I mean, you‘ve all had the feeling that these reporters have just forgotten or intentionally omit the last eight years, right? The Obama administration never happened when things become inconvenient. On Capitol Hill, congressional Democrats tried to shake down the Trump White House with a trillion-plus dollar coronavirus relief package. There was no way to break the impasse, so President Trump rightfully issued executive orders (via Fox8):
Seizing the power of his podium and his pen, President Donald Trump on Saturday moved to bypass the nation’s elected lawmakers as he claimed the authority to defer payroll taxes and extend an expired unemployment benefit after negotiations with Congress on a new coronavirus rescue package collapsed.
At his private country club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump signed four executive orders to act where Congress hasn’t, contending Washington’s gridlock had compelled him to act as the pandemic undermined the country’s economy and imperiled his November reelection hopes.
Perhaps most crucially, Trump moved to continue paying a supplemental federal unemployment benefit for millions of Americans out of work during the outbreak. Congress allowed those payments to lapse on Aug. 1, and negotiations to extend them have been mired in partisan gridlock, with the White House and Democrats miles apart. Trump largely stayed on the sidelines during the administration’s negotiations with congressional leaders, leaving the talks on his side to chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
[…]
“It’s $400 a week, and we’re doing it without the Democrats,” Trump said, asking states to cover 25% of the cost. It was not immediately clear where the federal portion would come from — though the president suggested he was looking to use unspent funds from previous coronavirus relief bills — and Trump said it would be up to states to determine how much, if any of it to fund.
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Yet, some in the media were shocked, worried, or whatever feelings that come to these folks who remain Trump-deranged. You have Washington Post reporter Colby Itkowitz who tried to play the “what if” game regarding former President Barack Obama and got wrecked over it. In a now-deleted tweet, she wrote,
“Let's ponder the most played out question of the last four years, but can you imagine if Obama had broken up a congressional stalemate over funding by simply signing an executive order and saying it was so?”
Oh, man:
LOL at all the replies.
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) August 9, 2020
Not only is breaking up a Congressional stalemate with executive action exactly what Obama did with DACA, but he did it after previously conceding he didn't have the authority to do so. And then tried to do it again with DAPA. https://t.co/YeXFqc4cSu
LOL at all the replies.
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) August 9, 2020
Not only is breaking up a Congressional stalemate with executive action exactly what Obama did with DACA, but he did it after previously conceding he didn't have the authority to do so. And then tried to do it again with DAPA. https://t.co/YeXFqc4cSu
He did.
— I didn't vote for him, so think of a new retort (@jtLOL) August 9, 2020
Let's ponder the most played out scenario of the last four years - a national political reporter displaying staggering ignorance of national politics in the extremely near past. https://t.co/ZE6SXekymu
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) August 9, 2020
The first rule of engaging in "imagine if Obama had done this"ism is to check whether Obama actually did do the thing you're talking about.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) August 9, 2020
Imagine if a “reporter” actually knew American history before tweeting nonsense like this.
— Gwendolyn (@scvbuckeye) August 9, 2020
Yes, it’s led to the still-constitutionally questionable Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, in which the executive created a new set of immigration laws. That’s a violation of the separation of powers, but that’s for another time. She got wrecked for it—and rightfully so. Obama did issue executive orders. He also issued a slew of them over gun control post-Sandy Hook because there was no way something like a ban on so-called assault weapons was going to pass. Also, remember when Obama said this back in 2014, it's the quote that undercuts all of the hyperventilating from the liberal media over Trump's executive actions (via CBS Washington) [emphasis mine]:
Calling for “all hands on deck” to assist the economy, President Barack Obama is urging his Cabinet to identify ways to keep his administration relevant to people struggling in the up-and-down recovery.
With two weeks left before delivering an economy-focused State of the Union address to Congress, Obama is picking up the pace of his jobs message and demonstrating how he can advance his economic agenda administratively and through his ability to coax action from important interest groups.
“We’re not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure that we’re providing Americans the kind of help they need. I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone,” Obama said … as he convened his first Cabinet meeting of the year.
Obama continued: ”And I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward in helping to make sure our kids are getting the best education possible, making sure that our businesses are getting the kind of support and help they need to grow and advance, to make sure that people are getting the skills that they need to get those jobs that our businesses are creating.”
For all those liberal reporters who get mad that people trash their hit pieces on Trump, conservatives, Republicans, and anything that doesn’t fit their woke paradigm, this is why. You people are absolute crap at your jobs. You’re not infallible. You make mistakes. Get over it. And some of these errors are simple, like knowing what the hell happened in the eight years under Obama. There’s Google. For these reporters, they have their papers’ archives. My Lord.
Also, the ‘what if’ game really only works regarding Republicans and media bias. Like, ‘what if’ a Republican called a black journalist a junkie over a question he didn’t like. The answer would be a national news story, but if it’s a Democrat, like Joe Biden, no one notices—and that’s intentional.
The Post tried to play this game—and failed miserably.
(H/T Twitchy)
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