Same Old, Same Old

I just saw a headline announcing that president Obama says he will work with Republicans on the budget so long as they agree to raise taxes on the wealthy. The statement is vintage Obama. For the last four years, Obama has told us that he is ready to work with Republicans; all the GOP has to do is accept everything that Obama wants. Obama said he wanted to work with the Republicans on Obamacare. When they offered ideas, he ignored them. Obama was ready to work with the Republicans so long as they accepted Obamacare. When it came time for negotiations on raising the debt ceiling, Obama was ready to negotiate so long as the GOP accepted everything he wanted. When Speaker John Boehner actually made a tentative deal with Obama, Obama then went back and demanded more. Obama was working with the GOP by torpedoing a compromise solution.

The truth is that Obama has never once worked with the GOP. Never! If Obama stays in office, he still will not work with the GOP. Indeed, if Congress remains divided in control, there will be more years of gridlock. If the Republicans take control of the senate, Obama will probably acquiesce to much of what gets passed. Obama is weak and will back away from a united Republican congress.

The crazy thing is that the article about Obama's promise to work with the GOP is that it does not mention the past. For the media, it is as if Obama is starting with a clean slate. But it just aint so.