As I listened to the Sunday talk shows I kept hearing that President Obama was trying to accomplish too much. General Powell said Obama should have stuck to the economy. Senator McConnell called democrats "arrogant" (uppity by any other name) and said cut taxes only. Governors Rendell and Schwarzenegger yelled for more infrastructure. Yet there was this pervasive opinion on This Week that President Obama was trying to do too much. Not by Donna Brazille and Ariana Huffington, but by everyone else. Then on Meet the Press there was Mike Pence and Peggy Noonan hammering away with too much while Chris Van Hollen (my representative) and EJ Dionne argued we got just enough.
Yes there are some liberals out there like James Galbraith, Katrina vanden Heuval and Paul Krugman who argue Obama hasn't done enough. But when they are on talk shows, the shows are overly balanced with conservatives and conservative thought. And then we have Conservative Network News (CNN) and Fox Not the News. Finally there are the tea parties, CPAC, and C Street House.
The Democrats have done many things and many good things have been accomplished. In normal times one would say the President has had great year. These are not normal times. Financial regulatory reform, a larger direct aid stimulus package should have been passed, health care reform is desperately needed (and I am one of the fortunate who has excellent health care insurance). And then there are presidential appointments stalled by the Senate. Ya gotta love Senator Shelby and his block them all until he gets his earmarks position. Shelby was so far out of line his party told him to back off. Then there is the you lie representative who lies every time he opens his mouth.
The bottom line is President Obama accepted too little and we democrats have not done enough. We need to fix this. A start is to join slinkerwink's and nyceve's Fix It and Pass It! Project. Then continue to fight for jobs, finance reform, and all those things we need.