MILLER: The pass-the-buck president

The Washington Times ^ | September 26, 2012 | Emily Miller

[jazusamo]

Obama did nothing to fix debt crisis or reform entitlements

Harry S. Truman famously placed a wood sign on the Oval Office desk that read, “The buck stops here.” The tradition of the president taking full responsibility for what happens on his watch apparently hasn’t been adopted by Barack Obama. President Obama prefers to pass the buck.

CBS correspondent Steve Kroft asked Mr. Obama on Sunday about the national debt going up 60 percent during his first term. The president blamed the previous administration’s policies for “90 percent of it.” By his account, four straight years of trillion-dollar budget deficits were caused by tax cuts put in place 10 years earlier, the cost of wars and a prescription drug plan.

The remaining 10 percent of responsibility involved powers outside of his control. “I think that I’ve learned some lessons over the last four years,” the president said during a town hall hosted by the Spanish-language Univision network last week. “The most important lesson I’ve learned is that you can’t change Washington from the inside. You can only change it from the outside.”

GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan took issue with that point of view during a joint event with Mitt Romney in Ohio on Tuesday. “Why do we send presidents to Washington in the first place?” asked the Wisconsin Republican. “Don’t we send them to fix the mess in Washington? Look, if he can’t change Washington, then we need to change presidents.”

[jazusamo]

Emily Miller says it well.

[Iron Munro]

Know Your Scapegoats:

George Bush - Ninety Percenter

[CaspersGh0sts]

Sort of.

Romney really needs to be referring to the debt as “The Obama Debt.” Obama has been shirking responsibility for the matter, all the while throwing around trillions of dollars without so much as a single budget passed during his entire time in office.

That’s an embarassing failure of leadership, duty, and maturity, for that mattter.

It blows my mind that at a time when millions of Americans had to tighten their belts, re-evaluate their budgets, cut their credit card debts, and refinance their homes that Obama hasn’t been hit MUCH harder for this than he has.

Make him wear the debt yolk he strapped around the country. And promise basic essentials like, heaven forbid, a budget.

[Brandonmark]

[irishtenor]

Didn’t Obama recently say “The buck stops with you.”?

[Windflier]

"CBS correspondent Steve Kroft asked Mr. Obama on Sunday about the national debt going up 60 percent during his first term. The president blamed the previous administration’s policies for “90 percent of it.”"

By continually blaming George Bush for his own failures, Obama has appointed him Cause, and has assumed the position of Effect himself. In effect, he is telling the American people that he is inept, incompetent, weak, disabled, powerless, defenseless, broken, and hapless, as a president.

It's the most fundamental error he could make. Even those who can't process this analytically, will react viscerally to his abdication of basic responsibility.

As the author notes, he doesn't get the concept of the buck stopping at the president's desk. Americans don't like failures and losers. Obama couldn't have chosen a worse possible re-election strategy.

[jazusamo]

That’s an embarassing failure of leadership, duty, and maturity, for that mattter.

Well said.

Obama has NO leadership skills, NO sense of duty and I won't even comment on his level of maturity.

[DoughtyOne]

the housing crisis - the buck stopped at the banks desk

the economic melt down - the buck stopped on Wall Street

the economy in general - the buck stopped at Bush’s desk

deficits - the buck stopped at Bush’s desk

unemployment - the buck stopped at Bush’s desk

food stamps - the buck stopped at Bush’s desk

Social Security - the buck stopped at Romney and Ryan’s desk

Medicare - the buck stopped at Romney and Ryan’s desk

GITMO - there’s no buck, we’ll let them all go

Israel - the buck stops at the Jewish and Christian God’s desk

Libya - the buck stopped at the Islam video producer’s desk

Golf - the buck stops at Obama’s desk

Basketball - the buck stops at Obama’s desk

Traveling to dictate to American how they will eat - the buck stops at Michelle’s desk

the world’s problems - the buck stopped at America’s shores

nukes - the buck stops with us because we have them

The Jewish and Christian God - the buck stops at Mohammad’s desk

we haven’t fixed a damned thing - the buck stops at desks in Congress

Rock Star - the buck begins and ends with Barry baby...

Re-elect Barry, he can blame us back onto the road to recovery.

Hey Barry, when you have time, pass the buck...

[jazusamo]

BTTT

[GregoTX]

I think "the rule" should also apply to the The Washington Times' Emily Miller.

[jazusamo]

Absolutely! You’ll get no argument from me.

[Stand Watch Listen]

Paul Ryan took issue with that point of view during a joint event with Mitt Romney in Ohio on Tuesday. “Why do we send presidents to Washington in the first place?” asked the Wisconsin Republican. “Don’t we send them to fix the mess in Washington? Look, if he can’t change Washington, then we need to change presidents.”

“We own this country… Politicians are employees of ours…
And when somebody does not do the job,
….. we’ve got to let them go”

[Don Corleone]

President Obama prefers to pass the buck.

I think he prefers to "Pass the Hat".