It's nice to see President Obama take the gloves off and tell the truth about what's been going on in Washington in very stark terms. 

But why did he wait so long?

What exactly did he have to lose?

I came across a video from the 2012 election yesterday where he did spell it out, he didn't name the right-wing pundits, Limbaugh et al, who control the Repubs, but he did show their faces in a cartoon.

Anyway, this raises the next question.

Did he negotiate with them? Did he try? Did he invite them to a meeting at the White House to discuss policy? If not, why? Afraid to go over the heads of the Republican leaders in Congress? I think they made it pretty clear early-on there was nothing to lose in doing that. 

One of the things he said in the video which is still true today is that there is a remarkable confluence of economics that pretty much solves all the problems that Trump has taken advantage of in this election.

1. Unemployment in manufacturing jobs in the US.

2. Low interest rates.

3. Need for infrastructure investment.

If you laid it out to Limbaugh et al, sought their opinions, as galling as it might be to do so, perhaps that would help break the logjam? Offer them jobs consulting with the new Department of Infrastructure. It's a sort of bribery of course, but relative to the benefit for the economy the price is small. (I can't imagine Al Sharpton would like it though.)

Anyway, assuming this never happened, perhaps Hillary Clinton, if she is elected, can reach out to them. Also the Koch's and Shelley Adelson too. And the billionaire hedge fund guy who's backing Trump. The worst they can do is say no.

To the purists who say you can't do business with these guys, you're wrong. You have to. They have power. If you want to get something done, they can help or hurt. We've had plenty of presidents come to Washington saying they're going to "drain the swamp." This is not a new idea. They always fail. You can pretend that it was possible they wouldn't but it's not.