Word: carefulness
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...Obama might have bitten off more than he can safely chew in his first year. He seems to have misjudged the appetite of the nation (or at least the Senate) for the change he promised during his campaign. Independent voters have been running for the hills since health-care reform became his administration’s number-one domestic priority, encouraged by the irresponsible cries of “death panels” from once-respectable public servants like Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and the populist anti-rhetoric of Sarah Palin, which veers daily into demagoguery. The 24-hour...
...hands of Congress, leading to protracted and unproductive negotiations on Capital Hill. While Mr. Obama promised change in Washington, he cannot alter the nature of parliamentary democracy, which relies on such wheeling-and-dealing as the legislative pay-off to Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) during the health-care negotiations that Ms. Meyer rightly derides. But surely the complete unwillingness of congressional Republicans to cooperate with Mr. Obama is just as despicable. Given the constant Republican threats of filibuster, an increasingly out-of-reach supermajority of 60 Senate seats is now required to pass any kind of progressive legislation...
...populism and counter-productive anti-government sentiment are in danger of carrying the day, especially if Democrats like Ms. Meyer are already willing to throw their president to the dogs. Does she really believe that the Palins, Boehners and Cantors of the world will deliver more jobs, better health-care and a speedier withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan than Obama can? Change can only be achieved incrementally, and the president’s fiery and inspiring State of the Union—in which he outlined plans for reining in the deficit, improving the economy, and alleviating the unemployment problem?...
This revulsion toward the nation's capital is understandable. But it makes the problem worse. From health care to energy to the deficit, addressing the U.S.'s big challenges requires vigorous government action. When government doesn't take that action, it loses people's faith. And without public faith, government action is harder still. Call it Washington's vicious circle...
...when the Gingrich Republicans carried out a virtual sit-down strike during Clinton's first two years, the public mood turned nasty. By 1994, trust in government was at an all-time low, which suited the Republicans fine, since their major line of attack against Clinton's health care plan was that it would empower government. Clintoncare collapsed, Democrats lost Congress, and Republicans learned the secrets of vicious-circle politics: When the parties are polarized, it's easy to keep anything from getting done. When nothing gets done, people turn against government. When you're the party out of power...