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Obama and the "Do-nothing" Congress
Sep. 14th, 2011 12:02 pmMy allergies are slowly improving, although the smoke from Minnesota's wildfires and high mold count is not helping. Due to various scheduled issues, tomorrow is looking to be a busy day, so probably no posting. (I could be wrong - we'll see.)
Various observers in the blogosphere have noted that President Obama is taking an aggressive stance on getting his jobs bill passed. His stance seems to be much more aggressive than that taken on the debt ceiling. This perceived disconnect is causing much confusion, but I have a simple answer.
Simply put, Obama does not need to pass a jobs bill. It would be better for the country if it did pass, and he really wants it to pass, but at the end of the day if Congress baulks Obama simply does his Harry Truman imitation and campaigns against a do-nothing Congress.
This was not the case with the debt ceiling. Obama needed that to pass or we'd have a financial disaster. So, needing the bill to pass, Obama at the end of the day had to pucker up and kiss whatever asses needed to be kissed. Now, it helps that, under the debt deal Obama got, the bulk of the mandatory cuts happen in 2013. This would be under a new Congress, so again, if Congress baulks, Obama takes their failure to act on the campaign trail with him.
In short, Obama has given Congress two opportunities to be branded as a "do-nothing" Congress. Either or both opportunities basically write his campaign ads for him.
Various observers in the blogosphere have noted that President Obama is taking an aggressive stance on getting his jobs bill passed. His stance seems to be much more aggressive than that taken on the debt ceiling. This perceived disconnect is causing much confusion, but I have a simple answer.
Simply put, Obama does not need to pass a jobs bill. It would be better for the country if it did pass, and he really wants it to pass, but at the end of the day if Congress baulks Obama simply does his Harry Truman imitation and campaigns against a do-nothing Congress.
This was not the case with the debt ceiling. Obama needed that to pass or we'd have a financial disaster. So, needing the bill to pass, Obama at the end of the day had to pucker up and kiss whatever asses needed to be kissed. Now, it helps that, under the debt deal Obama got, the bulk of the mandatory cuts happen in 2013. This would be under a new Congress, so again, if Congress baulks, Obama takes their failure to act on the campaign trail with him.
In short, Obama has given Congress two opportunities to be branded as a "do-nothing" Congress. Either or both opportunities basically write his campaign ads for him.
