Pep Talk?

by digby

I can’t stand it that Obama just said “I said that health care can’t add to the deficit and I mean it.” He even said it twice. Yuk.

That’s the George W. Bush swaggery, daddy bully style that makes me want to puke. In fact, that’s exactly what Bush used to say about critics of the Iraq war: “I told the American people they were going to have to be patient and I meant it!” Or this one, about John Roberts:

“I said there is no litmus test, and I meant it,” Bush said.

Or this one:

I said after September the 11th we would do everything in our power to bring justice to the enemy that attacked the American people, and I meant it. And part of chasing down the Taliban and al Qaeda is to find them where they hide. And just like in Iraq, we’re going to have our Special Forces stay on the hunt. And we’ll continue training at the same time.

Or this one:

The key to making sure that the deficit is reduced is for there to be on the one hand, spending discipline — and I’ve — as you noticed in my opening remarks, I talked about these appropriations bills that are beginning to move. And I thought I was pretty clear about the need for those bills to be — to be fiscally responsible. And I meant it.

If Obama’s going to adopt that attitude, maybe he could try using it on all these screeching whiners in the intelligence community who threaten to hold their breath until they turn blue if they are held accountable for anything. They seem like the type of people who might like a daddy bully to tell them to straighten up and fly right.

The deficit is obviously a sacred totem in Washington and nobody’s going to challenge it. And by reinforcing the deficit fetish, the Democrats are actually sowing the seeds of their own demise. I’m sure that will be a big relief to the privileged wealthy who have successfully created a bizarre, abstract fear of a federal budget deficit among average people for whom it has no real meaning at all. What a triumph of propaganda that is.

This is the substance of his own proposal for cost control, in case anyone’s interested. According to CNN, Democrats are thrilled that he’s finally weighing in with something specific.

Update II: Gloria Borger says that this will work for Obama if he goes back and tells the congress that they are going to have to create a plan that delivers less to the people.

Gloria won’t be affected, of course. She’s a millionaire celebrity with great health care. So that’s a relief.

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