Obama's Third Term?

I have to admit that I am taking a great deal of satisfaction watching Democrats work themselves up into a frenzy every time Donald Trump says or does anything, tweets, or takes executive action that he is entitled to take.  The Comey dismissal has them in a veritable frenzy as they have convinced themselves of the truth of a narrative for which even James Clapper has said there is no evidence.  I think of it in the same light as “Hands up. Don’t shoot.”  It’s a narrative that didn’t actually happen, but that they which they WISH had happened.  The “Hands up. Don’t Shoot.”  narrative conveniently  obfuscated the hard fact that officer Darren Wilson was attacked by Michael Brown and justifiably defended himself.  The “Russian collusion” narrative likewise is a diversion from the reality that Hillary Clinton once again failed to close the deal even though the MSM and the electoral map weighed heavily in her favor.  She managed to lose to someone with no political experience just as she lost to a neophyte in ’08, and she did it by insulting half of America by calling them “Deplorable,” a political blunder that Charles Murray asserts likely will change the course of history.   The Democratic Party has turned itself into the 4-H Club—Hyperbole, Hypocrisy, Hysteria, and Hyperventilation.   No, it is not a Constitutional crisis if a branch of government takes action that it is permitted to take under the Constitution.  

But if you cut through the rancorous partisanship, the bluster, puffery and tweeting of Donald Trump, the ridiculous childishness of the MSM (“Trump got 2 scoops of ice cream while everyone else got 1”), the antics of Perez, Ellison, and Schumer, and focus on the Republic , the Constitution, and our free market system, we see more continuity with the Obama administration than discontinuity, even though certain policies have changed.

First, is the penchant for misleading statements.  Beginning with the assertion of attendance at his inauguration, Donald Trump has made multiple statements that were either untrue or gross exaggerations.  But that is a continuation of the Obama administration’s proclivities for the same—blaming Benghazi on a video, claiming cash shipped to Iran was not a ransom, denying that the IRS had targeted conservative groups, and, of course, the whoppers that “if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor,” and “Obamacare will save your family $2,500 a year in premiums.”   Of course, there was the infamous, “We have to pass it to find out what’s in it,” statement by Nancy Pelosi.  Candor and transparency have not been hallmarks of either Obama or Trump.

Second, both Obama and Trump have governed largely through executive action.   Our system has been designed to reach a stable accord through negotiation and accommodation.  The same folks that yawned when Obama said, “I have a pen and I have a phone,” and “If Congress won’t act, I will,” are now horrified that Trump has exercised the same prerogative.   Trump has cracked down on illegal immigration, curtailed administrative rulemaking and federal hiring, and launched a raid on Syria without Congressional action.  His first stab at repealing and replacing Obamacare failed and the second run at it will either fail or be substantially rewritten.  In short, other than Obamacare, which was passed through sheer force with a temporary supermajority, neither Obama or Trump has marshalled any major piece of legislation and that is bad for the country.   Trump is merely enforcing immigration law that Obama refused to, but neither has been able to address the issue through legislation.

In foreign policy, Trump has tilted back toward Israel, but then has backtracked on recognizing Jerusalem as its capital.  Trump has said positive things about Putin, and invited Philippine president Duterte and Turkish president Erdogan to the White House.   Yes, Trump has swung the pendulum hard the other way with his America First doctrine, which contrasts sharply with Obama’s Blame America First instincts, but he has been too cozy with some of the world’s thugs, calling Putin a “strong leader,” Xi Jinping “a good guy,” and characterizing his phone call with Duterte as “warm.”  But is this really any different than Obama’s coziness with the Muslim Brotherhood, his tete a tete with the totalitarian regime that almost ignited WWIII, and his cold silence as freedom lovers in Iran fought back against the mullahs?  Neither Obama or Trump talk about liberty and human rights much at all in their foreign policy pronouncements.

On the domestic front, neither president is an advocate for free exchange and free markets.  Obama restrained trade through the Administrative State via excessive regulation and taxes. Trump elects trade barriers, tariffs and jawboning.  Pick your poison.  It’s true that Trump wishes to restrain regulations but then offsets that benefit by  needlessly antagonizing our trading partners. 

On the budget, Obama shifted resources away from the military to fund the welfare state and ran up $10 trillion in debt.  Trump vows to spend $1 trillion for infrastructure, cut taxes, and increase military spending, while slashing departments like the State Department.   Obama suffocated the bi-partisan Bowles Simpson Commission plan, did nothing about entitlements and Trump won’t even talk about entitlement reform.

It will horrify both Republicans and Democrats to admit to this, but in certain key respects-- namely respecting our Constitutional system, advancing the cause of individual liberty and our nation’s fiscal management-- Obama and Trump are more alike than at first appears.