New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg said, of Obama's intention to use some of the repaid bank bailout money, "TARP is not a piggy bank. TARP worked as intended during the financial crisis, but the crisis has passed, and the program is no longer needed."
That is cute, but it clearly is rhetoric of a Governor whose state is at a "low" 7% unemployment, and didn't have a catastrophic 2009 like most of the rest of the country did. The idea that a politician can play only to his local constituency and ignore the plight of every other American, in big and small groups, is really the 2nd worst thing about this country, preceded only by our propensity to allow money to wage our campaign battles for us.
But I am getting off track.
Obama has been nothing short of totally kick ass since his state of the Union. People are mistaking finger pointing, and "negative politics" for mindless politics, which isn't true. Obama challenged the Republicans and the Republican leadership, almost as directly and overtly as fictional President Jackson Evans in one of my all-time favorite movies, The Contender.
If you feel like ruining the end of the movie for yourself, watch this clip.
"Your leadership has raised the stakes of hate to a level where we can no longer separate the demagogue from the truly inspired," is a quote from the clip that rings SO true today. The whole clip is summing up the way the "dome" of Congress is working nowadays, and how Obama is attacking the new reality.
The Health Care bill is an ugly thing right now - it has been stripped down from its real and original version, and the Massachusetts vote may turn out to be the greatest thing that could have happened to Obama. The focus on fixing this country, which would have been partially accomplished by giving citizens Health Care, will now more fully be accomplished by giving Americans a real sense hope.
Obama has been on the offensive, been in front of the public, and is listening to the critics which speculate that the Massachusetts loss was a result of the citizens of this country feeling unattached from Obama's real motives, unattached from the process, and unattached from the inner workings of Washington.
Well, you asked for it, America. You are actively a part of the process now. The things he was always afraid to say, he is saying. The fingers he never wanted to point, he is pointing. You asked him to defend himself, and he is doing that.
Today in New Hampshire he unrolled a plan to use TARP funds to give money to small/local banks to fund small business loans. Small business loans. Is there a clip from a Republican leader who didn't want to talk about protecting small businesses? Is there a Republican in Congress who, at this time, can turn their back on the small businesses?
Yes, and his name is Judd Gregg. And he isn't alone. Small businesses are being asked, by Obama and his inspiration, to look at Senator Gregg's philosophy and really think it through. The basis of not wanting to continue with the lending principals to small banks is really, honestly, 100% the same as GW Bush's "Mission: Accomplished" moment.
But I go back to the bigger point again, that Obama really is taking this Massachusetts loss, and the realization that a full on assault of the pitiful Health Care status quo, is going to have to just fade away. It is something that has been beaten to a pulp, the American public isn't ready to have a conversation, because the conversation was led by the wrong side.
Obama's offensive maneuvering has put him on the front lines of nearly everything since the State of the Union, and it is incredible. Today's unbelievably momentous moment in the history of Gay Rights. Directly quoting and supporting Obama, Secretary Gates unbelievably challenged congress on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. The video here is really awesome, fantastic, even. Watch Gates speak about this policy, which not only is a dismissal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but more of a dismissal of the overall idea behind it.
The time has come for serious politics and serious leadership, and no question Obama is seperating himself from the competition. Gates summed it all up in his statement, something that should lead policy, politics, and decision-making across the board, and I cannot believe that this won't govern Obama's policy for the long-term:
"I am determined to carry out this process in a way that establishes objective and reliable information on this question, with minimal influence by the policy or political debate. It is essential that we accomplish this in order to have the best possible analysis and info to guide the policy choices before the Dept. and the Congress."
There is real optimism there, there is real progress there, and the time to continue to hide under a rock and be afraid of progress is the idea that Obama needs to continue to attack, and I am actually confident he will.
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