JEB SEES THROUGH THE ‘SECRET PLAN’…. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), not surprisingly, isn’t impressed with President Obama. More interesting, though, is the specific critique — he’s not just disappointed with the president’s agenda, he also thinks Obama has changed his policy agenda.
“Barack Obama would not have gotten elected if he’d let us in on his secret plan prior to the election. He would not have gotten elected if he’d said, ‘My idea is to create a $1.8 trillion deficit for the next fiscal year. My idea is to spend $750 billion [the president’s budget estimate puts this figure at $630 billion] over the next ten years on a government-sponsored, government-subsidized health-care policy. My idea is to create a massive cap-and-trade system [based on the idea] that CO2 is [a] pollutant and we need to tax it in a massive way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.’”
Obviously, President Obama is not above criticism, and I can think of plenty of areas where he needs to step up far more effectively (indefinite detention and DADT, come to mind). But Jeb Bush’s critique doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Was he watching a different presidential race last year? The former president’s brother may not have liked Obama’s agenda, but what we’re seeing is pretty much what we were promised. Obama said he’d prioritize economic investment over reducing the $1.3 trillion deficit Jeb’s brother left on the Oval Office desk, and that’s what he’s doing. Obama said he’d support a health care reform with a public option, and that’s what he’s doing. Obama touted the benefits of a cap-and-trade system, and he’s standing behind it. The whole agenda was put online, talked about in speeches, and scrutinized in interviews and debates. Obama then won 365 electoral votes and the highest popular vote percentage of any Democratic candidate in 44 years.
So, what’s the problem?
Jeb’s vision of Obama’s “secret plan” is apparently so secret, even Obama doesn’t seem to be aware of it.
