The Source of Obama’s Trouble By BOB HERBERT

[Better Believe It]

Op-Ed Columnist
The Source of Obama’s Trouble
By BOB HERBERT
March 8, 2010

The Obama administration and Democrats in general are in trouble because they are not urgently and effectively addressing the issue that most Americans want them to: the frightening economic insecurity that has put a chokehold on millions of American families.

Instead of focusing with unwavering intensity on this increasingly tragic situation, making it their top domestic priority, President Obama and the Democrats on Capitol Hill have spent astonishing amounts of time and energy, and most of their political capital, on an obsessive quest to pass a health care bill.

Health care reform is important. But what the public has wanted and still badly needs above all else from Mr. Obama and the Democrats are bold efforts to put people back to work. A major employment rebound is the only real way to alleviate the deep economic anxiety that has gripped so many Americans. Unaddressed, that anxiety inevitably evolves into dread and then anger.

But while the nation is desperate for jobs, jobs, jobs, the Democrats have spent most of the Obama era chanting health care, health care, health care.

People are upset because they are mired in economic distress and are losing faith that their elected representatives are looking out for their best interests. They’ve watched with increasing anger as their government has been hijacked by the economic elite. They know that the big banks that were bailed out by taxpayers can borrow money at an interest rate of near zero while at the same time charging credit-card holders usurious rates of 20 to 30 percent.

They know that the financial fat cats are fighting the creation of a truly independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency. They know that while ordinary Americans are kept out of the corridors of power, the elites with their lobbyists and lawyers and campaign contributions have a voice in every important decision that is made.

It’s not the message that’s a problem for Mr. Obama and the Democrats, it’s the all-too-clear reality. People know that the government that is supposed to be looking out for ordinary people — for working people and the poor — is not doing nearly enough about an employment crisis that is lowering standards of living and hollowing out the American dream.

The many millions of new jobs needed to make a real dent in the employment crisis are not going to materialize by themselves. Mr. Obama and the Democrats don’t seem to understand that.

Please read the full article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/opinion/09herbert.html?ref=opinion

[unblock]

1. this is (part of) the REAL republican agenda. it isn't to kill health care reform

it's to slow down health care reform legislation and to make it so time consuming that it crowds out other things.

republicans aren't picky. they object to everything simply because if 2 democratic initiatives pass instead of 3, or 3 democratic initiative pass instead of 4, they believe they've won something.

so their thought process really is, the FIRST or even SECOND most important agenda items to the democrats will pass -- they can't stop everything -- but they can slow things down and make things difficult enough that the THIRD or FOURTH most important democratic agenda items fail.


of course, democrats largely lost the p.r. war on the jobs front if they can't even get credit for the stimulus package, which certainly included a large jobs initiative.