Unrec away, but it would be great if you'd point out where the WSWS is inaccurately quoting President Obama or inaccurately portraying the substance of his remarks. We would be so much better off in a number of ways if Obama would embrace the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party instead of Tom Coburn & his pals.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/pers-f01.shtmlObama courts the Republican right
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While the commentary afterwards, particularly from liberal and pro-administration pundits, portrayed the encounter as a political tour-de-force by Obama, a sort of “Daniel in the lion’s den” performance, what was remarkable was the wide area of convergence, on both specific policy measures and overall perspective, between Obama and the Republicans.
Obama cajoled and pleaded with his audience of Republican congressmen, reminding them that they had provided him political support on escalating the war in Afghanistan, adding, in a typical piece of patriotic boilerplate, “I know that we’re all united in our admiration of our troops.”
He featured in his opening remarks the announcement of a tax credit for small business “job creation,” as well as the elimination of capital gains taxes for investment in small business. “Join me,” he appealed, “there’s nothing in that proposal that runs contrary to the ideological predispositions of this caucus.”
There was no hint in his approach that his audience represented a party and a previous administration that were decisively repudiated by the American people in successive elections, or that the Republican Party’s policies and personnel are deeply unpopular, currently drawing the support of less than 25 percent in opinion polls. Watching the event, one would hardly have guessed that Obama’s party not only controlled the White House, but also held large majorities in both houses of Congress.
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Obama took eight questions from leading Republican House members, most of them calling for cuts in taxes and in federal spending. Not a single Republican suggested that any action be taken by the federal government to actually assist the unemployed—no benefits, no training programs, no jobs—nor did Obama point out their failure to do so.
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“That’s not a radical bunch,” he said. “But if you were to listen to the debate and, frankly, how some of you went after this bill, you’d think that this thing was some Bolshevik plot.” He went on to emphasize the conservative character of the health plan, saying, “if you look at the facts of this bill, most independent observers would say this is actually what many Republicans—is similar to what many Republicans proposed to Bill Clinton when he was doing his debate on health care.”
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The bluntness of this political cynicism is staggering. Obama in effect admits that the supposed conflict between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, which comprises the whole of official American politics, is largely a political show, a con game aimed at victimizing the vast majority of the American people.
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In response to the final question of the session, by ultra-right Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling, about the rising federal budget deficit, Obama warned that the Republicans should not posture as defenders of the elderly against cuts in Medicare (as they have in the health care debate) or against cuts in Social Security, because that would make impossible a bipartisan approach to entitlement “reform.”
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