by Jack Lee
There was something in this speech to disappoint everyone. Obama’s talking points were long on campaign style rhetoric and short on specifics. “Obama hoper’s” were looking for decisive action and some strong words about a lot of things, but specifically on support for gays in the military, healthcare and winding down the war’s in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they didn’t get it. The republicans weren’t expecting much and they got it.
It took just over an hour for the President to say almost nothing about all the hot button issues. A full half-hour into the speech, Obama briefly spoke about healthcare reform that has cost his party a lot of votes. And again, he gave lawmakers no specific guidance on how to move forward.
“I think it’s (healthcare) on life support, but it still has a pulse,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. “If there is a way forward, some of us are really committed to finding it. It doesn’t look clear how we’re going to move it.” Another Senate moderate, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, had a similar assessment. Asked if it’s possible that no health care bill will emerge this year, Pryor responded: “I think it is a real possibility — I don’t know that it’s a probability. It’s very possible that health care is just a stalemate and you can’t solve it this year,” he said.
Obama acknowledged that his party would like to spend more time on less volatile subjects like the jobs issue to win back the voters that the healthcare debate has lost. “This is a complex issue, and the longer it was debated, the more skeptical people became,” the president said. “I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people. And I know that with all the lobbying and horse-trading, the process left most Americans wondering, ‘What’s in it for me?'” I’m not sure that is what the American people were wondering at all, I think they were wondering when is this push towards socialism going to end?
Republicans responded later by saying they had their own ideas, such as limiting medical malpractice awards. “All Americans agree, we need a health care system that is affordable, accessible and high quality,” Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said in the Republican response to Obama’s address. “But most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care system in the world to the federal government.”
An intransigent, partisan Congress caused Obama to take his case directly to the American people last night. This tactic served him well in his election bid, but it doesn’t work nearly as well when the voters are looking for strong leadership. But, with an approval rating that has fallen slightly below 50%, it’s doubtful this populist approach will have much effect on a deeply divided Congress.
Next, the President hinted at entitlement reforms and tweaking the tax code and he suggested a suspension of the capital gains tax on small businesses. But, on the whole he didn’t provide many details on what entitledments would be cut and what tweaking would take place on the tax code. Presumably this will be worked out in the coming days with his cabinet and Congressional leaders.
Obama did go into greater detail when he tried to blame the previous administration for the current economic crisis. The President called the recession a “perfect storm of irresponsibility and poor decision-making stretched from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street.” “Our most urgent task has been to clear away the wreckage, repair the immediate damage to the economy and do everything we can to prevent a larger collapse. Since all the problems we face are all working off each other to feed a vicious economic downtown, we’ve had no choice but to attack all fronts of our economic crisis at once.” However, Republicans and some blue dog Democrats have accused his administration recklessly of throwing money at the problems and leaving the bills for future generations.
Obama said he was concerned about this, but he felt that his stimulus plan was necessary to jump start the economy and get people working, then we could deal with lowering the deficit as the economy starts show a pulse again.
Republicans responded later by saying they had their own ideas, such as limiting medical malpractice awards. “All Americans agree, we need a health care system that is affordable, accessible and high quality,” Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said in the Republican response to Obama’s address. “But most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care system in the world to the federal government.”
An intransigent, partisan Congress caused Obama to take his case directly to the American people last night. This tactic served him well in his election bid, but it doesn’t work nearly as well when the voters are looking for strong leadership. But, with an approval rating that has fallen slightly below 50%, it’s doubtful this populist approach will have much effect on a deeply divided Congress.
Next, the President hinted at entitlement reforms and tweaking the tax code and he suggested a suspension of the capital gains tax on small businesses. But, on the whole he didn’t provide many details on what entitledments would be cut and what tweaking would take place on the tax code. Presumably this will be worked out in the coming days with his cabinet and Congressional leaders.
Obama did go into greater detail when he tried to blame the previous administration for the current economic crisis. The President called the recession a “perfect storm of irresponsibility and poor decision-making stretched from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street.” “Our most urgent task has been to clear away the wreckage, repair the immediate damage to the economy and do everything we can to prevent a larger collapse. Since all the problems we face are all working off each other to feed a vicious economic downtown, we’ve had no choice but to attack all fronts of our economic crisis at once.” However, Republicans and some blue dog Democrats have accused his administration recklessly of throwing money at the problems and leaving the bills for future generations.
Obama said he was concerned about this, but he felt that his stimulus plan was necessary to jump start the economy and get people working, then we could deal with lowering the deficit as the economy starts show a pulse again.