- MENU
- HOME
- SEARCH
- WORLD
- MAIN
- AFRICA
- ASIA
- BALKANS
- EUROPE
- LATIN AMERICA
- MIDDLE EAST
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Benelux
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Poland
- Russia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Taiwan
- Turkey
- USA
- BUSINESS
- WEALTH
- STOCKS
- TECH
- HEALTH
- LIFESTYLE
- ENTERTAINMENT
- SPORTS
- RSS
- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Jules Witcover
April 18, 2011
President Obama is like the masochist who keeps beating his head against a wall because it feels so good when he stops. In his latest budget compromise with House Speaker John Boehner, he again seemingly failed to recognize that Boehner's goal in every negotiation is: "More."
In accepting
The bulk of the latest cuts will fall once again on discretionary programs benefitting middle- and lower-class Americans, while keeping in place tax and other policies favoring the better off. They include continuing the Bush tax cuts that a chastised Obama swallowed in his previous confrontation with Boehner after the midterm elections.
The speaker's track record of saying no to Obama over the last two-plus years, coupled with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's stated prime objective of making Obama a one-term president, mocks the president's confidence that he can do business with his would-be political executioners.
In retrospect, Obama has given restive Democrats more grounds for questioning his wisdom in declining to go to the mat in that previous confrontation over the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which Boehner dug in his heels to retain.
The obvious inequity of cutting social-welfare programs while lightening and in some cases eliminating the tax burdens of the individual rich and corporate America was a fight that could have rejuvenated lagging Democratic enthusiasm for Obama, if only he had made it then.
In the larger battles to come over raising the federal debt limit and the fiscal 2012 budget, Obama will duck that same fight at his own political peril. His post-midterm resumption of reaching out to the Republican leaders in
Coupled with the uncertain trumpet he sounded in advocating use of American power against the brutality of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi short of overt efforts to remove him, Obama is risking further erosion of Democratic support, already shaken by his continued military efforts in Afghanistan.
None of this Democratic disquiet about Obama has yet disturbed the view that he is the horse the party will be riding again in next year's presidential campaign. Its liberal wing has no obvious figure to challenge him in the primaries, as Ted Kennedy opposed Jimmy Carter unsuccessfully in 1980, or even any longshot such as Eugene McCarthy who first took on Lyndon Johnson in the 1968 race.
Indeed, Obama's popularity in the public opinion surveys remains relatively high at 45 percent approval in the daily Gallup Poll soundings. His reelection candidacy has already been announced and his campaign operation is underway with indications he will shatter all records for fund-raising and spending, in an ambitious effort to fire up his winning constituency of 2008.
Meanwhile, prospective Republican challengers are moving slowly and with little measurable enthusiasm behind them to unseat the incumbent. An early
He joins only former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in that same step, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich even more timidly has said he is "testing the waters" for a possible run, heavy personal baggage and all.
Other prospective challengers include three Republicans fueled mostly by personal ego -- former UN Ambassador John Bolton, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and business tycoon Donald Trump.
None of these names sends ripples of even mild concern through the
How he deals with the latest, much deeper budget proposals of
AMERICAN POLITICS
WORLD | AFRICA | ASIA | EUROPE | LATIN AMERICA | MIDDLE EAST | UNITED STATES | ECONOMICS | EDUCATION | ENVIRONMENT | FOREIGN POLICY | POLITICS
Obama's Delusion | Politics
© Tribune Media Services