Editorial Cartoons

This one is fabulous.  There are more here.

My view of People from New Jersey

As a New Englander, we’re practically trained from birth to not be nice to people from New Jersey.  But after this commentary by NJ Representative Albio Sires, I’m going to try and be nicer.  He’s almost too nice in advocating for high speed rail.  I’m going to help him out with some charts.

One of his main points:

During the past 50 years, the United States has invested nearly $1.3 trillion in our highways andover $484 billion in our aviation infrastructure. In contrast, rail investment has received only $67 billion over the past 31 years.

needs graphing.

The next time someone says “what a waste of money railroad is” ask them how much they want to cut in highway subsidies next year.  Or ask them if the $100 billion per year China is spending on high speed rail PER YEAR will make them more or less competitive when they’re finished?  Speaking of which, here’s the same graph with China’s investment in high-speed rail alone this year.

And just to put Obama’s federal stimulus expansion of high-speed rail into perspective.

I would put the money that Wisconsin and Florida rejected on this graph, but frankly the amount is laughable.

Animated Hip Hop Breakdown of US and Chinese Economics

I’m not vouching for the content of what’s in this video, only that somebody took the time to combine animation, economic theory, dancing pandas, and hip hop into a 4 minute music video.  I love that it incorporates Bretton Woods, the New Hampshire town famous for hosting the first international monetary policy setting forum.  Also make sure you watch long enough to hear the “We’re frenemies, not enemies” chorus.

Keep your enemies closer

Well, if the president needs an enemy then China isn't working so much. The people just can't get behind the nuances of currency manipulation I guess. But it's true - all presidents eventually need an "other" against which to define their goals and future legacy.

Enter Republican-controlled Congress.

The left has to recoil from such a notion, but as today's NYT article points out, having a divided government gives Obama an early edge in 2012. That's very important, more so than this year's midterm elections.

Once the Republicans take control of Congress they'll have the same issues Democrats have had over the past two years: legislating from a majority highlights a party's internal dissent. The supercharged anti-everything Tea Party reps will find that it's nearly impossible to have a functioning congress without an appeal to the middle. I don't envy the fire-tanned Representative from Ohio. It will not be easy to lead this rowdy bunch.

Realistically, could the left have expected to hold on for two more years? The first half of Obama's presidency has been nothing short of surprising. Anyone who says differently is either a conservative or somehow believed Obama would with one wave of the hand make America Europe. Campaigns are never ever the same as governing. A look at the facts shows that despite his own party's incompetence and anxiety in the face of difficult decisions, Obama was able to usher through some of the most impressive legislation in generations. Health Care. Bailout. A new START treaty. And, he's withdrawn a majority of American troops from Iraq. Tom Dickinson hits all of this and more in the most recent Rolling Stone. Two years is all a president can really hope for in the American political system (unless your FDR, but then we'd need to be at war with half the world).

This productivity will indeed change after Nov. 2. No longer will the Democrats be able to push through sweeping legislation. But neither will Republicans, for there numbers will not be overwhelming. The pace of change will slow and Americans will instead see incremental change, some vetoes, and a whole lot of showboating and melodrama on the right side of the aisle.

As we approach Nov. 2 the president's approval rating sits just below 50%. His likability has not changed since the summer. Democrats are turning out in early voting (yes, they're still fired up, and what more, there's more of them with each passing year). In January, Obama will have a Republican House (and perhaps Senate) that will either play ball or kneel to the far-right demands of their party's newest members. Who will lead, Boehner or Bachmann?

Either way, Obama benefits. And 2012 begins to look a whole lot brighter.

(Unless of course you believe Obama is prophetic, in which case the whole world ends on December 21, 2012).

Malaise, Ain’t it a Bitch

What do you do if you really want to vote non-of-the-above.

First, the Democrats were in power and people voted for a Contract for America.  Then the Republicans were in power and the Democrats took Congress.  Now the Democrats are in power and here we go again.

Matt Bai in the NY Times this morning argues that the real issues people care about have nothing to do with jobs or healthcare.  People are generally going too fast, see too much rudeness, are surrounded by chatting heads and an endless see of technology that does little to improve basic lives.

Fuel that with a destructive media machine whose single goal is to sell talk and inject it with cash flying all over the place from everyone but the little guy and there you have the discontent that has been brewing for a while.  The policy neutral independent who just wants a better life for his or her child has a simple voting rubric: antiestablishment.

Nate Silver knows his numbers.  And in a blog this week he reinforces this independent malaise by suggesting 2012 may be the year of the third party.  Actually, he gives 15 reasons why a third party is a real contender this cycle. 

Heading into what will certainly be a disastrous election, as a Democrat I’m buoyed by the fact that the voting has little to do with the mountain of achievements Obama has made in the first two years.   And if the trend continues, the electorate will be ready to switch back by 2012.  So that’s good.  Even if we’re not really solving anything.

Cynicism, the Technocrat, and Solar Panels in the Desert

In a Great Recession, we’re surrounded by cynicism.  The market may not rebound.  Jobs are lost.  We’re doomed to fail to China.  Truthfully, these fears and worries were always present, but in a hopeful economy the doubts are suppressed.  In a Great Recession, all we have is doubt.

Hold that thought for a minute.

Today the White House announced that it will return solar panels to its roof.  This is good right?  It reinforces the push for renewable energy.  It falls in line with stimulus investments in clean energy and Obama’s mandate that Federal buildings go green. We should be happy.

But then creeps in doubt.  Didn’t we already install these things during Jimmy Carter’s presidency?  Wasn’t Jimmy Carter a failure?  Aren’t Obama’s poll numbers in the bag?  Oh God, what if Obama is Jimmy Carter? 

What starts out as a nice little technocrat decision to add a solar panel back up to the roof is actually a doubt megaphone.   And you can be assured that the cynicism police will be out in force – I can already hear the piercing shrivel of Megyn Kelly.

And this is where Obama is failing us.  (No, not that Megyn has a y in it, but yes that’s a problem)

In a Great Recession where all there is is doubt, we need bold confidence.  It isn’t enough that the stimulus has good things in it or that we’re making small but good steps, we need to know where we’re going.  America goes through the past like Mallory goes through diapers. They crave the future.  To quote Michael J Fox in American President “People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.” 

Well, all we have right now is sand.  Someone tee up a mirage please. 

How inspirational COULD it have been if Obama wrote an executive order mandating that every Federal building would have solar panels in 5 years?  Now that’s a mirage I could sink my teeth into. 

Our House is a Very Very Fine House

I always wonder if the Great Depression felt black and white.  Did people realize they were in the Great Depression?  Were bread lines the norm for everyone? 

This morning’s labor report clearly lays out that the jobs recovery will be a long slog. But what is the norm for our generation.  25% of Americans will have been out of work for some period during the Great Recession.  And those remaining or back in the work force will have lower wages.  But on this Labor Day, I’m going to Georgia’s soccer game.  I’m having a BBQ.

Robert Reiche writes a brilliant piece in the Times today where he articulates the true cause of the Great Recession.  Yes it was precipitated by Wall Street, but the heart of our collective pain starts with computers and satellites and policies that concentrated wealth. 

There’s too many things to buy nowadays and too much competition abroad to have the salaries necessary to buy those things.  And government can’t encourage thriftiness because consumerism drives the economy which drives tax revenues.  So we’re left with this malaise.  Hungover, fat, and too poor to buy breakfast all at the same time.  What will be the picture of our generation 50 years from now.

The true promise of the Obama election was to turn around the clock on these bread and butter issues.  Healthcare, college grants, infrastructure, energy economy, bank reform are pieces of the new New Deal, but people just need a chicken in every pot and a fireside chat to tell them things are going to be great again.  Still waiting on it, for now I’m watching soccer and having a BBQ.

All the World is a Stage

It’s true the title came from a brief encounter with a sauced ivory tusk trader at Brian Buru’s, so if you’re out there – cheers (and please stop trading in illegal shit).  But alas, this post is for Robert Gibbs, who although not sauced, needs to take a cue from melancholy Jacques and just return to the forest. 

 

In the latest jest from our fool, Gibbs launches a tirade at the house of Progressives (thanks be to Huff Po).  Well apparently, he’s bitter from watching too much cable.  Aren’t we all?  A true fool can rise above the cackles of London and draw a crowd.  Here, we have a fools impersonator.  He has a microphone and some lines but no direction.  His ink well is a pint low and everyone’s leaving the Globe theater to see the gladiators fight over on Fox TV. 

Great press secretaries can create or kill stories.  When Pierre Salinger was asked about Mr. Kennedy having an affair, he replied (courtesy of WaPo) “Look, he's the president of the United States. He's got to work 14 to 16 hours a day. He's got to run foreign and domestic policy. If he's got time for mistresses after all that, what the hell difference does it make?” End of story.

Sure, it’s the Presidents that have to lead.  But without a great muse, what do we remember of the kingdom?  It’s time for Gibbs to go.

And for those interested, here’s the whole opener to As You Like It.

My State

First, nice post Grant.  Read that article a few days ago and was as equally impressed.  There’s two underlying wants driving Politico’s original article: 1) for someone, somewhere to start liking Obama like they did during the campaign and 2) for Obama to become Josiah Bartlett (or Roosevelt).  In the meantime, people need to just be happy because anything less than those two things will be disappointing.  Which is why this weekend was so cool.

Obama Anak Menteng

This summer’s big blockbuster won’t be Eclipse or The Last Airbender, but a little indy film adaptation of a book by Indonesian author Damien Dematra on Obama’s childhood in Indonesia (1967-1971).   

Love the poster.

It’s Getting Real

Several cool things are converging in Washington.

1) Obama’s Executive Order in December 2009 which directs departments to make their content more “transparent, participatory, and collaborative”.

2) Stimulus initiatives – like this one on page 136 of the Stimulus Bill (HR1) that directs $40M to be “allocated at the discretion of the HHS Secretary provided, That the funding … shall be used to accelerate the development and dissemination of research assessing the comparative effectiveness of health care treatments and strategies”

3) Health Care Bill mandates (somewhere in here)

Taken together, we’re finally starting to see some of the benefits of a government working on a problem.  Today, the HHS is announcing  http://www.hhs.gov/open/ which provides a central repository for health related data sets, tools, and records including standards on health related data.

It’s not glamorous. It’s data.  But it’s government working.  And that’s cool.

Milestones

Well, we've finally made it into the history books. Just before Memorial Day weekend, when Americans near and far hit the road in pursuit of summer distractions, it was announced that – yes – BP’s offshore oil extravaganza has likely surpassed Exxon Valdez levels.

No surprise, really. Since the rupture first opened, I suspect that neither the Administration nor BP had any doubt that things would get this bad. I mean, we’re not talking about a limited supply of oil sitting in storage tanks aboard an ocean transport; we’re talking about a hole in the earth, 5,000 feet below the Gulf of Mexico. It’s not like fixing the bathroom sink. As Keith always says, you’d think someone would have said, “hey, what do we do if this valve breaks?”

Unfortunately, no one did. We have oil spill containment strategies but nothing to assist with closing off a well nearly a mile underwater. BP and the government knew it from day one. So how has each party handled it so far?

The Administration, eager to PR the event to death, told media outlets that BP was responsible for the spill and would have to cover all costs associated with the cleanup. For its part, BP will continue to insist that indeed they are responsible, for they know better than anyone what will happen if they try to push this on regulators. No new drilling.

But from a PR standpoint, this puts BP in the driver’s seat. Sure, they will pay billions, but they are trying. How does this leave the Administration? Always one-step behind, having to recalculate and recalibrate every time one of BP’s containment strategies fails. The Administration becomes a passive party to the whole charade. Sure, BP receives slightly more of the public’s blame, but the Administration loses an opportunity to inspire confidence in the federal government at a time when there is none.

And so we enter the summer with the Administration playing catch up, providing cover to BP's seemingly infinite capacity to obfuscate and act surprised. Top kill has failed and so we all await the outcome of a new containment dome. If it doesn’t work?

Oil will spill until relief wells can be drilled – August at the earliest. Murmurs of “Obama’s Katrina” will grow louder. The Weather Channel, eager to fan the flames of any disaster, will buy up all the rooms in one of the new Flotels alongside the spill and hire Campbell Brown to anchor its hurricane coverage in 2010. Odd sewage/gas/rotting/mold smells in New Orleans will grow worse and residents will be urged to stay indoors.

And we’ll see how the Administration's PR strategy fares this November.