By the way, so it shouldn’t go unnoticed because of the holiday distractions, the Democrats and the President are spinning that they had a great week prior to Christmas because they passed the three bills, DADT, START, and 9/11, all of which at least conceptually I am in agreement. But I would be remiss if I didn’t add a little perspective as I see it.
Reality is that if the tax law (is it now referred to as the Obama tax cuts?) was extended a year or more ago the economy and unemployment would be in better stead than they currently are. And the 9/11, START, and DADT laws probably would have been passed that much sooner thus relieving many Americans of the excess stress caused by the unnecessary delays due to partisan politics on both sides of the isle.
The President and his people are all smiley for the cameras this week, but for their intransigence the country would now be in far better shape. In the final analysis, it was President Obama’s and the Majority Democrat Congress’ strategy of relentlessly trying to bury the GOP politically that ultimately, perhaps unwittingly, sacrificed the well being of the country.
In fact, (yes those pesky FACTS) for the past two years the Democrats offered up bills that they knew the GOP could not vote for because of the politics or because they were lousy bills. Had the President and the Democrat Congress moved to the middle sooner, which is what frustrated citizens and moderate politicians from both sides of the isle had been imploring them to do for more than a year, this pathetic Congress could have produced far more than it finally did in the last week of its session.
Democrat partisan politics delayed actions that could have gone into effect months ago but party members were transfixed on the President’s vengeful post 2008 election words “elections have consequences and I won.” This egotistical mindset (adopted as their mantra by the Congressional Democrats) hurt the USA. And, there is no question that the Democrats never missed an opportunity to shout about “GOP obstructionism” regarding non-passage of various bills and a Congress that was on track to being labeled "do nothing."
However, the Democrats mistakenly presumed that its strategy of branding the GOP as "obstructionist" would better the Democrat's political position. Well, on 11/2/10 the Democrats learned how poorly that strategy worked because the voters clearly expressed their collective belief that in fact it was the Democrats who were the “obstructionists” to getting the work of the 111th Congress done. Proof of this is the three bills approved this past week; generally agreed upon is that it was the “lame duck” majority Democrat Party, not the GOP, that made the necessary policy moves and compromised to the middle, thus leaving the Republican lawmakers no political option but to vote with the Democrats to pass the bills into law. The Democrats could have accomplished these same compromises to the middle several months ago but didn't because even to a casual observer it was clear that their priority was the good of the their party ahead of the good of the country.
Interesting that in the wake of 11/2 the Far Left/ Progressives were outspokenly blaming Obama for the disastrous election results; in their minds and rhetoric the poor results were indicative of the President’s not being left-leaning enough. The Far Left also blamed the President’s allowing the single-payer provision to be excluded from Obamacare thus giving voters on the left yet another reason for voting against the Democrats. Of course, the Far Left was wrong on both criticisms of Obama. The 11/2 election thrashing of the Democrats, to an objective observer, was a result of voters’ dissatisfaction with the continuing weak economy, high unemployment, and, the coup de gras, the undignified passage of Obamacare through the use of unprecedented nefarious political tactics that were endorsed if not encouraged by the President. Arguably, the Democrats marginalizing, ridiculing and labeling the Tea Party members as "an unruly mob of white, right wing nuts and bigots" also energized voters to go to the polls to vote for "change." In the end, a majority of Americans entered the voting booths with a very sour taste in their mouths for Democrat candidates.
But, after all is said and done, I give President Obama credit that he finally, or should I say in the nick of time, saw the light, probably realizing that if he did not move quickly and significantly to the middle that his presidency would surely end in 2012. Nevertheless, the damage he and his Party did to the country by wasting precious time is done, and you can't turn back the clock or take back stupid; but, because of his policy moves to the center his presidential future has probably been saved unless he gets caught with a White House page in the Oval Office, or the GOP miraculously produces an electable candidate in the next few months.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!
Albiwan..
