An Obama Christmas

“President Obama, looking back on 2009 and his first year in office, told the Washington Post, ‘the most important thing we did this year was to ensure that the financial system did not collapse.’ That Obama would make such a definitive statement is raising eyebrows, especially in the midst of the long and grueling fight for health care reform. Is Obama right to declare it his greatest accomplishment? Jules Crittenden rolls his eyes. ‘Pork Was Job One! And a job well done. Allowing a Democratic Congress to gorge on a multi-billion-$$$ Porkulus was Obama’s greatest first-year accomplishment,’ he writes. ‘The WaPo article unfortunately has a very tight legislative focus, with no foreign policy, no Afghan war, and no indication of whether that was addressed in the interview.’ Politico’s Mike Allen says this is part of the White House plan to put more attention on growing jobs. ‘When health care is done (not meaning the president has signed it — once it’s off the front burner), we’re going to make a very hard pivot to jobs in the run-up to the State of the Union. You’ll see an intense focus on the economy and jobs from this White House in the beginning of 2010,’ he writes channeling the White House strategy. ‘It all falls under the rubric of a MIDDLE CLASS AGENDA. Hopefully this focus will give the country a psychological lift, even while we’re waiting for jobs numbers to rebound.’”