Just who did we elect?

[ProfessorPlum]

Now, don't get me wrong. Obama was FAR and away the best choice that we had, especially as our choices narrowed. No one else would have even come close to providing some hope for our situation. He said mostly the right things. There were some off notes - like caving on FISA violations and supporting the TARP - that any fool could see were the wrong things to do - both in policy and execution.

But he is letting Chicago School philosophy (give government money to the already rich) run his economic policy. The second half of the TARP will go out, just as under-managed as the first half. And the stimulus is too small, divided in two with tax cuts, and designed to fail.

Is Obama the person designated to be left holding the bag when the harsh medicine of shock economics is applied to us? Will he talk a good game, but leave the rich getting away scott free with their billions?

We certainly can't expect any help from the Congress, except to bitch about it loudly after the fact. Will Obama do anything except look stern and be calm? When will he fire Summers and Geithner, both of whom are clearly on the side of the rich?

[leftstreet]

1. Obama will help us 'feel better' about getting f**ked by the Predator Class

And that's not a criticism of him.

[Greyhound]

2. The latest Nobel Laureate in economics agrees with you. It's too little

and makes the next one even less likely.

OTOH, it is a little better than nothing and that's the best we can hope for at this time.

[ProfessorPlum]

3. Yikes

The next steps will be for the corporatist class to start calling for us to dismantle the social safety net - at exactly the wrong time to do that. Will we have to "compromise" away social security?

[Greyhound]

5. You called it, now we can watch it happen.

Somebody posted thread on just this topic this morning.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/opinion/13krugman.html">Here's Krugman's column.

[MADem]

4. A centrist who leans left a bit more than he does right. A pragmatist.

Nothing he's doing is surprising. A guy who is as beholden to corporate interests as he has been all these years isn't going to suddenly turn into a firebrand leading the workers at the barricades.

Of his entire cabinet, the only picks that gave me agita were Summers and Geithner. I think he could have done better, too.