Krugman on Obama's speech: "what he mostly needs to do now is to change the conversation"

[jefferson_dem]

Op-Ed Columnist
The Fatal Distraction

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: September 4, 2011

<SNIP>

Which brings me to President Obama’s planned speech on the economy.

I find it useful to think in terms of three questions: What should we be doing to create jobs? What will Republicans in Congress agree to? And given that political reality, what should the president propose?

The answer to the first question is that we should have a lot of job-creating spending on the part of the federal government, largely in the form of much-needed spending to repair and upgrade the nation’s infrastructure. Oh, and we need more aid to state and local governments, so that they can stop laying off schoolteachers.

But what will Republicans agree to? That’s easy: nothing. They will oppose anything Mr. Obama proposes, even if it would clearly help the economy — or maybe I should say, especially if it would help the economy, since high unemployment helps them politically.

This reality makes the third question — what the president should propose — hard to answer, since nothing he proposes will actually happen anytime soon. So I’m personally prepared to cut Mr. Obama a lot of slack on the specifics of his proposal, as long as it’s big and bold. For what he mostly needs to do now is to change the conversation — to get Washington talking again about jobs and how the government can help create them.

For the sake of the nation, and especially for millions of unemployed Americans who see little prospect of finding another job, I hope he pulls it off.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/05/opinion/the-fatal-distraction.html?smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&seid=auto

[bluestateguy]

1. In the past Obama has never failed to deliver when he had to give a big speech

But this is one time I am genuinely worried.

[nevergiveup]

3. Me too,

and I am not sure as to why. Maybe it is because most everyone, especially the media, will pounce on it regardless of what he says.

[1StrongBlackMan]

5. The only concern that I have is ...

That PRESIDENT OBAMA will do his regular ... clearly lay out his plan.

And then, the media and PRESIDENT OBAMA detractors (including those here at DU) will do their regular ... talk about all the things that PRESIDENT OBAMA said, but didn't actually say; and talk about all the things PRESIDENT OBAMA didn't say, but actually said.

[Skittles]

16. what's your story, 1SBM?

reserving judgment

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[dennis4868]

6. right...

that's what I was thinking as well...

[soryang]

8. Obama works for the Chicago School ideologues

The republicans should embrace his proposals because they have been a diastrous failure for thirty years. Why would Chicago School policies begin working now? It's all supply sider bs. Free trade. Flat taxes. Broaden the tax base. Deregulate. This shit will kill the economy.

[Demeter]

7. Obama's Always Changing the Conversation

It's a one-way conversation, one to which we have been able to make no contribution since day 1. In fact, it is a wall of meaningless words, which reality cannot scale. It's a self-generated bubble, a defensive mechanism, which will be the source of his ultimate defeat.

[Skink]

9. He needs to take executive action.

whatever he can do. He can say in his speech he is not even consulting congress, then start balckmailing the republicans with whatever projects they need done.

[theaocp]

10. As Stinky was saying earlier,

just fucking TRY. Big and bold, even in the face of Republican obstructionism, is better than the image of caving AGAIN. That would be a half-loaf. Or be fucking tone-deaf for the umpteenth time. Make your choice.

[mitchtv]

11. +1

just fucking try

[bluestateguy]

12. We will respect Try and Fail a lot more than Half-Ass and Capitulate

nt

[boppers]

13. Don't worry, whatever is tried will be painted as failure.

It'll be "caving", or "DINO", or "throwing under the bus", or whatever. The critics always delight in finding a new way of repeating their same boring message.

[bigdarryl]

14. Paul Krugman should be the Administrations Chief Economic Adviser

OH I FORGOT he's to liberal for this White House plus he's not a Wall Street shill.

[Telly Savalas]

15. Just use reverse psychology

"I may be the President, but I don't have the answers to all the questions. But I can assure you of one thing: I've been hearing rumors a George Bush style WPA public works program being proposed by conservative Republicans in the House and I will not tolerate this nonsense. Ideologues like Karl Rove may advocate inverse tax cuts to be used for right-wing pet projects like throwing money at infrastructure projects, and dangerous and untested energy sources like solar and wind. But regular Americans understand that such outlandish policies won't help this country. They understand that eight years of George Bush was enough."

A good chunk of the GOP caucus is so stupid, they'd reflectively oppose this statement and inadvertently support a new New Deal out of spite.

[Bake]

17. I'd love to see him go BIG and COMBATIVE.

Really draw the contrast. But I'm not holding my breath.

Bake