Overreaching leaves Obama with few friends
Perhaps it is the spirit of the season, but my empathy receptors are in overdrive for poor Barack Obama. All he wanted for Christmas was a health-care reform bill — and all he got was a lousy insurance industry bailout that few can love.
Lefties hate it because there’s no public option and no Medicare buy-in for those 55 and over. Righties hate it because requiring that Americans buy private insurance or face penalties means taxpayers will have to hand over more of their hard-earned dollars (assuming they have a job) to the government.
Obama, in other words, is having a Harriet Miers moment. Or, rather, he’s having a George W. Bush moment.
When Bush nominated the in-over-her-head Miers to the Supreme Court, his fan base turned on him. As one ardent Bush supporter told me at the time: “It was in that moment that I realized he really might not know what he’s doing.”
And so things seem to have turned for Obama. Left-leaning Democrats suddenly are wondering: Who is this guy? What happened to the liberal dream-maker who was going to provide health care to every person in the country while hand-feeding grateful polar bears basking on vast expanses of restored sea ice?
Obama didn’t so much move center as he just stood there and let others craft his seminal legislation. Now, it would appear, he can’t quite close the deal.
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Glen from Saskatoon Says:
Good Heavens… even when analysing themselves, the Lefties speak from both sides of their mouths. The headline describes Obama as “overreaching” and then a few paragraphs into the article he’s said to have ” just stood there and let others craft his seminal legislation.” All I can say is “Bring on the 2010 mid-terms”.
Posted on December 20th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Mac Says:
Good point, Glen. I guess Obama’s teleprompter didn’t tell him to rein in Pelosi and Reid?
Posted on December 20th, 2009 at 11:12 pm