Ultimately, if you really want to know the
answer to that question, you would do well to ask them. Having said that, I recognize my personal
limitations in addressing, knowledgeably, such a complex issue as the question at
hand. Therefore, I will stipulate from
the outset I will consult sources more intimately familiar with the subject
than I am, or will likely ever be.
Today, as the nation stands poised to usher in
a new Congress, with a Republican Majority in both Houses, the GOP frequently
speaks with great passion and enthusiasm about the voters having spoken, and
having given their Party a clear and unequivocal numerical advantage in the
House and Senate. They consider that a
mandate. As a result, they are, or at
least they feign incredulity that the President even contemplated, to say
nothing of took action to employ Executive Orders, with which they obviously
disagree. They warned of “An explosion”
if the President used an Executive Order to activate movement on the
Immigration front.
I applaud the GOP on their impressive victory
last month. However, let’s not get
carried away. I could at least respect,
if not appreciate this logic leap, were it consistently applied. What ever do I mean, you ask? I mean, quite simply, that in 2008, President
Obama won the Presidency, and Democrats swept to substantial victories in both
the House and the Senate. Guess what the
reaction of the GOP Elite was. Do you
think, perchance, it was to say, “Good job Democrats; let’s see how we can work
together to advance legislation, big and small?
Aitch to da no!
In fact, key members of the GOP Leadership, including, among others,
Representatives, Eric Cantor (VA), Paul Ryan (WI), Kevin McCarthy (CA), and Pete
Sessions (TX), along with Senators, Jim DeMint (SC), Jon Kyl (AZ), Tom Coburn
(OK), John Ensign (NV), and Bob Corker (TN) held an anti-Obama/Democrats
strategy session. Non-lawmakers in the
meeting included Newt Gingrich and Frank Luntz.
According to Robert Draper’s book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do:
Inside the U.S. House of Representatives," the group spent four hours on
the evening of the Inauguration, plotting ways to not just win back political
power, but to put the brakes on President Obama’s legislative platform. The author quoted Representative McCarthy as
saying, “If you act like you’re the minority, you’re going to stay in the
minority. We’ve gotta challenge them on
every single bill and challenge them on every single campaign.”
This meeting
resulted in a defined game plan moving forward that included the following
points:
· Go
after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (Which Senator Kyl did, beginning the
next day.)
·
Show
united and unyielding opposition to the President’s economic policies (Eight
days later, Minority Whip Cantor would hold the House Republicans to a
unanimous No against President Obama’s economic stimulus plan.
·
Begin
attacking vulnerable Democrats on the airways (The first National Republican
Congressional Committee attack ads would be run in less than two months.)
·
Win
the spear point of the House in 2010.
Jab Obama relentlessly in 2011.
Win the House and Senate in 2012.
While, Mitch
McConnell were not present during the meeting discussed above, by the end of
2010, after the GOP took control of the House, Senator McConnell was at least
spiritually on board, as he declared, “Our top political priority over the next
two years should be to deny President Obama a second term.” This after he was quoted in the November 4,
2010 Edition of the National Journal as saying, “The single most important
thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term President.”
According to
the Gospel of Conservatives, President Obama and his “God-awful” policies are
the foundation of bedeviling economic failure.
This is the narrative the GOP has spun since the President proposed the
initial stimulus package, as well as during the bailouts of the banking system,
and the automotive industry. In
hindsight, most economists view the combined effects of the stimulus package,
TARP, and the auto bailout as pivotal steps in applying an economic tourniquet
that stopped the bleeding and prevented the Great Recession from expanding to
become the next depression.
Moreover, over
the duration of the 6 years completed in President Obama’s tenure, the Dow has
grown from 7,949 to 17,830, the Unemployment Rate has dropped from 7.8% to
5.8%, GDP Growth has progressed from -5.4% to 3.5%, and the GDP Deficit has
decreased from 9.8% to 2.8%. In other
words, while the job is not complete; there is still work to be done to improve
our economy, and create high wage, full-time employment opportunities, we may
not be where we want to be, but thank God, we are not where we were.
In the process of rescuing and rebuilding our
economy, President Obama has presided over 56 consecutive months of private
sector job growth; a record for the country.
His detractors will argue that too many of the jobs are, low-wage,
part-time, full time, but less than the standard 40-hour work week, and that
the low level of work force participation is responsible for the downward
trajectory of the unemployment rate.
The truth of the matter is these factors are
infrastructural in nature, existed before President Obama took office, and are
likely to persist long after he is gone.
More truth…as noted above, the GOP has fought the president every step
of the way. If he had even a modicum of
assistance and/or support from the so-called “loyal opposition,” the economy
would be in even better shape than it is.
As it stands, he’s done a hellava job, and his economic policy
initiatives, when viewed in the cold light of day and the inexorable passage of
time, have been on target more often than errant.
Whether the discussion has been the economy,
health care, voting rights, gun law modification, Presidential appointments,
immigration, race relations…whatever the subject, the GOP has adamantly opposed
President Obama. In several instances,
the Grand Old Party has abandoned a previous position, rather than align itself
with a proposal offered by the President.
It would be funny, were it not so ridiculous, and all too often
deleterious to our country, and of course to us as citizens.
When cobbling together the tenets of the
Affordable Care Act (ACA), often referred to as Obamacare, the plan was
ultimately framed with components that in large measure had been previously
recommended by the Heritage Foundation, the foremost conservative think
tank. Needless to say, with the Obama
imprimatur intact, the proposal was DOA, as far as Republicans were concerned. As a result, In December 2009, the U.S.
Senate passed the measure 60-39, without a single GOP vote. Later, in March 2010, the U.S. House of
Representatives passed the bill 219-212, also without a single Republican
vote. The GOP likes to cite this as an
example of the President’s unwillingness to work with their Party in a
bi-partisan fashion. This assertion is a
perfect example of revisionist history, in light of the pact Party Leadership committed
to and began executing immediately after the President took Office.
In June 2013, The Supreme Court ruled Section
IV of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional.
The net effect of that action is that certain states, which were
required to seek permission to change their voting laws no longer had to do
so. That change immediately led to
states enacting a series of changes in voting laws that disproportionately
affected minorities, students, and the elderly.
The changes included requiring voter I.D’s, shortening, or eliminating
Early Voting, eliminating same day registration, and making it more difficult
for college students to vote. The GOP
Party apparatus supported virtually all of these changes. Interestingly, with the exception of the
elderly, President Obama won handily the demographics directly curtailed by the
new laws.
On the question of Gun Law reform, the NRA has
made President Obama one of, if not its most prolific membership campaign
issue. The organization presents the
President as the guy most likely to take away guns from law abiding NRA
members…like me. The suggestion however,
is as bogus as the day is long. If
statistics are any indication, it’s working, though. Despite numerous mass murders, school
shootings, and other horrific gun related killings, after nearly each one,
especially those which the President has spoken out on, the NRA or members of
the gun lobby initiates PR Campaigns that spike gun sales, often Assault
Rifles. The thing is, in the midst of
the grainy details, President Obama has not only not taken way peoples’ guns,
gun sales and gun ownership are actually increasing under his tenure. The NRA should probably write him a Thank-You
check when he leaves office.
As it relates to filibustering Presidential
Appointments, it’s fair to say, this is a partisan exercise that has gone on
for ages. Moreover, on first blush, I
would tend to agree with anyone who made such a case. However, upon closer inspection…always it
comes down to the details, the gritty facts of the matter tell a clear
story. In the history of the United
States, there have been 168 filibustered nominations. Before President Obama, there were 86. On average, that is exactly 2 for each of the
43 Presidents who preceded Mr. Obama. That
means, for you higher math whizzes, that 82 of President Obama’s nominees (so
far) have been filibustered. That is 41
times as frequent as his predecessors on average. By the way, I am still bemused when I
consider, Senator McCain selected Sarah Palin as his Vice President nominee,
but considered Dr. Susan Rice unqualified to become Secretary of State. I’ll leave you to ponder that one.
About immigration,
it’s worth noting, America, as we have come to know it, is a country of
immigrants. That is more than a passing
notion. In fact, it is of primal
importance. For most of its history,
America has been a predominantly white country.
But let us not forget, this great nation was occupied when Europeans
arrived. Over time, Native Americans,
“who hosted us,” for the first Thanksgiving, were dispersed, displaced, or just
plain decimated. No, it’s not depicted
that way in American History books…but that’s the way it was. That is what happened. Moreover, a large expanse of what we now
consider the Southwest and the West was inhabited by people we now call
Mexicans. Yes, America was quite
different before the explorers, expansionists, cowboys, and other adventurists
arrived on the scene. Given the state of
our manners and scruples, I can understand why we, collectively, have such a
jaded view on immigration. I mean look
how we handled it. By the way, were
slaves undocumented workers?
Recently, as a result of Congress’ lack of
action on Immigration, President Obama, as promised, signed an Executive Order
to facilitate immigration action in this country. Republicans are characterizing his action as
unique, unlawful, and unconstitutional.
They are making this claim, even though every President since George
Washington has issued Executive Orders, and it is particularly noteworthy that every president
since and including Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower has taken executive action
on immigration without facing threats of lawsuits, government shutdowns,
impeachment, or loss of executive authority.
End of story!
Finally, when
it comes to race relations, the first Black President, as he is known, is
firmly lodged between a rock and a hard place.
When he is not being called a socialist, or a Muslim, or an African (as
in not born in America), of a Kenyan anti-colonial, or a community organizer,
he is called a racist who hates white people, which is interesting, as his
mother is Caucasian.
On Monday,
President Obama sat for an interview with BET, in the aftermath of the Grand
Jury’s decision not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who initiated what
appeared to be a chokehold that led to the death of Eric Garner in Staten
Island, NY. Conservative America
frequently argues that President Obama, who shows great restraint in most
racial matters, over reaches and demonstrates a clear bias; actually a racist
bent. They do this despite of the fact
that he always, and I mean always, stresses the fact that we are a nation of
laws, and the system must run its course.
The curious thing about his critics’ position on this matter,
particularly in an instance such as the Eric Garner case is, these are the same
Americans who never trust their government…until a neighborhood watchman or a police
officer shoots and/or kills an unarmed black man. At that point, amazingly, they seem to trust
the government (or its representative) completely.
So, after
giving it considerable thought, I think I have figured it out. “What DoAmerican Conservatives Want From President Obama?”
·
They want him to wake them up
and tell them they have been dreaming since November 4, 2008.
·
They want him to convince
them that the outcomes of the 2008 and 2012 Presidential Elections were really
not what they have been “dreaming.”
·
Yes, they want him to tell
them that he is still Senator Obama, and that he is completing the fourth year
of his second term as the now Senior Senator from Illinois.
Well…let me know how that works for ya. I’m done; holla back!
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