President Snippy Pants is doing what he does best: voting present, then giving speeches
As House Republicans slog toward a Thursday vote on raising the debt ceiling, President Obama and his staff have hit the airwaves in a massive, all-hands-on-deck public-relations effort to turn the tide of political opinion in their favor.
All told, the president has addressed the press on five different occasions since July 11.
He has also dispatched his top aides — from senior advisers Valerie Jarrett and David Plouffe to White House press secretary Jay Carney and economic adviser Gene Sperling — to appear on TV and make his case for a more balanced approach to deficit cutting.White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley is even making the rounds, appearing on a couple of the Sunday shows last week.
Obama’s most recent appeal, a direct address to the American people from the East Room at prime time, was panned by Republicans for containing no specific plans, but the president’s staff sees the effort as helping to change the narrative in the president’s favor.
And that’s what passes for leadership in the Obama White House. A few notes scribbled on a cocktail napkin from the 19th hole at Andrews golf course, and a big PR campaign. One day, this president will be featured in a book on management and leadership skills in the section entitled “How Not To Lead.” Leadership is not about calling for people to work together, then excoriating one group, along with insulting them.
Of course, we all know why Obama has not provided any sort of plan: his previous plans have ramped up spending and pushed the debt and deficits to “historic” heights, and rather than get serious about spending, he wants to do more of the same, and steal from “the rich” to pay for it, which won’t work or solve the issue, but will pass on costs to the middle and lower classes. Plus, what happens when more revenue comes in? Government never uses it to balance: it just spends it. We saw this when the 2001/2003 tax cuts increased revenues, as both the federal and state governments just took the money and overspent.
Meanwhile, Obama is out there yammering on about “bipartisanship” and working together. Well, he doesn’t seem to want to listen to Republican plans. He wants it his way. Just like all that bipartisanship during the Stimulus debate, the Obamacare debate, the financial reform debate, and all the other big debates.
Finally, what we need is not the Big Package that Washington always wants. We need a bill that deals with spending now. Reduce it. Stop worrying about 10 year plans, because they’ll be tossed aside in a few years. Cut 20% across the board now. Let the government agencies, including Congress and the White House, do more with less. Stop shopping at Nordstrom and show at WalMart.
Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.
