Tag Archives: Obama Bi-partisanship

Before You FREAK OUT About Obama’s Budget…

Take two seconds, breathe, and use that noggin of yours to gain some long-game perspective. One thing is clear… It’s a busy time in our Federal Government right now. Probably the busiest time that we’ve had since Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. We sit on the precipice of having Our Legislators do some REAL work on both Gun Safety and Immigration Reform. We may (fingers crossed) even encourage these people to SOLVE some of these problems.

But then on Wednesday, this happened. President Obama released his budget proposal… the third such go at a Federal Budget after previous ones by both the House and the Senate. And yeah, he attacks Social Security directly by slowing the increase Seniors get each year due to expected inflation.

To ward off the cardiac issues (remember we’re trying to LOWER health care costs here), let’s put this bitter pill in perspective with three main points.

1. The President’s Proposed Budget is just that… a PROPOSAL. Remember this is the Washington fantasy world we’re talking about here.. A place much is said, and very little is DONE. Absolutely nothing regarding the budget has been passed by both Houses of Congress. And no one has voted on even a single word of the President’s proposal.

2. We need to create some SPACE right now. That’s the most important thing that President Obama can do if he has any chance of getting a gun safety bill and immigration reform passed. This budget does that because it makes Republicans feel like they are not being ignored. Look at it in perspective. Remember how the GOP said that the President isn’t serious on entitlements? Well they can’t say that now.

3. TIME is running out for gun safety and immigration reform, . As soon as we get to the summer, the only thing that will matter to Congress will be the 2014 elections. That’s another reason this proposal was critical at the time it was released. Before the lawmakers go back into campaign mode, we need to get these things done.

Progressives should be infuriated at the notion that President Obama would propose these cuts to our nation’s most vulnerable, while continuing to protect the wealthy. The time is surely coming for the Left to push back. But with gun safety and immigration reform hanging in the balance, now is not that time. But it is the time for us to hold our tongues, raise some money, and look ahead to 2014. If these initiatives pass, Democrats score a major victory and ride that into 2014 and take back the House. If they fail, they will do so because of the Republicans, and we ride THAT into 2014 and take back the House.

So for now, the best we can do is to grin and bear it. We’ll know when it’s time to bring the real bears out.