President Obama’s leadership education progress: no change. Sorry.
“Now, that’s just not the way you do legislation. It’s not the way a democracy works. And it’s not the way the … three branches of government should work.”
—- Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat who supports the stalled Keystone Pipeline, referring to President Obama’s preemptive announcement that he would veto the bill before he knew exactly what the final bill would be.
President’s Obama’s supporters should pay attention to this episode: even if the President has a flat learning curve, perhaps they are more teachable. Manchin is right. Anyone with a passing familiarity of how Presidential leadership has worked in the past, is supposed to work, and is well understood by both scholars and practitioners to work, recognizes that this is a sparkling example of the obtuse refusal of Barack Obama not merely to master the skills of his job, but even to acknowledge them.
I really don’t care a fig about the pipeline. I think the President’s opposition is foolish—this is a bone thrown to the most extreme climate change activists, for there is no reliable research that shows that the pipeline will “accelerate global warming”—but my understanding of all the factors involved is an inch deep. I really don’t care about it. I do care that the President doesn’t know how to do his job, and would prefer to make sure that Democrats can keep saying that he would have accomplished so much if Republicans hadn’t blocked his every brilliant plan.
A veto is a bargaining tool. Only Obama, of all of our Chief Executives, has failed to grasp that. The opposoition wants something. This means that you, as President, have an opportunity to get something you want. You negotiate. You horse trade. You bluff. Maybe you can’t come to an agreement. Maybe you can’t trade the pipeline, with some further limitations, for, say, your extravagant plan to make community college free for all, which otherwise has no chance whatsoever of ever happening. But you try. it’s called “being President.” It’s called “leadership.” It’s called “competence.”
And yes, it’s also called Democracy and the three branch system.
Ethics Alarms 
Maybe he just learned too much from Howard Dean, who openly said not only that the GOP is evil, but that the job of an opposition party is to oppose, pure and simple. His time for getting anything done, leave alone some grandiose policy initiative, was over the minute the 114th Congress was sworn in. At this point his job, as he sees it, is twofold: to make certain none of their proposals become law and to smooth the way for a Democratic successor in 2016. In other words, he only has to do the one thing he does best: campaign, and one other thing that’s very easy to do: veto. The pattern is almost laughably easy: say no, make speech announcing you have protected a popular progressive consituency from yet another overreach by the right, repeat.
I still do not understand this President. He may be using this time to smooth a way in for a Democratic successor in 2016 but that would mean that he has an actual allegiance to the Democratic Party and I just don’t see him as the type who would put a party before his own ambition. I think his legacy is very important to him. I wonder how HE THINKS he will be portrayed as a President fifty years from now?
With zeal for the Democrats waning in many of their key demographics, Obama has tipped their hand for their 2016 strategy. This whole “Free Community College for Everyone” plan, you can be guaranteed that is what will be hammered by the Dems in 2016 and by their lap dogs in the media. Republicans will be vilified for hating the youth of America as the Democrats make an all out gamble for the vote of those poor naive kids fresh out of the Leftist Indoctrination Camps.
I guarantee it.
No, I agree that this is pretty transparent: free goodies for as many groups as possible. It’s not happening, of course. I loved how the news media characterized the proposal as “generous”—like it’s the President’s money.
No, you agree?
He thinks he will be a leftist hero. He is doing exactly what he’s supposed to do. He’s bringing continuing the process of bring down the American constitution by ignoring and sidestepping it and setting precedence for continuing it in future administrations. It’s taken more than 60 years, and he’s by far the most blatant at it. He might even be the one who administers the coup de grace. The American left has a proud legacy if you’re one of them. It’s not a flat learning curve at all, it’s the work of a lazy figurehead doing exactly what he’s been put in place to do. He doesn’t learn how to do politics the old way because his job is to stand flatly in the way of the old way.
Agh … edit first press “post comment” last.
Of course, now that Harry “the Bouncer” Reid can’t run interference for President Obama, Ole Barack will have to handle his own obstructionism by his lonesome. Now it will be up to the Media alone to keep the Naked Emperor happy.
“A veto is a bargaining tool.”
Not as the Founders envisioned it.
Idealism time: The Founders, never envisioning a partisan President, but one rather who was simply a leader, was obligated to use the veto-
1) to protect his office from legislation which weakened his role and transferred his responsibilities to the Legislature. Amusingly enough the reverse has occurred as Congress passes vague laws and then empowers the executive to flesh out those laws, or even legislating it’s own powers onto the Executive.
2) to halt unconstitutional laws.
3) to halt clearly partisan legislation with no concern for other factions (HAHA!). That is: President Obama, compelled by the spirit of the Founders would have had to VETO his own landmark legislation on the grounds that it was a COMPLETELY partisan bill.
Here’s the real gem from Federalist #73, given President Obama’s primary method of operation, this one should make you laugh cynically-
And yes, here again, the Founders designed a system that would gum up as often as possible:
“And yes, it’s also called Democracy and the three branch system.
But we don’t live in a democracy. The only democratic component of the national level of government is the House of Representatives…with a bastardized version of democracy in the Senate.
Ah dang it. My #3 excerpt didn’t copy. I’ll send a correction shortly.
Under #3, the block quote which repeated the one from #2 should actually be:
Thanks for posting that, Tex.
Definitely! Any chance to preach American federalism.