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President Obama on the campaign trail.
C losing arguments are revealing. For President Obama, a politician known for an emphasis on moderation and ideological transcendence, the final case for reelection features an assertively progressive view of government.
“No matter how bad a storm is, no matter how tough the times are,” Obama told an Ohio rally this past weekend, “we’re all in this together . . . we rise or fall as one nation.” That is a communal “we” embracing government action.
While the political class has obsessed over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s stormy evolution — from Mitt Romney’s most populist surrogate to a man standing alongside Obama — the bipartisanship is not spreading to the President’s final pitch.
“I’m a very nice guy, people will tell you. I really am. . . . But if the price of peace in Washington is cutting deals that will kick students off financial aid or get rid of funding for Planned Parenthood,” Obama said this weekend, or to “eliminate health care for millions on Medicaid who are poor, or elderly or disabled — I’m not going with that.” Then, declaring a verdict that his backers reached years ago, Obama added, “That’s not bipartisanship!”
Those are strong words, especially for a change agent who was very serious about attempting a more purple presidency. They also reflect a key imperative in Obama’s vision of a second term.
According to nonpartisan reports, the GOP has stalled more legislation during Obama’s first term than at any time in history. Senate Republicans never even gave him a chance — they set a “record-setting pace” for obstruction through filibusters after Obama’s first year on the job (as The Associated Press reported at the time).
By hammering the GOP’s obstruction and decoupling it from bipartisanship, Obama is signaling a more aggressive governing approach.
Then there is the recession.
No one blames that on legislative tactics — though the debt ceiling brinksmanship didn’t help — and both candidates have been talking about poverty in their final week on the trail.
“Nearly one out of six Americans is living in poverty,” Romney reminds his audiences, even though they live in the “richest country” in the world.
Obama has also been talking about how his agenda is better for the 99% than Romney’s, but he does not emphasize his policies’ impact on poor Americans as much. That is an especially sad indication of the politics of poverty today, considering that the Obama administration has done as much for the poorest taxpayers as any President in the past 30 years.
If you count from the end of George W. Bush’s presidency to Obama’s first year in office, the poorest Americans had their federal taxes reduced by about 80%. “The lowest fifth of earners benefited the most” from Obama’s tax and stimulus reforms, according to nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office data reviewed by The Washington Post.
That is not only progressive, as an ideological matter, it is also enormously stimulative — freeing up money for a bracket of taxpayers who spend most of their discretionary dollars.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NydnRss/~3/0utobQlHiCk/story01.htm
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