A Test for Obama’s view that he COULD become a One-Term President. Did he pass his own test? Well maybe he didn't really MEAN it when he said it? Check out the two videos below and see if it seems like he MEANT it.
New York Times Political Column posted by Ms.Helene Cooper August 9, 2011
This must have been a pretty difficult post for both the New York Times and Ms. Cooper. The Times has become a liberal CREATOR of news, abandoning unbiased news REPORTING for several years. They have promoted Obama and other socialist Democrats through the process of open lies, and the omission of truth. They have tied their wagon to Obama’s agenda, so now they have to take the fall.
Habits built over the years are VERY difficult to break, though. Ms. Copper transparently attempts to soften the bitter pill in the middle of the post by the interjection of Pfiffer’s whining about the lack of “compromise” from Republicans. The reason America is suffering so much right now is because of the excessive compromise, most recently with Democrats on the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Democrat’s Dirty Debt Deal), another of the “stealth” bills from Democrats that as Nancy Pelosi says, “We need to pass it to find out what’s in it.” This may actually be the dirtiest, most misleading legislation in the history of our nation – at the very least; a tossup with ObamaCare….and Republicans had the opportunity to stop it.
And then at the end of the post is the pitiful whining from Rofthkopf to explain that he had “meant” Obama should surrender in the “context” of the “grand bargain” of offering federal cuts in exchange for “significant job-creating stimulus and increased tax revenues.” After three years of suffering under Obama’s agenda, can no Democrat see that “job creation associated with raising taxes” DO NOT WORK – THEY ARE OXYMORONS! The exact same way that Obama is a Democrat, but has no democratic bone in his body – another oxymoron.
So Mr. President, with all the problems you have created this first term, it looks like you have named your own poison?
WASHINGTON — It was a year and a half ago when President Obama told Diane Sawyer of ABC News in an interview that he would rather be a good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president.
Now, coming off one of his worst weeks since taking office, Mr. Obama is nearing a decision on whether he really meant that. Is he willing to try to administer the disagreeable medicine that could help the economy mend, over the long term, even if that means damaging his chances for re-election?
The Federal Reserve’s finding on Tuesday that there is little prospect for rapid economic growth over the next two years was the latest in a summer of bad economic news. One administration official called the atmosphere around the president’s economic team “angry and morose.”
There was no word on the mood of the president’s political team, but it was unlikely to be buoyed by the Fed’s assertion that the economy would still be faltering well past Mr. Obama’s second inauguration, should he win another term.
“The problem for Obama is that right now, the United States is either at a precipice or has fallen off it,” said David Rothkopf, a Commerce Department official in the Clinton administration. “If he is true to his commitment to rather be a good one-term president, then this is the character test. In some respects, this is the 3 a.m. phone call.”
Mr. Obama, Mr. Rothkopf argues, has to focus in the next 18 months on getting the economy back on track for the long haul, even if that means pushing for politically unpalatable budget cuts, including real — but hugely unpopular — reductions in entitlement programs and the military, in exchange for a “grand bargain” in which the cuts would come in exchange for significant job-creating stimulus and increased tax revenues.
A longtime Republican strategist echoed Mr. Rothkopf. Charlie Black, a senior adviser to Senator John McCain when he ran for president, said Mr. Obama “has got two big problems” — the unemployment rate and the budget deficit.
“Frankly, there’s not a whole lot he can do about jobs now,” Mr. Black said. “But it would help if we got the deficit under control, and to do that, you’ve got to reform entitlements.”
For instance, he argued, Mr. Obama should tackle Social Security, leaving the system in place for those 55 and older but establishing means tests to determine benefits for those under 55. If Mr. Obama did that, Mr. Black said, “he could be a hero like Bill Clinton was when he negotiated with Trent Lott and Newt Gingrich” on the 1997 budget.
If Mr. Black’s take is correct and there is little the president can do about jobs, that is more bad news. In a New York Times/CBS News poll released last week, 62 percent of those responding said that creating jobs was the No. 1 priority, while only 29 percent said cutting the deficit should be the top goal.
But whether Mr. Obama focuses on a short-term stimulus like job creation or long-range steps like deficit reduction, he will still have to beg, exhort and threaten Congress to take action in a meaningful way.
“No matter what we do, it still takes two to tango,” said Dan Pfeiffer, White House director of communications. “And the Republican Party to date has been entirely unwilling to compromise in any way, shape or form to actually do the things it takes to tackle the big problems.”
According to a traditional story line, Mr. Obama’s hopes for a second term could be undercut as he is forced to defend politically unpopular proposals in an election year — and end up stonewalled by Republicans in the end.
Some of Mr. Obama’s political allies try to spin the story the other way, criticizing him for not coming out yet with public plans to both cut the deficit and stimulate the economy. They argue that the boldness of such steps could actually help him win a second term — or at least burnish his place in history. One Democratic adviser to the president, speaking on the ground of anonymity because he did not want to criticize Mr. Obama publicly, said, “He’s got to be willing to let the chips fall where they may.”
So far, White House officials said Tuesday, Mr. Obama has repeatedly been putting country over campaign, including canceling several Democratic fund-raisers in July when the debt ceiling negotiations were dragging on. And, they say, he is not shying from politically unpalatable choices, demonstrating his willingness during the debt ceiling negotiations to make cuts in entitlements and programs dear to the hearts of Democrats.
On Monday night, he did attend two fund-raisers in Washington (casting his re-election as an “unfinished project” at one) while on Thursday he will head to Michigan to make the case that his bailout program helped save the auto industry.
Great observation Mr. President - Strike number TWO
And he looks like he REALLY means it, what do you think?
On Tuesday afternoon, the White House announced that Mr. Obama would be taking an “economic bus tour” in the Midwest next week, with stops in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. “The president knows we must do everything we can to promote economic growth, restore confidence in our nation’s future and restore the sense of optimism for future generations,” the statement said.
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| Difference is Palin paid for her tour, and WE TAXPAYERS are paying for Obama's tour! |
Though the trip is not a campaign event, it could help shape voters’ perceptions of whether Mr. Obama is more concerned about being remembered for that one good term or whether he wants another four years in the Oval Office no matter what.
Correction: August 10, 2011
A news analysis article on Wednesday about President Obama’s handling of the economy paraphrased incompletely from comments by David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration Commerce Department official, about steps that President Obama should take to fix the economy and budget deficit. While Mr. Rothkopf called for the president to push for politically unpalatable budget cuts to entitlement programs and the military, he also said the president should do so in the context of a "grand bargain" in which the cuts would come in exchange for significant job-creating stimulus and increased tax revenues.
