RSS Feed MenuPresident Barack Obama got to the White House by promising change and running from radicals like Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers. He picked uber-insider Joe Biden as his vice-president and partisan realist Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. The implosion of the Republican brand, the economy and shear exhaustion of its message after seven years of war cemented the victory. Now, however, the twin poisons of leftist-radicalism and sheer incompetence are taking the shine off of the president and weakening the party that swept all before it less than a year ago.
President Obama, with his traditional family and measured tones, appears unthreatening and moderate. His eyes do not bug and he does not scream like Howard Dean. He does not shout and turn red like Ted Kennedy. He does not have the spacey, hippy vibe of a Jerry Brown. He has no hint of the crazy of a Maxine Waters. And, most of all, he does not exude the hucksterism and obvious corruption of other Chicago pols like Blago . But by appointments and policy choices made by him, or by a Congress he has refused to check, the image of a leftist committed to ineffective liberal policies is becoming imprinted on the American psyche and could be the rock upon which his entire presidency crashes.
Brick by brick he is building an edifice that will not be easily torn down in the public mind. First, he signed a stimulus bill that is pork laden and unnecessary. Had he immediately picked a fight with the piggiest congressmen and pared it down only to immediate spending and tax cuts his capital for a fight on healthcare would be greater than it is now (both figuratively and in what is left of the public fisc).
Then he appointed tax challenged individuals like Timothy Geithner to high office. Whatever else the Obama administration will require, it will require higher taxes. A Democrat must be cleaner than a hound’s tooth on this subject. Yet with Geithner and now Charlie Rangel, who writes the tax laws, every single move the Democrats make will be open to criticism.
Next, he allowed the left-wing of the Democratic party to fashion his healthcare bill. It will be called Obamacare, regardless of the malign influence of Henry Waxman and Nancy Pelosi. When it proved unpopular the administration attacked those opposed to it as Republicans and/or ignorant. The party called Democrat insulted and demeaned popular gatherings to confront elected representatives with the consequences of their votes. The people attending these events were in a position to know whether they were Republicans or not and the presence of many people who had voted for Obama blunted this response. He backed cap-and-trade but did nothing to make it palatable to the Senate or to the American public during a recession. He did not reform Freddie and Fannie but keeps them as government corporations subsidized by us all, and has added GM and Chrysler to the mix. The Van Jones scandal exposes yet another far left-winger with influence on our economy who does not actually believe in a free economy. None of these top economic priorities strike America as likely to get the economy moving and why Obama is focused on these rather than the 10% unemployment figure raises the specter of ideological commitment to the people’s detriment. When Democrats in the Congress bring this to the attention of the leadership they are insulted and slapped down. The refusal to see the Blue Dogs, or the moderate Democratic senators as a solution, rather than a problem, is killing the credibility of the Democratic party.
On foreign policy, Obama has signaled the worst symptoms of Carterism. Russia challenged him with our allies Georgia, Poland and the Czech Republic on land and missile defense and he retreated. He demands nothing from the Arab dictatorships but claims whole swaths of Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, must be Judenfrei even to discuss peace. He does not challenge the despotism of Hugo Chavez who organizes an anti-American cabal, but attacks Honduras for constitutionally removing a budding dictator. He insults Britain, but does nothing to stop it from freeing the killer of 200 Americans to a heroes’ welcome in Libya. He dithers in Afghanistan which is the very war he claimed he knew how to fight better than George W. Bush.
On social issues, he appoints a Supreme Court nominee who reminds the American public of the influence the ideology of quotas and multiculturalism have on the rule of law. His allies in Congress are now moving to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act which will signal that no state may defend itself from the change of its marriage laws by another state. Even the seemingly innocent choice to vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts signaled a class disdain for the people most affected by his policies.
Any of these moves alone would mean nothing, together they create an unmistakable picture. There are simply not enough liberals in the United States of America to govern as Obama has in the last 8 months. A Thermidorian reaction is building. The only active Republican strategy of benefiting from it was the opposition to Sonya Sotomayor and to the healthcare bill. This reticence must cease. The Republican leadership must begin to highlight, in a systematic way, that Barack Obama’s failures all emerge from the ideology and playbook of the Left. To be effective a message must be both true and repeated. Unless the president pulls back, this critique will have both those advantages. Barack Obama and the Democrats, triumphant in every branch of government, believe the wind is at their backs. If Republicans craft a message to capitalize on each move to the Left, it may be simply the cross wind of an oncoming hurricane.
EscapeVelocity // Sep 7, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Bravo!
Guess who IS doing that?
Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and people like them. You know the people being villified by the “New Majorityites.”
ltoro1 // Sep 8, 2009 at 12:23 am
Escapevelocity, I have to agree with you on this. Everyone else seems to make excuses for the President and his associates.
Deborah // Sep 8, 2009 at 4:12 am
My mother endured this in a local nursing home:
Even w/ dbl pneumonia SUN Healthcare Group Inc forced Evelyn Calvert 2 get up and dressed by 5:30am, I found out on a surprise visit, as she was then made to sit in the hallway 2 wait 2 hrs for the dining room doors 2 open at 8:00 am, b cuz SUN understaffed and simply put, 5-7 CNAs that arrive at 7am cannot dress 59 patients in one hour. I informed Sun’s Medical Director who interceded stating no sick patients were ever 2 be made 2 sit up at 5:30 am again. Commonplace: Thirsty? Back in an hour; Need bathroom? sorry there is no help 2 walk u 2 bathroom so we use diapers here; Hungry? great food; U need a Dr? short on staff call 911; Fever? r thermometers broke; Hot? HVAC condemned by State; Cold? HVAC broke; Can’t breathe? No Ventiliation? Did I mention the HVAC is condemned? BTW ur oxygen tank ran out -no staff 2 monitor oxy tanks; Looks like u had a stroke! r b/p monitors broke, u’ll never swallow again; now u contracted MRSA from us – now u will die. Seven months later our mom was dead from this callous behavior.
Calverts sued SUN but were cheated out of treble damages undoubtedly b cuz we could prove SUN’s two board members’ willful misconduct. The Risk Mgr, Dr Hunker, wrote a letter it was OK w/them not 2 have a working HVAC system 2 patients rooms, while under an existing injunction from the State of Calif barring SUN from ever having a broken HVAC system since they killed patients in a Burlingame, Calif facility in 2000. The CEO and Dr Hunker could have been terminated 4 good cause.
In June, 2009 the board of directors of Sun Healthcare Group have been given evidence through the law firm Fonda & Fraser LLP Anaheim, California, of this probably criminal behavior. It will be interesting to see how they handle it amongs the board and shareholders. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 may play a role.
Deborah Calvert, Newport Beach, CA
joedee1969 // Sep 8, 2009 at 7:15 am
There is a reason Why we push back with Rush,Glenn and that crowd. There is concrete merit behind this New Majority and why ” The Conservative Reconstruction Project” got so big. People have a brain:
http://americaspeaksink.com/2009/09/obama-boring-disappointing-president/
balconesfault // Sep 8, 2009 at 9:46 am
First, he signed a stimulus bill that is pork laden and unnecessary.
Pork … defined how? And of course, unnecessary if you are a litigator living in an expensive DC suburb … more necessary to thousands of communities across the country that needed stimulus funds to provide local jobs and keep school districts from having major layoffs, as unemployment in their region climbed towards 15%.
Had he immediately … pared it down only to immediate spending and tax cuts
Had he pared it down only to immediate spending and tax cuts, businesses wouldn’t be currently keeping on employees and re-investing with the goal of competing for stimulus funds in the coming years. Consumer demand, already weak, would likely be in freefall.
Then he appointed tax challenged individuals like Timothy Geithner to high office. … A Democrat must be cleaner than a hound’s tooth on this subject.
This would be akin to a claim that no Republican who avoided service in Vietnam via dubious means … deferrals for personal matters, domestic National Guard duty, weak medical deferrals for easy to treat medical conditions … should ever have a say in the national security debate.
I expect people who are found to have tax liabilities to pay those liabilities. And unless guilty of criminal evasion, that should hardly disqualify them from the discussion.
It will be called Obamacare, regardless of the malign influence of Henry Waxman and Nancy Pelosi.
“Malign”? Really? You intend to be taken seriously after that? “Boo!” politics like that works for those who already feast on the red meat, but does nothing to persuade those who wonder why power should be given back to the Republicans after the last 8 years.
jabbermule // Sep 8, 2009 at 10:28 am
balconesfault:
You know what I love about liberals like you? You’re in complete denial. Instead of taking this article as a warning and learning from it, you choose to attack it — that will be your party’s undoing. See you in ‘10.
balconesfault // Sep 8, 2009 at 10:33 am
jabbermule – denial is believing that our economy didn’t need a strong shot of stimulus spending in early 2009. There is no “warning” here – it’s primarily a list of ideological disagreements between the author and Obama.
Heck – I didn’t even deal with his cartoonish attacks on Obama’s foreign policy – which is actually lauded by a significant number of conservative commentators.
jabbermule // Sep 8, 2009 at 10:36 am
balconesfault:
Thank you for reinforcing my point…keep going.
midcon // Sep 8, 2009 at 10:51 am
“The Republican leadership must begin to highlight, in a systematic way, that Barack Obama’s failures all emerge from the ideology and playbook of the Left. To be effective a message must be both true and repeated. ”
John, excellent point. Three key elements
1. Republican leadership (versus talk show hosts)
2. Failures (meaning policy, governance failures, versus day school speeches, birth place, and other such silliness)
3. Truth (versus death panels and socialism)
Right now the GOP and it’s leadership have an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and articulate the conservative message by contrasting and comparing the GOPs ideas with Obamas. They may not be able to be heard above the furor against Obama’s staying in school and get good grades speech (insidious plot to brainwash my child into become a puppet of the state and it’s fascist, jackbooted thugs – heh heh). But they can at least try to be heard with substantive thoughts, ideas, and criticisms of the Administration’s lack of progress on almost all fronts.
sinz54 // Sep 8, 2009 at 12:41 pm
balconesfault: Pork … defined how?
Here’s how:
$2 billion for child-care subsidies
$5o million for the National Endowment of the Arts
$650 million more money for digital TV conversion coupons
$66 billion for education, arguably an EXTREMELY long-term investment
A tax credit for “neighborhood electric vehicles,” which have a top speed of 25 (!) mph
$200 million to redecorate the headquarters of the Dept. of Homeland Security
$20 billion for food stamps
$335 million for STD prevention
$ 4 billion for community activist programs like ACORN (what a surprise!)
And this is just a sample.
What does any of this have to do with creating jobs this year, except in the very indirect way of just throwing billions of dollars out there? If that was Obama’s goal, why didn’t he modify Bernanke’s suggestion and have a B-52 bomber fly around the country dropping billions of dollar bills out of its bomb-bay–anyone who finds them can keep them? That would have been a lot simpler–and less politicized.
sinz54 // Sep 8, 2009 at 1:15 pm
midcon: Right now the GOP and it’s leadership have an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and articulate the conservative message by contrasting and
comparing the GOPs ideas with Obamas.
No. They do NOT have such an opportunity “right now.”
The public knows that the Dems run the White House and Congress (with big majorities) ; hence GOP ideas are Dead On Arrival for this year anyway. No matter how good the ideas are, they don’t have a prayer of even coming up for a vote. The Repubs would have a lot of trouble even sustaining a filibuster. So the public is focused, correctly, on what the Dems are doing. What the GOP proposes is irrelevant right now.
Let’s be honest here: The public turned against ObamaCare, not because of anything the GOP leadership did, but because of Dem overreach on things like nationalizing General Motors and cutting Medicare, and because of the pushback from the conservative populist Tea Bag movement and the right-wing media. And right now, stopping or at least slowing the Dem agenda is the best that Republicans can hope for.
The real opportunity for the traditional GOP leadership is in 2010, the congressional election campaign. Then they can and should present a “Contract With America II,” one that this time covers social reforms like health care, as well as government reforms like cutting the deficit.
EscapeVelocity // Sep 8, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Very good sinz.
This is the multi pronged strategy that the New Majorityites dont seem to get. Beck and Rushbo do their part, street protesters do their part, and the pollies do their part, and have kept their distance from the mudslinging somewhat.
The Left learned this years ago….but the far Left loons are now in control and they cant help themselves, shouting “Nazis” at the American people from the Speaker of the House position.
The next 2 elections are going to be great, lets hope we can limit the damage that the Left does to America between here and there.
balconesfault // Sep 8, 2009 at 1:58 pm
The public turned against ObamaCare
Except that “the public” has not done so.
Certainly, members of the public who oppose the mere concept of Obama being President do.
And when just asked “do you support Obama’s planned reforms”, a slight majority say no.
But in the most recent poll, given the question:
“Now thinking specifically about the health insurance plans available to most Americans, would you favor or oppose creating a public health insurance option administered by the federal government that would compete with plans offered by private health insurance companies?”
Favor: 55%
Oppose: 41%
CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Aug. 28-31, 2009.
So if the public supports the “Public Option” … then what about “Obamacare” do they oppose?
balconesfault // Sep 8, 2009 at 2:00 pm
shouting “Nazis” at the American people from the Speaker of the House position
Wow. The canard that won’t die.
Pelosi was noting the fact that some were showing up at healthcare Town Halls brandishing Nazi iconography. She wasn’t shouting “Nazis” – she was actually talking about the teabaggers shouting “Nazis” at their local congressmen and at the administration.
Critical thinking isn’t a huge part of homeschooling, I see.
EscapeVelocity // Sep 8, 2009 at 6:06 pm
So was Pelosi and the MSM talking about how the anti War protesters were showing up with Nazi signs and shouting Nazi, or were those images suppressed?
I know you can get there, balconesfault, you just have to want to objectively see reality.
Pelosi the objective commentator. Next up “Astroturfers.” Note to Leftwingers just because you use Astroturfers doesnt mean that everyone does.
But I do recommend that the right use Astroturfers to counter the Lefts Astroturfers in the public square. Successful tactics in the war, should be adopted and used to win.
Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals…..welcome to the Conseravtive Movement. Next up Gramscian and Communist tactics. Overtake the institutions and make them unfriendly to Leftwingers within the organziation, via political promotion strategy.
balconesfault // Sep 8, 2009 at 6:26 pm
So was Pelosi and the MSM talking about how the anti War protesters were showing up with Nazi signs and shouting Nazi, or were those images suppressed?
Actually, the media marginalized the entire anti-War movement in the spring of 2003. It wasn’t until years down the road, when they had a human interest story in Cindy Sheehan, that the movement got any significant degree of media attention whatsoever. So it wasn’t a matter of suppressing those images … it was a matter of anti-War rallies largely being ignored, anti-War pundits getting no opportunity to express their views on TV, and the few anti-War media personalities pretty much being driven from the air.
Meanwhile, does Pelosi not talking about excessive rhetoric in the anti-war movement make her statement that excessive rhetoric is being brought to the healthcare debate any less accurate? And that’s ignoring the fact that people tend to associate Hitler a bit more with unprovoked war than government provided healthcare, for some reason.
I’m looking forward to the Democrats continuing to propose solutions to problems that are recognized by most Americans … and to Republicans continuing to follow a strategy of public monkey-wrenching.
midcon // Sep 8, 2009 at 6:40 pm
11 sinz54 // Sep 8, 2009 at 1:15 pm “No. They do NOT have such an opportunity “right now.””
I beg to differ. If the GOP is not part of the debate right now, when 2010 rolls along I am going to ask them where they’ve been all this time. Don’t tell me they are just going to show up when an election is at stake and don’t be peddling Contract With America II unless you want some scrutiny on the performance of CWA I.
Remember, no matter how you parse it, poll it, or peddle it, independents and not the card carriers will determine the outcome of the midterms. While it’s true that the parties provide the candidates, it doesn’t mean we have to vote for them and independents don’t vote straight ticket like the card carriers do.
agentprovocateur // Sep 8, 2009 at 7:15 pm
So let us try to understand escapevelocity’s logic. First, Nancy Pelosi was supposedly “shouting ‘Nazis’ at the American people”. When it is pointed out that this is simply not true, we are told that Nancy Pelosi is wrong because she supposedly didn’t criticize anti-war protestors who were supposedly using Nazi symbols. That’s some impressive “logic” there. I’m thinking of an old phrase. Something about throwing stuff against a wall and waiting to see what sticks. I guess that is a logic, of a sort.
ltoro1 // Sep 8, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Sinz54, Midcon, with all due respect your argument and counter argument are not really relevant since the Republicans in the House and Senate actually do have a bill. Also, McCain had his plan during the election, Bush had his in his second term, and you can find a new idea/plan in the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal on close to a weekly basis. However, Sinz54 is right that it really does not matter since the Republicans have no power and can only talk at this point in time.
balconesfault // Sep 9, 2009 at 12:11 am
ltoro1 – here is my question.
Is it really advancing Republican ideological interests to claim that any attempts to introduce cost-controls into Medicare is akin to instituting euthanasia? Do you truly believe that a healthcare bill that had included money to pay for living will counseling between the elderly and their personal physicians would have constituted “death panels”?
From all appearances, rather than trying to work with Democrats to get Republican principles of cost containment for social programs built into the legislation – Republicans instead took the position that they’d pretty much stand outside the process and try to blow it up.
sinz54 // Sep 9, 2009 at 9:51 am
balconesfault: Do you truly believe that a healthcare bill that had included money to pay for living will counseling between the elderly and their personal physicians would have constituted “death panels”?
The living will issue is only symbolic. The issue of what ObamaCare will or won’t pay for is very real:
1. The British NHS has already flirted with euthanasia, by their refusal to pay for medications that do not have sufficient chance of extending so-called Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs). They are quite open about this. For example, the NHS won’t pay more than $22,000 for treatments to extend a life six months. Period. Will ObamaCare introduce something like that into America? Well….
2. As for ObamaCare, its new Medicare Advisory Council is tasked specifically with cost-cutting. And Obama knows that studies have shown that the final year of life costs more in health care delivery than any prior year of life. Way back when, he wondered openly whether it was wise for his own grandmother to receive a hip replacement after a terminal cancer diagnosis. He sure sounded sympathetic to QALY calculations to me. But he shut his mouth after the negative response from American seniors to the notion of the Government playing God like that.
If there are ANY significant savings to be made in the tough choices as to what Medicare will and will not pay for, the Council WILL necessarily focus on what not to pay for in the final year of life. Just as the British NHS has already done.
3. Medicare already has significant restrictions on what they’ll pay for, refusing to pay for virtual colonoscopies, the use of MRIs, and so forth. That’s why private “Medigap” policies have become popular–they pay for what Medicare won’t. It’s logical to assume that any further cost-cutting out of Medicare is going to mean more restrictions on what Medicare will pay for.
4. If you REALLY want to know what is going to happen, then the GOP should offer an amendment to ObamaCare that states that nothing like QALY will NEVER be used as a metric of cost-effectiveness in Medicare. Let’s pin the Dems once and for all on how much they intend to restrict medical care in the final year of life.
balconesfault // Sep 9, 2009 at 10:53 am
1. The British NHS has already flirted with euthanasia, by their refusal to pay for medications that do not have sufficient chance of extending so-called Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs). They are quite open about this. For example, the NHS won’t pay more than $22,000 for treatments to extend a life six months. Period. Will ObamaCare introduce something like that into America? Well….
Nice use of ellipses. Would that require a major revamping of how Medicare does business? Yes it would.
Moreover – I have been regaled by conservatives for years with the statistic over how an extraordinary amount of money is spent on elderly patients who end up living less than 6 more months – and that this is a major reason why we need Medicare reform.
By attacking Obama over this issue, is the Republican Party committing to never try to reduce funding to Medicare over the issue of costly end-of-life care?
That is the crux of the discussion. Is this really a change of heart by Republicans to wholeheartedly support Medicare and fight off cost control measures?
Or is it just pure political cynicism of the worst kind?
ltoro1 // Sep 9, 2009 at 7:41 pm
balconesfault, my answer to your question is no. However, I disagree that the Republicans are standing outside the process. Currently, Tom Coburn has a bill and there is also the Wyden-Bennet bill. As I stated earlier, in the past there have been numerous ideas from George W. Bush, McCain, the Cato Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, etc. We are not suffering from lack of conservative and/or Republican ideas.