I print below a couple of excerpts and then below those i give you links to two related articles that I think you'll find of value. One is from Dana Milbank at the Washington Post and the other from John Nolte over at Breitbart.
But first, Hinderaker:
Critics almost universally panned Obama’s speech. It was too long, at 54 minutes. It was delivered in a dull, even defeatist style. It contained nothing new–neither new themes nor new policy proposals. It exhibited the whiny, blame-everyone-in-sight quality that has long been putting off voters. And, despite Obama’s endless talk about offering voters a clear choice, he continued to be strangely vague about what he actually wants to do if he gets a second term…
This is revisionist history. There was no “stalemate” in 2009 or 2010; the Democrats controlled all the levers of government. Barack Obama issued any executive orders that he deemed appropriate, and Congress passed all legislation on which Democrats could agree. Republicans had no ability to block Democrat-sponsored measures. So the Democrats passed the $850 billion stimulus, vastly increased discretionary spending, adopted Obamacare, and did anything else they pleased. That wasn’t “stalemate,” it was unfettered Democratic dominance.
But the Democrats’ policies turned out to be catastrophic failures. The stimulus failed to either hold down unemployment, which increased substantially, or to promote growth, which remained anemic. Obamacare proved immediately unpopular and placed heavy burdens on hiring by small businesses, thereby increasing the unemployment rate. The Democrats’ skyrocketing discretionary spending, stimulus and otherwise, was widely judged to be wasted. Its only tangible effect was to cause the national debt to grow three times faster than at any time in our history.
Americans were horrified by the results of the Obama administration’s policies in 2009 and 2010. Therefore, they turned out in November 2010 to stop the Democrats from more such follies. The Republicans, fueled by the Tea Party movement, took the House. Since 2011, there has, therefore, been some constraint on the Democrats’ ability to weaken the economy through massive increases in spending and debt. If this is “stalemate,” it is exactly what the voters chose in 2010...
* Milbank's article, "Skip the falsehoods, Mr. President, and give us a plan."
* Nolte's article, "Obama Speech 'Widely Panned' by Political Press Corps."
