Having a job is not always fun, and having the job of leading the most powerful nation in the world likely has its bad days as well. What’s rare, however, is when the man who holds the premier seat of global power expresses his dissatisfaction with his job, even if he’s making a joke in an otherwise serious press conference. That was the scene on Tuesday morning, when President Barack Obama said that he “should just pack up and go home” during a gathering of members of the press in which the president was asked hard questions about difficult issues facing the United States and the rest of the world.
Obama’s comments were made after a recitation of the issues he is currently facing at the 100 day mark of his second term in office. A reporter asked the president if he still had “the juice” to get his agenda through Congress. He then said, “Rumors of my demise might be a little exaggerated at this point.”
His comments are being viewed as a bit underwhelming, especially when compared to the triumphant tone he and his staffers conveyed at the beginning of his first term in 2009. To his credit, however, Obama is indeed facing several dramatic issues both at home and abroad, which will demand intense resolve and great leadership to navigate.
The current majority in the House of Representatives is Republican, and it has made every effort to stifle and stub out Obama’s legislative agenda. So far, Obama has been unable to cooperate with majority leaders. “I cannot force Republicans to embrace those common-sense solutions. I can urge them to. I can put pressure on them. I can, you know, rally the American people around those common sense solutions. But ultimately they, themselves, are going to have to say ‘we want to do the right thing.’”
One of the largest disputes between the President and the House of Representatives is the issue of sequestration, which was passed earlier this year, and enacts several cuts throughout the Federal government totaling $85 billion. Other issues include prisoners remaining at Guantanamo Bay and healthcare reform.
Image Credit: MSNBC video clip