Each of those links, links to statements - very passive, benign statements at that - made
prior to the bill being introduced in Congress! Link #1 - February 1st
Link #2 - February 12th
Link #3 - March 4th
Introduction of EFCA - March 10th
Secondly, three links to minor statements is hardly what I would consider making the passage of EFCA a policy priority. You think when we get to Health Care you're only going to be able to dig up a couple of weak statements of action-less support? No. You'll see a complete campaign. You'll be reminded what making something a policy priority looks like. 24/7. Remember how Bush blitzed on the Iraq War? That's what a president does when they are absolutely committed to getting a priority done no matter what.
He sends is staff out everywhere, to every show, in every media market. He tours the country. He raise money / spends money. Imagine what this amazing, stunning communicator could have done with a prime time press conference on EFCA. People who say "we don't have the votes" - you are the ones playing politics as usual. I'm the one dreaming about what this President
could do if he chose....
And as far as saying that Obama didn't do very much with those statements made
prior to the bill hitting Congress (after which he "went darK), the business community agrees on this point. Clear back in February you have Forbes Magazine thanking the President for backing off and quieting down on EFCA. That's not the praise I want our president to have. But it also indicates that certainly the Business community got the fact that Obama's minor statements on EFCA were nothing close to an administration making something a policy priority, and they were
relieved.http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8317813&mesg_id=8317813And so, some of us are disappointed that the President hasn't demonstrated that kind of commitment to EFCA because we feel it is that critical and urgent of an issue. Now, a lot of other people don't. So fine, you don't feel its urgent enough to warrant that kind of action. Great. But I do. So obviously I'm going to be giving my opinion that the President hasn't done enough and that his near total silence on EFCA for as long as EFCA has actually been a real bill is a major disappointment to me.
So now you've got this thread, with people so anxious to tear down inconvenient perspectives (note I didn't say truths, because as with most politics there's a large amount of beliefs and opinions that are part of it) rather than consider them.
This isn't a contest between someone smart and someone stupid. This isn't a contest between someone truthful and someone dishonest. This is a debate between someone who feels Obama did everything he should and could have reasonably done when it comes to EFCA, and prefers that we take a different strategy on labor going forward vs. someone who feels Obama should have done more, and that not doing so is a crippling blow to both the American worker and to our long term economic health.
That's all - its just a difference of opinion.