A recent forum in The Nation includes commentaries by seven public intellectuals about the ways Obama is progressing. At least five of them blame his failing on The System and urge that more attention be paid to his "major achievements." They are not doing any favors to the Democrats' and the President's reelection prospects or to his agenda, because they divert attention from those matters in which Obama has considerable degrees of freedom. I am not referring to past mistakes -- those are water under the bridge -- but to their extension into the near future.
The System is indeed stacked against the progressive agenda. However, it did not make Obama get ever more deeply mired in Afghanistan. It did not force him to increase the levels of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, nor to sign off on a fantasy of nation-building on the cheap, leading with the demand that Afghan's corrupt government -- which the U.S. continues to prop up -- curb corruption. True, he might have taken a short-term hit from the right if he followed the Biden strategy of disengagement and used drones and Special Forces to deal with the few remaining Al Qaeda members left in Afghanistan. However, this was a political choice, not a course Congress or the lobbies forced on the Commander-in-Chief. Most important, it is not too late for him to reverse course, say, by following the promised December review.
Second, nobody can stop Obama from framing the forthcoming election as a contest between those who advocate economic growth and those who want to hit the brakes just as the economy is about to take off. I am not talking about more infrastructure-building which takes years to have an effect and much of the money goes to jobs overseas. What is needed is a year-long social security holiday, which would inject into the economy some $650 billion over 12 months, which would put money into the hands of workers and employers in short order.
The conventional wisdom that the American people are all worked up about the deficit is a myth. A July poll shows that 70 percent of Americans favored reducing the unemployment rate over reducing the deficit. A Gallup poll shows that the top issues Americans are concerned about are the state of the economy in general (30 percent) and unemployment (28 percent). The deficit got the nod by a mere 7 percent. And this holds not just for Democrats. A July Quinnipiac poll finds that 61 percent of independents and 58 percent of Republicans think that reducing unemployment is more important than reducing the deficit!
There is a season for everything. Now we must stimulate more; next year, or in two years, we will make deficit reduction our priority. In effect, the president would do well to lay down specific markers. For instance, he could state that if unemployment falls below 7%, he will cut the deficit say by 20%; once it falls to 6%, some more; and that he will jump on it with both feet -- cutting costs and raising revenues -- once unemployment falls below five percent.
The Democrats cannot win if they make the deficit their cause, as they will be outgunned by Republicans, who will claim that whatever deficit reductions the Democrats favor, they will do better.
It is time for a Hail Mary pass. The Democrats cannot lose much worse in November than they are now slated to suffer if they come out with a strong "pro-growth, the hell with the deficit now" message.
In short, if Obama does not change course, the voters are likely to face a lousy economy and a miserable war, not just in 2010 but also in 2012. We owe him a loud and clear wake-up call, as he seems all too certain to follow the failing policies and politics he has followed so far.
Follow Amitai Etzioni on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AmitaiEtzioni
the solution to soc sec problems is so blindingly obvious--remove the income cap on SS taxes--one of the solutions to getting more $$ into the economy is just as obvious---tax the top 2% and get those hoarded resources back into circulation thru stimulus, etc---and can i get a witness for the forgiveness of all outstanding student loans?---talk about immediate economic stimulus....
Frank, the factory worker, has a job that pays $600 per week but after IRS, FICA, his portion of medical insurance, state tax, and possibly more, his paycheck is $385. He costs his employer $1200-$1800/wk after paying the bulk of his med ins, matching his SS, etc. Frank goes to the store and buys $200 worth of family supplies and is charged $238. And it gets much worse. Since the people who make and sell the products he is buying have to pay the same BS they have to include that in the price Frank pays. There is a lot of compounding of the BS particularly if the product is made in USA. Estimate are that 65-75% of the price of a USA made product is this BS cost.
The employer would pay a matching 7.65% of the worker's salary for Social Security and Medicare. That would be $45.90 for a $600 salary. Most employers don't pay the bulk of medical insurance, but if they do, it would be high, but not anywhere close to $1200 to $1800 a week. It would be more like $1000 a month.
Money out of the worker's pay is sent to various placed by the employer, but it is not coming out of the employer's pocket. It is coming out of Frank's pay check. The federal and state tax is out of Franks pay and is an estimate of what he will owe when he files his taxes. He may get a lot of it back.
The estimates of what payroll taxes add to the cost of what we buy are probably inflated, too.
Are you indicating that we should quit paying for Social Security and Medicare so we can give more profit to those who we buy from? Those who have more money than good sense?
You know, most of the people writing comments here are not journalists who are experts at expressing themselves. There is also a limited amount of space. In the future why don't you try to understand what the writer is trying to say instead of indulging in your petty picky picky?
The federal reserve can make all the phony money it wants to and it won't mean a thing if it does not get into the hands of the spending public. When the common people stop spending the nation will stop existing because this nation above all else, unfortunately, is capitalistic in every sense of the word. The problem with the current politicians is that they have forgotten which side of the bread is buttered. They continue to think the corporations pay their salaries and support their campaigns and provide all those nice things and benefits... but the truth is it is the people, the spending public that provide it all... and when the public runs out of money the corporations will die, the wars will end, and the weapons will no longer be produced. and worse than this issue is the civil war that will ensue... the end cometh!!!
Agreed that democrats should not make the deficit their cause. Democrats have just about worn-out the godwill they inherited from the New Deal Democrats. If they mess with Social Security it will be over for them.
The sages of MSNBC are spending every day discussing how they don't understand what is happening or why voters are too dumb to bow to them.
I live in DC (near your university) and in the past few days I have seen a few center-left people become deranged and scream things like "F-ck the Tea Party!" out loud to their neighbors and passersby.
Also i fear that cutting the Social Security Tax will further weaken the system and give those who are wanting to modify it more ammunition.
Obama could then use the accumulated savings to put Americans back to work in all sorts of fields in addition to infrastructure maintenance and development. If certain entities within the private sector wish to sit on enormous profits because the less fortunate 98% of the population won’t cave to their demands of privatizing Social Security and Medicare, then they can give back their wealthcare entitlements.
If they don’t feel like contributing to the country that helped them accumulate their wealth, then perhaps they’d make a better go of it in China or India… Goodbye and don’t let the door hit you in the @$$ on the way out. We can always begin anew and perhaps then the incorporated fiefdoms can revert back to the principles free market competition dictated by supply and demand.
1) make every dollar of earned income pay into social security. As a self-employed person I make over $106,000 I receive a 15.3 % tax cut! I love it. but it's a lousy model for the government.
2) While I like the SS tax cut, it doesn't prevent me from wanting to make $1million year - if I should be so luck.
3) the part that Mr. Etzioni doesn't grasp is that as soon as Dems sign on for a cut to regular workers' SS cut, the Reps, will propose this to be permanent. We will promptly see social security disappear and the disaster on the middle and working class seniors will be complete. Not only will their pensions have been fleeced by their former employers, but SS will have disappeared as well.
and raise personal income tax marginal rates:
50% over 250k$
90$ over 2.5M$
10 year income averaging.
Like the USA had when it became the most powerful economic power in the world!
It's a totally fair flat tax.
Doubling the pay of Doctors who treat Medicare and Medicaid Patients then the Unfunded Drug Bill were meant to crash Social Security with over spending !!!
Now all thats left if to crash the U.S. Government to get out of paying the Treasury Bonds.
Vote wisely !!!!