Cross-posted on Horse Head Soup:
In recent days the tenor of diaries on this site have been resoundingly critical of the president. I am going to add my voice to the chorus. I would like to suggest a motion of no confidence be introduced against President Barack Obama.
From Wikipedia:
A motion of non-confidence (alternatively vote of non-confidence, censure motion, no-confidence motion, or confidence motion) is a parliamentary motion traditionally put before a parliament by the opposition in the hope of defeating or weakening a government, or, rarely by an erstwhile supporter who has lost confidence in the government.
Generally a government has two choices in the wake of a successful vote of no confidence: Resign or call for new elections.
But of course the United States does not have a parliamentary system. Our elections are set on a fixed schedule, and our "governments" (administrations) do not routinely resign no matter how unpopular or ineffectual they have become.
Nevertheless, there is a precedent for no confidence votes in the United States, even if only as a purely symbolic gesture. In 1952, the House of Representatives voted no confidence against the Truman administration. In 2007 no confidence resolutions were introduced against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Even a congressional censure, such as was recently handed down against Representative Charles Rangel, could be seen as a kind of "no confidence" vote.
I am deeply disappointed in the president. I have grown tired of his apparent lack of deeply held convictions beyond some nebulous notion of "bringing people together," and his almost willful refusal to see that his eagerness to compromise comes across as weakness. More tax cuts for millionaires was not the kind of change I was looking for.
In the wake of the tax-cut extension deal, I think it is fair to say that many Democrats have lost confidence in the president. I would like to see them formally and officially say so.
And if the president chose to resign as a result, well...