How Obama is Like His Predecessor’s Dad
“Read my lips: No New Taxes”
George H.W. Bush, August 18, 1988
” . . .what I’ve done throughout this campaign is to propose a net spending cut.”
Barack H. Obama, October 15 2008
The former ran as Ronald Reagan’s heir, but governed as if he were Richard Nixon’s. The latter sounded a lot like Bill Clinton on the fall campaign trail, but acted like LBJ when he entered the White House. It was as if, once elected their campaign pledges no longer meant anything. Of course, it didn’t take as long for Mr. Obama’s to expire as it did for those of the elder Mr. Bush.
Each seemed to interpret his election victory not as a vindication for his campaign rhetoric, crafted over a period of time with political advisers in order to appeal to the American people, but as a personal victory, allowing him to do what he thought best for the country.
It’s as if the rhetoric used to win election mean nothing, the person everything. The messenger seems to think the only message he bore was himself.
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I knew that tax pledge would come back to haunt him. Many feel that the whole ham-handed approach to Healthcare as “bending down the curve” is an attempt to square the circle on revenue.
Nice Oedipus tie in, BTW.
“One thing on which you can depend is…
he sure knew who a boy’s friend is.” – Tom Lehrer
Best wishes,
-MFS
Comment by MFS — August 15, 2009 @ 9:05 pm - August 15, 2009
Good comparison; Bush: Read my lips: No New Taxes. Simple, to the point, folksy, even. And O.? What the hell does it even mean? That he campaigned on a platform he only intended to “propose?” Who the hell knows? (Well, NOW we know what that meant: Nothing.)
Comment by DoorHold — August 17, 2009 @ 12:24 pm - August 17, 2009