In “Obama conceding to GOP”, columnist Paul Krugman asks “After the Democratic ‘shellacking’ in the midterm elections, everyone wondered how President Barack Obama would respond. Would he show what he was made of? Would he stand firm for the values he believes in, even in the face of political adversity?”
WATCHDOG: He then goes on to make a bunch of foolish points, which is not usual for Krugman.
He says: “[Obama] announced a pay freeze for federal workers…It was transparently cynical; it was trivial in scale, but misguided in direction…” Pay increases for those with good jobs does little for the economy and a large proportion of employed individual have gone without pay increases and bonuses for the past two years. Why should federal employees be exempt from the hardships of the time?
He says: “Do [Obama and his inner circle] really believe, after all this time, that gestures of appeasement to the GOP will elicit a good-faith response?” President Obama is too skilled a politician to be taken in by the right wing of the Republican Party. His purpose was to demonstrate to the American people that government recognizes and will share some of their pain.
He opines: “What’s even more puzzling is the apparent indifference of the Obama team to the effect of such gestures on their supporters. One would have expected a candidate who rode the enthusiasm of activists to an upset victory in the Democratic primary to realize that this enthusiasm was an important asset.” Does Krugman think that fervid Obama supporters would be put off by his freezing the wages of federal employees? Hell no. Anyway, that isn’t the key issue of the day: Extending unemployment insurance and making certain that the riches American no longer get the “W” tax breaks are.
Obama has his eye on the ball. Krugman comes across as strident and deluded. Very sad.
Let’s face it, there is a dog fight on Capitol Hill and a feverish campaign to get rid of Obama. Occasionally, the American public is thrown a bone, then back to the tug of war.
I must say that Barack Obama is every bit a gentleman as well as an intellectual. Not a person to jump to decisions, someone who thinks as an individual with the American people his top priority.
I find the majority of politicians are boorish, egotistical, resistant to change and, yes, some sadly are racist. (What would Bush have done if Katrina hit Kennebunkport instead of New Orleans, for example. Would the catastrophe have been handled differently??!!)
Obama is cut from a different cloth. I believe he could be our greatest President.