Obama Had His Shot. Options for next election?

[Minor Axis]

As far as the next Presidential Election, this Newsweek Article: Oval Office Appeaser states the case that Obama is not the kind of fighter other-than-Republicans need in the White House for another 4 years. A parallel the author makes is with pre-WWII British Prime Minister Chamberlain who made himself a door mat for the aggressive Germans, Chamberlain finally stepped aside for Churchill to come in and go to war. I'm starting to see the "step aside" theme from more than one source.

Chamberlain had a weak hand and played it poorly. Obama had a strong hand and threw in his chips. Immediately after his inauguration, he could have announced a bold effort to put America back to work—not a stimulus, but a recovery. When the Republicans threatened to filibuster, he could have taken his case to the American people and demanded an up-or-down vote to save the country.

Instead, Obama meekly allowed the 60-vote super-majority needed to shut off a Senate filibuster to become, for the first time in our nation’s history, an automatic veto. No fools, the Republican minority used that power to block everything. If a vital new program didn’t automatically have 60 votes, Obama wouldn’t even bring it up. It was unilateral disarmament. And so we drifted toward disaster with half-measures forged in back rooms, from the timid stimulus that was a meager Band-Aid, to the timid health-care bill that no one likes, to the timid sellout deals on the deficit.

In the 2010 elections, Obama did another Chamberlain: he betrayed his allies. Desperate not to offend Republicans, he left Democratic values and programs undefended, the Democratic narrative unvoiced. Thousands of Democrats, from Congress to city councils, went down to defeat.

After each betrayal, after each terribly bad bargain, Obama comes out waving a piece of paper, a one-sided agreement to appease the Republicans—peace in our time. And Obama is always surprised when the Republicans, instead of being satisfied when he meets their demands, up the ante—as they did when they held the American economy hostage in the battle over raising the debt ceiling.

The problem as I see Obama wants to deal with reasonable people. The problem is that the GOPpers are not reasonable. They only want one thing, the White House the next time around. If Obama wants to get something done, he has to play hardball, something he really does not seem to have the heart to do.

At this point, I really hope he does step aside and give Hillary her shot (if she is up for it.) My guess the GOP would not view this as a good thing for their plans to seize the White House.

 

[itsmeJonB]

Re-elect obama
He caught osama
Bush got a second try, and he can't even read

 

[Kyle B]

The problem as I see Obama wants to deal with reasonable people. The problem is that the GOPpers are not reasonable. They only want one thing, the White House the next time around. If Obama wants to get something done, he has to play hardball, something he really does not seem to have the heart to do.

At this point, I really hope he does step aside and give Hillary her shot (if she is up for it.) My guess the GOP would not view this as a good thing for their plans to seize the White House.

Control of the white house is the goal for both sides.

I don't see Obama stepping aside to let Hillary have a chance. She did have her shot and lost. Besides, doing something like that would make the whole party look weak.

 

[Alien Allen]

I love how you liberals are trying to rewrite history. You had a super majority in congress along with Obama.

You still don't get it. The stimulus was laid out exactly as you liberals wanted.

The hard core left will buy this bull shit bilge but the moderates know better.

I really expected Hillary to step up but maybe she is waiting for her to be drafted at the convention when it becomes obvious to the left that Obama is a one timer.

 

[Minor Axis]

I love how you liberals are trying to rewrite history. You had a super majority in congress along with Obama.

You still don't get it. The stimulus was laid out exactly as you liberals wanted.

The hard core left will buy this bull shit bilge but the moderates know better.

I really expected Hillary to step up but maybe she is waiting for her to be drafted at the convention when it becomes obvious to the left that Obama is a one timer.

Are you a moderate? Lol.

 

[Panacea]

Hillary officially announced she would not be running for office in 2012 sometime earlier this year.
*I do not know if that changed, however?

 

[Minor Axis]

Hillary officially announced she would not be running for office in 2012 sometime earlier this year.

So?

 

[Panacea]

So?

Haha ok
I was sad when I saw that announcement, I like her

 

[Alien Allen]

Are you a moderate? Lol.

Never said I was

 

[Accountable]

The problem as I see Obama wants to deal with reasonable people. [debateable] The problem is that the GOPpers are not reasonable. [Agreed] They only want one thing, the White House the next time around. [Agreed] If Obama wants to get something done, he has to play hardball, something he really does not seem to have the heart to do.[Agreed]

At this point, I really hope he does step aside and give Hillary her shot (if she is up for it.) My guess the GOP would not view this as a good thing for their plans to seize the White House.

I can't remember the conservative talk show host (not one of the top 5) that said that after seeing Hillary in action as SecState he'd vote for her over Obama & McCain both, that the dems had made a huge mistake in not nominating her.

Of course I don't agree with the direction the Progressives of both parties want to take the country, but Hillary is definitely at the top of that heap.

 

[Dana]

Hillary should not be allowed to even run....

 

[skyblue]

to be honest,i dont care what country it is,whether it be your president or our prime minister......he needs more than one term in office to sort such a financial mess out

 

[Alien Allen]

to be honest,i dont care what country it is,whether it be your president or our prime minister......he needs more than one term in office to sort such a financial mess out

all he has done is to make it worse

another Jimmy Carter but worse

if he had it his way now he would ask for another trillion dollar stimulus. Oh wait they don't want to call it that anymore. It will be called a jobs plan.

What a joke

 

[Minor Axis]

all he has done is to make it worse

Right, your convenient approach of total focus on the President. Too bad you NEVER volunteer any negative comments about the Republicans who have expended virtually all of their efforts to stop Obama from accomplishing anything, even bipartisan objectives. This attitude has squandered 4 years the country can't afford.

 

[skyblue]

well i'm not really up on your political system over there but it sounds the same as over here,one party is in power and the other is doing all they can to obstruct them

 

[Tim]

Right, your convenient approach of total focus on the President. Too bad you NEVER volunteer any negative comments about the Republicans who have expended virtually all of their efforts to stop Obama from accomplishing anything, even bipartisan objectives. This attitude has squandered 4 years the country can't afford.

You are too near sighted in today's politics. You need to go back to 1974 to see where this all came from.
Jude Wanniski is the one who came up with "Supply side economics". At the same time, Arthur Laffer was taking that equation a step further. Not only was supply-side a rational concept, Laffer suggested, but as taxes went down, revenue to the government would go up!
If you understand the strategy and why it was implemented in the first place, you will understand why we are at the place we are today. The republicans are still running plays right out of the 1974 playbook...

The cycle is that Republicans spend like drunken sailors, lower taxes and never say anything about the debt. Then when a democrat gets into office, they scream about the debt and tell everyone that we are broke so that they are forced to cut social programs.
It's all about putting republicans into office. It has NOTHING to do with doing what's right for the country.

Read this, it's a great article explaining it in detail.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

 

[Accountable]

You are too near sighted in today's politics. You need to go back to 1974 to see where this all came from.
Jude Wanniski is the one who came up with "Supply side economics". At the same time, Arthur Laffer was taking that equation a step further. Not only was supply-side a rational concept, Laffer suggested, but as taxes went down, revenue to the government would go up!
If you understand the strategy and why it was implemented in the first place, you will understand why we are at the place we are today. The republicans are still running plays right out of the 1974 playbook...

The cycle is that Republicans spend like drunken sailors, lower taxes and never say anything about the debt. Then when a democrat gets into office, they scream about the debt and tell everyone that we are broke so that they are forced to cut social programs.
It's all about putting republicans into office. It has NOTHING to do with doing what's right for the country.

Read this, it's a great article explaining it in detail.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

I feel like I'm reading one of Minor's posts. All Republican's fault and Dems are the poor defenseless victims. BOTH sides spend too damn much, grow too damn much, and are only focused on who gets to make the spending decisions. NEITHER give a flying fuck about the liberty that made this country unique, only about pacifying the public as they take over more and more of our lives.

 

[Alien Allen]

Supply side worked. More money DID come in.

The spending side was a failure and just gets worse by the day.

 

[retro]

Supply side worked. More money DID come in.

The spending side was a failure and just gets worse by the day.

This. Hell, Ron Paul just said as much in the Republican debate.

 

[retro]

The republicans are still running plays right out of the 1974 playbook...

While democrats are calling plays out of the 1965 playbook....