Watch as President Barack Obama, speaking Monday at a town hall meeting in Decorah, Iowa, explains how he thinks public employees should do some “burden sharing” when it comes to their benefits (start at 6:00 into video).
As I watched President Obama answer the question posed to him about public employees, I found it to be a fascinating tap dance around the issue. Once again President Obama did his best to make it seem as if he really, really supports public employee unions while making it clear that those unions and their members need to be doing some “burden sharing,” as if they haven’t done enough “burden sharing” already.
Personally, I’m disappointed President Obama wasn’t asked about his utter failure to live up to his own 2007 campaign promises to “put on a comfortable pair of shoes” and walk on the picket line himself if American workers were being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain, because I would have loved to see him squirm to answer that question.
Perhaps President Obama couldn’t find his comfortable shoes when Wisconsin public employees’ collective bargaining rights came under attack, which would explain his failure to step foot in Wisconsin, let alone walk a picket line or march with protesters.
The more I think about President Obama’s failure to lead and stand up for Wisconsin’s public employees, the less enthused I am about supporting his reelection campaign.
Yep. That’s the quote. Such are the dangers of reading blog entries in reverse chronological order.
I still cannot believe he said that about public workers.
The president’s words [and the political appeal] could have been and in fact were right out of Scott Walker’s playbook.
I’m not ready to abandon Obama’s reelection, but I am getting pretty close.
Consider what the plan the DoD is batting around, a Radical Overhaul of Military Retirement System.
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Retiree healthcare (TRICARE) is significantly more generous than civilian programs
Military retirement exceeds levels in the private sector
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This again is just like Scott Walker who [after being elected] blasted public workers for allegedly overly generous pensions.
Any proposed diminishment of Social Security, Medicaid/Medicare is a deal killer for my support for Obama.
People c’mon! get with it!
Obama’s annoying but here’s the deal we can all get around –
Vote Black! Pay the Kochs back!
Sure it’s offensive but everything about politics is offensive now. You gotta work with what you have.
It’s gratifying to see you finally admit there is nothing substantive behind Obama.