The President Makes another Turn to the Right

The President’s Wall Street Journal article on reforming the U.S. regulatory system is another big right turn in Mr. Obama’s presidency. The rhetoric sounds good on the surface and I’m sure CEO’s around the country are pleased as punch.  But I’m sorry: really, it’s a goofy article with hollow arguments.  The President repeats the GOP mantra that regulation is killing innovation and economic growth.  Mr. Obama needs to read some of the other pages of the Journal; he might notice that America’s mega corporations are thriving and are awash in record profits. What innovations does he think we’re all missing?  That he couldn’t think of any is evidenced by his saccharin example:

“For instance, the FDA has long considered saccharin, the artificial sweetener, safe for people to consume. Yet for years, the EPA made companies treat saccharin like other dangerous chemicals. Well, if it goes in your coffee, it is not hazardous waste. The EPA wisely eliminated this rule last month.”

So has removing saccharin from the hazardous substances list inspired innovations and ignited a boom in hiring?  And later he writes about getting input from “experts, businesses and ordinary citizens.” What are the chances anybody who doesn’t wear a starched white shirt to work will have any influence on corporate regulation?

It pains me to see the President writing in the same newspaper that so often features the likes of Rove, Limbaugh and Palin. Maybe the White House will open a branch on Wall Street.  And maybe the Democrats will nominate someone else to run in 2012 because Obama will be the Republican candidate.

Related Articles

• In his ‘Wall Street Journal’ op-ed, Obama moves to the right on regulation (grist.org)
• Obama’s example of crazy regulation missed the mark (grist.org)
• Your President Loves Business! (theawl.com)
• Obama calls for economic rules review (marketwatch.com)
• Obama Orders Review Of Regulations (blogs.forbes.com)

The President Takes the High Ground

President Obama’s speech at the memorial for the Tucson shooting victims has received nearly universal praise by pundits from both the left and right.  And deservedly so.  Even Rich Lowry of The National Review stated that “President Obama turned in a magnificent performance. This was a non-accusatory, genuinely civil, case for civility, in stark contrast to what we’ve read and heard over the last few days.”

 The President remembered the deceased and lauded the heroes.  And challenged the nation to “do better.”  The message was one filled with empathy, grief, and hope.  The performance is a profound contrast to Sarah Palin‘s defensive, pathetic and crass “it’s all about me” rant of earlier in the day. Days like this remind me why I’m glad Mr. Obama is President and why Sarah Palin must never be.

Related Articles

• A.M. Top News: Praise pours in for President Obama’s speech at Arizona memorial service (nj.com)
• As Obama urged unity, Palin brought division (WashingtonPost.com)
• Taking Sarah Palin Seriously (TheWeek.com)
• Obama Tucson Speech Lauded as One of His Best (VIDEO, FULL TEXT) (blippitt.com)
• Study in Contrasts (tpmcafe.TalkingPointsMemo.com)

Republican Victory

Who wuld of thunk it?  By the end of the day on November 4, 2008, the Democrats were celebrating huge wins giving them big margins in both the Senate and the House to go along with President Obama‘s resounding victory.  And yet with fumbling leadership in the White House and effective obstructionism in the Senate the Republicans of the 111th Congress  managed to defeat every one of Mr. Obama’s campaign promises and, in fact, make substantial gains in their own agenda.  It’s as if November 2008 never happened.  If nothing else, I have to give credit to the Party of No: they are just better politicians than the current crop of Democrats and out maneuvered President Obama at every step. Their list of accomplishments is impressive:

• Turned health care reform into a boondoggle for the insurance companies and killed the public option
• Blocked 61% of Obama’s judicial appointments and dozens of appointments to key federal agencies, effectively crippling the functioning of the federal government
• Extended the Bush tax cuts for the super-wealthy and big corporations
• Blocked any progress on financial regulation
• Ensured the deficit will continue to grow up to the 2012 elections and via other provisions in the the tax cut extension bill they laid the ground work to begin dismantling Medicare and Social Security under the guise of balancing the budget
• Killed cap and trade
• Killed corporate campaign disclosure legislation and with the help of Chief Justice Roberts got unlimited contributions from big business and special interests
• Killed immigration reform
• Extended the War in Afghanistan indefinitely

With a majority in the House and continued obstructionism in the Senate the Republicans should be able to easily put the country on hold until the 2012 election season and claim the President Obama and the Democrats couldn’t get anything done for the country.  And they will be right!

Related Articles

• Roger Hickey: Tell the President: Stand up to the Hostage-Takers! Defend Social Security and Medicare. (huffingtonpost.com)

CEOs in the (White) House

President Obama met with twenty-some CEOs at the White House today.  Good for them, I guess.  But I’m wondering when the President will meet with someone from the millions of working class folks who voted for him in 2008.  Big corporations aren’t having a recession.  In fact, they are swimming in huge profits, a record horde of cash and, of course, massive bonuses.  So the tax cut “compromise” gives both the companies and the super wealthy CEOs most of the breaks. Just more of the White House focus on Wall Street while dissing Main Street.

Several of the CEOs interviewed after the meeting noted that they are poised to hire more workers and make capital investments once demand improves.  Very little of the tax cut bill helps that side of the equation.  Others mentioned that they are paralyzed due to many regulatory and economic uncertainties.  In an NPR interview UPS chairman, Scott Davis, explained that companies plan ten, twenty, even thirty years out.  What a bunch of hooey!  One of the causes of the economic meltdown was companies doing everything, anything, to maximize profits for Wall Street quarterly reports.

Related Articles

• Obama courts CEOs on economy, jobs (msnbc.msn.com)
• Obama grovels at the feet of the Captains of Industry (dailykos.com)

GOP Senate Ultimatum. Just Say NO!

Surprise! Surprise!  The Republican spirit of cooperation lasted less that forty-eight hours. The GOP Senators sent a letter to Harry Reid saying they will block any other senate action until the tax cuts for the wealthy are extended.  (Sadly, I suspect President Obama sees this as some kind of negotiation tactic.)

I’ve contacted my two senators urging them to follow the time-tested, voter-approved Republican strategy and Just Say No.  It’s time to put an end to government by minority ultimatum.  Send everyone home and turn out the Capitol lights.

Related Articles

• GOP Lays Out Priorities In Letter To Reid (npr.org)
• Senate GOP Vows To Block All Action Until Tax Cut Deal Is Reached (outsidethebeltway.com)
• GOP Senators: Bills Blocked Until Congress Deals With Tax Cuts (blogs.wsj.com)