Mazeppa
8/24/2012, 10:18 PM
August 24, 2012
Obama's Work Ethic Criticized Again
Ed Lasky
Everyone has a hobbyhorse. Mine happens to be Obama's lack of a work ethic.
I first commented on his history of laziness three years ago in "Obama's Work Ethic." He has been AWOL on some of the most issues of the day (entitlements, fiscal cliff, debt ceiling, budget talks -- even his signature "achievement," ObamaCare, was more a creation of the left-wing ideologues in Congress that he farmed the heavy lifting to). Even the liberal Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus commented about "Obama's Where's Waldo Presidency." He blows off paying tribute to our veterans, avoids meetings with world leaders whom he has personal piques with (Great Britain's Gordon Brown, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu), and ignores the work done by the Simpson-Bowles Deficit Commission, his Jobs Council, meetings with Congressional leaders -- even those of his own party. The list goes on and on.
Now comes the latest salvo against his pitiful work ethic from columnist Charles Gasparino in his "What - Me Work?":
In fact, based on much of the evidence over the past three-plus years, it's hard to think of another recent president who cares less about the actual job of running the country...
Exhibit A: his hastily crafted "stimulus program," where nearly $1 trillion in taxpayer money was spent with little direction from the president.
"The stimulus package failed because it was all over the map. It was not a targeted, clear jobs-creation program," Arianna Huffington, the creator of The Huffington Post, told me during an online debate.
Others are less charitable; one big reason they say the stimulus plan was such a flop (unemployment was supposed to be around 5 percent by now, not above 8 percent) is that Obama didn't care how it was carried out and let Congress, namely then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, handle details.
Thus, many of the shovel-ready jobs the stimulus plan was to create never materialized. Money was handed to states to keep their government large or used to seed boondoggles like the failed Solyndra solar-panel company.
Indeed, go down the line - from the Dodd Frank financial reform to even ObamaCare, the president's "signature" legislative achievement - and you will find they're all products of a chief executive who chose to sit out the hard work. The result: incoherent and harmful new laws.
Big banks still don't know many of the final rules of Dodd Frank, more than two years after Obama signed it into law - because it is so unwieldy. As for ObamaCare, Pelosi once said Congress has to "pass the bill so you can find out what is in it." Yet even now, most people in Congress, the medical community and likely even Obama himself can't tell you what's really in it.
The root cause of the Obama governing malaise can be found in his core group of advisers. Former Democratic lawmakers say he rarely meets with seasoned hands of the Democratic Party, much less the opposition, to get stuff done.
He hasn't met with his so-called Jobs Council - a group of CEOs who advise the president on the economy - for most of this year, despite the lousy economy. When he did, the conversations, I'm told, were lame - a major reason Immelt tells friends he's going to vote for Romney, despite the perks GE got from this administration.
Instead, Obama relies on political hacks and cronies from his days in Chicago, including White House adviser Valerie Jarrett - people who have little governing experience, particularly in the national arena - while he farms out the rest of his agenda to his pals in Congress.
Four years ago, President Obama sold himself as someone who would be tirelessly working for the American people. Yet he hardly looks tired on the campaign trail - and now you know why.
He shows energy only when he campaigns -- and it is a negative energy, driven more by rage (we hear of his contempt for Mitt Romney) than, let's say, hope. He likes to shoot hoops with NBA stars, hang out with celebrities, play golf, take vacations, give speeches before adoring crowds, and collect cash from campaign contributors, but he does not like the humdrum responsibilities that come from being president.
When things do not work out when his policies roll out, he blames others -- whether inanimate or animate (ATMs, tsunamis, Europe, Republicans, "lazy" and soft" Americans -- he blames us).
If he were an employee, Obama would have been fired long ago.
We have a chance to make that come true in November.
Obama's Work Ethic Criticized Again
Ed Lasky
Everyone has a hobbyhorse. Mine happens to be Obama's lack of a work ethic.
I first commented on his history of laziness three years ago in "Obama's Work Ethic." He has been AWOL on some of the most issues of the day (entitlements, fiscal cliff, debt ceiling, budget talks -- even his signature "achievement," ObamaCare, was more a creation of the left-wing ideologues in Congress that he farmed the heavy lifting to). Even the liberal Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus commented about "Obama's Where's Waldo Presidency." He blows off paying tribute to our veterans, avoids meetings with world leaders whom he has personal piques with (Great Britain's Gordon Brown, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu), and ignores the work done by the Simpson-Bowles Deficit Commission, his Jobs Council, meetings with Congressional leaders -- even those of his own party. The list goes on and on.
Now comes the latest salvo against his pitiful work ethic from columnist Charles Gasparino in his "What - Me Work?":
In fact, based on much of the evidence over the past three-plus years, it's hard to think of another recent president who cares less about the actual job of running the country...
Exhibit A: his hastily crafted "stimulus program," where nearly $1 trillion in taxpayer money was spent with little direction from the president.
"The stimulus package failed because it was all over the map. It was not a targeted, clear jobs-creation program," Arianna Huffington, the creator of The Huffington Post, told me during an online debate.
Others are less charitable; one big reason they say the stimulus plan was such a flop (unemployment was supposed to be around 5 percent by now, not above 8 percent) is that Obama didn't care how it was carried out and let Congress, namely then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, handle details.
Thus, many of the shovel-ready jobs the stimulus plan was to create never materialized. Money was handed to states to keep their government large or used to seed boondoggles like the failed Solyndra solar-panel company.
Indeed, go down the line - from the Dodd Frank financial reform to even ObamaCare, the president's "signature" legislative achievement - and you will find they're all products of a chief executive who chose to sit out the hard work. The result: incoherent and harmful new laws.
Big banks still don't know many of the final rules of Dodd Frank, more than two years after Obama signed it into law - because it is so unwieldy. As for ObamaCare, Pelosi once said Congress has to "pass the bill so you can find out what is in it." Yet even now, most people in Congress, the medical community and likely even Obama himself can't tell you what's really in it.
The root cause of the Obama governing malaise can be found in his core group of advisers. Former Democratic lawmakers say he rarely meets with seasoned hands of the Democratic Party, much less the opposition, to get stuff done.
He hasn't met with his so-called Jobs Council - a group of CEOs who advise the president on the economy - for most of this year, despite the lousy economy. When he did, the conversations, I'm told, were lame - a major reason Immelt tells friends he's going to vote for Romney, despite the perks GE got from this administration.
Instead, Obama relies on political hacks and cronies from his days in Chicago, including White House adviser Valerie Jarrett - people who have little governing experience, particularly in the national arena - while he farms out the rest of his agenda to his pals in Congress.
Four years ago, President Obama sold himself as someone who would be tirelessly working for the American people. Yet he hardly looks tired on the campaign trail - and now you know why.
He shows energy only when he campaigns -- and it is a negative energy, driven more by rage (we hear of his contempt for Mitt Romney) than, let's say, hope. He likes to shoot hoops with NBA stars, hang out with celebrities, play golf, take vacations, give speeches before adoring crowds, and collect cash from campaign contributors, but he does not like the humdrum responsibilities that come from being president.
When things do not work out when his policies roll out, he blames others -- whether inanimate or animate (ATMs, tsunamis, Europe, Republicans, "lazy" and soft" Americans -- he blames us).
If he were an employee, Obama would have been fired long ago.
We have a chance to make that come true in November.