Obama's First 100 Days

In asking myself what political piece to write this time, I tried in turn to ask myself, “What is likely the most sought after answer in politics?” At present I think that is, “What type of leadership is Barack Obama providing after 100 days in office?” More specifically, is he governing from the center, the left, or, as this question has rightly been broached concerning Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as his position on previously illegal wiretaps and internet communication intercepts from the right?

#I agree with those who say that, “At heart, he’s a left leaning politician.” But, c’mon, kids, do we really care all that much what his leanings are? What we really want to know is what does he act on? What is he using his power to accomplish? We will never know for sure what he is at heart, even after four to eight years of evidence on the national stage. Nor should we care. It doesn’t affect our lives. What affects our lives is what President Obama actually does, both in terms of his actions and the use of his influence.

In watching his policies and political discourse unfold, I think we are beginning to get some clues. Among the most telling is his support of the Bush administration’s policies and actions with respect to telephonic and internet communications and the authoritarian way in which they conducted themselves during the last administration vis-a-vis "enhanced" interrogation techniques.

This is enough to make any liberal’s hair stand on end. That is, if we define in the year 2009 that “Being liberal is advocating adherence to the U.S. Constitution, as drafted by our founding fathers and amended through the Bill of Rights and beyond.” There’s a whole article there, i.e., “Who’s really liberal or conservative, when it comes to the U.S. Constitution?”, but I’ll refrain from this potential diversion.

My best guess is that President Obama has to hold his nose, when he supports the prior administration’s actions with respect to wiretapping. This is an amplification of his current and prior rhetoric on the subject of whether or not it’s appropriate to prosecute certain members of the Bush Administration for such illegal activities as torture or politicizing the Justice Department. He clearly is not favorably disposed toward those potential prosecutions.

So, if he’d rather be prosecuting and protecting individual rights of privacy, why isn’t he doing so, especially after he promised the latter during his campaign?

If we can cut through emotions, which is one of Obama’s greatest strengths, the answer is obvious. He cares more about getting his most favored legislation through Congress than he does about prosecuting the likes of former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and Karl Rove. HHH

He doesn’t want to burn his political capital, alienating the right and the right-center leaning electorate and representatives to Congress on issues which he considers less important to the long term well being of the country and the daily lives of his constituency.

In my opinion, he’s saving that capital for issues, such as:

Reforming health care
Changing U.S. Energy Policy to become greener
Fixing the U.S. economy

. . . probably in that order.

I put reforming health care first, because he’s risking the advancement of our nation’s energy policy by including health care in the budget reconciliation process, where sixty votes are not required in the U.S. Senate—only a simple majority. He could have done this with U.S. energy policy instead. By giving in on the issue of a cap ‘n’ trade tax on carbon emissions, thereby saving the energy policy (making U.S. less dependent on foreign oil and fossil fuels in general) for another time, he faces the prospect of having to get sixty votes in the U.S. Senate to avoid a filibuster on that.

He allowed this to happen by acceding to the demands of some so-called moderate Democrats, who opposed the cap ‘n’ trade taxes. The Democrats described may or may not be moderate, but they are also “sell outs,” to the existing carbon based industry establishment.

The point I’m trying to make is that Barack Obama has put all of his available political capital and charisma on the line for one thing, i.e., health care reform.

Now, is he left, right or center on health care? This in turn will help answer the larger question of from whence he intends to govern.

Only time will tell as specific proposals are made. But, keep the following in mind as we evaluate future developments. When you negotiate for a used car that has a blue book value of, say, $10,000, if you were the buyer, you would bid less, say $7,500, right? And, if you were the seller you’d likely ask for more, say $12,500, yes? So, the opening Barack Obama bid is not so important as where he is trying to get. Let’s not react to “bids.” Let’s save our energy (no pun intended) to evaluate the intended or expected destination. Therein lies the answer to our larger question.

Best guess? He’s going to the right on issues of less importance to him at present, including gun rights, in the hopes that the dearer issues will turn out more to the left.

And how did those of us nearer the center fare on the last major piece of legislation, i.e. the stimulus package? We came pretty close, notwithstanding the bantering of the right-wing talk show hosts, in my opinion. The three moderate Republican senators, who held out until the last minute were instrumental in removing some of the school construction and head start provisions, as well as Pell Grants from the bill. I'm not upset about the loss of school construction, because I went to a very humble looking school, yet got a first class education. And, I've yet to see evidence to persuade me that head start actually works, beyond babysitting the kids. I am disappointed in seeing the Republicans cut the Pell Grants. I'm not keen on handouts, but I think hand-ups are appropriate, especially in education.

They also pruned a great deal of funds—about half--from grants to the states, such as California, where I live. Those funds were to be used for much needed infrastructure repair and to give buoyancy to our faltering economy. I’m not happy about that.

And President Obama? Left-center on social issues, right-center on national defense—from available evidence to date.