Jack —
Today I asked for a joint session of Congress where I will lay out a clear plan to get Americans back to work. Next week, I will deliver the details of the plan and call on lawmakers to pass it.
Whether they will do the job they were elected to do is ultimately up to them.
But both you and I can pressure them to do the right thing. We can send the message that the American people are playing by the rules and meeting their responsibilities — and it’s time for our leaders in Congress to meet theirs.
And we must hold them accountable if they don’t.
So I’m asking you to stand with me in calling on Congress to step up and take action on jobs:
http://my.barackobama.com/Time-To-Act
No matter how things go in the weeks and months ahead, this will be an important challenge for our organization.
It’s been a long time since Congress was focused on what the American people need them to be focused on.
I know that you’re frustrated by that. I am, too.
That’s why I’m putting forward a set of bipartisan proposals to help grow the economy and create jobs — that means strengthening our small businesses, giving needed breaks to middle-class families, while taking responsible steps to bring down our deficit.
I’m asking lawmakers to look past short-term politics and take action on that plan. But we’ve got to do this together.
I will deliver this message to Congress next week, but I’m asking you to stand alongside me today:
http://my.barackobama.com/Time-To-Act
More to come,
Barack
Like many of my fellow Left-leaning Americans, I received this email from President Obama recently, on the heels of his (once-again) caving to John Boehner and the Republicans about the timing of his speech to a joint session of Congress. I’ve been down this road far too often to have anything particularly new or unique to say, so I’ll just reiterate what a phenomenal, epic disappointment this President has been. There have been so many instances when Barack Obama could have stood up to Republicans. There have been so many times when he could- and should- have drawn a line in the sand. Doing so would have at least laid down a marker to make it clear that there are places he’s simply not willing to go. If nothing else, the President would have demonstrated to his base and to America that he possesses principles on which he’s willing to stand. Instead, he’s demonstrated that, when push comes to shove, he’s out the door. In short, he’s become a joke- to Democrats a disappointment, to Republicans a spineless weenie that no one could take seriously. Our “hope and change” President has revealed himself time and time again to be a moderate Republican in sheep’s clothing.
The latest (and perhaps silliest) tete-a-tete over the timing of Obama’s request to speak to a joint session of Congress is merely indicative of this President’s lack of cojones. When a President requests to speak to a joint session of Congress, he generally gets what he’s asked for. If there’s any sort of conflict, the matter is usually resolved quietly and without the press being made aware of it. Republicans in Congress know that they have this President by the short hairs, and they refuse to pass on any opportunity to embarrass him…and he should be embarrassed. It looks, for all intents and purposes, as if we have a wimp in the White House.
Would Hillary Clinton have proven so ineffectual and spineless? I have a difficult time believing that she would have proven herself to be as lacking in backbone and conviction as Barack Obama. I realize she’s not exactly a Progressive, but I have to believe that she would have at the very least proven herself capable of standing up to Republicans and demonstrating that being the MAJORITY party in Congress actually means something.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
The capitulation on next week’s jobs speech showed, again, a White House that just refuses to understand the kind of opposition it’s dealing with. It was foolish of the White House to schedule the event opposite the GOP debate to begin with (greatly complicating life for MSNBC, the debate’s sponsor and the one friendly cable channel). However exactly the timeline unfolded, the fracas is emblematic of the White House’s lack of political savvy. One hopes at least that Obama reflects on the fact that Boehner is (evidently) the first speaker in history to refuse a president’s requested date and starts to come to terms with his reality.
How bad are things becoming for the President? So bad that now Democrats are feeling the need to seriously think about how closely to align themselves with the President heading into an election year. Yes, we could see numerous Democrats avoiding photo ops and campaign appearances with President Obama…who has only himself to blame.
I enthusiastically endorsed Barack Obama in August, 2007, back when Hillary Clinton’s inevitability seemed almost a foregone conclusion. Even so, there was something about Obama that spoke of a different approach. His background and experience didn’t scream elitist, and when he spoke of how he would change things in Washington, I believed him. When he took the oath of office on the frigid January day in 2009, the excitement was palpable. People believed in their souls that things would be different, that government would no longer be of, by, and for the wealthiest among us. They believed, because Barack Obama told them so, that things were going to change in Washington.
That was then.
This is now…and the reality of President Barack Obama is the political equivalent of a Potemkin village- all beautiful facade, with nothing of substance when you walk through a door. I can live (to a certain degree, at least) with broken promises. Sometimes, there’s no way the rhetoric of a campaign can survive the realities of governing. What I can’t reconcile myself to is the idea that this President has repeatedly proven himself capable of standing up to Republicans. Time and time again, he’s crumpled like a cheap suit what faced with any amount of Republican pushback. Barack Obama was going to be a President who stood up for the poor and working class. He was supposed to be a President championed the cause of middle class America. He was supposed to be a President who liberated America from the greed and self-interest that ran through Washington like blood in the streets during the eight years of George W. Bush’s Reign of Error ©.
I don’t expect the President to repeatedly tell Republicans to go fornicate themselves, but wouldn’t it be nice if he did just that now and again? Wouldn’t it be nice if he stood up for the principles he ran on instead selling out America’s middle class when Republicans push back? And wouldn’t it be wonderful if he didn’t consistently cave to those primarily concerned with the well-being of the wealthiest among us?
Isn’t it about time that an actual, honest-to-God Progressive primaried Barack Obama? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a Democratic candidate who actually stands for something…and has the wherewithal (and the cojones) to tell the Republican MINORITY where they can stick their intransigence and obstructionism??
I hear Russ Feingold isn’t busy these days….
