News Cut: April 4, 2011 Archive

Obama two years on

Posted at 12:05 PM on April 4, 2011 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

To no surprise, President Obama announced today he's running for re-election.

It was, of course, just a little over two years ago that Obama was swept into office in a tide of clamor for change that -- you may recall -- led people in Minnesota to stand in a line that stretched for nearly two miles to hear him speak during a campaign stop. His election left the "experts" wondering if the Republican Party could ever recover.

But as winning parties usually do, the Democrats overplayed their hand, confident that they spoke for all Americans.

Times change?

It's a good time to hit the News Cut Wayback Machine. Set the date for January 20, 2009.

"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics."

A government shutdown looms on Friday.

Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began.

"The state of our economy calls for action: bold and swift. And we will act not only to create new jobs but to lay a new foundation for growth."

There were 154,185,000 people in the labor force in January 2009. As of the end of March, there were 153,406,000 in the labor force.

"We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality."

The number of people without health insurance dropped for the first time in 23 years, the Census Bureau reported last fall. The U.S. is scaling back its human spaceflight program. A 2009 Obama order expanding research using embryonic stem cells was overturned by a federal judge. An appeals court lifted the temporary injunction pending further review.

"We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories."

President Obama announced his plan for energy independence in a speech six days after his inauguration. Late last month, the president also gave a speech outlining a plan to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

His administration also approved a large wind farm project off Cape Cod.

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply."

The Republican victories last November -- at least in Minnesota -- were ripped from the playbook of 2002. The victories on a national scale mirrored the 1994 Contract with America.

"And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."

Congress is about to kill data.gov.

"With old friends and former foes, we'll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet."

The president failed to get cap-and-trade legislation through Congress and his relationship with environmentalists is on thin ice, according to Politico.

"We'll begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard- earned peace in Afghanistan."

A month after his speech, Obama promised to remove most troops from Iraq by December 2010, leaving 35,000 to 50,000. As of January 2011, 47,000 U.S. troops were in Iraq. There were 135,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq during fiscal year 2009.

President Obama's approval ratings are hovering around 48%, according to Real Clear Politics. His negatives are about 46%, way up from the 20% of Inauguration Day. That's still a significant difference from the 65% negatives of the last days of the Bush administration.

It's halftime for the Obama administration. What locker-room speech would you give?

(4 Comments)

What Minnesota representatives do

Posted at 2:43 PM on April 4, 2011 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

(8 Comments)