Paul Krugman has been looking at the current economic situation sees the president suffering from not having done enough, early enough. Insufficient stimulus money was injected into the economy the first time around. Obama finds himself , Krugman writes, "pinned down in his too-small beachhead, taking heavy casualties." The image is drawn from World War II.
"AllenS" responds:
I'm one of those Social Security recipients that received a $250 stimulus in May. If you and Krugman think that more stimulus is the way to go, could I have $25,000 next time?
Yeah! I thought, reading his comment. Yeah, me, too!
But here's the deal. I first want absolute clarity -- a scoreboard online, available to all -- that shows where every penny of government money goes, federal and state. I want to know the next day -- oh, okay, "the next business day" -- where Governor Goodhair Perry of Texas is channeling funds. I want to know how much and for what Dick Cheney spent public treasure. We spend far too much time arguing without knowing the facts.
Give me complete records of all expenditures during the Reagan administration. Fill me in on the money side of the Clinton and Kennedy presidencies. Set up a website showing where every penny has come from and has gone since 1776, please. Leave nothing out. Give us all full access. We want to know precisely what kind of government we have, where the problems are, and who's creating them.
Barack Obama promised a change from this revolving-door, behind-closed-doors collaboration between special interests and government. He vowed to “do our business in the light of day” — with health care negotiations broadcast on C-Span — and to “restore the vital trust between people and their government.” He said, “I intend to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over.” That those lobbyists would so extravagantly flaunt their undiminished role shows just how little they believe that a new sheriff has arrived in Dodge. ... Frank Rich
After reading Frank Rich's column today, I am more and more certain that Ken Silverstein's often-cited report on Obama-as-Senator-as-political-machine is key to understanding what's going on now.
It's not that Barack Obama is one of the more corrupt politicians to achieve the presidency -- hell, no. It's that he's a member of the in-group. He's not repeat not a reformer or a boy scout. Silverstein's piece, written three years ago, simply showed Senator Obama as a new but willing member of the club, a "player." In that sense, the "birthers" have a point: Barack Obama is not the person many naive and hopeful Americans would like to think he is.
On condition of anonymity, one Washington lobbyist I spoke with was willing to point out the obvious: that big donors would not be helping out Obama if they didn’t see him as a “player.” The lobbyist added: “What’s the dollar value of a starry-eyed idealist?” ... Ken Silverstein
The point this time is that we have a much clearer picture of what's going on -- not the website I want giving me full access to an accurate account showing the flow of money, but a solid sense that once again we're getting screwed. We are. Not just the tea baggers, all of us. Frank Rich reminds us of the details of the set-up that's supposed to end in health reform and a cleaner financial system.
Obama’s promise to make Americans trust the government again was not just another campaign bullet point; it’s the foundation of his brand of governance and essential to his success in office. At the first anniversary of the TARP bailout of the banks, we can see how far he has to go. Americans’ continued suspicion that Washington is in cahoots with powerful interests in joints like Tosca ["Ristorante Tosca, the lobbyists’ hangout on F Street in downtown Washington"] is contributing to their confusion and skepticism about what’s happening out of view in the battle over health care reform.
The public is not wrong. The administration’s legislative deals with the pharmaceutical companies were made in back rooms. Business Week reported in early August that the UnitedHealth Group and its fellow insurance giants had already quietly rounded up moderate Democrats in the House to block any public health care option that would compete with them for business. UnitedHealth’s hired Beltway gunslingers include both Elmendorf Strategies and Daschle, a public supporter of the public option who nonetheless does some of his “wink, wink” counseling for UnitedHealth. The company’s in-house lobbyist is a former chief of staff to Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader....
Financial regulations? Most economists are telling us that not even new regulations would be enough and, as Rich points out, even the proposed regulations are in the process of being watered down.
Obama's leadership is the one we've got right now. He's better/less bad than most, maybe a lot better if we keep the pressure on.
I recall a remark made by Studs Terkel in 1980, about the liberal Republican John Anderson, who was running as an independent against Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter: “People are so tired of dealing with two-foot midgets, you give them someone two foot four and they start proclaiming him a giant.” In the unstinting and unanimous adulation of Barack Obama today, one wonders if a similar dynamic might be at work. ... Ken Silverstein
Gotta play with the hand we're dealt. For now. Next time, we need to make sure we're the ones who deal the cards, not just the suckers who wind up having to play them.
