Obama’s about to throw down the gauntlet
WASHINGTON — “Interesting stuff happens in the fourth quarter.” That’s how U.S. President Barack Obama this month summed up his expectations for his final two years in office.
Indeed. Probably more “interesting” than he would like. Congress is nothing like it was six years ago. No supportive Democrat majority. Just a sea of grim Republicans determined to make his twilight years bruising.
As he prepares to deliver his state of the union address Tuesday evening, he faces a Congress that has turned from deep blue to red and now the retreating battered Democrats are left to fight rearguard actions to preserve Obama’s legacy and rebuild for the 2016 presidential campaign.
Republicans are re-energized by their 2014 midterm victories and eager to prove they can govern, which for many of them means dismantling Obama’s world.
Faced with this promised onslaught, Obama has remained resolute. His state of the union will be an act of defiance, a throwing down of the gauntlet. And for good measure, the White House has sent out signals of what’s to come.
First on his list is the growing gap between rich and poor. Dan Pfeiffer, a senior adviser to Obama, says the president will emphasize the expanding success of the U.S. economic recovery. But while the 11 million jobs that have been created since 2009 sound like a major success, Republicans have been able to undermine Obama by repeating over and over that America is hurting. Most countries these days would die for that kind of hurt.
On Tuesday, Obama will announce his intention to prepare legislation to raise taxes for the rich so that over the next 10 years they will pay an extra $320 billion into the treasury.
“Despite what you might hear from the Beltway pundits, this president looks forward to working with the new Republican Congress on ways we can move America forward,” Pfeiffer says.
It’s early in the game but so far Republicans have not indicated that the feeling is mutual. Quite the opposite. They seem ready to go to war.