Paul Krugman asks some important questions:
What have they done with President Obama? What happened to the inspirational figure his supporters thought they elected? Who is this bland, timid guy who doesn’t seem to stand for anything in particular?A lot of people are wondering the same things. (And, a lot of those people comprise the Democratic base, the very people who are supposed to do the work and give the money to get Obama reelected.
Krugman's column is worth a read (and I hope our friends at the White House read it and heed it, although, they've largely ignored the advice from Krugman so far.)
Like many of us, Krugman had problems with the President's speech on Friday night:
But let’s give the president the benefit of the doubt, and suppose that $38 billion in spending cuts — and a much larger cut relative to his own budget proposals — was the best deal available. Even so, did Mr. Obama have to celebrate his defeat? Did he have to praise Congress for enacting “the largest annual spending cut in our history,” as if shortsighted budget cuts in the face of high unemployment — cuts that will slow growth and increase unemployment — are actually a good idea?We're entering the next phase of the debate and the GOPers have been running the show. Obama is scheduled to give a big speech on Wednesday night about his plans for the deficit (including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.) Krugman, like many of us, is concerned about Obama's ability to fight the plan put forward by Rep. Paul Ryan:
Among other things, the latest budget deal more than wipes out any positive economic effects of the big prize Mr. Obama supposedly won from last December’s deal, a temporary extension of his 2009 tax cuts for working Americans. And the price of that deal, let’s remember, was a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts, at an immediate cost of $363 billion, and a potential cost that’s much larger — because it’s now looking increasingly likely that those irresponsible tax cuts will be made permanent.
What’s going on here? Despite the ferocious opposition he has faced since the day he took office, Mr. Obama is clearly still clinging to his vision of himself as a figure who can transcend America’s partisan differences. And his political strategists seem to believe that he can win re-election by positioning himself as being conciliatory and reasonable, by always being willing to compromise.Not at all.
But if you ask me, I’d say that the nation wants — and more important, the nation needs — a president who believes in something, and is willing to take a stand. And that’s not what we’re seeing.
