The New York Times writes Economic Scene - Obama’s Progressive Project Is Changing Washington.
"First came a stimulus bill that, while aimed mainly at ending a deep recession, also set out to remake the nation’s educational system and vastly expand scientific research. Then President Obama signed a health care bill that was the biggest expansion of the safety net in 40 years. And now Congress is in the final stages of a bill that would tighten Wall Street’s rules and probably shrink its profit margins.
If there is a theme to all this, it has been to try to lift economic growth while also reducing income inequality. Growth in the decade that just ended was the slowest in the post-World War II era, while inequality has been rising for most of the last 35 years."
For my complaints that some of the policies don't go far enough, Obama is racking up a pretty impressive set of accomplishments.
1 comment:
Obama's progressive project may be changing Washington, but it's not winning hearts and minds across America.
For all the effort on healthcare, it's only a beginning and where's the public option.
As far as financial reform is concerned, well it unfortunately appears to be mostly Kabuki theatre for the benefit of politicians (who look tough) and banksters (who have been publicly scolded, and who can now go back to counting their bonuses).
Here's link to a piece that pretty much sums up how I'm feeling about the Obama presidency at the moment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leo-hindery-jr/leopards-cant-change-thei_b_588491.html
And for what it's worth, he and his administration couldn't appear any more impotent than they do right now with tens of thousands of barrels of oil spewing into the Gulf daily, as a direct result of the negligence of a foreign oil company.
When the repubs get power, they transform the nation, and usually not for the better. When the democrats get the white house and congress, they pass legislation at the margins, which doesn't fundamentally challenge the status quo and fails to reflect the progressive ideals they ran on.
TT
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