Obama: Still the Best President Ever

Back in December of 2009, before Obama had completed his first year in office, before he signed health care reform into law, I wrote a post proclaiming that Barack Obama the best President in my lifetime. I also predicted that he is likely to be a better President than any successor I will live to see.

Three tumultuous years later, I am pleased to see that President Obama has lived up to my expectations. I am proud to stand by my initial assessment. I will enthusiastically cast my vote for his re-election on November 6.

We have a tendency the mythologize our presidents. But the office of the presidency does not come with the powers to shape the nation in accordance to your will. There is no enchanted staff, bestowed on inauguration day, that can be wielded to shine the blessing of full employment upon us all. Even the Hollywood-tale of the spellbinding statesman able to unite us, cow the opposition, and win the day with unimpeachable logic and soaring rhetoric -  is largely a myth.

Ultimately, inevitably, the President of the United States is just a person. The office itself is a job. The chosen individual is either good at it, or not.

By this basic, honest, standard Barack Obama has been an exceptional President of the United States. Over the past four years, day after day, on issue after issue, he has demonstrated an uncommon combination of wisdom, patience, competence, compassion, and leadership. He is good at this.

There are number of areas where the actions of this President have had a positive impact. On education, the environment, financial reform, immigration, the war on terror, clean energy, killing Bin Laden, foreign policy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, marriage equality, equal pay for women, women's reproductive rights, disaster relief, student loans... the list of positive achievements is long and impressive.

And there are two issues in particular that have touched us directly.

I've spent my career working for technology start-up companies. It has often, and recently, been the case that these small and new companies do not offer health insurance coverage with the job. Shopping for insurance for my family has given me an all-too-close perspective on the dysfunction of the current system and the urgent need for reform. We've been denied coverage, had family members rejected due to pre-existing conditions, and seen huge premium increases year after year. Even for people with money and good jobs, the system is broken. It hasn't worked. It especially hasn't worked for small businesses. My experience has left me with zero sympathy for anyone who has opposed health care reform and immense gratitude for this administration for seeing this through.

Everyone should be able to afford health insurance for their family. Thanks to this President that is will soon be a reality. It is inconceivable to me that anyone would want to throw it all away and return to the costly, nightmare, unstable system we've been force to live with.

The second issue is the economy. Our family has been fortunate enough to have weathered the Great Recession with relatively little personal hardship. But it's not hard to remember what things were like four years ago, when the financial crisis hit. I remember walking by the empty storefronts on my way to work. I remember wondering who was going to close next, and how this business or that new restaurant was going to survive. I remember personally laying-off one new hire and putting off on others while we cut back to see what would happen.

Are we better off now than we were four year ago? We absolutely are. I've recently left my job and signed on with a new one, not because I had to, but because there were new opportunities to pursue. In my little corner of the world, new businesses are opening.  New companies are hiring. Existing companies are seeing new opportunities. Entrepreneurs are dreaming and scheming once again.

Part of the recovery comes from the natural rhythms of the business cycle. But no small amount of credit is due to President Obama and his administration. They pushed through the stimulus bill that invested in roads, bridges, clean energy companies, and saved million of jobs. They provided assistance to the states to close budget gaps and keep workers on the job. They cut our taxes and put more money in our pockets. They supported an aggressive monetary policy that saved our financial system and insured banks were there with the capital and credit that businesses need to survive and to grow.

The last four years have not been easy. We have been cursed to live in interesting times. But we have been blessed to have Barack Obama as our President for the last four years. I am proud to support him for another term.

All people, all politicians, all Presidents are imperfect. But this one is as good as they get. We are lucky to have him. He has earned our support, our respect, and our vote.

We Did Big Things

After the President’s State of the Union address President Obama was kind enough to send me an email that suggested that, with a small donation, I might be entitled to a t-shirt emblazoned with the their new slogan. I noticed it is a limited edition t-shirt. That’s probably appropriate. I fear the doing of big things will to be limited to Obama’s first two years and unlikely to continue into the next two.

I found the speech to be solid, agreeable, and well delivered. I didn’t disagree with his tone or topics or priorities. But I don’t think it will it serve as a rousing call to action. The reasons for the pending era of inertia are political and financial.

On the political side, the President’s large Democratic majorities were swept away in the last election and replaced with addition representative from the party of NO. This was partially an electoral reaction to rapid change during an uncertain time. The people have demanded gridlock and they shall receive it. But if the last two years were about using legislative majorities to get get stuff done, the next two years might actually be about changing the tone in Washington and finding common ground. The mixed seating at the speech was a good start. I’ve always believed in Obama as facilitator-in-chief. If the new GOP majority actually wants to address any of our problems they will find a willing partner.

Of course there isn’t any money to do big things. We’re still running trillion dollar deficits. And the big tax-deal-giveaway during the lame duck really needs to be the last big splurge. Closing that trillion dollar difference is a worthwhile focus for our government. With taxes too low and spending too high we can look forward to less money, more public-sector layoffs, and a protracted battle as everyone clings to what they already have.

Some of the things that are broken in America could be fixed without additional costs. We could institute a guest worker program that rationalized our immigration policy. The millions of undocumented people living and working in the US could be offered a legal status in a way that increased revenue. We’re sleepwalking in the face of catastrophic global climate change. A carbon tax is an overdue and obvious money-maker. Our corporate and personal income taxes could both be restructured in a way that radically simplified reporting, reduced rates, eliminated loopholes, and increased revenue.

There are plenty of big things left for us to do. But the “we” will not be the Obama administration or a Democratic congress. “We” means all of us now, left and right, Democrats and Republicans. If we can agree on the problems and work towards the solutions, then we’ll do big things. If not, the big things that bedevil us will remain undone. And they will only get bigger.

Everyone Gets a Tax Cut

A few thoughts on the announced tax-cut deal between Obama and the Republicans:


Generally, I like the deal. Everyone gets what they want (even if we can’t pay for it). Taxes don’t go up for everyone next year. We even get a little tax cut. Unemployment benefits get extended for another year. And the earned income tax credit get extended. So, tax cuts for everyone and the most needy get a little extra.

It’s absurd that there had be to any negotiations at all. The Republicans get a say because they have 42 senators and Democrats only have 58. Since it takes 60 votes to do anything, 42 is as good as 58. If the senate doesn’t kill that rule at the start of it’s next session then the Democrats are insane. I’m looking at you Jeanne Shaheen. What the heck, I’m looking at you too Kelly Ayotte. Just because you’re a Republican doesn’t relieve you of the responsibility to end this foolishness.

Liberals who are apoplectic about this deal need to rethink their priorities. Would the world really be a better place if taxes for everyone went up next year? And unemployment benefits ended? This is a stealth-stimulus. It’s not a very efficient stimulus. But it’s better than nothing -- and will be much more popular.

I support progressive taxation. I opposed the Bush tax cuts. I never liked the Democratic plan to extend 75% of the Bush cuts. I don’t think it’s a moral imperative that rich people pay higher taxes. We need a lot more revenue to balance the budget. When we get serious about the nation’s fiscal health I would like to see a little extra come from where it’ll cause the least hardship - people richer than me. But everyone will have to share the burden. We shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking otherwise.

But we aren’t serious about balancing the budget. Nobody cares. Not this year. This deal piles on another $600-$900 billion on the deficit. It also settles taxes and economic stimulus issues for the next few years. Maybe this is our last big bender. Hopefully, this opens the door to serious negotiations around a big picture deficit reduction plan (like Simpson-Bowles) where everything is on the table and we look at the kinds of real, structural changes that are required in tax policy, defense, medical, and entitlement spending.

Speaking of negotiations- Obama is clearly at home with them. He’s much more interested in being the presidential centrist than leading the charge as the front-man of the Democratic party. I admire this quality. But it drives “the base” berserk. Obama will get plenty of opportunity for negotiation over the next two years. The man himself is such a stark contrast from the communist-socialist rhetoric that comes from the right. I hope that’ll become increasingly apparent, that the fever will break, and that American center will realized Obama is one of them.

In this highly polarized era there may not be much support for a President-as-centrist-negotiator. But that’s his job. And I’m glad Obama is the one doing it.

Two True Stories About America: Part 2

It order to understand the actions of the Obama administration you have to understand the mess he inherited. Critics of Obama ask when he will stop blaming Bush for all his problems. But it will always be true that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were started by Bush. It will always be true that Bush ignored the problems global climate change and exploding health care costs. It will always be the case that massive tax cuts and runaway spending meant Obama inherited a federal budget awash in red ink. We can never forget that Bush presided over the housing bubble and watched as his economic policies led a massive, systematic, economic collapse.

These things will always be true. We must never forget that.

Seen in their proper context, the actions of Obama administration were smart, aggressive, and necessary. However bad things are, we were saved from a fate much, much worse. Critics of government intervention need to consider what would happened if those interventions had not taken place. Think about the destruction of the automotive and insurance industries. Consider the insolvency of the institutions that own the homes of most Americans. With the entire banking system teetering on the abyss we were facing the death of the capitalist system itself. Without banks, without loans, without lines of credit, without mortgages, without capitol - every business in the country, every employer large and small would be facing bankruptcy, failure and collapse. The actions taken by the Obama administration were essential to securing stability and protecting our future.

Amidst this crisis it may be harder to see the urgency of reforming our health care system. But our safely net is unraveling. Dealing with soaring health care costs and creating a system where every American can afford health insurance is more important than ever. The Obama administration and congressional Democrats were right to act now. We won’t see radical changes. Many Americans will see hardly any change to their health plans. But once the local health monopolies are broken, once everyone has some choice about their health plan, when health care costs are no longer rising without competition or constraint, when our financial and family health is no longer dependant on the whims of an unknown underwriter, when we have options beyond clinging to what we have - then there will no going back. We will never miss the old, arbitrary, overly expensive system. We can be grateful that action was taken and look forward to a more fair, more secure, less expensive system of health care.

Dealing with the multitude of problems that confront us requires dedication, focus, and a willingness to confront reality. Only the Democrats have shown that focus. The Republican party has abandoned its principles and policies in naked pursuit of politics and power. The politicians and cheerleaders who lead us into this disaster have refused to confront it. Rather than work towards solutions, they have worked to thwart them. Instead of trying to alleviate disaster they have worked to prolong it. The Republican party and its supporters fanned the flames of discontent and disillusionment. They oversaw our economic collapse. Rather than recover from it, they seek to exploit it, and channel the anger and misery. Republicans seek to regain power without regard for the public good.

There is no way to stop the march of history. There is no alternative to confronting the issues before us. It is impossible to take our country back to some imaginary days of yore. We need to look to building a better future. We need to remember that things could have been, and could still get, much worse.

Two True Stories About America: Part 1

As soon as Obama took office he turned on the money spigot. Hundreds of billions for the banks. More hundreds of billions in “stimulus” funds that went towards politicians' dream projects. Every few weeks they announced some massive bailout project that cost tens or hundreds of billions of dollars. Banks. Insurance companies. Car companies. Mortgage giants. It seemed like everyone who caused this disaster was getting a huge payout.  In two years the taxpayers got nearly $3 trillion deeper in debt.

On top of all this the Democrats passed their health care reform, which will cost another trillion dollars. They spent 12 months arguing amongst themselves, in the middle of this crisis, to pass a massive, expensive, unpopular bill. Most of us already had health health insurance. And it’s not as if this great law has stopped health care costs from shooting up. Since they passed their law, health care costs have been rising faster than ever. So, what was the point of that?

After spending all that money it’s not as if the Democrats have much to show for it. The unemployment rate still sucks. Jobs are impossible to find. Housing prices are still plummeting. Those same banks that got their big bailouts aren’t lending money. And they are busy throwing people out of their homes. Where did all that money go?

The jobs disappeared and it is not at all clear when, or how, they are going to come back. Manufacturing in the US has been dying for while. The housing and construction boom that kept blue collar families going is done and dead. People are watching their net worth evaporate just as they lose their jobs. We know people in other countries are willing to do what Americans do for half, or a fourth, or a tenth, of what we need to pay the bills. Not only that, but those same foreigners are now all over the US competing for same jobs right here. Now there are millions and millions of illegal immigrants, living is this country, working illegally, while millions of hardworking perfectly capable Americans can’t find jobs and are struggling to take care of their families.

And the change doesn’t end there. We’re told that just by driving our cars around -- to go shopping or go to work -- or because we’re trying keep our houses warm - we’re destroying the planet. They want us to pay even more for gas and more or heating oil. Even if we can’t see it, we’re supposed to believe that we’re destroying the planet. Not only that, but Al Gore has plan to fix this. And God Almighty does not.

When election time rolled around, the American people looked around. They could see all the money the government is spending. They could see the debt piling up. They could see an economy going down the tubes. They had had enough change. They had one word to say to the government and that word was “STOP”.

You Lie!

You do lie, of course. I lie. All of us human beings do a fair bit of lying. We should not find it surprising or outrageous that politicians also lie. If you won't vote for politicians who lie, then you won't vote. President Obama is both a person and a politician, so yes, he lies. Anyone can be painted with that brush, and most people have been. It's surprising there is any bristle left on it.

Everyone lies, but we lie to varying degrees, frequencies, and for various nefarious and not-so-nefarious purposes. Among human beings, and certainly among politicians that have ascended to the office of the presidency, Barak Obama strikes me as one of the more honest ones. He has not been in politics, and certainly not been president, long enough to abandon his aspirations. He has not kept all his campaign promises. But he's been busy. He deserves some time and space to determine which promises and priorities he'll continue to pursue. We should not be appalled by inevitable compromise. Some commitments will go unfulfilled. Circumstances will change. He'll change his mind. Some dreams will die.

We still honor honesty, and should continue to ask for it. When the president was speaking to the congress last Wednesday he was articulating his principles. President Obama was describing his desires and expectations from the bills that congress is authoring. When the president said his plan would not use public money to pay for the health insurance of illegal immigrants, that was a statement of principle. The facts, the text of the bills, are still subject to amendment and change.

Congressman Wilson, and many of his more courteous colleagues, presumably agree that taxpayers should not purchase insurance for the undocumented. They may suspect that Obama's agreement is insincere, or that the current text is inadequate. Rather than assault him, why not just hold him to his word? Congress is authoring the bill. Joe Wilson is a Congressman. Why not work to insure the bill contains the principles that both Wilson and Obama say they support?

Obama wants the public option to be funded, not by taxpayers, but by subscriber premiums. He speaks of fair competition between the public and private insurers. Obama says he doesn't want a single payer plan and offers a market-based approach. He says, constantly, that he intends to (mostly) leave private employer-provided plans alone. Obama says he wants the plan to be fully funded, to reduce medical costs in the long run, and not add a dime to deficit.

Congressional Republicans don't argue that these are bad ideas. Instead, they argue, that Obama's health care reforms must be stopped because Democrats can't be trusted! So, don't trust them. Laws are written with words and those words have meaning. The GOP should be negotiating to insure their shared principles are signed into law.

Republicans, including New Hampshire's own Senator Gregg and that forgettable gentleman that spoke after Obama's speech, all claim they recognize the real and urgent need for health care reform. When described, the Republican plans sound a lot like what Obama is proposing. But when it comes to negotiating in good faith, the GOP is just yelling from the sidelines.

Of course, when Republicans say they support health care reform, they may be lying.

Bank Slate Federal Budget Blueprint

One of the many reasons to condemn the Bush administration is its record of fiscal irresponsibility. In the final year of the Clinton presidency we had a 236 billion dollar budget surplus. At the end of the Bush administration, after a few unfunded entitlements, massive tax cuts and 7 years of warfare, the days of surplus were long gone. In 2008 the budget deficit was 454 billion dollars. The Bush record was one of constant tax cuts and spending increases. The result was predictable. He even oversaw the disintegration of our financial system left a pending depression as little parting gift.

Obama inherited a budget awash in red ink and an economy on the brink of collapse. He responded by cutting taxes and increasing spending. A lot. Well respected Keynesian-economic orthodoxy says this was the exactly right thing to do under the circumstances. Facing an economic crisis, the government should borrow a lot and spend a lot to get the economy moving again. The debt is worth incurring if it gets people working and prevents stagnation. And the theory worked. Sort of. The economy and unemployment stabilized. It's bad but it could have been worse. Much worse.

Stability came at a great cost. The 2009 budget deficit was a jaw-dropping 1.35 trillion dollars. In the first year of the Obama administration the government ran up 1 year deficit that was three-times that of the worst Bush budget. Still, it was a crisis. Now the worst has passed. Obama has been in office for a year. Earlier this month he unveiled his own budget plan. The Obama budget for 2010 projects....

... a 1.56 trillion dollar deficit.

In 2010 we'll see more tax cuts and more spending. Naturally, the Republican party finds these runaway deficits to be completely intolerable. If they were in charge they would... um... cut taxes even more!

We have a big problem.

With a total federal debt over $12 trillion it won't take many years of trillion plus deficits before this country is in big trouble. In the long term runaway spending will be ruinous. But in the short term cutting taxes and increasing spending is always popular. Cutting spending and raising taxes is political suicide. Especially with a battered economy and unemployment over 10% -- any party that calls for belt tightening will get run out of town.

What to do?

Here is my solution. There are some relatively simple measures we can take that should be politically palatable, would put us on a sustainable path to a balanced budget, and are vastly preferable to national bankruptcy.

I'll dive into some specifics in future posts. But the basics are pretty simple. Remember the year 2000 when we had a surplus of $236 billion? That wasn't so long ago. Were you crushed by the weight of over-taxation in 2000? Did you find the federal government of 2000 to be overly stingy with the public purse? 2000 was an Ok year, right?

The Bank Slate Federal Budget Blueprint:

• The year 2000 should be used as a policy baseline. Tax and spending policies should be reset to the levels and rates they had in 2000.
• Any policies enacted since 2000, that we wish to keep, need to be funded.

A lot has changed since 2000. Not enough had happened to justify perpetual trillion dollar deficits. But there have been changes. As the Bank Slate Federal Budget Blueprint series continues I'll dive into the big-ticket changes and how we can bring them back a sensible baseline. Specifically, I'll look at:

• Taxes
• Military Spending
• Health Care

Stay tuned...

The State of Our Union

For President Obama's first State of the Union address he was confident, competent, steady, smart, and relaxed. He acknowledged the charged partisan atmosphere, but still seemed to stand above it.


I admired the performance. I felt deflated afterwards.

Obama has to make a choice.

He can rally his side and lead his legislative majority to enact his agenda. This is the partisan path which will lead to likely legislative accomplishment but will come with even more acrimony.

Or Obama can continue to push for compromise and bipartisan solutions. This is the high road. Ultimately, breaking the culture of politics-as-bloodsport is the best bet for the future of this country. But Obama can't travel this road alone.

After the year we've had I, and many others, have urged Obama to take the partisan path, to stand up for his party, to stand against the entrenched and obstinate opposition-- to get it done.

In his State of the Union address the president took the bipartisan path.

During his speech the president did not promise to steamroll the opposition. He did not commit to passing health care reform, financial reform, and a new jobs program by any means necessary. He defended his record and endorsed his priorities. He called for new ideas, shared solutions, and a common purpose. Instead of a call to arms it was a call for disarmament. On Wednesday, in the face of a loud and heartfelt plea from the left, and vitriol and disdain from the right, Obama chose the center road.

Something interesting happened on Friday.

Obama was invited to the House Republican Retreat in Baltimore. He came to speak to the Republican members of the House of Representatives and spent some time answering their questions. The event was extraordinary. The Republicans were sincere and respectful even as they let fly with their questions, proposals, and complaints. The president held his ground and explained his positions. It was a real and substantive debate.

As a supporter of the president, it was refreshing to see him stand up to the opposition and confront them directly. And coming from the House Republicans I heard a clear sense of frustration. They do feel like their proposals are not getting a fair hearing. They did not sound content being the party of "no". They do want to offer solutions. Obama acknowledged their frustration. He seemed well-informed about their proposals. He seemed ready to hear more.

I don't know where we go from here. I don't know if this president can achieve legislative success or forge real bipartisanship. We might get both. Or neither. What is clear is that President Obama is committed to staying on the high road, despite the obvious off-ramp.

Obama: Best President Ever

Glenn Greenwald has an interesting post up on Salon comparing Obama admirers the relentless defenders of George Bush and Sarah Palin. He writes...

Those who venerated Bush because he was a morally upright and strong evangelical-warrior-family man and revere Palin as a common-sense Christian hockey mom are similar in kind to those whose reaction to Obama is dominated by their view of him as an inspiring, kind, sophisticated, soothing and mature intellectual.

I view Obama as an inspiring, kind, sophisticated, soothing and mature intellectual. He's also a great president. I am inclined to rise to his defense against critics to his left and right. There are several Bush-era policies that appalled me at the time of their introduction. Because I trust him, I am willing to grant Obama lot a latitude to continue those same polices. I'm stunned by the rationalizations of Bush and Palin defenders, but I fit Greenwald's profile of a pie-eyed Obama fanboy rather closely.

Is there something wrong with that?

Before I defend myself, allow me to dig this hole deeper. Not only do I consider Obama, who is not even through his first year in office, to be a great president -- I hear-by anoint him with the title of Best President I Have Seen And Am Likely To Ever See In My Lifetime.

Overblown? Blinded? Bombastic? Consider the competition. These are the human beings that have in my lifetime ascended to become President of United States -- I'll even thrown in the near-presidents: Carter. Regan. Mondale. Bush. Dukakis. Clinton. Dole. Bush. Gore. Kerry. McCain. Obama's virtues stack up well. A president who is an inspiring, kind, sophisticated, soothing and mature intellectual is very rare bird. We have the good fortune to have one at at time when we really need one. Why not be grateful? Why not admire him? Isn't that something to be cherished and defended?

Criticism of Obama from the right is certainly voluminous but it has such an incoherent kitchen-sink quality to it that I have a hard time taking any of it seriously. He's a socialist. He's a Nazi. He's a coward. He's a tyrant. He's hasn't done anything. He's trying to take over the country. He's too intellectual. He's an empty suit. He's a ruthless Chicago pol. He's naive and in way over his head. If there's a coherent right-wing critique of Obama I've yet to encounter it*. I always feel like telling these people to just turn off the Fox News. Pay attention to his actual words and the policies he proposes. Measure his actions against the principles you claim to have. These feelings of incoherent rage will pass.

The criticisms coming from the left are more pointed and, to my ears, better grounded in reality. The most frequent of these are that Obama is too centrist, too moderate, too conciliatory, doesn't know how to play political hardball, and that he's insufficiently aggressive in denouncing Republican chicanery. If these are flaws, they are flaws that I admire. Obama seems to be genuinely committed to forging consensus, exploring the options, prioritizing policies over politics. On issues from health care, to the economy, to Afghanistan, to climate control we see an administration that is patient but persistent. The president should set the national interest above the interests of the Democratic and Republican parties. If more politicians did this we would all be much better off.

Greenwald blasts Obama defenders saying...

These outbursts include everything other than arguments addressed to the only question that matters: are the criticisms that have been voiced about Obama valid? Has he appointed financial officials who have largely served the agenda of the Wall Street and industry interests that funded his campaign? Has he embraced many of the Bush/Cheney executive power and secrecy abuses which Democrats once railed against -- from state secrets to indefinite detention to renditions and military commissions? Has he actively sought to protect from accountability and disclosure a whole slew of Bush crimes? Did he secretly a negotiate a deal with the pharmaceutical industry after promising repeatedly that all negotiations over health care would take place out in the open, even on C-SPAN? Are the criticisms of his escalation of the war in Afghanistan valid, and are his arguments in its favor redolent of the ones George Bush made to "surge" in Iraq or Lyndon Johnson made to escalate in Vietnam? Is Bob Herbert right when he condemned Obama's detention policies as un-American and tyrannical, and warned: "Policies that were wrong under George W. Bush are no less wrong because Barack Obama is in the White House"?

Greenwald is entitled to his questions and his criticisms. And the individual issues merit direct answers. I will decline to address all of them now, but hope to address these issues in future posts.

 Instead, I offer these general defenses:

• In many of these cases Obama inherited huge problems for which there are no good solutions. The proposed policies are easy to criticize, but do you, the critic, have an alternate plan that you think is better? If you offer your own counter-proposal I may disagree with you. If you can't think of any other plan which you like better and you are prepared to offer and defend, then perhaps the criticism is unfounded.
  
  
• Many critics point to some action (or some lack of action) as evidence of some glaring character flaw. Obama did (or didn't do) X, therefore he is weak/cowardly/craven/ unprincipled/incompetent. Often the case for the flaw following from the act is very weak. In such cases, it us not unreasonable to rise and defense and point out the weakness of the case and the absence of the flaw.
  
  
• Some critics don't argue with a policy per se. Instead they argue that the policy seems or could be seen as an indication that Obama is cowardly/craven/ unprincipled/incompetent. Do you fault the policy? Do you feel the flaw is real? Everyone should support politicians that pursue sound policies especially when those policies are politically risky and subject to unprincipled demagoguery. Every policy can be seen as evidence that one is cowardly/craven/unprincipled/incompetent-- especially when there are so many partisans so bent on seeing them that way.
  
  
• As President of the United States, Obama is responsible the efficient function of the entire federal government including and especially the vast national security apparatus. He has never been president before. In many cases he is pursuing his principles and campaign promises cautiously. He is moving at a pace that will not disrupt the function of, or his relationship with, those organizations that he needs and we need to rely on. But he is moving forward.
  
  

Everyone is entitled to express their opinion. And blind devotion to a politician is always unwise. Blind skepticism is also unwise. We live in a age of skepticism, criticism, and ironic detachment. We are not used to finding virtues in our leaders. We are unfamiliar with politicians worthy of defense. We are afflicted by fierce partisanship and vast political divides. We have a president willing to stand in the center, look at the big picture, and steer us towards real solutions. We should offer an honest critique. But when the president is doing something right, we should rise to his defense.

* For right-wing critique, there is this. Pretty thin gruel. Anyone got anything better?

Grab A Mop

Two recent posts that got my attention:

Lately I seem to be having conversations with wonkish right-of-center types who have this-or-that idea about how to design a simpler, more efficient, and more effective policy to deal with taxation, climate change, health care, whatever. But it always stops there. No one talks about managing the transition. No one talks about convincing Mitch McConnell to back these ideas. No one talks about sixty votes. No one talks about the interest group dynamics in Washington. No one even talks about working for a decade to elect members of Congress who might be more amenable to these sorts of policies. It's just policy in a vacuum. Which is an interesting intellectual exercise, but not a legitimate substitute for governance, an ultimately messy endeavor.

"What I reject is when some folks say we should go back to the past policies when it was those very same policies that got us into this mess in the first place. Another way of putting it is when, you know, I'm busy and Nancy is busy with our mop cleaning up somebody else's mess --- we don't want somebody sitting back saying, you're not holding the mop the right way. Why don't you grab a mop, why don't you help clean up. (Applause.) You're not mopping fast enough. (Laughter.) That's a socialist mop. (Laughter and applause.) Grab a mop -- let's get to work," - Barack Obama.

The New Hampshire state motto is "Live free or die!" Every state has a motto, but we take a perverse pleasure in ours. It is something of residency requirement that New Hampshirites make this bombastic pronouncement of personal liberty at every opportunity. I claim no exception. We have no state sales or income tax. This state was founded upon conservative principles low taxation, economic opportunity, and individual freedom. I am not opposed to, and have come to appreciate, the notion of sound governance based upon these principles.

A central problem we face, as a nation, is that the self-styled conservative party, the Republican party, no longer appears to be committed to governance based on these principles. In fact, sound governance is no longer central to the party at all.

"Government is not part of the solution. It is part of the problem." This is a cute slogan. It is a ruinous governing philosophy. Under George W. Bush we saw this philosophy in action. They believed in military power, but not nation building. So we launched two wars with no plans for the aftermath. They appointed political hacks to run FEMA and the were flatfooted and absent while New Orleans drowned. They cut taxes while increasing spending. They launched new entitlements with no funding mechanisms and created massive structural deficits. The Bush administration abrogated and ignored international treaties, offending allies and squandering international good will. They denied the science of climate change and dithered in the face of global warming. They defended the status quo and insulated insurers against intervention while health care costs escalated and the ranks of the uninsured expanded. They didn't believe in financial regulation, federal enforcement, or strong regulatory oversight, and oversaw a massive financial collapse, the ruin of our financial institutions, and a global economic meltdown.

Faced with this record, you might expect the GOP to change tack a little. Wouldn't this be a good time to reflect on some lessons learned? Wouldn't this be a good time to embrace intelligence, competence, prudence, and talking necessary action as central to who they are, or seek to be? Wouldn't this be a good time to recognized the scope of the challenges we face and get serious about solving them?

In the 2008 campaign John McCain's primary win-by-default seemed like step in the right direction. McCain's reputation was centrist and sensible. Then he picked his running mate. Sarah Palin had poise and folksy charm. But she clearly lacked the requisite intelligence, experience, or character to be on a national ticket, much less be entrusted with the powers of high office. Palin was a big hit with the Republican base.

Since the election, having faced electoral defeat, and facing a steep drop in party identification, the GOP still has not gotten serious. It's gotten worse. From economic stimulus to health care reform the Republicans leaders have been opposing any legislation, and openly hoping for failure by the Obama administration, regardless of the cost to the nation. They hope to breed further disaster and ride discontent to future electoral victory. What they have not been doing is rebuilding their brand. They have yet to start to present themselves as party with solutions to problems that face this nation.

The absence of intellectual and policy leadership on the right has created vacuum. The entertainers and propagandists have rushed to fill it, leading to rise in prominence of Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Fox News on the Republican right. All they can offer is partisan sniping and incoherent rage. They do more damage to the ideology they claim to espouse.

As a country, our troubles persist. Health care costs continue to rise, unemployment remains high, we face the prospect of catastrophic global climate change, and have a jaw-dropping 1.4 trillion dollar budget deficit. Its time for everyone to get real about confronting these issue. There's plenty of work to be done.

Grab a mop.