The Woodward Report
From Jesus to Joker
Obama's grasp on power is slipping just like his poll numbers
August 4th, 2009
by Brian Woodward
Once branded the messiah, the recent portrayal of Obama as the Joker reflects his fall from favor as well as his broken agenda. Obama’s approval ratings are plummeting, his climate bill is dead, his health care bill is on the skids, “cash for clunkers” is a catastrophe, he has sided with Castro and Chavez instead of freedom in Honduras, and he is being openly mocked on the streets of L.A.
The Rasmussen daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday, August 4th shows that 30% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -7. His approval rating index is down 30 points since January, 13 since May, and 9 since June. A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted between July 17-19 put President Obama's approval rating at 55 percent, which ranks him 10th among 12 post-World War II Presidents at the same point in the survey.
Rasmussen also reported today that by a 54% to 33% margin, American adults oppose new funding for the “Cash for Clunkers” program.
Obama’s climate bill which according to the Wall Street Journal would be the biggest tax in American history and according to Obama “would cause electricity rates to necessarily skyrocket,” passed the house by a narrow margin of 219-212. However, it stands little to no chance to pass the Senate. Long time skeptic of global warming Senator Inhofe (R-OK) described the bill as “dead in the water” and asserted that it would get no more than 35 votes.
Obama pressed for a health care vote before the August recess but the bill barely made it out of committee. Rahm Emanuel the President’s Chief of staff has been issued a stern warning by Congressmen Issa of California to back off and to stop trying to use scare tactics to push the vote through. The longer the vote is pushed back the more doubt will be cast about the bill. The bill is in danger of not being passed or at the least being a watered down version of the President’s vision. A CBS/NY Times poll released July 31st stated that only 46 percent of the American public approves of the way President is handling health care reform.
“Cash for Clunkers” has reeked havoc for car dealerships all over the country, has aided Japanese auto giants more than anyone, and yet Obama wants to pump an additional 2 billion into the program to boost sales. A move that as noted above the American people widely opposed. Since last week the Associated Press has sought release of the data on the 157,000 processed rebate requests, yet the Obama administration refuses to do so. So much for transparency.
As for the situation in Honduras, lets us use a rule of thumb. Anytime you side with Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro you are probably wrong. The former Honduran President Zelaya was ousted from power after attempting to amend the constitution via referendum in efforts to enable him to serve more than the constitutionally alloted single term. The law of the land only allows the congress to declare a referendum and the supreme court ordered the Honduran military to not assist with the referendum. Former President Zelaya then fired the army’s chief of staff, the supreme court reinstated him, and then Zelaya fired him again. Zelaya was attempting to strong arm his way to dismantling the democracy and becoming a dictator. The military then took Zelaya into custody and exiled him to Costa Rica. This action was taken to ensure freedom. However, Obama has supported Zelaya in his attempt to illegally amend the constitution and to remain in power. To do such a thing is not only absurd but is troubling.
Recently a poster of Obama portrayed as a the joker from Batman with the word “socialism” underneath has surfaced all around L.A. as well as Atlanta. Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson described the posters as “mean-spirited and dangerous.” I assume the danger is posed by the rough edges of paper that could potentially cause mass paper cuts. And in a society with no public healthcare plan, how could we possibly treat so many devastating injuries. An interesting footnote to the story is that Vanity Fair published a picture of George W. Bush portrayed as the Joker in July of 2008. Click here to see Vanity Fair image.
Obama’s grip on power is falling fast. The public’s support is waning and his control of Congress is as well. Him and his staff are learning that Washington is not Chicago, and in a power hungry capitol even his fellow democrats don’t like being pushed around.
