<p>I am not denying that the Republicans have to be politically savvy and play to their base. That’s the point of a political party but I wish they’d provide better, concrete opposition to bills rather than just saying no. On health care, for example, I want the GOP to fight for tort reform because its both good for the country and would be supported politically by their base.</p>
<p>I love(d?) Obama’s rhetoric, and felt that his campaign was revolutionary. However, I’ve been largely disappointed with his performance. I like the idea of give and take and bipartisanship. I’ve learned a lot from the Republicans. But bipartisanship doesn’t mean not doing what’s right - or doing a sloppy job of it - because some politicians have no desire to say anything but NO, or who just have no clue. I know that everything takes time, but LGBT rights, the closing of Guantanamo, health care reform, the Iraq situation, etc. are taking too long for the tasks (except possibly the last two).</p>
<p>I think he’s still cute.</p>
<p>^ Seriously?</p>
<p>hahah ^funny</p>
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<p>Do you have any specific examples you’d like to explain?</p>
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<p>Well, what do you mean? Take, for example, the stimulus. I understand that part of the point of the stimulus package was to move it through quickly. But, since the democrats knew they’d get almost no Republican votes, they pushed through a sloppy bill without even thinking twice about what was right - even what was right that the Republicans STILL wouldn’t agree with. On the other hand, trying to be bipartisan with the health care bill has neutered the entire package. It’s now very expensive and very useless. The democrats should have stuck to their guns for what’s right. No one should die because they can’t afford treatment.</p>
<p>I guess I agree with what you’re saying. It seems to just comes down to being a little naive politically, and in retrospect there was no reason to throw the republicans a bone on the stimulus package. With healthcare though, I don’t think it made any difference. Some thought he should’ve started with single payer and negotiated from there, but in reality there were never going to be enough votes to pass a bill that said healthcare in it, whatever the content. I think he was striving for something moderate so that it might pass or wouldn’t look bad politically if it failed. Obviously the Republicans have benefited from this.</p>
<p>Well as far as healthcare goes, I think hopefully he’s starting to realize that this isn’t what the public wants in the way of reform. I still think back to this summer when I couldn’t believe what I was seeing during the town halls, with people angrily protesting and their representatives basically ignoring them to their faces. Ultimately, the health care reform plan was an excessive fix that wasn’t even going to solve most of the problems. The republican reform plan suggests regulations that will address most of the issues, without giving the government too much control.</p>
<p>He hasn’t focused enough on job creation. In my opinion, that is the number one issue for America today. Doing more to hasten the switch to sustainable energy will not only help the environment but also create jobs. 10% of Americans are unemployed, it’s not a joke.
His lack of action towards the closing of Guantanamo was also quite disappointing. The kind of torture that goes on in there is unspeakable and goes against everything America stands for.
After those two, I would say health care is the third most important issue. The Democrats have worked for this, but with the loss of the supermajority…
Uniting the parties a bit more would be nice, too, although I suppose that’s not Obama.</p>
<p>Its hard to get anything accomplished when you have the other side finding ways to say NO for everything he does…</p>
<p>^ Amen to that.</p>
<p>Hu Jintao ftw!!</p>
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<p>This demonstrates my earlier point. Comments like these paint the Republican party as a bitter minority who just want to kill the system because they’re not the ones running it. While I wouldn’t doubt that this description applies to some Republicans, the majority of Republicans resist because of ideological differences and nothing else. I can’t see how this comment is constructive in the least. </p>
<p>Additionally, as for this thread’s topic, I don’t care for how much weight we put on the office of the presidency. Generally, I think we turn too much towards the President as a leader of our entire political structure, when constitutionally, his influence was meant to be severely limited. People expect Obama to shape the legislative process—a task he seems to embrace—while the Constitution gives the president very little control over the process. If anything, it seems to give him more of a subordinate position, with the duty of reporting information about the state when Congress calls upon him.</p>
<p>I rather have him held accountable for the aspects of government directly under his control. For example, he could kill Don’t Ask Don’t Tell with a quick executive order. As commander-in-chief, he could single handedly do a lot to reduce our foreign military presence.</p>
<p>Why shouldn’t the Republicans try to kill the system?</p>
<p>Stall tactics –> no bills passed –> Democrats don’t accomplish anything –> Republicans retake Congress</p>
<p>It’s the most logical political course of action.</p>
<p>^ And the worst to the public.</p>
<p>He saved the country from the second Great Depression, ending the war in Iraq, restored our image in the world community, ended ban on stem cell research, restored health care for millions of children, got health care reform through the House and Senate, dealt with H1N1, and is now saving Haiti. Not bad for a first year with a minority party trying to kill everything for political purposes. </p>
<p>Thank God McCain/Palin lost or we would be in really bad shape.</p>
<p>America needs patience, you cannot expect for one thing to be done so quickly, people in the United States judge to quickly and harshly in my case. I believe if America is willing to stand strong and UNITED as a country they will succeed. Plus, the G.O.P/Republicans/Conservatives need to stop their childish behaviors and just accept that they for once have an African American president who knows what he is doing and has the right amount of knowledge to execute the job perfectly.</p>
<p>-Riseup</p>
<p>Anyone who believes that the Repubs, Democrats, or Obama is gonna help Main Street ppl is fooling themselves.</p>
<p>^ Amen to that. But we don’t need fatcatucrat “help”. We just want to be left alone.
^^ I get tired of people saying that. Will racism never die? Or will we finally get to a point where a man’s beliefs are more important.
^^^ He didn’t save you and me from HSL. We’re the one’s who’ll have to pay for all this! We had won in Iraq before he ever took office. If anything, he’s slowed us down. As for world image, I’ll belive that when China starts loaning us money again, Iran agrees to slow down their nuke program, and the Muslims of the world kick Al Qaeda out of an airlock. It seems to me that while before we were strong and unpopular, now we’re just unpopular. Since you don’t seem to consider stem cell harvesting murder, you probably don’t care about his orders on abortion either…</p>
<p>And that minority party? They are working for me and my neighbors. If they are blocking bills, it’s because WE don’t want them. While apparently, the party in power doesn’t care what we (or the majority of Americans) think.</p>
<p>If you truly belive in the president’s agenda, more power to you. See if you can find 150 million others who agree with you. I already did.</p>