"Nancy Reid" Must Go....!

I want Obama to succeed and still believe he may be a great President, but he needs to take control now! Who would have thought Obama would have been getting press like this 17 days in…..?

The Stimulus Bill is a Bomb - Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal
Obama Losing Stimulus Fight To Defeated GOP - E. J. Dionne, Wash Post
Can Obama Reboot After Daschle? - Joe Klein, Time
Obama's 'Screw-Up' Puts Geithner on Thin Ice - Caroline Baum, Bloomberg
Obama Losing The Stimulus War, Jeanne Cummings, Politico

Here are 10 crucial errors he has made already. Obama:
1. Hasn’t learnt the key lessons for Democratic Presidents that their own party is often a bigger liability than the opposition [I am not a member of any organized party—I am a Democrat (Bill Clinton)]
2. Allowed Nancy Pelosi to oversee the drafting of the stimulus bill that would ultimately have his name (and brand) on it
3. Failed to pressure her early enough to remove politically suicidal items like condoms and financial help for Hollywood producers
4. Allowed Pelosi to put a stimulus bill before the House of Representatives that was so toxic, not only did it fail to garner a single Republican vote (not important in and of itself), but couldn’t even secure the votes of all Democrats—surely the most under-reported of the major blunders so far!
5. Handed the Republicans an easy victory in the air war on spending vs. stimulus
6. Was incredibly sloppy in vetting his nominees—the American people are losing count of the number of Friends of Obama (FOOs) falling on the road to the Cabinet
7. Hasn’t dealt with the ticking time bomb of Geithner—when the American people realize that he knowingly committed fraud (asked to be compensated by his employer for tax he had no intention of paying) rather than simply screwed-up, he will have to resign (Why Geithner Was Worse Than Daschle)
8. Was seemingly caught completely unawares that there’s a big difference between the FOO anchors on network TV, CNN and MSNBC and the White House press corps whose job is to ask tough questions day in, day out
9. Has lost the huge momentum he had following his election and inauguration (is it too early to invoke deja vu, GWB and the lost consensus after 9/11?)
10. Worst of all, he is squandering the bipartisan goodwill of the American people and in great danger of crushing the hopes and dreams he so eloquently raised only weeks ago. (Remember, this is going on against a political background where Democrats are starting to look every bit as sleazy as Republicans: Edwards, Kilpatrick, Dixon, Rangel and, of course, Blagojevich).

So what does Obama need to do? In the short term, he must:
1. Take aggressive control (in the Chicago-way sense) of the stimulus package (behind the scenes as Pelosi and Reid are nominally in control) and shape a bill that focuses like a laser (great sound bite, Republicans) on job creation and getting the economy back on track
2. Clean out the cabinet now—Geithner (and others?) must go—these scandals can’t be allowed to distract from the real work that we all know needs to get done, and revelations will continue to leak out
3. Move the conversation on from this self-inflicted chaotic mess to announce a dramatic bank rescue package, with a focus on equity investment (and future payback) for the American people, and a new bank to hold the toxic assets of the existing banks

In the longer term, the greatest threat to Obama is not the Republicans. It is Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. These clowns will throw away the Democrat majorities in Congress and they could severely damage Obama’s chances of reelection. However unpalatable (for them), Democrats must face up to the fact that America is a center right nation, not a center left nation.

Obama was elected because he promised the opposite of Bush—coherence, competence and hope. He was not elected because the American people suddenly decided that European style big government is the answer to all their problems. Pelosi and Reid will never get this and they will continue to provide manna from heaven for Republicans. Obama must play hardball. Will no one rid him of these turbulent bleeps!