Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Obama Going Moderate with Tax Deal? Presser Behavior Says No

Obama announced the big tax deal today with about as much enthusiasm as Napoleon after Waterloo. I was not believing the hype to begin with, especially as he picked fights calling Republicans "hostage takers" and said he was "itching for a fight." And it seems many Americans aren't being fooled, either.

Bryan Preston liveblogged the presser:
“He’s coming across as hectoring, defensive, and not well acquainted with the facts or the policy.”“Well, that was pretty bad, the kind of presser Napoleon might have given after Waterloo.”


Obama came across as a petulant, confused brat who just wants people to leave him alone. From Commentary:
President Obama, who during the heat of the 2010 midterm election referred to Republicans as “enemies,” has now decided to refine things a bit. The car-in-the-ditch analogy is out; the-GOP-as-hostage-takers is in.
in Obama’s press conference earlier today the president, in discussing the tax cut deal he has negotiated with Republicans, said, “It’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers unless the hostage gets harmed. … In this case, the hostage was the American people, and I was not willing to see them get harmed.”

Mr. Obama has mastered the ability to look both unprincipled and graceless at the same time. There is also a touch of bipolarity in this administration that is doing a fair amount of damage to it.


Maybe he really is changing to help America...er, not so much:
Although his liberal supporters are furious about the decision, President Obama’s willingness to extend all of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts is part of what White House officials say is a deliberate strategy: to demonstrate his ability to compromise with Republicans and portray the president as the last reasonable man in a sharply partisan Washington. The move is based on a political calculation, drawn from his party’s midterm defeat, that places a premium on winning back independent voters.


An Instapundit reader emailed the mighty Glenn and said this:
Obama’s petulance sank stocks.

Stocks were euphorically higher most of today, thanks to the unexpectedly broad tax deal the administration hammered out with the Republicans. But during his press conference, Obama’s clear anger and call to unwind the deal in 2 years opened a trap door under prices, sending them to a negative finish. We had hope, and then it changed.

Obama is all about his image and keeping power. He doesn't like this, but he wants to keep his 4 year vacation called the presidency. He is a disgrace, one of the most unprincipled men to hold the office, one of the least eventempered. I think this came shining through at his anger filled presser.

Don't believe the hype.