Based solely on reading comments on RealClearPolitics and The New York Times, I find the reaction to the President's news conference last night worrisome. Was I watching something else? I didn't find it boring. He didn't look tired to me. He didn't deflect questions. Rather, I thought he explained things in almost excruciating detail. Yes, it was political. He called out Republicans repeatedly for delaying. Yes, he might have exaggerated potential cost savings. But reforming health care has been delayed and delayed for years, so OF COURSE it will be hard. I doubt that people actually expected to have the bill completed and voted on by the August recess, but I'm seriously concerned about Congress's ability to step it up.
Obama won the election by a ~54% majority, so I'm not sure why people are freaking out about his policies now. I don't think he has reneged on anything he promised. The possible exception I see is taxing employer-based benefits (which was in McCain's plan and was frequently criticized by Obama), which he has reluctantly said he'd be open to but opposes on principle. Well, I guess that's a big exception.
I'm just surprised that people genuinely believe that Obama wants to make us socialist, to spend us into bankruptcy, and for the government to invade everyone's lives. I don't see how so many Americans buy into that rhetoric so easily.
UPDATE: No health care vote before August recess. Not a huge surprise, but I have mixed feelings about whether it's a good thing. More to time to hash it out so it's a solid bill, but will it lose momentum?
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