Obama
Will Obama Ask Biden and Clinton to Swap Jobs?
Should the President ask his VP and his Secretary of State to trade jobs? This is one of those too-delicious by half ideas that builds up as beltway buzz and becomes the stuff of gossip columns and talk show chatter. Increasingly however, the idea is not crazy if Obama gets the timing right. It cannot cannot [...]
The Federal Budget: Getting What We Asked For.
Budgeting is governing, so the federal budget is rightly the stage for intense political struggle. It also means that a budget is fundamentally as much about setting the stage for a political fight as it is a reflection of priorities. So what does the new stage look like? You can see a more interactive version here. [...]
Obama: Looking for Dumb Federal Programs? Kill 13(c).
Obama this week announced an effort to hunt and destroy stupid federal programs. As he well knows, these programs are easy to find but tough to kill. I learned this when I was put in charge of a really stupid federal program. I got agreement at the highest levels of government to kill it. The [...]
On Obama’s Presidential Week
For those keeping score at home, Barack Obama is having the best week of his Presidency. He has or is about to get Congress to: repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which will go down in history as a civil rights landmark ratify a new START treaty, the first arms control treaty every ratified by a Democratic [...]
WikiLeaks: A Problem, Not a Solution
In rushing to defend and celebrate WikiLeaks, an unruly collection of progressives, libertarians, and hackers are guilty of basic and careless policy mistakes. Some believe that WikiLeaks is a basic first amendment matter. It should not be. So far, with no exceptions that I am aware of, leakers get punished and publishers do not. Once [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
