A recent Politico interview with our President revealed he is woefully ignorant of the responsibilities of his job (or even worse, can’t distinguish what they are). Regarding the Gulf oil spill, the President said this:
“I think it’s fair to say, if six months ago, before this spill had happened, I had gone up to Congress and I had said we need to crack down a lot harder on oil companies and we need to spend more money on technology to respond in case of a catastrophic spill, there are folks up there, who will not be named, who would have said this is classic, big-government overregulation and wasteful spending.”
This is a classic straw man argument, an argument at which the President has become particularly adept. Mr. President, it IS your job to ensure that the government ensure all possible safeguards to prevent an oil spill, and to spend the necessary money on technology to respond to a catastrophic spill in the unlikely event there is one. As we have now found out to disastrous effect, this idea to spend money might have been a good one. But as I recall, six months ago, your focus was to ram through unpopular healthcare legislation by any means necessary, regardless of the lack of bipartisan support. Had you instead focused some of your misguided energy on spill technology, I believe few of those “who will not be named” (hint: Republicans) would label this idea as “big-government overregulation and wasteful spending,” though they might not have agreed at the time to spend more money.
Next, the President says this about tea party activists being hypocritical:
“Some of the same folks who have been hollering and saying ‘do something’ are the same folks who, just two or three months ago, were suggesting that government needs to stop doing so much,” Obama said. “Some of the same people who are saying the president needs to show leadership and solve this problem are some of the same folks who, just a few months ago, were saying this guy is trying to engineer a takeover of our society through the federal government that is going to restrict our freedoms.”
Surprise, surprise, another straw man argument. Apparently this president doesn’t know that every job title (including his), has certain responsibilities, and other things it is not responsible for (well, maybe this “new messiah” is responsible for everything, so I could be wrong). It is the president’s job as the leader of our government to protect our coasts from oil spills, and to show leadership in doing so. It is NOT the president’s job to demonize insurance companies in a veiled attempt to take over the healthcare system, and force Americans to purchase, as a condition of citizenship, a product they should be able to freely choose against. Further, you also took over student loans in the healthcare legislation, which had nothing to do with healthcare, unless your plan is to force students to become doctors, since few in their right mind would go into healthcare when the federal government is running it.
Regrettably, Mr. President, you believe that you can freely define what you should or should not be doing, and that the Constitution you swore to uphold and protect places no practical limits on you. Well the Constitution does place limits on the federal government, Mr. President. And it is the tea party activists, who, far from being hypocritical, are simply trying to remind you of this in the wake of your massive expansion of federal government, and taking on of enormous debt that future generations must repay after you are long gone. The problem is you are doing so much that you shouldn’t be doing, marginally what you should be, and you refuse to heed this simple message. So please, Mr. President, know what your job is, and what it is not. If you were to focus on what you should be doing and simply do that well, I believe there would be good will across the board towards you in America, and there would be no need for tea party activists. As long as you ignore this core principle, your presidency will continue to suffer. What is most shameful is that the American people seem to know your job description better than you do.
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It looks to me that the gulf oil spill has given the President his greatest wish….and that is the opportunity to starve the nation of much needed energy, i.e.carbon energy….And the fun of demonizing Big Oil to boot. So why would he be interested in using the federal government to stop the flow, which the federal government is not equipped to do in the first place? It plays right into the hands of the environmentalists who supported him. I, for one, don’t think the feds can fix this sort of disaster. (And though we have no evidence of it…it seems a bit too too convenient for my taste…plus another smaller one today in Utah. Hmmm) Back to Obama…..Regulate, ration, demonize, stir up, agitate, usurp, co-opt, tax and cap….this is the M O and not at all out of character or surprising….unless heads were in the sand…and they were. He wants the same power over oil as he took over health care. “Regrettably” is the operative word for the electorate watching this tragic drama. A president who doesn’t know or understand his job….or care to…that is our albatross at this point. Good post as always!!
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