For President Barack Obama, politics is about winning the disagreement, not building consensus.

The Obama way: litigation not leadership

By Thomas DelBeccaro

Litigation is the absence of an agreement. Most often, it represents the failure of parties to see eye-to-eye on the facts or their implications. Other times, it is the favored tactic of bullies attempting to stare down their opponents or using their superior position to wear them down. Decent politics is often like the former. During the Obama litigation presidency, it is strictly the latter.

For President Barack Obama, politics is about winning the disagreement, not building consensus. We know why. His career as a community organizer was not an effort to work with others but strictly to inflame like-minded partisans. He always won speaking to his own – no broad consensus or leadership skills needed there.

When he voted “present” in the Illinois legislature, he didn’t have to reach agreement with anyone, either. If fact, Mr. Obama has made a career of not reaching consensus with anyone. For his first act as President, he relied on the partisan House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to pass a spending bill without a single concession to Republicans, let alone their approval. It was victory by force – not consensus or leadership.

Mr. Obama’s ObamaCare approach was no different. In the face of public opposition – not to mention Senator Scott Brown’s election victory – Mr. Obama again triumphed over disagreement. He didn’t need votes from the other side. He just needed the votes of those Democrats already present.

When it came to global warming laws, unable to win in Congress, Mr. Obama settled out of Congress and used the EPA to claim his victory.


.....


Read more: www.washingtontimes.com