Today on NRO VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Identity politics rejects ending illegal immigration and reforming legal immigration. Resisting Immigration Reform. CHARLES C. W. COOKE: Refusing to enforce constitutionally dubious legislation is no better when they do it. Sheriffs Have No Veto. ANDREW STILES: Kentucky's exchange is not the glowing success touted by Obamacare's desperate defenders.Kentucky Hokum. JOHN O'SULLIVAN: The trial of the two men who proudly claim they killed British soldier Lee Rigby is drawing to a close. A Visit to Woolwich. ILAN BERMAN: Our deal with Iran has the Middle East re-aligning, to our detriment. The Real Cost of Geneva. EVAN BERNICK: Firms offering grandfathered plans are exempt from the HHS mandate, so Hobby Lobby should be too. Hobby Lobby's Secular Case. ALEC TORRES: California plaintiffs hope their case ends up in the Supreme Court. Teachers Challenge Compulsory Union Dues. |
Morning Jolt
. . . with Jim Geraghty December 17, 2013 Obama: In Worse Shape than George W. Bush in December 2005 Do you ever get tired of the headline, "Obama Numbers Hit New Low"? Nah, I didn't think so. President Obama is ending his fifth year in office matching the worst public approval ratings of his presidency, with record numbers of Americans saying they disapprove of his job performance and his once-hefty advantages over Republicans in Congress eroded in many areas, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. His position is all the more striking when compared with his standing a year ago, as he was preparing for his second inauguration after a solid reelection victory. That high note proved fleeting as the president faced a series of setbacks, culminating in the botched rollout of his Affordable Care Act two months ago.
The president's overall approval rating stands at 43 percent, while disapproval is at 55 percent. Those numbers are virtually identical to a poll taken a month ago. At this time last year, 54 percent approved of Obama's overall performance and 42 disapproved. Even after the huge losses his party suffered in the 2010 midterms, Obama's approval rating was higher, at 49 percent, than it is today and was slightly more positive than negative. Obama ends his fifth year in office with lower approval ratings than almost all other recent two-term presidents. At this point in 2005, for example, former president George W. Bush was at 47 percent positive, 52 percent negative. All other post-World War II presidents were at or above 50 percent at this point in their second terms, except Richard M. Nixon, whose fifth year ended in 1973 with an approval rating of 29 percent because of the Watergate scandal that later brought impeachment and his resignation.
Also note: "Two months ago, Democrats held an eight-point advantage on the heels of the October government shutdown. Today it's just two points – 47 percent to 45 percent. As a point of reference, shortly before Republicans made historic gains in the House in 2010, this "generic ballot" narrowly favored the Democrats." Obama's Cabinet: The One Place Americans Can't Get Laid Off or Fired Hey, remember when we used to joke that Obama was always throwing people under buses? In USA Today, political science professor Ross Baker notes the strangely persistent presence of Kathleen Sebelius at the Department of Health and Human Services, and examines how rare it is for President Obama to directly fire anyone: People have come and gone in Obama's five years in office, but most were urged to jump rather than wait to be pushed. Both generals Stanley McChrystal and David Petraeus knew they were doomed and tendered their resignations. Early in Obama's first term, Social Secretary Desiree Rogers was urged to resign after two unauthorized guests were admitted to a state dinner, and environment adviser Van Jones stepped aside under pressure when some of his controversial writings surfaced. But not all officials who are under fire agree to face-saving devices.
The explanation usually offered by the Obama folks on background is that firing cabinet members or other staffers is usually perceived as a panic move. That person has to be replaced, and the replacement usually takes weeks or months or even a year to get up to speed. And Obama's staffers are quick to point out he's never going to be bullied into firing anyone by a Beltway media that he insists he ignores. Okay, but Sebelius still managed and directed perhaps the biggest and most consequential cluster you-know-what in American domestic-policy history. She helped craft a policy that was sold with PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year" and the Washington PostFact-Checker's biggest Pinocchio of the Year . What's more, if Obama is telling the truth, he was kept in the dark about the unfolding disaster until a week after Healthcare.govlaunched. She still isn't giving straight answers. If all of that hasn't earned a dismissal, what does? We know that Obama isn't particularly close to anyone in his cabinet; Politico called serving in Obama's cabinet "the worst job in Washington." The staffers who rule Obama's West Wing often treat his Cabinet as a nuisance: At the top of the pecking order are the celebrity power players, like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to be warily managed; at the bottom, what they see as a bunch of well-intentioned political naifs only a lip-slip away from derailing the president's agenda. [Energy Secretary Steven] Chu might have been the first Obama Cabinet secretary to earn the disdain of White House aides, but he was hardly the last. "We are completely marginalized … until the [s-word] hits the fan," says one former Cabinet deputy secretary, summing up the view of many officials I interviewed. "If your question is: Did the president rely a lot on his Cabinet as a group of advisers? No, he didn't," says former Obama Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
It's hard to believe Obama really thinks of Sebelius or anyone else in his cabinet as indispensible. Of course, Obama's not the first president to demand loyalty from his staff and repay it in kind. George W. Bush was loyal to "his guys" and "his gals." That was one factor in how Harriet Miers came to be nominated by the Supreme Court. The advantages of the Bush-Obama loyalty approach are obvious, but let's imagine the opposite. Imagine you had a president who wasn't afraid to fire any member of the cabinet who turned into a liability. Imagine a president bold enough to say he likes being able to fire people for bad service. Imagine a president known for cutting people loose, quickly and coolly, after any massive foul-up with big consequences. Don't you think that might cut down on the number of massive foul-ups with big consequences? Speaking of which . . . Your Tax Dollars at Work: The EPA's Absentee Wannabe-Spy So, what would it take to get an agency's secretary or administrator to really overhaul the culture, fire those who can be fired -- despite difficulties -- offer scathing performance reviews for poor performers, light fires under butts, and generally right the ship? Would it take an unbelievably embarrassing disaster like this? The EPA's highest-paid employee and a leading expert on climate change deserves to go to prison for at least 30 months for lying to his bosses and saying he was a CIA spy working in Pakistan so he could avoid doing his real job, say federal prosecutors. John C. Beale, who pled guilty in September to bilking the government out of nearly $1 million in salary and other benefits over a decade, will be sentenced in a Washington, D.C., federal court on Wednesday. In a newly filed sentencing memo, prosecutors said that his lies were a "crime of massive proportion" that were "offensive" to those who actually do dangerous work for the CIA. In September, Beale, who served as a "senior policy adviser" in the agency's Office of Air and Radiation, pled guilty to defrauding the U.S. government out of nearly $900,000 since 2000. Beale perpetrated his fraud largely by failing to show up at the EPA for months at a time, including one 18-month stretch starting in June 2011 when he did "absolutely no work," as Kern, Beale's lawyer, acknowledged in his court filing. To explain his long absences, Beale told agency officials -- including McCarthy -- that he was engaged in intelligence work for the CIA, either at agency headquarters or in Pakistan. At one point he claimed to be urgently needed in Pakistan because the Taliban was torturing his CIA replacement, according to Sullivan. "Due to recent events that you have probably read about, I am in Pakistan," he wrote McCarthy in a Dec. 18, 2010 email. "Got the call Thurs and left Fri. Hope to be back for Christmas . . . Ho, ho, ho." In fact, Beale had no relationship with the CIA at all. Sullivan, the EPA investigator, said he confirmed Beale didn't even have a security clearance. He spent much of the time he was purportedly working for the CIA at his Northern Virginia home riding bikes, doing housework and reading books, or at a vacation house on Cape Cod.
Sure, throw the book at Beale. But will there be any consequences for any of Beale's bosses at the EPA? Did any of them ever ask why an alleged climate change expert would be running around Pakistan for the CIA? Imagine any of your co-workers trying this at your job. "Boss, I can't come in today, or tomorrow, or anytime in the near future. I've been recruited to the CIA. Also, you have to keep paying me. It's a matter of national security." Now imagine your workplace's highest-paid employee pulling that stunt. Merry Christmas Happy Generic Late-December Holidays from the DNC!
Getting down to the wire for Christmas shopping! Let's check out the DNC's store to see what they're offering as last-minute gift ideas. . . A mug that says "Happy Holidays" and offers greetings in many languages, but not "Merry Christmas." Perfect for that decorated veteran of the War on Christmas! 
A "Speaker Pelosi" magnet pin. What, are these left over from 2010? $1.99. If you find one of these in your stockings, it is a sign Santa just didn't give a damn this year. 
"I heart Obamacare" sweatshirts. Can't believe they didn't sell out! 
You love equality, but not capitalization. For $49.95, you can buy a framed photo of President Obama and Nancy Pelosi at the signing ceremony for Obamacare: 
You know, the National Republican Senatorial Committee might buy one; they'll be using that image in their ads over and over again in the coming year . . . ADDENDUM: An unfortunate, or perhaps revealing, metaphor from Irish journalist Niall O'Dowd: "Waiting in line to meet President Obama and First Lady Michelle is a little like waiting for communion." They're "a little like" each other in the sense that both involve waiting, yes. Then again, so does a late-night run to the convenience store. A comparison of the president to the Eucharist would be a little easier to take if, say, the U.S. Embassy in London hadn't just installed giant tapestries depicting several portraits of our president, reminding us that the cult of personality is alive and well: 
Before you lash into O'Dowd, note his deep appreciation for the home of our presidents: You can never say enough about the magic of the White House at Christmas; it is truly the most magnificent venue in the world to observe the festivities. It makes you incredibly proud of this country as your stroll the halls Lincoln walked, the rooms the Kennedy family gathered in, the East Room where Reagan spoke on so many occasions. Now it is the realm of the Obamas, but the history of the place overwhelms any single president
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