In a press conference yesterday following the overwhelming landslide election of Republicans to the House, Senate and Governors’ seats across America, President Obama laid out his vision for how he’ll govern over the next two years. Many were expecting him to strike a conciliatory tone, offering to work with a legislative branch dominated by the opposing party. What actually happened, though, was that the president pledged to do whatever he wants and ignore any legislation he doesn’t like . . .
From the White House official remarks:
I’m committed to making sure that I measure ideas not by whether they are from Democrats or Republicans, but whether they work for the American people. And that’s not to say that we won’t disagree over some issues that we’re passionate about. We will. Congress will pass some bills I cannot sign. I’m pretty sure I’ll take some actions that some in Congress will not like. That’s natural. That’s how our democracy works. But we can surely find ways to work together on issues where there’s broad agreement among the American people.
I’m the kind of guy who believes that vox populi vox dei — the voice of the people is the voice of God — especially in a representative democracy like ours. Politicians are placed in power to carry out the will of the people, not impose their own personal will on the government. It looks to me like the American people made their voice heard loud and clear when they elected an overwhelmingly Republican legislature. They are fed up with his policies (especially those relating to gun control), but President Obama’s plan is to keep doing whatever he wants, only playing nice when it suits his agenda.
Remember all those hopes for national reciprocity and NFA reform? Yeah, no. It looks like gridlock is the best we can hope for during the next two years.