Michael Hirsch: Obama must reassert control of the debate

[Enrique]

making a similar point as Krugman's blog post, which called people to start calling Krugman a troll...


http://www.newsweek.com/id/183204/output/print

Barack Obama began making his comeback Wednesday, apparently aware that he has all but lost control of the agenda in Washington at a time when he simply can't afford to do so. Obama's biggest problem isn't Taxgate—which resulted in the Terrible Tuesday departure of his trusted friend, Tom Daschle, and the defanging of his Treasury secretary, Tim Geithner. Nor is the No. 1 problem that the president can't seem to win a single Republican vote for his stimulus package. That's a symptom, not a cause. The reason Obama is getting so few votes is that he is no longer setting the terms of the debate over how to save the economy. Instead the Republican Party—the one we thought lost the election—is doing that. And the confusion and delay this is causing could realize Obama's worst fears, turning "crisis into a catastrophe," as the president said Wednesday.

Obama's desire to begin a "post-partisan" era may have backfired. In his eagerness to accommodate Republicans and listen to their ideas over the past week, he has allowed the GOP to turn the haggling over the stimulus package into a decidedly stale, Republican-style debate over pork, waste and overspending. This makes very little economic sense when you are in a major recession that only gets worse day by day. Yes, there are still some very legitimate issues with a bill that's supposed to be "temporary" and "targeted"—among them, large increases in permanent entitlement spending, and a paucity of tax cuts that will prompt immediate spending. Even so, Obama has allowed Congress to grow embroiled in nitpicking over efficiency when the central debate should be about whether the package is big enough. When you are dealing with a stimulus of this size, there are going to be wasteful expenditures and boondoggles. There's no way anyone can spend $800 to $900 billion quickly without waste and boondoggles. It comes with the Keynesian territory. This is an emergency; the normal rules do not apply.

But the public isn't hearing about that all-important distinction right now. And by the time Obama signs a bill—if he can get one approved—many Americans may have concluded that the GOP is right and that the Democrats have embarked on another spending spree, as if this were just another wearying Washington debate. Judging from his flurry of TV appearances Tuesday night and his remarks Wednesday, Obama himself seems to have realized belatedly that he needs to stop empathizing and take charge. After trying to put the Daschle imbroglio behind him by frankly acknowledging that he, the president, "screwed up," Obama reminded everyone of the urgency of the moment. "A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future," he said at the White House. Obama also sought to regain the moral high ground by announcing he would limit senior executive pay at bailed-out Wall Street firms to $500,000. "We're taking the air out of the golden parachute," Obama said, adding that it was only "the beginning of a long-term effort to examine the ways in which the means and manner of executive compensation contributed to a reckless culture …" That's a step in the right direction. But now Obama needs to remind the American people that unless the Republicans get on board, they will bear political responsibility for failing to act in the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Proof that that Team Obama and his party are losing the debate can be found in a new poll out Wednesday. The Rasmussen Reports survey found that, even though Obama still has a very high approval rating, only 37 percent of Americans now favor the stimulus legislation, compared to 45 percent two weeks ago. The results were similar to a recent Gallup survey that found just 38 percent of voters now support the recovery plan. Mitch McConnell, the GOP Senate minority leader, hinted Wednesday that Obama has lost control of his own Congress. "The president has tried to set some priorities. Unfortunately, Democrats just keep throwing more money on top of an already bloated bill," McConnell said on the floor.

(...)

[Beetwasher]

1. I Disagree That He Ever Lost Control

I could be wrong, but I think it's a matter of interpretation.

Both Hirsch and Krugman (and many DU'ers) are understandably impatient, and I love and respect them both. They realize how critical the situation is and want a solution yesterday. That's understandable. I think Obama realizes how critical the situation is and he's doing his best and whatever is humanly possible to get the best solution as fast as possible, it's just he has a strategy, part of which (I believe) is allowing his opponents of bit of room to play their hand. O now knows exactly what they are doing and now he's starting his devastating pushback. And it will be thoughtful, focused and devastating.

Pushback has started HARD. This is the type of the thing Obama is good at. We had the same impatience w/ him in the primaries and the campaign, but he proved he knew what he was doing. Timing is important in these types of things. I trust his instincts.

[Enrique]

2. I really hope so

that would be the best scenario.

[AlinPA]

3. The republicans control the media. They are in the driver's seat of this bill now.

[Rob Gregory Browne]

4. Sorry, but it's plainly obvious

that Obama never loses control. I find it amazing that people are starting to count him out after two weeks in office. The media gets hysterical over this b.s. because they have to sell papers and airtime.

Obama is doing fine.

[Bread and Circus]

5. I'd get impatient too except that it seems Obama always ends up on top...

maybe his luck is running out. But if I had to bet money, I'd bet it on Obama.