April 29, 2009

100 Days of Devastatingly Swift Success
by Newt Gingrich

To mark President Obama's 100th day in office, I'm going to say something
you might find unexpected, even shocking:

President Obama's first 100 days have been spectacularly successful.

President Obama is the strongest domestic Democratic President since
Lyndon Johnson. His ability to get Democrats in Congress to give him
things that undermine their own power is impressive.

In just 100 days, President Obama has been devastatingly effective in
moving forward swiftly the most radical, government-expanding agenda in
American history.

Successfully Moving to a European Model of Government Control Sponsored
Content

Abroad, he has succeeded in his apparent goal to be the un-George W. Bush;
replacing aggressive, if sometimes flawed, American leadership with a
humbled, weakened America on the world stage.

Judged by these standards, President Obama's first 100 days have been a
remarkable success.

Getting Congress to Give Him Things That Undermine Their Own Power

The Obama record in the first 100 days includes three instances of
spectacular political impunity:

    * Under the guise of "economic stimulus" he was able to pass a $787
billion gift for his liberal special interest base. And he did it so
quickly that no member of Congress was able to read it before they voted.

    * After campaigning on a pledge to end earmarks, he signed an
appropriations bill loaded with 8,000 earmarks - and paid no political
penalty.

    * President Obama has kept congressional Democrats marching with him
in lockstep. House Democrats tow the party line an amazing 94 percent of
the time and Senate Democrats vote Democratic 91 percent of the time.

Two Historic Bureaucratic Power Grabs

In these first 100 days, the Obama Administration has achieved two
historic bureaucratic power grabs:

    * President Obama has transformed the Federal Reserve and the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) into giant engines of unsupervised
spending. Together, they've spent the equivalent of the entire federal
budget for 2007, without having to disclose where the money went.

    * Just two weeks ago, the President presided over an unprecedented
bureaucratic power grab when his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
ruled that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health. This seemingly
innocuous decision opens the door to wholesale regulation of American life
by government. The threat is so great that politicians and activists are
using the specter of an out-of-control EPA to force Congress to pass a $1
trillion to $2 trillion energy tax in the form of cap-and-trade
legislation.

In Foreign Policy, Weakness and Self-Delusion

The Obama 100 days record also includes remarkable weakness and
self-delusion overseas:

    * In an attempt to overcome anti-Americanism abroad by agreeing with
it, President Obama has gone on a global apology tour, labeling America as
"arrogant, dismissive and derisive" in front of foreign audiences.

    * President Obama has unleashed a domestic war over the meaning of
guilt by caving in to the anti-American left and leaving the door open to
prosecuting Bush Administration officials over the interrogation of
terrorists who plotted to kill Americans.

All Other Obama "Accomplishments" Are Only a Prelude to His $3.5 Trillion
Budget Sponsored Content

But all these successful expansions of government at home and retractions
of American leadership abroad are merely a prelude to President Obama's
looming crowning achievement: His 2010 budget which remakes our health
care system, remakes our energy system, raises taxes and forecasts an
amazing $9 trillion increase in the national debt.

As I write this, Democrats in Congress are fashioning a deal to pass the
budget's provisions on health care by preventing Republicans and moderate
Democrats from having a voice in the debate.

Think about that. The Obama-Reid-Pelosi political machine is going to pass
legislation that fundamentally affects every single American - as well as
17 percent of our economy - by cutting the elected representatives of half
of all Americans out of the process.

If they succeed, the budget will be President Obama's most enduring - and
devastating - accomplishment.

Will the Future Bring Change We Can Believe In? Or a Change in What we
Believe?

One thing is clear at this point in President Obama's presidency: His
control of Washington Democrats has been so masterful, and his policies so
successful, that he has officially claimed ownership of the American
economy.

Going forward, it won't be possible to continue to place blame on former
President Bush and the Republicans. If President Obama fails, it will be
his failure and his alone.

As for us, the "success" of the first 100 days of the Obama presidency
raises a threatening possibility.

As my daughter and columnist Jackie Cushman put it, if we're not careful,
instead of change we can believe in, we're going to have change in what we
believe.

It's something to ponder for the next 1,361 days.

   Your friend,

   Newt Gingrich


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