handbook

How can Obama stand it?

I am definitely not cut out to be any kind of public figure. I do not know how the President-Elect (Officially now!) can stand all the harping and complaining about the job he is doing and the people he is picking to help do it. Yes, I wrote about this stuff before. But it really annoys me, so I am doing it again.When Obama was elected, the majority of the country was happy. That was apparent almost everywhere you looked. The Democrats in Congress were happy, the blogosphere was happy, about the only people that weren’t happy were the conservatives, and even a few of them were not too upset.

Obama was very popular when he was elected and he still enjoys that popularity. Congress, on the other hand, was about as popular as Bush, and that hasn’t changed either. So now, the very popular President-Elect is getting closer to taking office and the very unpopular Congress is feeling their oats.

Nancy Pelosi doesn’t like the fact that Obama wants to just allow the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy to expire. Instead, they should be repealed as soon as possible. While I admit to feeling that way myself, I am willing to admit it may not be the best idea. The tax cuts expire at the end fo 2010, so they have less than 2 years to go. Why doesn’t she worry about getting the stimulus passed as soon as possible, see what happens, then take up the question about the tax cuts. That makes more sense to me than slowing down important legislature that the entire country wants passed.

Then there is Representative  John Conyers of Michigan. He is objecting to Dr. Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General because Gupta is not qualified. A practicing neurosurgeon, reporter, and speaker, who was a White House Fellow in the class of ’97-’98, not qualified to be the spokesman for the Public Health Service?

Admittedly, Paul Krugman also has a problem with Gupta’s appointment, but not because of his lack of qualifications. And the issues Krugman brings up about Gupta’s encounter with Moore should definitely be explored. By the Senate, when they hold hearings on his confirmation, if he even decides to accept the appointment. (I don’t know if I would, it would be an immense pay cut.)

Then there is Senator Dianne Feinstein, who was very unhappy about Obama’s choice (still not official mind you) of Leon Panetta for head of the CIA. I guess I am somewhat confuse, I did not realize that the President had to clear his choices with the Senate before he actually made them. Questions about his qualifications should be brought up in the confirmation hearings. Getting upset because you were not asked about him being nominated? Not really part of the Senate’s job, as I understand the Constitution.

But Obama, and Joe Biden, called and apologized to the Senator. Because they know that if they did not, she would probably cause all kinds of trouble for any of their nominations that went in front of her committee. And any other committee she serves on.

And Holder may have some trouble getting through the committees to the floor vote. But at least that is coming from the Republicans, not the Democrats.

At least it looks like Tom Daschle will be getting through the various committees without too much trouble. Not really surprising, since he is appearing before a lot of old friends.

All of this, along with trying to figure out how to lead the nation, and the world, out of the troubles we are in. Nope, I am not cut out to be a public figure. Thank god there are people that are.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , blog. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge

partner

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.