President Barack Obama's promised "year of action" has "produced very few results, making his sixth year in office singularly ineffective so far," political strategist Karl Rove wrote in a commentary in
The Wall Street Journal.
Obama has dallied on the economy, disregarded the debt, been oblivious to government inefficiencies and botched foreign policy, Rove wrote.
This was supposed to be a year of action on tax reform. Yet the White House hasn't even talked to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp whose panel must constitutionally take the lead on any tax-related legislation, Rove wrote.
The president has taken no action to grow the economy, create jobs or reduce the deficit, according to the GOP strategist.
Obama has complained that Republicans have held him back on raising the minimum wage. "However, the Congressional Budget Office's conclusion that this action would cost 500,000 jobs has even unsettled some House and Senate Democrats," Rove wrote.
Rather than "slash bureaucracy and streamline the permitting process" as he promised, Obama has put the Keystone XL pipeline project on pause, Rove said.
The president promised to promote trade but backed off creating a Trade Promotion Authority because of opposition from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. His propensity for unilateralism and failure to apply the law has alienated Republicans who wanted to work with him on immigration reform, according to Rove.
"The president has not offered a sustained focus on the economy, and voters can tell he doesn't have a serious governing agenda on the issue," Rove wrote.
The president seems to constantly be caught off-guard, "unable to get ahead of many new challenges, whether it is Russia's efforts to subsume Ukraine or the scandal over secret Veterans Administration waiting lists. This makes him look weak and disengaged," Rove concluded.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.