In his young presidency, Obama has quite openly engaged in arm-twisting for political gain while sticking the nation with the pain. The automakers and the banks are a perfect example. Obama has advanced his own political agenda by strengthening his union allies with power and cash at the expense of the legitimate creditors and taxpayers. The long term pain will be felt as tax money via the unions goes to buying elections, the banks are slower to loan and taxes inevitably rise to cover the cost of yet another government boondoggle. Nothing rises, or more accurately, falls to the morally repugnant depth of slavery, but Obama's blatant interference will have serious, massive and long term negative economic consequences. However, the economy isn't the only area where Obama is practicing extreme means.

As said, nothing rises to slavery, though bowing to the Saudi tyrant, who keeps half his population as serfs is a step in that direction. Obama also seems to have a stubbornness, like Buchanan, for doing things he knows will insult people. De facto branding Harry Truman a war criminal, chatting up gangster Chávez, sucking up to Iran; these acts work well if his only goal is to irritate. For Barack Obama, the cynical play at schmoozing the world allows him solace to push his agenda at little cost, or so he thinks.

For Buchanan, if slavery had to be expanded to save the union, it was a price he deemed affordable. If northerners didn't like it, then they were "disloyal." To extend slavery in the territories, Buchanan had to ram recognition of the pro-slave state government in Kansas through Congress. Buchanan offered favors and threats to push the bogus plan through. Since he had both houses of Congress on his side, like Obama, Buchanan got most of what he wanted. Obama, like other shall we say, "average" presidents, did much the same thing with the stimulus bill.

However, in the election of 1858, things started to slip for Buchanan. The pro-slave government in Kansas was such an obvious farce that a backlash developed against Buchanan's rigged maneuver. Congressional Democrats paid the price for Buchanan's pro-south attitude, as Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives and gained seats in the Senate. Aan Illinois lawyer named Lincoln began to use Buchanan's name as a political club against his senate race opponent, Stephen Douglas. Buchanan did little to help himself by ignoring the recession of 1857 and obsessively trying to buy Cuba, which northerners rightly saw as another slave state in the offing.

Article Author: Mr Dock Ellis

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