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Title: Liberal Columnist Admits Obama is a Failed Leader Which His "Amy Carter Moment" Speech Showed
Source:
[None]
URL Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/29/borger.leadership.debt/
Published: Jun 30, 2011
Author: Gloria Borger
Post Date: 2011-06-30 09:12:27 by no gnu taxes
Keywords: None
Views: 755
Comments: 5
Call me old-fashioned, but when the president and congressional leaders get into a tussle over who should be "leading" the country in matters of real national consequence, I feel like sending them to their rooms. "Call me naive," President Obama said at his news conference today. "But my expectation is that leaders are going to lead." Mine, too. So imagine my surprise when the president came to his own press conference -- which he called -- without anything much new to say on possible ways get to a deal to raise the national debt ceiling. Plenty of talk about gamesmanship, about deadlines and about how even Sasha and Malia are mature enough to do their schoolwork before it's due. Oh, and by the way, the president also told us, Congress isn't actually here enough to get its homework done. "They are in one week, they are out one week," he told us helpfully, as if perhaps we should mark our calendars. "You need to be here. I've been here. I've been doing Afghanistan and Bin Laden and the Greek crisis." He is, after all, the president. Good to know that he's doing his job. And it's not that he's wrong about Congress ducking responsibility; it's just hard to see how that counts as news. What might actually have counted as news is if the president, as the nation's leader, had proposed a definitive way out of the budget mess -- or at least drawn some lines in the sand. Instead, we learned that we need a "balanced approach" to the debt mess. That Obama is willing to "tackle entitlements" (presuming, of course, that nothing is done to touch Medicare beneficiaries). And that taxes -- the kinds that affect "millionaires and billionaires," corporate titans and their personal jets -- should be on the table. Just for the record, getting rid of a tax break for corporate jets may be a fine idea, but it isn't going to solve the deficit problem since it will amount to only about $3 billion over the next decade. But it's a good line. Sure, the president is probably tired of hearing Republicans rant about his "failed presidency" when one of their congressional leaders walks out of the budget talks. And in going public with his ire -- and assigning blame to the GOP -- the president all but said that the talks had collapsed. His was a clear and intentional venting of frustration. What was less clear is just how he intends to channel his inner leader. The president hinted that defense spending would have to take a hit. (On the table, sources tell me, is the possibility of a freeze on defense spending.) And some have argued that the promise of an overhaul of the tax code -- real reform that could lower overall rates but take away some sacrosanct deductions -- should be a part of this discussion. But we didn't hear about any of that, because those are tough choices, and they haven't been made. This was about politics and positioning to get the upper hand in the looming debt limit battle. We did hear about the possibility of extending the payroll tax cut. (Costly, but not tough.) Or extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class. (Same premise.) But the president had to admit that these things only make sense in the context of an overall -- and substantial -- deficit-reduction package. And, as he put it, first things first: "What we need to do is to restore business confidence and the confidence of the American people that we are on track." Exactly. This is not to say that the Republicans should be off the hook here. They've got a field of presidential candidates who believe that defaulting on the national debt wouldn't be such a bad thing. (In truth, Obama couldn't even explain how bad it would really be out of fear of sparking a global meltdown.) And Speaker of the House John Boehner, in response to Obama, refused to buy into even the most popular of tax hikes -- including ending tax subsidies for oil companies. "The new majority in the House is going to stand with the American people," Boehner bravely declared. "A debt limit increase can only pass the House if it includes spending cuts larger than the debt limit increase; includes reforms to hold down spending in the future; and is free from tax hikes. The longer the president denies these realities, the more difficult he makes this process. " So, according to Boehner, the president is living in a dream world. And according to Obama, the congressional Republicans "need to do their job. Now's the time to go ahead and make the tough choices." Indeed, adds Obama, "that's why they're called leaders." Really? I thought that would involve leading.
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#1. To: no gnu taxes (#0)
I thought we had 3 co-equal branches of govt?
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Remember when the leftwingnuts here were stating over and over and over again 'there is no comparision to Carter!'? Today, those same idiots are back to 'blame bush' rotflmao. And they wonder how they ended up on the wrong side of a political landslide last fall.....
Proxy IP's are amusing.....lmao
You actually believe that this is the actual title of the article, Boofer? Hoo boy...
America...My Kind Of Place... "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]..." "THE MILITIA IS COMING!!! THE MILITIA IS COMING!!!" I lurk to see if someone other than Myst or Pookie posts anything...
Destro, are you really that clueless? The president (lower case in this administration) is the Chief Executive.
war has to do something for entertainment. The voices in his head aren't speaking to him and his imaginary friends have found reasons not to come over anymore.
That means he signs bills into law. Presidents don't write laws. Obama = constitutional scholar. Republicans = looking for their next dictator to fawn over .
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
What might actually have counted as news is if the president, as the nation's leader,
#2. To: no gnu taxes (#0)
#3. To: Badeye, go65, Fred Mertz, Thinderbird, Biff Tannen, Skip Intro, lucysmom, mininggold (#2)
(Edited)
Remember when the leftwingnuts here were stating over and over and over again 'there is no comparision to Carter!'?
--GW Bush
--Sarah Palin's version of "The Midnight Ride of Paul revere"
#4. To: Godwinson (#1)
#5. To: Rudgear (#4)
(Edited)
Chief Executive.
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