Tag: Barack Obama

The popularity paradox

Over the last couple decades America has settled into an uneasy truce with itself, as presidents of both parties propose new ideas and promise a new way of doing business but eventually lose their popular mandate.

Prior to President Obama, the poster child for this phenomenon was George H.W. Bush. The elder Bush frittered away an 89 percent approval rating just after the liberation of Kuwait from the clutches of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. In less than two years his political fortunes declined to such a degree that he drew less than 40 percent of the popular vote in the 1992 election, yielding office to President Clinton.

In time, Clinton’s leadership was questioned so much that his party lost the majority in the House of Representatives two years after his election. After Clinton left office, George W. Bush managed re-election but spent his entire bank of political capital and popularity chasing Osama bin Laden around the Middle East while engaging in a little nation building along the way.

All these case studies reflect a simple fact: America sours quickly to new leadership if things progress in the same old way.

In President Obama’s case, pundits like to point out that his approval numbers are relatively in line with Ronald Reagan’s during the early days of his tenure. As in the present day, the first part of Reagan’s term was marked with a poor economy and high unemployment – before last October, the last time unemployment reached double digits was during a correspondent period in Reagan’s presidency.

Yet history shows that once Reagan’s economic prescription of lowering tax rates took hold his popularity surged, with the best evidence being an absolute electoral slaughter of the hapless Walter Mondale. On the other hand, President Obama’s policy accomplishments to date range in public perception from skepticism whether the stimulus has actually worked to outright hostility about the passage of Obamacare and progress in cleaning up the oil from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.

Perhaps more than any other president in recent memory, though, President Obama suffers from being thin-skinned. While he may say from time to time that “the buck stops here” it’s usually lost in a litany of finger-pointing and blame shifting, with a favorite target being opposition Republicans. (Having advisers who proclaim we should never let a crisis go to waste or that we should put our boot on the throat of particular businesses isn’t much of a help either.)

People who followed President Obama’s cult of personality during his campaign and remain loyal to him make up a larger and larger portion of those who approve of his performance. Others who questioned his qualifications or didn’t like those policies he ran on make up a continually growing segment of the opposition, leaving less and less room for ambivalence. America may be fortunate that there’s not an issue like slavery to divide up the union.

To be a good leader, the key qualification is to go in a direction which people would eventually like to be led, convincing them to leave the safety of inertia. Of course, the leader is the one who gets the slings and arrows but shrugs them off in pursuit of a cause greater than self. One problem our President has is selling the idea that he’s not the one with the most to gain from the direction he’s attempting to take us. The American people keep attempting to put on the brakes and turn things around but the only way to get this leader to listen is to outpoll his followers at the ballot box.

Michael Swartz used to practice architecture but now is a Maryland-based freelance writer and blogger whose work can be found in a number of outlets, including Liberty Features Syndicate. This piece debuted June 18.

Friday night videos – episode 36

Kicking back and relaxing on a warm summer night – take your time with these videos. Perhaps you’re like me and do a lot of your web surfing outside.

You know, that Joe Sestak job offer scandal is still percolating around Washington, casting a shadow on the Obama Administration.

I know the Center for Individual Freedom generally exceeds its “Freedom Minute” but it’s worth watching.

Something that probably won’t be worth watching is an upcoming Comedy Central show called “JC.” It’s a show I wrote about for Patriot Post and begs the question – is America ready for more Christian-bashing out of a network which was afraid to portray the prophet Muhammad? (Probably NSFW if you’re there.)

Yeah, that was pretty disgusting. Speaking of disgusting, let’s have the reaction of folks on the left to this guy becoming violent at a Tea Party protest in North Carolina.

Oh, I forgot, it’s the Tea Partiers who are violent. That might be the next thing Obama blames Bush for, and the background music is priceless. (I actually used the Smokin’ Gunnz version of the song a few weeks back.)

Yeah, I got that from Eric Cantor’s office. But it was good. On a more serious note (and since Obama referred to the Deepwater Horizon spill) the next two videos feature American Petroleum Institute chief economist Dr. John Felmy discussing the effects of the Gulf drilling moratorium.

Of course, some of these jobs could’ve gone to newly minted graduates – ALG talked to some recent ones about the youth job situation and 26.4% unemployment.

As always, let’s close with a song. Local artist Bryan Russo has a jazzy flavor on this song as he takes a trip to the ‘Smokey Cafe.’ Don’t think I’ve ever embedded a Vimeo before.

With that, another episode of FNV is a wrap.

A slow reclamation

In the wake of the emotional Obamacare debate, the President’s approval ratings sank much closer to those endured by the outgoing President Bush than the stratospheric heights polled as the era of Barack began. Looking at Rasmussen’s tracking poll, Obama reached a low of 43% approval during the weekend of the final House debate over the Senate-sponsored health care measure, and the approval index (defined by Rasmussen as the percentage strongly approving minus the percentage strongly disapproving) reached a low of -21.

Since those low points, though, the emotion of the debate over health care has subsided and Obama’s approval ratings have began their own slow recovery – back to 48% approval last week and a much healthier approval index of -10. It’s an encouraging trend for a party which just last month was left for dead in November, and perhaps shows that Republicans need to curb their enthusiasm about derailing the Obama agenda next year.

Yet one has to ask just what is different about the public’s mood now. Certainly there’s still a Tea Party element out there flexing its muscle, but Obama has adroitly focused his efforts on the one area he can be seen as populist in advocating Wall Street reform. While there’s a lot of people who dislike big government, even more have a beef with the perceived fat cats who navigate the murky waters of derivatives and other difficult-to-explain financial instruments while making handsome profits for themselves and sticking taxpayers with their losses.

Then again, it’s not easy to figure out what Congress wants to do with Wall Street either. In that respect President Obama seems to be leading in the same manner as he did with health care, standing aside while Congress debates the finer points and waiting anxiously with pen in hand for the final legislation to pass. Unlike health care, though, President Obama may be waiting in vain because of the Republicans’ newfound ability to filibuster legislation – Democrats no longer have the convenient workaround they enjoyed in goosing the system and rules to pass Obamacare.

On the other hand there are still a number of boobytraps remaining before Obama and the Democrats can survive the upcoming election with their majorities intact.

Immigration is the hotbutton issue du jour, placed there once Arizona passed a get-tough measure on illegal immigrants (which ironically is simply a rewrite of federal law at a state level.) While the President has wanted to see reform with federal law, there’s a number of Democrats who are quite squeamish about touching anything which remotely resembles amnesty. They’re mindful of the reaction back home, and for good reason.

The same goes for cap-and-trade legislation, which is a nonstarter despite the continuing Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf. President Obama wasn’t able to take advantage of the situation by showing leadership; instead he’s being chastised by some in the press for his slow reaction to the crisis.

It could be, however, that the biggest difference between the more popular Obama of late and the Obama trying to get health care reform passed is that the President doesn’t seem to be the constant presence he was during that debate. With a number of other world crises taking place, such as the financial meltdown of Greece, the news isn’t quite as focused on the President and lack of familiarity stops breeding contempt.

There’s no doubt Americans aren’t necessarily buying what President Obama is selling, but the pitchman has retreated off the stage enough to keep his record out of the limelight and regain a little of his lost popularity in the process.

Michael Swartz, an architect and writer who lives in rural Maryland, is a Liberty Features Syndicated writer. This article cleared the LFS wire on May 13, which after their usual hold meant I didn’t get to post it last week.

Friday night videos – episode 32

Another week, another edition of FNV for your enjoyment.

The first video may not be as enjoyable as it is tragic. Take a look at the devastation in the Nashville region from a simple rainstorm that wouldn’t move off the area. No hurricane, no tornado – just heavy rain wrought this damage.

On the other hand, we have people like General Motors who aren’t self-reliant and wait for government handouts. Perhaps a presidential candidate in 2012, Rep. Paul Ryan recently decried their ‘crony capitalism.’

We’re 1/3 of the way through President Obama’s term, and Renee Giachino of the Center for Individual Freedom points out 10 lessons of his era.Best thing is that I disabled autoplay on that one – yay me! I like their videos but didn’t like their autoplay feature, so I fixed it. Self-reliant.

It’s not as confusing as HTML code, but Arizona’s new immigration law does have its share of controversy. Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies did his best to explain the ins and outs on Fox News.

Another bill explained here by Americans for Limited Government is the Dodd financial takeover bill.

Let’s take this full circle, sort of, by going from southern rain to southern rock. Recently I was at Pork in the Park and caught these guys playing some Lynard Skynard you don’t often hear.

And is Smokin’ Gunnz a politically incorrect name or what? It’s a great way to wrap up this edition of FNV.

Friday night videos episode 29

Back after a one week hiatus, the focus shifts to fiscal responsibility and TEA Parties.

Obviously the GOP is critical of Barack Obama’s policies, and this video explains why.

The same goes for Reason.tv, which reminds us how California got into its financial mess.

Two filmmakers for Americans for Limited Government bring the green jobs fallacy home by looking at the closing of the BP Solar plant in Frederick, Maryland.

Now it’s time for a little bit of tea. But first, it’s interesting to note the tenor of counterprotests, as an alert reader sent me a video from another March 20 rally in Washington D.C. that had little to do with health care.

To echo one commenter, I bet you didn’t see this on the nightly news.

Fellow blogger and patriot Bob McCarty does yeoman’s work covering the TEA Party scene in the St. Louis area. Here I have two videos, one from their weekly (!) rally last weekend and one from their TEA Party Express 3 stop a week or so back.

Finally, here’s local TEA Party organizer Chris Lewis from yesterday’s Salisbury rally as I excerpted the conclusion of his speech. Good background music, too.

Speaking of music, there’s no local music to wrap up this week, but that’s intentional. Next Friday I’m doing another all-music edition of FNV and plan on making it a regular event every 10 episodes (along with placing a music video or two in most other editions.) I look forward to putting it together so hopefully you’ll enjoy watching!

Driving out the competition

In one of the first acts of his presidency, Barack Obama crafted an Executive Order reinstating the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on federal construction jobs where total costs to the government exceed $25 million. This gift to Big Labor overturned a previous ban on the practice President Bush instituted early in his term back in 2001.

It took bureaucrats almost a year to devise the regulations, which were released last week. Naturally the Administration was pleased with the effort. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis called the new red tape “a win-win; they benefit businesses, workers and taxpayers. I’ve seen the track record in cities like Los Angeles — high quality work on projects done on time, on budget and good job and training opportunities that strengthen our communities.”

But Obama’s first attempt at enacting a PLA resulted in the cancellation of bidding on a New Hampshire job training center because a non-union contractor balked at the restrictive pro-union rules it would have to follow as a winning bidder.

Most telling about the arrogance of Washington bureaucrats, though, is their claim (page 8 here) that these regulations are not a “major rule,” which allows them to circumvent the Congressional Review Act. Their ludicrous assertion is that PLAs will not create an effect on the economy of more than $100 million, cause a major increase in costs, or lead to significantly adverse effects on competition.

It’s a claim which is laughable. According to the Associated Builders and Contractors, these PLAs will increase construction costs 20 percent at a time when 1 of every 4 in the industry is unemployed. Thus, taking the ABC at face value, just $500 million in construction contracts let would bring the price of these new regulations above the $100 million threshold and certainly a 20 percent increase would be termed “major” to most unbiased observers. The Associated General Contractors also weighed in, calling the new regulations, “unnecessary…costly and counterproductive.”

While the proposed rules leave some wiggle room for discretion against PLAs in certain situations, it’s unlikely that this labor-friendly regime will allow exceptions but for rare cases. With billions of dollars in stimulus money still to be given out, the timing of these rules is key to promote the cause of Big Labor just in time for the midterm elections.

This is another article I did for Red County National; they chose to title it “Another Day, Another Economy-Wrecking Gift to Big Labor.”

Friday night videos episode 27

Hey, two weeks in a row! How about that? Let’s see what I have this week.

I guess we have enough anger out there over the Obamacare bill (boy did I get an earful in one Facebook forum.) Let’s try a more amusing look at the pitfalls of Obamacare from a group called TalkPAC.

And Rep. Mike Pence is right – it’s time to condemn those who turn to violence to oppose Obamacare, but it’s also time to end the smears!

On the other hand, Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak may be the most reviled man in America, particularly for pro-lifers. Here’s one reason why – he wasn’t really a firm vote against Obamacare.

Yet I thought the focus for Obama now was going to be on jobs – didn’t you? Producing our own energy resources would fit the bill.

The are jobs in the legal community, but do you ever get tired of these ambulance chasers pitching the legal lottery of having a dread disease pay off? Bob McCarty did.

Let’s transition to the music portion of FNV with this politically-charged song. A little more country than I like, but the lyrics are sound.

Now it’s time to rock. Last weekend at Marina’s up in Blades, Delaware I recorded my friends from Semiblind doing this little ditty.

This post is timed so you can enjoy it, then head over to Pickles Pub in Ocean City and enjoy Semiblind as headliners of the 8th Annual Spring Luau – Semiblind goes on at 1:00. (Why do you think I do my FNV posts in advance most of the time?)

Hopefully I’ll get more good video tonight for use in future FNV episodes.

After one year: feel stimulated yet?

Nope.

Remember when unemployment was 7.6% and not 9.7 percent? That was the rate last February.

And where are the 8,300 jobs promised for our Congressional district, let alone the 66,000 for the state?

Instead, we have fewer people working than the last time when the unemployment rate was 9.7 percent because many have given up on the search – 1.1 million fewer to be exact. Even illegal immigrants are leaving because they can’t find work, not doing the jobs Americans won’t do either.

If unemployment weren’t a big problem, why would Congress continue to subsidize it by extending unemployment benefits to nearly 100 weeks? That’s practically two years.

The only sector which is experiencing growth is the federal public sector. Obviously the First Lady is doing her part by employing 22 assistants, while her husband keeps dozens of “czars” on the payroll.

I thought Rush Limbaugh came up with an intriguing idea last year when the stimulus came out. Take the stimulus money and do two things with it: devote the proportion of it equal to Barack Obama’s vote to his ideas (essentially the stimulus package we have now) and the remainder equal to John McCain’s vote to tax cuts and business-friendly policies, and see which side of this bipartisan compromise did better. Obviously we didn’t get the GOP side so the lack of success all falls on the side of the statists, who keep spending way more money than we have available to us for bailing out favored special interests, unions, and key business contributors on Wall Street.

This is a good timeline to recall just how well the stimulus worked, thanks to Rep. Eric Cantor.