So, I have already mentioned, probably numerous times, my disillusionment with the Obama administration. It has not come as a shock, exactly. Yet, somehow, each time I hear about certain things, it comes nevertheless as a kick in the gut.
His signing of the NDAA, which effectively put an end to the traditionally standard and long uncontested right of habeas corpus, which is supposed to be secured in the Bill of Rights. So much for that, though. Maybe Obama sounded unhappy in the words he said, and the tone in which he said them, at the official signing. Bottom line is, though, that he did sign it into law. That was, and remains, my biggest outright beef with him.
But it is by no means the only one. Like Democrats have done now for decades, he takes turns talking tough, then backing down when the going gets rough. I will give him credit for passing Obamacare, though. It is not the most ideal answer, and certainly will not solve all of the problems with healthcare in the United States, for certain. Yet, something needed to be done and, finally, despite immense opposition, something was. Yes, Americans are reluctant to change, and this issue seems to be one where they resist particularly hard (against the best interests of the majority of Americans, I might add). But give him credit, he stuck with it, and managed to actually get it passed.
But the whole spying with drones thing bothers me, as well as those other things already mentioned. Not that this would not be happening with a Republican in the White House - it most assuredly would. But again, the Democrats and Republics are, at least in theory, supposed to disagree with each other, to have some fundamental differences. The fact that they do not, that they agree with each other on far too many issues, is a growing source of alarm and dread for many Americans, such as myself. This is just further proof to cement the realization that this is not mere paranoia, or lacking in credibility as some conspiracy theory. it is real.
More recently, his signing of the so-called Monsanto Protection Act (HR 933) late last month was yet another huge step back, protecting corporations from having to be honest and upfront to the American people about what they put in their food products. President Obama's signing of this bill into law also is in direct contradiction to what he advocated as a candidate for the highest office in the land. He did this at a time when most Americans are so wrapped up in arguments over guns and gay marriage, that most did not pay attention to this, and this affects a vast majority of Americans. Moreover, this will have an adverse affect on the lives of millions of Americans, who will continue to consume products with chemicals that they do not even know how to pronounce, let alone know their effects in either the short term or the long term. That was not a minor disappointment.
And now this: Obama's new budget, which he confidently assured would put all arguments to rest (oh, really, buddy?). It cuts a lot of "entitlements", far more than even many of his own Democrats were willing to support. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has continued to show fierce opposition to Obama's proposed budget, and even hinted at a filibuster, which has become a staple in Congressional Republican strategy in recent years. This latest budget battle puts both Obama and Boehner in awkward positions, at least according to the headlines.
Yet, what position does it put everyday Americans in, as they watch their benefits, and perhaps even their rights, erode ever more?
Read this article of Evan McMorris-Santoro of Buzzfeed, and see if some valid points are not made. When Obama gave his second inaugural just a few short months ago, many progressives had high hopes and held their breath that maybe, just maybe, he would finally be the President that many had hoped he would be when first elected back in 2008. But the reality is something different entirely. If we thought that his first four years were some sort of aberration, that he was playing it safe for political gain, and that the second term would provide a far more progressive approach from the Obama team, you had better think again. Get used to disappointment.
The Progressive Honeymoon is Over
Obama trolls his base with his new budget.
by Evan McMorris-Santoro
posted on April 5, 2013 at 4:26pm
WASHINGTON — That spring in the step of progressives after President Obama mentioned climate change in his inaugural speech and the minimum wage in his State of the Union address is gone.
On Friday morning, the White House selectively released news of the president's next budget ahead of the new package's official rollout Wednesday. Progressives had braced themselves for disappointment, and they got it: President Obama's budget includes cuts to entitlement benefits that the left say are giving away the farm to Republicans eager to rollback the welfare state.
Progressives had the predictable reaction after the news came out, spitting out venomous press releases at Obama and generally throwing up their hands at the situation.
"I am quite concerned by reports that the forthcoming White House budget proposal might include chained CPI and other accommodations to Republicans determined to dismantle our social safety net and the progress our nation has made since the New Deal," Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, said in a release. "I must reiterate that I will never support any reductions in Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits — and chained CPI is a direct reduction in Social Security benefits. Along with my fellow progressives, I will vehemently oppose any such cuts."
And that's a big part of the point. With Senate Democrats and House Republicans staking out strikingly different positions with their budgets, the White House is clearly intent on framing its version as a moderate compromise, and to do that they need to stoke liberal outrage.
After putting more progressives in the Senate last year and reelecting the president on a platform that included raising taxes, progressives think they deserve more from a White House budget than what they're getting. At the White House briefing Friday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told Obama's upset base to, basically, deal with it.
"The budget reflects his priorities within a budget world that's not ideal," Carney said. "Within a budget decision-making process that's not ideal, yeah, obviously as he sees it, it requires compromise and negotiation and a willingness to accept that you won't get 100% of what you want."
The left, meanwhile, sounds more frustrated than anything else.
"Our negotiator-in-chief is now serving up cuts to Social Security benefits in a mystifying attempt to appease Republican hostage-takers in Congress," said Becky Bond, poltical director of the San Francisco-based CREDO. "The American people are overwhelmingly opposed to cutting Social Security benefits, and if Democrats don't want to go down in history as the party that destroyed one of the greatest social programs of all time, they need to stand up and unambiguously reject the president's proposed cuts."
CREDO and other national groups on the left are already trying to kill Obama's budget plan. Groups have threatened to primary Congressional Democrats who support Obama's proposed changes to entitlements. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee says it has a handful of volunteer leaders from Organizing for Action, the group formed out of Obama's 2012 campaign, who are willing to step back from the organization over the president's budget.
The back-and-forth between the president and the left Friday is something Washington hasn't seen much of in the second Obama term. For the most part, progressives have been overjoyed to see the president make gun control, immigration reform, and early childhood education his priorities. While there's simmering worry over what Obama will do with the Keystone XL pipeline, progressives have been happy to see Obama talk about climate change and promise action on the issue.
The White House is trying to target Republicans with the budget, trying to box the party in with what Carney called a balanced combination of spending cuts and revenue increases. The goal is to sell the House Republican budget passed earlier this year as draconian in contrast to the White House plan. For now, anyway, Republicans are passing the popcorn as progressives howl.
"Looks like the president has managed to do it for a third year in a row: put together a budget sure to garner zero votes from either party," said Brendan Buck, spokesperson for Speaker John Boehner.
The White House and the left are still walking arm-in-arm on many things, including immigration reform and guns. But on the budget, a fight the left thought it won at the ballot box, Obama and the left are back on the outs.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/the-progressive-honeymoon-is-over
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