POLITICS - The Obama Paradox

"Obama Pushes Through Agenda Despite Political Risks" by SHERYL GAY STOLBERG, New York Times 7/15/2010

Excerpt

If passage of the financial regulatory overhaul on Thursday proves anything about President Obama, it is this: He knows how to push big bills through a balky Congress.

But Mr. Obama’s legislative success poses a paradox: while he may be winning on Capitol Hill, he is losing with voters at a time of economic distress, and soon may be forced to scale back his ambitions.

The financial regulatory bill is the final piece of a legislative hat trick that also included the stimulus bill and the landmark new health care law. Over the last 18 months, Mr. Obama and the Democratic Congress have made considerable inroads in passing what could be the most ambitious agenda in decades.

Mr. Obama has done what he promised when he ran for office in 2008: he has used government as an instrument to try to narrow the gaps between the haves and the have-nots. He has injected $787 billion in tax dollars into the economy, provided health coverage to 32 million uninsured and now, reordered the relationship among Washington, Wall Street, investors and consumers.

But as he has done so, the political context has changed around him. Today, with unemployment remaining persistently near double digits despite the scale of the stimulus program and the BP oil spill having raised questions about his administration’s competence, Mr. Obama’s signature legislation is providing ammunition to conservatives who argue that government is the problem, not the solution.

What Mr. Obama and his allies portray as progressive, activist government has been framed by his opponents as overreaching and profligate when it comes to the economy.

So, lets see. According to conservative-think the American people having improved access to healthcare (being able to better afford), better (although not perfect) financial regulation to help protect against another meltdown, are examples of government overreaching?

Typical money first and no regulation thinking. Let the Robber Barons do whatever they can get away with to the American people and our economy. That's just business as it should be.

Well, from this American citizen to conservatives and GOP..... UP YOURS!