Reader Discretion Advised

Resolution
His supporters will say he is resolute and the Republicans are pigheaded; his opponents (including this column) would reverse the adjectives. A neutral way of describing it is that the two parties' worldviews are irreconcilable. (James Taranto, WSJ, 2/13/2013)

Taranto gets it right: irreconcilable. To which we add the answer to the question: Why won't Republicans compromise? The answer is that they have compromised and they are losing the battle. 

To wit:

• The government is expanding in size and scope.
• Entitlement programs are growing.
• Health care is being nationalized.
• Taxes have been raised.
• Regulation is increasing.
• Abortion is legal.
• Marijuana is legal (in some places).
• Princeton University is now transgender-friendly.
• Etc.

What would compromise look like to Democrats?


On The Road
Coverage of the speech described how he'll now "hit the road to sell his ideas to audiences in North Carolina, Georgia and Illinois." It seems normal until you notice he spends little or no time trying to sell any of this to Congress itself. Most of his past high-visibility proposals have underachieved or disappeared in Congress. He prefers instead the wand of solo executive authority. Even Bill Clinton, no stranger to the admiration of crowds, spent presidential capital building support one-on-one with key members of Congress. Hillary or Joe Biden would have done the same. (Daniel Henninger, WSJ, 2/13/2013)

Henninger nails it again. In private moments, even Democrats have spoken of how Obama has made little effort to engage members of his own party, never mind Republicans. Obsessed with his legacy, Obama will find it diminished due to this. What is to prevent President Rubio in 2016 from undoing Obama's executive orders? 


Pointless
President Obama is a freer man than he has been at any point in his presidency. He is free from the need to save an economy close to collapse, from illusions that Republicans in Congress would work with him readily, from the threat of a rising tea party movement and from the need to win reelection. (E..J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post, 2/13/2013)

Dionne's latest love sonnet to Obama. Did he actually write that Obama is "free from the need to save an economy close to collapse?" 


Bored Games
The Obama administration's electric car efforts took another hit on Wednesday after a federal inspection found a South Korean advanced battery maker never scaled up U.S. production despite receiving $142 million in federal grants.
...
The inspector general said that to avoid layoffs at the factory LG Chem paid idle workers $1.6 million in the third quarter of last year, about half of which was covered by its U.S. grant, even though there was nothing for them to do. The workers played board games, watched movies, and volunteered at local animal shelters during regular work hours, Mr. Friedman said. LG Chem has since paid back the government's share of those charges. (WSJ, 2/13/2013)

Unfortunately this report of the latest Obama green energy debacle has been lost due to the breaking news reported by the Legitimate Media that Senator Marco Rubio took a drink of water.


Lewdown
Mr. Lew seems to have been equally disengaged about his own investments. He said he didn't know why the venture-capital fund in which he had invested was based in the Cayman Islands or whether its location had resulted in any tax benefits. (WSJ, 2/13/2013)

Hypocrisy thy name is Democrat.