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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Well Done Mr. President



I’ve been waiting a long time to hear another liberal inaugural address that drew the line on what separates liberals from conservatives. The president did not use the opportunity to extend another olive branch to the Republican Party but instead chose to lay down the foundation for a new tomorrow or as someone said,” to declare the end of Reaganism.

The talk of a need for collectivism and a need for a free market that is fair for all Americans had to be devastating for Libertarians to hear. 

The president did not draw- a- line in the sand, but he did lay down his marker, which is what we need to have an honest dialogue. He knows nothing will get done on climate change in the next four years, but that doesn’t mean he won’t continue to talk about more violent storms, frequent fires and drought that are caused by climate change. Fifteen years from now, the climate-change deniers will be saying, “ if we only have listened to President Obama, we would have had a fifteen-year head start."

The president talked of honoring the social contract we made with the elderly and the most vulnerable and the need to view all the options before cutting those programs. This was the first time in inaugural history, that the words, gay, Medicare, Medicaid and climate change were ever used.

The Republicans are out in full force telling everyone within earshot" see I told you he was a liberal” as if it was a social disease. I never knew how liberal or moderate the president was because of some of his previous appointments and stances. For instance, he never fully endorsed the public option and during the debates he bragged of all the drilling for oil we’ve done. He set deportation records and kept all the Bush methods of fighting terrorism except for the enhanced interrogation methods. After four years, he has become wiser and has learned that you won’t win many battles if you're always playing defense and on your opponent's home turf.

The voters want the parties to compromise to get something done but that can’t happen unless the lines of distinction are known by both parties. For example, it is highly unlikely that a grand bargain will be made because the president barely mentioned the deficit or the debt. The Democrats could be persuaded to raise the retirement age to age 66 for the elimination of the oil subsidies and the parties can continue working on things that can be passed with bipartisan support. Like anything else, bipartisanship can be habit forming.

The GOP is starting the new legislation session after a three- day retreat to strategize but their opponents did the same in a less informal way. The Democrats know that they are only 17 house seats away from taking over that legislative chamber. They think if they keep laying out mainstream positions, they will be bait the GOP to oppose; thereby keeping their extreme Tea Party at  9% approval. The GOP has a 26% approval, and Speaker Boehner has a 18% approval compared to Obama’s 52 % which gives them the confidence that their strategy is working. Things can change overnight but right now I don’t see the president moving one inch away from the stand he took yesterday. In his upcoming State of the Union speech in two-weeks, he will say what legislative accomplishments he thinks can be accomplished in his second term.

14 comments:

Mike said...

Here is a review of what others thought in pundit-ville.

"What everyone seemed to agree on was that Obama had given an unexpectedly forceful speech.

On MSNBC, the praise was overflowing. Chris Hayes called it "surprisingly liberal," and Chris Matthews, in typically unrestrained form, said it was "Lincolnesque." Amidst the love, Ed Schultz said Obama's unmentioned drone policy could cause him trouble.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer said Obama had "surprised him" with his mentions of climate change and gay rights. "He went way beyond what I thought he was going to do," he said, a feeling echoed by his colleagues.

On Fox News, there was less of a charitable feeling. Brit Hume said that the "lame" economic recovery undercut Obama's message.

"I don’t think he reached out to the other side at all,” "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace added.

Columnist Charles Krauthammer gave Obama something of a backhanded compliment, calling the speech "amazing" and "very important historically," but adding that it was not "memorable" and that it signalled an ominous shift to the left.

Obama, he said, had declared the "end of Reaganism," adding that the speech was a "hymn to big government.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/21/pundits-obama-inauguration-krauthammer_n_2521283.html

Mike said...

We don't need more sticking restrictions..We need more guns..Well we got them.

"Multiple people have been shot at Lone Star College's North Harris campus in Houston, Texas, according to KPRC.

Mike said...

Joe Scarborough is taking Obama’s speech putting his own take on it and daring the president to get the Senate Democrats to pass legislation to match the president’ agenda. The trouble with a small government conservative/libertarian like Joe is that he doesn’t realize that there is more than one way to skin a cat. Joe Scarborough thinks the president called for legislation like a Cap-and- Trade bill, support for gay marriage and more gun control.

Let’s take those issues one at a time, and I don’t have ties to Obama’s inner circle, and neither does Joe Scarborough. I don’t think the president is going to spend any capital on environmental issues other than having a strong EPA because he knows Mother Nature will take its course. Joe Scarborough is a typical deficit hawk who relies totally on today’s numbers. He doesn’t see spending $50 billion for sea water barriers which will prevent water damage in the future Patch it up, ignore the obvious and pretend that God will take care of us. History will ask (when we finally wake and smell the roses), “where were the America’s leaders?” There will be a notion next to President Carter and President Obamas* “they tried, but it was about a conservative Democrat getting reelected in a red state.” deny climate change at your peril.

It has been my opinion that it’s not the role of the federal government to define marriage; it’s unconstitutional. I think The Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional. Yes, I know it was passed under the Clinton administration, but that doesn’t make it anymore constitutional.Mr. Scarborough thinks the Democrats have to support some imaginary gay -marriage legislation just because Obama mentioned it yesterday in his inaugural speech. The president brought up Stonewall yesterday, but it was meant for ears of the Supreme Court justices. The Supreme Court will hear cases to determine whether DOMA or California’s Proposition 8 is constitutional.

The president knows that 92% of all Americans support universal background checks,so that will likely pass. He will take his case to the American people to ban semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity ammo clips knowing it has almost no chance of passing the GOP house. Being on the losing end of this issue is temporary, because it seems like every day we have another incident that calls for some action.

I think the president doesn’t want to be known for a 7.8% unemployment rate, so that’s the issue he will concentrate on, by insisting on some infrastructure projects to get this country working again.

Mike said...

Sorry that should have been notation instead of notion but I'm sure you figured that out...:-)

Edith Ann said...

Little off-topic, if you will indulge me--

Couple of thoughts:

1. Do you suppose all of those folks who have been alleging a cover-up in the Benghazi event watched the proceedings today or will they just wait to see what FOX tells them to think about them later?

By the way, I just love Hillary Clinton! She can kick ass with the best of them!

Then---KAVU is running the story about the 3 lawmakers in Texas who have introduced a bill that would allow school districts to add a tax to pay for secutiry. I just had to laugh at the locals who were interviewed! Basically it was, "Absolutely we need better security at our schools! Wait--what!!! You want ME to pay for it? Uh, I don't think so!"

I think it is put up or shut up time! Texas schools are not going to have much choice--the education budget was gutted and there is not extra money. A school official told me last night that Texas school enrollment (statewide) is expected to increase by 80,000 this next year. Teachers will not be increasing much.

I'll watch to see how that tax thingy plays out.

Mike said...

Good points all around especially after all the grandstanding by the GOP today.
After the caved to the prez on the debt ceiling fight;they went after Hillary and got double whammies because Hillary hit right back....She dealt with the Big Dog himself ,so Senators Ron Johnson and Rand Paul are mere amateurs to her....lol

Rand Paul said if he was Hillary's boss he would have fired her...lol
#1...that would never happen because she would not work for him
#2, He'll never be president ...Like father- like son 
#3. Empty rhetoric

I saw that on KAVU where I heard the words "school safety ,I'm all for it" and then
" not with my money you won't."..Where we're these people when Gov. Perry cut the education budget?

It has to be a coordinated effort by the Texas GOP to send the craziest people they can find....One is trying to impeach the president over the 23 executive orders....He probably hasn't read them and he doesn't know that president's can't make laws, their executive orders just strengthen the laws that are already on the books. 

Edith Ann said...

I guess they have decided after sitting around like impotent wimps for 4 years, they are now going to get tough!

There should be a test for political candidates.

Mike said...

Chris Matthews doesn't usually make me laugh but tonight he said of the hearings on Benghazi," it was like watching an episode of Gulliver's Travels ;Hillary amongst the little people."

A test would be helpful because they swear to uphold the constitution,yet several don't know a thing about it....
 

Mike said...

I see a Saturday vent coming on.

The GOP is regerrymandering theirbdistricts in Virgina and some red states are changing the way they count their electorial votes....Can't win the popular vote,so rig the election.

But then along came this :A Republican lawmaker in New Mexico introduced a bill on Wednesday that would legally require victims of rape to carry their pregnancies to term in order to use the fetus as evidence for a sexual assault trial.

House Bill 206, introduced by state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R), would charge a rape victim who ended her pregnancy with a third-degree felony for “tampering with evidence.”

What's with GOP men,they have an obsession causing them to lose what's left of their sanity.

born2Bme said...

so it isn't rape if a baby isn't planted?
Let them just keep digging the hole deeper and deeper.

Mike said...

That's a good point and I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't even think of that possibility....You must know a lot of Republicans...:-)

Obama must be making them lose their remaining marbles and they only had a couple of them left.

born2Bme said...

I know enough about republicans to know they are...what is the word?...clueless? Ignorant? Out of touch? Blind? Neanderthal?

Edith Ann said...

Congrats on the 75K!

Mike said...

Thanks EA,if I stay at it long enough and I'll eventually get there...:-)

born,I don't usually have a daily exposure to Dems or Rep. but I read the letters in our newspaper to get the temperature.

I can understand the loonies in the house but people who are elected to the senate have to win a state wide election ,so it would seem like they would be more reasonable...But no,Rand Paul fancies himself president one day and the other Tea Party senator from Wisconsin asked John Kerry at his senate confirmation for head of the state department about the deficit and debt...The state dept. is about 2% of the budget and the intellectually challenged senator should be asking questions about foreign affairs.