Three achievements [Bryan]

There have been a three articles published in the last few months, from fairly conservative sources, grudgingly admitting that President Obama may have been right about certain things, after all.

First, an article from Forbes Magazine, pointing out that the small business tax credit already seems to be working really well to help small businesses give health insurance to their employees:

The first statistics are coming in and, to the surprise of a great many, Obamacare might just be working to bring health care to working Americans precisely as promised.

The major health insurance companies around the country are reporting a significant increase in small businesses offering health care benefits to their employees.

Why?

Because the tax cut created in the new health care reform law providing small businesses with an incentive to give health benefits to employees is working.

Second, an article from the right-leaning Economist magazine, admitting that "an apology is due to Barack Obama" when it comes to the "bailout" of the auto industry. The magazine opines:

The doomsayers were wrong. Unlike, say, France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy, who used public funds to support Renault... on condition that they did not close factories in France, Mr Obama has been tough from the start. GM had to promise to slim down dramatically—cutting jobs, shuttering factories and shedding brands—to win its lifeline. The firm was forced to declare bankruptcy. Shareholders were wiped out. Top managers were swept aside. Unions did win some special favours: when Chrysler was divided among its creditors, for example, a union health fund did far better than secured bondholders whose claims should have been senior. Congress has put pressure on GM to build new models in America rather than Asia, and to keep open dealerships in certain electoral districts. But by and large Mr Obama has not used his stakes in GM and Chrysler for political ends. On the contrary, his goal has been to restore both firms to health and then get out as quickly as possible. GM is now profitable again and Chrysler, managed by Fiat, is making progress. Taxpayers might even turn a profit when GM is sold.

Third, an article from the conservative Frum Forum, arguing that the President's successful unwinding of the bank bailouts proves he is "no socialist."

The Obama administration just announced its plans to sell off the government’s majority stake in the bailed-out insurance company AIG. The government also has been unwinding its positions in Citigroup and other banks, and is preparing to sell off its shares in GM as well.

The AIG rescue and the other TARP bailouts, initiated by the Bush administration with support from then-candidate Obama, were never popular in general and are anathema among Tea Party voters. But these bailouts seem to have worked out pretty well. The cost to taxpayers looks likely to be modest (it’s possible the Treasury will profit on AIG overall). A reasonable concern — that the government had no clear exit strategy from its crisis-driven role ­— has turned out to not be a lasting problem.

I have always thought that Obama's rhetorical skill was overrated. It is really his policy and managerial skills that have set him apart so far.