The problem is — since Republicans don’t understand mass communications — they can’t not blow it. From David Harsanyi at GOPUSA:
Whatever you make of [Obama’s economic] ideas in general, they are unserious policy prescriptions for a stagnant economy. If the president were earnest about moving forward, he would have offered something, anything — regulatory slowdown or a reprieve for small businesses or a pipeline even. Instead, the GOP was presented with a grab bag of progressive hobbyhorses that he knows have no chance of going anywhere. And isn’t that the point? Keep your heel on the throat of the obstructionists and win the politics of the day. The House and White House are ready to battle over the debt ceiling and budget, and that’s what this is about.
So what do Republicans do? Obama quipped that repealing Obamacare and cutting spending isn’t an economic plan. Well, it’s as good an economic plan as Obama has produced. This year, more than 830,000 Americans are new part-time workers, and 97,000 fewer of them have full-time positions. Poll after poll finds that small businesses are cutting back or hiring fewer full-time workers because of Obamacare. Other polls show Obamacare’s popularity decreasing as implementation ratchets up.
Yet broadly speaking, he’s correct; there has to be more.
