Winston Churchill once said that you can always count on Americans to do the right thing--after they've tried everything else.
The Obama administration has kept progressive economic policies to be used as a last resort -- In Case of Emergency Break Glass.
Well, the emergency is here in the form of a protracted recession and a threatened mid-term election blowout. And sure enough, President Obama is discovering his inner populist.
Rejecting the advice of his departing budget director, Peter Orszag, Obama has insisted that the Bush era tax cuts, which expire this year, be extended for "only" about 98 percent of Americans, but not for households making over $250,000 a year. Hard to argue with that, but watch the GOP try. The more the Republicans hold hostage this plan for tax relief for millionaires, the more voters appreciate whose side they are really on.
Obama has belatedly proposed a $50 billion infrastructure program, to put Americans back to work. He should have proposed four times as much, and long ago, but it's a start.
He has begun smoking out Republican inconsistency and hypocrisy on issues like regulation of banks, where the GOP tries to be anti-Wall Street but also anti-regulation. And how can the right be in favor of both fiscal discipline and tax cuts for the rich?
The right may have peaked a little too soon. The Gallup Poll for the last week in August showed a ten point swing back to the Democrats in congressional match-up races.
How did this come about?
In general, voters unhappy with the recession are inclined to vote against the incumbent candidate, but so many of the Republicans are so crazy that voters may think twice about voting for them. The Tea Party is no longer that different from the mainstream Republican Party, and it doesn't speak for most Americans.
Obama has been uncomfortable in the role of partisan, but he has gotten off some good speeches since Labor Day--and not a moment too soon.
The Republicans have already effectively nationalized the 2010 mid-term election, portraying it as a referendum on Obama. But the president, even with popularity ratings of around 45 percent, is more popular than most politicians. And if he can smoke out Republican ideas, most voters will notice that they agree with Obama more than they agree with John Boehner and the GOP. .
Here are nine ideas for Obama to hold down Democratic losses in the mid-term.
One. End the strip-tease and nominate Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Nothing would better identify the Republicans with Wall Street and nothing else would so energize a dispirited Democratic base. The nastier the confirmation fight, the better. Or do a recess appointment and let the right complain about Warren's concern for consumers rather than bankers.
Two. Make it clear that your administration will not support cuts in Social Security. Declare that if the fiscal commission comes up with a formula that reduces benefits for seniors, its recommendations will be a dead letter. Dare the Republicans to follow suit.
Three. Sign an executive order requiring that companies that bid on government contracts have good wages and working conditions, and follow labor laws. The labor movement is fed up with being the caboose on your train. Nothing would energize trade unionists as much as a commitment to good jobs at good wages.
Four. Ask Republican leaders to support you in disavowing the burning of the Koran and any other sacred books. Your recent remarks on this were terrific. Here is another issue that demonstrates just how lunatic-fringe a lot of Republicans have become. Force major Republicans to choose between siding with Jefferson and religious tolerance or Hitler and book-burning.
Five. Send Congress more emergency recovery legislation--job creation, aid to the states, extended unemployment benefits--and dare Republicans to vote against it. It doesn't matter if a few misguided Democrats oppose you, too. The main blockage of a stronger recovery program is the Republican Party.
Six. Propose a six month tax holiday for payroll taxes. Ask for the Republicans' support. This would provide direct tax relief to working people and lower the cost of creating jobs. It would provide more of a tonic to the economy and more practical help to American families than any of the Republicans' proposed tax cuts. Make up the loss to the Social Security trust funds with a temporary surtax on people making over $10 million a year.
Seven. Start playing hardball with Chinese mercantilism. The entire Chinese industrial system is a violation of the rules of the World Trade Organization and an assault on American jobs. Close students of trade politics have been pointing this out for decades. The New York Times just woke up to it, and put the story on page one.
Eight. Send Congress legislation for a direct program of mortgage refinancing to help innocent homeowners whacked by the fallout from the subprime scandal and the collapse in housing prices. Point out that the previous program of voluntary relief in monthly payments failed because banks refused to cooperate with it.
Nine. Devise your own program to reduce the deficit, beginning with a crackdown on offshore tax evasion and a tax on short term speculative financial trades. The louder that Wall Street screams, the better. The more the Republicans defend their banker friends, the more you identify with regular people.
Most voters begin to pay attention to mid-term elections only after Labor Day. It took Obama too long, and he still is not quite in high gear, but he is beginning to sound like the guy a lot of us voted for. More, please.
Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and a senior fellow at Demos. His new book is "A Presidency in Peril."
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there to some that I can agree with but it is evident yet never been in the military. Our military is overburdened because of the massive cuts in the past. Cuts that were made in the Bush administration, and the Clinton administration. Is what put our military at a disadvantage. but we do have a secret here as secret weapon would just send you and individuals like you in the combat house hows that? combat training requires extensive training, and just activating a human who only meets on weekends doesn't make them proficient no matter what their training reports show. National can function if they train five and six days a week we will get proficient, however reporting on weekends doesn't prepare an individual for combat. You can take an individual and stick stick them in an active-duty unit and you may get away with that, will
My comments were directed toward the maintenance of the 238 military bases we've maintained in Germany since WWII, and Italy, Japan, Turkey - and Korea since that conflict ended, and Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, since the first gulf war and on and on.
You're the one that seems to think there is value in war and killing. Might I suggest you join up and try it - it's not so glamorous as you seem to think!
Thank you for your service. I'm sorry to hear about your experiences upon returning home though. It's always dismaying to me when I people allow their emotions to overcome logic, and turn a fair and just cause (such as a war protest) and take it too far, such as you described.
I'm fanning you though - I can tell from reading a few of your other comments you're someone whose opinion I'd find interesting and valuable.
If Obama adopts even HALF of your excellent suggestions I would (once again) believe that maybe we elected a true Progressive president after all.
Crow all you like. Enjoy! my friend.
Time reveals all things and we hope to hear from you come November 3.
First, end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Immediately withdraw ALL troops from both countries. Maintain air and satellite surveillance and a small (no more than 5,000 member) special forces strike group for short duration operations to destroy any found Al Qaida training or operations bases.
Second - close 90% of the over 1000 military bases worldwide - and reduce the forces of the remaining bases by 90%. (Seriously - would we be any less likely to attack - say North Korea - if they attacked 4,000 troops as opposed to the 48,000 we have there now?)
Third, cut the defense budget by at least 50% (making us spend more than all other countries defense budgets combined instead of over twice all others combined). This would return between $3.5 to 4 trillion to the U.S. treasury in the next decade.
Forth - invest $2 trillion in infastructure building in this country, and use the remaining $1.5 to 2 trillion to pay down the debt.
Fifth - Audit the FED. Close the FED. Have the Treasury and Congress take over thier Constitutional requirements to control the U.S. money supply.
In simple terms, the United States Government borrows money from the Federal Reserve Bank with interest. Say the Government wants $1 billion. The Federal Reserve prints $1 billion - based upon no hard asset - and lends it to the Government at a high interest rate. The bank did not have the original money, it created it and made a bookkeeping entry - like you writing yourself a check without funds and cashing it. The Federal Reserve controls the flow of money, making it tight and creating unemployment or printing more than actually exists and creating inflation. It is, in essence, a paper corporation, which controls the entire economic well-being of the nation. And, unfortunately, is concerned only with producing a profit irrespective of any harm done to the nation.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 5, of the United States Constitution provides that Congress shall have the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof and of any foreign coins. But that is not the case. The United States government has no power to issue money, control the flow of money, or to even distribute it - that belongs to a private corporation registered in the State of Delaware - the Federal Reserve Bank
Hiring Is Up Across All Sectors The lack of massive culls of workers from nation's largest firms is another positive indicator that the U.S. job market may finally be headed in the right direction. Gone are the epic cuts announced in 2008 and 2009, when Citigroup (C), General Motors, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) and Starbucks (SBUX) each cut tens of thousands of jobs.
Further, as U.S. News & World Report points out, every major employment sector is hiring, according to a sampling by job search engine Indeed.com. In the 12 industries Indeed.com monitors, hiring rose significantly in August compared to a year ago. The biggest surge was in transportation, where job postings jumped 119%, but information technology, manufacturing and media and newspapers also saw strong gains, up at least 61% above year-ago levels
www.dailyfinance.com
[L]etting people who already have plenty of money keep a little bit more of it doesn't boost demand in any meaningful way. The wealthy will save, rather than spend, that money. The deficit will be bigger and demand won't be any higher.
This is why the CBO rated tax cuts for the wealthy as the least-helpful of 11 forms of economic stimulus they evaluated. This is why former McCain adviser Mark Zandi of Moody's estimated that making the Bush tax cuts permanent would return a mere 29 cents of economic growth for each dollar the government spent on the tax breaks. This is why Bloomberg wrote this today: "Hand the wealthiest Americans a tax cut and history suggests they will save the money rather than spend it."
Despite all of this, Republicans are prepared to hold middle-class tax breaks hostage -- and Ben Nelson is inclined to help them, while Joe Lieberman repeats their talking points.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/
It's not a bad scenario for Democrats, right? The only way for Dems to screw this one up would be for them to start breaking ranks and siding with Republicans on the minority party's misguided, unpopular, and irresponsible plan, and start echoing bogus GOP talking points.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/
Give them time, they'll get there. Lieberman already is.