As the health care issue begins to crumble around the president's feet; as we watch the economy and unemployment continue to have bleak forecasts; as our soldiers continue to fight and die in an Iraqi war he promised would end upon his taking his oath; and as he struggles with the political reality that his unprecedented popularity is waning severely as he enters just his 10th month in office, can we ask (without being called racist) has this man undertaken too much? Would he – and the country – be better served if he told the American public: "We must not put on the brakes, but we must now take our foot off the gas, so that we can successfully negotiate the curves ahead. If we rush the process on any one of the dire issues facing America today, we risk missing a curve and speeding head-on into disaster."?
12 comments:
So which is it Mike?
Is he doing things too quickly?
Or not quickly enough?
Your post is so riddled with self-contradiction, I don't know where to begin.
Funny picture though.
"As the health care issue begins to crumble around the president's feet..."
Crumble seems a bit hyperbolic. The country seems about evenly split on the issue, and it's probable that some sort of reform will be enacted.
"as we watch the economy and unemployment continue to have bleak forecasts..."
According to the Federal Reserve, the recession is over. Recovery may be slow, but the bleakness is behind us.
"as our soldiers continue to fight and die in an Iraqi war he promised would end upon his taking his oath..."
Yeah, no argument on that one.
"and as he struggles with the political reality that his unprecedented popularity is waning severely as he enters just his 10th month in office..."
Obama is still over 50%, so I think your characterization as "waning severely" is a little overdone.
Also, Ronald Reagan's approval rating in early 1983 was 35%. He was overwhelmingly reelected in the 1984 relection.
I do understand the frustration, Mike. I can feel it right through your words. Bill and Neal have taken issue with the way you've worded it, but I get you.
It has only been 10 months, as Neal points out. Could we compromise and give this another year, make it about the half way mark in his administration before we declare it a failure?
President Obama is a central planner. It is not failing in his mind, he is still getting his agenda done.
Those concerns that Mike listed do not bother our president. Mr. Obama's core beliefs are that our property and time exist to benefit the federal government.
Thad, I think Barack Obama feels like I do, that the Federal Government and We the People are synonymous.
We got that idea from the Preamble of the US Constitution which states "We the people in order to form a more perfect Union," and from Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president who said, "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
So if that's what you meant, then I wholeheartedly agree.
Surely that is indeed what you meant, right?
I agree that President Obama wants the federal government to secure our freedoms and take care of the citizens.
I prefer the approach of Thomas Jefferson and his desire to promote the independence of the individual. That is the best way to offer opportunities for the entire nation.
Bill,
I think he's doing too much too fast. Are advertising campaigns you prepare better if you have time enough to do them well? I think he's bitten off more than he can chew.
If I could give the President advice (as if he would take it) it would be: Slow down. Get it right.
Ok, Michael, I hear you. So which things do you think he is trying to do too quickly? Certainly not get out of Iraq. We all agree that is taking too long. Certainly not job creation, the numbers may have stabilized but they're not going up yet.
The Dow is up quite a bit higher than it was before he was inaugurated. Is that too quick for market recovery?
I don't mean to be obtuse here, but you'll excuse me for pointing out that you haven't made much of a case yet for moving too quickly.
Maybe you're saying you think he's trying to do too many things at one time?
If so, then which things do you think he should focus on first and which should he put off until later?
The gov't and the people are the same? Really? The power of the gov't is supposed to rest with the people. If it really did, I guess maybe you could assert that they are sorta the same. But now, the gov't thinks power rests within it, not the people; it doesn't feel the people have a right to question it. Right now the gov't and the people are poles apart and definitely not the same.
Bill,
I'm not saying he can't work on all the issues at the same time. I'm saying he can't solve them all by tomorrow...or the Christmas recess.
Ok, Mike, I agree. I especially agree if the Republicans keep throwing nails in his road along the way. He spends half his time fixing flat tires.
You are right Bill, I see something similar with you and Sib, not always sure who might be tossing nails. Isn't that just politics though? Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends!
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