Needed: A Different Sort of President

Charismatic career politicians don’t make the best commanders-in-chief. 

The second terms of the latest three presidents have not been successful. Bill Clinton was impeached after his infamous lie to Americans, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”

George W. Bush was blamed for the postwar violence in Iraq.

Barack Obama’s scandals — with his accompanying “limited hangout” denials — are ruining his second term: the growing IRS messes, the Associated Press monitoring, the NSA embarrassments, the Benghazi killings, the Syria bluster and backdown, and, of course, the Obamacare fiasco and the misleading statements about it.

What are other common denominators of this collective tenure of our recent presidents?

After popular first terms and reelection, they seemed to have lost public confidence and the ability to continue an agenda.

Do two terms wear out a president?

Maybe the hubris of getting reelected convinces our commanders-in-chief that they are mostly beyond reproach. Overreach ensues. Then the goddess Nemesis descends in destructive fashion to remind them that they are mere mortals.

In addition, the more talented cabinet and staff appointees often bail out near the end of the first term. At best, they burn out from continuous 16-hour work days. At worst, they flee to leverage their former high-profile jobs through revolving-door influence-peddling, finding new work in media, lobbying, consulting, and on Wall Street.

Via: NRO

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The Five Asks if ‘Snarky,’ ‘Arrogant’ ‘Jerk’ Jay Carney is ‘Losing It’

Following the debut of White House Press Secretary Jay Carney‘s uncanny impression of ABC News’ Jon Karl at yesterday’s briefing, The Five’s Eric Bolling took the opportunity to ask, “Is Carney losing it?”

Bolling admitted that Carney has a tough job to do, especially during the troubled rollout of the Affordable Care Act. “Unfortunately, the president lied and Jay’s frustrated and taking it out on the media,” he said. After playing the clip of theconfrontation with Karl, Bolling told Carney, “Don’t take it out on the media, they are just doing their job, finally. C’mon man, you’re bigger than that.”

Even Bob Beckel could admit that Carney is “slightly out of control” because President Obama “isn’t giving him straight answers and he has to deal with it every day.” He added, “It’s tough when you’re trying to defend a president and know what you’re trying to defend is not accurate.”

“I think he looks like a real jerk,” Andrea Tantaros said. She called his “snark and arrogance” was “just rude.” She suggested that a little “humility” would do him well.

Dana Perino, who had to deal with the job of being President George W. Bush‘s press secretary had slightly more sympathy for Carney than the others sitting around the table. She said being press secretary often felt like living in the Shel Silverstein poem “The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” but every day.

At the same time, Perino said “The best medicine in that briefing room, especially when you’re on your heels, is not necessarily aggression.” While some on the left may want Carney to be aggressive, she said, “when aggression crosses the line into being a jerk, people get upset.”

Via: Mediaite.com

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War on Halloween? The Five Rails Against ‘Costume Correctness’

Thanks to Fox News, we know there’s a War on Christmas. And we’re pretty there’s a War on Easter. But what about Halloween? Today on The Five, Eric Bolling kicked off a discussion about an epidemic of “costume correctness” that may just be sweeping the nation this year.

Bolling reported that a medical center in Kentucky is requiring all of their employees to attend a sensitivity training course after someone came to a Halloween party dressed as President Obama in a straight jacket. And, Pottery Barn had to apologize for selling Asian-themed costumes that some found “culturally offensive.”

Dana Perino pointed out that when she was White House press secretary her boss George W. Bush was the most popular mask in America. “It was not a compliment and nobody had to go to diversity training.” None of the hosts could comprehend what was wrong with the Pottery Barn costumes, with Greg Gutfeld saying “it only takes one complaint” to make “skittish” companies apologies.

Perino urged President Obama to come out and say, “Guys, wear whatever you want. Halloween is Halloween.”

Bolling added that it would be even better of Obama made that announcement while wearing a Bush mask.

Watch video below, via Fox News:

Via: Mediaite.com

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THE PRESIDENT WHO HAS DONE THE MOST DAMAGE

I have been broadcasting for 31 years and writing for longer than that. I do not recall ever saying on radio or in print that a president is doing lasting damage to our country. I did not like the presidencies of Jimmy Carter (the last Democrat I voted for) or Bill Clinton. Nor did I care for the “compassionate conservatism” of George W. Bush. In modern political parlance “compassionate” is a euphemism for ever-expanding government.

But I have never written or broadcast that our country was being seriously damaged by a president. So it is with great sadness that I write that President Barack Obama has done and continues to do major damage to America. The only question is whether this can ever be undone.

This is equally true domestically and internationally.

Domestically, his policies have gravely impacted the American economy.

He has overseen the weakest recovery from a recession in modern American history.

He has mired the country in unprecedented levels of debt: about $6.5 trillion dollars in five years (this after calling his predecessor “unpatriotic” for adding nearly $5 trillion in eight years).

He has fashioned a country in which more Americans now receive government aid — means-tested, let alone non-means tested — than work full-time.

Via: Human Events

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WHY CAN'T I COMPROMISE? A BLOGGER RESPONDS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

President Barack Obama attacked "bloggers" like me today, blaming us for the recent crisis and imploring the rest of the nation to find a way to responsible compromise. Instead of rejecting outright what he was saying, I paused to consider whether he might be right. 

Were people like me really at fault? Are we so busy stoking opposition that we are missing opportunities to find common ground? Do we dislike Obama that much? 

I remembered how I was once a Democrat who filled my office fridge with sparkling wine to celebrate George W. Bush's anticipated defeat in 2004, but that I vigorously, and publicly, defended Bush policies with which I agreed. No, I am not against compromise. 

I thought about how eagerly conservatives had embraced Obama after his speech at the memorial service in Tucson--only to have his pledge of "civility" thrown in our faces. 

Obama is open to compromise--as long as you accept his view of big government as a starting point. Similarly, he is in favor of reducing the deficit and the debt--as long as you accept spending at or near current levels. He is a champion of tolerance--as long as you are willing to give up the tenets of your religion in favor of his new policies. He welcomes debate--but only when there is nothing left to debate and he has nothing left at stake.

His attack on bloggers is revealing: 

...now that the government has reopened and this threat to our economy is removed, all of us need to stop focusing on the lobbyists, and the bloggers, and the talking heads on radio and the professional activists who profit from conflict, and focus on what the majority of Americans sent us here to do...

He pretends to be above politics, and casts everyone else as motivated by profit, not idealism. 

Via: Breitbart

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[VIDEO] Shutdown: Bush's Fault?

MRCTV's Dan Joseph had a question on his mind that he couldn't shake: who bears the brunt of the blame for the government shutdown? Who really is responsible for the mess we're in right now?  Is it President Obama or former President George W. Bush?  He decided to take these questions to the heart of our misery: Washington D.C.

Despite the fact that "Dubya" has been out of office for the past five years, most of the respondents said former President George W. Bush is to blame for the shutdown.

Why?  Well, he apparently did a lot of bad stuff and had policies that only Barack Obama can reverse, which is why the current president has added twice as much debt than economic output over the past two years.

As for health care, which is at the heart of the shutdown, one respondent said that, if Bush had proposed some sort of health care reform, all of this could've been avoided.  Well, he did.  In fact, there's a long history of Republican policy proposals to fix American health care.

The irony is that Bush's 2007 health care proposal is actually "superior" to Obamacare concerning universal coverage. As Chris Conover of Forbes noted last August:

Via: CNS News

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Another ObamaCare ‘Glitch’: $30B blown on non-operational medical record system

The rollout of ObamaCare has been plagued by problems these past two weeks, as thousands complained they couldn’t sign up for coverage due to a deeply defective website.  

But this process could have been easier if a nine-year, government-backed effort to set up a system of electronic medical records had gotten off the ground. Instead of setting up their medical ID for the first time, would-be customers would have their records already on file.

Unfortunately for patients -- and taxpayers -- the long-running project has produced tangibly few results despite costing the government, so far, at least $30 billion.

Under a George W. Bush-era executive order, all Americans should have access to their medical records by the end of 2014, part of a concept referred to as e-health. President Obama then made electronic medical records (EMRs) central to the success of the Affordable Care Act

Health care IT providers were tasked with creating a system connecting patients, health care professionals, hospitals, laboratories and medical facilities. But despite being paid vast incentives by the government’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), they’ve dragged their feet.

Doctors have so far received $14 billion in sweeteners, and hospitals have been handed more than $16 billion. Officials indicate that incentives could eventually reach $45 billion, though there is no universally integrated system anywhere in sight.

Via: Fox News

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Bush had higher approval rating than Obama at this point in his presidency

President George W. Bush held a higher approval rating in October of his fifth year in office than President Obama.

Obama’s approval rating stands at 37 percent with a 53 percent disapproval rating, according to an Associated Press/GfK poll released Wednesday October 9.

At the same point in the first year of his second term, Bush held a higher approval rating even as he battled criticisms of his handling of weeks-old Hurricane Katrina.

Bush held a 39 percent approval rating in an AP/Ipsos poll conducted between October 3-5, 2005. He also registered at 39 percent in an October 13-16 Gallup poll before gaining two points to clock in at 42 percent between October 21-23.

Bush held a 40 percent approval rating in an October 12-24 Pew poll.

Obama, still reeling from his administration’s IRS and NSA surveillance scandals, is clearly not escaping the government shutdown unscathed.

But at least Obama’s bully pulpit rhetoric seems to be working. 63 percent of Americans blame Republicans for refusing to cooperate with Obama, while 52 percent note Obama’s lack of cooperation.

Via: Daily Caller

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U.S. Piled Up More Debt Since Election Day ’08 Than Under All Presidents From Washington Through Clinton

(CNSNews.com) - The federal government has now piled up more debt since Election Day 2008 than it did under all presidents from George Washington through Bill Clinton, according to official debt numberspublished by the U.S. Treasury.

When the polls opened on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, the total debt of the U.S. government stood at $10,556,177,748,045.21 (the number it had reached by the close of business on Nov. 3, 2008). As of the close of business on Friday, Nov. 2, 2012, the most recent day reported by the Treasury, the total debt of the U.S. government stood at $16,206,129,028,709.29.

That is a four-year increase of $5,649,951,280,664.08.

According to the Treasury, the total debt of the U.S. government last surpassed $5,649,951,280,664.08 on June 21, 2001—five months after George W. Bush succeeded Bill Clinton as president. During the two years leading up to that date, the debt had periodically moved above and below that level, according to the Treasury, but since rising from 5,641,023,159,870.17 on June 20, 2001 to 5,650,400,532,764.38 on June 21, 2001, the debt has never again dropped below $5,649,951,280,664.08.

Thus, the $5,649,951,280,664.08 in new debt accumulated since Americans started voting on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 exceeds the total debt accumulated in the first 224 years after the United States declared independence from England on July 4, 1776. That includes all the debt accumulated during the terms of all of America presidents, starting from George Washington, whose first term began in 1789, and running through Bill Clinton, whose second term ended on Jan. 20, 2001.

Via: CNS News

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Psst, taxes go up in 2013 for 163 million workers

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama isn't talking about it and neither is Mitt Romney. But come January, 163 million workers can expect to feel the pinch of a big tax increase regardless of who wins the election.

A temporary reduction in Social Security payroll taxes is due to expire at the end of the year and hardly anyone in Washington is pushing to extend it. Neither Obama nor Romney has proposed an extension, and it probably wouldn't get through Congress anyway, with lawmakers in both parties down on the idea.

Even Republicans who have sworn off tax increases have little appetite to prevent one that will cost a typical worker about $1,000 a year, and two-earner family with six-figure incomes as much as $4,500.

Why are so many politicians sour on continuing the payroll tax break?

(AP) Chart shows increase in Social Security tax in 2013 for various income levels Full Image

Republicans question whether reducing the tax two years ago has done much to stimulate the sluggish economy. Politicians from both parties say they are concerned that it threatens the independent revenue stream that funds Social Security.

They are backed by powerful advocates for seniors, including AARP, who adamantly oppose any extension.

"The payroll tax holiday was intended to be temporary and there is strong bipartisan support to let that tax provision expire," said Sen. Orrin of Utah, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. "The continued extension of a temporary payroll tax holiday has serious long-term implications for Social Security and, frankly, it's not even clear that it has helped to boost our ailing economy."

The question of renewing the payroll tax cut has been overshadowed by the expiration of a much bigger package of tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush. The Bush-era tax cuts also expire at the end of the year, and Congress is expected to try to address them after the election, in a lame-duck session.

The payroll tax cut could become part of the mix in negotiations that could go in many directions. But lawmakers in both political parties say they doubt it.

Via: MyWay

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The Washington Times: The President’s Popularity Bubble Has Burst

Mitt Romney continues his surge in the polls two weeks after the first presidential debate. Democrats keep waiting for Barack Obama’s free-fall to stop, but the polling is looking less like a fleeting bounce than a strong market correction.

G

Bounces are temporary. What goes up comes down. They are the products of momentary enthusiasm, like the national-convention spike enjoyed by both sides. Mr. Romney’s rise since the Oct. 3 debate has been more durable. It’s more like what happens when artificially inflated prices dramatically change course. In this case, the Obama bubble — which had been gathering steam the previous weeks — suddenly and dramatically burst.

President Obama remains in a state of denial and maintains electoral prosperity is just around the corner. “What’s important is the fundamentals of what this race is about haven’t changed,” he chirped last week. To the contrary, the fundamentals are driving his numbers down. Economic growth is shrinking. Jobs are scarce. Mr. Obama has amassed two times the federal debt in one term that President George W. Bush did in two terms. These are the inconvenient truths that have driven the correction in the polls. Mr. Romney’s debate performance was the catalyst for Mr. Obama’s collapse, but the ruinous economic reality has kept the Democrat’s downslide going.

The Obama contraction has been most dramatic in battleground states. Three weeks ago, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said, “There are two different campaigns, one in the battlegrounds and one everywhere else. That’s why the national polls aren’t relevant to this campaign.” At the time, the political operative might have had a point. Many poll-aggregation sites showed a steady state-by-state run-up for Mr. Obama. Those charts now show dramatic contractions, wiping out months of gains overnight. It’s a classic correction curve.

Via: The Washington Times

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Poll: 86 percent of Americans say government spending has not helped them

President Obama’s solutions to economic problems invariably involve more spending, but 86 percent of likely  say that government spending has not helped them, according to a new poll.

“On the question of whether federal government spending has improved the overall economy, 74 percent say it has not helped, with 52 percent responding that it has actually hurt the economy,” The Public Notice announced yesterday after questioning 1,005 likely voters.  “When asked how federal government spending has impacted personal financial situations, 86 percent of those surveyed say it has not helped, with 35 percent responding that it hurt.”

The Tarrance Group, the Republican-leaning firm that conducted the poll, added in its memo that “this pessimism over the impact of government spending is consistent throughout many key demographic groups that are frequently mentioned as ‘target’ voters in the upcoming Presidential election.”

Federal debt hit $16 trillion this year. Obama blames George W. Bush for the deficit, but The Washington Examiner’s Phil Klein argued last week that this reflects a “responsibility deficit” on the part of the president.

“[When Obama was inaugurated], the CBO projected deficits of $1.2 trillion in 2009 and $703 billion in 2010, for a total two-year deficit of about $1.9 trillion,” Klein explained. “The Obama administration went on to run deficits of $1.55 trillion in 2009 and $1.37 trillion in 2010, for a total of more than $2.9 trillion. In other words, in just his first two years, when Obama had a Democratic Congress that gave him virtually everything he wanted, deficits were $1 trillion higher than what the CBO was projecting when he was inaugurated.”

Via: Washington Examniner

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Biden On $16 Trillion Deficit: All Bush’s Fault…

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  ABC OTUS News - Biden Blames Bush Administration for Deficit (ABC News)

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Vice President Joe Biden placed the blame for the ballooning deficit on the Bush administration today, arguing that the previous administration saddled the country with the burden of trillions of dollars in debt.

"Let's get serious here! How did we get this debt? Ladies and gentlemen, they put two wars on a credit card. Not paying a penny, not paying a penny, even though I introduced legislation to pay for that war. They voted against it," Biden said at the Wa-Ke Hatchee Park Recreation Center. "Two, they voted for a new entitlement program without paying one penny for it, and that was clear. Number 3, they added another trillion dollars in the tax cut for the very wealthy, so what's the result? These are the facts, folks, these are the facts.

"The result was by the time the reins got turned back over to Barack [Obama] and me, they had doubled the national debt in eight years, doubled the national debt in eight years," Biden added.

Biden recounted that within the first week of being in office, Larry Summers, a top economic adviser to the president, warned newly inaugurated President Obama of the deficit the country faced.

"We were sitting in the oval office, and Larry Summers, the chief economic adviser, and the economic team came in and said 'Mr. President, looking at this year's budget you are going to have a trilliondollar deficit.' He said, 'I haven't done anything yet,'" Biden said. "I'm serious. They said, 'No, Mr. President, the budget they passed, the budget they passed in October of last year guarantees no matter what you do you're going to have a trillion dollar debt this year in the budget.' A trillion dollar deficit to be precise."

Earlier in the week, the Washington Post fact checked President Obama's claim that the Bush administration's policies accounted for 90 percent of the country's current deficit and rated the assertion as false, since the president also pushed spending increases and tax cuts that added to the deficit.

Biden also claimed the Obama administration has proposed a plan that would reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years and has already decreased the deficit by $1 trillion

Via: Yahoo

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Have Polls Always Underestimated The GOP Vote?

Knowing that exit polling has historically overestimated the Democratic vote and knowing how much the final regular polling in the 1980 race understated Ronald Reagan’s support compared to Jimmy Carter, it is worth looking at what the final poll results said in other presidential election years.

The facts show a similar trend in a pro-Democratic direction almost uniformly. Historically speaking, pollsters have underestimated how many people would vote for the Republican presidential candidate:

Writing at National Review, reporter Jim Geraghty quotes an anonymous pollster who provides a helpful review of past polling data:

In 1992, Gallup’s final poll had Clinton winning by 12 percentage points, he won by 5.6 percentage points. In late October 1992, Pew had Clinton up 10.

In 1996, some reputable pollsters had Clinton winning by 18 percentage points late, and Pew had Clinton up by 19 in November; on Election Day, he won by 8.5 percentage points… In 2004, pollsters were spread out, but most underestimated Bush’s margin. (2000 may have been a unique set of circumstances with the last-minute DUI revelation dropping Bush’s performance lower than his standing in the final polls; alternatively, some may argue that the Osama bin Laden tape the Friday before the election in 2004 altered the dynamic in those final days.) In 2008, Marist had Obama up 9, as did  CBS/New York Times and Washington Post/ABC News, while Reuters and Gallup both had Obama up 11.

Now, if this was just random chance of mistakes, you would see pollsters being wrong in both directions and by about the same margin in each direction at the same rate – sometimes overestimating how well the Democrats do some years, sometimes overestimating how well the Republicans do. But the problem seems pretty systemic – sometimes underestimating the GOP by a little, sometimes by a lot.

In 2004, the final telephone surveys mostly favored George W. Bush against John Kerry but the exit polls clearly did not. As usual, they overstated the Democrat vote (see our earlier report on reasons for this) which led many Democrats to expect that Kerry would win the popular vote and the presidency. When that did not happen, it triggered a widespread belief among hardcore Democrats that Republicans had somehow managed to “steal” the election in several different states, particularly in Ohio.

Via: Newsbusters

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THANK YOU, OBAMACARE: FAMILIES PAY $3000 MORE FOR INSURANCE; OBAMA PROMISED $2500 DECREASE

President Barack Obama promised that Obamacare would cut family health insurance premiums by $2,500 by the end of the first term--but instead they have risen by $3,000, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation study cited by Investor’s Business Daily. 

The cost of health insurance today is more than 50% higher than Obama promised it would be--and the costs are expected to continue to rise as Obamacare is impemented.

John Merline of Investor's Business Daily notes the rising costs specifically contradict a campaign promise Obama reiterated several times, including in debates with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and at events along the 2008 campaign trail. 

Furthermore, the data show that the rise in family premium costs, largely attributable to the costs of complying with Obamacare, has outpaced the rise in costs under eight years in the previous four years of George W. Bush. 

Health insurance companies have already been required to provide additional coverage for so-called “children” up to age 26, among other changes. That coverage is described by Obama as “free,” but in fact the costs are borne by other patients. 

Obamacare also does nothing to change the underlying incentives driving the rising costs of health care, and in fact makes them worse by adding mandates and reducing patients’ choices.

Over the next four years, if Obama is re-elected and Obamacare is not repealed, the federal government will have to apply cost controls, resulting in the rationing of health care by bureaucrats and/or hospitals. 

That is why the Obama administration placed such a heavy emphasis on the Independent Payments Advisory Board--and why vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has spent so much time attacking it.

Via: Breirbart

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Obama: ‘One Of The Proudest Things Of My Three Years In Office Is Helping To Restore A Sense Of Respect For America Around The World’

President Obama has said that elevating the image of the United States around the world was one of his proudest foreign policy accomplishments, but those remarks could boomerang and hamper his reelection bid.

The violence and anti-American protests throughout the Middle East are bringing fresh attacks on the president’s foreign policies as Muslim rage is intensifying in the region.

The protests that have spread could undercut one of the key tenants of Obama's foreign policy argument that he has restored the U.S. image in the Middle East.

In February, Obama said, “One of the proudest things of my three years in office is helping to restore a sense of respect for America around the world, a belief that we are not just defined by the size of our military.”

Three years ago in Cairo, Obama stressed his leadership would be dramatically different than former President George W. Bush’s: “I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition.”

Via: The Hill

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Weekly Standard: The $4.351 Trillion Difference Between Obama & Clinton

Always looking "forward," President Obama has asked Bill Clinton—who was elected to the presidency 20 years ago—to speak tonight and suggest to the American people (whether explicitly or implicitly) that this is really a choice between Clinton and George W. Bush, rather than between Obama and Mitt Romney. If you're Obama, this beats running on your record.

The only problem with this—in addition to the fact that Romney isn't Bush (and Paul Ryan isn't Dick Cheney)—is that Obama's record doesn't bear much resemblance to Clinton's.  One could point to the rather obvious differences between the strong Clinton economy and the anemic Obama economy, between Clinton's signing welfare reform into law and Obama's undermining it via executive order, between Clinton's tacking to the center to work with Republicans and Obama's not moving to the center but playing to his base (rejecting the Keystone Pipeline, embracing gay marriage, making it illegal for Americans to offer or to choose health plans that don't include "free" birth control, "free" sterilization, and "free" access to the abortion drug ella).

But one thing perhaps highlights the difference between Clinton and Obama most clearly: The increase in the national debt on their respective watches. Both men enjoyed two years of single-party control in Washington before they subsequently lost one (Obama) or both (Clinton) houses of Congress.  In this way, their circumstances have been similar, but their results have not.

Via: Weekly Standard

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After 2010 Rebuke, Obama Never Turned to Center

The byzantine relations between President Obama and former president Bill Clinton could fill several psychology textbooks, providing juicy examples of passive aggression, older man/younger man competition, complex alliances (Hillary as secretary of state is the perfect embodiment of the maxim “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”), and mutual interests.

That the president needs Bill Clinton now to make his case to the country must be richly satisfying to the only American whose ego can compete with Barack H. Obama’s.

Let’s recall that one of Obama’s supposed triumphs in 2008 was defeating the vaunted Clinton machine. The Democratic party’s delirium for Obama supposedly obliterated the Clinton magic. After winning the South Carolina primary in January, Obama exulted that “we’re up against the conventional thinking that says your ability to lead as president comes from longevity in Washington. . . . But we know that real leadership is about candor and judgment and the ability to rally Americans . . . around a higher purpose . . .” Though he never tired (and still doesn’t) of insulting George W. Bush, that barb wasn’t aimed at him. It was for the Clintons. 

Bill Clinton, for his part, nurses grudges. Obama eclipsed Clinton as the most charismatic Democrat. The former president and his wife also got a crash course in media bias. Obama spoiled the Clintons’ carefully nurtured plan of returning to the White Houseand achieving vindication. And as someone who preened himself on his high standing among blacks (Toni Morrison called him America’s “first black president”), Clinton was justly outraged when Obama supporters Donna Brazile and Rep. Jim Clyburn accused him of racism in 2008 because he referred to Obama as a “kid” and dismissed his Iraq War stance as a “fairy tale.” Good thing he didn’t use the word “Chicago” or mention “golf” — as those are now “dog whistles,” we’re told.Now His Royal Majesty needs old Bill. He needs him to mount the stage in Charlotte and persuade waverers to reelect The One. Why? Because Clinton, for all his squalid ways, and for all that he was a practitioner par excellence of what Obama disdained as the “old politics,” has something Obama lacks — a successful economic legacy to brag about.

Via: Real Clear Politics

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OBAMA CAMPAIGN CAUGHT PULLING ANOTHER FAST ONE

 Willie Geist, MSNBC: What would you say to that same person that said, 'Well, that hasn't worked for four years. I haven't had the job over time, it's time for a change.'

 

Stephanie Cutter, Obama deputy campaign manager: Well, I think that worker probably has a good understanding of what's happened over the past four years in terms of the president coming in and seeing 800,000 jobs lost on the day that the president was being sworn in, and seeing the president moving pretty quickly to stem the losses, to turn the economy around, and over the past, you know, 27 months we've created 4.5 million private sector jobs. That's more jobs than in the Bush recovery, in the Reagan recovery, there's obviously more we need to do, and as I said to Mika at the at beginning of the program, I think that unemployed worker probably sees one person in this race trying to move the country forward and that's the president.

 

(h/t) RCP

 

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The Obama campaign is cherry-picking the numbers…

Job Growth

·         Obama: Cutter counts the job gains from the low point of Obama’s term forward. The low point was February 2010 when U.S. nonfarm payrolls measured 129,244,00. In July, they measured 133,245,000 for a gain of 4.0 million jobs in 27 months

·         Reagan: If you measure the Reagan recovery the same way, he created 8.0 million new jobs in 27 months.

·         Bush: And if you measure the Bush recovery the same way, the low point was in August 2003 when U.S. employment stood at 129,820,00. But 27 months later, the figure was 134,654,000 in November 2005 — a gain of 4.8 million jobs.

In this recovery, we’re still down over 3 million private sector jobs. By any number of measures, according to the AP, this recovery has been the weakest since WWII.

Via: Fox News

Report: Harry Reid Used Ted Kennedy’s Brain Cancer To Beg For Stimulus Votes…

Michael Grunwald’s “The New New Deal” details the $787 billion stimulus passed in the early days of President Barack Obama’s presidency, and offers the back story of Senate arm-twisting needed to secure the votes.

Among the revelations in Grunwald’s book is an anecdote recalling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s attempt to push three veteran Republicans to vote for the bill — by guilt-tripping them over former Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy’s brain cancer.

Without vote commitments from the Republicans he had hoped to push his direction, Reid brought Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Thad Chochran of Mississippi and Mike Enzi of Wyoming to his office to appeal for their votes.

“He was basically pleading for our votes,” Grassely said, according to Grunwald. “He said: ‘You all know something needs to be done. The Democrats did TARP for Bush. You’ve got to look past the substance.’”

When his initial plea did not work, Reid reportedly told the three Republicans that he needed their votes so that he would not need to bring Kennedy — at the time battling brain cancer — back to work to end a filibuster.

“He said if you can’t vote with us, we’re going to have to bring Kennedy to the floor, and it really could kill him,” Grassely said. “We looked at each other like: Huh?”

According to Grunwald’s account, Reid then asked if there was a volunteer to vote on Kennedy’s behalf, as there had been precedent for “pairing votes” as a courtesy for ill senators of the opposite party. None of the three took him up on the offer, nor did Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, who Reid also attempted to pressure with the Kennedy plea.

Via: Daily Caller

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Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/17/book-reid-used-kennedys-brain-cancer-to-beg-for-stimulus-votes/#ixzz23wvElX56