If this is true – and right now it is unconfirmed – then there seems little reason to support Obama on anything:
President Obama plans to announce a three-year freeze on discretionary, “non-security” spending in the lead-up Wednesday’s State of the Union address, Hill Democratic sources familiar with the plan tell POLITICO.
The move, intended to blunt the populist backlash against Obama’s $787 billion stimulus and an era of trillion-dollar deficits — and to quell Democratic anxiety over last Tuesday’s Massachusetts Senate election — is projected to save $250 billion, the Democrats said.
The freeze would not apply to defense spending or spending on intelligence, homeland security or veterans.
I’m trying to think of what could possibly be a worse plan. Let’s see: we might be entering a double-dip recession and unemployment is in double-digits, and you are going to freeze spending? What in God’s name are they thinking?
Perhaps the worst thing about this is how it cedes the ideological ground to the Republicans. At some point someone must make an argument for government. I think it was former Senator Paul Simon Harry S Truman who said: “give the voters a choice between a Republican and a Republican and they will choose a Republican every time.”
What next? The rotting corpse of Andrew Mellon as Treasury Secretary? Or do we already have that?
UPDATE: Seemingly confirmed by the New York Times. Why exactly did I give money and make calls for this guy in 2008?
My home city of San Francisco is facing a 100 million dollar budget gap for the next year (or was it two).
Basically they are looking at cutting teachers, freezing pay, AND forcing days off with no pay. Don’t even think about after school programs.
We’re not going to get the money from CA. So now we have 1,000 Hoovers cutting pay and jobs all over the country.
But somehow, we can’t cut defense spending. I’m not voting for or donating to any politician who votes for that, or campaigns to support that policy.
That may just fracture the (D) caucus to the core.
wait a second, when the hell did Schwarzenegger get added to his economic brain-trust?
And you mean to tell me that spending on Afghan adventures, and hysterically spending on full body scanners because of an underpants bomber, is what I voted for in Nov 2008?
Well, I guess this train has come off the rails. Count me out.
“Why exactly did I give money and make calls for this guy in 2008?”
Probably for the same reasons I did. Silly us. We are comprehensively f*cked.
And I might ask Mark-of-the-RBC: What difference will it really make to “pass the damn bill” if this is going to happen. Talk about rearranging deck chairs on HMS Titanic?
Obama is smart. Survival is the name of the game for all politicians. He knows more government spending is not what the American public wants. So time to call it quits on his “force down your throat” liberal agenda and actually do what it’s gonna take to get himself re-elected. Straight out of the old Bill Clinton playbook.
The measure would save $250 billion? That means it will remove $250 billion (plus multipliers) from the economy at a time when unemployment is already at historic highs. Under current conditions, that’s probably about 1% off gdp growth, which is to say a loss of $1.5 trillion over the next decade. On top of the losses we’re already looking at. Deck chairs on the Titanic indeed.
The only possible way this might make sense is that by fall the people who are left will be marching on DC in the millions demanding more stimulus…
“Why exactly did I give money and make calls for this guy in 2008?”
To avoid Vice President Sarah Palin?
>Why exactly did I give money and make calls for [Obama] in 2008?
Um, because the alternative, under any conceivable circumstances, would surely be far worse?
You sure about that, Bob J?
Very, very bad news. Very disheartening. The advantage of Obama was supposed to be his ability to be intelligent, to put his own framing on things, and to explain them. Kowtowing to inane Republican memes instead is a disaster.
Yes, the alternative would have been worse, I don’t regret voting for him. But what a stupid move this is – it isn’t going to cure the budget deficit, it perpetuates the lie that deficits are due to some park ranger in Utah using too much gas or something, and yes, as you say, it cowers before the Rethugs and hopes they will love us more. We’re not going to lose the Senate in 2010, mathematically very unlikely, for that matter.
Truman, man!
“Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican all the time” – Harry S Truman
[...] Obama’s Self-Inflicted Lobotomy Proceeds Apace « The Reality-Based Community: I’m trying to think of what could possibly be a worse plan. Let’s see: we might be entering a double-dip recession and unemployment is in double-digits, and you are going to freeze spending? What in God’s name are they thinking? Perhaps the worst thing about this is how it cedes the ideological ground to the Republicans. At some point someone must make an argument for government. I think it was former Senator Paul Simon who said: “give the voters a choice between a Republican and a Republican and they will choose a Republican every time.” [...]
If there’s been a “force down your throat liberal agenda” Bux, why do I feel like I’ve been ball-gagged by a conservative?
Oh, and doing what it takes to get elected is stupid right now. When you’re not in power, you want to do whatever it takes to get elected so you can do whatever it is you think will make America a better place, but when you’re in power, you should actually USE SOME OF IT and not spend the whole time trying to re-elect yourself for the sake of it.
The hill I’m willing to die on, or cut bait is CO2 reduction.
In 100 years, the minutia of DADT, Public Option & Cadillac tax will be dust; the only thing that will truly matter is how much C02 is emitted during the next 50 year. If some C02 reduction occurs because of Obama, I’ll forgive the rest.
But viewing Obama’s follow through on other matters, I have grave fears about that as well.
RickD –
Done. Thanks!
Even though foreign policy was the focus of his article, Andrew Bacevich wrote a prescient article during the 2008 campaign.
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/aug/24/news/OE-BACEVICH24
That Bacevich is a smart man. The forces of continuity are stronger than the forces of change. This applies to domestic as well as foreign policy.
Oh, wah. Obama has taken so much misdirected heat it’s sickening. Because the big tent democrats can’t be corralled this is somehow Obama’s fault? It appears the tea party pathology of needing to have complex problems require easy and false scapegoats is catching.
I’m not sure this is substantively anything more than political posturing. But the last fucking thing it is is acting like a Republican. Have you seen that party lately? At least the Democrats have saved us from financial ruin, staunched the pain with a stimulus (which is paying for my family’s healthcare right now via Cobra, Thank you very much), and attempted to put together a largely important bill to reform health care and carbon emissions. The fact that they can’t pass them is frustrating – but if maybe ONE or TWO Republicans stepped up we might have something.
The world isn’t perfect and neither are politics. So this isn’t a progressive’s fantasy – but Jesus, chill out and find yourself a picture of Bush to look at for a while.
“So this isn’t a progressive’s fantasy – but Jesus, chill out…”
The problem is precisely that this is more or less a progressive nightmare. Oh, there’s worse, but Obama has officially become the American Tony Blair with this.
Eli–
Here’s why you’re wrong. Obama isn’t doing this as a compromise to get something through: that was dropping the public option, and I think that compromise was worth it. This is the worst of all possible worlds. It is terrible policy on the macroeconomic level, because if anything we need another stimulus now. It is terrible policy on the budget level, because while we can all point to federal spending we don’t like, what invariably happens is that the most vulnerable populations get hurt. And it is HORRIFIC politics, because it reinforces the right-wing frame that the deficit is the most important thing now and that in order to deal with it we need to cut programs for THOSE people. The Democrats, with 59 seats in the Senate and 256 seats in the House, are running for cover because of a special election result in Massachusetts. And they are being led by the Retreater-in-Chief.
The fact of the matter is that they CAN pass the health care bill now, simply by getting a Senate reconciliation bill (which cannot be filibustered) and getting the House to pass the basic Senate bill. And everyone is looking to the President for leadership. And he is doing nothing except offering garbage like this. Everyone is looking to him, and he has decided to become Bob Dole. That is simply pathetic.
(which is paying for my family’s healthcare right now via Cobra, Thank you very much)
Don’t count on your COBRA being extended in a few months.
Apparently Obama is doing the Clinton playbook, only he’s *intentionally* going to lose both houses of Congress in the midterms, so he can get re-elected as a way to balance Republican power. He can go to hell.
“Obama is smart. Survival is the name of the game for all politicians. He knows more government spending is not what the American public wants. So time to call it quits on his “force down your throat” liberal agenda and actually do what it’s gonna take to get himself re-elected. Straight out of the old Bill Clinton playbook.”
As long as one in five Americans are un- or underemployed, nobody gives a flying fuck, really, about government spending. It’s an abstraction, like “family values”. And in this case, it’s going to do **nothing** to get Obama a second term. His left wing is going to ask, Why should we lift a finger for you? That 20%, sinking into real destitution, is going to see Obama as just another do-nothing Beltway poser. If they bother to vote at all, they’re going to start looking for a Hero, and that the Republicans just might provide. We already know that they’ll use any lie and ploy available to make the Big Win..
I was never more than lukeway for the guy when I voted for him, but I’m really stunned at his ineptitude. I can’t think of any president in the last century who had such a winning hand, and folded right out of the gate.
“The fact that they can’t pass them is frustrating – but if maybe ONE or TWO Republicans stepped up we might have something.”
Didn’t you open your comment with “Oh wah”?!?! Jeez….
Look, the GOP has been exhibiting genuine party discipline for at least 15-20 years now. The Republicans have played this last year straight from their operating manual. There have been no surprises there. So it’s a little disingenuous — that’s being **very** charitable — to keep whining about those mean old Republicans. We know how the GOP is going to act. We expect Democratic “leadership” to at least approximate a sentient creature with a spine. This special pleading about Republican ogres insults the intelligence (and is yet another reason to say, Fuck the Dems).
So we’ve got two possibilities here:
1) The Dems are honestly incapable of learning from very well-known, very recent history. And this is why they cannot avoid the most obvious and basic strategic and tactical stupidity.
2) The Dems really don’t give a damn. They’re politicians just like their “opposition”, and the worst thing they have to worry about is taking a lobbying gig that doesn’t come with a corner office.
Neither of these really inspires me to rally to the Donk.
Basically I’m an observer and politically in the middle. I lived in Europe for 30 years before I came to the U.S. I was fully employed in Europe (most years self-employed) and in the insurance field. Trying to sell more life insurance although the hottest item in Europe was and is “hospital coverage insurance”. For good reason
most public hospitals suck (Americans know about Europe what Europeans know about North Dakota – nothing).
Anyway, what I saw in Europe I see here as well… you guys get ideologically bound and then when your toy-fuhrer (bush or obama) doesn’t do exactly as you want, you get angry. You treat political leaders as if you are high-maintenance chicks: “my boyfriend must do as I want, or he’s out the door”.
Right now, the only thing that the health insurance bill contains, is the provision that makes it mandatory to buy insurance from private companies – is that what you want Congress to vote?
(if they do, I’ll go back into insurance immediately to make a lot of money).
Finally, the “stimulus money” – where do you think this money comes from? the other middle class and the working class (sales taxes, real estate taxes, all sorts of small taxes). The rich don’t care – they make trusts and they put their money into trusts, insurance vehicles, real estate (hedge against the inflation that will wipe out the rest of you), and in off-shore bank accounts and gold holdings.
I have never heard of such a New Generation of Young People with so little pride that they’ re desperately angry to get stimulus money – now, THAT’s pathetic.
Holy Sh*it! Are the comments so far a fair representation of liberal thought on gov’t spending? No wonder you’re screwed.
kmi, in my local jurisdiction (SF / CA) tax revenue has gone down because of lower income taxes(unemployment), lower property taxes (home prices going down), lower sales taxes ( spending going down). But strangely, the number of kids attending my local schools has not changed one bit.
So either we pay teachers less or lay them off. (or hey, maybe as a country we should pay into health care what countries like Canada does?)
Seriously, wtf do we as a country want to spend our money on? Schools or Guns, and if we’re freezing spending on domestic discretionary items, that means less on schools.
And it’s not “you’re” that we are discussing, it’s US. The doctors that care for you when you get old are the kids of today.
[...] Liberal blog Samefacts.com announces that Obama’s “self-inflicted lobotomy” proceeds apace. [...]
But Jonathan, what exactly would this “leadership” look like? The Republicans are able to be discipline for precisely the reason democrats aren’t – they’re narrowed the party tent. I think this is the double-edged sword of building coalitions.
I’m still not sure what the president is up to – it seems much to early to tell and like others have pointed out, the actual cuts could put a lot more emphasis and programs that actually work, as opposed to greasing specific interests.
Again, I’m no big fan of this on its face. But all this defeatism over what appears to be a minor policy move seems WAY too overblown. This won’t make the liberal Dems happy – but how can you argue with the nihilism of people so eager to cut off their nose to spite their face on heal care. And this could only help the conservative Dems worried (idiotically) about tough campaigns in the fall. Seems kind of zero sum, really.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by BillSTL: The pain of the Left is a beautiful thing – http://is.gd/73igB…
[...] liberals. Sadly, I’m turning out to be right, and today’s collective pants-wetting on both liberal blogs and on Twitter has been a sight to [...]
[...] liberals. Sadly, I’m turning out to be right, and today’s collective pants-wetting on both liberal blogs and on Twitter has been a sight to [...]
You do realize, don’t you, that his “spending freeze” is only the very small (17%) non-entitlement program budget? That the vast majority of government programs, the remaining 83%, will still be allowed to grow like kudzu? I think you can all stop your hyperventilating. The liberal agenda remains firmly intact and this wink-and-a-nod salve to “fiscal conservatism” is just to stem the tide of outrage by the public against liberals.
Rich
[...] liberals. Sadly, I’m turning out to be right, and today’s collective pants-wetting on both liberal blogs and on Twitter has been a sight to [...]
JohnN says:
“We’re not going to lose the Senate in 2010, mathematically very unlikely, for that matter.”
Lessee, now: add 3-5 senators to the GOP ranks, plus Joe Liarberscum, plus a few more ‘centrist’ Dem senators who like the GOP more and realize which way the wind is blowing. The senate is not technically lost, it’s just not going to vote for anything that the GOP doesn’t like.
Voters are angry because of lack of JOBS. Voters are angry because “All that spending has not created JOBS”.
What does Obama propose? “Cut spending. The heck with creating JOBS”.
Our elites are morons. No matter how much spending is cut, voters will say, “We are spending too much for the number of JOBS created”. By spending to create JOBS, voters would say, “We are probably spending too much, but I am not angry because the spending is creating JOBS”. It’s the JOBS, stupid, not the spending.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Caleb Howe, JayAckroyd, Jules, bs, Danielle and others. Danielle said: The comments are the best part. RT @BillSTL The pain of the Left is a beautiful thing – http://is.gd/73igB [...]
We can hope (with some justification) that this will be just more Obama hot air on which he has no real intention of delivering, just like HCR, DADT, banking reform, and the closing of Guantanamo.
In any case, we do not have, and have never had, any prospect of enacting Keynes’ prescription for a deflationary economy on a large enough scale to have the desired effect. Spending freezes are mostly theatrical anyway.
[...] bad economics, depressing demand when the economy is still suffering from mass unemployment. Jonathan Zasloff writes that Obama seems to have decided to fire Tim Geithner and replace him with “the rotting [...]
Yes, he fooled us. We also fooled ourselves, again.
The two party system, as it exists today, is making fools out of almost everyone.
For several decades, the two party system has only worked for politicians, lobbyists, corporations and wealthy people.
We, the people, need to abandon both parties.
Check out this link for an eye opening, calm, reasonable, non-flaky explanation of how we got into this mess:
http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org/stopme/
This little online book was written by the guy who runs the web site “Stop me before I vote again” (.org).
In particular, he explains why progressives are wasting their time and money on the Democratic party.
Cool stuff.
How does one give oneself a lobotomy if one is lacking in actual brains to begin with?
(I’m sorry, should “one” be capitalized?)
Welcome to the real world, children, where you cannot spend yourself out of bankruptcy, you cannot get everything you want simply becuase you think you have a right to it, and electing shallow, narcissistic, inexperienced lightweights to the office of the President is not considered a good idea.
[...] bad economics, depressing demand when the economy is still suffering from mass unemployment. Jonathan Zasloff writes that Obama seems to have decided to fire Tim Geithner and replace him with “the rotting [...]
Wiserbud, how dare you suggest that these people voted for an an ignorant, shallow buffoon.’
You, sir, are a racist!
You ask what could be worse? How about when “Ronald Obama” cuts Medicare and Social Security.
[...] bad economics, depressing demand when the economy is still suffering from mass unemployment. Jonathan Zasloff writes that Obama seems to have decided to fire Tim Geithner and replace him with “the rotting [...]
Well, I didn’t vote for him or donate to him (I did vote downticket Dems), and I was one of the people running around screaming with my hair on fire about what a lousy candidate he was, only to be called a racist Republican hope killer and possibly a secret Satanic baby-eater for my troubles.
And no, I’m not enjoying this. I thought he would be mediocre with moments of bad, even at my lowest expectations I never thought he would be so horrifically, unendingly bad, so war-loving and destructive of the Democratic Party and the country. I wanted the country to do well, I thought he and his fellow Dems would at least try to make things better for all of us. But they didn’t. They don’t give a damn about any of us–so why should we give them our votes??
Like lambert says, don’t fall for the incompetence meme. Obama and his fellow DINOs are pursuing exactly the strategies they want. They have gotten everything that they and their puppet-masters wanted.
You say Republicans would have been worse? How, exactly? Democrats might have actually opposed some of the lousy policies Obama is pushing for, if a Republican president had proposed them. Now, get ready to say BUH-BYE to Social Security, Medicare, and whatever other pathetic shreds of a social safety net (and functioning government) we have left.
[...] snakes. As soon as Obama glances over to a moderate, the moonbats go berserk. A good example is here and here. You would think Obama is promising to start wearing an American flag lapel [...]
[...] bad economics, depressing demand when the economy is still suffering from mass unemployment. Jonathan Zasloff writes that Obama seems to have decided to fire Tim Geithner and replace him with “the rotting [...]
lol DancingOpposum- that baby line cracked me up- so i take it u wouldn’t have given him the Nobel Peace Prize?
[...] It’s bad economics, depressing demand when the economy is still suffering from mass unemployment. Jonathan Zasloff writes that Obama seems to have decided to fire Tim Geithner and replace him with “the rotting [...]
no frankenduf, but as Chris Floyd reminded us at the time, Alfred Nobel was the inventor of dynamite so there might have been some rationale for it after all