The ADD President

For years, children have been prescribed Ritalin for a wide variety of symptoms under the vague grab-bag of Attention Deficit Disorder. Some experts claim that ADD is over diagnosed as high as 50%, others say that it is under diagnosed as much as 50%. While experts can disagree on the statistics, there is no doubt our President suffers from a very severe case.

Upon taking office, the economy was front and center. Gotta fix it and gotta do it now! TARP II, Stimulus II, omnibus, etc. were all passed with few members of Congress even reading the several hundred page bills. Some economists still warn of a double dip recession, a jobless recovery and that worries over tax code changes at the end of the recession are inhibiting growth.

Then, without skipping a beat and making a non sequitur tying it to the economy, the President pledged to fix health care. Gotta fix it and gotta do it now! Public option in, public option out, co-op's in, co-op's out. Three different bills all being referenced in the same breath and finally the Baucus bill emerges. No public option but there will be a tax on "gold-plated" policies. Since the bill is not indexed for inflation, much less medical inflation (which runs about three times regular inflation) and doesn't take affect until 2013, 40% of Americans will be considered to have "gold-plated" plans the first year it kicks in. In effect, it will be the new Alternative Minimum Tax.

Then, the President runs off to Copenhagen in the midst of the debate to get the Olympics for Chicago. Gotta get the Olympics and gotta do it now! In a time of crisis for Afghanistan, with a foundering economy and during a crucial time for his signature legislation, the President is focusing on the Olympics?

Multi-tasking is an important part of being President but when you leave every issue half-completed it is no longer multi-tasking, it is simply ADD.