If Barack Obama is going to succeed, he will have to find a way to resist the far left radicals in the Democratic Congress.
This piece in the Wall Street Journal is both instructive - and a warning:
Mr. Obama may appreciate the threat, because yesterday he offered Clinton White House veteran Rahm Emanuel a job as his chief of staff. But even that savvy, relatively sane liberal will have difficulties grappling with the fearsome committee chairmen and liberal interest groups that did so much to sabotage Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Meet the President-elect's real opposition:
David Obey. The Appropriations Chairman wants to slash defense spending as a money grab for more social programs and entitlements. Fellow spender Barney Frank recently added that a military budget cut of 25% was about right. A military crash diet wouldn't leave the funds for the surge in Afghanistan that Mr. Obama advocates, and it's a sure way to hand the national security issue back to the GOP.
Chuck Schumer. The Senate Democrat and his friends are already threatening banks if they don't lend more money instantly under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Other political masters want to use Tarp to nationalize large swaths of U.S. industry such as the Detroit auto makers or to bail out states like New York that are in debt. If Mr. Obama doesn't want to have to pass a Tarp II, he'll have to say no.
Also included in this rogues gallery is John Conyers (who may convene hearings on whether to charge Bush, Cheney et al with war crimes), Henry Waxman (whose "investigations" will no doubt give a whole new meaning to "show trials"), and Pete Stark who might be the weirdest of them all.
Many are unconvinced that Obama wants to resist the far left impulses of this Congress. If not, he will end up helping the Republicans more than he can possibly imagine. And if he does resist, he will anger the Moveon.org crowd and other elements of his base.
Welcome to the presidency, Mr. Obama.
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