That's right folks, today's honored guest is none other than President Barack Hoover Obama.
I'm kinda busy today, doing meanial tasks around the house, so I'll turn it over to Krugman.
There’s good reason to feel outraged at the growing appearance that we’re running a system of lemon socialism, in which losses are public but gains are private. And at the very least, you would think that Obama would understand the importance of acknowledging public anger over what’s happening.
But no. If the Bloomberg story is to be believed, Obama thinks his key to electoral success is to trumpet “the influence corporate leaders have had on his economic policies.”
We’re doomed.
I like Krugman, but sometimes he is just too polite, and has a tendency for understatement.
Here is Simon Johnson.
This is the antithesis of a free-market system. Not only were their banks saved by government action in 2008-09 but the overly generous nature of this bailout (details here) means that the playing field is now massively tilted in favor of these banks. (I put this to Gerry Corrigan of Goldman and Barry Zubrow of JP Morgan when we appeared before the Senate Banking Committee last week; there was no effective rejoinder.)
Not only that, but the incentives for the people running these megabanks is now to take on reckless amounts of risk. They get the upside (for example, in these compensation packages) and – when the downside materializes – this is belongs to taxpayers and everyone who loses a job. (See my testimony to the Senate Budget Committee yesterday; there was no disagreement among the witnesses or even across the aisle between Senators on this point.)
. . .
What we have now is not a free market. It is rather one of the most complete (and awful) instances ever of savvy businessmen capturing a state and the minds of the people who run it. Is this really what the president seeks to endorse?
Et, tu, Simon.
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6 comments:
Even some Hillary supporters said much the same during the campaigns, did they not, jzb. Let's not forget that BHO started quoting Reagan, praising "entrepreneurship," and shaking hands with religious fundamentalists. That doesn't mean Hillary (or McCaint/Sarah Klondike)-was that better--she was probably slightly more hawkish, tho' given BHO's DoD budget, that even debatable--but economically speaking, HRC's closer to New Deal demo. tradition, I contend. Many GOPers voted BHO, probably because of his pro-capitalist and religious views: and with G-sachs running the show, they were sort of correct. That said, he has raised corporate taxes slightly, and done a few good things, so Pres. Obama's an improvement on BushCo--but HRC would have been ...mo' bettah.
Mostly, I agree with you. The primary season seems like ancient history to me now. I was in the anybody-but-Hillary camp, for a couple of reasons: I think she's a megalomaniac and could easily go fascist; and I'm highly suspicious of dynasties. IMHO, she should not have been permitted to run, irrespective of qualifications. Alas, we don't have any laws like that.
Barry Hoover was never higher than 5th choice for me. I expected him to be a Bill Clinton type pro-business centrist conservative. You know, only a little to the right of Eisenhower. Even given my modest expectations, I am deeply disappointed - by the horribly misguided economic right-wingery, and the seamless continuation of Bushian militarism.
Conservatives who voted for Obama - I'm thinking of the Chris Buckley, Andrew Bacevich, Colin Powell crowd - did so because they knew that the Cheney administration was Bat-shit crazy, and McShame (a totally unprincipled son of a bitch) would have been more of the same, or worse. The topper, I'm convinced, was selecting SP as VP. She is vacuous, simple, ignorant, lazy and not terribly bright. My very first blog post was an anti-Sara rant.
WASF
JzB
ObamaCo possesses great marketing skills. During the primaries, BO convinced millions of Dupe-o-crats he was sort of the KOS candidate: New , progressive, anti-war, even anti-capitalist. As soon as he had it in the bag (and HRC gave up), he ...moved slightly right. Picks Biden. Then HRC, and the econo. team with G-sachs, Larry Summers etc. Then he starts into his churchly talk, invites fundamentalists to in-aug. ball, so forth. Keeps BushCo DoD budget. OK, he's probably doing better than BushCo, has greater intelligence, and is a better speaker, but a centrist for the most part.
However Obama hangs with celebrities, invites rock and hiphop stars to the white house, so most Dupe-o-crats still think he's the best thing since Humboldt sinse, regardless of his centrist, pro-corporate policies. The Obama movie.
I think B Hoover Obama comvinced the Democrats that he was - you know - a Democrat. I don't of any reason to ever think he was anti-capitalist. Perhaps I missed something.
He's been disappointing almost from day 1. I don't know what the dopey Demos are thinking, but the ones I'm aware are damned let down.
Humboldt sinse must be purdy durned arcane. I only get 2 hits in all of Googledom, and they're not helpful.
Cheers!
JzB
sinsemilla, de Humboldt--as in Maria Juana
(was keepin' it clean, since yr blog looks G or PG).
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