"You'd like to THINK that, wouldn't you?"
Posted on 09/20/2012 12:01:49 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
For months, government lawyers and economists worked behind the scenes to develop a trade case against China. Then last month came a eureka moment: They confirmed the existence of a Chinese subsidy program for automobiles and parts that in their view violated international trade rules. They finished a complaint, circulated it among agencies and proposed a time frame for filing.
That’s when President Obama’s political team took over, providing a textbook example of how an incumbent can harness the power of the office to bolster the case for re-election. Rather than leave it to the trade office to announce the complaint, Mr. Obama decided to do it himself. Aides scheduled it for a campaign swing to the auto-dependent battleground state of Ohio, leaked it to the state’s largest newspaper, then sent other journalists a link to the resulting story plus voter-friendly talking points.
Every president lives at the intersection of policy and politics, never more so than during a campaign season. Locked in a tight race with Mitt Romney, Mr. Obama and his team have been pulling every lever of the federal government within reach, announcing initiatives aimed at critical constituencies, dispatching cabinet secretaries to competitive areas, coordinating campaign events to match popular government actions and forestalling or even reversing other government decisions that could hurt the president’s chances of a second term.
On Friday, Mr. Obama will designate Chimney Rock in Colorado a national monument....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
taxpayers-->President Obama-->government contracts/grants-->universities-->university employees-->Obama Campaign
Taxpayers —> Public Unions “services” —> Rats
"You'd like to THINK that, wouldn't you?"
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