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Why did I vote for Barack Obama?
So my whole goal over the next four years is to make sure that, whatever arguments are persuasive and backed up by evidence and facts and proof that they can work, that we are pulling people together around that kind of pragmatic agenda.
And I think that there was an opportunity to do this with this recovery package, because, as I said, although there are some politicians who are arguing that we don't need a stimulus, there are very few economists who are making that argument.
I mean, you've got economists who were advising John McCain, economists who were advisers to George Bush, one and two, all suggesting that we actually needed a serious recovery package.
And so when I hear people just saying, Ah, we don't need to do anything, This is a spending bill, not a stimulus bill, without acknowledging that, by definition, part of any stimulus package would include spending — that's the point — then what I get a sense of is, is that there's some ideological blockage there that needs to be cleared up.
But I am the eternal optimist. I think that, over time, people respond to civility and — and rational argument. I think that's what the people of Elkhart and the people around America are looking for. And that's what I'm — that's the kind of leadership I'm going to try to provide [emphasis mine; President Barack Hussein Obama, closing remarks, White House press conference, 2009.02.09].
Pragmatism, civility, and rational argument versus ideological blockage—oh yeah, that's why. Forward the Barackracy!
I listened to him too. That was no news conference. It was a carefully planned out political speech, the kind O's so good at. He had a list of who to pick to ask him questions, and I daresay he knew the questions ahead of time too.
ReplyDeleteI had a lot more hard-hitting questions that I would have loved to see him answer. Why did you let Pelosi draft this bill and fill it up with all the pork projects she has wanted for the last four years? Why do you call it bipartisan when you gloated "we won" when referring to any input the Reps wanted in this porker? Why the rush to get it passed when most of the money won't hit the streets for years? Why are you ramping up one soon to be unpopular war when the other is winding down, no thanks to you? Why are you making a grab for control of the census? Why is Acorn (accused of voter fraud BTW), i.e. community organizations, getting billions from the stimulus?
These are questions people want answered. Not the politically smooth pitch man's hour long, boring thing we got. But that wouldn't have fit with O's agenda, would it?
He couldn't resist the jabs and finger pointing at Bush either, while giving none of the credit for our present situation to his own Acorn sponsored, ill fated housing bill.