Obama: "Yo, here's my plan to fix the country, accept it and stop the clown-house in the government"
Republicans: "Yo, this isn't anything new; it's just a revamp of what you've sold us over the last few years. Shit isn't working now; it won't work in the future."
This is Obama to a t. Everything about this plan screams "too late".
What he should have done, was given this speech back when the debt sealing debate was happening. He should have said "Well, you want tax cuts? I'll give you tax cuts, that actually benefit the middle class instead of the rich. You want jobs? I'll give you a plan that benefits the employees not the tycoons."
In that case, he would have been the one leading the discourse, you know, being a leader. By letting the Republicans go first and get everything they want, and then putting in his own proposal, means Obama is following discourse set by the republicans, making him a follower. I like my president to be a leader not a follower. I hate to say this, but if Obama acted more like Bush this country would be in much better shape.
I think he does, since his poll numbers are getting worse by the day and his ability to win re election is increasingly in doubt. There was a good New York Times article today about how party leadership is in an absolute frenzy to come up with ways to bring his numbers up, and this plan basically is his attempt to do so. Which is why it only offers short-term stimulus (so he can look better during the campaign period, then figure out what to do later).
Super inept. One of the most clueless politicians i've seen. It took his poll numbers getting this low to make him start scrambling to recover, if he knew what he was doing he would have started so much earlier.
It just doesn't make sense. You wouldn't even have to be a good politician to know what he needed to do. Anyone with reasonable intelligence and common sense would know.
From all appearances Obama will be gone as of the next election.
So instead of ushering in a new golden age for the US as predicted ( ) when elected history will view him more as a curiosity as the first black president who did nothing of note...instead of the saviour of the American race he was built up to be.
I disagree and so do a lot of political pundits. I felt vindicated when I found out I wasn't the only one that got irritated when Kerry would go off into his soliloquy's that didn't actually say anything. I mean, how can you talk for an entire minute but actually end up saying nothing?
I remember that Ira Glass gave a nice analysis of what I'm talking about but I could not find the piece he put together. It had excellent sound bites followed by him voicing his frustration over Kerry's ways.