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Obama’s not-so-hidden second-term agenda (updated)
Last edited Mon Oct 22, 2012, 09:28 AM - Edit history (1)
Obama’s not-so-hidden second-term agenda
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
<...>
But these are responses to what Obama has proposed. To disagree with some of Obama’s specifics is to acknowledge that the specifics exist.
Some dismiss what an Obama second term might achieve by claiming that it will be mainly concerned with consolidating his first-term accomplishments. If these had been trivial, that might be a legitimate criticism. But does anyone seriously believe that implementing a massive new health insurance program that will cover an additional 30 million Americans is unimportant? Can anyone argue that translating the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms into workable regulations is a minor undertaking?
The president has also been clear that he wants to take on immigration reform. The question always asked is: Why should we think he’ll do it in a second term when he didn’t do it in the first? The answer is that if Obama is reelected, it will be in no small part because he overwhelms Romney among Latino voters who have stoutly rejected the Republican’s “self-deportation” ideas. It’s possible that Republicans will cooperate on immigration reform simply because they don’t want to keep losing elections by getting clobbered in Latino precincts. And Obama will know that he has an electoral debt to pay.
Republicans have been relentless in attacking the clean-energy projects Obama has financed. If Obama wins, the president will have reason to say that clean energy won, too, and push ahead. And in one of the best articles on what Obama might do in a second term, the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza observed in June that Obama’s campaign statements — to that point, at least — suggested he would like to take another shot at legislation to address climate change.
Obama speaks incessantly about upgrading the country’s infrastructure. He also stresses the urgency of retooling both our education system and the way we train people for well-paying jobs. One can imagine a comprehensive education, jobs and investment program being a high priority in a second Obama term. And you can bet he will join efforts to create a new campaign financing system to check the power billionaires and corporations exercise in the world after Citizens United.
- more -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ej-dionne-the-not-so-hidden-obama-agenda/2012/10/21/a4280792-1ba4-11e2-9cd5-b55c38388962_story.html
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
<...>
But these are responses to what Obama has proposed. To disagree with some of Obama’s specifics is to acknowledge that the specifics exist.
Some dismiss what an Obama second term might achieve by claiming that it will be mainly concerned with consolidating his first-term accomplishments. If these had been trivial, that might be a legitimate criticism. But does anyone seriously believe that implementing a massive new health insurance program that will cover an additional 30 million Americans is unimportant? Can anyone argue that translating the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms into workable regulations is a minor undertaking?
The president has also been clear that he wants to take on immigration reform. The question always asked is: Why should we think he’ll do it in a second term when he didn’t do it in the first? The answer is that if Obama is reelected, it will be in no small part because he overwhelms Romney among Latino voters who have stoutly rejected the Republican’s “self-deportation” ideas. It’s possible that Republicans will cooperate on immigration reform simply because they don’t want to keep losing elections by getting clobbered in Latino precincts. And Obama will know that he has an electoral debt to pay.
Republicans have been relentless in attacking the clean-energy projects Obama has financed. If Obama wins, the president will have reason to say that clean energy won, too, and push ahead. And in one of the best articles on what Obama might do in a second term, the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza observed in June that Obama’s campaign statements — to that point, at least — suggested he would like to take another shot at legislation to address climate change.
Obama speaks incessantly about upgrading the country’s infrastructure. He also stresses the urgency of retooling both our education system and the way we train people for well-paying jobs. One can imagine a comprehensive education, jobs and investment program being a high priority in a second Obama term. And you can bet he will join efforts to create a new campaign financing system to check the power billionaires and corporations exercise in the world after Citizens United.
- more -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ej-dionne-the-not-so-hidden-obama-agenda/2012/10/21/a4280792-1ba4-11e2-9cd5-b55c38388962_story.html
Updated to add the President making the same point above...
...in July:
"For months, I've been calling on Congress to take half the money we're no longer spending on war and use it to do some nation-building here at home," Obama said. "There's work to be done building roads and bridges and wireless networks. And there are hundreds of thousands of construction workers ready to do it."
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/07/09/12645745-christie-endorses-obama-line-on-infrastructure
...and three days ago in Virginia:
<...>
Four years after the worst economic crisis of our lifetime, we're moving. After losing 800,000 jobs a month when I took office, businesses have now added over 5 million new jobs. Unemployment has fallen from 10 percent to 7.8 percent. Home values are back on the rise. (Applause.) The stock market has nearly doubled -- 401(k)s are starting to recover. Manufacturing is coming home. Assembly lines are humming again. We've got to keep moving forward. We've got to keep moving forward. (Applause.)
We’ve got more work to do. I’ve got a plan -- and it's a real plan, not a sales pitch -- to grow the economy and create jobs and build more security for the middle class.
I want to send fewer jobs overseas and sell more products overseas. (Applause.) I want to invest in manufacturers and small businesses that create jobs right here in Virginia, right here in America.
I want us to control more of our own energy, cut oil imports in half, create thousands of clean energy jobs.
I want every child to have the same chance at a great education that Michelle and I received. (Applause.) I want to hire more teachers in math and science, train 2 million workers at community colleges, bring down the cost of college tuition. (Applause.)
I want to use the savings from ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to pay down our deficit, put our people back to work right here, doing some nation-building here at home. (Applause.)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/10/19/remarks-president-campaign-event-fairfax-va
Four years after the worst economic crisis of our lifetime, we're moving. After losing 800,000 jobs a month when I took office, businesses have now added over 5 million new jobs. Unemployment has fallen from 10 percent to 7.8 percent. Home values are back on the rise. (Applause.) The stock market has nearly doubled -- 401(k)s are starting to recover. Manufacturing is coming home. Assembly lines are humming again. We've got to keep moving forward. We've got to keep moving forward. (Applause.)
We’ve got more work to do. I’ve got a plan -- and it's a real plan, not a sales pitch -- to grow the economy and create jobs and build more security for the middle class.
I want to send fewer jobs overseas and sell more products overseas. (Applause.) I want to invest in manufacturers and small businesses that create jobs right here in Virginia, right here in America.
I want us to control more of our own energy, cut oil imports in half, create thousands of clean energy jobs.
I want every child to have the same chance at a great education that Michelle and I received. (Applause.) I want to hire more teachers in math and science, train 2 million workers at community colleges, bring down the cost of college tuition. (Applause.)
I want to use the savings from ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to pay down our deficit, put our people back to work right here, doing some nation-building here at home. (Applause.)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/10/19/remarks-president-campaign-event-fairfax-va
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