Posted on 02/06/2009 6:59:07 AM PST by reaganaut1
Barack Obama, a reputed master of the persuasive art, has settled on his central argument for the stimulus bill: I won.
That Obama is reduced to this crude appeal is a symptom of the intellectual collapse of the case for his stimulus bill, a congressional spendfest untethered from its stated goal of providing a rapid “jolt” to the economy.
As far as political arguments go, “I won” has its power—provided it’s made on behalf of an agenda ratified by the American electorate. But Obama didn’t campaign on a sprawling, nearly $1 trillion new spending plan. If he had pledged in October to double federal domestic discretionary spending in a matter of weeks—including increasing the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts by a third, spending hundreds of millions more on federal buildings and throwing tens of billions on every traditional liberal priority from job training to Pell Grants—he’d have been hard-pressed to win at all.
The president should read the transcript of the third presidential debate. He claimed his program represented “a net spending cut.” He called himself “a strong proponent of pay-as-you-go. Every dollar that I’ve proposed, I’ve proposed an additional cut so that it matches.” He added, “We need to eliminate a whole host of programs that don’t work.”
Now, circumstances change, and no president can adhere to every jot and tittle from his campaign, but the “I won” argument only works if the campaign program matches the governing program. Obama himself seems confused on what exactly “I won” means.
In a meeting with congressional Republicans, he brandished “I won” as a defense of his version of tax relief.
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
"Shut up", he explained.
“No Trelayne.”
He didn’t put forth an argument for why he should be President when you think about it, just empty phrases about ‘Change’.
This shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Less than half of Americans of voting age vote. That means he won with something like 23% or so of the public. Take away the illegals and other unlawfull votes and he won with a solid 15%.
“Obama will be ready to rule from day one”
He’s a liar. Always was. Always will be.
He is going to crack up before his term is up he will make Brittany Spears look like pick nick
Many Americans are uniting against this porkulus bill. So maybe ozero is a uniter after all?
Who is this man, anyway? No one in the press ever deigned to ask pertinent questions about his past, about his religious ties, about his associations, or about his birth certificate. They just bought the package because it was pretty and said all the things they liked. Hope and Change have morphed into “I won.” How simply tragically JUVENILE. The man will be an utter failure before his first State of the Union address.
Every senator and representative can say the same thing.
Ill Douche.
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“I won”
He’s spent. He’s lazy. Every once of charm, wit, and intellect is gone.
The first president who was so weak he had to say, “I won.”
So, will he ever say, “I lost” when it happens?
Developing...
True. The work averse putz really had no idea what he was getting into when he campaigned for the office. He likes the trappings of office, but not the actual work.
Well, so he won.
And they have a majority in Congress, both houses.
Pass the bill with your majorities,
and OWN IT.
That’s the problem with Barry - he doesn’t want to own it.
Must not be very confident that it’ll work, eh?
Only according to his sycophants in the media.
"That Obama is reduced to this crude appeal is a symptom of the intellectual collapse of the case for his stimulus bill, a congressional spendfest untethered from its stated goal of providing a rapid “jolt” to the economy. In a meeting with congressional Republicans, he brandished “I won” as a defense of his version of tax relief."
In answers to questions, he continued, "I know what you are, but what am I?"
He's been collapsing intellectually since he enthroned himself as world emperor during that manic episode in Berlin.
Two weeks in and he's already an utter failure. You know, I'm starting to feel sorry for the terrorists. How embarrassing it must be to admit what a dufus their mortal enemy is.
Lord protect us from the sh!t storm that’s about to rain down on the American people. I knew life has been too easy.
I just looked at my W-2 and I took care of about 4 families last year. What do I get?
Ths guy should be wildly happy and hopeful so he can work that hopey-changey thingy that he claimed to have during the campaign.
“No Trelayne.”
Summed up perfectly in two words! Love it!
By your numbers I would receive around $26,000. Boy I would have no more debt except the house. I would even have a bit left over for purchasing some other things.
That is tempting but not the correct moral thing to do. Handing out cash is rarely the right thing to do.
Even if President 0bama ran on this as his agenda item, it doesn't mean that Congress needs to “roll over” and not exercise their Constitutional power, any more than the Supreme Court should say “Well the law is Unconstitutional, but he ran on that as his issue and won, so we will let it go.”
Moreover the Presidential power defined by the Constitution is not distributed on a “sliding scale” of electoral support, the myth of the “mandate”; neither is the power situation depending upon its conformance to campaign rhetoric.
“I won” is a dumb argument.
“You didn't win running on THAT” accepts the premise of the dumb argument.
Sorry, Obama we have already had our fill of really good speakers and that was Clinton. No thanks.
Obama is a pompous a$$ and we will pay the price for his nieve (sp?) stupidity.
What do you get? WHAT DO YOU GET?
You get to do it again except it is going to be 6 families this year. Just buckle down and get ready for the ride.
like when he said Air Force One was “a spiffy ride”?
I’ll get nothing and like it then I reckon. Why do I even try? This Atlas may just very well shrug. I’d probably be happier with a manual labor job making a fraction of what I make now anyway with less stress. Maybe I’ll go back to baking bread except you have to get up so dad-gum early. Having a trade does have some advantages.
Sounds like affirmative action logic.
I worked in Washington DC under Mayor Marion Barry, This isnt the first time I have seen the “I won” syndrome. I predicted it and I could sit back now and laugh if it didnt hurt so much.
If he won, then he doesn’t need Republican support in order to cram this socialist spending down our throats using the economy as an excuse.
That’s it in a nutshell!!You got it, Mr. Bill.
Man, all y’all just TIRED! Put down the Hater-ade.
Ya’ll just hatin’ on our shining African prince—you see a proud, strong brother, large and in charge, with his ebony queen by his side-showing the world what strong Black love is about, and you gotta try to take him down—it’s your own ignorance that’s the problem-got all that hater-ation in ya.
Ya’ll ain’t seen a righteous brother representin’-he’s elevating the flow, and ya’ll perpetrators don’t like it.
Obama’s gonna fix the United Snakes of AmriKKKa-just like righteous warriors liked David Dinkins, Marion Barry, and Kwame Kilpatrick worked their magic in our cities. They don’t get no credit from the ignorant haters, either, after all they did. Man, I remember some fool talkin’ about Detroit, sayin’ the way it is now is nothing like it was 50 years ago.
True dat.
/SARC
He might have won but we lost, big time.
Good point, but he really didn't win running on anything other than a vague and ever-morphing "change."
When he got tripped on the details -- whether past associations, questionable political contributions, his abortion stand in the Illinois senate or other issues that contradicted the official vagueness -- he fought back by labeling the charges "distractions," and "smears."
He's doing basically the same now, wanting no discussion of details, labeling his opponents as obstructionists, and couching his argument in generalities and fear-mongering.
Now that would be fun to watch. :)
The media likes the idea of a public opinion “mandate” because they influence public opinion. But in a Republic we elect leaders to lead, not to follow malleable public opinion.
I doubt it. I think he’s rather steel-like. His radical agenda is too important to him to break doing it, I think.
and OWN IT.
That’s the problem with Barry - he doesn’t want to own it.
Must not be very confident that it’ll work, eh?
Yes, he wants the GOP's hands to get dirty with his schemes as well, but so far the Repubs seem to have been surprisingly smart enough to realize that and resist.
They were too busy endlessly grilling Sarah Palin.
If Zero goes down as a big failure, the media will be culpable in that as well.
Kinda liking that scenario...
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