Obama the Centrist Irks a Liberal Lion

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

BERKELEY, Calif. — So how would he grade President Obama’s economic policies, and the new team put in place this week?

Though Robert B. Reich, the former labor secretary, endorsed Mr. Obama and has traveled to the White House to provide economic counsel, he offers a smile that looks unmistakably pained.

“We have a remarkably anemic recovery; it’s paper-thin,” Mr. Reich says. “In the narrowest, tactical terms, in sheer dollars committed to programs, Obama’s done pretty well, and his favorability ratings are better than those of the Democratic Party.”

Then he sweeps his hands far apart in his sun-filled warren of an office at the University of California, Berkeley.

“If you widen the lens, the public is being sold a big lie — that our problems owe to unions and the size of government and not to fraud and deregulation and vast concentration of wealth. Obama’s failure is that he won’t challenge this Republican narrative, and give people a story that helps them connect the dots and understand where we’re going.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/business/economy/08reich.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

[patrice]

1. I'll go with that. Emphatically, btw. nt

[snagglepuss]

2. "Obama’s failure is that he won’t challenge this Republican narrative and

give people a story that helps them connect the dots."


What else is there to say? He nails it.

[DJ13]

3. "Obama’s failure is that he won’t challenge this Republican narrative..."

I no longer think its a Republican narrative, its Obama's narrative.

We, as a party, need to come to grips with the idea our party's leader in the WH is actually more comfortable upholding the conservative ideals of the GOP than upholding the ideals of the party he is supposed to represent.

[earthside]

5. Absolutely correct.

Obama is a failure as a Democratic Party leader.

He has never, since he took office, used the persuasive powers of the presidency to argue forthrightly for the liberal/progressive philosophy.

He has always accepted the Republican-Reagan narrative and tried to offer centrist variations on that philosophy.

Many leaders of the establishment wing of the Democratic Party really believe that the people of this country are fundamentally conservative and Republican-leaning ... that it is only ever just a fluke that a Democrat can get elected president.

[MindandSoul]

6. I agree.

[ProSense]

16. "Obama is a failure as a Democratic Party leader." Who

saved the country from a depression.

Mr. Reich served as labor secretary for President Clinton, and in his latest book “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future” he applauds Mr. Obama for deft work in preventing the economy from toppling into a Depression.

[Patchuli]

26. That's strange

because it feels like a Depression around our area...

[trud]

38. sure looks like a depression to me

an astounding number of people don't have jobs, and those that do are worked like slaves.

[grahamhgreen]

68. He saved the banks, the rest are on their own.

[Little Star]

79. Well, if you took the BLS's U-6 number into account

We are in a depression.

Most of americans think of the U-6 number as unemployment.

Here is a good a good synopsis:
http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/

[PhillySane]

83. "Paper Thin"

[cui bono]

86. Clearly you didn't read Reich's quote in the OP.

He states that it was a "paper thin" recovery and needed much more. Sheesh. I don't know why I bother to read your inane posts. Do you still think Thom Hartmann is the enemy?

[indepat]

76. I would argue these centrist variations are in fact pretty far to the right. Any Democrat espousing

a narrative that is far to the right is painted by pubs and the media as centrist. ;)

[cui bono]

87. Exactly. And that's the plan. To continually shift the narrative to the right

so that anything slightly left becomes thought of as loony and is never talked about. Dems and Rethugs are both doing this. It's not about Dems and Rethugs any more since they're both corporatists at this point. We need to get people in who will represent us. Unfortunately, the media is corporate and they control the message.

[indepat]

97. Absolutely!

;)

[Dappleganger]

93. I agree--not centrist, it's right-wing garbage that's being sold as the 'norm.'

And Obama and many democrats have bought into it hook, line an sinker.

[cui bono]

85. I'm not sure the DLC believes that about the people.

But they want us to believe that about the people so we'll go along with it. There is no party fighting for us any more. The Rethugs and most the Dems are part of the same corporatist mindset and we need a third party to fight for us again. That or Obama and the rest of them need to go join the party they really belong to and let the progressives have the Democratic Party back.

Not voting for Obama next election. Voting for him and allowing this discourse to continue as is and continually move everything to the right as if there actually is a left is worse in the long run than letting a Republican get into office and ruin things under their name. Then maybe a REAL Dem will step up and fight the good fight.

[howmad1]

89. Listen: Obama could win by a landslide in 2012.

All he has to do is put an R next to his name.

[Telly Savalas]

107. Leaders of the left wing of the Democratic Party must be doing a horrible job then

if the vast majority of Americans support their agenda yet consistently vote for right-wing candidates.

[MannyGoldstein]

10. Reagan could only dream of cutting Social Security benefits

Obama will actually get 'er done.

[ProSense]

17. "Obama will actually get 'er done." OMG,

he's worse than teh Reagan.

[MannyGoldstein]

19. So you're finally ready for a $20 bet on Social Security cuts? nt

[ProSense]

21. .

Repeat.

[MannyGoldstein]

23. And *I* repeat: *what* doesn't work?

Simple stuff - show the courage of your convictions.

[Chan790]

95. He won't because he knows the President will.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

The point has been made...and made with a clarion.

[rhett o rick]

99. Glad you are starting to see the light. nm

[emilyg]

12. My feelings exactly.

[Raine]

29. TOTALLY agree. nt

[meow mix]

67. +rec

[Enthusiast]

33. Nailed.......nt

[bluestate10]

53. On this point, I agree.

President Obama and his staff have been pathetic on public relations, they constantly arrived late and light to knife-fights.

[icnorth]

81. Knife fights?

I lot of us would take heart to see them show up for pillow fights.

[Name removed]

105. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[femrap]

64. He has deserted the

working people of this country....and that is the MAJORITY. Only the well-to-do matter to him now. And the Corporations.

We're just nothing....worse than just sitting in the bleacher section. We're despised, I think.

[jwirr]

78. And by failing to challenge their narrative President Obama fails to

lead us toward a future based on reality. He is doing very little to lead us into good approaches to the problems of oil depletion, global warming and other similar problems. As a Kunstler fan I think the only thing President Obama is doing is downsizing government. Making us learn to live without it maybe? Instead we need the government to help us get some of the localization of economy rebuilt then if big government disappears we will be in a position of strength on the local level. It often looks like he is totally ignorant of any of this side of the problems.

[bvar22]

80. Remember THIS "Democratic Party" leader.

He didn't just challenge the narrative.
He wrote a NEW one.

"In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

1) The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

2) The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

3) The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

4) The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

5) The right of every family to a decent home;

6) The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

7) The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

8) The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

Americas own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.

For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world."--FDR

Too bad today's "New Democrat" Party chooses to ignore the FDR narrative.
I would Go to The Wall for FDR's Democratic party.
The New Democrat Party?.....don't think so.

[Upfront]

4. Bought and Paid For.

OBama is sold out as have many other Democrat and most Republicans.

[Enthusiast]

34. There is a handful of good people

representing "we the people". Only a handful remaining.

[somone]

7. A must read

[OHdem10]

8. He will not challenge the Republican Narative therefore he

affirms the message of the GOP. They put us in the ditch
and unless Democrats change the narrative we will stay in
the ditch.

[ProSense]

9. Here is the fascinating part of this article

<...>

“Why won’t he tell the alternative story? For three decades we’ve cut taxes on the wealthy while real wages stood still.”

<...>

Mr. Reich served as labor secretary for President Clinton, and in his latest book “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future” he applauds Mr. Obama for deft work in preventing the economy from toppling into a Depression.

<...>

The modern Democratic Party, he says, is removed from what he and Mr. Krugman view as a better time: the decades stretching from World War II until about 1970. The typical high-income earner then paid more than 50 percent of income as taxes. The economic bargain was explicit: government encouraged industry, and working Americans shared in the fruits, buying houses and cars, with pensions to tide comfortable retirements.

“We tend to think of the political center as static, but it’s become much more conservative over time,” Mr. Reich says. “What’s happened in the last 30 years is that the private sector worker has taken a shellacking.”

<...>

None of this is new. Most of the economists mentioned in the article were around or in the Clinton administration. They helped Clinton to create the situation they're now critical of Obama for not correcting fast enough.

It's cool. It would be great if President Obama could reverse the ills of the last three of four decades, but it's not going to happen overnight, especially considering his starting point was a free-falling economy that hadn't yet hit bottom.

[boppers]

18. "World War II until about 1970"

Hm, I wonder what, oh, an African American man or woman would think about how wonderful the country was during that time frame?

After all, it was a time of great prosperity, right? It's not like the wealth was created and maintained on the backs of a slave-minority system, was it?

:sarcasm:

[earcandle]

28. He is kinda fucking up their moment, isn't he?

[MannyGoldstein]

22. So Obama is FDR. but we just don't appreciate it

OK.

As you know, I think the evidence is closer to him being Hoover.

But we can agree to disagree.

[ProSense]

24. Actually, he's

Obama.

"As you know, I think the evidence is closer to him being Hoover."

Hoover saved the country from a depression?

Mr. Reich served as labor secretary for President Clinton, and in his latest book “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future” he applauds Mr. Obama for deft work in preventing the economy from toppling into a Depression.

[MannyGoldstein]

25. He gave $12 Trillion of taxpayer money to bankers

But didn't substantially reform the rules they play under. Anyone can stave off bankruptcy for a while with a higher credit limit. Same shit'll happen again though - and this time with $12 trillion in taxpayer guarantees flushed down the toilet.

[ProSense]

27. Nope

Wrong President.

[rhett o rick]

100. How many did the Fed give to bankers under Obama? nm

[bluestate10]

54. Are you serious?

Where did you get your "fact" from, The Free Republic, or The Drudge Report, or maybe Glen Beck or Rush Limpnuts? 13 trillion, huh? Purely laughable, given that the clock had hit 11.2 trillion before President Obama spent six hours in the Oval Office as President.

[MannyGoldstein]

73. $12+ trillion in loans, guarantees, etc and counting

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=armOzfkwtCA4

It's not surprising that you're surprised - the information hasn't been advertised, but it's there.

[cui bono]

88. He didn't save the country. He saved the corporations.

Open your eyes.

[Enthusiast]

36. LOL! nt

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[olegramps]

57. They don't mention the most important aspect of the "good times."

During the period in which workers enjoyed a fair share of the profits of their work over 36% of the workers were unionized. When the workers bought the corporate propaganda that unions were their enemy and tariffs were unnecessary to protect their jobs they were on the road back to the miserable bare existence life of their grand parents. Workers don't have any representation in Congress. Every one of the politicians, except for Sanders, is a corporate employee and that includes Obama. The promised recovery is a massive deception. There is nothing to recover with when all of the basic industries have been outsourced. The very workers that shunned the unions because they didn't want to pay dues now find themselves without a pension and no health insurance and in many case without a job.

Yeah, Cry me a river. Every goal that progressives desire could be achieved if they were unionized. They could actually get citizens that represent their interest elected. What American workers desperately need is a Worker's Party. Something that the Democratic Party used to be. There is nothing that the Republicans fear more than unions for they know that a unionized work force is the only thing that can control unbridled corporate greed. This is not limited to Blue Collar workers, but White Collar workers who are being exploited to work long hours in fear of losing their jobs while pay raises become something of distant memory to compensate management with undeserving remuneration.

[femrap]

65. The Union Wage has been

stolen by the top 2%. That's who gets all the money now....not the people actually doing the work. It has been a huge transfer of wealth from the workers to the top management.

May their gated communities rot.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[emilyg]

15. Welcome to DU.

[Enthusiast]

37. After hiring Daily

there can no longer be any doubts about where Obama's loyalties are.

[msongs]

13. lol obama is not a centrist he is a right winger dem nt

[ProSense]

14. Yeah,

and Lieberman is a conservative Republican and Ben Nelson is a teabagger.

[Mimosa]

35. I'm not sure of that, MSongs. Another possibility is...

Another possibility is that there are entrenched powers which have been in place since the right wing coup of 1963. Maybe any president is constrained as to what he is allowed to 'accomplish.' And the rest of the elected politicians (most of them anyway) can be bought. They want money. They want access and upward mobility.

And they get access and upward mobility in proportion to how well they become 'company men.'

[femrap]

66. +1000

Yes, it all started in 1963...and the final nail in the coffin in '68.

And we all know that 'company men' have absolutely no moral core whatsoever.

[Safetykitten]

20. There it is. The truth finally.

“If you widen the lens, the public is being sold a big lie — that our problems owe to unions and the size of government and not to fraud and deregulation and vast concentration of wealth. Obama’s failure is that he won’t challenge this Republican narrative, and give people a story that helps them connect the dots and understand where we’re going.”

[dreamnightwind]

30. Yes

It's so obvious, but so well stated. Anytime Reich talks, I listen.

[olegramps]

59. The Republicans are attempting to make the Unions the Scapegoat.

It is just a fascist tactic analogous to the Nazis scapegoating of Jews.

[femrap]

69. As well as the elders

and Baby Boomers who are going to be on SS soon. I already feel a 'Divide and Conquer' between the Youth and the Elders.

[Mimosa]

31. A lot of people are believing the big lies.

I think it's because many aren't old enough to remeber when things were better.

[paulk]

61. Obama is one of them

it seems....

[Enthusiast]

32. Robert Reich is not a tall man

but in my eyes he has great stature.

This failure that he speaks of is in your face. Either Obama is going to challenge the Reagan/Bush status quo or he becomes my political enemy. I think he has clearly chosen sides, and so have I.

[BlueJac]

39. The sad thing is......

Obama wants to be like Reagan!

[Enthusiast]

60. Apparently he doesn't understand

that Reagan ruined the country for working people. His actions led directly to the many problems we are facing today. I couldn't think of a better face to put on the ills of Republican governing than Reagan.

[dflprincess]

102. He understands and apparently approves

or maybe he just doesn't care.

[undeterred]

40. "Obama’s failure is that he won’t challenge this Republican narrative"

AMEN.

[MJJP21]

41. We have met the enemy...

and they are our leaders! Obama is not a progressive and those that serve him are not progressives either. Reich nails it again and this is why he IS NOT part of the administration.

[TBF]

42. What Reich doesn't say - Obama is perfectly happy with this scenario.

until he shows us otherwise all I see in another corporate tool conducting business as usual.

[defendandprotect]

43. Obama isn't a "centrist" ....

except in the sense that he is between one right wing party

and one radical right wing party now, perhaps?

[defendandprotect]

44. I wouldn't call this Obama's "failure" ... it's his agenda .... obviously --

“If you widen the lens, the public is being sold a big lie — that our problems owe to unions and the size of government and not to fraud and deregulation and vast concentration of wealth. Obama’s failure is that he won’t challenge this Republican narrative, and give people a story that helps them connect the dots and understand where we’re going.”

[sendero]

45. As usual...

... I agree with Reich 100%. I'm pretty sure Obama is beholden to those who installed him into office and they like the "Republican narrative" even though you'd have to be a drooling moron to buy it.

In America, I'm surprised we don't have machines cleaning drool off the roads every day.

[datasuspect]

46. "Obama’s failure is that he won’t challenge this Republican narrative"

GODDAMNIT!!!!!

this is what dems need to be SCREAMING from the rooftops:

". . . that our problems owe to unions and the size of government and not to fraud and deregulation and vast concentration of wealth."

that they aren't reeks of complicity.

[DainBramaged]

47. Obama’s failure is that he won’t challenge this Republican narrative

Many many of us here have been saying this since day one. And until he does, they will continue to win the message wars and future elections.

[RandomThoughts]

51. When you challenge the narrative, the narrative changes.

[bluestate10]

56. Then nail down the feet of the narrative.

Republicans, in a few days in control of the House, are providing target rich scenes. Some democrats, but not enough, are taking advantage. The image of the republican buffoon that forced the reading of the Constitution, but failed to realize that he personally had not read several pages because the pages were stuck together should be played endlessly with democratic subtitles in put for effect. How can a person who claims to know and love the Constitution not know that he was not reading part of it ,that he claims to cherish, correctly?

[DainBramaged]

58. Then dancing lessons are in order.......

[defendandprotect]

55. And, imo, not challenging it is the same as supporting it --

[Laelth]

49. k&r for the truth, however depressing. n/t

-Laelth

[florida08]

50. any democrat

that defunds SS leans very far to the right in my book. Our taxes went up thanks to the expiration of the Make work pay credit. The new census report states that almost 50 million people are now at poverty levels. Any democrat who wants to raise the retirement age of SS in this climate is no democrat. But thank God the robber barons got their huge tax cuts from borrowed money. The rest of us have to take a salary freeze or be cut from the employment roll.

What do centrists believe in? Compromise. That's not a leader it's a negotiator. The middle class does not need a intermediary, we need a champion. We've been compromised to the point of termination. A jobless recovery isn't much of a recovery for the majority of Americans. A million jobs were created last year but we lost 8 million. 57 million were created in China in 4 years from 2006-2010. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-12/30/content_11778776.htm

This is not the direction true progressives like Sanders, Weiner or Kucinich would go in. But then that's why they'll never be nominated as POTUS. We don't need help 10 years in the future we need it now. When Clinton compromised we got the repeal of Glass/Steagall. What will Obama concede? Centrists lean right on many issues. We no longer have Acorn or Shirley Sherrod thanks to the hyperbole from the right and the reactionary response from this administration.

I do give Obama praise on saving the auto industry. He showed leadership then. Now he needs to save the middle class and retirees. The GOP is on their way to defund the Securities and Exchange commission so they can't implement finance reform nor enforce it. Like the Consumer Protection Agency that Warren is trying to build. Obama says he's willing to have a fight on many issues. I sure hope so but he keeps putting Wall Streets in his cabinet which is
most disconcerting.



http://www.defundanddisobey.com/defund/republicans-may-starve-financial-reform-of-cash

[femrap]

72. By reducing the 'payroll tax'

by 2%, that is setting up the failure of SS, IMHO. Why do such a thing? And then not reinstate the Make Work Pay Credit? He's not a member of the Democrat party. He's a toad of the Corporations/Wall Street.

And the auto industry, there is now a two-tiered wage system. New workers are getting $12/hour. Hard to raise a family on $25k/yr. A single person can get by.

Given today's outlook, I would think very seriously about bringing children into this world.

Oh, and Kucinich....Ohio has lost 2 Congressional seats (per the last census)...guess who will be scratched?

We, The People, are losing....and we're losing badly.

[florida08]

103. yeah our withholding taxes went up

because of the expiration on the MWPC. Yes the autoworkers got screwed royally. That census was bs. How could Ohio of over 11 million lose 2 seats and Florida gain 2? We don't need anymore republican congressmen here. Something fishy about it..or either people didn't fill them out.

[femrap]

104. Dumfukistan, the former

state of Ohio, in 4 short years went from total Blue to total Red. A repugnant sweep including US Senator who worked for the W Admin.

Dumfukistanis have the memories of gnats.

I was so sorry to see Grayson lose his seat. I really admire him.

Disallowing the MWPC, was a kick in the teeth to those who work. And the 2% reduction in SS is just a way to reduce it in the long run. I have lost all respect for the president. He does as he is told. Just more spineless flesh.

[TheKentuckian]

52. Nailed to the wall again

[Catherina]

62. Recommended. Thankfully everyone isn't covering up for this administration. n/t

[femrap]

63. We, indeed, have

lost our moral core. The regular working people of this country have NO ONE on their side. NO ONE.

Obama talks of job creation...what are those jobs paying, Mr. Obama? More than likely $8/hour. I believe it has gotten to the point that a family of 4 (including a teenager) has 5 jobs and one can only pray that one of those jobs offers health benefits at a reasonable cost.

We are a mere shadow of ourselves going back to 1970.

[meow mix]

70. centrist, haha... hes rightwing and a very good actor.

same as reagan LOL

[hay rick]

98. LOL.

At least you didn't put Reagan and "good actor" in the same sentence. I haven't made the connection between RR and BO before, but it really fits. Obama is very telegenic. Perhaps he can get a gig on the General Electric Theater revival when his 4 or (God forbid) 8 years are up.

Omitting the obvious, the difference between the two is that Obama is about 10 times more intelligent than Ronnie was. The difference is useless since Obama is unable to free himself from the shackles of the small guvment, low tax, "strong" defense right-wing talking points that dominate our political discourse.

[grahamhgreen]

71. The Bush tax cuts and expanding the war are far right positions not supported by Dems or

The rest of the country.

Nor was a mandate to buy crapsurance

[russspeakeasy]

74. Obama didn't sell out, he bought in.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

75. Reich is a smart guy

He was criticizing "paper entrepreneurism" (making money by manipulating numbers instead of providing products or services) back in the Reagan administration. He predicted that it would lead to economic disaster, but the Republicans and the Yuppie branch of the Democratic Party were having too much fun making money.

Just call him "Cassandra."

[BrklynLiberal]

77. "Cassandra"...perfect. Truly perfect.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

82. I voted for him because of Palin but I won't get fooled again. De-funding SS was the final straw.

Let him scold the liberals instead of going after the pukes with his vindictiveness and he can then whine over the third party votes that will cost him in 2012. Fuck him and every other slimy two-faced DINO. Even the Idiot that went before him was smart enough not to chastise his base.

[Dappleganger]

94. My thoughts exactly!

[PhillySane]

84. Applauds for Reich and Nader

who without, the truth would never be known. Whether its Obama's fault or not, this is a lopsided recovery. Most of the support is going to the top 1% and very little is being given to the bottom 99%. "Paper Thin". This recovery will take 10 years at this pace. Anybody got that long to wait? Didn't think so. Meanwhile, the fatcats will stay fat, and the rest of us will be told to wait a little longer, while our houses are foreclosed on, bankruptcies go up, small business owners go under, and we all wonder when? When is it going to change? Obama has to do more-now. Plain and simple.

[ProSense]

90. Flashback: Joseph E. Stiglitz, sees a generation-long struggle to recoup. (2007)

Flashback: Joseph E. Stiglitz, sees a generation-long struggle to recoup. (2007)

[Dappleganger]

91. He knows what's really going on...

and like Elizabeth Warren, the bearer of bad news is usually ignore.

[xchrom]

92. recommend

[MzNov]

96. Thank you again Robert Reich for getting it correct...

too bad the WH just won't listen to you. And we thought it was the Repubs who cannot govern....

[Buzz Clik]

101. Why is this a surprise?

The secret handshake for being a true liberal/progressive these days is to declare their despise for Obama.

After all, a true liberal lives only to oppose the system, hate da man, resist the system. So, after we worked our asses off to put Obama in office, the true liberals were out of a job. So, here we are.

And DU is the catalyst. How touching.

[BlueIris]

106. Obama's failure is far worse than failing to change the narrative.

It is the reason he won't chance the narrative that's the problem.

[snagglepuss]

108. kick