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Blame Game: In his inaugural address 2 1/2 years ago, President Obama called for a "new era of responsibility." Yet lately, his main goal in life seems to be escaping any responsibility for the lousy economy.
It's getting so you have to keep a list of everyone and everything Obama wants to blame for the anemic economic recovery.
So far, it includes:
• President Bush: Obama continues to blame Bush for the mess he inherited, despite the fact that the recession had pretty much bottomed out by the time Obama took office and was officially over a mere four months after he was sworn in.
• ATMs: In June, Obama blamed automated teller machines and airport check-in kiosks for the lack of jobs, saying that "businesses have learned to become much more efficient, with a lot fewer workers."
• Republicans: On Monday, Obama said that because "some in Congress would rather see their opponents lose than America win, we ended up creating more uncertainty and more damage to an economy that was already weak" — a thinly veiled attempt to blame the GOP for the economic malaise.
• Gridlock: Obama goes after partisan impasses. What he's really complaining about is that lawmakers haven't enacted his latest "stimulus" plan — spending hikes, gimmicky tax breaks and a massive tax hike — that has already been tried and failed.
• The media: In July, Obama said the "splintered" press was in part to blame for Washington's failure to boost the economy. "If you never even have to hear another argument," he said, "then over time you start getting more dug in into your positions."
• Businesses: Obama has often blamed companies needlessly sitting on massive piles of cash. In May, he insisted that firms should "step up" and start hiring.
• Misfortune: "Over the last six months, we've had a string of bad luck," he said at a town hall on Monday, citing the Arab Spring, the Japanese tsunami and Europe's debt crisis. "So there were a bunch of things taking place over the last six months that were not within our control."
Just to be clear, Obama's policies alone are to blame for the current sorry state of the economy.
In his first two years, Obama had free rein to get his economic agenda through a heavily Democratic Congress: An $830 billion stimulus, billions more in auto bailouts, mortgage bailouts and cash for clunkers, ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank.
None of those packages worked. They produced the worst recovery since the Great Depression. That was true before the Arab Spring, the tsunami, Europe's debt crisis and before Republicans won back the House.
At a press conference this summer, Obama said: "I'm not interested in finger-pointing."
But that's all he's been doing for months.
Wouldn't it be nice if Obama instead were to live up to his inaugural credo and start his own "era of responsibility" by admitting his role in the country's economic slump?
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Posted By: C400Pilot(1195) on 8/16/2011 | 11:27 PM ET
What Obama inherited, he inherited from the Dem's circa 2007-08. Contrast the economy stats in January, 2007 to today.
Posted By: John999(510) on 8/16/2011 | 11:08 PM ET
Then why you guys elected him?
Posted By: Robert_A_Hahn(140) on 8/16/2011 | 10:34 PM ET
It's wearing thin, too. Every president inherits a mess. The one Reagan got from Carter was far worse than anything Obama has seen. Roosevelt was handed even worse. Truman inherited a world at war. Poor Obama. Sniff sniff.
Posted By: Ellman(1365) on 8/16/2011 | 10:32 PM ET
The man's character speaks for itself. Nothing more needs to be added.
Posted By: ckelley2(70) on 8/16/2011 | 9:21 PM ET
Oblama is nothing but your typical poverty pimp. At this point it should be clear to all but the likes of Chris Mathews. He is really rather pathetic. Every word he speaks is BS. 2012 will be a landslide.
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