Back from his vacation in Martha's Vineyard, President Obama sat down for a one-on-one interview with NBC News' Brian Williams. In the clip below, the newsman asks him about his forthcoming plan to create jobs and revive a battered economy, noting that Americans are eager to hear what it may entail. The president responds by (1) putting a positive spin on poor GDP numbers, (2) assuring viewers that he's pressing Congress to move "right now" on a number of pro-growth initiatives, and (3) pointing out that he'd already described several of his proposals "before I went on vacation, and I'll keep on [doing so] now that I'm back." Here's the video, which at first blush seems unremarkable:
You might be wondering, why would Guy post a mundane video that barely seems newsworthy? Fair question. I posted it because that interview was actually conducted exactly one year ago yesterday. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted out the link yesterday, calling attention to how bereft of ideas and badly adrift this administration has been for some time. Devastating.
Now that you're clued into the full context, go back and watch the clip again. The only nugget that might tip off an astute observer that this word-for-word exchange didn't happen yesterday is Obama's reference to capital gains taxes. Substitute a stale comment about the payroll tax cut extension, that you've got yourself a verbatim Obama answer from a full year ago. The more things Hopenchange, the more they stay the same...
UPDATE - Bloomberg reports on several facets of Obama's upcoming jobs plan. Ed Morrissey gets the distinct feeling he's heard it all before, and isn't impressed.