President Obama spent most of his time in 2014 playing the blame game.
If it wasn’t Republicans — his favorite target — it was the media, former President George W. Bush, or even the intelligence community. No one was safe from his accusatory finger pointing.
Red Alert Politics compiled a “greatest hits” of Obama’s year of passing the buck. While this is hardly anything new for the president, the year cemented it as Obama’s favorite strategy.
What: The botched launch of Obamacare
Who took the blame: Kathleen Sebelius, former Health and Human Services Secretary
How: Obamacare’s health care exchange website roll out was nothing short of a disaster. Millions of people could not get insurance, tons more lost their current coverage plans, and technical difficulties kept any issues from being resolved. Although there was proof to the contrary, Obama said he was “not informed directly that the website would not be working the way it was supposed to.” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius eventually had to take the blame for the failed launch and was forced to step down in April.
What: Failure to close Guantanamo Bay
Who took the blame: Congress
How: Obama has called for the closure of Guantanamo Bay since 2008, repeatedly making it a central promise of his campaigns and statements. While the president has taken some steps to move out prisoners from Gitmo, he has not taken any real steps to close it. He addressed this in May and again recently saying that “Congress determined that they would not let us close it.”
What: The lack of action in Washington
Who took the blame: Republicans in Congress
How: Back in July, Obama came up with one of his now-familiar refrains — Blame the GOP. “When folks say they’re frustrated with Congress, let’s be clear about what the problem is,” Obama said. “…“It is lonely, me just doing stuff. I’d love if the Republicans did stuff, too.”
What: Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program
Who took the blame: Former President George W. Bush
How: A surge of child immigrants descended on the American border over the summer, in large part due to Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Obama said that the fault actually lies with Bush’s 2008 Wilbur Force law. But Republicans were quick to point out that the overflow of children did not start heading to the U.S. until after Obama’s promise of amnesty.
What: Obamacare funding
Who took the blame: Republicans in Congress
How: Calling them “desperate Fox News watchers,” Obama tried to make the argument that the Republicans wanted to take away health insurance for people and shutdown the government. He claimed that the Republicans would do anything to “sabotage” his namesake health care program. But despite the allegation, Obama was the one actually participating in the program’s undoing. He delayed enrollment in the Obamacare health insurance exchanges for small businesses and Spanish speakers, and delayed the law’s employer mandate for a year.
What: Dealing with the ISIS threat
Who took the blame: The intelligence community
How: Despite missing the majority of his daily briefings with intelligence officers, Obama blamed the intelligence community for not keeping him informed on the growing ISIS threat. In an interview on ’60 Minutes,’ Obama publicly threw them under the bus, saying, “I think our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria.”
What: Obama’s executive action on immigration
Who took the blame: Republicans in Congress
How: Not only did Obama blame the Republicans in this case, he also threw their opposition to his will back in their face. Obama announced his sweeping executive action on immigration and said that the Republicans had forced his hand on this issue by not creating a plan of their own.
What: National security crises across the globe
Who took the blame: Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
How: Hagel was thrown under the bus by the Obama administration after the administration was battered by crises like the rise of Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria and Russia’s provocations in Ukraine. Obama said it was an “appropriate time for him to complete his service.”
