So, as a Democrat in this resurgent age of liberalism, I thought it might be a good idea to take stock of how things have gone in the Obama administration so far. In general, I like what I see so far. I think the stimulus is a bit unruly, and could get out of hand, but in general I like the direction the new administration is heading. BTW, all of you who thought that line item for the Coast Guard Ice Breaker was obnoxious... here is an article to the tangible side effects of canceling that out of the stimulus. Crazy idea - replacing almost 40 year old ice breakers on the Great Lakes so 1 billion in freight can be moved around...nutso liberal idea.
My main beef since Obama took office lies not with him, or strangely enough, the opposition party, but with Congressional Democrats. Pelosi, Ried and the like. They have been nothing but a thorn in the side of progress and bipartisanship since Obama took office. They have stuck to their narrow idelogical viewpoints and refused to see the middle road that I believe Obama is trying to go down. I believe that is why he was elected, to move us into a post-partisan age. Ideologies do not matter so much as effectiveness.
To cite an example, I will use the announcement by the President that he will be bringing the troops home from Iraq, and will have combat troops home in 18 months. This is of course 3 months longer then promised during his campaign, but shockingly he talked to the generals on the ground and decided that an extra three months was worth the security. Sounds logical to me. Republicans generally agreed, McCain signed on board, calling the plan "significantly different" the one he saw during the campaign and a responsible way to draw down troop levels. Sounds like this thing is something everyone can agree on. Oh, I forgot about the Congressional Dems, who decided that this plan was just NOT accpetable. Neither fast enough or complete enough to suit them, they wallowed out to the microphones and stated that more was needed. Harry Ried was complaining that the 50,000 troops left over was too many. Can't these people see something that is a good thing, and just get out of the way? Who would have thought a year ago we would have President Obama and Sen McCain and Republican Congressional leadership agreeing on Iraq?
Progress can include the Democrats in Congress, or it can happen without them. Clearly voters are not tied to party affiliation when giving someone a job approval rating. Obama is at 65% and Ried is at 15%. Maybe Harry should take a page out of Obama's book and adapt to the situation on the ground instead of relying on rigid ideology. The President is going to move this country forward, Congressional Dems can come kicking and screaming, and possibly lose their jobs in the process, or they can learn to get along with their wildly popular President, and even, gasp, work with the opposition.