(Via Instapundit) The Hill’s Congress Blog asks a question which has a very obvious answer:
Should Obama get tough with Congress?
or
Should President Barack Obama be more assertive in pushing the rest of his legislative agenda?
…and the answer is, of course, “Yes.” Presidents always need to get tough with Congress. They particularly need to get tough with Congress when both the legislative and executive branches are held by the same party; when that happens, the former is prone to using the golden opportunity to do something extravagant and stupid… like, say, trying to pass two insanely expensive, ill-thought, transformational pieces of unpopular legislation right after passing a recklessly high, pork-laden spending bill on a party-line vote. First-term Presidents doubly particularly need to get tough with Congress, assuming of course that they want to also be second-term Presidents. So, it’s the wrong question.
The right question is:
Can Obama get tough with Congress?
The President obviously can be more assertive – that’s not particularly hard – but whether he’s actually able to make Congress do things has yet to be determined. There’s been no indication that he even knows how. And the primary carrot/stick that the administration was going to use for compliance (“I will campaign for Democrats who follow my lead.”) looked a lot more credible as a promise/threat in January 2009 than it does today. Just ask Governors Deeds & Corzine, not to mention Senator Coakley.
All in all, at this point it may simply be too late for President to acquire any control over the 111st Congress. And the future leaders of the 112th Congress have been busily taking notes.
Moe Lane
Crossposted to Moe Lane.
Steve Maley
KnightsofMalta
Too late
RedBeard Friday, March 5th at 9:08AM EST (link)Once the emperor’s nakedness has been widely noted, his dignity can never recover.
Obama can only plead with like-minded leftists in Congress, in hopes that he can ride their coattails long enough to falsely take credit in a big teleprompter-driven speech.
Standard-bearer for grouchy curmudgeonry since, oh, 1975 or so.
Leads me back to the question of whether Obama
Leopard1996 (Diary) Friday, March 5th at 9:12AM EST (link)Is either igorant or complicit in this stupidity, and neither is a good quality for a president.
“The accumluated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout, “Save Us!”….and I’ll look down and whisper, “No”…The Watchmen
Fanatics and zealots do not make good presidents
RedBeard Friday, March 5th at 9:19AM EST (link)So many words can describe our beloved chief executive, such as arrogance, hubris, narcissism, dogmatism, etc. Rationality is not one of those words. Neither is patriotic a word that could ever be associated with him.
Standard-bearer for grouchy curmudgeonry since, oh, 1975 or so.
Third Rail Barry, we call him.
Tbone (Diary) Friday, March 5th at 9:32AM EST (link)I see that King Barry the Hopeful is now going to rally Congress for citizenship for illegal aliens like his Aunt. This will be even more popular for Dems to campaign on than Obamacare.
In fact, I expect a Birther Caucus to spring up as a sub-caucus of the Democrat Caucus in the very near future.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
A telling quote neutering these questions. . .
CMaree (Diary) Friday, March 5th at 9:51AM EST (link)is The Hill background article’s quote from Senator Majority Whip Dick Durban, opined to be the closest lawmaker to the President:
“A lot of people who don’t know the inside often criticize him and don’t realize he’s following the direction, sometimes, of the congressional leaders,” said Durbin.
Real questions: Who are the puppet masters and how will they further assert their socialist leanings on our nation?
“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Do we REALLY want this president to get tough with congress?
Praying (Diary) Friday, March 5th at 10:01AM EST (link)Seems to me that he’s saying “you WILL pass this healthcare bill” and congress is saying “Maybe not… we want jobs next fall.” I’m fine with that – please, please, pretty please let this monstrosity DIE in congress. I don’t have much confidence that any of this piece of crap can be repealed after it passes! And for all the talk of “the president’s bill” – there is none! No legislative language exists. So saying he has incorporated the “best ideas from the democrats and republicans” is a smokescreen – what is being considered by the HOUSE is the SENATE bill that passed on Christmas Eve. No tort reform. No language to specifically prohibit tax dollars being used for abortion. No purchase of insurance across state lines. Yet he continues to talk as if this bill actually EXISTS! So no, I do not want him to get tough with congress.
No!!!11!1!!1!1! The Bilderbergers are coming
The right question is "Will congress let Obama get tough?"
antisocial (Diary) Friday, March 5th at 10:06AM EST (link)The answer is obvious. Particularly when they know his coattails are poisonous. The first NOTE in that notepad – “Don’t let Obama anywhere near your campaign”
Obama Doctrine – Boot On The Throat
—————————–
What is to be done?
——————————
No. You can’t – Moe Lane
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The Emperor has no clothes!!!
Getting tough
Cargosquid (Diary) Friday, March 5th at 10:39AM EST (link)would mean that Obama would have to LEAD. He doesn’t know how. He’s trying to “organize” the Congress…..
5.
redneck_hippie (Diary) Friday, March 5th at 10:44AM EST (link)The first bite of the a.m. was white house advisors very close to flip flopping on civil trial for KSM. Second bite was a pivot to an amnesty bill.
Hearing, the 1st, I thought it was a concession that HCR is dead. Then hearing (reading) the second, I’m convinced HCR is dead. All this talk about our candidates campaigning on repeal has increased the panic in the White House. They’ve gone from being negligently blase on the mid-terms to hair-on-fire God Save the Commie in the White House panic. And if Obama had more hair, the fire would be so intense he could throw out his cigarette lighter.
Shakespeare on Obama
Freedoms Truth (Diary) Friday, March 5th at 11:54AM EST (link)Obama ‘getting tough’ is to make his umpteenth call on the Democrat-majority Congress to actually pass HCR…. Hotspur’s Retort from Shakespeare’s Henry IV:
Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come when you do call for them?
Freedoms Truth,
Travis Monitor – http://travismonitor.blogspot.com
Austin, TX
This is a nice take on the situation.
Flagstaff (Diary) Friday, March 5th at 8:28PM EST (link)And I think this is generally accurate:
But is it true in Obama’s case? Wasn’t it his own chief of staff who said, “Let no crisis go unmined”? Didn’t Congress do almost exactly what Obama wanted it to do? Obama could stop this Health Care Demolition in its tracks with a few words to Nancy Pelosi–”If you pass it, I will veto it, so don’t pass it out of committee.” If that were to happen, he’d be re-elected and Congress wouldn’t. But he in fact wants it, so he’ll never say that.
So the answer to your question is Yes, He Can! get tough with Congress. But he doesn’t want to because it’s doing exactly what he wants.
Only Congress can save the Democrats from themselves.
“The press is so powerful in its image-making role that it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”– Malcolm X, Audubon Ballroom, December 13, 1964
Wimp in chief with teleprompter
benson1 Sunday, March 7th at 11:09AM EST (link)Wrong question, wrong answer. Why would we want Obama to get tough with Congress even if he could. What would he get tough about? He agrees totally with all the BS they’re doing, if not why all the Obama speeches and TV specials, town meetings and sending white house sycophants on Sunday talk shows spouting the same lies. They are all of a kind, socialist, progressive liars. The correct question should be how soon can we rid ourselves of these destructive criminals. The answer is 2010 for Congress and 2011 for impeachment of Obama.
Impeach?...
rbdwiggins (Diary) Sunday, March 7th at 11:35AM EST (link)Better a lame-duck reminder to the electorate as to why they elected a new Republican majority and to secure 45′s mandate.
“Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn’t so.” – Ronald Reagan
Impeachment is NOT a option. nt
mbecker908 (Diary) Sunday, March 7th at 11:45AM EST (link)Impeach for WHAT?
Christine (Diary) Sunday, March 7th at 12:31PM EST (link)What evidence do you have that Obama has committed any of the crimes that qualify a President for impeachment? Do you even know what they are?
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#A2Sec4
Quit this line of talk. It fuels the laughter of the left because it gives them ammunition for their MSNBC talk shows and NYTimes news articles.
The primary process is FLAWED. Two states should not decide our candidate.
“I would be a poor Commander in Chief”
– Barack Obama, July 3 2008