Obama forgets top donor pool as he rallies the troops, scolds Supremes and GOP
Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 9:21AM Commentary by Kay B. Day
Leftwing pundit Chris Matthews, long time admirer of President Barack Obama, said as he watched the State of the Union address, "I forgot he was black...for an hour." [Screen snip from video at Politico]President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union speech on Wednesday with customary style and polish. He came out swinging, declaring he doesn’t quit. He urged Republicans to stop saying no and chided the Supreme Court for their recent decision in Citizens United vs. FEC.
Overall, the president tried to appease centrists and leftwingers, talking up tax deals for small businesses and dropping ‘Don’t ask don’t tell’ for gays who serve in the military. In what felt like a very long speech to this viewer, Obama urged Democrats to move along on healthcare and Cap and Trade as he urged both parties to work together. “It’s time the American people get a government that matches their decency,” he said.
If it hadn’t been for Justice Samuel Alito’s gesture, described as mouthing ‘not true’ by Politico and other media, there wouldn’t have been much to report. Alito allegedly made the motion—it wasn’t disruptive in any way—when Obama said foreign corporations could now “spend without limit” in American elections.
Those presidential remarks, coming from a Democrat, border the hilarious. Obama’s own campaign donations were the subject of much conjecture, with some media maintaining foreign contributions were received. A major Obama fundraiser was even held for him in Switzerland.
Obama’s party likes corporate contributions as much as any other party. According to Open Secrets, Obama’s top donor pool came from Goldman Sachs. Red State’s Erick Erickson reminds, “Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for financial giant Goldman Sachs.”
The Wall Street Journal reported in July, 2009: “What the Goldmans of the world have in addition to profits is the widespread belief that they are too big to fail. Both Goldman and CIT converted into bank holding companies at the height of the financial panic last fall, which made them eligible for TARP injections. Goldman also benefited at a crucial moment from the Federal Reserve takeover of AIG, and it received the additional filip of FDIC-guaranteed debt issuance through the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program…”
The Supremes ruled on Citizens United vs. FEC in accordance with the US Constitution.
Quite a few times Obama played the blame game again, but he never mentioned President George W. Bush. He did cite the Medicare Drug Prescription Act as an example of GOP spending, but I like to remind people retirees really do like that program and it helped all retirees rather than the crony groups Democrats aim at with entitlements. Bear in mind I think the Medicare program was a bad idea to begin with way back when Lyndon B. Johnson and Teddy Kennedy were assuring us the cost would not be a problem.
Once all those retirees were removed from the private market, we see what’s happened. And most of them buy a supplemental policy too.
Wednesday’s State of the Union was much like any other speech—artfully delivered and punchy in just the right places. But other than the tax credits—and we applaud the president for that—not much else changed. Obama still wants the healthcare bill that most of us believe will dilute services and increase premiums. He still wants the ‘Climate’ bill that would place an economic burden on every one of us and tip market advantages to China and India. To his credit he did allude to those who disagree with the science—I believe that may be the first time he’s done that.
Obama gave a nod to tea partiers when he talked about a discretionary spending freeze. That tells me he still doesn’t get what really needs to be done—the federal government budget needs a meat cleaver not a butter knife.
In a post State of the Union moment of inanity, leftwing pundit Chris Matthews who loves Obama like a baby loves drool said of the president, “I forgot he was black tonight for an hour.”
As Obama spoke, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stood up to clap so many times I wondered if she ought to keep a knee replacement handy just in case. Biden did the Biden thing he does, nodding his head every few minutes in a silent ‘I concur.’
Said Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee: “Tonight, after a year of failed policies and broken promises, President Obama once again demonstrated the rhetorical flair in an attempt to sound populist, if not downright ‘conservative,’ in addressing the very requirements for job creation his administration has ignored for the past year.”
The president’s speech was a mix—pledges to conservatives, centrists and leftwingers. He proved, once again, that he is the consummate salesman and up front pitch man for the Democrat Party.