Stop Panicking About Obama
The verdict on President Obama is already in and it's not a pretty one: he's bungled health care. The economy is going nowhere. The Republicans are making a comeback. And it's all Obama's fault. If he had only made the case for fundamental change, as Paul Krugman argues in today's New York Times, the American people wouldn't be suspicious of big government. Obama is too passive, too read to compromise, naive, getting rolled by the right. In short, he's squandering the promise of his presidency.
Baloney. The idea seems to be that Obama can wave a magic wand and get Congress to cooperate and, in a flash, efface decades of anti-government rhetoric. He can't. What he can do is hew to a middle course, persuade the Democrats against their instincts for self-immolation that a compromise bill would be best, and watch as the radical right pushes the GOP even further into the breakdown lane.
By the end of this year, Obama will be in a very strong position. Congress will pass a health care bill -- not a perfect one, to put it mildly, but it will be the first step toward creating comprehensive coverage. Obama will be able to claim it as a big win, as will congressional Democrats.
Then there's the economy. Unemployment will remain high, but Obama will be able to point to a revival, not just in the stock market, but also in jobs creation. With a reviving economy, the Democrats will be in an impregnable position by the 2010 midterm elections. The Republicans who are counting on an off-year for the Democrats should think again.
What about foreign policy? Obama will have greatly curtailed the American presence in Iraq. Within a year, it will also become clear whether his approach to Afghanistan -- upping the number of troops -- is working. In addition, Pakistan seems to be stabilizing. Both would count as big wins for Obama.
Despite all the caterwauling about Obama, then, he remains firmly on course to become one of the most important Democratic presidents in history. It's always tempting to demand more, to see betrayal of the cause. It's what conservatives have been doing for decades, as they declared that even George W. Bush wasn't conservative enough.
There is no reason to panic about Obama. His sobriety and sound judgment are his greatest assets. So far, the most significant thing about Obama isn't that he hasn't accomplished more, but how successful his presidency has already been.
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Oh, I get it. What's important is whether or not the Democratic Party gains vs the Republican Party? Not so important whether or not we do what's right, or at least what's right for "America"?
Well, if progressives decide to call Obama's bluff and vote against any reform bill that does not incldude either a "public option" or the Kucinich amendment that mandates ERISA waivers for any state wishing to institute a single-payer plan, what then? Compared to what is essentially a Massachusetts-like giveaway to the insurance industry, no reform could end up being the compromise we're left with.
So here's an alternate reality: No health care reform, the economy embarking upon a Japanese-like "lost decade" due to bailouts and the top and no relief at all for the working class, no peace in the Middle East due to Obama's caving on the settlements issue and a continuing quagmire in Afghanistan.
Gosh, I thought I was the only one who could see through the baloney being thrown about in the media and town hall meetings.
Wow! I'm a freedom loving Aussie and I find this paranoia over decent pubic health care amazing.
We've had it for almost 30 years.
I've expounded on this in many of Huffo's threads but let me simply say... America you deserve better, do not believe the Conservative lies.
NB: It took two goes in my country to get universal Medicare established. The Conservatives got rid of it when they got voted back in. The Labor Party re-established it at the next election after that. And although they have undermined it every time they got back into power the Conservatives don't dare try to get rid of it again. What I am getting at here is you have to push HARD for it- it's NOT going to happen through bi-partisanship.
PS: And get stuck into Wallstreet too, at least our government has stripped the ASX of its self-regulation recently... much to the shareholders' delight, believe it or not.
True, but in here you are just preaching to the choir. We need to find a way to fight the propaganda where it is hitting hardest.
Jacob, while I attempt on my own to follow your advice, I also believe that some things are too important for a President to not draw a line in the sand and, come Hell or high water, go for the gold. Arianna makes the same point in asking the President to learn from FDR. Healthcare reform with a strong public option (in lieu of the better single payer) is one of those essential things. How can we bring healthcare costs down so that everyone can be covered without having a reform bill that will use the power of the government to negotiate reasonable costs? How can the reform work without this? A watered down bill can only fail and not provide a springboard for further and better action. I still think that Obama will do this, but if he does not, win or lose, the steam will go out of his presidency. A great president needs a backbone and a touch of ruthlessness, as well as people skills, a golden tongue, and willingness to compromise. LBJ had almost none of the "good" skills, yet he twisted arms to give our minorities (soon to be the majority (in aggregate) far more equal access to our society's benefits. Grind a little, Mr. President!
Here's a list of 35 promises the President has kept. More to come in the next 7+ years.
http://stephencrose.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/5612/
That link doesn't seem to work. This should.
http://ow.ly/llCU
But people here are not of the thought controlled variety who put their hope in things that "should" work. For we put our hope only in things that are "proven beyond a reasonable doubt" to work.
We lost a great man in Kennedy yesterday - and one of our greatest champions of health care reform. It has become even more important than ever that we get this done! And rightfully call it the TeddyPlan in honor of the man who made this his life's work!
We cannot let the scare tactics dissuade us from reaching our goal!
While many of us are struggling to afford medical insurance/medical bills.
While Congress people try to stop healthcare reform.
While Congress people accept large contributions from lobbyists to prevent health care reform.
Our elected officials in Congress receive health care mostly paid for by us tax payers, yet many are trying to make it impossible for us to purchase an affordable plan of our own.
http://www.petitiononline.com/PubOp676/petition.html
wow, mr heilbrunn. apparently your thirst for kool-aid is unquenchable. i honestly thought your piece was satirical until i read some of the comments from your fellow kool-aid drinkers.
He knows what his point is, and he knows that many thirsties will lap it up thinking that he is a liberal and therefore believing that they're in agreement. It's almost humorous.
This article is a nearly perfect representation of the sad state of intellectualism in the U.S. today. The write - an author no less - sums up his article with the following:
"So far, the most significant thing about Obama isn't that he hasn't accomplished more, but how successful his presidency has already been."
However, if anyone bothers to look at the article for a shred of actual evidence to back up this wild assertion of ongoing success, they will find....nothing. The author basis his "no worries" conclusion on presumed outcomes (e.g. a health care bill that Americans will cheer about). This is absurd. To demonstrate this I offer the following: Not only will Obama have a health care bill at the end of the year, he will also end the war in Afghanistan, invent a cure for cancer, and solve the deficit problem. See? No worries at all!!! How great.
PWR
You don't grasp who the author is or what his point is.
I couldn't agree more with this article. I'm not in favor of rushing to judgement about Obama. His leadership style is completely different from any other President of our time. I supported him for his ability to make sound judgements. I still trust him, and I think I'll disregard all the noise and give him more time to work through some of the incredibly difficult issues he's inherited. It's only been a few months, for goodness sake.
I am 100% in accord with this article -- AND with Obama. Eight months in office -- first of all, he has indeed already accomplished an enormous amount for the environment, for green jobs, in the way that America is viewed by allies abroad, for women, for international family planning. He has created and is pushing for an inclusive health-care program (no, no, NO, you idiots; NOT a "socialist" program), and this is after an incredibly short time in office.
We are a nation peopled by incredibly spoiled citizens. Instant gratification -- and we want impossible gratifications, to boot. He is also, perhaps to his policies' detriment, a seeker of compromise with those who will not compromise: the most spoiled (and I fear -- the most racist) segments of our population that seek to bring him down and to tar him with utterly inappropriate smears -- "Nazi" is the most odious.
Do you really think that anyone can get this amount done, without the support of the "other" major party, with the speed and ease that you delusional people think necessary? He has done an amazing job so far, and I support him wholeheartedly.
Obama is getting it from both the left and the right cos he's either not moving fast enough to get something done - or he's going way too fast and taking on too much stuff at once. The man just can't win. He's damned if he does something and damned if he don't. The righties are much worse than the liberals in their complaining and whining about everything Obama does, and it's like they are trying to drive him crazy. Maybe they are hoping that if they do enough whining then they will make him want to resign after only 8 months in office. If we had a nickel for every time the righties ran their mouth, then we would have enough money to cover Health Care Reform - and then some! They have tried using every trick in the book to stop Obama from getting elected by calling him a muslim, a communist, a Marxist, and a foreigner. Failing all this, they now seem to be trying to run him out of office by harassing him to death.
I get Pres. Obama's agenda. Can you explain to me why Pres. Obama has hired radicals to be his czars? Some of them have been jailed. Some of them have formed "The Weathermen" group. Do you know who wrote the Stimulus Bill, that had to be passed without reading it? Radicals that's who wrote it. Who did Obama associate with in Chicago? Radicals, that's who he associated with! Obama is very cunning and smart.. He is turning us in a Socialist state without us realizing what he is
doing. He is doing it without expanation, with a smile on his face, and evading any questions he is asked. WHEN ARE THE AMERICAN VOTERS AND THE PRESS GOING TO WISE UP!
Yo, salh -- This American voter is right here, and thinks you're woefully misled; your entire rhetoric smacks of Glenn Beck et. al. Why don't you at least come up with some original falsehoods?
And this voter thinks you have been watching way too much Faux. Doo your own research then get on board or get out of the way.
The purists don't seem to get the big picture, do they?
"'What he can do is hew to a middle course..."
BS. If I say that gravity works downward and you say that it works upward, that doesn't mean that it actually works somewhere in between. When a patient's heart stops, the doctor doesn't consider it a success if he manages to get half of the heart working.
With the damage that the wingnuts have done since 1994, a so-called middle course lies too far to the right to be healthy. The LAST thing we need is someone afraid to take a stand, and the only thing Obama has done so far is stand for handing out taxpayer dollars to banks so they can keep giving themselves hundreds of millions of our dollars in "performance" bonuses.
Gosh, thanks. I feel totally reassured.
Why did he take single payer off the table before it could be dicussed or rated by the CBO???
I'll believe progress WHEN I SEE IT!
http://www.pnhp.org/
According to birthers,GOP,Hannity and Fox tabloid. Obama is the blame for every problem the country's had going back to the first settlment Jamestown 1608 when they had to use communism to make it thru the tough times just blame Obama. All the wars the Revolutionary, French Indian, 1812, Civil, Spanish American, WWI,II, III, Korean, Vietnam, I Gulf IIGulf and Granada just blame OBAMA. Plus all of George Bush blunders just blame Obama. Tomorrows heat and humidity just blame Obama. GOP lost election Obama did that to. So the feats of misconduct of Obama are so vast the incontainable in books. Iknow I should let Fox News go but I can't afford cable.
The sad and ominous thing is, dieselis, that there are people out there who honestly (well, or dishonestly) believe this!
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