk of the vote sticking a knife in its belly, Obama and the Democrats would have had a stronger rallying cry going into the 2010 election.

On the tax cuts, while I understand the bargain that was struck at the end of last year was for the greater good – even though Obama got more out of it than I thought at the time – I still think it was wrong to extend this indecent give away to the uber-rich that was initially condemned by even John McCain.

In the most recent argument about the debt ceiling, Obama never seriously put raising revenue on the table. That is key to both our credit-worthiness and the fiscal balance of the country. Obama never seriously presented it as a factor in the debt negotiation.

These are all serious, important issues where I feel the administration’s desire to come up with a bipartisan solution defies common sense and reality. While I think it is important for a President to extend a hand out to the political opposition, the current GOP is not even as interested in working together on solutions as the hyper-partisan crazy Clinton-era entity. They’ve pushed back on Obama overtures since before he was even inaugurated, and they got worse after the Tea Party types won in 2010. So while I still want and expect for Obama to ask the GOP for help in running the country, he’s got to quit mortgaging everything on bipartisan support that isn’t coming. If even Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe aren’t going to be onboard, nobody is and the White House needs to act as if they’re in an ideological fight of some sort.

That said, I still support Obama and the broad outlines of his agenda. I think that Democratic leadership is far better for America than the Republican alternative. I think even the Democrats that are to the right of me are a better alternative than the Republican that could inhabit their seat.

But, I don’t do my sort of punditry in order to elect Democrats or to protect the Democratic party. While I was once satisfied to just have a (D) in a seat , that is no longer the case. When a problem comes up, I think we need to take the progressive solution and have the progressive politician with a forward-looking take on the issues on hand to solve it. I think America at its best has been progressive (worker’s rights, civil rights, scientific advancement, defending freedom).

If a Democrat is promoting a regressive, counterproductive solution, he or she ought to be called on it. Even if it’s a local representative all the way up to a President.

As I have for almost 10 years now, I will write online what I believe. I’m not angling for anything but an America that is more prosperous, forward-looking, and free.

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Do Liberals Understand American Politics?

12:46 pm EST August 10th, 2011 | Liberals | 76 Comments

Obama Holding FootballI’ve been going around in circles with people on Twitter arguing about President Obama. The odd thing is, these people and I are both supporters of him. The problem is, I feel, many of them are simply satisfied with his presidency so far while I feel he has – intentionally – missed many opportunities.

A football analogy.

You’re down by four points. You get the ball to the 50-yard line. There’s time for one more play. The way Obama has operated, you just take the knee. The justification is that the odds are against a hail mary pass and they could intercept it and run up the score. Plus, its only one game and not that big of a deal in the standings. He figures, based on the way you’re playing you could go 9-7 and qualify for a wild card spot in the playoffs.

What I and many others are arguing is this: Go for it. Try for the long bomb, try the pass that seems improbable. Sure, you could lose, but you could also win!

And when you go for it, you tell the fans and your team that you don’t quit, that even when you lose — you were trying to win big.

President Obama has repeatedly offered concessions to the right which have often resulted in the passage of important legislation. It has certainly advanced the ball down the field. But the touchdowns have been far too infrequent.

But we don’t have the votes for a progressive wonderland, comes the counterargument.

No kidding.

Right now on issues like taxation, America plays on GOP turf despite poll after poll saying Americans believe the rich should be paying more. Why? Because the right decided some time ago to be the anti-tax party. They passed legislation with no chance of success that cut taxes. They primaried Republicans that were insufficiently anti-tax. They elected Republicans at the county, state, and federal level that supported their core tax-cut ideology.

Then, after taking over the House, Senate, and the Presidency they were able to cow Democrats into passing tax cuts. What seemed to be tilting at windmills became the reality we deal with today.

So it isn’t that I expect President Obama to have been able to pass health care reform with a public option, or allowed the Bush tax cuts to expire, or pass a debt ceiling bill that actually raised some revenue. But I would like him to fight for those things. Progressive politics do not end with Barack Obama’s presidency. He’s part of a movement far larger than his 4-8 years in office.

If he wants to help create an atmosphere where the big, important issues can be addressed he has to stand up for the right solutions even when the cause is unlikely to win for the moment.

This is what Obama told me to my face when I met him in the White House:

“There are some core principles that I think are important for not just me to stick with but for the country to stick with. So if the Republicans say we need to cut our investments in education, at a time when we know that our success as a nation is largely going to depend on how well trained our workforce is, I’m going to say no. And there are going to be areas where, after working very hard, we just can’t find compromise and I’m going to be standing my ground, then essentially we debate it before the American people.”

I’m just asking him to live up to that.

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Why Does The White House Love Geithner So Much?

8:42 am EST August 4th, 2011 | Democrats, Economy | 10 Comments

Tim Geithner’s easily one of the worst members of the Obama cabinet. He’s too close to Wall Street, terrible in media appearances, and a symbol of economic half-measures that have been far more friendly to hedge fund managers than middle class voters. The NY Times reports today that the White House has basically begged him to stay. I suppose they don’t think the GOP would let anyone else through, but still… fail.

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The Grand Crap Sandwich

7:36 am EST August 1st, 2011 | Democrats, Economy, Liberals | 101 Comments

ObamaThe Republican Party was able to enact more conservative cuts on the government with a Democratic President and Democratic Senate than they were with a Republican President, House, and Senate. That’s how much of a massive failure the debt ceiling “deal” is.

It is a massive failure, not only of progressive politics, but of American politics. The legislation will hobble the economic recovery while hurting the poor and middle class. Anybody who believes in progress for America should loudly vote against this monstrosity.

Everybody should share the blame here.

The Republican Party, for its dogged dedication to policies that enrich the already rich at the expense of ordinary Americans.

Congressional Democrats, for being listless and directionless and spineless at practically every opportunity. Given the reigns of power by the American people, they dithered and dithered and watered legislation down. While in the majority, they allowed the GOP to wield far too much influence, while also making the party’s own conservative wing overly influential. Those choices helped lead to a loss of power in 2010, and even weaker leadership in 2011.

President Obama, who has now shown himself to be a terrible negotiator of epic proportions. With just the House, he gave the Republicans the least terrible of their demands. The right demanded no revenue and all-cuts, and Obama gave them just what they wanted. Sure, they would have rather had even deeper cuts — but Obama played the entire game on GOP territory.

I wish someone would show the President a thesaurus and explain that “capitulation” is not a synonym of “compromise.”

In 2010, Democrats ran on a platform of “the Republicans are worse” and as a result suffered at the midterm elections. You cannot run a strong campaign on that kind of message. People need a reason to vote for you, not just against the other guy.

Democrats have now compounded their 2010 problem. If the bill passes, a Democratic president, along with a Democratic senate, will be enshrining conservative policy as law. While overall it’s still better to have Democrats in power — the Democrats themselves have undercut progressive policy. That’s a crappy way to motivate your progressive base.

And again, besides the politics and the optics, the deal is just bad for America. It is wrong for our country. It hurts an already bleeding nation. And the Democrats helped.

In the past progressives like myself said we needed “more and better” Democrats, please. Now we truly realize that its far better to get better Democrats because a majority with a Democratic president simply unwilling to push forward and do the right thing clearly isn’t getting the job done.

This is a massive failure.

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Obama Said No To Cantor’s Can-Kicking

10:15 pm EST July 13th, 2011 | Economy | 33 Comments

I’m no fan of the concessions Obama has offered to the GOP in order to get the debt ceiling raised, but he’s stated over and over again that kicking the can a couple feet down the road just isn’t going to do — yet that’s what the GOP apparently offered up again.

It was the fifth straight day of talks, but the first in which attendees, speaking on background, were willing to admit that steps were taken backwards. According to multiple sources, disagreements surfaced early, in the middle and at the end of the nearly two-hour talks. At issue was Cantor’s repeated push to do a short-term resolution and Obama’s insistence that he would not accept one.

“Eric don’t call my bluff. I’m going to the American people on this,” the president said, according to both Cantor and another attendee. “This process is confirming what the American people think is the worst about Washington: that everyone is more interested in posturing, political positioning, and protecting their base, than in resolving real problems.”

They don’t even seem to know who the heck is in charge over on the GOP side. Is it Boehner? Cantor? Or, more likely, people like Limbaugh?

Hell, even with the blue dogs jammed in her side, Nancy Pelosi got bills through the House. Boehner can’t even get a lightbulb bill passed.

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Obama Beats Fundraising Goal… By About $20 Million

7:24 am EST July 13th, 2011 | Democrats, Politics | Comments Off

Yeah, so that‘s pretty good.

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined $86 million between April and June, blowing past the $60 million goal set by both groups at the start of the fundraising quarter. Obama campaign manager Jim Messina announced the total in a video released before dawn Wednesday, touting the 552,462 donors who contributed and claiming “more grassroots support at this point in the process than any campaign in political history.” “We did this from the bottom up. We didn’t accept one single dollar from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs,” Messina said.

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Our Afghan Strategy

10:39 am EST June 23rd, 2011 | National Security, Terrorism | 17 Comments

I happen to agree with President Obama, though I understand the position of liberals who think we should accelerate leaving Afghanistan. The biggest problem with Afghanistan is that when it became difficult to get Bin Laden, Bush decided our mission in the country was about sending Afghan girls to school.

The problem is, that is not our mission. I’d like Afghan girls to go to school, but the first priority should have been the destruction of Al Qaeda. With the troop surge under President Obama, we’re a lot closer to achieving that goal – in addition to killing Bin Laden.

Afghanistan wasn’t a war of choice. They harbored the terrorist organization that attacked us. President Bush fumbled that conflict, badly, and many Americans died as a result while Bin Laden still lived to taunt us. That has changed, and we’re doing the right thing.

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Gore Blasts Obama On Climate Change

11:10 am EST June 22nd, 2011 | Environment, Science | 15 Comments

He deserves it. The administration has again substituted timidity for common sense and boldness.

Former vice president and environmental advocate Al Gore sharply criticized President Obama’s “failed” approach to global warming Wednesday.

Gore was supportive of Obama’s action in the first six months of his administration, but the former Democratic presidential nominee said the administration has not made the case for action among the American people.

“President Obama has thus far failed to use the bully pulpit to make the case for bold action on climate change,” Gore wrote in a “Rolling Stone” article published online. “After successfully passing his green stimulus package, he did nothing to defend it when Congress decimated its funding.”

“Without presidential leadership that focuses intensely on making the public aware of the reality we face, nothing will change,” Gore added.

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Netroots Nation Goes To The Jerk Store

11:40 am EST June 17th, 2011 | Liberals | 23 Comments

The interview with White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer at Netroots Nation 2011 was a cringeworthy joke. Interviewer Kaili Joy Gray (a front-page poster at Daily Kos) did a horrible job in communicating the frustrations felt by many on the left about the work done by President Obama so far.

Gray embodied the snark so many associate with the internet, a brand of unseriousness that causes the web to still not be taken seriously. This was best embodied in her admonition to Pfeiffer that “we” are “tired” of hearing about the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Somehow I doubt the women whose lives will be directly affected by the legislation are tired of hearing about this civil rights extension.

There are a lot of serious issues that the White House deserves to be chided on. From capitulation on tax cuts and the way health care reform was handled, to its policies on Wall Street and unemployment.

But you don’t get there by being a jerk about it. I don’t believe that progressives should simply be a rubber stamp for a Democratic president, but at the same time can you imagine a Bush staffer going to CPAC and getting treated like a complete enemy?

Doubtful.

In America we have a two-party system of government. Progressives can either position themselves on the outside, carping about the injustice of it all without effecting any real change, or they can work within the more receptive of the two parties – the Democratic Party – and change it, and by extension America, from within.

The ideal way to do this is to push the party to do the right thing, and to shame them when they do wrong, but there’s a way to do that without being so drunk on snark you come across like a whiny child asking for justification as to why we can’t have ice cream for dinner.

While I don’t believe the cancers on the progressive movement represent a majority opinion either within the Democratic Party or on the left in America, their voices get amplified at unfortunate encounters like this.

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