Plouffe Goes Plop

If last night’s speech was to be the beginning of the winning strategy that would accompany the return of Barack Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe into the inner circle of advisors, that beginning fizzled before it started.

How in the world can the President possibly deliver on everything that he proposed last night? Perhaps he could start by focusing on the single outcome that I think we all want: Getting the economy back on track first.

Yesterday, that’s what he said he would do. But that only happened because his super-majority was blown to bits with the election of Senator-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts, as well as the mounting threat of further casualties feared by Obama in the November mid-term Congressional contests – that’s why Plouffe is back.

Soon, it will be a return to the same old Washington power game. In his speech, Mr. Obama addressed his Democrats, “We still have the largest majority in decades, and people expect us to solve problems, not run to the hills.” To Republicans, he said, “The responsibility is now yours as well.”

Democrats aren’t running for the hills; they are eyeing November and running for re-election already. Republicans always had the responsibility, but Obama, Reid and Pelosi have been hitting them over the head with the sledge of a super-majority.

Obama’s habit of thinking and speaking of himself in the third person as a Washington outsider is not a good sign. He has been in office a year now, sitting in the seat of the highest position in the land. He is Washington.

Transparency According to Frank Pallone

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. who represents the New Jersey 6th Congressional District doesn’t see any lack of transparency by President Obama, the Senate, or the House of Representatives when it comes to the national debate on healthcare.

In a TV interview yesterday, Pallone said, “It’s inevitable that there be some private discussions, and that’s what you are seeing now.”

Apparently it doesn’t much matter to the congressman that Obama has reneged on his promise to televise the healthcare debate on C-Span; that Reid and Pelosi are excluding Republicans from meetings; or that this president is also having closed-door meetings with congressional leaders while excluding all media and members of the opposing party.

Pallone must be quite confident in his reelection chances and doesn’t seem to care about the integrity of the healthcare process. But then who else in the Democrat-led New Jersey delegation does? Even our two senators Menendez and Lautenberg are sending us the message that what’s good for the White House is good for New Jersey.

Take a look at how gerrymandered the 6th Congressional District is as it snakes along from Plainfield to Asbury Park, and then you will know the real reason why Pallone can be so blasé about the security of his position in the House of Representatives.

Note: After a challenge by C-span, there is now the possibility that the Obama administration will permit a one hour infomercial explaining ex post facto what it is about to do on healthcare.

An Uncivil Dialogue

The national debate on healthcare issues in the United States has turned feral. Washington legislators returning home for the summer recess are holding town hall meetings (at least those who are unafraid to stand before their constituents) and, in many cases, are facing an unexpectedly shrill crescendo of opposition.

Seldom have I seen such disrespect and condescending language used so dismissively by high-ranking elected officials. Senate majority leader Harry Reid has called opponents “evil-mongers.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refers to them as “un-American.”

Recently, in his home district in Massachusetts, Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee stared down one of his female constituents, accusing her of yelling at him. Congressman Frank bluntly told the woman, “Trying to have a conversation with you is like trying to have one with a dining room table.”

Another volley came from former DNC Chairman, Howard Dean, who warned Republican dissenters to Obama’s healthcare initiatives that “you have to undermine the country in order to undermine the President.” Dean later denied saying that.

Nevertheless, the voice of citizens is having an impact: There now is word that MoveOn.org and Acorn are planning counter-offensives with their own supporter-filled Tea-Party type town hall meetings.

Did you know? Congressman Barney Frank was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He was educated at Harvard College and, like many other students who graduate from Boston area universities, he chose to make the Bay State his home.