On Thursday night President Barack Obama will address a joint session of Congress to unveil his latest plan for the economy. But is this the best time for Obama to roll out new proposals?
On Tuesday’s “Special Report,” senior Fox News political analyst Brit Hume declared the president’s timing ill-advised. According to Hume, Obama is desperately seeking better results for the economy — and the clock is ticking.
“Neither President Obama nor his advisors seem to understand it but he is far past the point where he can change his political standing by making proposals in speeches,” Hume said. “Sooner or later every president’s standing comes to depending on results. And this president is in desperate need of better results.”
Hume even said Obama’s speech was unworthy of a joint session of Congress.
“His aides are trying to downplay the expectations, but the setting of a joint session of Congress says it all. Such sessions are usually reserved for highly distinguished foreign visitors, or for presidents with major messages to communicate,” Hume said. “Mr. Obama is going to announce a set of ideas he has had since sometime last month but thought insufficiently new or important that they could wait until his vacation was over.”
As for the substance of the speech, the political analyst suggested that it will be little more than political gamesmanship.
“From what is known of the ideas, he was right they could wait — another grab bag of spending and minor tax cuts of the sort that made up his ill-fated and staggering costly stimulus package,” Hume said. “Such proposals are unlikely to wow the public, unlikely to pass and even if they did — unlikely to generate the economic results that he and the country so badly needs. Mr. Obama may be planning to hit the Republicans over the head for not passing them, but that is a classic case of dealing with the politics of his problem rather than the problem itself. It’s too late for that, too.”