Post #320,351
1/20/10 11:44:32 AM
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Sullivan is on his meds again.
He's talking sense again, after going hysterical a day or so ago.
http://andrewsulliva.../01/the-gulf.html
[...]
Obama and the Congressional Democrats (especially in the House) governed for the last year as though the median voter is a Daily Kos fan.
This must come as some surprise to most Daily Kos fans. But if one had traveled to Mars and back this past year and read this statement, what would you assume had happened? I would assume that the banks had been nationalized, the stimulus was twice as large, that single-payer healthcare had been pushed through on narrow majority votes, that card-check had passed, that an immigration amnesty had been legislated, that prosecutions of Bush and Cheney for war crimes would be underway, that withdrawal from Afghanistan would be commencing, that no troops would be left in Iraq, that Larry Tribe was on the Supreme Court, that DADT and DOMA would be repealed, and so on.
But when even a sane and honest person like Bainbridge has lapsed into believing the FNC mantra, you realize that ideology has simply altered our understanding of reality. I note that Peter Berkowitz, another sane conservative, notes "extreme partisanship" on health insurance reform - but sees it as entirely a Democratic failure!
Obama needs to start showing his "tough and wiry" side and stand up to this nonsense...
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #320,358
1/20/10 1:22:49 PM
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Obama's problem was his lack of direction
He let the house write the healthcare regs and didnt object when the bribery to members got balatant. 49 states to shoulder the bill for nebraska and the 300 mill to Louisiana should have been quashed from the get go. That is what has the people pissed off as well as the fact that all the states are running heavy deficits and a new unfunded mandate from washington doesnt help. Mosts states constitutionally cant run red ink.
If we torture the data long enough, it will confess. (Ronald Coase, Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences, 1991)
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Post #320,362
1/20/10 2:05:07 PM
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You're buying those memes again...
Presidents have to do more than one thing at a time. They have to strike while the iron is hot. They have to recognize that the House and Senate have their Constitutional functions and it doesn't pay to try to bypass them (see: Carter, Jimmy; Clinton, Bill).
He's done very well so far. He needs to push more, and the people need to push him more.
Point me to the unfunded mandate in the Senate health care bill. Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #320,374
1/20/10 5:53:51 PM
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the only thing he has struck is some golf balls
http://blog.heritage...-of-transparency/
http://www.cato.org/....php?pub_id=10378
In that mild rebuke of protectionism lingers the essence of the administration's nascent trade policy: conditional, ambiguous and not particularly reassuring.
http://www.nytimes.c...icy/18health.html
The agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is the largest buyer of health care in the United States. Its programs are at the heart of efforts to overhaul the health care system. If it had an administrator, that person would be working with Congress on legislation and could be preparing the agency for a new, expanded role.
ÂThe vacancy stands out like a sore thumb, said Dr. Denis A. Cortese, president of the Mayo Clinic, often cited by the White House as a health care model.
ÂIn effect, Dr. Cortese said, ÂMedicare is the nationÂs largest insurance company. The president and Congress function as the board of directors.
ÂUnder a strong administrator, it could take the lead in making major changes in the health care delivery system, so weÂd get better outcomes and better service at lower cost. and on and on
If we torture the data long enough, it will confess. (Ronald Coase, Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences, 1991)
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Post #320,383
1/20/10 8:17:51 PM
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Hmm....
What's he done? There are lots of lists about major legislation and so forth - those are easy to find - e.g. http://www.huffingto...-10_n_192603.html and http://www.whitehous...igned-legislation . A few others I like are:
1) Rationalized rules on classified information: http://www.whitehous...urity-information
2) New rules on improper payments due mistakes, waste, fraud, abuse: http://www.whitehous...improper-payments
3) Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration to be overseen by EPA: http://www.whitehous...n-and-Restoration
4) Removing barriers to Federal funding of stem-cell research: http://www.whitehous...-Human-Stem-Cells
5) Closure of the Guantanamo detention facility (yes, I know it's been pushed back, but it will be closed): http://www.whitehous...ention_Facilities
Nate had a good post on the subject today, too: http://www.fivethirt...ip-epic-fail.html
Is he perfect, of course not. He's got at least 3 years to get better. ;-)
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #320,386
1/20/10 8:43:10 PM
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closed meetings about transparency :-)
If we torture the data long enough, it will confess. (Ronald Coase, Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences, 1991)
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Post #320,389
1/20/10 9:11:10 PM
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...
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Post #320,375
1/20/10 6:00:43 PM
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unfunded mandates
you cannot greatly expand the use of medicaid without expanding the state governments cost of implementing that expansion, why nebraska didnt want to pay its share
in exchange for voting for the bill
http://www.nypost.co...WEP#ixzz0dCEIZJ4m
New research predicts that ObamaCare will swell the Medicaid pop ulation by nearly 16 million individuals. This proposed legislation would welcome nearly one in five Americans into government-run medical welfare. Between 2010 and 2019, the Congressional Budget Office estimates, this single provision would raise state outlays by $33 billion and accelerate federal spending by $345 billion.
If we torture the data long enough, it will confess. (Ronald Coase, Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences, 1991)
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Post #320,384
1/20/10 8:18:21 PM
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I asked for a pointer to the Senate bill. :-)
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Post #320,364
1/20/10 2:21:43 PM
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That was one of them
I would point to a couple of other problems also.
His failure to go on the public offensive out of the gate hurt him. While the Congressional Republicans where more polite, the Republican machine as a whole went after Obama even before he went into office. The Democrats should have seen this coming and had a response ready.
He didn't go after the Republicans for being obstructionists. They where quite bold about their plans early, they where simply going to oppose everything. They where going to do everything they could to keep Congress from doing anything. Obama should have called them out on this publicly and early.
His failure to impose any party discipline hurt. The Democrats are not going to have as much as the Republicans, but Obama didn't really even try. And that made it much easier for the Republicans to obstruct.
He didn't negotiate hard enough with the big companies. He made the common mistake of negotiating some compromise with the companies, and then letting it go in front of Congress without safeguards against the compromise being compromised further.
He didn't hand down any significant symbolic gifts to the left wing of the party. It's only now that he is planning to form a committee in Congress to consider changing the DADT laws, and that is barely left really.
After the bank bail out, he didn't move fast enough on the idea of a bail out for the middle class. It wouldn't have to be much, but a move on job creation and/or middle classes taxes would make a lot of middle of the road independents feel better.
Jay
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