I'm from Chicago. I know. That's one of the reasons why I'm such a goddamned cynic, so I suppose it takes one to know one. But this marathon fiasco of the debt limitation fight in Washington, DC is a bit crazy making for the entire world. And let's be blunt here. President Barack Obama is largely responsible for this whole crazy making process.
Why? Here we have to go back to my academic training at the University of Oregon grad school in political science. One of the finest practitioners of the political arts I ever met was a professor by the name of Jim Klonoski. Klonoski was not only an academic, but he was the state chair of the Democratic Party. And you don't get into that position by being a beanbag player. And this is what he said about everything you'll ever need to know about the nature of the US presidency in two words -- style and direction.
When we talk about style, we are literally talking about personality type. In other words, what separates Barack Obama from Jimmy Carter or FDR? This is something that is almost impossible for any president to change. Think about yourself. How easy would it be for you to have a personality implant? So he is, what he is. And the whole world is stuck with him for as long as he's in the Oval Office.
Now direction. It's easier to change the direction of the presidency. But this too, is pretty much bred into the bone. Someone becomes POTUS with a certain set of things he wants to set out to do, and he tries to do them. Admittedly, if circumstances get radical enough in the world, that direction might change. War, for example, certainly is a direction changer. But one of the strengths and weaknesses of the federal system of government in this country is that it's almost impossible to derail the direction of a set of governmental policies once it's on track.
And here, is where I have a USDA, grade A beef with #44. I watched a snippet of NBC News last night after the speech, and if this is all you follow, I can guarantee you -- you're confused. You're probably saying to yourself, "Gee, I guess reducing the government deficit must be a good thing. There are all of those trillions of dollars they're talking about. I have to live with a balanced budget in my family." Well guess what? If you say that, you're absolutely WRONG!
Government debt is as American as apple pie. It's been with us since before this country was founded. And in a depression (like what we're in right now) it's absolutely essential. Any economist of any persuasion will tell you that the cure for our current economic disease is more government spending.Why? Because we have hard, factual, empirical evidence of that based on the policies followed by Herbert Hoover. And any of the hot air coming from the Repugnican or Tea Party is simply hot air.
So yes, the Repugs are far more to blame for this mess we're in right now than anybody. But here's the catch. The President of the United States is responsible for managing this entire debt limitation fight, and I believe that he's done a horribly bad job of it for several reasons.
1. If you look under the hood at White House and Republican proposals for "a grand bargain," you'll see some pretty ugly stuff coming from Obama. Don't let anyone fool you. Obama has seriously put forward on the table actual CUTS to Social Security and Medicare. This from a president who's supposedly from the Democratic Party that has as its aorta, the preservation of these social programs. Mess with Social Security and Medicare, and destroy the Democratic Party. And from where I see it, I see little if NO cuts to the bloated, out of control Defense Department.
2. The White House has certainly, actively encouraged the fubar of Congressional process that we've witnessed in the last months. Both houses of Congress and both parties have been encouraged to come up with as many alternatives as they can possibly think of. There is one certainty about Congress. Make a crisis. Put a gun to their head. Give them one simple option with a "yes" or "no vote, and they can do something about it. That's how the TARP bailout happened in the fall of 2008. That's how we declared war after Pearl Harbor. When you start getting lots of bells and whistles with legislation, it all goes to committee. And committee is the death of fast action in Congress. This is what has happened with the Boehner, Reid, McConnell, Gang of Six, etc. proposals. And in committee we have little tin gods that cannot be moved. Barack Obama's extended discussions have encouraged this.
3. With guaranteed immobility on the part of Congress, there's only one option for the President. And that is to invoke Article 14, Section 4 of the Constitution. I hear the President was once a constitutional scholar, so perhaps he's read that document. God knows, the Constitutional option has been bandied about by Timothy Geithner and Bill Clinton. And if there was a near great president like Harry Truman in office now, I can guarantee you , he'd just say to hell with it and invoke his Constitutional powers a long time ago.
So why hasn't Obama done so? Here we see the dark side of his character, his style. Hillary Clinton has been making a tour of Asia, and one of the hot topics of discussion in Tokyo and Hong Kong has been the debt limitation crisis. A cynic might say that La Clinton has been dispatched in an attempt to roil the Asian markets in order to put additional pressure on the GOPs. But far be it from me to suggest such a tawdry thing.
Given all of this, I almost have to say that what I'm seeing in Obama right now is a sadistic streak. The Republicans are in a jam with their position, and they can't change. Obama knows this, and he can invoke the constitutional option any time he wants. So to me, it all seems to be just an extended exercise in inflicting pain on the poor stupidos of the GOP. Why do it?
And that brings us to the speech of last night, which I called the President's Rodney King speech. "Can't we all just get along?" Write your Congressman was his message. Right, that'll work.
The resounding cry is, "Hell, no!" Which is why all of this fooferaw appears to me to be an extended exercise in beating dead horses, donkeys, and elephants.
Style and direction, my ass.
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But Obama cynically puts style over substance, wishing to appear as an adult without ever taking the responsibility of an adult, betting no one is paying attention enough to care about the truth. He says "compromise" but only capitulates. He does the destroyers the vast favor of granting legitimacy to their viewpoint! The man is a nut case!
If we did not know the name of the man in office, nor his affiliation, ethnicity or anything else, but merely knew his actions there would be no doubt the POTUS was someone who is hellbent on killing the Democratic party and all of its (alleged) ideals.
The Republicans love what is happening…they are in a “cannot lose” situation…and their greatest ally is the Democratic Party extreme left wing, who apparently thinks Obama should be burnt at the stake for not doing the impossible.That is what they want, by the way…the impossible.
Nobody on the left could get done much more (probably nothing more) than Obama has gotten done in the face of the obstructionism. The professional left ought to wake the hell up and realize that…and stop all the heel-kicking.
All the moaning and groaning is going to do is to make a bad situation much, much worse.
Which lays out that Obama is using the conflict to destroy Social Security and Medicare. Neither one needs to be cut to satisfy the current problem but it is obvious from this analysis that Obama is acting as an agent for Wall Street and his financial backers to panic the nation to destroy these fundamental social agencies. He is no friend of the nation.
Rated.
Whoa, I can't believe the number of OS dwellers who are still coming off Obama's hopium. Dear God!
There's personality, man, and there's character. And the media/political/industrial/corporate/military matrix won't let anyone with character near the presidency, or for that matter, significant political roles. American character is an oxymoron imho. That goes not only for the big prez liar but for all of us.
Obama is the American Judas. It is bad enough having him at the helm. Having people who congratulate themselves for being friggen progressives not getting that, is really creeeeeeeeeeeeepy. Dissing the messengers and assuming the "ostrich stance" -- is that what OS stands for in good part? Thank God for the reality-based ones.
Cheering for TEAM DEMS after the $14 trillion taxpayer heist, when half of that tribe was responsible for giving away the store, is steroidal Stockholm Syndrome.
Sadistic "streak"? This guy sold his soul a long time ago. Along with most of the rest of the political class.
http://www.counterpunch.org/auerback07262011.html
is an indication that Obama may not be evil or subservient to corporate masters. It appears (horror of all horrors) he is merely stupid.
-W.C. Sellar, "1066 And All That"
It's a very old thing, this, and there's nothing under the hood. Sellar knew it in 1930...
rate
1. All the cuts are in out years. No one is seriously considering severe immediate cuts except in the fantasy of the 60 tea party house republicans.
2. Debt and spending a a proportion of GDP has to decline. Just as it had to dramatically rise to prevent a severe deflationary spiral.
3. The 14th amendment is a hail mary at best. It isn't likely to work.
4. The Bush Tax Cuts expire in 2012.
The most likely outcome is that they kick the can down the road until after 2012.
If a Democrat is in power, the Bush Tax Cuts will be vetoed. Assuming that the Republicans have control of anything.
The only real option is to grow out of our fiscal and debt problems. Otherwise there will be too much pain to go around.
The fear is that the Republicans are too disorganized and irrational to do any kind of deal.
Right now the House Republicans are like a 2-year old that has picked up a loaded gun, and they are surrounded by adults desperately trying to talk them into putting it down before they actually pull the trigger. It is a desperate situation, and Obama is trying to make the best of it by seeking to meet them in the middle.
While a balanced budget per se is not required, we have expanded debt rapidly in the last 10 years. The primary fault for this is clearly with the Republicans, as anyone who has examined the facts surely knows, and as anyone who believes FOX News would find difficult to comprehend. Certainly a legal mandate for a balanced budget would be incredibly stupid because it would tie the hands of government in responding to economic crises. The government could be forced to cut spending and/or raise taxes in the face of recession to meet the demands of a balanced budget amendment, which is exactly the wrong economic prescription that could precipitate a downward spiral into depression.
I believe that while deficit reduction is detrimental to the economic recovery in the short term, in the medium to long term it must be a priority. If Democrats had taken the House in 2010, we would have seen the Bush tax cuts expire. Deficit reduction could be accomplished via a gradual program of raising tax revenues by cutting the corporate welfare out of the tax code and by cutting military spending.
If we really want to see positive change in this country, Democrats need to really own the Congress and the White House, which means by the way not just majorities in both houses, but a Senate majority of 62 or more that is filibuster proof. That means we must stop blaming Obama and start doing a lot of constructive work in the area of electoral politics.