Feb 5, 2009
Obama's missteps
I plan to give Obama 6 months before saying anything definitive about his handling of his responsibilities.
But it is already clear that he has adopted an approach that is baffling.
How is it possible that he is having trouble giving away hundreds of billions of dollars? This is usually easy to do. It takes no talent.
He shouldn't be using up any of his political capital to get his stimulus plan through Congress.
So what's up?
He has made 2 mistakes. 1. He has given the Republicans a chance to define him: Unless they cooperate he's a failure by his own post-partisan standards. 2. He hasn't been bold.
The country elected him to be different. The stimulus plan is boring. It's money for a thousand little programs no one can keep track of except an accountant.
How about one clear objective, say, building a transcontinental railroad system that is the envy of the world.
Or giving us national health insurance.
I know, I know. National health insurance is hard. It's almost impossible to create a plan quick enough to have any impact on the economy. Even FDR waited a few years before proposing Social Security. But when will he be in a better position? A year from now or two years from now?
We'll still be in hard times.
This isn't 1993 where he has to prove himself with a few victories as Clinton needed to do to establish his legitimacy.
Obama is the elected president.
He should hit one out of the park.
One more point. He needs to address those toxic securities that are like sand in the gears of the economy. Mark Zandi says it will cost a minimum of $500 billion to get them off the books of the banks. He should do it. Now. If he doesn't and dawdles with less robust efforts we'll still have to do this but it will a year from now when things have gotten far worse.
Do it now!
But it is already clear that he has adopted an approach that is baffling.
How is it possible that he is having trouble giving away hundreds of billions of dollars? This is usually easy to do. It takes no talent.
He shouldn't be using up any of his political capital to get his stimulus plan through Congress.
So what's up?
He has made 2 mistakes. 1. He has given the Republicans a chance to define him: Unless they cooperate he's a failure by his own post-partisan standards. 2. He hasn't been bold.
The country elected him to be different. The stimulus plan is boring. It's money for a thousand little programs no one can keep track of except an accountant.
How about one clear objective, say, building a transcontinental railroad system that is the envy of the world.
Or giving us national health insurance.
I know, I know. National health insurance is hard. It's almost impossible to create a plan quick enough to have any impact on the economy. Even FDR waited a few years before proposing Social Security. But when will he be in a better position? A year from now or two years from now?
We'll still be in hard times.
This isn't 1993 where he has to prove himself with a few victories as Clinton needed to do to establish his legitimacy.
Obama is the elected president.
He should hit one out of the park.
One more point. He needs to address those toxic securities that are like sand in the gears of the economy. Mark Zandi says it will cost a minimum of $500 billion to get them off the books of the banks. He should do it. Now. If he doesn't and dawdles with less robust efforts we'll still have to do this but it will a year from now when things have gotten far worse.
Do it now!