President Obama seems to be having trouble remembering, and thus learning, from past mistakes. Instead, it seems that Obama needs to be drilled in the most basic facts, over and over again, before he seems to grasp the concepts.
Could the President be absent minded? Let's just look at his actions during the first few months of 2011.
Obama can't seem to remember that on January 18, 2011, he said his priority was going to be regulatory reform or that he promised to review and to rollback regulations that were handcuffing small businesses. Yet, with multiple Executive orders issued from EPA, FDA and a host of other government agencies, Obama will likely oversee more rule-making than any previous year in our nation's history.
Obama can't seem to remember that on January 24, 2011 in the State of the Union address, he promised his new priority for 2011 was supposed to be jobs. At the start of his presidency, Obama foolishly embraced a Keynesian notion that government spending would provide a multiplier effect and would lead to economic prosperity and job creation, thereby holding unemployment to 8%.
Obama was wrong and his economic idea has proved a failure as the real unemployment rate zoomed up to 14 percent. A wide variety of scholars and business leaders tried to warn Obama that his notion was wrong, but those warnings were ignored.
Nor did the president really understand how the executive branch of the government works, so that even simple programs, such as Cash for Clunkers, ended up costing the government millions more than anticipated, with no lasting boost to the auto industry or the economy.
In February, Obama presented his 2012 budget to congress and stated that reducing the deficit was his priority. Clearly, Obama didn't remember that in February 2009, he said the same thing--just before signing the Recovery Act which ballooned the federal budget by almost a trillion dollars.
Even now, Obama seems unable to understand that his failed, $787 Billion dollar stimulus has loaded the nation with a mind-bogglingly huge burden of additional debt. Instead, each time the Market dips or Americans protest the staggering $1,400,000,000,000.00 of national public debt, Obama promises a new kind of stimulus.
Now, it's March 2011, and Obama can't seen to remember the American position on foreign policy--tough, direct and always having, as a priority, the protection of America's interests at home and abroad. Instead, Americans are puzzled by his recent, ineffective trip to Brazil and furious with his decision to launch a quasi-attack against Libya without the sanctions or budget approval from congress.
Obama seems to have problems remembering that he campaigned on energy self-sufficiency; instead, his energy strategy makes America more dependent upon foreign sources.
Obama quickly abandoned any intent to drill for more domestic oil and gas, when politically convenient, and then did the same on nuclear power. Obama thought a $7500 credit would incentivize all Americans to buy electric cars, such as the Volt. He was wrong. Multiple sources have tried to tell Obama that Americans would not easily embrace an electric car that costs 50 thousand dollars and goes only 40 miles, but old, false beliefs are hard to break.
Obama seems unable to grasp the mathematics of energy. Having abandoned nuclear power, unwilling to drill for oil and gas, and having a hate-fest with coal, Obama still clings to the illusion that the 1% of energy now produced by “renewable” sources soon can replace oil, nuclear power, and coal.
Calling Obama "absent minded" may seem too charitable. Perhaps, more accurately, he should be called "Flubber"--the name of the 1997 remake of the original Disney film, because given the number of times Obama has flubbed up during his 27 month presidency, Obama is clearly a man out of sync with himself and the voting public.
In the movie, the Disney "magic" ensures that there will be a happy ending for all the hapless individuals who encounter the Professor Brainerd. Unfortunately, Americans are stuck because in the real world there is no magic tonic to cure incompetence.