With so much at stake in American politics, 2010 could be the most important election cycle ever for US conservatives.
A few quick facts about HR 3962, the so-called "Affordable Health Care for America Act," which the House approved by a slim margin (220-215) late Saturday night:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the national unemployment rate jumped from 9.8 percent in September to 10.2 percent in October, its highest level in 26 years.
President Barack Obama, meanwhile, remains absurdly dismissive of these figures and continues to push his health care reform legislation. And why not? After all, he has a job. What does he care? The economy and job security may very well be the taxpayers' top priorities, but reforming health insurance and getting re-elected are his top priorities. And since he is the president, health insurance reform will continue to be the topic of discussion ... and so, instead of picturing the jobless numbers as jobs lost, the president and his administration will view them simply as lost policy holders.
The president is now on a Quixotic quest to fulfill a campaign promise, even if he has to break many others campaign promises along the way. The irony, of course, is that the whole reason he is pursuing health care reform so relentlessly and ignoring the unemployment situation so fastidiously is to secure his own job.
About.com Guide to US Liberal Politics, Deborah White, posts a refreshingly honest blog today, which summarizes the feelings of many conservatives regarding the behavior of their president last night while the returns came in.
Conservatives have had the feeling since February that President Barack Obama isn't interested in their wishes or concerns regarding health care or the economy. They should consider White's comments external validation, and they should take solace in the fact that they are not alone in their frustration.
From the post:
Democrats took a drubbing yesterday in two key governor's races in states which President Obama won just one year ago... and yet Press Secretary [Robert] Gibbs said the President was "not watching the returns."
Instead, top [adviser David] Axelrod haughtily sniffed to CNN that "Obama is more likely to watch Tuesday night's Chicago Bulls game."
(Question: Is Obama watching basketball rather than devastating election returns akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burned?)
A perfect symbolism of the whole problem for Democrats these days: the President isn't listening to the American people. Or apparently watching, either.
When the polls close tonight, and the returns begin to show Republican and conservative dominance in New Jersey, Virginia and upstate New York, the Democrats will say it doesn't matter.
Rather than admit they're worried and acknowledge that perhaps they should be more inclusive in their legislative affairs -- as President Barack Obama promised they would a year ago -- they'll smugly tell you that the president's agenda wasn't on any of the ballots cast today, and that these elections were about local issues.
I beg to differ. While it may be true that not a single national race was on the ballot today, national politics was definitely on voters' minds.
Sure, we're all talking about it, but what, exactly, defines a recession? More >
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