My Real Politik

My Resolution is to Drop the Bush Excuse

 

The desire to make excuses for the politicians we support in the face of adversity is so tempting and natural that it has become virtually impossible to be bipartisan. Democrat or Republican, the moment we face uncertainty with the current administration, we invoke the Bush administration to reaffirm our notion that we are still right and the opposition is still wrong.

Some Christmas Context

Amidst the never ending politicization of the attack on Flight 253 on Christmas Day, Rachel Maddow has provided some extremely sobering context to the political grenades currently being lobbed over the White House gate.

Obama and Reagan; or "It's the Economy Stupid!"

As some begin to question Obama's direction, it's once again time to put things into proper context. As we look upon the past for guidance, there's a notable comparison of Obama to Lyndon Johnson, who's sweeping domestic vision was marred by a messy war in Vietnam. Despite his best efforts to be open about his intentions in Afghanistan, President Obama has not had the resounding support he'd hoped for his troop increase.

I think James Carville might have said it best during the Clinton campaign: "It's the economy, stupid." The economy single handed ended both Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush's presidencies, despite largely successful international policies.

Professor Charles Franklin of the University of Wisconsin has a short and simple comparison at Pollster.com between Presidents Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. Both Obama and Reagan are currently tied for the lowest approval ranking of any post-WWII President after their first year in office at 46%.

Just What the Heck is Our Position on the Economy Anyway??

A great observation from my friend Adam Hare:

"On the Dec. 13th 'This Week' Sunday morning, Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, said, 'Today, everybody agrees that the recession is over, and the question is what the pace of the expansion is going to be.'

Asked on Dec. 13th by moderator David Gregory if the recession were over, White House economic adviser Christina Romer said, 'Of course not. For the people on Main Street and throughout this country, they are still suffering, the unemployment rate is still 10 percent.'"

...Sister!

Daughter!

Sister!

Daughter!

Two Sides to the Economy- since when is one side always right?

As President Obama's Jobs Summit begins today, the economy has really moved back to the forefront of the public debate, leading many to wonder why it was back-burnered in the first place. The obvious explanation is that the Stimulus bill along with the TARP funds issued during the Bush Administration needed some time to do...well, whatever it is they were expected to do- presumably to prob up the failing banks so that lending could resume and companies could begin to loosen their belts.

As we're nearing the one-year-later mark following the stimulus, the number of constituents hailing its success is slim to none. New unemployment statistics are due out on Friday, but most are expecting the 10.2% Unemployment rate to grow, or at best remain stagnant for many months to come. 

I've been drawn to a interesting debate on NPR's Intelligence Squared, which is an hour-long Oxford-style debate in which the winner is decided by an audience vote at the end. The most recent debate was over the notion that "Obama's Economic Policies are Working Effectively." There are three panel members on each side of the debate ranging from former Treasury members, to economic policy developers, professors, writers, and governors. 

It's a great debate to throw on in the background at work if you're still as utterly conflicted about the economy as I am. 

Watch! White House Jobs Summit

JOIN THE LIVE CHAT

VISIT WHITEHOUSE.GOV

Say what you will about Obama policy, the ability to watch a White House summit via live streaming is a pretty remarkable embrace of technology for a government to make. Whether it's legitimate transparency, or a craft PR move, I still think it represents a rather "unprecedented" step in the right direction towards bringing more of the public into the fold of Executive policy development. 

Dey Took Er' Jerbs!

http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html

This is an eye-opening animation of how the jobless rates have grown since 2007. The graphic is attributed to Latoya Egwuekwe, and it really gives one a startling perspective on just how dire our situation is.

I took two things from this: 1. It's amazing to see just how exponentially jobless rates have grown over the past 2 years; 2. If this trend truly did begin in 2007 and the warning signs were apparent, where the hell was our regulative government??

And where are they now?

WTF

I don't know why I continue to watch the news.

In response to the President's speech at West Point, here is what I got from MSNBC and FOX:

MSNBC: "Obama spoke in straight prose, very adult approach, was detailed, passionate, explained the mistakes of the Bush administration, and gave a clear directive to the troops with a clear time line for eventual withdraw."

FOX NEWS: "He was too vauge, he didn't express the urgency of the situation, he was vicious, incompetent, played into the left and was beholding to the enemy."

I'm pretty sure I could have written the paraphrased analysis above long before Obama gave his speech. In fact, they might as well prerecord their coverage from now on and take the day off. The tone and nature of debate on both of these networks is so predictable that they've essentially become a parody unto themselves. 

...And CNN had EIGHT analysts- eight! 

I'M DROWNING IN YOUR ABSURDITY!!!!