[ClearCase_guy]

Have you ever noticed Obama's speeches when he's talking about an ongoing issue and the actions he's taking at the given moment he never fails to add "In the past..." or "Under the last administration..." and criticizes the Republican President or the GOP on how they had dealt with that same particular problem / issue.

Good observation -- but I think we can be more specific, and actually see an evolution of this little rhetorical technique.

When Obama first became president, he referred to mistakes made "over the past eight years".
As time went on, this became awkward, since his own track record became included in the 8-year span, while Bush's initial time in office dropped out of consideration. At this point, Obama started talking about problems "over the past 10 years".
Now Obama is in his third year. It's harder to make the allusion which he wants to make -- but he does so by now saying "in the past".

It's quite childish, but that's the sort of person he is.

[tsowellfan]

Very interestng observation

[Lakeshark]

Speaking of childish, another ironic moment from the past: http://wolffiles.blogspot.com/2011/03/joe-biden-war-without-congressional.html