Word: congressed
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...vision - after the ad hoc, go-it-alone bellicosity of his predecessor. No less a high priest than Henry Kissinger recently called Obama a "chess player," which is high praise in the world of diplomacy. In domestic policy, however, it has meant an undue respect for the institution of Congress, a sclerotic body badly in need of creative leadership. This is leading Obama into trouble...
...successfully during his first 100 days, giving two excellent speeches about the need for a stimulus plan and general economic reform. He has lost that focus as his other initiatives have come online; he has failed to speak with precision or clarity about the bills wandering through Congress. He has failed to make clear what needs to be in those bills - and what can't be - if he is going to sign them. He also needs to update the public on his stimulus plan, especially now that his Vice President inadvertently dissed it. And he needs to make a direct...
...This was never going to be easy. The past 30 years have created a crimped, big-C Conservative playing field when it comes to public policy. Congress cringes at the hard stuff, especially anything that can be labeled a tax or a regulation. To make things more difficult, the public doesn't consider health or energy reform as crucial as the President (rightly) does. Most people are happy with their health insurance, although they're worried about losing it. And they are not clear about the sacrifices necessary to address climate change - or the national-security issues raised...
...Obama is to succeed with his domestic-policy agenda, he needs to convince people that action is necessary on these abstruse issues. He is going to have to demand clear, comprehensible solutions from Congress, and he is going to have to admit what most civilians know in their gut: that a price must be paid for a better, more secure health-care system and action on climate change. This will be easier with the more immediate issue, health-insurance reform. There are compromises that can be made - and Obama should admit that John McCain's plan to tax employer-provided...
...Cupboard. In New York, liquor stores cannot be jointly owned, and the sole proprietor is required to live within a certain distance of his or her establishment - a stipulation that effectively bans chains. In Kansas, a state that outlawed alcohol sales until 1948 - a full 15 years after Congress repealed Prohibition - 29 counties still don't allow the sale of individual glasses of liquor...