-By Warner Todd Huston
Once again Nancy Pelois has told Barack Obama that he can take his desire for a post-partisan Washington and shove it. Pelosi has left little doubt that she doesn’t give a flying fig about the bi-partisan method of governing to which Obama continually pays lip-service.
So, will President Obama take these slaps from Pelosi lying down or will he stand up for what he keeps claiming he is truly interested in? Will this president allow the Speaker of the House to drive his agenda without his input?
Thus far, it seems that he will. It is starting to become glaringly obvious that Barack Obama isn’t taking any part in the actual process. He just gives good press conference and then retreats back into the White House to leave the real work to others. And those “others” (like Democrats Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid) are not interested in their president’s sparkling ideals. Not only do Reid and Pelosi have no interest in heeding Obama’s lofty call to work across the aisle with the GOP but they want to crush the GOP without mercy. It’s partisan business as usual as far as the Democrats in Congress are concerned.
Politico reports that on Friday, Pelosi met with reporters and blasted anyone that opposed her. “In a statement sure to rile Republicans, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Friday dismissed calls for bipartisanship as ‘process’ arguments extraneous to passing a stimulus bill…” She went on to say that, “Washington seems consumed in the process argument of bipartisanship, when the rest of the country says they need this bill.”
First of all, that last bit is an outright lie. “The rest of the country” is NOT saying they “need this bill.” According to a recent CBS poll, support for the stimulus is in no way overwhelming.
Slightly more than half the country approves of President Obama’s $800 billion-plus stimulus package, a new CBS News poll finds. But support for the bill has fallen 12 points since January, and nearly half of those surveyed do not believe it will shorten the recession.
That same poll shows that the overwhelming majority of respondents want a bi-partisan bill, and this runs exactly the opposite of Pelosi’s actions and claims.
Eighty-one percent of Americans say the stimulus bill should be a bipartisan effort. Just 13 percent think it is okay for a bill to be passed with only the backing of the Democratic majority.
If Pelosi gets her way and makes this a damn the GOP effort, this will eventually bite Obama’s favorable poll ratings. After all, eventually people will realize that Obama is powerless as a leader and cannot change the partisanship of his own party.
It remains to be seen, however, if this is all really what Obama wants in the end. Does he really care at all about bi-partisanship? Or is he taking the high ground with his airy speeches but cynically allowing the liberal attack dogs in Congress to scuttle the lofty rhetoric because, in truth, he doesn’t want any bi-partisan effort at all?
Even if this more cynical view of Obama’s motives isn’t true, that his calls for a bi-partisan effort are actually his fervent wishes, if he fails to lead his own party to this end it will be seen as either a failure to lead, or an out right lie in the first place on Obama’s behalf. In either case, Obama fails as president.
We also need to point out one more bit of leftist doggerel that puts the stamp of liar to their SOP (standard operating procedure). Catch this line in the Politico piece:
Pelosi — speaking to reporters on the second day of her retreat with House Democrats at a swank Williamsburg, Va., golf resort…
The Democrats are having a “lavish retreat” in these harsh economic times? But wait, aren’t these the same people, the same leftist Democrats, that attack corporations for lavish “retreats” and perks just like the ones they are currently enjoying?
Hypocrites. Plain and simple.
(Photo credit: Bloomberg)
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, Human Events Magazine, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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Pelosi behaves this way because she KNOWS she can get away with it. Reid is just a little more tactful about what he and Pelosi actually believe…they are in charge of the country and the executive branch is merely there to rubber stamp their choices. Their actions demonstrate they believe the office of the president is merely a figurehead position to express the will of Congress. Both Pelosi and Reid were happy with Obama’s election because they knew this inexperienced person was the perfect person who could not go against their wishes. Obama has about as much power as the Queen of England – zip, nada, zilch. Obama is their puppet and he will say and do whatever his handlers make him. Now you understand why the Dems truly hated Bush, he had the temerity to have his own mind and an opinion contrary to theirs.