In a Rolling Stone interview previewed in Politico’s “Playbook” morning email, President Barack Obama reportedly told the Rolling Stone’s Douglas Brinkley that people shouldn’t “underestimate” what he can and will accomplish in a second term if elected.
“We’re going to have a full agenda in the second four years, but people shouldn’t underestimate how much we can get done,” Obama said.
In the Oct. 11 interview for the upcoming cover of Rolling Stone Obama pointed out that despite “the gridlock and the ugliness of the process here in Washington” his administration was able to get the healthcare reform bill passed, crack down on Wall Street (Dodd-Frank bill) and establish an entire new regulatory agency (Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, although either Obama or the Rolling Stone mistakenly called it the Consumer Finance Protection Agency in the preview).
“We passed health care – something that presidents have tried to do for 100 years, and we will implement it,” Obama said.
Obama’s incorrect comment about the history of healthcare reform in America notwithstanding (the first President to attempt to reform the healthcare system was FDR, and that was not until 1933), his assertion that he has a “full agenda” for the next four years undoubtedly comes as a surprise to nearly everyone who’s not working for the Obama campaign or swimming in the “Hope and Change” Kool-Aid.
Tuesday, President Obama released a 20 page glossy booklet with his ‘plan’ for a second-term. Or as Rep. Paul Ryan called it: “a slick comic book.” However, even liberals have criticized his new plan of being devoid of any new information.
And what was Obama’s agenda for a second term before he released his glossy ‘new’ plan?
Obama has put forth ideas throughout the campaign of what he hopes to accomplish in a second-term, such as cutting the tuition growth rate by 10 percent, but as I’ve pointed out before, he does not have a workable ‘plan’ to do that.
And let’s not forget, he didn’t accomplish many of his ‘plans’ for his first term, either. Remember when Obama cut the deficit in half during his first term like candidate Obama promised he would in 2008? No? That’s because he didn’t. It was a great idea in theory, but he lacked a plan to do so, and as a result, the deficit is now higher, not lower, than it was when Obama took office.
Obama says that people shouldn’t underestimate what he plans to achieve in his second term if reelected. Well, I’ve got good news for the President. Just like it’s impossible for the CBO to estimate speeches, it’s impossible for people to estimate booklets. Americans can’t possibly underestimate something that doesn’t exist.
