I WISH THE PRESIDENT HAD SAID THIS….

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After a bit of how-we-got-here exposition, Barack Obama began his first State of the Union mega-speech by asserting that he was right. Talking about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Obama said, “Because of the steps we took, there are about two million Americans working right now who would otherwise be unemployed. Two hundred thousand work in construction and clean energy; 300,000 are teachers and other education workers. Tens of thousands are cops, firefighters, correctional officers, first responders. And we’re on track to add another one and a half million jobs to this total by the end of the year. The plan that has made all of this possible, from the tax cuts to the jobs, is the Recovery Act. That’s right -– the Recovery Act, also known as the stimulus bill.” (Of course, these numbers can be argued with, but, for the most part, there’d be a fuck of a lot more unemployment without the Recovery Act.)

Now, you remember the way Obama approached putting together the Recovery Act? He wanted Republicans on board. For that reason, Democrats agreed to shift billions in stimulus to tax cuts, until it made up a third of the cost of the bill. And they agreed to make the bill smaller than what Obama wanted. The reward for working with Republicans? Not a single one voted for it in the House and just Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and then-Republican Arlen Specter did so in the Senate.

In other words, despite every attempt at true bipartisanship, Obama was rewarded with almost no Republican votes. Yet the Act worked. Obama’s stimulus plan, passed by Democrats, worked as designed in staving off even greater economic strife, and it’s still working. And, as he said without saying it last night, Obama and the Democrats were right and the Republicans were wrong. The problem is that he should have said it explicitly. He should have said that Americans have Democrats almost completely to thank for those two million jobs, for those new cops, for the roadwork, for the schools, for the tax cuts to families. And he should have said it because it was the truth. And, in an ideal universe, he should have added what the economy would have looked like had Republicans gotten their way.

Thx to Hill for the tip….

About Post Author

Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
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14 years ago

I’m still pretty thrilled with how stony faced the scolded Justices looked. Oh, that was definitely worth the price of admission 🙂

14 years ago

Screw that “bipartisan” shit. You do remember how “bipartisan” the ‘pukes were when they were in power, yes?

As Capt. said, when we Dems reach across the aisle, it should be to give the ‘pukes the middle finger.

Can you tell I don’t like ANY repukes?

If you’ve EVER voted for a repuke, EVER, here’s what I say to you.

NO QUARTER. NO MERCY.

🙂

14 years ago

….mind you…our politicians don’t so why should your’s eh?…;-)

Wankers all.

Yep.

I’m a resolute cynic.

Bring on the ANARCHY!!!!!!!!!

14 years ago

Actually I wish The Prez would shut the fuck up for a bit….;-)

14 years ago

Bleedin’ ‘ell…slow down!!!! I can’t keep up wi these every fuckin hour posts!!!!

Go down the local pub or some’at!!!…;-)

14 years ago

Kudo’s to my Prez and to you MadMike! Liked it. I particularly was impressed when he just SPANKED THE SCOUS!!! (the idgitz conservatives, that is.) It was a rousing speech. I was impressed. 🙂 Did you catch that Repub rebuke? Did he even listen to the speech by the President? GAD.

14 years ago

He came across as still trying to be bipartisan, but as losing his patience a wee bit. Who can blame him for that, but he also reminded the Dems., that they still have decent majorities in both houses, and to stand up to the Republican tactics and scrap.

14 years ago

This is a good example of why I’m disappointed with how President Obama has operated his presidency.

He knew early on that republicans would refuse to work with him. Yet he continually offered tha hand of bipartisan cooperation. He should have stoped that two months into his term.

The key is, at least from my personal experience, is to get the other side to come to you. The republicans have no choice but to come to President Obama. And when they do, Obama is in the position of strength. When he went to them, it put them in the drivers seat because Obama was the one asking for help.

I hope he ends his quest for bipartisanship. The republicans will come to him one by one when the pork runs dry. A few congressmen or senators will need a new highway or jobs program soon enough. I knwo this seems cruel and unprofessional but one has to view the other side as the enemy. Rahm and Reid groveled to get Olympia Snow to vote their way in committee. They groveled to a few DINOS. They groveled to LIEberman. It’s time the republicans and DINOs were made to grovel.

lazersedge
14 years ago

Very well said my friend.

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