It's a little late for a State of the Union reaction post, and I doubt my opinions on it will be revelatory or particularly controversial. He did an excellent job, as usual, of making me feel all warm and fuzzy and confident, a feeling that will last, oh, well, probably until it becomes abundantly clear that he has abandoned health care reform entirely in favour of pointless pandering. Oh, wait...
So really there's not much to note about the speech other than the well-known fact that Obama's rhetoric rarely seems to match the sausage he manages to grind out. Two days later, however, he traveled to Baltimore for a Q&A session at the House Republican retreat, and CSPAN was there to record the whole thing. Definitely worth watching the whole thing, both for the surprising level of candor with which Obama discusses his situation and for the civility with which he was treated by the group of raving baboons that currently occupies the right side of congress.
The money line, for the impatient, is here:
Bolshevik plot! Hey-o!
Elsewhere, Obama makes two particularly shrewd points that did a hell of a lot more to restore my hope-boner than the SOTU did. At one point, a congressperson whined that Obama was being mean to the poor Republicans by saying they had no ideas and that he was ignoring some plan they had developed that would supposedly cover everyone and not cost a dime. His response was to point out how little sense it would make for him to reject such a proposal, both from a policy angle and from a political one. Why, as a pragmatic, non-ideological type of guy, would he opt for a more expensive and less successful reform bill during a period of intense budget strain and declining approval? Of course, the reality is that the Republican proposals are pure snake-oil, put forward only to provide the party the ability to pretend it is interested in the debate over HCR in any real way, and Obama very gently and indirectly points this out.
Later, when pressed more on the general theme of the evening, why Obama won't listen to the Republicans, the president made an interesting observation. He noted that, by demonizing him so much, House Republicans have tied their own hands. They can't, without facing a nutty-ass primary challenge a la Rubio, Hayworth, or Specter, cooperate in any way with the Democrats or the White House. By accusing him of wanting to cram government into every orifice of the American public, they can't support him or influence him even when they may want to. As a result, there is no logical reason for Obama or Pelosi to even try to negotiate with them. It would have been nice if Obama had known this maybe 11 months ago, but whatever, he's totally right. Obstructionism and cries of socialism may fill the campaign coffers and energize the Fox News mouth-breathers, but they certainly limit the already limited effect a minority party can have on legislation. It was heartening to hear the big man say it himself, although it remains to be seen whether he'll take this hard-earned nugget of political wisdom and make something of it.
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Frank Rich:
ReplyDeleteIt was a heartening breakthrough when Obama dismissed such idiocies repeatedly in his televised meeting with House Republicans on Friday. He mocked G.O.P. legislative snake oil that promises to lower all medical costs and “won’t cost anybody anything.” He must keep this up — and be equally tough on the slackers in his own party who stall his agenda. And he must be less foggy on the specifics of what that agenda is. Though on Wednesday night he asked Congress to “take another look” at the health care bill, even now it’s unclear what he believes that bill’s bedrock provisions should be. He also said he wouldn’t sign any financial regulatory bill that “does not meet the test of real reform,” yet tentatively praised a House bill compromised by a banking lobby that is in bed with Democrats and Republicans alike. The Senate, of course, has yet to produce any financial reform bill.