By Lynn Mueller
It has been almost one full year since Barack Obama was sworn in as our 44th President.
His inauguration also marked the beginning of the control of both Houses of Congress by the Democrat Party with significant majorities.
Now, one year later the President has seen his approval ratings drop sharply.
It is the second lowest ranking in half a century for any President at this point in his incumbency.
His disapproval rating is the highest ever measured at this point in a presidency.
While his positives still exceed his negatives, they do so only marginally.
When it comes to specific performance measures, the President and the Congress get failing marks from American citizens on the handling of the economy, on their healthcare proposals, on job creation and on foreign policy as it relates to the Middle East, Korea and Iran.
On climate change and Cap and Trade, Americans also do not agree with the President.
Given all of this data and the general rejection of his and the Democrat Congress' policy agenda, one can legitimately wonder why they continue to pursue these various initiatives especially given the off-year election results in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections.
When those results are coupled with predictions that large numbers of Democrats in both the House and the Senate will lose in November of 2010, this does seem strange.
It seems to me, the explanation is clear.
We are seeing political ideology trump political victories in the future.
This is because the policy agenda of the President and the leaders of his party in both the House and the Senate recognize the majorities they have are not sustainable.
They also recognize that as unpopular as their various policy proposals for change are, this then is the only time in the foreseeable future that they can achieve their goal.
That goal, simply stated, is to increase the reach and influence of government in the lives of Americans and in the overall U.S. economy.
This ideology belief is out of step with the majority of Americans who have a fundamental distrust of the government and look at the track record of what they perceive to be mismanagement in the ultimate bankrupting of social security, Medicare and Medicaid to mention but three major policy objectives, historically.
While most elected officials do not voluntarily behave in a manner that leads to their own defeat, the current White House and the Democrat leadership in Congress has decided that their ideology and philosophical belief as to the role government should play in our lives, is more important than sustaining or retaining the majority posture they currently hold.
As has always happened historically, when elected officials ignore the will of the majority of their citizens they pay a very high electoral price.
By the time this column is published, the most Democrat and liberal State in the Union, Massachusetts may have for the first time since 1952 elected a Republican Senator, whose campaign was based on running against the very agenda that the President and the Democrat leadership in Congress have been pushing for the last year.
Even if the Democrat candidate prevails in that race, the fact that this race was so close, validates the notion that the current power structure in Washington is even running against the grain of the liberal Democrat constituency in the Bay State.
We do indeed live in interesting times.
Lynn Mueller worked in government, politics and businesss. He lives in Georgetown.
: 2/4/2010
http://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy_main/2010/feb/03/obamas_drug_war_budget_destroys_ More instances of "hope and change" lol
: 2/4/2010
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-obama-dems4-2010feb04,0,612902.story Dems running from the sinking ship....
: 2/4/2010
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2010/02/04/trickery-behind-obamas-2010-budget.html.....
Again Blame Bush. Again you are very sadly mistaken in many ways. The stimulus "jobs" are a joke. They average out to around 100 thousand per job and any jobs "saved" is an educated guess at best. Now look at the budget for this year. * "The budget lists cuts and reductions to 78 discretionary programs totaling $10.3 billion annually. Of these, NTUF says, 24 (representing $4.5 billion in savings) were already included in the FY 2009 list of savings and terminations--meaning Congress has already rejected them once."
Just one quote from a long list of trickery and deceit,lol. Here is my favorite from the article. "As hard as the White House tries to reassure Americans about the nation's finances, taxpayers have many reasons to be afraid--very afraid--that President Obama's team won't fare any better at controlling deficit spending than the Bush administration did," NTUF Senior Policy Analyst Demian Brady said. "Americans will find a mostly gloomy fiscal horizon ahead for their country if the president's proposals become law" Pretty good stuff huh? Here I will post more in a moment....
: 2/3/2010
More truth from the recent past for you.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0119-06.htm
Published on Monday, January 19, 2004 by the San Diego Union-Tribune
Passing the Bill to our Children
by James O. Goldsborough
'Reagan proved deficits don't matter," Dick Cheney told Paul O'Neill during a Cabinet meeting. "We won the (2002) midterms. This is our due."
No one is disputing the words of the former Treasury secretary in the new book, "The Price of Loyalty." Since Cheney had been responsible for bringing the "straight shooter" O'Neill into the Bush administration, we can take O'Neill's words for the truth.
Cheney's remarks bring this question to mind: What kind of a government is this? The idea that it is the Bush administration's "due" to run deficits and leave the bills for future taxpayers is a startling one. Governments run deficits, but it is the rare one that believes they are its right.
By "due," Cheney meant that because Republicans won the midterm elections on a platform of more tax cuts and deficit increases, they could pass still more tax cuts and run up still more deficits. Voters knew that a Clinton surplus of $200 billion had been transformed into a $200 billion deficit under Bush (it is now $450 billion), and voted for Republicans anyway.
: 2/3/2010
It takes far longer than a year to dig out of a 1.2 trillion dollar deficit, which is how long the Democrats have been in power. Not only that but you clearly don't understand what a recession is by your comments. Corporate America isn't creating the jobs for Americans that's why the stimulus is needed. It may not be as quick as you would like but it has helped save jobs and slowly create them. What have the republicans come up with under Bush and last year to create jobs? Please answer that.
: 2/3/2010
Lol you make my point for me. Blaming it all on Bush is getting old. Sorry but even if he made a mess of it its not all his fault now for sure. Your "party" has had power now for how long? Time to man up and take some responsibility. What was there response to a bad budget? Lets take a huge deficit and a mess of a financial situation and BORROW MORE AND SPEND until it gets better? Brilliant! Lol admit it, the stimulus is killing us! Now that the Health care bull has been killed, all we have to do is stop cap and trade and wait till elections. Maybe we can get some people with calculators and common sense in office instead of Obamazombies that are looking for "change". Lol come to think of it it makes sense! If I ran my bank account as they are running the countries I would be asking for "change" too! On a freeway off ramp with a cup and a sign! lol
: 2/3/2010
Do you know what a fact is? http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9957/01-07-Outlook.pdf
The Budget Outlook for 2009
The federal fiscal situation in 2009 will be dramatically worse than it was in 2008. Under the assumption that current laws and policies remain in place (that is, not accounting for any new legislation), CBO estimates that the deficit this year will total $1.2 trillion, more than two and a half times the size of last year’s. As a percentage of GDP, the deficit this year will total 8.3 percent (as compared with 3.2 percent in 2008)––the largest since 1945.
The deterioration in the fiscal picture results from both increased outlays and decreased revenues. Relative to what they were last year, outlays will rise dramatically—by 19 percent according to CBO’s estimates. Much of that increase is a result of policy responses to the turmoil in the housing and financial markets—particularly spending for the TARP and the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.10 In addition, economic developments have reduced tax receipts (particularly from individual and corporate income taxes) and boosted spending on programs such as those providing unemployment
compensation and nutrition assistance as well as those with cost-of-living adjustments.
All this being said, this is a result of the Bush era and yes the Deficit is 1.4 trillion but Bush is who got us there through the economic meltdown. Kennedy's don't own Senatorial seats, he just won all the time, and if he were still alive he would have beat Brown as well. The lady who ran against Brown went on vaction for goodness sake and deserved to lose because she took the people for granted. Healthcare is still on the table. Polls change from week to week and he has slidden. So you have to do a little better than quoting Faux News for facts.
: 2/3/2010
Can you dispute FACTS? Let me re post them for you. A Kennedy seat lost in Mass. Polls tanking as fast as any President in History. Defeated at Health care. Unemployment still unbelievably high. Stimulus package a complete disaster. A deficit that defies comprehension. Any FACTS that i'm missing? Blame scare tactics for the loss in popularity but the truth is that people have a lot to be scared of without spin or exaggeration. The deficit is 1.4 TRILLION. 1,400,000,000,000! That's not exaggerated that's a fact. Now do you honestly think that the "spending" will slow down even with the proposals Obama is offering?
: 2/3/2010
No need for the facts. Just play on people's emotions, and you too can be a succussful Republican Congressman. Emotions overpower rational thinking 9 times out of 10, that's why Democrats can't seem to make any progress. Provide people with the facts and a potential solution or a scary story with and absurd ending and there you have a tea party.
: 2/3/2010
Do you mean "transparency" like we had with the Bush/Cheney administration????????????
: 2/2/2010
About the campaign promises, what happened to transparency? I thought we would be watching some of the decisions being made on CSPAN?
: 2/2/2010
Cant dispute facts so lets try grammar...
: 2/2/2010
Get your grammer straight: it's the democrat party. (or the socialist party, take your pick).
: 2/2/2010
"The last poster is drinking too much Democrat cool aid. Obama is a Socialist elitist joke and the only reason he is whimpering "bipartisanship" now is because he sees his beloved Democrat party getting creamed come election time. As for sap and fade it is ridiculous bill that will only hurt the working people of this country. Health care is finished. Even Obama is giving up on it. Cap and trade is next. Then come election time the Democrat party loses its power. Look at the facts. A Kennedy seat lost in Mass. Polls tanking as fast as any President in History. Defeated at Health care. Unemployment still unbelievably high. Stimulus package a complete disaster. A deficit that defies comprehension. Unable (or unwilling)to deliver on a single campaign promise. Obama destroyed himself. Unfortunately he is taking the Country with him."
What have you been smoking??? Right wing spin going on here. And it is the "Democratic" party. Get YOUR facts straight.
: 2/2/2010
The last poster is drinking too much Democrat cool aid. Obama is a Socialist elitist joke and the only reason he is whimpering "bipartisanship" now is because he sees his beloved Democrat party getting creamed come election time. As for sap and fade it is ridiculous bill that will only hurt the working people of this country. Health care is finished. Even Obama is giving up on it. Cap and trade is next. Then come election time the Democrat party loses its power. Look at the facts. A Kennedy seat lost in Mass. Polls tanking as fast as any President in History. Defeated at Health care. Unemployment still unbelievably high. Stimulus package a complete disaster. A deficit that defies comprehension. Unable (or unwilling)to deliver on a single campaign promise. Obama destroyed himself. Unfortunately he is taking the Country with him.
: 2/2/2010
If some of this wasn't so ridiculous I would probably feel sorry for some of the right wing sheep. Voting against legislation that would benefit yourself and your family because a rich politician or tv personality says you shouldn't when they don't have anything to worry about financially? Obama has lowerd taxes for almost everyone, and now republicans are against that because he won't give rich people big corporations a bigger tax break than they already have gotten under Bush. SC's own Lindsey Graham and John McCain are now against Cap and Trade since Obama is for it. The Fiscal/Deficit Comission introduced by Senator Greg and co/sponsored by Brownback, Crapo, Esign, Hutchison, Inhofe, and McCain all Republicans. Now that Obama says ok, lets do it they are now against it. Same for Pay as you go to offset spending, McCain, Vionovich, Collins and Snowe are now against it after supporting it last year. So the nonsense about if Obama moves to the middle they will work with him has already been proven to be a joke.
: 2/1/2010
The Republicans only agenda seems to be to destroy Barack Obama. They will finish destroying this country just to make sure the President looks bad. The Bush/Cheney administration used fear to sway people to their agenda. The right is still trying to use fear to control us. It doesn't work on me because I actually look to see what is really going on. People need to start thinking for themselves instead of letting their politicians do it for them.
: 2/1/2010
And another edition of Fox News!
: 1/30/2010
Sorry to burst your bubble...Scott Brown ran as the 41st vote to kill obamacare. It was quite apparent which party he belonged to...but whatever helps you sleep at night. Just wait till November.
: 1/29/2010
I'm sooo sorry Mr/Ms Liberal. Would you like a little cheese to go with that whine?
: 1/29/2010
Even though Cheney wasn't officially president, he was the closest thing to a dictator that this country has ever seen. Stealing civil liberties, wiring taping, instigating a war in Iraq where there was no tie in between Iraq and Al-Qaeda in the name of national security. This is a man who gave no bid contracts to Halliburton which he was the CEO of. A direct conflict of interest.
If you would pay attention to what really happened in Mass, you’d realize that Mr. Brown didn’t even mention his political affiliation until after he won and he ran as an independent even though he is a republican. Nor did he come out against Obama until after he won. He ran on jobs and pretending to be a regular person while his opponent went on vacation. It’s easy to win when your opponent isn’t paying attention to when the game starts.
: 1/28/2010
I would vote for Cheney a million times...I miss having a president that isn't all hot air and teleprompters. Obama is the worse president this country has seen...Sorry, liberals, enjoy your majority...it will be short lived. I think the win in Mass. proves that. A conservative in Ted Kennedy's seat! Sounds like the obamabots are waking up.
: 1/28/2010
The economy would have been far worse without the stimulous package. Healthcare needs single payer if nothing else gets done. Frivilous lawsuits only amount to 1/10 of 1% of insurance costs. The US stance against the so called Axis of Evil hasn't changed only that we have some sort of dialogue now. We can't invade every country we disagree with. Climate change is happening weather you believe it or not, but I guess you don't care about the world you children and grandchildren will live in. Coal is dirty adn toxic. Scrubbers only filter the smoke stacks at the plants not when the coal is being burned else where. The president show promote nuclear more until solar becomes more viable and people accept the site of windmills offshore.
You speak of the Democratic Agenda, what has that been. So far, Gitmo is still open, troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan, don't ask don't tell is still alive and kicking, healthcare went the way of death panels, Cash for clunkers worked, Chrysler bailout worked, Stimulus still a work in progress since not even half of that money has been spent yet. So, basically America really isn't that much different than it was a year ago, but it could be much worse. What saddens me is that this President really seems like he wants to do whats best for the people of this country, but all the right want to do in create boogey men, stall and provide no solutions to anything. If you liked the Bush years go ahead and entice Cheaney to run in 2012.
Latest Poll flawed about Lt. Gov. Bauer : 1/28/2010
Since the Lt. Governor has a record of being reckless with the tongue and behind the steering wheel, this is clearly who he is. Also the comment as posted removes the context and alters what he says. So since someone has to do the job properly, you can listen to his complete comment here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpb4nwfiaPY
Tangled web of deceit : 1/28/2010
Being President is not an easy job, especially when all the minority in Congress does is say no without providing an alternative that works for the people and not the big business lobbyist. Prior to this administration we say political ideology trump the people's will hence the big losses for republicans during the last cycle. Now if you want to be honest about why people are upset, it's because of the rate of job losses versus job gains. Right wing extremeist have brain washed some people into believing the president was not born in the US, is a Socialist/Communist, an undercover muslim and all of this other non-sense. When in the history of this country has the Congress need 60 votes to pass anything? People are mad because the country is stagnant and regardless of where you stand doing nothing or little to nothing is not an option. Healthcare needs to be overhauled completely. Dr.s rates are out of line for some of the services they provide. Insurance has free reign to drop anyone at anytime even though we pay into it every month and they have the ability to deny any claim they don't want to accept. Our economy is failing due to past mistake with unregulated companies running amuck destroying the fabric of our country's economy.
Using fear to paralize the people and to sway them to your aganda is a good way to show where your priorities lie.
: 1/20/2010
Looks like Mass kicked some a$$. Soooo how's that HOAX and CHAINS working out for you?