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Edited on Wed Nov-03-10 09:59 AM by Kurt_and_Hunter
The one thing the Obama administration did that was clearly not merely an error, but straight up sub-competent was to not tailor the politics and policy to what we knew was going to happen.
When you know something bad is going to happen you blame the other side for it in advance.
And if that blame is fairly placed, that's a bonus.
Obama should have known from day one that the economy was going to get a lot worse before it got any better and was not going to "recover"... we were headed for a depressed future of persistent unacceptable levels of unemployment.
When you know that then you say, "Here's the deal. It's Bush's fault. I will be a good leader through what will be a shocking rolling catastrophe caused by Republican policies."
When you know that unemployment will stay near 10% for ages without something massive you propose something massive and if the Republicans block it you say, "Because of this thing the Republicans did we will still have unemployment near 10% a year from now. They are a menace to your job and your family." (And if Blue Dogs block it you say exactly the same thing about them.)
The reason you do this is because you know that a year later people are going to be trying to lay blame for the fact unemployment is still around 10%.
Either Barack Obama is the single worst political thinker in history or he simply did not know what the fuck was happening. I assume it's the second one. The man has no feel for economics. He's a brilliant man and can memorize a series of arguments someone hands him but on this one topic he seems to lack the grounding or instincts to assess what he's being handed. (He should have known that the interest-rate/deficit boogey man was a non-threat in our particular economic environment. His advisors were wrong, but the buck stops with the guy who sorts out who to believe.)
Either way, Obama acted like a politician who thinks things are not that bad and will turn around soon.
So how to proceed from here?
Blame the fucking Republicans for the inevitable effects of their actions. Do not compromise, thereby taking political ownership of disastrous ideas. Every damn day say that the Republicans are dooming us to a stagnant or even collapsing economy.
This is a sure thing. A free roll.
Yes, the president will have to admit that Keynesian economics is 100% correct, not 50%-50%. That is not a risky proposition, however, because it is correct.
With Republicans controlling the House, the only part of our government that can initiate spending money, the economy is going to either stagnate or collapse further.
We know this. So act politically based on what you know.
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