Obama pulls rug under GOP

[rumborak]

Smaaaaht move by him:

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will ask Congress on Friday for greater power to shrink the federal government, and he would start by trying to merge six major trade and commerce agencies whose overlapping programs can be baffling to businesses, the White House said Friday. The Commerce Department would be among those that would cease to exist.

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Obama will call on Congress to give him a type of reorganizational power last held by a president when Ronald Reagan was in office. The Obama version would be a so-called consolidation authority allowing him to propose mergers that promise to save money and help consumers. The deal would entitle him to an up-or-down vote from Congress in 90 days.

It would be up to lawmakers, therefore, to first grant Obama this fast-track authority and then decide whether to approve any of his specific ideas.

"The government we have is not the government we need," said Jeffrey Zients, who is leading the effort as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Obama will announce his effort at the White House on Friday morning. Administration officials first confirmed the news to The Associated Press.

In an election year and a political atmosphere of tighter spending, Obama's move is about more than improving a giant bureaucracy. He is attempting to directly counter Republican arguments that he has presided over the kind of government regulation, spending and debt that can undermine the economy -- a dominant theme of the emerging presidential campaign.

Republicans have often aligned themselves with smaller government. So politically, Obama is trying to put the onus on Republicans in the House and Senate to show why they would be against the pursuit of leaner government.

From Capitol Hill, a spokesman for Sen. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, pledged Obama's plan would get a careful review.

But the spokesman, Don Stewart, also said: "After presiding over one of the largest expansions of government in history, and a year after raising the issue in his last State of the Union, it's interesting to see the president finally acknowledge that Washington is out of control."

Obama has an imperative to deliver. He made the promise to come up with a smart reorganization of the government in his last State of the Union speech last January.

At the time, Obama grabbed attention by pointing out the absurdity of government inefficiency. In what he called his favorite example, Obama said: "The Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they're in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them when they're in saltwater. And I hear it gets even more complicated once they're smoked."

https://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2012/01/13/apnewsbreak_obama_seeks_power_to_merge_agencies/?p1=News_links

So, this move puts the GOP into a difficult position. They can't oppose it without making it brutally obvious they're just doing it for opposition's sake. If they approve it, they're implicitly approving of Obama's politics.

rumborak

[El Barto]

Yeah,  my guess is they conjure up a bullshit reason to oppose it.  The current crop of republicans have made some pretty stupid moves of late,  and I think this will be another. 

[bosk1]

So, this move puts the GOP into a difficult position. They can't oppose it without making it brutally obvious they're just doing it for opposition's sake. If they approve it, they're implicitly approving of Obama's politics.

rumborak

OR, legislators on both sides of the aisle can actually approve or oppose based on whether it's actually a good or bad idea.  Just sayin'.

[rumborak]

So, this move puts the GOP into a difficult position. They can't oppose it without making it brutally obvious they're just doing it for opposition's sake. If they approve it, they're implicitly approving of Obama's politics.

rumborak

OR, legislators on both sides of the aisle can actually approve or oppose based on whether it's actually a good or bad idea.  Just sayin'.

Probably displaying my blatant bias here, but I think Republicans as of late have shown their complete inability to agree or compromise. And now, in election year, they will be even more incapable of doing so.

rumborak

[Chino]

So, this move puts the GOP into a difficult position. They can't oppose it without making it brutally obvious they're just doing it for opposition's sake. If they approve it, they're implicitly approving of Obama's politics.

rumborak

OR, legislators on both sides of the aisle can actually approve or oppose based on whether it's actually a good or bad idea.  Just sayin'.

Probably displaying my blatant bias here, but I think Republicans as of late have shown their complete inability to agree or compromise. And now, in election year, they will be even more incapable of doing so.

rumborak

I think Obama could approve the use of a 100% effective cure for cancer and the Republicans would still vote it down just because he backed it.

[7StringedBeast]

Sadly, if one side comes up with the perfect answer for everything; the very nature of modern American politics means that the other side must reject it or forfeit the votes.  It's all about votes not ideas.  The second you agree with the other side, you abandon the people who support you.  It's ridiculous. 

[antigoon]

Pretty much a win-win for Obama either way here.

[Super Dude]

Presidential trolling. I love it.

[Dark Castle]

Presidential trolling. I love it.

Also the salmon quote.  I love it.

[kirksnosehair]

Pretty shrewd move on Obama's part, gotta hand him that. 

[lordxizor]

Not only was it a shrewd move, it's also the right thing to do for the country.

[Scheavo]

Wow, another recent move by Obama that just puts him miles ahead of anyone else.

The only thing Republican really have on him is distortion and lies. They could come up with legitimate concerns, but instead they blame him for random nonsense and attack him for positions he doesn't actually hold or can't control.

[ResultsMayVary]

Pretty much a win-win for Obama either way here.

This.

This is a step in the right direction, Obama. If any of the Republicans oppose this, they're fucking idiots.

[Super Dude]

It would actually be better for him if they did oppose it; it'd show they don't give a shit about ideology, that they're all about politics.

[King Postwhore]

So, this move puts the GOP into a difficult position. They can't oppose it without making it brutally obvious they're just doing it for opposition's sake. If they approve it, they're implicitly approving of Obama's politics.

rumborak

OR, legislators on both sides of the aisle can actually approve or oppose based on whether it's actually a good or bad idea.  Just sayin'.

Probably displaying my blatant bias here, but I think Republicans as of late have shown their complete inability to agree or compromise. And now, in election year, they will be even more incapable of doing so.

rumborak

First let me say it's a good idea but in all honesty, if a Rep was in office right now the Dems would do the same thing with the election coming and isn't that the real problem here?

[Dark Castle]

Parents had Fox News on the ride home from Madison.  They're going to fight it, they were saying it was a joke of an initiative.  God damn it, when will our political system just work together.

[orcus116]

Now had a Republican proposed it it would've been hailed as a great leap forward.

[Scheavo]

At least until Obama supported it.

[William Wallace]

So, this move puts the GOP into a difficult position. They can't oppose it without making it brutally obvious they're just doing it for opposition's sake. If they approve it, they're implicitly approving of Obama's politics.

rumborak

OR, legislators on both sides of the aisle can actually approve or oppose based on whether it's actually a good or bad idea.  Just sayin'.

Probably displaying my blatant bias here, but I think Republicans as of late have shown their complete inability to agree or compromise. And now, in election year, they will be even more incapable of doing so.

rumborak

This is easily defused. If you're a Republican, you jump on the bandwagon immediately. Then, turn to the President and ask, "Not a bad start,  now how about we start some real downsizing?"

[Super Dude]

So, this move puts the GOP into a difficult position. They can't oppose it without making it brutally obvious they're just doing it for opposition's sake. If they approve it, they're implicitly approving of Obama's politics.

rumborak

OR, legislators on both sides of the aisle can actually approve or oppose based on whether it's actually a good or bad idea.  Just sayin'.

Probably displaying my blatant bias here, but I think Republicans as of late have shown their complete inability to agree or compromise. And now, in election year, they will be even more incapable of doing so.

rumborak

This is easily defused. If you're a Republican, you jump on the bandwagon immediately. Then, turn to the President and ask, "Not a bad start,  now how about we start some real downsizing?"

Parents had Fox News on the ride home from Madison.  They're going to fight it, they were saying it was a joke of an initiative.  God damn it, when will our political system just work together.

Sometimes, I love the Republicans' stubborn partisanship.

[William Wallace]

So, this move puts the GOP into a difficult position. They can't oppose it without making it brutally obvious they're just doing it for opposition's sake. If they approve it, they're implicitly approving of Obama's politics.

rumborak

OR, legislators on both sides of the aisle can actually approve or oppose based on whether it's actually a good or bad idea.  Just sayin'.

Probably displaying my blatant bias here, but I think Republicans as of late have shown their complete inability to agree or compromise. And now, in election year, they will be even more incapable of doing so.

rumborak

This is easily defused. If you're a Republican, you jump on the bandwagon immediately. Then, turn to the President and ask, "Not a bad start,  now how about we start some real downsizing?"

Parents had Fox News on the ride home from Madison.  They're going to fight it, they were saying it was a joke of an initiative.  God damn it, when will our political system just work together.

Sometimes, I love the Republicans' stubborn partisanship.

They may not follow my strategy. But they should.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Obama is a smart man. I do not feel bad that I'm going to vote for him again

[Super Dude]

Nor should you.

Anyway, I originally came here to post something lighthearted for a change:

[Dark Castle]

 
Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite comic of all time,  I could read it all day.