Obama
From the New Deal to the BFD
You had to laugh. When Joe Biden introduced the President at the White House health care bill signing today, he leaned over and quietly reminded Obama that "this is a big fucking deal". His comment was off color but on target. Health care reform is a watershed. Not only did the federal government finally grant tens [...]
The Elephant in the Room on Health Care
Today is Obama's health care summit, and there is an elephant in the room. To find it, start by identifying which of the following health care plans is or was sponsored by a Republican? a) A 1996 plan to cover every American b) A 1992 plan to cover 30 out of 35 million uninsured Americans c) A [...]
Health Care: simple, basic, fully financed
Martha Coakley's unwelcome but richly-deserved loss of the Democratic Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy has recast the debate over health care reform. Many Democratic Senators from states less blue than Massachusetts are recalibrating their commitment to the current bill. If he wants a bill he can proudly sign, Obama needs to focus the Congress [...]
The speeches that made Barack Obama
More than any president since Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama reveals himself through the speeches he gives at critical moments. Like FDR, Kennedy, and Lincoln, Obama has given his best speeches under pressure, before hostile audiences, or in the face of excruciating pressure. He has done this often enough that it is worth laying these speeches [...]
The Great Sell-out.
It's Oaklandish — the great liberal caterwauling about the death of the public option and the claims that Obama has sold out to big insurance and pharma. To humiliate a liberal, film this stuff and replay it in ten years.If this is a sell-out, count me a buyer. Last night's Senate deal killed Harry Reid's [...]
Did Susan B. Anthony and Abraham Lincoln elect Barack Obama?
In the earliest days of the United States, only white protestant men with property were eligible to vote, Since that time however, the US has steadily, if unevenly, advanced the cause of suffrage. Has it mattered? To find out, ask how the 2008 presidential election would have turned out if only white men had voted. [...]
"We must say openly the things we hold in our hearts and that too often are said only behind closed doors."
I slept soundly through the 3am alarm I set so that I could catch Obama's speech live from Cairo. It would have been worth getting up for. Its empathy, intelligence, directness, and unusual rhetoric assure that this speech will survive along with his Philadelphia discourse on race, his Notre Dame address, his talks on the [...]
The Challenge: How to make fun of Barack Obama
Answer: practice. Not a bad start here.
Where is the Stick?
Obama needs to acknowledge that his bank rescue plan cannot be entirely voluntary. He will force weak banks out of business by making them sell assets at prices that acknowledge their insolvency.This is not especially fun for a politician — but it is essential that he do it anyway.Treasury Secretary Tim Geitner has put forward [...]
Helicopter Money vs. Stolen Bonuses
Money is hard to keep in perspective, especially when the bad guys steal yours. This week Americans discovered that we are to pay multi-million dollar bonuses to the very AIG executives who bankrupted the company (a fairly small part of AIG called the Financial Products Group in London). Many of the recipients no longer even [...]
Five Myths About Obama's Election
I live in Oakland, which has long favored an especially breathless form of mythological political thinking. We all but invented Bush Derangement Syndrome and don't at all mind appearing in public as a parody of ourselves. Tonight the always amusing marquee on the Grand Lake Theater down the street, reads "We cannot wait until January [...]
"Yes, We Can" vs. "No, You Can't"
Barrack Obama has built his brand on the audacity of hope. Nothing symbolized his campaign like the mantra he used beautifully in his victory speech: yes, we can. Coming on the heels of the destructive, hyper-partisan Bush years that had tarnished America, "yes, we can" was an inspired breath of fresh air. But even for [...]
Sweeeet……….Now What??
What do Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Nevada, New Mexico, and Virginia all have in common? They all voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004. But each of them voted for Obama in Tuesday’s landslide. A majority of voters in the state that started the Civil War, the state that sent Jesse Helms [...]
Taking Power — A Campaign Like No Other
Sarah Palin once ventured that the mayor of Wassilla and a community organizer were about the same thing. She is about to learn otherwise and is unlikely to enjoy the lesson. Barring catastrophe, Barack Obama is our next President. Obviously a tarnished Republican brand, a very unpopular incumbent, and an awful economy helped. At one [...]
The Really Right Answer is "What if he is Muslim?"
If you missed Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama, take a moment to watch it here. It shows why Powell remains one of America’s few popular Republicans. The most moving part of his comments — insufficiently discussed in the press — was a story he told about five minutes into his remarks. He reflected on [...]
Obamanos
Intrade’s state by state political map looks like this. Click on a state to see the current trading price for a futures contract betting on either McCain or Obama in that state. Allowing for uncleared trades, the price reflects the odds of success for each candidate. Geeks should play with the black buttons before reading [...]
The Choice
The New Yorker is a national treasure (and not only because of David Remnick, the magazine’s prolific and talented editor — profiled here). The magazine’s writing is justly legendary: nobody publishes consistently better English prose. The Economist and The Wall Street Journal challenge The New Yorker for clear exposition of complex ideas, but for commentary [...]
September Surprise
Two weeks is a very long time in politics. To get a read on political outcomes, prediction markets are a much better tool than opinion polls. Prediction markets enable people to bet real money on specific races by buying futures contracts that trade real-time. Intrade is one of the most active, thus "liquid", of these [...]
“How would a Machinist say that?” Talking points for Obama on the financial crisis.
During the early 1980s an odd combination of economic recession, bad career planning, and good fortune pulled me out of my job making turbine blades at Westinghouse and landed me in the position of directing education programs for about 200,000 west coast members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. I trained union [...]
Buffett's Warning. Obama's Opportunity.
Last March, legendary investor Warren Buffett warned investors that a ‘time bomb’ was ticking in US financial markets in the form of the exploding market in financial derivatives, which he memorably termed "financial weapons of mass destruction" (thanks to the JSD reader who recalled this memo to me). By November, Buffett was actively advising Barack [...]
