Obama's Capitulation

2011_8_02 Obama’s Capitulation

Here I go again jumping on Obama for another poor performance in the latest dust up in Washington; this time the wrangle is over the debt ceiling controversy. The first thing I’d say about that is why didn’t the Democrats separate that issue from the deficit problem? And then once the two thing were inerasably linked why didn’t he revert to the 14th Amendment? Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa explained on the floor of the senate that it was used successfully three times by esteemed presidents—by Thomas Jefferson to expedite the Louisiana Purchase, by Lincoln to help pass the Emancipation Proclamation, and by FDR to hurry along the Lend Lease Loan to England under attack by Hitler. For some reason Obama never took it seriously. He could have used it for leverage if nothing else.

He may live to regret it as virtually nobody likes the bill signed into law today by Obama all by himself in the Oval Office, very odd considering the import of the bill and how long it took to get passed. Usually there is a crowd flanking the President as he signs major legislation. Not this time. The left and the right hated it, and the center held their nose when they voted. Two people were smiling and felt victorious when it was over: John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, the Republican leaders. Boehner told Scott Pelly tonight he was very happy because he got 98% of what he wanted. McConnell doffed his hat to the Tea Party folks for their assistance and was already gleefully preparing for the next encounter with the President, for he knows he’s got his number.

From where I sit the tipping point in this latest disaster, the debt ceiling imbroglio and the final deal was Mitch McConnell who refusal to negotiate with Harry Reid, but only with the “man who could sign the bill into law.” That is code for the man he has consistently outsmarted, outmaneuvered, and over-matched. He has done it time and time again. He is as agile with rhetoric as Obama is, and he combines that with a subtle aggressive style that Obama doesn’t know how to handle. He’s good at constructing pithy narratives and his sound bites are terse, simple, and cogent. He’s a son of a bitch but I have to admit he is a tough gladiator. The Demos have no one to match his skills. He may look like Elmer Fudd and mumble through his teeth but those things disguise a WASP that stings. It’s uncanny how effective he can be, Like Bill Maher said the other night, McConnell knows how to get Obama to bend over and pull his pants down. Amen, brother!


The Super Committee to be formed in a few months is ready made for a stalemate, with six Republicans members who’ll be uniformly against tax increases and six Democrats who will be there to protect entitlements, which means the fierce in-fighting will be fierce and unforgiving, on both sides, but especially with the Republicans with their rigid backbone. If they can’t come to a resolution the deal is they will revert to automatic cuts which will threated the discretionary spending in domestic programs the Demos hold dear and the Republicans will sweat cuts in the defense Budget. And then there is the election, not to mention Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New years while all this bickering will be going on. Should be fun.

Welcome to bedlam!