But, Mr. Clinton, we were promised that he could…
By Ward Smythe | Friday, October 22nd, 2010 | Politics
Quoted in today’s Washington Post, former President Bill Clinton said of President Obama:
“To hear the Republicans tell it, from the second President Obama took his hand off the Bible taking the oath of office, everything that happened after that was his fault…I’d like to see any of you get behind a locomotive going straight downhill at 200 miles an hour and stop it in 10 seconds.”
But, what about what we were promised?
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
Candidate Barack Obama
February 5, 2008“….we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth.
Candidate Barack Obama
June 3, 2008
It’s not, President Clinton, that everything that’s happened is Obama’s fault.
It’s that he’s made everything worse.
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Ward Smythe is a pseudonymous aspiring freelance writer from Central Virginia. Until late 2007 Ward blogged at the now defunct "Ward View" and was active in Virginia and national politics. Ward's signature style of snarkery gained him a unique following that he hopes to regain here at Bearing Drift. Ward uses humor, satire and sometimes photoshop to make his point. Ward is proud to be an equal opportunity offender.
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19 Responses to "But, Mr. Clinton, we were promised that he could…"
Ugh. Calling BS on this one. Have you seen job loss/growth numbers and how they correspond with recovery funds? You do remember that health insurance reform passed, right? You know, the legislation that opened the door to those who become sick to keep their insurance? I could go on…
I think it is entirely fair to question what was promised. The President has not fully delivered, yet no one could have anticipated that the republicans would adopt a policy of full obstructionism on every initiative that the President promised he would pursue. They even obstructed issues which they had formerly proposed. This is Rove political strategy and tactics at its worst; regretfully, with millions of dollars in unaccounted for contributions from international corporations at work to block any initiative that they don’t like, it has been a tough row to hoe. It will get worse, yet americans will soon tire of republican inspired ideological gridlock. Who will they blame then?
Blah, blah, blah….Mike, do you ever get tired of being a broken record?
Sorry to get under your skin, J.R., but I never posted that response before. If you disagree with what I said, say why instead of avoiding the issue of obstructionism. I’m tired of that as well.
I have posted ad nauseum the GOP alternatives regarding healthcare reform, spending reform, energy reform, etc. Proposals that never reach the floor of the U.S. House for debate, amendments that are never allowed to be offered – that’s not obstructionism on the part of the GOP. You know exactly who the problem is.
I agree Mike, Lord knows I’ve made my frustrations about Obama known in regard to some issues. However, the statement that he’s just made “everything worse” isn’t warrented.
Joel,
What about increasing the national debt faster than any other president in the history of the country do you not understand?
Do you have $13.5 trillion lying around?
J.R., I’m perplexed. Your party is set to win the House at least, and their strategy of relentless negativism and obstructionism has apparently been successful in convincing americans that the sky is falling. What are you so angry about? Could it be your really give a darn about america?
Well said Ward… It seems Obama’s always blaming everyone else. The only thing the DEMS can promote about the healthcare bill is what the Health Insurance Companies provide (i.e. stay on parents health insurance until 26yo, no lifetime/annual limits, “become sick keep their insurance”, etc.).
Among Democrats, they’re running so far from this guy’s agenda it’s tough to determine whether they’re Democrats or Tea Party.
Our economy is built on growth…not government. Liberals/Progressives wish to tax until there is nothing left to tax. All the while, Obama has stifled an environment for businesses to grow with micromanagement through regulations…so be prepared to live in this environment for a long time.
For over a year, Obama had a filibuster-proof Senate and the House with no opposition…free reins but he continued to blame the Republicans. …and he could’ve picked off a few RINOS but he didn’t. He even had the liberal press slobbering all over him. Typical, blame someone else.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/military-service_511588.html
Moran shoots off his mouth AGAIN and this time the Weekly Standards Bill Kristol chimes in, read below, lets get viral with this quote and turn the tide.
Moran to Troops: Your Service Doesn’t Matter
10:47 PM, Oct 21, 2010 • By WILLIAM KRISTOL
The Washington Examiner reports that Virginia congressman Jim Moran (VA-8) was videotaped speaking at an October 6th meeting of the Arlington County Democratic Committee, saying: “What [Republicans] do is find candidates, usually stealth candidates, that haven’t been in office, haven’t served or performed in any kind of public service. My opponent is typical, frankly.”
But as the Examiner points out, Moran’s opponent “happens to be Col. Patrick Murray (US Army-Ret.), who served 24 years in uniform, was deployed to four different combat zones, including Baghdad, as part of the 2007 troop surge under Gen. David Petraeus, and was even shot at by foreign combatants.”
Jim Moran is well known to be an arrogant, unpleasant, and self-important man. He’s been protected from paying any price for his defects of character by having a safely Democratic Northern Virginia seat, one that’s heavily populated by federal government workers and others friendly to big government. But for many decent liberals, this comment could be the straw that breaks the back of their willingness to continue voting for Moran.
If Moran’s constituents learn about his remarks.
If donors step up, and if GOP leaders and committees and independent groups come forward to support the troops and do a good deed for the country–and if there are therefore resources for TV, radio and mail making Moran’s slander as infamous as it deserves to be–then we can look forward to lifting a glass to our troops as we bid farewell on Nov. 2 to Jim Moran.
J.R-But, but, but …the Republican plan is to INCREASE the deficit by keeping the Bush tax cuts.
Dick Cheney: “The thing we learned from the Reagan administration is that deficits don’t matter.”
As with everything else, he’s wrong about this.
They apparently only matter when a Democrat is president.
This is a really stupid time to get fixated on the deficit.
There’s a time to care about the size of your water bill, it’s not when your house is on fire.
The main thing wrong with Obama is that he’s listened to Republicans TOO much and not done enough stimulus. The cost of borrowing is cheaper than it’s been in a generation as is the cost of buillding material and labor…we should have launched a huge federal infrastructure repair program now while we have the chance.
Steve,
Cheney’s wrong and so are you. Simple as that.
Yes, deficits do matter, an area of agreement. So let the temporary tax cuts expire as scheduled, institute budget discipline and pay go, and the budget will come into balance and the deficit will be reduced. Listen to the bi partisan reform commission for social security and act now so the system will work for the rest of this century at least. Fact is, if legislators stop screaming at each other and get to work, our issues are very solvable; keep us this obstructionism, and the issues will devolve into crises.
Mike,
You had me after your first point and until your last clause.
We are in the era of tax cuts RIGHT NOW. If they expire, you will further exacerbate an already weakened economy.
As for obstructionism, I’ve already answered that point. It’s an unnecessary and unfortunate talking point continually perpetuated by the left.
Short of those points, I think we’re in agreement.
“Ugh. Calling BS on this one. Have you seen job loss/growth numbers and how they correspond with recovery funds? You do remember that health insurance reform passed, right?”
Well, I guess that you could call BS on this one if you don’t have a pocket calculator or have any short-term memory.
First, if you accept the Obama Administration assertions about the number of jobs ‘saved or created’ by the $871B stimulus package, then simple arithmetic tells you that the Federal government could have paid the same number of people, about 4 million, about $180,000 each just to stay home until the economy improved. I doubt if any of those construction workers on the “shovel-ready” public projects are making anything close to that amount of money, so where is the rest going?
Second, ObamaCare was passed in the Congress on the premise that it would reduce the Federal deficit. (How you can reduce Federal debt by adding 30 million people to a government health insurance program was always a mystery to me.) Now, a mere six months later, the non-partisan CBO estimates that ObamaCare will add up to $1T to the deficit over the first ten years.
I’m calling BS on any idea that government creates wealth or sustainable employment.
Joel: “Have you seen job loss/growth numbers and how they correspond with recovery funds?”
And that’s a good thing? Obama can’t do anything for PRIVATE SECTOR job growth? He can only impact it through government spending?
Any idiot can borrow a ton of money and spend it and think he’s successful.
I can’t believe you’re bragging about this, Joel.
Tarp and Stimulus worked hand in hand to carryover businesses and damages older less integrated operating models that are easier to squeeze taxes from. Many businesses needed to fail and file so new better business models could emerge.. This is old guard obsolete politics protecting vulnerable business models that often guard their way of creating value, even if it stifles new models that would otherwise prevail. Nobody wants to say this.. why? The post internet boom bust caused a sea change and that generation is not to blame for over exuberant lending but it was an early warning for a few sharp minds who were not too surprised.
Times are changing but without enough discipline in government to not prop up business models that over time often become obsolete we are doomed. Our government has been exploited by special interestes to save THEIR hides moreso than that of joe and jane public. Specifically, the crop of GOP leadership we have now was a product of the past few decades that failed to embrace conservative principles.
I stand by my words and feel pretty lonely.. and few republicans are bowling for Goldwater either..
The more comments I see of Barrett’s comments the more I wish I could vote twice!
health insurance should only be taken from reputable companies, you really don’t want to get it from fly-by-night companies ,:;
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