When you have lemons, you make lemonade, and right now President Obama is facing a truck load of lemons rolling right at him. From a political standpoint, given the Congress that Obama has to work with, the speech was a rousing success, co-opting Republican rhetoric while advancing the Democratic agenda.
However, to quote my friend Debbie, “the speech was a little too centrist for me.” First of all, we don’t have a deficit problem, we have a revenue problem, brought on by Republican tax cuts, recently extended, for the rich. Decreased tax revenues because of the Recession have exacerbated the problem.
Secondly, to talk about medical malpractice tort reform plays into Republican philosophy. If the doctor amputates the wrong leg, I want to be able to sue. On the other hand, it would almost be worth doing so the Republicans would just shut up.
I also want to know how this proposed freeze will work. Will it be across the board? I’ve already discussed the idiocy of across-the board-cuts in an earlier posting. Since candidate Obama ridiculed McCain for proposing an across-the-board cut, I’m assuming the freeze is an overall limit.
The whole issue of earmarks is overblown; to hear the President say he would veto any bill with earmarks in it is an example of pandering to the conservatives for no advantage. Earmarks are what a good member of Congress does to help his or her district.
Bottom line: If the President had given the speech I would have given, he’d drop like a rock in the polls, get nothing done in the next two years, and lose 2012 election. I’ve got to keep repeating to myself--don’t sacrifice the good for the perfect.
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