In mid-December, the diva of daytime television, Oprah Winfrey, hosted the primetime special “Christmas at the White House.” It was the perfect opportunity to ring in holiday cheer while checking politics at the door.
Sadly, Winfrey could not. She was compelled to ask President Obama to grade himself on his first 11 months in office.
It was a ridiculous question because of the setting. It was more preposterous because it came from Winfrey.
It’s reported Winfrey never endorsed a presidential candidate before Obama. Why she felt a sudden urge to enthusiastically stump for candidate Obama is her business. Her reasons are of no interest to me.
But why would Winfrey choose a feel-good Christmas special to ask a president such a politically-explosive question certain to spark controversy? Did anyone expect Winfrey, a staunch partisan with no fiscal or foreign policy credentials to do anything but make goo-goo eyes and murmur fondly at Obama’s answer?
It was a stupid question in the wrong setting from the wrong person.
And it was unfair. What president is so pretentious that he would grade his performance after just 11 months in office?
There was no need for President Obama to answer. He could easily deflect the question by saying, “Not my call Oprah. I’ll leave it to the American people.”
But astonishingly, Obama didn’t brush it aside.
Instead, President Obama, the professor and pupil rolled into one, gave himself a “solid B plus.” Obama added that if government-controlled health care passed he would boost his grade to an “A minus.”
Let’s conduct the part of the exam that Winfrey left unfinished: Evaluate the criteria used by President Obama to determine his lofty grade:
- Getting the economy on track. The Obama administration’s greatest economic initiative was the $787 billion taxpayer-funded, bureaucracy-laden stimulus.
Remember that the Obama administration said the stimulus was necessary to keep unemployment at 8%. It failed as unemployment sits at 10%. Now polls indicate a plurality of Americans feel the stimulus did more harm than good.
The case can be made that the actions of the Obama administration have hurt economic recovery by busting the budget through uncontrolled spending, massive government intervention into the free markets, and the creation of growth-stifling debt that will smother generations to come.
There is no evidence that the course taken by the Obama administration, that is, unfettered government incursion of the private sector, has put the economy on track for recovery.
- Resetting America’s prestige in the world. There is no evidence that President Obama’s World Apology Tour mended foreign relations. If anything, the Obama administration finds itself repeatedly dressed down by other nations.
China's Premier Wen Jiabao
The Chinese Premier lectured President Obama about irresponsible spending. The German Chancellor blasted U.S. fiscal policy claiming it could trigger a wave of global inflation. Reprimands and warnings by foreign dignitaries are not used to express esteem and respect.
“Resetting America’s prestige” is a campaign promise, not a fact of accomplishment. And like other campaign promises made by candidate Obama, it remains unfulfilled.
- Halting development of nuclear weapons in Iran. Apparently Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, didn’t get the White House memo.
On 22 December, Ahmadinejad dismissed the Obama administration’s end of year deadline to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. Ahmadinejad said Iran didn’t care about deadlines, didn’t fear sanctions, and was not intimidated by the U.S.
Iran continues to test fire missiles and is probably closer to a nuclear weapons capability than ever before.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
“Halting development of a nuclear Iran” is also a campaign promise with no evidence of achievement.
- Government-controlled health care. This is the issue that President Obama said establishes him as a head-of-the-class honor student. But the tactics used to ram this unpopular bill down the throats of the American people were sordid and distasteful.
Dirty deals cut in the dead of night. Senators prostituting themselves for votes. The bill was rushed through without public scrutiny even though the bulk of supposed benefits do not begin until at least 2013. Why the urgency? What is it that government seeks to hide?
Government used underhanded and shameful tactics to pass this bill. For this, President Obama gives himself an A minus!
Government continues to splurge as our country remains in the grip of soaring debt and high unemployment. Institutions favorable to government are given blank checks to be filled in with taxpayer money. Government has become so fiscally reckless that foreign countries chastise the U.S. about its profligate spending.
National objectives that were once clear are now ambiguous. Terrorists that seek to kill Americans aren’t called terrorists anymore, but “suspects.” The U.S. Homeland Security Secretary refers to terrorist attacks as “man-made disasters.”
We appear weak to our enemies. Iran is as great a threat as ever and has no intention of halting its nuclear enrichment program because of hollow U.S. mandates.
Government broke promises of transparency and open debate. Unfavorable bills are passed using devious processes that bend the Constitution, if not break it.
The majority of Americans disapprove of big-government programs such as stimulus, Cap and Trade, and government-run health care. But government pushes them through anyway.
Polls reflect the dissatisfaction of the American people as President Obama’s approval rating plummeted to the lowest of any president in his first 10 ½ months.
Yet President Obama gives himself a grade befitting an honor student!
President Obama’s lofty impression of his performance is a reflection of how arrogant government has become. But don’t be mistaken. Government is not out of touch. Government knows exactly what it is doing. It marches to its own beat. It places its own agenda above that of the American people.
More than any other time in U.S. history, government is an entity with one objective – grow more government. Here, President Obama and his Congressional majority have earned an A plus.
Soon the campaigning for the 2010 elections will begin. You will be showered by smiling candidates hoping you forget they are responsible for government’s growth and its intrusion into your life.
Candidates will claim to be “tough on terror” when they helped shape the government that feels mass murdering fanatics have earned the same rights as you.
Candidates will hope you swallow what they promise to do while ignoring what they have done.
But you have the power to hold elected officials accountable. It rests with the power of your vote. It’s your only chance to purge government’s self-importance. It’s your only hope to break the escalating control government has over you, your liberty, and your freedom.
When the campaign season begins consider the most important factor of all. The power of your vote.
God Bless our troops in harm’s way.
Poz
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