Responsibility for Obstruction in US Politics is 180 degrees Opposite the Media Message

from The Gray Area:

President Obama stated yesterday that he will use his veto pen on legislation he dislikes coming from the new congress in 2015. “I haven’t used the veto pen very often since I’ve been in office,” Obama said in an NPR interview airing Monday. “Now, I suspect, there are going to be some times where I’ve got to pull that pen out.” While every President has that Constitutional right and have used their veto authority as they see fit, this threat from President Obama should send a clear message to the country as to who has really been obstructing legislative progress the last 6 years.

When President Obama took office in 2008, he had both houses of the Congress in Democrat control. A perfect formula for passing partisan legislation. He took advantage of this with such bills as Dodd-Frank and Obamacare. The later, in the face of national opposition to the bill, still had to be rushed through without reading, passed using Congressional slights of hand and bribery. Still others he could not or would not get accomplished, think immigration.

In 2010 when the House switched over to Republican control, the Democrat led Senate shut down. The House passed hundreds of bills that the Senate chose not to bring up for vote, or voted down. Democrats in Congress and the President, with their media allies blamed this on the House Republican’s obstruction. Democrats and their media echo chamber were very successful with this messaging as Congress lost more of its historically low popularity and most people when polled agreed that Congressional inaction and obstruction was the cause for the slow economic recovery and other issues languishing.

With the 2014 elections, and the American people made a statement that Congress should act and threw out the Senate Democrats. With Republican control of the 114th Congress facing President Obama and the Democrats Starting January 3, 2015, President Obama introduces the threat of executive veto of legislation he doesn’t like.

So think about it. For the first two years President Obama could pass partisan legislation, and he did some of that. For the next four years, the Democrats could pass bi-partisan legislation, but Harry Reid and he decided not to, preferring instead to say the Republicans weren’t negotiating. Though the Republican House was passing hundreds of bills for consideration and the Democrat Senate was actually sitting on those proposals, not cooperating or negotiating. When Ted Cruz filibustered in Congress he was viciously attacked by Democrats and the media presented him as the poster boy for Republican obstructionism in Congress. When Wendy Davis filibustered a new abortion law in the Texas legislature, she was presented as a national hero and runs for Governor of Texas in 2014 with national financial support. See the picture yet?

Now that the House and Senate will be controlled by Republicans, the President threatens vetos. This 6 year history paints a very clear picture of where the source of obstruction in our political progress exists – the Democrats & President Obama. He will pass legislation ONLY when it is consistent with his partisan agenda. He will obstruct when it is not.

This represents a typical translation formula for political messaging today. Step one, any messaging presented by politicians of the mainstream media is decidedly left wing messaging. Step two, issues being promoted are presented as mainstream popular majority opinion whether they are or not (think Obamacare & Dodd-Frank). Step three, vary your news sources and watch what is happening vs what is being said. And, step four, you will find that the truth is usually 180 degrees away from the mainstream media message. Example, the media presents the problem as Republican obstruction in Congress – the truth is really Democrat partisan obstruction of the national political process, or 180 degrees the other way from the popular messaging.

Use this formula to translate every media message on any issue and you will find the truth. And, the truth will always reveal “that there is more that unites us than divides us“.