The Stakes (Or why they call Economics the Dismal Science)

[TayTay]

William Greider had a column in http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/19/AR2009031902511_pf.html">yesterday's Washington Post. I have been reading Mr. Greider's stuff since, well, since the 80's at least. He predicted the Dems would lose big in 1994 and spelled out how the Party of the People had forgotten how to communicate to The People. He was right then and this new column is well worth your time to read. He talks about exactly what President Obama is facing and the various interest groups that are clamoring for his attention and what has changed over the last 9 months:

What's changed the president's situation? During the past nine months, gigantic financial bailouts amid collapsing economic life made visible the crippling divide between governing elites and citizens at large. People everywhere learned a blunt lesson about power, who has it and who doesn't. They watched Washington rush to rescue the very financial interests that caused the catastrophe. They learned that government has plenty of money to spend when the right people want it. "Where's my bailout," became the rueful punch line at lunch counters and construction sites nationwide. Then to deepen the insult, people watched as establishment forces re-launched their campaign for "entitlement reform" -- a euphemism for whacking Social Security benefits, Medicare and Medicaid.

The fight over what happens to that bailout money is important. This is a fight worth having, even though it is also upsetting. We want vigorous debate, we want the issues explored, we want to hear from the Paul Krugman's and other economists who are trying to shout some alarms. This new President has to make some fundamental choices that will affect the entire rest of his term and how the people regard him. What side is he on? That is the fairest question that can be asked of any public official and a question that should be answered. (By all elected public officials. That seems to be a basic requirement of the job.)

I could not agree more with the last line of this article:

People are angry, but they want this president to succeed. Mobilized citizens can help him to prevail. If he goes with the other side, they will bring him down.

Differences of opinion do not mean a loss of hope. They mean a difference of opinion on something that is extraordinarily important. I want and desperately need for this President to succeed.