adult Obama plays small ball on policy - Yahoo!

adult

, even saying at one point that he wasn& # 8217; t sent to Washington to . But confronted with similar limitations, Obama is looking a little more like Clinton in the second half of his first term, pushing modest jobs proposals and a diet of bite- size policy talkers: a new fatherhood pledge, graphic tobacco warnings, updated sunscreen requirements, an and entertainment discounts for fathers to spend more time with their kids.

The slimmed- down agenda is the consequence of a resistant Congress and no money to spend, but it also aims to address a political problem for the president headed into a . Just like Clinton, Obama is attempting to show voters that, at a time of Washington gridlock, he can still work to solve people& # 8217; s problems, no matter how small they may be. The shades of Clinton- style politics are notable for a president who fashioned himself during the 2008 campaign as a transformational figure in the mold of Ronald Reagan & # 8212; not Clinton, who used small- bore, consultant- driven proposals such as school uniforms, a TV ratings system and teen curfews to make an end run around Congress and appeal to middle- class voters. ( Related: Obama invoked & # 8220; school uniforms& # 8221; while resisting pressure from top aides to scale back his health care overhaul, saying he wanted to & # 8220; get big things done, & # 8221; according to Jonathan Alter& # 8217; s 2010 book & # 8220; The Promise. & # 8221; & # 8220; It is a matter of some interest and historical irony that a president who began with the aspirations to be Reagan has been forced by events to adopt a stance that is, on this continuum from Reagan to Clinton, a lot closer to the Clinton end, & # 8221; , a policy adviser in the Clinton White House and now a Brookings scholar, said in an interview. & # 8220; The president, in many ways, is a realist.

He is simply adjusting his sights to events. & # 8221; Obama& # 8217; s embrace of the softer powers of the presidency & # 8212; most conspicuously, the bullying summit in March & # 8212; has been & # 8220; a source of some amusement& # 8221; to former Clinton aides who cringed at the mocking of their boss& # 8217; s legacy, one Clinton veteran said. ( Related: Obama did the opposite of shoot small in the first two years of his term, realigning the American auto industry and passing a major economic stimulus package, health care overhaul and Wall Street reform bill. And now, he is attempting to negotiate a $ 4 trillion deficit- reduction package, which would be another massive feat. ( See: Beyond that, isn& # 8217; t going big anymore. Immigration, education, climate change and clean energy bills remain on the wish list, but Obama has devoted equal time to promoting piecemeal economic ideas that don& # 8217; t require congressional approval. Aides say the more modest approach is part of a natural evolution for any presidency.

Even Reagan recalibrated after suffering losses in the 1982 midterm. & # 8220; While the political makeup in Congress may be more challenging, the president& # 8217; s priorities have not changed and he is working every day to move forward on key priorities including relief for small businesses, incentives to help put construction workers back to work by rebuilding our infrastructure, comprehensive immigration reform and steps to reduce our dependence on foreign oil & # 8212; all areas the president has always felt we should be able to find consensus, & # 8221; said a White House official who asked not to be named. After the 2010 election losses, the White House entered what it viewed as a new phase in the recovery, arguing that the private sector, not the government, would need to drive the economic turnaround from that point forward. That approach has disappointed some progressives, including Roger Hickey of the Campaign for America& # 8217; s Future, who urged the White House not to think tactically about what could pass Congress and instead offer a bold job- creation plan with broad government investment that Democrats could run on. & # 8220; The consistent line [ from Obama aides] has been the polling shows the public is weary of spending money.

That is one thing they say, & # 8221; Hickey said. & # 8220; The other thing they say is, we can& # 8217; t even get some Democrats to vote for it. That reflects the attitude that if it can& # 8217; t pass Congress, it& # 8217; s not real. Our response is tell the country the truth about the scale it will take& # 8221; to revive the economy. But Obama adopted a strategy focused on hitting singles and doubles.

In January, he signed an executive order directing federal agencies to eliminate red- tape regulations for businesses. Obama named a Council on Jobs and Competitiveness to draw up jobs measures that don& # 8217; t necessarily require congressional approval. He followed up with the creation of the Startup America Partnership, tapping AOL co- founder Steve Case to find ways to aid entrepreneurs and small businesses. Over the past month, the administration has promoted a series of & # 8220; public- private partnerships& # 8221; : a new White House Rural Council to advance economic prosperity in rural America; an expansion of Skills for America& # 8217; s Future, which pairs community college students with manufacturing jobs; first- round grant winners for the Better Buildings Initiative, which aims to spur investment in energy efficient buildings; and the creation of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership to boost emerging technologies. And at a press conference last week, Obama called on Congress to deliver on some modest proposals, including several trade deals, an infrastructure fund and a bill overhauling the patent system.

The spate of economic announcements, even seemingly minor ones, appears designed to rebut criticism of the president during his first two years on the job as more interested in health care than the economy and to broadcast to a gloomy electorate that he is singularly focused on jobs. & # 8220; For Obama, the large strategic challenge is to look and sound reasonable and in touch, a guy who gets it, & # 8221; even if he is hamstrung by Congress, said Douglas Schoen, a pollster who worked on Clinton& # 8217; s reelection campaign. At the same time, the White House has made selective use of a classic Clinton maneuver, using small ideas to amplify a broader political message. Bruce Reed, a driver of the strategy under Clinton as director of the Domestic Policy Council, returned to the White House in January as Vice President Joe Biden& # 8217; s chief of staff. In Obama& # 8217; s case, the thread between events such as the bullying summit, new warnings on cigarette packages, the introduction of a fatherhood pledge and entertainment discounts for fathers and their kids is to position the president as a protector of the well- being of middle- class families, aides said. & # 8220; While economic recovery is the president& # 8217; s top priority, there are areas that he will continue to focus on & # 8212; because they are important to the American people, because they are impacting the health and safety of families like cigarette smoking, because they are impacting the lives of children in our schools like bullying, & # 8221; the White House official said. & # 8220; That isn& # 8217; t about politics & # 8212; that is about taking steps to improve the lives and futures of people in this country. & # 8221; The parallel between Clinton and Obama isn& # 8217; t seamless. Clinton went so small at times that he appeared to be running for mayor.

With the economy strong and foreign entanglements limited, the Clinton administration worked far more aggressively to cherry- pick federal agencies for ideas that addressed the everyday anxieties of families and buffed his image with independent voters. But the comparison is relevant in terms of the modest ambitions and the message: The White House doesn& # 8217; t need to stand still, even if Congress does. & # 8220; Realistically, they would love to do something big on energy and immigration, but there is very limited opportunity to do this in this Congress, & # 8221; said Jim Kessler, vice president for policy with Third Way, a centrist group. But he thinks Obama& # 8217; s old ambitions still loom. & # 8220; That doesn& # 8217; t mean they& # 8217; re not going to try to do something to set up contrasts with Republicans later on. & # 8221;

map of equipment
van dyck carpets
autoharp gospel music
final fantasy 8 songs
tom cruises first wife