Obama, Biden, the Cow and the Python

Studying the past often sheds light on the future. Following this logic, certain statements made by Barack Obama don’t bode well for Joe Biden.

Biden promised, let us remember, to be “a president who seeks not to divide, but unify.”

But that is exactly what Obama promised, too. And the story he is telling about his first term (his recent book of some 850 pages only covers the first part of his presidency!) shows how insufficient this was to convince Republicans in Washington to work with him for the good of their country.

One of the most obvious examples is the stimulus plan for the American economy that Obama’s team quickly developed after his arrival in the White House.

The context is important. In 2009, the country was dealing with the worst economic crisis it had seen since the Great Depression. The job market was in an alarming state, the banks were literally on the verge of collapsing and the global financial system was being threatened. You can’t imagine a worse scenario! Inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Obama administration proposed a stimulus plan that would reinvest $800 million into the economy.

“Even in the best of circumstances, trying to get Congress to enact a law declaring the largest emergency expenditures in record time would be a bit like forcing a python to swallow a cow,”* admitted the former president, with the touch of humor for which he is known.

However, the circumstances were not the best. He also had to work with Republican obstruction. Their strategy was “the absolute refusal to work with me or the members of my Cabinet, no matter the circumstances, no matter the subject, without worrying about the consequences for the country,”* Obama explained.

The plan was nevertheless adopted by Congress — essentially because the Democrats held the majority in the House of Representatives as well as the Senate. This situation also allowed him to pass his health care reform.

But as the years went by, he ended up losing control of both houses of Congress. And even if he often mixed water with wine, tried to tone down his policies to rally the Republicans and repeatedly negotiated with his opponents, his efforts were usually in vain. Trying to convince even a handful of Republicans to vote for laws that he held dear to his heart was like trying to make a python swallow a herd of cows all at once!

On many occasions, he thus had to go around Congress and issue executive orders to achieve his goals, especially with controversial issues such as immigration and the environment. Each time he extended a hand, he was met with fists.

Frankly, it is hard to understand how it will be any different next year, when Biden will occupy the White House. Why would the Republicans change a winning strategy? Their party, influenced by “billionaire ideologues like David and Charles Koch”* as opposed to “traditional groups representing the interests of businesses,”* became radicalized, remarked the former president. “For them, any tax was confiscatory, an open door to communism; any regulation was a betrayal of the free market and the American way of life.”*

Yet, if the Republicans want to show that the federal government is not the solution, but rather the problem, they have the edge in trying to block every initiative that would prove the contrary — even when their country is on the edge of the abyss.

This summary of the Republicans’ toxic behavior under Obama can also be seen as a prophetic tale.

When Biden takes the oath of office — it is high time, by the way, that Republicans stop encouraging the illusions of Donald Trump, who persists in denying his defeat — the country will remain in a state of chaos. The Democratic president will have a dire need to collaborate with the Republicans to outline a solution to the crisis.

However, all evidence shows, without exception, that he won’t succeed.

Next year, the Democrats will retain their majority in the House of Representatives. On the other hand, it will be surprising if they can also get control of the Senate. Its fate rests with the vote to come in Georgia on Jan. 5. It will be necessary for both Democratic candidates in the running to beat out the two incumbent Republican candidates. It is possible, but very unlikely.

But pessimism is not appropriate — at least not yet. Obama’s memoirs remind us that it is possible for a Democratic president to play his cards right and put his country back on track even if his rivals do everything in their power to prevent it. A nice dose of realism is advised. Expectations need to be tempered.

If Biden were on a baseball field, he would already have two strikes. That’s not to say that he’ll never hit a home run. But “restoring the soul of America,” under such circumstances, will be a feat worthy of … that which was faced in part by Obama!

*Editor’s Note: These quotations, though accurately translated, could not be verified.