Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Can we dock Obama’s pay?

The guy has been in a holding pattern since the beginning of his presidency, occasionally bellowing “hard to port” from the aft deck, but leaving practically all of the real decision-making to his allies in Congress, or to his various cabinet chiefs and czars. He should be introducing every speech with “I’m not really a president, but I play one on TV.”

Michael Barone, in a typically insightful article, observes that not making a decision really is making a decision (by default), whether the subject is the budget or Libya.
Voting "present" may be a responsible move for a legislator genuinely undecided about which way to go. But an executive voting "present" is choosing a course with consequences whether he likes it or not.

"The buck stops here," said the sign on the desk of the 33rd president, Harry Truman, who was quick to make decisions -- sometimes too quick. The 44th president's tendency seems to be something like the opposite.
We have elected a man as president who seems to truly hate his job. The kind thing - the charitable thing - would be to remove the source of his unhappiness in 2012.

Meanwhile, we're in the unenviable position of hoping that Obama rises to the level of Jimmy Carter.

7 comments:

Stosh2 said...

Completely stopping the pay and benefits of our government officials until they fix the problems they've created is a great idea. We should include the member of the Fed, too. Let them experience the results of their policies first hand.

JeffS said...

Don't forget Michelle's credit card -- that'll get things fixed, toot sweet!

richard mcenroe said...

Lefty judges keep holding that choosing to not buy health coverage is an active participation in the market. Therefore, Obama is CLEARLY by his own rules responsible for the results of his own inactions.

RebeccaH said...

But, hey, Obama's on top of education "reform" and that bullying thing.

Honestly, I can't help but think it's better for us if The One doesn't make any decisions, considering his track record so far.

Yojimbo said...

No doubt Paco Industries crack entertainment division is already rolling out its new hit single "Sittin' on the Dock O' the Pay".

Anonymous said...

Obama likes the power and toys that come with being president, but not the job. Jimmy Carter must be happy that someone came along to take his title.

Where's that attack bunny when ya need him?

Deborah Leigh

RebeccaH said...

Who needs an attack bunny when you've got poll cats?

(nudge, nudge, wink, wink, get it?)