He didn't need it when he had it to spend. Now, he's spent his political capital, we are ALL broke, and he wants to spend more - ain't going to happen

Editor's notes: Midknight Review has seen this day coming for a long time. Obama's agenda is about to come to a screeching halt. He and Maverick Man, John McCain, signed on to the TARP and in that signing, really sealed the doom of the Obama long term agenda. Yes, he got healthcare past, but without the "public option." Give it a few years and, of course, the "public option" will magically appear -- but it is only an incremental aspect of the current legislation, giving a conservative Congress time to make corrections where necessary and repeal where demanded.

His Cap and Trade bill, scheduled to be past by mid-July of 2009, did not happen. Gun control laws are out. The "fairness doctrine" is bye-bye. Ditto "net neutrality." What about amending the Supreme Court's decision to allow corporate speech to be protected speech? It failed this past week. Is there hope for the unions anti-private ballot initiative? Nope. The housing mess is still a mess -- and a developing one. Turns out that Fannie and Freddie are under immense pressure because of continuing residential foreclosures -- we taxpayers now own 163,828 repossessed homes with well over another 2 million in jeopardy. The total bill could be over one trillion dollars according to many analysts. What makes matters worse is the fact that the public is more than tired of all the spending -- $11 trillion in 17 months compared to Bush's 3.8 trillion dollars in 8 years !!! The stimulus was poorly thought out and has not worked according to promise. In fact, of the $880 billion (787 billion originally plus 75 billion for unemployment benefit pay and another 18 million past two months ago), only $115 billion has been spent for contracts and infrastructure (according to recovery.gov). While some spending may be needed, the folks have been lied to about each and every spending bill and they longer trust congress to spend with integrity.

Rick Klien of ABC News writes this summary view regarding mounting distractions to the Obama agenda:

President Obama has had two major messages for Congress in recent months: Keep the focus on jobs and the economy, and get serious about runaway spending. The new dynamic played out last week in a series of startling Senate votes, where Democratic leaders fell short on a package of new spending and tax cut extensions – and seemed genuinely surprised that they were unable to keep their own members on board.

Combine that unease with a united Republican caucus -- the GOP is making spending a major issue this year regardless of what happens over the next few months -- and near-paralysis results on the legislative front.

The shift has major implications for the Obama agenda, as well as efforts to sell the portions of the agenda that have already passed Congress.

Democrats' vow to focus on jobs has already gotten distracted by a series of side issues, including most recently the response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf. The concerns about spending will only make it harder for Democrats to convince voters that their primary concern going into the fall is the state of the economy. READ MORE >>