For someone who says he is not an ideologue… he is sure acting like one. He is following Progressive leader Saul Alinsky’s playbook (Rules for Radicals) step by step… Instead of pivoting after the second shot heard round the world… the election of Scott Brown, he stepping on the exploratory and moving ahead with his agenda full speed.
Obama told Americans in his State of the Union that he plans to push Cap and Trade (in spite of the ClimateGate scandal and record cold temperatures everywhere) and ObamaCare, not matter what they want and he essentially played verbal smoke and mirrors (lied) about budget cuts; lobbyists (11 work in the White House and Andy Stern who is the the head of SEIU is the White Houses most frequent visitors) ; transparency and having tried to include the GOP in any HC negotiations.
BALTIMORE — President Barack Obama on Friday accused Republicans of portraying health care reform as a "Bolshevik plot" and telling their constituents that he’s "doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to destroy America."
Speaking to House Republicans at their annual policy retreat here, Obama said that over-the-top GOP attacks on him and his agenda have made it virtually impossible for Republicans to address the nation’s problems in a bipartisan way.
“What happens is that you guys don’t have a lot of room to negotiate with me,” Obama said, silencing the smattering of Republicans who had applauded when he said “Bolshevik plot.” "The fact of the matter is, many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable with your own base, with your own party because what you've been telling your constituents is, ‘This guy's doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to destroy America.' ''
Obama’s comments came in the midst of an extraordinary back-and-forth with Republican House members – a scene straight out of the House of Commons that played out live on cable TV.
Republicans invited Obama to appear at their annual conference; the president accepted — and then surprised them by asking that cameras and reporters be allowed into the room.
Republicans immediately agreed to the request, but they may be regretting it now.
Again and again, Obama turned the Republicans questions against them — accusing them of obstructing legislation for political purposes and offering solutions that won’t work.
"I've read your legislation. I take a look at this stuff. And the good ideas we take," Obama said. "It can't be all or nothing, one way or the other … If we put together a stimulus package in which a third of it is tax cuts that normally you guys would support, and support for states and the unemployed and helping people stay on COBRA, that certainly your governors would support … and maybe there are some things in there, with respect to infrastructure, that you don't like … If there's uniform opposition because the Republican caucus doesn't get 100 percent or 80 percent of what you want, then it's going to be difficult to get a deal done, because that's not how democracy works."
House Minority Leader John Boehner, who introduced Obama to his colleagues and gave the president a stack of Republican policy proposals, said afterward that the event had been “a good first step in having more of a dialogue.”
Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake said the event had helped his party by showing that Republicans have offered alternatives to Obama’s plans.
"The real effort here was to convince people out there that we have offered solutions, we've offered things,” Flake said. “For him to say, ‘Yes, I've read your proposal; it's a substantive proposal’ — that's good. That's a huge thing for Republicans."
House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana began Friday’s question-and-answer session by asking Obama whether he’d embrace “across the board” tax cuts as a way to revive the economy, and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) asked him to support a line-item veto to help achieve a balanced budget.
And… FOX VIDEO: Obama - 'I am Not an Ideologue'
Q: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None, if it really wants to change.
Any president, at any time, can choose to embody the consensus his nation has reached after it has engaged in a period of extended debate. That process, called triangulation, involves the embrace of the elements advanced by the right and by the left that Americans have found valid, and the rejection of those from which they have turned away.
When our nation encounters a new problem, we welcome vigorous debate and encourage each side to articulate its views and elaborate its solutions.
But, after a time, we have heard enough and want resolution, consensus and implementation. If Obama heeds that call, he can, indeed, turn his presidency around. But if he continues to pursue his leftist, socialist agenda and uses a feigned moderation as a guise for his radicalism, we will not be fooled again. We have been down that road with him before
In healthcare, for example, the debate has left most of us in agreement that insurance companies need to be reined in. They should not be allowed to reject those with pre-existing conditions or to raise rates when their clients become sick. We mostly agree that lifetime caps on benefits are unfair. Since each of us could become sick and run afoul of those rules, we oppose them and ask for their reform. On the other hand, we reject the total revamping of the healthcare industry, the reduction of doctor pay, the cuts in Medicare and the mandatory insurance embedded in the ObamaCare legislation. Were Obama to embrace these solutions, he would be able to pass his bill quickly and would be hailed for it.
But will Obama do it? Will he emulate Clinton and save his presidency by moving to the center? Certainly not before he has lost his control over Congress. It was not the defeat of healthcare that impelled Clinton's change of course, but his defeat in the elections of 1994. Even then, it took six months to turn the battleship around.
And after he loses Congress? Probably not even then. Clinton was a lifelong moderate who moved to the left when expediency dictated. Obama is a lifelong liberal who pretends to move to the center when he has to.
A committed socialist, one doubts that Obama would sacrifice his cherished transformative goals for incremental policies.
But even if Obama did, it might not save him. There is a basic difference between the circumstances that surround the Obama and Clinton administrations. Clinton faced relatively minor problems while Obama is neck deep in recession, deficit and stagnation. Clinton could reshape his presidency by positioning, posturing and passing moderate legislation. But Obama can only succeed by altering outcomes. Americans want jobs, lower unemployment, economic growth, a reduced deficit and an end to the recession. They will not be assuaged or appeased by programs or proposals. They demand results.
The skills of the spin doctor are wasted on his administration. All the photo-ops in the world and all the populist-sounding rhetoric will not do the job.
They may provide a short-term bounce -- as will probably follow the State of the Union speech -- but they will become undone with the next week's jobless numbers.
Just as George W. Bush could not recapture his popularity with new programs for Iraq -- voters demanded a reduction in casualties and then withdrawal -- Obama cannot save his by announcing new ideas. He has to produce.
All the spin in the world will not save Obama.
Dick Morris – Morris, a former adviser to Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and President Bill Clinton, is the author of Outrage, Fleeced and Catastrophe.
Published in The Hill
ALSO:Obama To House GOP: Demonizing Me Does The Nation No Good
‘Overwhelmingly’: Obama Claims Most Of Health Care Debate WAS On C-SPAN
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