- Listening to Republicans sanctimoniously whine about “bipartisanship” is both humorous and grating. Their socio-economic philosophy is completely discredited yet they cry foul because Democrats have no enthusiasm for adopting their stale “ideas” which has the world on the brink of total catastrophe. If Democrats were to make policy changes based upon the world being round, Republicans would whine about being excluded for believing the world is flat. Bipartisanship is not possible when people who belong in a lunatic asylum lead the opposition party.
- My visceral sense is that the stimulus debate was a seminal moment for President Obama. It’s a political victory, yet at the same time insufficient for what the country needs because he failed to define the terms of debate and bargained away too much at the onset of negotiations (read this post). If I read Obama correctly, he knows this as well and won’t be such an easy mark going forward. Obama's nominee for Health and Human Services may be a bellwether of his administration's direction. If it’s Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen, I’ll feel betrayed unless that appointment is coupled with a healthcare legislation czar determined to bargain hard with the HMOs. My preference is Howard Dean but that’s probably not going to happen because Chief of Staff Rham Emanuel hates him and Republicans hate truth tellers.
- Nationalization of the banks is coming and President Obama knows it. First though will be the obligatory kabuki dance of Treasury Secretary Geithner’s “plan.” I suspect Geithner’s troubling and vague performance is partly attributed to the administration’s belief that citizens learning more truth about the insolvency of our banks would result in massive withdrawals. Speaking of truth, tomorrow night I plan to watch a PBS Frontline special about America's economic day of infamy: September 18th, 2008.
- It will be interesting to contrast the rollout of Obama’s plan to stabilize housing with last week’s Geithner plan. The word is the administration will reveal far more details. More details with a housing plan is likely to generate confidence and hope. Whereas, as I referenced in the previous bullet point, with the Geithner plan, the powers that be are convinced confidence is best served by not revealing the complete truth.
