The title of today’s blog is taken from one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, “Hook.”  In the 1991 Robin Williams feature’s final battle scene, we see the rag-tag ‘lost boys’ led by Peter Pan fight and winning the battle against Captain Hook and his larger group of pirates.  I thought of this the other day when I saw President Obama visibly angry or at least distressed at a press conference this week.  The topic of course was…health care!  ((Thunder and lightning!))  

Known for his cool, placid composure, it was surprising to see him scowling and fidgeting while answering questions.  I saw the same thing tonight as I sat and watched him talk tonight in his fourth televised press conference in six months of his presidency.  Six months into this administration he is finally being shown the downside of the job.  Not everything will go his way.  There were questions being launched at him that he did not want and did not expect.  I had to stand up and shout a few times as some of the most liberal members of the white house press corps gave him some questions that I never thought they would.  A few times my girl ‘Marie’ and I slapped high fives as he evaded one question after another, clearly not pleased with what he was getting.  

(To give my girl a sense of anonymity I will refer to her as ‘Marie.’  Her real name will be kept private)

‘Marie’ and I giggled and laughed a few times as he made these long-winded speeches that I believed were clearly designed to take up time.  I don’t think he wanted to answer any more questions than he had too.  He didn’t like what he was getting thrown at him at all.  I can’t say I really blame him.  On the campaign trail he was asked softball questions, greeted by throngs of blindly adoring followers, and never had to take the bumps that the mainstream media would typically give a candidate.  Governor’s Romney and Huckabee’s personal faith were scrutinized by the various talking heads on prime time.  Endless quotes from Hillary Clinton were talked about, and we won’t even get into what they put Governor Palin through.  Anything they could have looked into about then senator Obama was largely ignored, save for a few commentators and talk radio hosts.

President Obama’s health care overhaul could collapse before it ever gets off the ground.  The fact that some House and Senate democrats might be the reason in the end that it does not succeed has got to be driving Obama right up a wall.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad for all of this.  It is certainly better than the alternative.  If it collapsed after it took off, it would probably take the entire United States economy with it.  Still, he is not exactly used to having things not go his way.  So far in six months he has had almost no opposition worth mentioning.  The republicans are outnumbered in the house, and there are sixty votes in the senate for the democrats.  Before there were sixty democrats in the senate, there were a few liberal republicans that were willing to make back room deals.  

On January 29th he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.  February 9th saw the signing of an extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance program.  The crippling blow for a generation came on February 17th when he signed The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (better known as the Stimulus bill) into law.  Later on came the Omnibus bill, which like the stimulus bill was loaded with pork projects.  On May 22nd he signed the Credit CARD Act, and then on tuesday of this week he got the senate to strip funding for new F-22 Raptors.  The senate handed Obama a way to actually keep a campaign promise, cutting military spending.  Now I always give credit where credit is due, and I have to give some to Senator Chris Dodd, who spoke out on the senate floor warning that this would cost thousands of jobs.  Good job Chris, but your still in hot water for that whole sub-prime thing.   

A universal health care bill was up for consideration before in 1993.  President Clinton and then first lady Hillary wanted a single-payer universal health care bill passed quickly.  It bombed horribly when the American people learned what was contained in the pages of the bill, and spoke out.  The next year marked the republican takeover of congress, a signal of the publics disapproval with the way Clinton and the democrats were trying to cram things in quickly.  The current crop of congressional democrats may be radical, but they are by no means stupid.  They know that 2010 could be a painful flashback for them if this bill bombs out like its predecessor.  

This health care bill is being read as much as the stimulus bill was by members of congress.  For those playing the home game, this means that they are hardly reading it at all.  It is loaded with projects that do not save people money, or have anything to do with health care for that matter.  People are being made aware of this and it turns their stomachs.  It’s now beginning to show in the polls, and that is giving President Obama his first wake-up call of the season.

I saw in my local paper today the results of a recent Associated Press-GfK Poll.  This poll shows that 54% of Americans now believe that we as a nation are on the wrong path. This figure is up from 46% in June.  President Obama’s approval rating has broken down below the June dreaded 60 mark, and now hovers at a cool 55%.  People who believe that Obama can help the economy have dropped down a sobering 19% from just before inauguration day.  The president is not the only one hurting in the polls.  The democrat-controlled congress has not been showing well for over a year and a half, and is now sinking lower once again.  They are currently hovering at 32%, and I would not be surprised if they sunk lower back into the twenties, which at that point you’re down to blood relatives and a few staff members being the only ones giving you their approval.  

People fear waiting lists, rationed care and clogged emergency rooms.  They see people in Britain being denied treatments because they are not deemed worth it to try and save.  They see the enormous costs of the European and Canadian systems.  What’s worse, if we go to a Canadian style single-payer system, then where will Canadians in need of a serious operation go?!  

Every time most or all of the republicans in congress vote against another huge expensive government project, I give them the ole’ pat on the back and an “Atta boys!”  It’s time I give the same to the American people.  Obama is like a paper champion, a boxer who has never fought a real battle.  He has finally been cut, and it has him frayed at both ends.

Keep at ‘em!