http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-empty-bully-pulpit_b_913346.html Robert Reich Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Author, 'Aftershock' The Empty Bully Pulpit But another part of the answer lies with the president -- and his inability or unwillingness to use the bully pulpit to tell Americans the truth, and mobilize them for what must be done. Barack Obama is one of the most eloquent and intelligent people ever to grace the White House, which makes his failure to tell the story of our era all the more disappointing and puzzling. Many who were drawn to him in 2008 (including me) were dazzled by the power of his words and insights -- his speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, his autobiography and subsequent policy book, his talks about race and other divisive issues during the campaign. We were excited by the prospect of a leader who could educate -- an "educator in chief" who would use the bully pulpit to explain what has happened to the United States in recent decades, where we must go, and why. But the man who has occupied the Oval Office since January, 2009 is someone entirely different -- a man seemingly without a compass, a tactician who veers rightward one day and leftward the next, an inside-the Beltway dealmaker who doesn't explain his compromises in light of larger goals. In his inaugural address, Obama warned that "the nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous." In private, he professes to understand that the growing concentration of income and wealth at the top has robbed the middle class of the purchasing power it needs to keep the economy going. And it has distorted our politics. He is well aware that the Great Recession wiped out $7.8 trillion of home values, crushing the nest eggs and eliminating the collateral that had allowed the middle class to keep spending despite declining real wages -- a decrease in consumption that's directly responsible for the anemic recovery. But instead of explaining this to the American people, he joins the GOP in making a fetish of reducing the budget deficit, and enters into a hair-raising game of chicken with House Republicans over whether the debt ceiling will be raised. Never once does he tell the public why reducing the deficit has become his number one economic priority. Americans can only conclude that the Republicans must be correct -- that diminishing the deficit will somehow revive economic growth and restore jobs. Instead of powerful explanations we get the type of bromides that issue from every White House. America must "win the future," Obama says, by which he means making public investments in infrastructure, education, and basic R&D. But then he submits a budget proposal that would cut non-defense discretionary spending (of which these investments constitute more than half) to its lowest level as a share of gross domestic product in over half a century. A president can be forgiven for compromising, if his supporters understand why he is doing so. That the health-care law doesn't include a public option, that financial reform doesn't limit the size of the biggest Wall Street banks, even that cuts may have to be made to Medicare or Social Security -- all could be accepted in light of the practical necessities of politics, if only we understood where the president is leading us. Why is Obama not using the bully pulpit? Perhaps he's too embroiled in the tactical maneuvers that pass for policy making in Washington, or too intent on preserving political capital for the next skirmish, or cynical about how the media will relay or distort his message. He may also disdain the repetition necessary to break through the noise and drive home the larger purpose of his presidency. I have known (and worked for) presidents who succumbed to all these, at least for a time. A more disturbing explanation is that he simply lacks the courage to tell the truth. He wants most of all to be seen as a responsible adult rather than a fighter. As such, he allows himself to be trapped by situations -- the debt-ceiling imbroglio most recently -- within which he tries to offer reasonable responses, rather than be the leader who shapes the circumstances from the start. Obama cannot mobilize America around the truth, in other words, because he is continuously adapting to the prevailing view. This is not leadership.
Anything less than $4T isn't going to be enough. They know it, but they just can't come to agreement of how to get to that $4T. The result will be that a downgrade will eat up any of the cuts we make in the higher rates we're going to have to pay on our debt. A pox on all their houses: Boehner, Pelosi, Reid, McConnell and Obama. The only people that have led have been the Tea Partiers.
Various Republicans that compromised probably wanted more spending cuts. They just realized that the tea party's demands weren't realistic. The whole point was to avoid a credit downgrade though, so lol.
The Tea Party is your Lakers and you are the Laker fan. I bet you have a Lakersground type Tea Party forum you are cheating on us with.
The right cannot handle the truth, and Obama cannot win in their eyes either way. If he uses the bully he is considered arrogant and elite. If he doesn't he is considered weak and lacking leadership. If he doesn't give them both they do nothing for him, if he gives them both the do something for him. The Tea Party is one of the most immature childish movements in our nations history, they rival the hippies just have less fun and sex. In a way what he is doing is in fact leadership, but it is the cowardly sort that allows things to move ahead without making the children mad. Otherwise they say that government is terrible and keep your hands off their medicare in the same sentence.
Robert Reich was Labor Secretary for Clinton, is a left wing blogger, and the article was from HuffPost. What does that have to do with "the right?" In any case, lefties like to talk about taking back the government, and they can't handle it when a populist Tea Party movement is actually doing it.
Yeah, they probably wouldn't like it if a populist movement like the KKK gained influence in the government, either. It's not really a matter of wanting someone, anyone, to "take back government." Obviously, it's about taking back government with their principles, for them. As it is with any group.
The KKK is a tiny % of the population. The Tea Party isn't right wing or extreme as they're being painted. They're doing something I think we all ultimately want - stand up to the established party machines and stand for (FISCAL) principles. And their demographics are a lot like those who've elected Democrats all along - wealthy, and educated. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html Tea Party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the general public, and are no more or less afraid of falling into a lower socioeconomic class, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. And their support is GROWING. http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/08/26/nearly-30-percent-support-tea-party-poll-finds/ Nearly 30 Percent Support Tea Party, Poll Finds Nearly three in 10 Americans say they are supporters of the Tea Party, according to a new survey, while more than half the respondents say they hold negative opinions of the conservative grassroots movement. A CBS News Poll released Thursday found 29 percent of those asked considered themselves Tea Party supporters and 54 percent did not. Fully 17 percent had no opinion either way. The results are similar to last month's but show more support for the Tea Party than in April of this year, CBS said. Not surprisingly, a majority -- 56 percent -- of Tea Party supporters identified as conservative. Of those, 44 percent are Republicans, while 43 percent said they are independents. Not many at all, only 13 percent, called themselves Democrats. (It's not as partisan a group as some would make it out to be).
Interestingly, more people consider themselves Tea Party supporters than there are people who consider themselves to be "liberals." http://www.gallup.com/poll/141032/2010-conservatives-outnumber-moderates-liberals.aspx
First, can we all agree that English be the official language of S2? Kthx. Second, your implication seems to be that in your mind being a L*ker fan takes priority over everything else. That's your opinion. I'm a Blazer fan. I'll let you drape yourself in Piss & Purple, I'll stick with the Scarlet & Black. Third, you bring a lot of heat, but not much light. Any idiot can make criticisms; come up with a solution.
What a joke of a debt deal... No tax increase, not even close to enough spending cuts, no BBA... Check this out... http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Small-spending-cuts-to-have-apf-1617142277.html?x=0 http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/debt-deal-crisis-over-more-pain-come-133616322.html
I wish I had the ability to say that this government (D's, R's, Executive, Legislative, Judiciary, State, Federal) is a hodgepodge of hackery that I can't remember even reading about. Let's just set up firing squads to shoot anyone with an IQ over 70 and seize the bank accounts of anyone with more than $300 in it, so that we can really take that "Great Leap Forward". But that would be irresponsible of a serving member of the military, so I'll just say "Woohoo, government!"
