Obama Does Business, Republican Leaders Do Fantasy Island

UK Guardian: Obama Talks Business

Now that the election is over the Republicans presumably can move forward by actually telling us what they will do. They ran on the idea that the "American people," (who seem to live like Keebler elves inside the mouths of Republican leaders), are sick and tired of the economic situation. They ran on the theory that Americans were seeking the dismantling of health care reform, the cutting of taxes for the wealthiest, the reversal of regulatory efforts, and the implementation of fiscal austerity.

Most of the rhetoric has been to accuse Obama of extreme mismanagement. "It's not a communication problem. It's that Americans don't want what you have to offer," we have been told with great seriousness by some very unserious people.

Now that they are in office, early interviews seem to verify that lack of seriousness. The most vocal Republicans have but one main goal and that is to defeat Obama. The great fear is that you finally have a man in office who is willing to do a few unpopular things in order to benefit the majority of the people, and that eventually will see the economy and their lives improve, and realize which way the sun rises. If he succeeds, Republicans lose a lot of power and support.

The task has been to stop or delay or caricature the man, the message, and the legislation. One might think that eventually you will have to stop, present your own policies, and demonstrate how they differ and actually accomplish the goals that you have criticized the president for not achieving. One would think wrong. The policy solutions on offer, like budget deficit increasing tax cuts for the top 5%, don't harmonize with calls for financial prudence or unemployment reduction. People are not likely to rush out and spend any tax cut when corporations refuse to hire (while flush with cash and profits). What will Republicans then do? They will offer fantasy.

J. Boehner (R-OH)

Republican and Tea Party types have so far refused to say exactly what they will cut. People like Rand Paul have suggested across the board cuts, which will not nearly happen in anyone's lifetime. It's a rhetorical/mental trick to suggest the drastically impossible when you are afraid to undertake the realistically doable. They know voters won't pay attention to the lack of detail amongst the details. They know the voters won't listen to anything else if they can keep them sufficiently enthralled to alarmist rhetoric.

You have a politician on one of the news shows today relentlessly suggesting that Obama wants to raise taxes (by letting the Bush temporary tax cuts expire on the wealthiest 5%). Ah, tax increase. And because Obama is already the Socialist, the Islamic shill, the huckster, the birth certificate hiding thief of Republican birthrate (you little Jacob you), it's really not necessary to listen to his side at all. You might discover things. You might discover that his first budget year came in below Bush's last budget year. You might discover that his use of drones on terrorism far exceeds that of Bush. You might discover he is better educated than most of his critics (unless you are of the ilk that there is no practical difference between elite education and being raised by grizzly bears), and used that education to help college students get more direct funding for their educational efforts. You might discover that his stimulus included tax cuts, and that Bush had passed stimulus as well without too much negative blowback.

You might discover a lot if you listened to both sides. But people would rather believe the lie, and politicians would rather tell the lie, spread the lie, like the reporting of his trip to Asia. Republicans have ignored the mission (one of jobs and improving relations in the region where we are war) to find the fantasy, suggesting that the President is somehow on some high spending junket of unprecedented nature.

With this new crowd in office we will get platitudes and the politicians telling us what the people want, while doing nothing and blaming President Obama for artificial outrages. Meanwhile the economy continues to improve, slowly, in the aftermath of the worst slowdown in modern history.