What President Obama could do with a functioning Congress

President Obama receives an update on Affordable Care Act in the Oval Office, April 1, 2014. With the President, from left, are: Phil Schiliro, Assistant to the President and Special Advisor; Tara McGuinness, Senior Communications Advisor; Marlon Marshall, Principal Deputy Director of Public Engagement; Jeanne Lambrew, Deputy Assistant to the President for Health Policy; Kristie Canegallo, Advisor to Chief of Staff; and Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Cross-posted at The People’s View

It’s more or less a truism that some on the Left expected Barack Obama to be a liberal George W. Bush: someone not overly concerned with the niceties of democratic governance in order to push an agenda to the left of most Americans. You know, the whole “ends and means” debate: our ends are noble, so the means don’t matter.

Of course, he didn’t turn out to be that Leftist wish. Nowhere was this more evident than in the healthcare debate, where, unlike the previous Democratic president, he left it up to the Congress to actually do its job and legislate, within broad parameters he laid out. He knew something which seemed to escape the Clintons: Congress members don’t like being told what to do, and don’t like being presented a plan with minimal input from them. By bringing in at least the Democratic caucus as stakeholders, Obama ensured that something would be passed; his effort was in that the legislation which took shape would conform to his key standards.

So, yes, the public option, which would have helped precious few people, was jettisoned in the interest of getting to 218 in the House and 60 in the Senate. And the howls from certain sectors of the Left were more deafening than the screeches from the Right. When both Left and Right were wailing to “kill the bill”, and working in concert to do just that, you know you’ve entered an alternate reality.

Now that Obamacare is shaping up to be a roaring success, some of those who screamed the loudest on “our” side have conveniently forgotten their roles in 2009. And they’ve certainly forgotten the discontent they stoked, leading to the GOP landslide in 2010.

Yes, that. Because Obama and the Democrats were actually governing, rather than handing out ponies and rainbows, many on the Left decided to wage a campaign in 2010—not against Republicans, but a season of long knives against Democrats. And we’ve lived with the results for the past 3 years.

If voters had accepted that politics is the art of the possible, instead of punishing Barack Obama for things he never promised, what could he have done in these 3 years?

the leftbaggers are squealing. again.

The Professional Left have demonstrated typical maturity and rationality in their response to William Daley being appointed chief of staff – it’s proof, they reckon, that the guy they never supported in the first place – that’d be President Obama – is a fascist corporate fiend. You know, that kind of thing.

Presumably, they will now chuck their once beloved Howard Dean under the bus after he made this comment yesterday about Daley:

“I don’t agree with [him] on a lot of stuff politically, but I do think — A, he is a grown-up and B, he gets that you don’t treat people like you know everything and they don’t. If Bill Daley becomes the chief of staff, that is going to be a huge plus because he is outside of Washington, he sees things the way people outside Washington do. It is not a left or right issue.”

A grown-up? Ah, no wonder the Professional Left despise him.

Thank you Kelly, that video is sublime!!!!

‘blow-torched by the left’

Washington Post (Jonathan Capehart): As someone who frequently catches more hell from liberal Democrats than from conservative Republicans, I am completely sympathetic to President Obama’s exasperation at the “sanctimonious”  folks in his party who cling to “unrealistic” “purist position[s].” He was at his best yesterday when he pushed back against the cranky critics in his own party.

You know that saying that we’re harshest towards the ones we love most? Well, for the last two years, Obama has been blow-torched by the left as the expectations of hope and change smacked up against the reality of governing. I completely understand the frustration and anger. But there are some on the left who view compromise as total abandonment.

The president barely got to day 100 in his administration before his commitment to gay rights was called into serious question. During the health-care reform debate, the left was none too pleased because Obama junked the public option when he determined that the overall effort would fail if he insisted on pushing it. And now the revolt  over the Bush tax cut compromise….

….this is the first time that I can recall that Obama has given to the left as good as he’s gotten from the left on national television. And I loved every minute of it.

just a word or three

Hey people, just wanted to thank you all for your wonderful contributions today – a difficult day, it’s fair to say – whether they were comments or links: hugely, hugely appreciated.

After enduring – as you all have done – once Dem-supporting sites being over-run by haters, many with the most spiteful and questionable of agendas, it’s indescribably great to ‘meet’ up with a bunch of decent and smart people who refuse to surrender their optimism and – yes – hope in the face of all this venom. (Freaks! Nazi-like propagandists! Cultists!)

Don’t know about you, but I thought the President had fire in his belly in today’s press conference – it was beyond heartening that he took on both the extreme left and right, neither of which (as all the polls show) represent the vast majority of the American people. They shout the loudest, though, so the media gives them the most attention …. to the point where you’d actually think they spoke for America!

They don’t. And we all know that.

“Sanctimonious” purists, irrational ideologues, that’s all the extreme left and right are … they have so much in common.

Keep fighting the hate people!

genius

Found this on a once pro-Dem website (it’s now infested with Leftbaggers) … it was posted by ‘Writer’ …. love, love, love it:

Mr. President, just quit and become the labor movement leader some progressives want you to be

When progressives voted for you, they wanted to see real change. And that change was in the form of a complete evisceration of all forms of neo-liberal capitalism and neo-conservatism that has defined American economic and foreign policy for the last 30 years. They want that history overturned, like a penalty call on a football field. Snap! Just like that. They don’t want you to talk to Republicans. Heck they certainly don’t want you to have any discussions or dealings with Republicans at all, because that will mean that you might not dramatically overturn 30 or so years of political history. And they will settle for nothing less.

They want changes for the worker, and they believe corporations have no place in American capitalism. Some, I believe, would like to see corporations eliminated altogether, for they pose a mortal danger to communitarian ideals. And although they desperately need a public voice – a leader – to press for real social and economic change, instead of waiting for the right person, they expect a democratically elected president, working within a democratic system, to radicalize.

So seriously, Mr. President, why try to please progressives at all? Just quit. Just quit and pick up a bullhorn and become the labor leader that they seek. They need a voice, and no one else has stood up. The idea of an organic intellectual is lost to them – they want to go straight to the top. And that person is YOU.

oooops, some folk won’t be happy….

** Data shows fresh signs of improving economy **

Reuters: Fresh signs the U.S. economy has broken out of its summer soft patch emerged on Thursday as data showed a gauge of jobless benefits hit a new two-year low last week and pending home sales unexpectedly rose in October.

The picture also brightened as retailers recorded their best sales gains in four years in November….the reports were the latest to suggest a pick-up in activity in the fourth quarter.

“There seems to be no doubt that the economy is improving and likely to continue to improve,” said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in North Carolina.

Initial claims for state unemployment aid increased 26,000 but a four-week moving average – a better gauge of underlying labor trends – fell to its lowest level since the week ending Aug 2, 2008.

The claims data has little bearing on Friday’s employment report for November as it falls outside the survey period.

Anecdotal evidence points to a firming labor market and the government is expected to report that nonfarm payrolls rose 140,000 last month after increasing 151,000 in October.

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