A new era has begun for President Barack Obama in Washington today. He will have to deal with a Congress not only opposed to his policies but determined to reverse them. From a realistic point of view, everything will remain symbolic battles: Republicans in the House of Representatives have to share power with Democrats who still control the Senate.
Example: health care reform. A House decision to repeal the current law will have few consequences because neither the Senate nor the president will concur.
This initiative is nothing more than a charade choreographed by the Republican leadership to placate the newly elected representatives supported by the tea party. House Speaker John Boehner has to integrate them into the mainstream in such a way that they cause no panic among voters.
He knows what happened when Newt Gingrich’s “revolutionaries” took power in 1994. The Republicans overreached and ensured Bill Clinton’s reelection. If Boehner’s balancing act doesn’t succeed, Obama could well profit from conservative arrogance. It appears they’re intent on repeating the mistakes of their predecessors in reverse. They are concentrating their efforts on repealing health care reform legislation and cutting spending instead of job creation.
The further the tea partiers pull conservatives to the right, the better it will be for Obama. That will give him the opportunity to look like an adult concerned most about jobs amidst a gang of unruly hooligans intent only on ideological bickering.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.