The Obama Legacy

[93henfan]

Couldn't have hit the ball any farther out of the park than this editorial. "Disappointment" will always be the word I associate with the Obama presidency.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-obama-legacy-1484006700

[BDKJMU]

Damn it, I'm getting a "To read the full story, subscribe or Log In".

[93henfan]

Spoiler: show

REVIEW & OUTLOOK
The Obama Legacy
A Presidency of great promise ends in rancor and disappointment.


Jan. 9, 2017 7:05 p.m. ET
President Obama once said that as President he aspired to be the progressive Ronald Reagan, and as he prepares to leave office he has succeeded in fundamental if ironic ways.

While Reagan left behind a calmer, more optimistic country, Mr. Obama leaves a more divided and rancorous one. While the Gipper helped elect a successor to extend his legacy, Mr. Obama will be succeeded by a man who campaigned to repudiate the President’s agenda. Barack Obama has been a historic President but perhaps not a consequential one.

***
Mr. Obama was always going to be a historic President by dint of his election as the first African-American to hold the office. His victory affirmed the American ideal that anyone can aspire and win political power. This affirmation was all the better because Mr. Obama won in large parjt thanks to his cool temperament amid the financial crisis and his considerable personal talents.

Yet his Presidency has been a disappointment at home and abroad, a fact ironically underscored by Mr. Obama’s relentless insistence that he has been a success. In his many farewell interviews, he has laid out what he regards as his main achievements: reviving the economy after the Great Recession, a giant step toward national health care, new domestic regulations and a global pact to combat climate change, the Iran nuclear deal, and a world where America is merely one nation among many others in settling global disputes rather than promoting its democratic values.

Even on their own terms those achievements look evanescent. Congress has teed up ObamaCare for repeal, and Donald Trump will erase the climate rules. The global climate pact is built on promises without enforcement, and Mr. Trump ran against and won in part on the slow economic recovery. Authoritarians are on the march around the world as they haven’t been since the 1970s, and perhaps the 1930s.

***
These results flow both from the progressive agenda he pursued and the way he tried to implement it. He took power in 2009 with historic Democratic majorities, and he made the mistake of using them to fulfill 40 years of unmet progressive dreams.

From his first days he let Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi write the stimulus and ObamaCare, to the exclusion of Republicans. “I won,” he famously replied when Eric Cantor asked him to consider Republican economic ideas. The result is that his legislative achievements were built on partisan votes that now make them vulnerable to partisan repeal.

Mr. Obama rejected bipartisanship even after he lost Congress—the House in 2010 and Senate in 2014. He walked away from a budget deal with John Boehner in 2011 at the last minute because he wanted more tax increases. In his second term he all but disdained Congress, preferring to rule by regulation.

This was a gamble that he could elect a Democratic successor to protect his executive orders, but his immigration and other rules can be erased by Mr. Trump or Congress. By rejecting the hard work of building political consensus, Mr. Obama built much of his legacy on sand.

***
Mr. Obama’s progressive agenda failed most acutely on its core promise of economic “fairness.” The President made income redistribution to address inequality his top policy priority, above economic growth. The result has been the slowest expansion since World War II and even more inequality.

Higher taxes and wave after wave of new regulation dampened investment, while expanded entitlements and transfer payments lured more Americans out of the workforce. After the 2009 spending bill failed to spur durable growth, the White House relied almost entirely on the Federal Reserve to prevent another recession. The Fed was able to raise asset prices, which has helped the relatively affluent who own assets, but it couldn’t ignite the broad-based expansion and new business creation to lift average incomes.

The Reagan and Bill Clinton expansions left the public in an optimistic mood. Illegal immigration and trade deficits were larger than during the Obama years, but Americans worried less about both because they could see the tide rising for everyone. The slow-growth Obama years created the dry political tinder for Mr. Trump’s campaign against immigration and foreign trade.

***
The story is in many ways even worse on foreign policy. When Reagan left office the Soviet Union was in retreat and the Cold War nearing its end. As Mr. Obama leaves office, the gains of the post-Cold War era are being lost as world disorder spreads.

This too flows from Mr. Obama’s progressive worldview. He fulfilled his 2008 campaign promise to reduce America’s global involvement, especially in the Middle East, but his willy-nilly retreat has led to more chaos. He deposed a dictator in Libya but walked away from the aftermath. His decision to leave Iraq let him claim the “tide of war is receding” as he ran for re-election in 2012, but it allowed Islamic State to gestate there and in Syria as he let its civil war burn out of control.

The President’s calls for a world without nuclear weapons have been met by the acceleration of nuclear programs in North Korea and Pakistan. A “reset” with Moscow did nothing to alter Vladimir Putin ’s revanchism in Ukraine and beyond. Reductions in U.S. military spending have emboldened China to press for regional dominance in East and Southeast Asia.

Whether his deal with Iran prevents that country from becoming a nuclear power won’t be known for several years, but it has already helped Iran fund its terrorist proxies in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. His outreach to Cuba may be historic but so far it has yielded no benefits for the Cuban people.

***
Perhaps the most decisive verdict on the Obama era is the sour public mood. While Americans like and respect the President personally, which explains his approval rating, on Election Day they said by nearly 2 to 1 that the country is on the wrong track. Even race relations, which should have improved under Mr. Obama’s leadership and example, seem to have become worse. His polarizing Presidency has now yielded an equally polarizing successor.

The lesson is not that Mr. Obama lacked good intentions or political gifts. Few Presidents have entered office with so much goodwill. The lesson is that progressive policies won’t work when they abjure the realities of economic incentives at home and the necessity of American leadership abroad.

[Bronco]

[houndawg]

Third term bro.

Greatest since FDR.

[BDKJMU]

Third term bro.

Greatest since FDR.

[kalm]

Third term bro.

Greatest since FDR.

Governed like a centrist conk. Pretended to cut the deficit while doimg very little to fix the systemic problems. No major FP blunders that hurt the mainland anymore than His predecessor and probably less, adopted a Republican healthcare plan. Yet...still despised????

[BDKJMU]

Governed like a centrist conk. Pretended to cut the deficit while doimg very little to fix the systemic problems. No major FP blunders that hurt the mainland anymore than His predecessor and probably less, adopted a Republican healthcare plan. Yet...still despised????

There you go again with your Obama is a centrist conk nonsense.
-2 massive tax increases (fiscal cliff & Obamacare)
-1st 2 years in office when he was able too with a near donk supermajority massive spending increases (the 800 billion stimulus plan was loaded with social welfare spending). He look like a conk on spending in his last 6 years because he was constrained by a conk congress) (W was liberal on spending too)
-massive regulatory increases
-appointed liberal judges
-attempted amnesty by exec fiat
What else have I left off. Yeah, a centrist conk..

And just because Obamacare has some similarities to a plan Romney adopted in a small state doesn't make it a Republican plan. Obamacare, written 100% by Pelosi/Reid, with ZERO Republican input or votes, a Republican plan.

[houndawg]

Governed like a centrist conk. Pretended to cut the deficit while doimg very little to fix the systemic problems. No major FP blunders that hurt the mainland anymore than His predecessor and probably less, adopted a Republican healthcare plan. Yet...still despised????

There you go again with your Obama is a centrist conk nonsense.
-2 massive tax increases (fiscal cliff & Obamacare)
-massive spending increases (the 800 billion stimulus plan was loaded with social welfare spending) (W was liberal on spending too)
-attempted amnesty by exec fiat
-massive regulatory increases
-appointed liberal judges
Yeah, a centrist conk..

And just because Obamacare has some similarities to a plan Romney adopted in a small state doesn't make it a Republican plan.

fewer than centrist conks reagan and HWBush.

maybe he's the true conservative..

[Skjellyfetti]

Damn it, I'm getting a "To read the full story, subscribe or Log In".

Слушай.

Copy-paste headline.
Open incognito tab.
Google headline.
Read article.

На здоровье!

[Baldy]

Governed like a centrist conk. Pretended to cut the deficit while doimg very little to fix the systemic problems. No major FP blunders that hurt the mainland anymore than His predecessor and probably less, adopted a Republican healthcare plan. Yet...still despised????

There you go again with your Obama is a centrist conk nonsense.
*-2 massive tax increases (fiscal cliff & Obamacare)
*-1st 2 years in office when he was able too with a near donk supermajority massive spending increases (the 800 billion stimulus plan was loaded with social welfare spending). He look like a conk on spending in his last 6 years because he was constrained by a conk congress) (W was liberal on spending too)
*-massive regulatory increases
*-appointed liberal judges
*-attempted amnesty by exec fiat
What else have I left off. Yeah, a centrist conk..

**And just because Obamacare has some similarities to a plan Romney adopted in a small state doesn't make it a Republican plan. Obamacare, written 100% by Pelosi/Reid, with ZERO Republican input or votes, a Republican plan.

* = Progtard wet dream issues.

** = A "Republican Plan" (I lol'd a little) that received absolutely NO Conk votes.

kkkalm turning into a Palousian lilly white bread version of kkklean.

[Ivytalk]

There you go again with your Obama is a centrist conk nonsense.
*-2 massive tax increases (fiscal cliff & Obamacare)
*-1st 2 years in office when he was able too with a near donk supermajority massive spending increases (the 800 billion stimulus plan was loaded with social welfare spending). He look like a conk on spending in his last 6 years because he was constrained by a conk congress) (W was liberal on spending too)
*-massive regulatory increases
*-appointed liberal judges
*-attempted amnesty by exec fiat
What else have I left off. Yeah, a centrist conk..

**And just because Obamacare has some similarities to a plan Romney adopted in a small state doesn't make it a Republican plan. Obamacare, written 100% by Pelosi/Reid, with ZERO Republican input or votes, a Republican plan.

* = Progtard wet dream issues.

** = A "Republican Plan" (I lol'd a little) that received absolutely NO Conk votes.

kkkalm turning into a Palousian lilly white bread version of kkklean.

Palousian or Pelosian?

[Baldy]

* = Progtard wet dream issues.

** = A "Republican Plan" (I lol'd a little) that received absolutely NO Conk votes.

kkkalm turning into a Palousian lilly white bread version of kkklean.

Palousian or Pelosian?

One in the same. He'd hit it.

[Ivytalk]

Palousian or Pelosian?

One in the same. He'd hit it.

I always dug old broads with Botox, dyed hair, and a full set of dentures.

[kalm]

One in the same. He'd hit it.

I always dug old broads with Botox, dyed hair, and a full set of dentures.

And as 93 pointed out in another thead, she has nice old girl cans.

Anyhoo...just glad we've survived our descent into a socialistic dystopia.

[Gil Dobie]

His legacy will be one word "Obamacare".

[houndawg]

One in the same. He'd hit it.

I always dug old broads with Botox, dyed hair, and a full set of dentures.

Much more useful than implants...

[CID1990]

Governed like a centrist conk. Pretended to cut the deficit while doimg very little to fix the systemic problems. No major FP blunders that hurt the mainland anymore than His predecessor and probably less, adopted a Republican healthcare plan. Yet...still despised????

I have to disagree on the foreign policy part.

Obama was just the latest president in a LONG line of Presidents who have cumulatively cemented the mindset that we must beat down every nail in the world, and that it is America's duty to use the military first.

We are so invested in this paradigm that although we disagree on what merits military force (right now, it is "protecting innocent civilians" ... before that it was "preempting WMD attacks on America") both left and right are more than willing to expend blood and treasure on things that have absolutely no effect on American interests.

Under Obama, we intentionally created a failed state and terrorist haven in Libya (I say intentionally because no same person could have predicted any other outcome) and we have greatly prolonged the rebellion in Syria. Both of these actions have involved direct force by the US, mostly from the air.

Anyone who believes that the United States should not be involved in foreign civil wars cannot say that Obama hasn't been a foreign policy failure in the same vein as Bush II (Iraq), and Clinton (Bosnia Herzogovinia, Kosovo- we laid the groundwork for the next civil war there which will happen within 10 years) and Reagan (Lebanon).

Additionally, Obama made it very clear that he was rarely prepared to back up his words with actions (words that never should have been uttered, BTW)- like with the red line in Syria and the rhetoric over Ukraine. Our issues with Russia are the fault of every President since Reagan, but Obama made them much worse by publicly showing weakness in situations that called for simply doing nothing.

I'll give Obama props on some things, and I personally like the guy (in spite of the politics I disagree with) but saying he has no major blunders in foreign policy is as laughable as saying W had none.

[kalm]

Governed like a centrist conk. Pretended to cut the deficit while doimg very little to fix the systemic problems. No major FP blunders that hurt the mainland anymore than His predecessor and probably less, adopted a Republican healthcare plan. Yet...still despised????

I have to disagree on the foreign policy part.

Obama was just the latest president in a LONG line of Presidents who have cumulatively cemented the mindset that we must beat down every nail in the world, and that it is America's duty to use the military first.

We are so invested in this paradigm that although we disagree on what merits military force (right now, it is "protecting innocent civilians" ... before that it was "preempting WMD attacks on America") both left and right are more than willing to expend blood and treasure on things that have absolutely no effect on American interests.

Under Obama, we intentionally created a failed state and terrorist haven in Libya (I say intentionally because no same person could have predicted any other outcome) and we have greatly prolonged the rebellion in Syria. Both of these actions have involved direct force by the US, mostly from the air.

Anyone who believes that the United States should not be involved in foreign civil wars cannot say that Obama hasn't been a foreign policy failure in the same vein as Bush II (Iraq), and Clinton (Bosnia Herzogovinia, Kosovo- we laid the groundwork for the next civil war there which will happen within 10 years) and Reagan (Lebanon).

Additionally, Obama made it very clear that he was rarely prepared to back up his words with actions (words that never should have been uttered, BTW)- like with the red line in Syria and the rhetoric over Ukraine. Our issues with Russia are the fault of every President since Reagan, but Obama made them much worse by publicly showing weakness in situations that called for simply doing nothing.

I'll give Obama props on some things, and I personally like the guy (in spite of the politics I disagree with) but saying he has no major blunders in foreign policy is as laughable as saying W had none.

Damn fine post and that's why I carefully applied the caveat "anymore than his predecessor".

[Ibanez]

Damn it, I'm getting a "To read the full story, subscribe or Log In".

Слушай.

Copy-paste headline.
Open incognito tab.
Google headline.
Read article.

На здоровье!

Comrade?

[93henfan]

I always dug old broads with Botox, dyed hair, and a full set of dentures.

And as 93 pointed out in another thead, she has nice old girl cans.

Anyhoo...just glad we've survived our descent into a socialistic dystopia.

I'd fuck the hell out of Pelosi. Knock the dust off that box, smear some skjellyfetti on it, and go to town. Sue me.

Spoiler: show

[Gil Dobie]

And as 93 pointed out in another thead, she has nice old girl cans.

Anyhoo...just glad we've survived our descent into a socialistic dystopia.

I'd **** the hell out of Pelosi. Knock the dust off that box, smear some skjellyfetti on it, and go to town. Sue me.

JFK beat you to it.

[Gil Dobie]

I'd **** the hell out of Pelosi. Knock the dust off that box, smear some skjellyfetti on it, and go to town. Sue me.

JFK beat you to it. It was okay for Presidents to hang out with college coed's in the 60's.

[kalm]

I'd **** the hell out of Pelosi. Knock the dust off that box, smear some skjellyfetti on it, and go to town. Sue me.

JFK beat you to it.

Black and white vintage cans, 93!

[Gil Dobie]

MIss Lube Rack 1955 comes with her own lube team.



Pelosi Link