Obama’s second term clouded by controversies

After answering questions Monday morning about two of the controversies that have undermined his administration, President Obama flew off to New York to raise money for the Democratic Party. There, before partisan donors, he reflected on his second term and said he will continue to reach out to Republicans. “I sure want to do some governing,” he explained.

Obama’s words suggest that he believes there is a way to compartmentalize the business of his second term: legislative and other business here, scandals over there. But things are too messy for that right now. A politician who has counted good luck as part of his skill set will need all the breaks he can muster to pull off that bit of political jujitsu.

Even in the best of times, Obama’s outreach to Republicans produced little in return — and these are no longer close to the best of times. The question is whether the barely civil relationship between the White House and the opposition party has been irreparably damaged. A related question is how much the controversies will weaken Obama’s standing with the public. Together, the answers will decide how effectively he can govern.

It is too early to draw any broad conclusions about the long-term damage to Obama’s presidency from the news that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups and that the Justice Department collected two months of phone records from Associated Press reporters and editors. But in the moment, these controversies — along with the ongoing congressional investigation of the attacks in Benghazi, Libya — have created major challenges for the administration.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obamas-second-term-clouded-by-controversies/2013/05/14/de6b73be-bcb0-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html?hpid=z1

Flying off again, huh? Still can't stop himself from campaigning!!

The Republicans were not going to give Obama anything in his second term anyway, but he doesn't need much from them either. The economy is picking up and the deficit is rapidly shrinking. The Bush tax cuts expired for the upper brackets. Social Security and Medicare are safe, thanks to the sequester, and the majority of the cuts in the sequester are in the military. The Republicans can't cry wolf on a debt crisis this summer and Obamacare takes effect in January. The Senate passed a budget, and now the Republicans refuse to conference on it.

Jake Tapper on CNN stuck a pin in the Benghazi Balloon yesterday, the Justice Department is saying that their actions with the AP phone records were appropriate as the leaks may have endangered people, and the IRS scandal will be investigated.

It's funny how the conservatives, here, all of a sudden love the main stream media!!

As I said, they've got no political record to run on so they fling shit at the wall and hope something will stick....good luck losers, Hillary is next in line.

News Pigeon wrote:As I said, they've got no political record to run on so they fling shit at the wall and hope something will stick....good luck losers, Hillary is next in line.

Makes one really want to be a democrat doesn't it.

At least I know what party I belong to...you're all over the map like a no-mad and you certainly won't defend your position-of-the-week

You wouldn't listen any ways.

All you want to do is instigate. I hope I don't know you.

fshnski wrote:All you want to do is instigate. I hope I don't know you.

That's what you all say when you can't defend your claims...

Plus Blah, blah, blah.

Yada, yada, yada ...

Thanks for making my point....

News Pigeon wrote:As I said, they've got no political record to run on so they fling shit at the wall and hope something will stick....good luck losers, Hillary is next in line.

Thanks for bringing some good humor to the Forum of Gloom!

No problem, it's really quite easy to see why you want the good name of Wolfeboro removed from this forum...one would be hard-pressed to find anything good about your area IF it were judged by the antics of these loons.

News Buzzard wrote:

News Pigeon wrote:As I said, they've got no political record to run on so they fling shit at the wall and hope something will stick....good luck losers, Hillary is next in line.

Thanks for bringing some good humor to the Forum of Gloom!

Fsh, they think that is funny. They should be ashamed to be writing something like that on a Wolfeboro forum. Think what people reading this forum will think of us. Why, those people won't want to come to Wolfeboro!

They are so full of hate they don't know what they sound like.