I agree with Joan McCarter completely (per usual) when she says that it’s pure baloney that the president is guilty of liberal overreach and that this is the reason Democrats are doing poorly in the polls. I accept her reasoning, too. That’s the Republicans’ argument, though, and one that is being told in the press. And, this was all kind of predictable, wasn’t it? I mean, even if Obama had governed like Zell Miller we’d be seeing the same charges of liberal overreach, and we were always going to lose some seats in the upcoming election. The story writes itself.
I suppose it matters, marginally, how true the story happens to be. True charges should stick better than false ones. That’s why we have to tell the truth that the president hasn’t done enough to fix the economy because he doesn’t have the necessary political support he would need to inject a sufficient amount of money into the cavernous hole the Bushies carved out of it.
It would help us immensely if the Obama administration would make that argument, because we’ve been making it and it isn’t sticking.
Step out of your role as a left wing blogger and put yourself in the position of an average American whose financial/economic acumen is limited to balancing their checking account at the end of each month. How the hell do you convince the average American that after pouring almost a trillion dollars into the economy just half a billion more will do the trick. On it’s face, it sounds like lunacy.
By bringing in economists to make the case for you. Just like his health care forum, which was very effective, he needs to educate the public in a way they can understand and accept.
Far too late. I said this had to be done early on. He didn’t make the case. Digby said so, too. He needed to make the case for liberalism, even if he couldn’t get it legislatively. He hasn’t done it, and I don’t think that he will.
Better late than never, but it’s well past time. The current knowledge is that the government spent $800 billion dollars and unemployment got worse: “Government spending caused unemployment? That’s exactly what the Republicans said!” yanks for GOP
Quite the contrary – as the Bushies noted, you don’t introduce new products in August…
Uh, it’s been too late for checks watch 17 months. Well it wouldn’t have been too late then, but it definitely should have been articulated back then. Too late was probably before 2009 ended…and here we are, more than half way through 2010.
Also:
Not being considered. Got that? He’s not even making the argument in favor of spending or articulating why it’s a good thing. It’s like he’s one of my genius professors who just assumes things are “common knowledge.” He needs to gtfo the bubble, drop his agenda, and get America employed.
And I’m hardly a Shrill Person on the blogs. I get shit from both sides, but that’s because I tell it how I feel without sugarcoating. If I think Obama fucked up, I will say so. If I think he got the best legislation he could have no matter what he did–health care–I will say so, and I do/did. I largely believe that to be the case with the stimulus, too.
However, the economy? It’s so horrible. He’s not even making the argument for what he wants. How are we to know where his head is? Two of his economic advisors–Tyson and Romer–have begged for more stimulus, one of which did so via the newspaper. He’s not making the case for his stimulus project. He’s defending having to spend that money, and in politics, when you’re defending, you’re losing.
However, just like with health care (it’s possible he could have gotten a public option, in my view), it was also possible for the stimulus to be higher. He just took the wrong route on the stimulus. In my opinion, some are calling this a failure to negotiate properly (you always starter higher!!111!@@!!), but with spending bills that’s not necessarily the case. A lot of times bills build up spending as each Congressperson brings home bacon, and I think that’s what he bet on. He made the wrong gamble.
Actually, the teabaggers have found August to be the perfect month for introducing distractions. Last year it was death panels and this year it’s Muslim community centers.
Everyone else naps through August and leaves the field open to them.
Amazing. Read what I just posted on the front-page. And I hadn’t seen your comment.
Great minds and all that—
The White House is incorrigible. They’re going for business tax cuts as their great second stimulus. If they keep trying, they’ll get something the GOP will say Yes to.
This fall is not going to be pretty. The election depends on the people in the districts getting out the vote. The DC Democrats are going to be an impediment.
As I said the other day, this ain’t getting it done on any level. I know they can’t pass a second stimulus, but they better start arguing for one.
The real question is why they are not making this argument.
It’s hilarous watching lefty bloggers blame the media for shitting on Obama.
After lefty bloggers have spent the last 2 years shitting on Obama.
I think the best part of it is WATCHING LEFTY BLOGGERS BLAME OBAMA for the media shitting on Obama.
HAHAHAAHAHAHAAAA!!!
You guys are teh awesomez! Please never stop!
Well, the departure of Romer and the continued ascendancy of Summers and Geithner make it clear that the admin is going to do no such thing. The argument will remain “the economy is fine.” Harvard meritocrats don’t give a shit: if you think the economy is bad, it’s because you’re just not as smart as they are.
Who’s this “we” that have been making the argument?
Anyway, I’d hate to see him make the argument in those terms. I just sounds like whining and excuses. He needs to tell us that the next stage of the stimulus will build massive job growth on top of the foundation the first stage laid. Now that we’ve staunched the Bush Bleed, we can focus like a laser on jobs, jobs, and more jobs, and on assuring some security and stability for those who have been hardest hit by the economic meltdown.
But that would be partisan.
“We must look forward and not look back.” 30 years later and Jimmy Carter is still a punch line for Republicans but Dems can not articulate recent massive failures on Bush. Republicans Recession, Bush Bailouts, Conservative Debt, etc. should be talking points repeated by all Dems, all the time.