NY Times columnist David Brooks
today says Obama's tanking approval rating is the result of
Obama having joined itself at the hip to the left of his
party and that what Obama needs to do now is move to the
center. Here's Mr. Brooks' advice:
The president’s challenge now is to halt
the slide. That doesn’t mean giving up his goals. It means
he has to align his proposals to the values of the political
center: fiscal responsibility, individual choice and
decentralized authority.
Events have pushed Barack Obama off to
the left. Time to rebalance.
However, what Mr. Brooks doesn't
understand, and what all those centrists in this country who
voted for Mr. Obama failed to see during the election, is
that Mr. Obama is the left, and sold his soul to the late
Ted Kennedy and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to get himself elected.
They also failed to see that Mr. Obama
would have had a successful career as a mediator but would
have made a terrible lawyer because he's not a fighter.
And what we need in Washington right now
is a fighter.
Compromise is a wonderful thing, but in
the matter of health care reform which has been batting
around the halls of the Capitol for generations, all the
compromise in the world has gotten reform no where.
The counter argument to Mr. Brooks'
solution to President Obama's dilemma is to ram health care
through, but only after he explains point by point to
Americans why his legislation is so crucial not just to the
health care of Americans but to the fiscal health of
America.
When those centrists understand the
rewards of a health care system that works to the betterment
of America's long-term health, Obama has a chance of getting
the political center behind him as well as keeping those he
sold his soul to happy.
Alternatively, the Republican machine
will have learned, should Obama fold on his core issue, they
can control this president for evermore.
If this happens, expect another 4
more years of treading water on Capitol Hill, which will
serve the Republicans, and destroy the Democrats. And again,
the Dems will wind up with a one-term president.
The public option is the core of health
care reform legislation. To take it off the table is the
same as saying, there will be no health care reform...only
more dirty deals with the health care giants.
The much-celebrated Bishop Desmond Tutu
had many unkindly words for Israel and Jewish Americans. A
good friend of Pres. Obama's, one wonders if he was speaking
for the President in his scathing comments made to the
Israeli paper Haaretz. Tutu's reasoning is nonsensical, of
course. He clearly is shifting the blame for the condition
the people who call themselves Palestinians find themselves
in (forgetting history) and squarely placing the blame for
their situation on the victims of not just the Nazi
Holocaust but the millenniums of persecution at the hand of
the world. Obama should denounce Tutu as should President
Clinton, another good friend of TuTu's.
LINK
Beware the Republican spin machine. They
are out in full force on the health care issue, circling
their wagons, their NRA Winchester rifles poised to do
damage to the Democrat's health care reform initiative.
Bang, bang, bang, with precision the elephant-hunting party
is shooting its large tranquilizers into its own
conscientious objectors (Republicans who understand the need
for reform) and managing to bring them into the fold.
LINK President Obama seems to have been hit with one of
those Republican tranquilizers, his somnolence is evident in
his inability to rally and join his own troops. You out
there who consider health care reform legislation essential
better get out your guns and start pointing them, and
shouting from your rooftops. Or you can say good-bye to
reform...and more importantly, the promise of the long-term
reign of the Democratic Party.
You must make your voices heard,
particularly if you live in Blue-dog country. Phone your
representatives offices, talk to your friends, Facebook,
Twitter, let your legislators know you want comprehensive
health care reform. If you don't, the Republicans win again,
the PR wars.
And when they do, don't say I didn't
warn you that would happen.
Quickly filling the seat of the late Ted
Kennedy is imperative for the Dems, particularly if they
plan to force through health care legislation on their own,
without the help of the resistant Republicans. Therefore,
they need Kennedy's seat and the vote that comes with it...
therefore Kennedy's request days before his demise to
quickly fill his seat. Only a few years ago, when at the
time it was more advantageous to the party to have a full
election, the Mass. legislature changed the law. So, of
course, having done so at Kennedy's earlier request, they
would be reluctant to change the law now. But not so fast.
Mass. Gov. Duval Patrick, who owes his office to Pres.
Obama's election guru, David Axelrod, is now on board for
fast-tracking Kennedy's successor. Let's see what the
Republican's in the Mass house have to say about this. This
could get interesting.
LINK
There's a rare bit of qualified writing
on the opinion page of the Wall Street Journal this morning.
But don't be fooled by the caliber of writing. The content
is a real lesson to President Obama.
LINK Although Bill McGurn's assessment of the Clinton
presidency may be true, that was then and this is now.
McGurn is right. Obama does have to move to the left in
order to govern this country successfully. But he has plenty
of time to do that AFTER he pushes through his health care
reform legislation.
Now there are those who say that if
Obama doesn't compromise with the Republicans now, he will
find himself marginalized the rest of his term. But I
disagree. Obama, is a sweet-talkin' guy. If he can bring his
party in line with him on health care, the Republicans will
fear that power. They will more likely dance with a powerful
man than one who can't control his own party.
There is an inherent difference between
what Clinton had to prove in his day and what Obama has to
prove in his. Clinton's power wasn't the issue during the
health care debate. In a sense power is at the core of the
debate between Obama and the Republicans. The Republicans
are betting that a lot of Americans think Obama is a weak
man. And if he fails at passing health care reform, those
American's will lose faith in his presidency.
Obama must pass health care reform
legislation that includes the public plan, or he's toast for
the next four and some odd years.
The original was rejected;
the
thought Joe Biden looked too, what, smarmy? Here's the
replacement. Your pick? It's the little things in government
that matter. Hm.
If ever you wondered if your
representatives give a f**k about you, here is proof that
reps from both sides of the aisle don't. Sen. Lieberman's
(Dem turned Independent) statement that we should wait until
after the recession is over to tackle some parts of health
care, and Sen. Lugar's (R-Ind) suggesting the whole ball of
wax be pushed to the back burner while too many American's
suffer without health care insurance or bad insurance etc. -
the recession adding to their woes - really is the WTF
moment in the lunacy of what is going on on Capital Hill
during this debate. Of course, we all know there never is a
right time to tackle these huge and important issues because
it is never right politically for the idiots who we elected
to see that legislation is passed, since all they really
care about is how legislation will effect their re-election
campaigns.
Here is the
LINK to these idiots posturing. Call their offices and
let them have it. Tell them they won't get re-elected if
they don't pass comprehensive health care reform.
Well, it looks like the Dems are going
to fight back. They floated their trial balloon on
abandoning the public option and were met with a hard right
in the face from the hard left. So as the NY Times and
others report today, it looks as if the Dems are willing to
go it alone on getting health care reform legislation
passed.
It is going to get nasty. The Dems are
going after the insurance companies with an investigation
into smarmy practices. And they are about to paint the
Republicans as the ultimate obstructionists more interested
in playing politics than in the welfare of Americans. I
smell Rahm Emanuel at work.
It is clear that the reach out to the
Republicans came up empty and also gave the Republicans the
opportunity to mount what turned out to be an almost
devastating campaign against the Dems and the nubile
President. With no alternative the White House has to take
this new offensive.
This leaves them with another problem:
How to bring the conservative Blue Dog Dems in line? But I
suspect they look a lot less daunting then the Republicans
at this point in the political debacle this neophyte
president, elected with so much political capital allowed to
happen.
We'll have to wait and see how well the
administration can regroup. We can only hope their change in
strategy is not too little too late.
It is possible to cut waste and not
necessary procedures therefore not limiting anyone's health
care. Democrats and Republicans...why is this an idea that
you can't seem to wrap your brains around?
Healthcare CEO PAY over 5 years - One person in each of 25
Companies: TOTAL
$14.9 billion
United Health, William McGuire
$342 mil
Forest Labs, Solomon
$295 mil
Caremark Rx, Edwin Crawford
$93.6 mil
Abbott Lab, Miles White
$25.8 mil
Aetna, John Rowe
$57.8 mil
Amgen, Kevin Sharer,
$59.5 mil
Bectin-Dickinson, Edwin Ludwig,
$18 mil
Boston Scientific
$45 mil
Cardinal Health, James Tobin,
$33.5 mil
Cigna, Edward Hanway,
$62.8 mil
And we don't need reform?
BTW, these are the guys the president is
making deals with...lousy deals for you and me.
President Obama's Op-Ed in the NY Times
LINK is pretty standard fare for a president losing the
argument on one of his key initiatives, except for one
sentence:
"I hear more and more stories like these every single day,
and it is why we are acting so urgently to pass
health-insurance reform
this year."
Finally, the president gets it. If he is
to get the American public on his side on this important
reform, he has to define the enemy. It is not the
progressive Democratic Party or Sarah Palin and the lunatic
right wingers, it is the insurance industry. Kudos to the
administration for finally getting it. Better late than
never. Let's just hope not too late.
I suspect this is an argument the
president didn't want to have. He surely didn't want to go
to war with the insurance industry, whose help he needs in
his re-election bid. But could it be that we actually have a
president who is willing to put his second term on the line
in order to get much-needed health reform passed?
On the other hand, he's got to stop
giving up his chits before he has to. Secretary Sebelius
said today that reform legislation does not have to include
a public insurance option. O come on. It's way too soon to
make such a huge concession.
Here is a great piece to read on the
subject.
LINK On the other hand, the Obama presidency is starting
to look, eerily, like the troubled governorship of Duval
Patrick who won his election with Axelrod's hope and change
theme, and then squandered the results. Oy.
With all due respect... progressive
writers are giving Sarah Palin way too much power as she
raises her voice in the health care debate. And in doing so,
they further empower a woman who has proven to be not all
that politically astute. The Dems need to get real if they
are to turn this debate to their favor. They can only do
that by coming to terms with the truth: they left an opening
for Palin and the Republicans, and so far, they have not
closed the gap.
Instead of taking a vacation with his kids, the president
ought to be brainstorming with his team to figure out how to
fix the mess their incompetence has caused. Never in modern
times have we had a president elected with so much hope.
Never in modern times have we seen hope and opportunity
squandered so quickly.
It speaks volumes that the neophyte
Palin was so easily able to change the course of the debate.
It's even scary. Jeez, think about it!
Last night I talked about our
president's inability to get a grip on the health care
fiasco. (See: Below). Paul Krugman of the NY Times agrees
with me that Obama just ain't gettin' it. Krugman also
said:
"So far, at least, the Obama
administration’s response to the outpouring of hate on the
right has had a deer-in-the-headlights quality. It’s as if
officials still can’t wrap their minds around the fact that
things like this can happen to people who aren’t named
Clinton, as if they keep expecting the nonsense to just go
away."
The part of the paragraph I find most
interesting is about the Clintons. We all know that I am a
Clinton fan. Still, since Obama is the first Democratic
president since Clinton and like Clinton is being demonized
by the Right, it is now becoming clear that if the Clintons
had been called the Gingrichs they, too, would have been
demonized. Now the Right is going after Obama exactly as
they went after first Bill and then Hillary...successfully.
The issue for the Republicans is not
just the issue of health care (actually, it really isn't
about healthcare as most Republicans understand the need to
reform America's health care system.) No, the issue for the
Republicans is to take advantage of an opportunity to
literally neuter the president, as they tried to do to Bill
Clinton and de-egg Hillary.
Now, their attempts to neuter a
Democratic president are close to being successful again.
And Obama and team are not doing a very good job, in fact
they are doing a lousy job, in response.
That's why I'm shouting to the rooftop:
"Get a grip, Mr. President!"
Look who the Obama Admin has pulled out
of the hat to help Obama's signature isssue health care
legislation passed...none other than Obama's nemesis former
President Bill Clinton. Obama must be truly worried about
the legislation if he asked the Big Gun for help.
LINK I guess the President is willing to put it all on
the line to get health care passed. There's even a report
that POTUS is willing to give up a second term if that's
what is necessary to finally get the much-needed reform to
health care on the books.
LINK
I can only imagine how the history books
will took about the powerhouse family Clinton. Really,
aren't they extraordinary public servants. Say what you will
about Bill and Hill, they're duel roles as powerhouses of
the times cannot be denied. Juxtaposed on the pages of Time
this morning were these two images, as if this were normal,
a successful husband and wife team celebrated on the world
stage. Yes, extraordinary.
Politics in the U.S. has become us vs.
them. On issue after issue, that is what we get, utter
polarization. Should we blame the politicians? Yes. But what
about the citizens? They deserve blame too. So many
American's are so certain that they are absolutely right.
But can any of us be all that certain that we are one
hundred percent correct in all of our beliefs? Of course,
not. What is missing in the American dialogue is a healthy
dose of incertitude. And the ability to listen. Protesting,
shouting, certitude, all symptoms of the core illness
effecting Americans...mental illness. Don't believe me?
Watch the news and the insane behavior recorded by the news
media at the health care town halls, not just by those
against health care reform, but also by the lying
narcissistic, megalomaniacs running the government.
For good reason, adult use of
antidepressants almost tripled between 1988-1994 and
1999-2000. Ten percent of women 18 and older and 4 percent
of men now take antidepressants. Apparently not enough...but
the rest can't afford their drugs because they can't afford
the deductibles of their bad insurance policies, or they
have no insurance at all.
Watching the fiasco of this health care
debate is proof how dysfunctional this country has become,
our politics symptoms of our dis-ease.
Is she kidding? What is the matter with
these people at Fox News? This is a perfect example of how
this country got where it is. I am rendered almost
speechless!
As I'm not a huge fan of Arianna
Huffington's, rarely do you see a link on these pages to her
website. But she's right on her criticism of the president and
his handling of health care, in fact, right on the money. So,
please follow the
LINK and absorb her points. Frank Rich of the NY Times, who
I don't always agree with had it right in his Sunday column as
well. Be sure to follow the link to his piece.
There's a bottomline here, and it isn't
pretty. We appear to have a president (forewarned) who simply
can't help himself. His nature is to vote 'present'...even
before he has to.
In early August (see below) I said that
Senator Graham's vote for now Justice Sotomayer was his opening
bid for the Republican Parties' nomination for president.
I believe I am right. I think Lanny Davis might agree from the
piece he wrote in The Washington Times today.
LINK
Many of you have asked me why I'm not
commenting on the health care debate. Answer: The only thing I
feel I can comment on is the political fray ensuing because the
product being offered thus far is a work in non-progress. What
should have been a sure-bet when Obama became president walking
into office with more political capital than any other
modern-day president, has turned into a political
debacle...thanks to President Obama.
Let's start with the debt Obama owed far
left Dems Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy who helped him get
elected. Kennedy, of course, is sadly not a part of the
conversation at this point due to his failing health. That
leaves the inept Pelosi in charge of getting health care passed
because we have a president with poor leadership skills.
LINK
Speaker Pelosi does not represent most
Americans in her thinking. She is far left of center and some
might even call her thinking radical. But Pelosi's biggest
problem is that she is tone deaf, which is why that sure-thing
health care package is gasping for breath. Pelosi apparently
figures that she's the lady in charge and with the Dems the
majority in both houses, she doesn't have to explain anything or
compromise her personal agenda.
Wrong!
Americans are justifiably scared of reform.
But their fear stems from what they don't know, not from what
they ought to know. The Obama team and Speaker Pelosi apparently
were so certain health care reform was going to be an easy bill
to pass that they failed to hear and respond in a timely matter
to the fear being voiced by the American people.
Thus, the current fray and the political
reality that America finds itself in thanks to the inept Obama
machine, which for political pay-off turned itself over to
Speaker Pelosi, whose ego surpasses that of the President's and
is a key reason the administration is losing the battle on
health care reform.
By the same token, the Republican Party is
shameless putting American's lives and America's financial
future in jeopardy for political sport. Ask any Republican in a
serious interview about the state of health care in America and
not a one won't admit that our system needs reforming. Many of
them actually agree with some of the ideas being put forth by
the Democrats. But you wouldn't know it from the Republicans
outrageous shenanigans.
So, I say, shame on the President for
putting his own political career above the people, shame on
Speaker Pelosi for her hearing problem
LINK, shame on the Republicans for their abject disrespect
for the American people...but, more importantly, shame on all
Americans who continue to allow themselves to be used for
personal political gain by the whores running the American
government.
The mainstream press needs a little slap as
well. They are more interested in reporting the Republican
shenanigans than in giving Americans the facts they need in
determining what package is the right package for Congress to
pass.
LINK
Better late than never, today the Obama
Administration is going into campaign mode and fighting back
with a new website aimed at giving the American people the
facts. LINK
But if you don't read it, and you don't
comment to your representatives, thus making your educated voice
heard, G-d knows where this will all end up.
Know one thing, no matter what happens,
anyone who works for the United States Government, including all
those Republicans who are standing in the way of reform, will
continue to have the best medical coverage in the entire world,
offered at an affordable price. It will just be you and me who
is only one step away from possible death or financial ruin
should we become gravely ill with the current restraints most
insurance companies place on their insured today.
You all know that I've been writing a long
time about the effects of rising oil prices on the economy,
which, as I've repeatedly said, was a prime cause of the global
economic downturn. I could find little in journalism to back me
up on my belief. Now, finally, the truth is coming out as
evidenced in this story.
LINK. The issue is complex. OPEC, the American oil
companies, speculators, politics worldwide and surely Middle
East politics have a role to play. This issue needs to be
addressed sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, we live
in a 'later' society these days. No one seems to get it until
the damage is done. But if this problem isn't dealt with now,
say ta ta to any sustained recovery or hello depression.
the
thought Joe Biden looked too, what, smarmy? Here's the
replacement. Your pick? It's the little things in government
that matter. Hm. 
