By Michael Goodwin People werenât paying attention. Those are the people now surprised that President Obama is still stridently campaigning instead of doing the real work of governing. Even some who voted for him last month are puzzled as he threatens to take the nation off the fiscal cliff if Republicans donât give him the tax hikes he demands now and puts off entitlement reform until later. He even wants to increase spending. Iâve talked to people who supported him, and their surprise is surprising. âI thought he was going to move toward the center after the election,â one stunned Obama backer told me. Another said he believed the presidentâs positions were opening gambits and he would compromise. âItâs the first round,â he insisted. Where, exactly, is the evidence that Obama is willing or able to work with people who disagree with him? Tick, tock, timeâs up â there isnât any evidence, because heâs not. Both are smart, accomplished men, but Iâm baffled that they didnât see this coming. Where, exactly, is the evidence that Obama is willing or able to work with people who disagree with him? Tick, tock, timeâs up â there isnât any evidence, because heâs not. Again and again, the first term revealed Obamaâs idea of bipartisanship: Dissenters are unpatriotic and must surrender. Compromise is a one-way street for him. As polarizing and ineffective as that approach was, he was rewarded with four more years. A different man might see that as a mulligan â a second chance to get it right. Not Obama. His behavior now is even more troubling. That heâs willing to risk sending the economy back into recession and killing even more jobs leads me to believe his second term will be far more radical than the first. A stranger to humility, he thinks re-election confers a blank check. His demand that spending cuts and entitlement reform be put off, while Republicans give him the tax hikes and the stimulus he wants, suggests heâs not serious about facing the mountain of debt. In that case, no progress is possible as the nation hurtles toward disaster. The fear is reinforced with his sudden bid to have sole and permanent authority to raise the debt limit. As it stands, Congressâ power to set the ceiling serves as a practical check and balance. His effort to eliminate it is something that happens in a banana republic. Is that where Obama wants to take America? Sadly, many Americans believe the answer is yes. A friend wrote to express that view forcefully: âObama has deliberately destroyed the worldâs best medical system. He is deliberately destroying the worldâs strongest economy and currency. He has destroyed the worldâs best political system by governing by executive order. He has started destroying the worldâs best military.â I donât accept the idea that the president is intentionally trying to destroy America, but I do believe his policies are weakening it. Still, it remains possible for Obama to rally a solid majority of the country and Congress. He would need only to govern as the most important leader, but not the only leader, in our representative democracy. He would need to do what only a president can: Guide the nation forward by shaping a broad, bipartisan consensus of public support for key policies. Instead, Obama is opting to overreach, recklessly and without purpose beyond imposing his own ideology. Lots of trouble, but no good, is the only possible outcome. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012...ess-with-america-fiscal-future/#ixzz2E0ERwXFK
The lack of leadership is staggering. Obama is in permanent campaign mode. He jobs everything out to Pelosi and Reid and hits the trail.
WAKE UP JACKASS... 'cause that's his deal! How good can a president be if it's even a remote consideration (and in Odumbo's case, more than "remote") that he's INTENTIONALLY TRYING TO DESTROY AMERICA. (Look into his background... his mentors and influences as a young man to find the clue.)
Obama's intent is certainly to reshape America in his image not in ours. If it takes the destruction of America for him to do that, he is more than willing to do so. The stupid supporters and democraps just willingly go right along with the destruction of their country.
The problem is Obama won, so he is going to feel he has a mandate and play hardball now. It's also why he is going on holiday soon without regard for any "negotiations". It's "My way or the highway."
What if he's the ULTIMATE ISLAMIC TERRORIST? (I've seen nothing to eliminate that as a possibility.) Hell-bent on destroying America, he has to go about it slowly... like we're all "frogs in a pot" (pile on crushingly burdensome debt, health care plan with death panels, etc).. doesn't want the heat turned up too fast or we'll all wake up and jump out. How could a "US-HATING Islamist" do more damage than from the US presidency? Certainly MULTIPLES more than flying airplanes into a couple of buildings. And SINCE WHEN DOES AMERICA ELECT A PRESIDENT TO SHAPE THE COUNTRY IN HIS OWN PERSONAL IMAGE? That's what DICTATORSHIP is all about!
I don't think the Islamists or terrorists could ever hope to groom someone who could be president intentionally. But, they do have someone there now who is bending to their every wish as much as he can. I've also noticed that the USS Enterprise was retired this weekend leaving only 2 aircraft carriers in the ME now and there is no intent to increase that for at least years until a new AC is ready for service. This doesn't sound like the Navy has any preparations to deal with Iran. Unless Israel can act on its own, Iran will have a nuke in 2013 dispite Bronco 'Bama's assurances to the contrary. A nuclear Iran will destablize the world.
Maybe. But it's not beyond any of the power-hungry to "groom a few and hope they get lucky and have one of them succeed". (I think they GOT lucky. America's hatred of ASSHOLE 'Lil Napoleon wannabe BUSH' helped in a big way to facilitate Odumbo's election. Don't they just love it when a plan comes together?) The progressive movement has been going on in the US for about 100 years. They have FINALLY achieved "critical mass*" with the '12 elections.... too bad for the rest of us. * meaning... "there ain't no turning back now".