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It's amusing when democrats turn on each other. Joe Manchin has an excellent point though, obama isn't a leader. He is a divider. He has forced partisan politics to a level we haven't seen in years. He has set race relations back a good 50 years. Now he is even dividing his own party.
obama has a couple of good excuses on the budget though. One, he is absolutely clueless on how to solve this crisis. His advisors are just as lost as he is. And two, he is addicted to spending, he can't stop. He will never understand that we can't spend our way out of this mess. And all of those TRILLIONS of dollars, they aren't free money. There is no such thing...
By Jennifer Epstein & Scott Wong - Politico
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin ripped President Barack Obama on his budget proposals in a Senate floor speech Tuesday, a rare rebuke from a freshman Democrat who clearly is worried about the politics of deficit spending as he faces a tough reelection in 2012.
Manchin charged the president with failing to lead the way in reducing spending, while also criticizing Republicans for offering “partisan” and “unrealistic” budget proposals.
“Why are we doing all this when the most powerful person in these negotiations — our president — has failed to lead this debate or offer a serious proposal for spending and cuts that he would be willing to fight for?”
The full-throated rejection of the president’s spending proposals by a politically vulnerable Democrat is just the latest worrisome sign for Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who have yet to rally their party around a unified spending plan. Indeed, Democratic leaders are having trouble just keeping moderates on board — Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) also have expressed skepticism that Democrats are willing to cut enough spending to satisfy voters and make a dent in the deficit.
Manchin will vote against both the Senate Democrats’ proposal, which will cut $10.6 billion below current spending levels and the House Republican version of the continuing resolution, which would cut $61 billion. The Senate is expected to vote on both this week, perhaps as early as Tuesday, and neither is expected to pass.
Read the rest at the link above...