Backtracking and seriously adrift

[metta 0]

Obama backtracking on wide range of policy

posted at 12:30 pm on September 23, 2008 by Ed Morrissey

Obama appears to be seriously adrift. Circumstances have forced him out of the entire range of his domestic policies, including a middle-class tax cut, while the two Democrats seem more at war with each other than with Republicans. What argument does he have left for the Presidency — his deep executive and foreign-policy experience?

Why flip-flop on specific policies one at a time, when a candidate can do so much more efficiently by calling a general retreat? Less than 48 hours after telling CNBC that his health-insurance plan was fully funded and would not get affected by a massive government bailout of the credit markets, Obama has reversed himself and put his expensive federal programs on hold. He also criticized his own running mate on the Today show this morning:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said in an interview aired Tuesday that the cost of the mortgage bailout plan may rein in his ambitious plans for health care, energy, education and infrastructure.

Obama’s comments reflect the possible new constraints on the next president’s ability to expand or start programs or cut taxes. The government financial interventions of the past two weeks could cost more than $1 trillion.

Obama told

NBC

’s Matt Lauer on the “Today” show that he doesn’t expect the mortgage plan to cost the full $700 billion right away, and all the money won’t be lost.

“Does that mean that I can do everything that I’ve called for in this campaign right away?” Obama said. “Probably not. I think we’re going to have to phase it in. And a lot of it’s going to depend on what our tax revenues look like.”

Now Obama wants us to forget the massive spending that he proposed because the Treasury bailout will pre-empt it. Okay, fair enough. But even before the credit market meltdown, we faced (and still face) an entitlement program meltdown of even larger dimensions. Neither candidate has adequately addressed that, but at least John McCain acknowledges its existence and its size. Obama has campaigned on adding to that burden without the least thought of reform, at least until he belatedly realized that the money simply doesn’t exist now, and it never really did.

The most amazing part of this is that he reached this conclusion not at the start of the current meltdown, but more than a week later. The general parameters of the bailout were widely known on Friday afternoon. Sunday morning, Obama tells John Harwood that it won’t affect his big-spending policies, since they’re “paid for”, in his words. By Tuesday morning, Obama’s hitting reverse. What happened to all that funding? Obama realized that the meltdown will rock the economy, and all of those soak-the-rich tax increases will produce little or no revenue — and imposing them will worsen an economy threatening to go into shock.

That led to Obama’s criticism of his running mate, less than 24 hours after Biden criticized Obama. Obama slammed McCain for initially opposing the bailout and then changing his mind, arguing that McCain should have waited for all of the information to come to him before taking a public position. Matt Lauer then pointed out that Joe Biden had done exactly the same thing:

But Lauer pointed out that Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), had initially said the same thing – on “Today,” no less.

“I think that in that situation, I think Joe should have waited, as well,” Obama said.

It’s very rare for one ticket mate to publicly second-guess the other. But on the “CBS Evening News” on Monday, Biden had chastised his own campaign for a TV ad portraying McCain as a computer illiterate. Biden backed off his criticism of the ad in a statement the campaign released three hours later.

Obama appears to be seriously adrift. Circumstances have forced him out of the entire range of his domestic policies, including a middle-class tax cut, while the two Democrats seem more at war with each other than with Republicans. What argument does he have left for the Presidency — his deep executive and foreign-policy experience?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Michelle Malkin??? metta, you really are reaching...hot air is exactly what it is...

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[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I'm not sure I see the scandal here - the country's economy has hit the skids in a big way that few saw coming and in light of the scale of the proposed rescue plan ($0.75 trillion of taxpayers money) that's naturally going to have implications for spending in the next presidential term.

The candidates have to take token positions on this issue - but given that they're going to have little involvement in actually putting together the rescue package, token is all they can do.

Its a big issue for the country, a non-issue for wannabe presidential candidates.

[no name 1]

Michelle Malkin??? metta, you really are reaching...hot air is exactly what it is...

A Note from the Founder

Welcome to the world’s first full-service conservative Internet broadcast network!

Internet video is booming. Apple’s iTunes store has sold a gazillion videos since its debut. YouTube gets more traffic than the New York Times web site. And politically-oriented video is on the rise:

• Google teamed up with Al Gore’s Current TV network to provide Google Current.
• Amazon.com broadcasts Fishbowl featuring left-wing comedian Bill Maher.
• iTunes offers a discount price for Comedy Central’s liberal Daily Show.
• AOL joined with the Huffington Post to provide Contagious Festival, a collection of conservative-bashing short movies.

These efforts have one thing in common: they are all produced by liberals for liberals.

I formed Hot Air Network, LLC, to bring ideological diversity—because we all love diversity–to the videoblogging world. And because it looked like a lot of fun. Two of the most cutting-edge bloggers on the Right have joined me in my cyberquest: video editing whiz Bryan Preston and the almighty Allah Pundit. Allah likes to think of us as a little Internet garage band. Only we’re playing in three separate home offices and a basement. But you get the idea.

Our mission at Hot Air is to:

• Expose new viewers to the revolutionary world of videoblogging, animation, and Internet broadcasting;
• Recruit dynamic, enterprising people with creative skills from across the country to help us challenge (and CONQUER!) the dinosaur broadcast media outlets;
• Laugh. Report. Laugh. Entertain. Laugh. Inform. Laugh. Make money. Did we say laugh?

So, tune in. Turn on. And drop us a tip or two or three. We’re here to fight hot air with Hot Air. Fill ‘er up.

Michelle Malkin

Founder, Hot Air

April 24, 2006

http://hotair.com/about/

except what he said was on MSM, and quoted as such.

[metta 0]

Michelle Malkin??? metta, you really are reaching...hot air is exactly what it is...

A Note from the Founder

Welcome to the world's first full-service conservative Internet broadcast network!

Internet video is booming. Apple's iTunes store has sold a gazillion videos since its debut. YouTube gets more traffic than the New York Times web site. And politically-oriented video is on the rise:

• Google teamed up with Al Gore's Current TV network to provide Google Current.
• Amazon.com broadcasts Fishbowl featuring left-wing comedian Bill Maher.
• iTunes offers a discount price for Comedy Central's liberal Daily Show.
• AOL joined with the Huffington Post to provide Contagious Festival, a collection of conservative-bashing short movies.

These efforts have one thing in common: they are all produced by liberals for liberals.

I formed Hot Air Network, LLC, to bring ideological diversity—because we all love diversity–to the videoblogging world. And because it looked like a lot of fun. Two of the most cutting-edge bloggers on the Right have joined me in my cyberquest: video editing whiz Bryan Preston and the almighty Allah Pundit. Allah likes to think of us as a little Internet garage band. Only we're playing in three separate home offices and a basement. But you get the idea.

Our mission at Hot Air is to:

• Expose new viewers to the revolutionary world of videoblogging, animation, and Internet broadcasting;
• Recruit dynamic, enterprising people with creative skills from across the country to help us challenge (and CONQUER!) the dinosaur broadcast media outlets;
• Laugh. Report. Laugh. Entertain. Laugh. Inform. Laugh. Make money. Did we say laugh?

So, tune in. Turn on. And drop us a tip or two or three. We're here to fight hot air with Hot Air. Fill 'er up.

Michelle Malkin

Founder, Hot Air

April 24, 2006

http://hotair.com/about/

Just because, it comes from the conservative camp does'nt mean one has to summarily dismiss it Steve. Especially when it poses a very legitimate question of how in the light of the present financial crisis, Obama is going to pull together his healthcare and other social programs. Whoever comes into the Oval office will have to contend with the economy first.

Of the two candidates, Obama is the only candidate who promises these government sponsored, high cost social programs such as healthcare etc.

It would be interesting to know, that with the current financial situation, which portions of his healthcare or any social program he thinks deliver.

Without the viability of his promised social programs, the attractiveness of his candidacy is seriously diminished to say the least.

That is why the writer's question is a very one.

Circumstances have forced him out of the entire range of his domestic policies, including a middle-class tax cut, while the two Democrats seem more at war with each other than with Republicans. What argument does he have left for the Presidency — his deep executive and foreign-policy experience?