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June 18, 2013
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 How Obama Can Save His PresidencyPosted on Aug 21, 2011
President Obama has only one option as he ponders a world economy teetering on the edge: He needs to go big, go long and go global. Obama should not be constrained by what the tea party might allow subservient Republican leaders in Congress to do. He should state plainly, eloquently and in detail what he thinks needs to happen. Neither history nor the voters will be kind to him if he lets caution and political calculation get in the way. Going big means immediate action to boost the economy, even though this will increase the short-term deficit. His proposals to continue the payroll tax cut, extend unemployment insurance and enact patent reform are good, but not enough. The federal government needs to come to the aid of state and local governments again; the budget cuts they are being forced to make are precisely what the economy does not need now. We must find ways of boosting spending as quickly as possible on roads, bridges, transit and other building projects, including a new program to rehabilitate the nation’s dilapidated schools. And the administration needs to do far more to resolve the mortgage mess, which is holding back consumers. Over the last week, big investors and business leaders have largely stopped talking about budget balancing and started issuing panicky calls for the world’s governments to step up to the challenge of avoiding a second recession by spending more money. They know that austerity is the wrong medicine right now. Advertisement At the same time, Obama should put forward a plan of his own to close the long-term deficit. He should not be hemmed in by his negotiations with congressional Republicans to get the debt ceiling raised. They don’t hold the nation’s credit hostage anymore. He should lay out exactly what he would do and abandon his practice of making pre-emptive concessions to his opponents. That means Obama should not be shy about urging eventual tax increases, particularly on the wealthy. And let’s be clear: These would not be immediate tax hikes; they’d kick in a year or two from now. Any plausible plan should include at least $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion in new revenues over a decade. Obama, who loves to quote financier Warren Buffett, should follow Buffett’s lead on this. Writing in The New York Times last week, Buffet proposed that “for those making more than $1 million—there were 236,883 such households in 2009—I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more—there were 8,274 in 2009—I would suggest an additional increase in rate.” “My friends and I,” he added, “have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress.” Buffett, bless him, puts the lie to the foolish idea that we need fewer tax rates, which pamper the very wealthy by taxing them at the same rates as the upper middle class. We need additional tax rates for the truly rich. A carbon tax, partly offset by tax cuts or rebates for middle-income and poorer taxpayers, could provide additional revenue. And we need to do still more to contain health care costs without hurting those who can’t afford insurance, and without voucherizing Medicare. But our problems are not all made-in-America. This is a global problem requiring a global solution. Europe’s debt mess and its weird political structure—a common currency without an effective common government—helped trigger the near-panic we’re in. Even China’s growth rate shows signs of slowing. World leaders came together in 2009 and stopped the slide toward depression. Obama should take the lead in bringing them together to act in concert again. Ah, but won’t congressional Republicans block as much of this program as they can? That’s the wrong question. The point is to insist on a rational plan and to challenge the political system to act rationally. Most economists and business people not blinded by ideology believe we need short-term stimulus and long-term fiscal balance. Obama should explain what needs to be done and then fight for it. It’s the only way it will have any chance of happening. E.J. Dionne’s e-mail address is ejdionne(at)washpost.com.  TAGS:
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By Awi, August 25, 2011 at 9:51 pm Link to this comment
You Washington guy’s are so completely full of yourselves. It’s isn’t about Obama, it’s about the people. “O” could spontaneously combust and no one outside Washington would care.
Report thisBy lainnj, August 25, 2011 at 4:55 am Link to this comment
Save his presidency? Why does his presidency need saving? I am sure that he has accomplished more in a mere one term than his backers could have dreamed possible. He reinstated the Bush tax cuts, escalated the war economy, got the banks off the hook for their bold crimes, gave the insurance companies a dream health care bill, and even threw Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block. He can now retire in style, knowing that he did an amazing job. I’m sure that Wall Street, and all the other cronies who backed his campaign, couldn’t be happier with his incredible success. Who knows if they’ll finance another Obama term or go big with a whacky Republican who can really wreak the place. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Report thisBy yrscrewed, August 25, 2011 at 2:19 am Link to this comment
When do you know yrscrewed? How many lies do u make in order to be a liar? How many lies told and not understood does it take to finally realize that u r any imbecile.
1. Obama is one of the best liars of all time. I thought Geo [dumb and dumber] Bush was the champ. Well Obama has out done himself.
2. I am sorry are the wars over, yet?
3. That debacle in Cuba is it finally resolved?
4. Did you see the torture trials?
5. When will they take that fraudulent document off the White House Website, you know his forged so called Birth Certificate.
6. Did he “Free” all the Negros from Drug Prisons?
7. How high is the unemployment rate for Negros?
8. Did anyone go to jail for the Financial Disaster?
9. What Change was he talking about?
10. Why do we always have an imbecile for Vice-President?
11. Why can’t we kill the Commerce Clause?
12. How come the one of the phony wars like the Drug War called off on account of “Stupidity?”
13. Did I leave anything out?
14. Oh yeah the Gays in the Military thing, Three Cheers.
The man is bought and paid for and there is nothing we can do about it. We are in a Fascist Society with a Dictator that changes every four years or so. Americans are just getting dumb and dumber by the minute. Especially since the advent of the smart phone.
Report thisBy ardee, August 24, 2011 at 5:25 pm Link to this comment
SarcastiCanuck, August 24 at 5:38
I must stand up and thank you for a rather rare occurrence, and a rather pleasant one at that, an admission and an apology.
Not so sarcastic after all, welcome and I look forward to further exchanges.
Report thisBy Timothy Gawne, August 24, 2011 at 11:37 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Obama, “save” his presidency?
What are you smoking?
It should by now be painfully clear that Obama considers his presidency a
raging success. He has delivered more than his Wall Street backers have ever
dreamed of, and he will spend the rest of his life a billionaire golfing with other
billionaires and lording it over the rest of us schmucks.
So in the last installment Obama took the lead in cutting social security in order
fund trillions of dollars in bank bailouts and stupid wars on the other side of
the planet.
Continued support for Obama is worse than mere stupid, it is willfully stupid, it
is a determination to be stupid and to overlook the obvious until you are naked
and starving in a back alley - and maybe not even then. What is with people
today anyhow? Where is our skepticism? Where is our logic, our focus on the
bottom line? When did the label become the reality that cannot be questioned
no matter what? I think that today you could write the word “cat” on a wild
boar, and then wait years while people keep wondering why the “cat” won’t
chase mice and insists on attacking people and rooting through their gardens.
Arrgghh!
Really.
Report thisBy bobbylon, August 24, 2011 at 10:17 am Link to this comment
Eugene Robinson and E.J. Dionne are two of the biggest pollyannas covering the White House. they both still believe that Obummer is working on behalf of the Hope and Change suckers, I mean voters, and not the Manchurian Candidate he is in reality.
He colludes with the elites. He isn’t going to fight them. Never.
Report thisBy Devon J. Noll, MPA, August 24, 2011 at 9:12 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
First I would like to dispel one notion: Obama does need to go long, but he does not need to go global. It is globalization that is part of the problem, and certainly not part of the solution at this point. Now make no mistake, I am not talking isolationism, but we cannot be telling the rest of the world to clean up their economies if we do not first clean up our own to show them how.
At the moment, I am putting together two things: a plan to get government out of the hands of corporations and a program (in the form of a new book) for a new government to implement that would put people back to work, generate income, make us a sustainable nation, and then allow us to show others how to do it as well - not a handout, but a hand up.
Considering the mood of this nation’s Main Street, and the choices currently out there for the next Presidential campaign, I would wager all that I have (and it sure isn’t much anymore)that I could run for president with a down ticket of like minded independents and win in 2012. It is perhaps a fantasy, and I admit that, but what if Americans actually ran for America - that was their sole platform (American jobs, America the beautiful, American small businesses and family farms, American security through American free public education, energy independent America). They did not attack the two party system, just ran outside of it with a real message and a real plan. I think the time is right for an electoral revolution, and I think this is what President Obama and the rest of both parties are afraid of. That is why the GOP co-oped the original grassroots Tea Party, which was opposed to tax dollars going to bank bailouts, to stop such an uprising in the electorate.
I think we could do it as a nation with the right approach and the right programs. Think about it, and consider running in your district for Congress or your state legislatures, then talk to your friends and see what you can do. It is still possible to change the path this nation is on, but if we do not do so now, it will never happen again without violence and force. Consider wisely.
Report thisBy Traditional American Democrat, August 24, 2011 at 7:17 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
I would suggest the best way for Obama to ‘save his Presidency’ is to take medical
Report thisleave and for the next two years leave the job to Hillary.
By SarcastiCanuck, August 24, 2011 at 5:38 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Ardee,after your admonishment,I did some research on Mr.Buffet and found as you say,that he has been complaining about the unfairness of the tax code for some years now.It seems that the Oracle is indeed a stand up guy and my assesment was wrong.My apologies and nice bike..
Report thisBy ardee, August 23, 2011 at 7:16 pm Link to this comment
SarcastiCanuck, August 23 at 12:40 pm
It might interest you to know that Buffet DID INDEED say this twenty years ago. Or, considering the way you post what you do not fathom, it might not interest you at all.
Report thisBy grokker, August 23, 2011 at 5:27 pm Link to this comment
“How Obama can save his presidency” for whom and from what? For the reasons he was installed in office he has been a smashing success, expanding the surveillance state, reducing the productive population of the U.S., and the wholesale shifting of the country’s wealth to the bankers and war profiteers. He will be rewarded greatly when his term(s) is up. Don’t hold your breath if you are “hoping” for some kind of “change”.
Report thisBy grokker, August 23, 2011 at 5:12 pm Link to this comment
@tropicgirl Now there’s some vitriol! Don’t sugarcoat it, tell us how you REALLY feel!
Report thisBy SarcastiCanuck, August 23, 2011 at 12:40 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Yo,Buffet makes this grand statement as he turns a 100 years old and his bank book hits one bazillion dollars.Excuse me for not falling over with glee as he attempts to put himself down in history as another Mother Theresa.Why didn’t he say this 20 years ago.More bullshit…
Report thisIf Obama wants to win,all he has to do is prove himself the lesser of all the other evils in this race.Shouldn’t be too hard considering the group of meatballs currently running…
By Traditional American Democrat, August 23, 2011 at 7:53 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
EJ has some fine “ideas”, but it’s not at the level of “ideas” that Obama has so
thoroughly failed his former supporters and all Americans.
Obama has failed because he has lost the faith and confidence of both his
supporters and the American people.
How has Obama lost that confidence? Obama has been “doing what he thinks is
right”; and that’s how he’s lost the confidence of most (the vast majority) of
Americans.
Obama’s former supporters (and most Americans) believed one thing, Obama
ignored it and, apparently, in each of these major areas, Obama thought “right”
was exactly the opposite of what most Americans thought:
a. Obama did not support us on debt and fair taxes: Washington Post-ABC poll
Washington Post-ABC poll, Spring 2011: 72 percent supported raising taxes on
the rich including 68 percent of Independents and 54 percent of Republicans. But
Obama had ‘no power’?
b. Obama did not support us on TARP & Financial Bailout: Over 70% of us opposed
the bailout. Obama accelerated it with Geithner and Bernanke - both Bush
carryovers embraced by Obama. Geithner is soon to receive his ‘bailout’ from the
financial sector (as he soon ‘retires’ from the Obama administration); Obama will
get his in 2012, when he leaves.
c. Obama did not support us on Health Care: 72% of us supported “a government
administered insurance plan - something like Medicare for those under 65—that
would compete for customers with private insurers.” Supporting Max Baucus,
Obama blocked hearings on single payer and chocked off true health care reform.
Instead he supported a private-sector, for-profit health insurance ‘reform’ that
provided insurance companies fabulous guaranteed profits.
d. Obama did not support us on Afghanistan: 64% of us opposed expanding the
war in Afghanistan and wanted to disentangle from Bush-era ‘War on Terror’ and
‘preventive war’ policies. Today, still over 60% of Americans oppose the war.
Obama continues it.
So, EJ and I and you and the Democrats and all Americans can have some really
Report thisreally “good ideas”, but Obama is going to ‘do what he thinks is right’ and we can
be pretty sure that what Obama thinks and does will meet two criteria: (1) it won’t
be what those who elected him think is best and (2) it will help the wealthy and it
will harm the middle class.
By tropicgirl, August 23, 2011 at 5:27 am Link to this comment
I think we have had ENOUGH of O-Ridiculous going GLOBAL. And who in the hell wants to save his presidency?
That drug addict needs to be stabbed in his hallucinating eyes with the truth. Smashed in the head with the guilt of what he is, and what he has done. Nut-kicked by the reminder of how many people worldwide hate him, and waterboarded by god in heaven for eternity, for the people and children he has tortured, disallusioned, starved and destroyed. And for his total lack of remorse, may Satan take him back to where he belongs, to the filthy hole he was hatched in.
Report thisBy Marian Griffith, August 23, 2011 at 4:38 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
@chip
Actually, Greece at least is broke because its citizens don’t pay taxes but expect huge payouts from their government.
The country then relied on Goldman Sachs and its like to cook the books so that it looked like they complied with the requirements for joining the Euro zone. For political reasons the rest of the European countries let them get away with it.
Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy have difficulties for their own reasons. Ireland and Spain in particular gambled big on real estate to keep the country afloat and on following the internet bubble creed of givering everything away and then after some unknown step miraculously expect profit.
Italy has been mismanaged for decades now, and things have gotten worse since Berlusconi became a politician to avoid going to jail (or at least court) for fraud and corruption. It has the same basic problem though of grossly overspending (kind of like the USA that, except without being the world’s reserved currency).
Ultimately the problem lies with the international banking system. The crisis has been in the making for a long time, and recent American presidents releasing all restraints on the banks only accelerated the problem, they did not create it. This is just the 1930’s crisis come again because we did not learn from that, only this time with trillions instead of billions.
A long term solution has to involve muzzling and hobbling the banking system and getting the population to understand that the days of unlimited cheap credit and ever growing wealth are well behind us and that we must accept a growth rate that measures in the decades and centuries not months and weeks (and miliseconds). It also must include dissolving some 50 trillion (or more) dollars of money (unsubstantiated loans) from the global economy. No politician in the world is going to deliver that message though, so we will continue or slow slide down the pit and get used to economic crisis happening with increasing frequency and severity. After all a few decades of complete economic collapse and protectionism will cause that money to evaporate. It will have some pretty severe negative side effects if it is done the hard way instead of by trying to manage it for a minimum of suffering of the weakest and most vulnerable members of society.
Report thisBy joentokyo, August 22, 2011 at 7:31 pm Link to this comment
Mr. Dionne’s essay is crap, but the comments are great!
Report thisBy chip, August 22, 2011 at 7:28 pm Link to this comment
Hey laffeyette
The tea party are republicans. They are not a third party.
Also, the reason that Greece, Spain, Norway and the rest of the world are broke is because they USED to trust the United states and invested in our worthless crap that Wallstreet bundled up. After the crap received a Triple A rating from our crooked ratings agencys.
Report thisBy chip, August 22, 2011 at 7:12 pm Link to this comment
Hey laffeyette
Report thisThe tea party are republicans. They are not a third party.
By chip, August 22, 2011 at 7:03 pm Link to this comment
Hey pen
Report thisYou forgot to mention Ron Paul just like the rest of the paid spokesman for the administration
By PenNotSword, August 22, 2011 at 6:36 pm Link to this comment
Might I ask who you find preferrable, Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney? Do any of you realize how much worse off we will be if one of these clowns is elected in 2012 and carries a Repub Teaper Senate and House with them? Excuse the English, but “You ain’t seen nothing yet”.
As far as the comment of Obama being a worse bait and switch than Johnson in 1964, I’d like to remind you that terrible Johnson brought us the Voting Rights Act and Medicare.
As far as Firedoglake being a great alternative media, it consists of a group of the biggest crybabies I have ever read. If they don’t get the instant gratification they seek, they start running for another candidate. We all know how far their Ned Lamont got against Joe Lieberman.
Report thisBy MD, August 22, 2011 at 6:09 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Now Obama is trying to take the heat off Wall St. by calling of the NY state AG. My
Report thisgod, if Obama wants to “save” his presidency, he can start by doing the right thing
for once. But really we all know it is simply going to be the choice of a lesser of
two evils. Wow. Exciting.
By sallysense, August 22, 2011 at 5:55 pm Link to this comment
a political man whose big ego is more important to him than his own conscience…
seeks to get his head fed from the thrill of filling a country’s leading position…
becoming an easy mark for top profiteers to steer into office and manipulate…
by supplying ways to satisfy his ego’s addiction through sly grips of corporatism!...
hence like a family suffering from the head of its household’s chronic dependency…
Report thisso does a nation as its leader’s weaknesses lay preyed upon by moneymongers…
keeping a president’s mind under their spell while bleeding this country even drier…
alongside all other officials too well-hooked on similar habit-forming hungers!...
By Michael Cavlan RN, August 22, 2011 at 5:34 pm Link to this comment
Bird in the hand
firedoglake is a great site.
Report thisBy flaco, August 22, 2011 at 5:14 pm Link to this comment
Is it all about Obama getting reelected or about trying to fix (good luck on that one)the goddam mess. Obama is part of the problem, just like his counterparts in the Republican side.
Report thisBy A Bird in the Hand, August 22, 2011 at 4:50 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Lafayette I have to ask you if you are on the take??
Bought and paid for by the Obama campaign?
Thanks
Report thisBy Robespierre115, August 22, 2011 at 4:48 pm Link to this comment
@Lafayette, last time I checked the Greek economic crisis began to grow during a very pro-privatization, RIGHT-WING regime. France is ruled by another neocon gasbag as well as Germany and Italy.
Report thisBy clearwaters, August 22, 2011 at 4:46 pm Link to this comment
Wayne: Here! Here! Thanks the analogy. So sad so true.
Report thisBy A Bird in the Hand, August 22, 2011 at 4:45 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Nail on the head Michael Cavlan RN!! Been wondering the same things myself..Time to hit the reset on ‘alternative media’ as they are looking a lot like the establishment to me…
Report thisBy Steve, August 22, 2011 at 3:00 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Wow. I don’t think there is one single comment supporting Dionne or Obama. This country seems to be thoroughly fucked. And I have to echo an earlier poster in that, the worst part is absolute betrayal of the hope for change he instilled in people. That’s what hurts the most, that we were played for chumps.
Report thisBy GoyToy, August 22, 2011 at 2:08 pm Link to this comment
E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post—the newspaper that’s been a cheerleader for every war. But that’s ok, EJ, just go on Chris Matthews “Hardball” because that gasbag thinks you’re just great.
Why do they carry this shill’s articles on this website?
Report thisBy Michael Cavlan RN, August 22, 2011 at 12:49 pm Link to this comment
EJ Dionne is an establishment hack, getting loads of coverage in the corporate media. With the same line as all the other Obama/Dem apologist articles that get “ink” here. Oh no, what Obama SHOULD do, COULD do.
Instead of dealing with what he IS DOING. Top billing too, at “truth"dig. Meanwhile, the plethora of good writers like Kevin Kostanza, Cindy Sheehan, Glen Ford and others get no “ink” here. Just Chris Hedges as the token progressive/radical. Who calls for stopping voting.
Almost like that is what they want. Progressives to either buckle down and accept the corporate corruption of the political process and/or stop voting!
Meanwhile at firedoglake there are loads of articles “allowed” and in fat it is an open publishing site. Where the readers decide what articles get top billing.
So Senator Mike Gravel has called for help to primary Obama. Quick, forget him. Put up another planative article calling for Obama to do such and so…. or whining about what Obama should do, could do.
Could there be an “invisible donor” problem coming up here?
Guess I can forget that Truthdig Truthdigger of the Week award now, eh?
Firedoglake
New Progressive Alliance.
Report thisBy Wayne, August 22, 2011 at 12:19 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Nothing, he has betrayed and compromised at every turn, he has never stood up for anything that he said he was for, he has only helped the banks, Wall Street, and the military. He has told all but the rich to go fuck yourself. I hate him more than Bush and that is saying something, at least with Bush you knew he was an evil bastard and he was true to his word. Obama is like Whole Foods, it pretends to be this wholesome healthy for the people store, but really it is just an overpriced evil right winger owned corporation that allot of pretentious rich people go to pretending they are hippies instead of yuppies.
Report thisBy rbrooks, August 22, 2011 at 11:45 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Go big, go long, and go global? Nice.
Where have you been for the last two and a half years?
Obama has gone big, long, and global, all right - in the interests of the global fascist criminal conspiracy he works for. This obsequious thank-you-sir-may-I-have-another crap would be comical if it were not so useful to Obama and the suits he answers to. This man is a mouthpiece for the corporatocracy; that’s all he is. Let’s just beg him squirmily for another speech and some more posturing, shall we? I’ll bet we’ll get what we asked for.
Can we move on here? This man is not a Democrat - hell, he’s not even a Republican. He’s a principle-free, conscience-free tool, a hit man for the Wall Street/military industry mafia that is wringing the life out of the global economy.
At the very least, must we continue to grovel to this administration? Can we stop taking this silly shill seriously and find someone who will at least try to begin to repair the damage of thirty-plus years of corporate misrule?
Report thisBy MollyJ, August 22, 2011 at 11:42 am Link to this comment
There is very little Mr. Obama can do at this late date to make me care whether he is re-elected or not. Bush’s third term. Why would I want to see him re-elected?
Report thisBy Textynn, August 22, 2011 at 11:29 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Obama can promise Nirvana on a stick…. Hey wait, he
already did that, and all of it was a lie. Obama has exclusively served Wall Street. Not just served Wall
Street but served them at the detriment to the
people’s good. Now that his Sugar Daddy, Wall Street,
has a roving eye, and throwing cash Romney’s way, I’m
sure Obama will be willing to get seriously kinky for
them to keep the money flowing.
People are dreaming if they are still falling for the
Obama “Change and HOpe” complete and total scam.
What are we supposes to do then, I don’t know but I
do know that voting for Obama or Romney is no real
choice. They both work for the elite and the elite
have been having their agenda served unencumbered.
“Obama’s election was presented as a potent symbol of
American democracy; the truth is that the two-party
system has become a threadbare cover for immense
feebleness when it comes to serving the diktat of
elite power as opposed to the good of the people.
“The most powerful office in the world” would be more
accurately referenced as “the most feeble purveyor of
elite interests”.
Obama’s presence in the White House indulges a
Report thissuperficial moral/political correctness while the
masters whip us all into austere servitude.”
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?
context=va&aid=25853
By Bisbonian, August 22, 2011 at 11:15 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Obama has already figured out how to “save” his Presidency…raise money for his
Report thisre-election. He has raised more money than the entire GOP field combined. Yes,
“his” voters have more or less abandoned him. He will find new ones, through the
favors he is courting with big corporations. Problem solved.
By Lafayette, August 22, 2011 at 9:52 am Link to this comment
QUO VADIS?
We can rabbit on about what Obama should do, should have done, will do ... but it all comes to wasted bandwidth.
The election year has begun earlier than usual. But it is, almost certainly, one of the more important elections that we will have had in a long, long time.
This country faces some very deep problems that Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! will not necessarily solve entirely. And the time is Now to address them in a national election debate.
It is gratifying to see that the “third-party” movement is getting a head of steam. The Tea-Party may have shown the way - in the wrong direction.
It is now up to the Dems to either (1) reform themselves by getting rid of the Blue-Dogs because the answers to our problems (namely Income Distribution) are on the Further Left and not the Far Right; or (2) the evolution of a Social Democrat Wing within the Democrat Party with an ambitious Progressive Agenda.
Or a blend of the two. Whichever, the onus is on the Democrats to “get it right” - because there will not be another chance for a long time to come. Particularly if a Republican-Lite Romney lights his fire and comes on to challenge a Democrat Party in chaos. (Which often seems to be its preferred state of existence.)
Report thisBy david451, August 22, 2011 at 9:48 am Link to this comment
Another for Lafayette, aka “bated breath”:
Read the post just out this very morning:
Report thishttp://www.truth-out.org/austerity-politics-descends-us-states/1314020642 for more insight to the unfolding mess.
By Tex Shelters, August 22, 2011 at 9:45 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
You are assuming Obama cares and has the capacity to carry out this grand plan.
Yes, wouldn’t it be nice if Obama had a grand vision and he forcefully promoted
it to Congress and America.
I also want John Lennon to be alive, a free Palestinian state, the end of poverty,
food for all on the planet…
It won’t happen, and Obama won’t do it. It’s time for us to face reality. Your good
ideas will fall on deaf ears.
Peace,
Report thisTex Shelters
By david451, August 22, 2011 at 9:34 am Link to this comment
Lafayette, aka “bated breath”:
See the article in the N Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/us/politics/14econ.html?_r=1.
Look at Christine Romer’s comments related to the article.
Read Dean Baker’s comments at CEPR, or the host of others that appear most every day.
Review the text of the Toronto G20, and all the commentary around it.
Or, just wake up and pay attention.
Report thisBy thelonegunman, August 22, 2011 at 9:30 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
too late IMHO… he’s alienated too much of (not only) his base AND the new younger voters who sincerely desired (and expected) change…
instead they got more of the same…
we needed Roosevelt and we got Hoover…
BO is the biggest bait and switch since Johnson in 1964…
Report thisBy JMD, August 22, 2011 at 9:29 am Link to this comment
E.J.Dionne,Jr 8/22/2011
Report thisOh,yes,allow this administration,that is more than half way through its first term,to do the things they said would do to begin with - such as,“boost the economy,spend on roads,bridges,transit building projects,dilapidated schools”,etc.
Let us be amused and entertained all over again,and pretend that we never heard this rhetoric before.
Your incantations belittle your appeal to the public.
Thanking you for this opportunity to comment
James M. deLaurier
By madisolation, August 22, 2011 at 9:03 am Link to this comment
Save his presidency? Why? Who’d want to? From Glenn Greenwald this morning:
“In mid-May, I wrote about the commendable—one might say heroic—efforts of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to single-handedly impose meaningful accountability on Wall Street banks for their role in the 2008 financial crisis and the mortgage fraud/foreclosure schemes.”
And:
“Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, has come under increasing pressure from the Obama administration to drop his opposition to a wide-ranging state settlement with banks over dubious foreclosure practices, according to people briefed on discussions about the deal.
In recent weeks, Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and high-level Justice Department officials have been waging an intensifying campaign to try to persuade the attorney general to support the settlement, said the people briefed on the talks.”
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/08/22/banks/index.html
Save his presidency? Geez, Dionne, we’re trying to get him out of office as fast as we can! He’ a truly toxic individual.
Report thisBy Lafayette, August 22, 2011 at 9:01 am Link to this comment
Justify that comment? How did he sign the “austerity ticket”?
Waiting with bated breath ...
Report thisBy david451, August 22, 2011 at 8:48 am Link to this comment
Seems Dionne has been asleep for much of Obama’s first term.
Obama has signed on to the “austerity ticket”. He is not going big or long or global, unless it is in concert with his G20 colleagues in imposing more misery on the swelling ranks of Unfortunates.
Despite all the wonderful Martin Luther King soundbites that characterized his last election campaign, Obama will continue on a (for him) safe and pragmatic course. We learned last week in an article in the Sunday NY Times that he’ll likely defer any further action until after the election is won (which is the real
objective, is it not?). And then it will be all about his legacy.
So much for the fierce urgency of now.
It can’t simply be about a second term for Obama. It must be about more. And with the millions unemployed and underemployed, millions facing foreclosure and financial ruin, it is rapidly becoming about the social fabric of the United States. As wealth becomes more heavily concentrated, as Republican candidates openly defend the idiotic notion that corporations are people, as a Democratic administration initiates a drive to austerity (!) in the face of economic collapse, the social fabric of America may soon become FUBAR.
There is much speculation in the press that the riots in Britain and Israel and in the Middle East may presage similar events in the US. And well they may. The policies of Barack Obama, the man elected to deliver hope and change, may now ignite this very conflagration. The man who wrapped himself in the mantle of Martin Luther King would be confronted on the streets by the Reverend, fighting against the injustices and inequalities that Obama had promised to eradicate, injustices he now seems prepared to perpetuate.
And no amount of wishful thinking from Mr. Dionne is gonna change that.
Go to: http://corporateconstraint.blogspot.com for more.
Report thisBy glider, August 22, 2011 at 8:31 am Link to this comment
Dionne,
Report thisMore of the same. More wishing Obama would do this or Obama should do that. Followed by the inevitable excuses when he not only fails to do so, but steers in the opposite direction. Frankly your wish list is a collection of reasons why we need to be rid of Obama.
By madisolation, August 22, 2011 at 8:20 am Link to this comment
A Bird in The Hand:
“He can go get a job in the private sector sucking up to some bankster corporation instead of us paying him to do it.”
That’s perfect! We ARE paying him to suck up to corporations. In short, he’s the middle man. Why not cut him out and let him suck up directly? It’ll save us some money. What a great way to put it!
Report thisBy starfish, August 22, 2011 at 7:42 am Link to this comment
Which in more likely to result in success?
“Jodie Foster Helps Fund the Search for Alien Life”
or
“Obama seeks rational Republicans willing to compromise”
I’d say Jodie Foster has a better chance of finding Alien Life than Obama has of finding rational Republicans willing to compromise.
Jodie also has a better chance of finding “Alien Life” than Obama has of locating his integrity or any courage.
Report thisBy Rick Perry, August 22, 2011 at 7:36 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
QE 3—and 4!
Report thisBy christian96, August 22, 2011 at 6:53 am Link to this comment
I just sent the following request to ABC, CBS, NBC,
FOX, and CNN. If I hear anything from them I’ll
let you know.
Can somebody please take time-out for a few
Report thisminutes to explain to me why the media
is giving so much coverage to a woman, Robin,
missing in Aruba? Is her daddy rich? Is she an
American diplomat? There are thousands of missing
people throughout America. Why is this one woman
getting so much attention? Please help me understand American journalism. Thank you.
By jonnyboy, August 22, 2011 at 6:28 am Link to this comment
Eh, I suspected we were in trouble when Obama hearkened back to Reagan rather than FDR at the beginning of his administration. Obama’s iron was hot and he chose not to hit it when he could. He could have enacted a first 100 days of true financial reform and a new WPA to get Americans working on projects future generations could enjoy, but he didn’t.
Instead, he made firms that were too big to fail, too much bigger to fail. It should have all been unsurprising given the people who surrounded him. Summers, Geithner, etc. Folks who were buddy-buddy with Wall Street.
The bankers got the bailouts and loans while the people lost their jobs and homes. Who lost more skin of the two groups? Who did Obama favor?
The sad and terrifying thing is that the GOP offers no one, not Ron Paul (who is in economic la-la land), better than Obama. The Dems aren’t going to oust him because no one wants to be the guy that ran against the US’s first black president (well, half-black).
Maybe we can look forward to a second term. Maybe Obama will find a backbone then. I doubt it. Remember Clinton’s second term? It was a huge factor in jobs leaving the US and the banks behaving badly with all the dereg under his watch.
Maybe it’s time to leave the Democratic party and go third party. I don’t know, but do know this whole thing is depressing. Obama had momentum and squandered it on a health bill that is good for the insurance companies and no one else. He’s pro big business.
And he’s the “socialist” in the eyes of the TP. Strange times.
Report thisBy Lafayette, August 22, 2011 at 6:20 am Link to this comment
HOW OBAMA CAN SAVE HIS PRESIDENCY
The point is moot. He will be reelected, unless the Replicants have a Magic Moment and can find someone who is Not Neoconic and Not Wishy-washy and Not from Texas to run against him.
(That would take a Minor Miracle given the present “stuff” from which their Dream Team must be made.)
The only question remaining is the size of the margin by which Obama will defeat the opposition candidate.
LET’S FOCUS ON CONGRESS
I suggest that the focus should be on Congress, where the present problem exists. There, it would be necessary to elect candidates who adhere to a Progressive Agenda, the first objective of which is to address the problem of Income Unfairness.
That objective will take the next two elections to accomplish. (That is, get rid of the Dem Blue Dogs and the TP Crazies.)
And the only way to effectively kill two birds with one stone is increasing taxation levels.
WHAT TWO BIRDS?
The first is the fact that Reagan’s wholesale reduction from 70% to 30% marginal tax rates (of high-end compensation) has brought the worms out of the woodwork. Corporate Cupidity has rarely seen such heights since the days of the Robber Barons in the early 20th century. They must be tamed and taming them requires much higher income tax rates at the top-end. So, let’s put them back up to the level of the pre-Reagan days (around 75%).
The second is of course the Debt Ceiling. By raising rates and closing loop-holes in both compensation and capital gains taxation this country can run down its National Debt (to a comfortable 30/35% of GDP) AND have enough spending left to do some serious infrastructural reconstruction that will bring a wide spread of New Jobs - not just semi-skilled (as construction) but skilled (as in Education and Public Health Care and a good many others).
If no one sees the benefit to the nation of those two suggestions, then it is not clear what the American people want ... besides Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.
Which is fine, but solves nothing. The rich get richer and come the next Recession the middle- and lower-class are going to be hurting once again. Perhaps even worse.
So, sumthins gotta be dun.
MY POINT
I don’t have to show, presumably, the info-graphic that indicates the 51% of American households that earn less than $50K per annum? OK, I will anyway here.
When the economy goes bust again, which it will do for as long as the plutocrats can influence Congress, it’s our middle- and lower-classes who will be hurting the most in a coming recession.
As they have been for the past three years … and until we attack seriously Income Disparity in America by enhancing Public Service Programs. (Which is anathema to the Replicants.)
Report thisBy christian96, August 22, 2011 at 6:19 am Link to this comment
I am not worried about saving Obama. The election
Report thisis over 14 months away. I am worried about saving
American journalism. For days ABC, CBS, NBC, and
FOX keep talking about a woman, Robin, missing in
Arruba. Why? Is this woman the child of a rich
person? Does anybody know why so much major news
coverage is being given to this woman? Is it a
diversionary tactic? If so, what is the media trying
to avoid? I don’t understand it.
By A Bird in the Hand, August 22, 2011 at 6:18 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
O-Blah-ma blew it…Wasn’t even close…He can go get a job in the private sector sucking up to some bankster corporation instead of us paying him to do it..see ya later..BYE..
BTW plz stop pushing this crap on us and lets move on..
Report thisBy stephen P. craig, August 22, 2011 at 6:11 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Terry McGraw, chairman and CEO of McGraw- Hill Co., parent company of S&P downgrade co., board member of Pete Peterson’s Institute for Intl. Econonomics, spoke for fellow board members Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, Paul Volker, and honorary board members Greenspan and Schultz re: THE ECONOMY. McGraw,” WE are pessimistic about the capacity of Congress and the administration to be able to leverage their agreement this week into a broader fiscal consideration plan that stabilizes the government’s DEBT DYNAMICS any time soon”. (surrepticiously written by ghost writer Greenspan, I presume). Reported by rollomasi on 8/9 in the Daily Kos. Also, read George Soros debunk the sacrosant free market myth in “Open Society”.
Report thisBy RayLan, August 22, 2011 at 5:48 am Link to this comment
O-blah-ma has irrevocably lost most of the constituency that voted for him - especially the young - once - fool me once shame on you - fool me twice shame on me - three times and I’m a lobotomized corporate minion, that is - a Democrat senator.
Report thisBy prisnersdilema, August 22, 2011 at 5:40 am Link to this comment
No, it’s too late…..
And all the apologies, and rationalizations for what he has done will not change that…
Mr. Obama will spend what little time he has left running for office, so nothing will be done…
Instead of doing his job, all he has to offer is being the lesser of two evils, but being the lesser evil, and not by much, is still evil.
Unfortunately, for the country Obama’s failed presidency, will be an economic disaster, with dire economic implications for all of us.
Since the Republican party knows, what a gutless wonder he is, they will continue to gut the country, we may even lose social security..
In the end, he will go off to some corporate or university job, where he can play the big shot, while the rest of us and our children continue to bear the burden of his failures for many decades to come.
Every time you look at President Palin, or President Perry, or President Michelle on T.V., making an announcement of some absurdity, or goading people to War with Iran, you can credit Mr. Obama, for making it possible.
Report thisBy Z1, August 22, 2011 at 5:40 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Sorry, E.J., but I refuse to vote for any Republican, or a Democratic President who has an assasination list of American citizens, or who imprisons American citizens without charge! I also don’t give a damn what their sirname may be, that is no excuse what so ever for denying someone their constitutional rights! But, it does give me every right to do my damnedest to make sure that such a terrible person doesn’t ever get reelected!
Report thisBy indc, August 22, 2011 at 5:10 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
What your are suggesting is a new series of lies and deceptions that will renew his opportunities to deceive the public by pretending to be what his is not, has never been, and will never be: a truthful individual, with integrity, courage, and trustworthiness who is committed to work in the interests of regular people rather than work exclusively for big business and the very wealthy.
Is this type of trash what it takes to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, always have a plan at hand for additional and more effective duplicity.
You have become a huge disappointment as a person capable of fair observation and comment. You have moved to the position of shill and PR adviser.
Report thisBy thecrow, August 22, 2011 at 5:06 am Link to this comment
http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/look-into-your-heart/
Report thisBy madisolation, August 22, 2011 at 4:54 am Link to this comment
E.J. Dionne: “Obama shoulda, woulda, coulda.”
Report thisBut he isn’t and he didn’t, and now he’s toast.
Good riddance, Obama.
By Helen Keller, August 22, 2011 at 4:39 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Quoting JBud66:
“E.J. Dionne, Jr., you are nothing but a propaganda-enforcing synchophant for the Capitalist Elite, who continue to push us all further into neo-feudal bondage. Where is your conscience?”
Exactly. I’ve been putting up with Dionne’s articles for years now. The only reason I bother to click on them is that I know I’ll get a bit of insight into what the elitist indoctrination program of the moment is. I certainly don’t read them for information. Mr. Dionne’s controllers have promised him the world - and more. I wonder when or if he’ll figure out that he himself is just another insignificant pawn who is being played?
Report thisBy Lafayette, August 22, 2011 at 4:02 am Link to this comment
BUFFET’S BADNESS PERSONIFIED
Buffet owns 13% of Moody’s so therefore he’s promoting higher taxation to save his sorry ass? And, of course, anyone who owns even one stock of Moody’s is equally culpable.
That is not the way guilt is apportioned unless one wants to spread it like jam on toast to suit their taste.
Buffet’s concern and that of Bill Gates who have created the Giving Pledge for philanthropic purpose is commendable.
Far more merit-worthy would be marginal income taxes at 85% for upper incomes and such pledges could go to fixing domestic problems, not the foreign kind.
Still, I will not decry the good work that the Bill & Melinda Gates fund is doing, particularly to eradicate recrudescent polio around the world.
THE MURKY SIDE OF FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
Still, the remark cited above about both Moody’s and S&P prompts one to dig a bit further.
Doing so brings up an excellent article that harks back to 2008, written by a NYT reporter, which explains very simply how the CRA’s gave the triple-A ratings in good faith. Their good faith, perhaps not ours.
This is not to propose a cop-out for the latter-day loan-sharks. They should have been far more diligent and disregarded any debt instrument that was not backed by credible creditworthiness check.s But it does explain a finance-engineering mechanism – in the midst of the Realty Feeding Frenzy - that should be forbidden in the future.
Because that mechanism is based upon faulty judgment and supposition. Which consists of packaging “shit with shinola” and coming up with shoe polish.
It is really interesting reading, if one is interested in the black side of Financial Engineering. Have a look here .
BLEATING-IN-A-BLOG
Buffet owns 13% of Moody’s so therefore he’s promoting higher taxation to save his sorry ass? And those who own one share of Moody’s, should they dump it? The above is treating culpability like jam one spreads on their morning toast to suit their pleasure.
Buffet’s concern and that of Bill Gates have created the Giving Pledge for philanthropic purposes, which is commendable. Far more merit-worthy, however, would be marginal income taxes at 85% for upper incomes and such pledges could go to fixing domestic problems, not the foreign kind.
Still, I will not decry the good work that the Bill & Melinda Gates fund is doing, particularly to eradicate recrudescent polio around the world. The World Health Organization could not find governmental monies to attack the problem, so they were grateful for the Rotary Club to have taken action along with funding from the Gates
As for the above quotation, once again idle remarks employed as an ad hominem device. Can’t you guys do any better than that?
Report thisBy ardee, August 22, 2011 at 3:05 am Link to this comment
I believe this author has written a last gasp plea to continue to support a president and an administration that has failed miserably, whether in the majority in the legislature or in the minority, to defend the old fashioned Democratic Party principles and goals or to defend we the people in fact.
I understand but do not condone those who turn from their civic duty to participate by refusing to vote. As Lafayette noted that is not the way. But, unlike that worthy poster, I recommend voting, not for the Tweedledee or Tweedledum candidate who will bring us the same tired and slavish devotion to corporate power, but for a third party , one which seeks to end the stranglehold of government by the wealthiest.
Yes that is a more lengthy journey to be sure, but a journey that must be undertaken as neither major party, regardless of their numbers in the government, shows any willingness to support the people of this nation.
Report thisBy Lafayette, August 22, 2011 at 2:51 am Link to this comment
IDIOT IDEOLOGUES
Is the pot calling the kettle black?
You are ignorant of the reasons for which Greece and Spain are in a financial mess brought about by Profligate Spending by the Looney Left that had found the Magic Wand for getting reelected into office. (Just spend and spend - the stupid bankers will pick up the tab.)
That idiocy is over and Social Democracy in Europe is taking a Cold Shower. It is playing its cards cautiously because of the rules of Capital Markets.
And what is your response? Do away with Capital Markets!
Yeah, right. So we can all eat grass as they did in Communist Countries?
Comments such as those above give the Looney Left the bad name it deserves. Rabid Right or Looney Left - both Idiot Ideologues.
Report thisBy Lafayette, August 22, 2011 at 2:40 am Link to this comment
PIE IN THE SKY
Where did EJD come up with this?
Been there, done that ... there is not a snowball’s chance in hell of it happening with the Crazies in control of the HofR.
Has Dionne not understood anything of the present political calculus in LaLaLand of the Republic? The opposition wants clearly that Obama go into next year’s elections with the highest unemployment rate possible.
Because they are not thinking one inch beyond their own Net Asset Accounts. Who are these Crazies, that is, from where do they come?
They are NOT all religious nutters as we may think. Many of the T-P Republs elected are, in fact, self-made millionaires. As if there were not enough already in Congress!
(Don’t believe me? For our reps in the HofR, see for yourself by downloading this Excel-file that indicates their Net Worth status here.)
MY POINT
See what happens when the Left stays away from elections? Congress gets infested with millionaires who, having so much money, do not know what to do with their time. So, they decide to “get elected to Congress and thereby save the world”. Or, at the very least, their privileged tax status.
But have they any intuitive sense of what it is to live in America where the average wage is $45K per annum? And the first really serious illness can force you to sell your house to pay some hospital a ludicrous amount of money to cure you, because you don’t have adequate Health Care insurance?
That’s the way it is in today’s America.
NO, IT ISN’T?
It’s all Obama’s fault for not pulling Uncle Sam magically out of the worst recession in 80 years in no time at all? (Deep recessions of this kind take 3/5 years to repair themselves economically. And only Stimulus Spending can work that magic any quicker.)
We, the sheeple, deserve this Mess. After we voted Obama “King of America”, we thought the jobs was done? He was going to change everything, wasn’t he?
What simplistic idiocy.
MY POINT: The Pro-Millionaire Clique
By not voting (in many, many elections in the past) the Left has played into the hands of those who would manipulate the vote to maintain the pro-millionaire clique in Congress. These silver-tongued demons made us think they would be working for “us”?
And for as long as they are there they will not vote for higher taxation. After all, most made their millions since Reckless Ronnie reduced drastically marginal income taxes during his tenure.
Not voting for Higher Taxation means procrastinating the inevitable and worsening even further a bad economic situation.
Report thisBy storkfmny, August 22, 2011 at 1:52 am Link to this comment
THE PEOPLE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR THE CHANGE HE PROMISED BUT FAILED TO DELIVER. We need a president that will work FOR the people, not against. If people would only do a background check on the candidates rather than listen to the media’s idea of who is the right person for the job we might end up with someone willing to work within the constitution rather than destroy it.
Report thisBy EstablishmentMouthpiece-Dig, August 22, 2011 at 1:42 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Dionne, you forgot to mention all of the men, women, and children he’s killing overseas. Will that help his chances? Should he fire up a 5th and 6th war?
Talk about war. Talk about the reasons we go to war. You’re a journalist. Do your job.
Also, there are no jobs being created right now, and there is no ground work being laid for jobs to be created within 14 months from now.
You’re talking to yourself, Dionne. o-BOMB-a can go ahead and start packing his suits, golf clubs, and cute little peace medal.
Report thisBy jbud66, August 22, 2011 at 1:32 am Link to this comment
I concur Robespierre. The writing has been on the walls all over the globe now for many years; and alas, the same writing is in President Obama’s very own books as you previously mentioned.
BOTH the crooked Warren Buffett (who owns at least 13% of Moody’s - who along with Fitch and S&P are responsible for all of those toxic assets and credit default swaps still circulating through the global market which have factored heavily into this Global Recession), and the mendacious fraud Barack Obama worship at the same pathological Altar of Milton Friedman; along with all of their Corporatist Masters and Cronies.
E.J. Dionne, Jr., you are nothing but a propaganda-enforcing synchophant for the Capitalist Elite, who continue to push us all further into neo-feudal bondage. Where is your conscience? Why have you posted such disinformation here on Truth Dig? Are you and your colleagues here selling out now too???
Report thisBy Robespierre115, August 21, 2011 at 11:36 pm Link to this comment
“Note well: It’s not only liberals in the United States and social democrats in Europe who are pushing to stimulate the economy. Calls to do so are also coming from the heart of the capitalist system.”
What is Dionne smoking? Greece and Spain for example, are ruled by socialist parties pushing right-wing austerity measures, Obama himself in his books praises free market doctrine. What the fuck are you babbling about Dionne? You continue making yourself beyond irrelevant. Go write fiction, you have a real talent for it.
Report this