We were told "Ronald Reagan was too far-right, and George W. Bush too dumb, to be elected."

[madfloridian]

I have noticed a tendency to dismiss those who are worried about our country right now, about the need for strong leadership. Those of us who see a need to move away from so much bipartisanship and compromising are criticized sharply.

Robert Kuttner has had two very scathing columns recently, but he seems very qualified to offer strong opinions on the economic state of our country.

A brief summary of his accomplishments.

Robert Kuttner is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect magazine, as well as a Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow. He was a longtime columnist for BusinessWeek, and continues to write columns in the Boston Globe.

Robert is the author of eight books, including the recent New York Times bestseller, Obama's Challenge: American's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency, (Chelsea Green, 2008). Robert's last book, The Squandering of America, explores political roots of America's narrowing prosperity and the systemic risks facing the U.S. economy. He has just begun work on a new book on the challenge of regulating global capitalism.

Bob's best-known earlier book is Everything for Sale: The Virtues and Limits of Markets (1997). The book received a page one review in the New York Times Book Review. Of it, the late economist Robert Heilbroner wrote, "I have never seen the market system better described, more intelligently appreciated, or more trenchantly criticized than in Everything for Sale."

Demos.org Robert Kuttner

More at the link.

On July 31 he posted a column at Huffington Post called The Goons of August.

The Goons of August

Let us face the momentous truth: The United States has been rendered ungovernable except on the extortionate terms of the far-right. For the first time in modern history, one of the two major parties is in the hands of a faction so extreme that it is willing to destroy the economy if it doesn't get its way.

And the Tea Party Republicans have a perfect foil in President Barack Obama. The budget deal is the logical conclusion of Obama's premise that the way to make governing partners of the far right is to keep appeasing them. He is the perfect punching bag. He can be blasted both as a far-left liberal and as a weakling.

We did not have to reach this pass. At any of several points in the past two years, a Democratic president could have called out the Republicans on the sheer perversity of the policies they are demanding. Most voters do not want cuts in Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. The Paul Ryan "Roadmap for America's Future" alone, in the hands of a politically competent Democratic president, should have been enough to destroy Republican credibility.

...."How do you invite the radical right to take power? Start with thirty years of stagnant of declining living standards for most people. Then add a financial crisis made on Wall Street. Next, elect a Democratic president who raises hopes, but who turns out to be a close ally of the same forces that caused the collapse. Give that president a temperament that refuses to blame the right, and is mainly about seeking accommodation. The right then gets to put Washington and Wall Street in the same bucket, and blame the Democrats.

Indeed that is happening now. "The right then gets to put Washington and Wall Street in the same bucket, and blame the Democrats."

He reminds us that it is "a fearsome time in the history of our Republic. And the politics of extortion by the Tea Party Republicans will not end with this deal. On the contrary, the deal will encourage more of the same."

But he was not done yet expressing his utter frustration.

Here is a column from the middle of August that does not spare this administration.

Looking for Some Good News

Through the smog of rhetoric and demagoguery, more and more Americans are coming to correctly blame Republicans for the obstructionism on the budget agreement that helped trigger panic in financial markets. With so many far-right Republicans having picked up House seats in the 2010 midterm, the election of 2012 could be a good year for a Democratic comeback.

Good news, right?

The only problem is that we have our own albatross in the White House. Barack Obama is not likely to have coattails. And his own strategy for dealing with prolonged stagnation neither motivates voters nor fixes what ails the economy. Oh, and it divides his own party. Talk to elected Democrats on the subject of Obama off the record, and you get unprintable rage.

..."Think of the great acts of leadership by past presidents. Roosevelt himself started out as a deficit hawk. He had to alter his own thinking and then lead public opinion to appreciate that large public works programs reduced unemployment (and temporarily increased public deficits, but that was okay). He also had to lead public opinion when he called for rearmament and the first peacetime draft and lend-lease aid to Britain, because he foresaw war with Hitler. If Roosevelt had just followed polls, Nazis might well be still governing in Berlin.

And I say amen to this comment about 2012.

Obama may yet be saved by the sheer extremism of the likely Republican nominee. But we should not bet the farm on that either. I vividly remember being reassured that Ronald Reagan was too far-right, and George W. Bush too dumb, to be elected. So much for that theory.

Last week Kuttner appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.... here's the video. He simply and calmly made point after point about the harm being done by the deficit hawks. He made one comment that really struck home with me.

He said what really dismayed him was to hear Perry's opening commercial in which Kuttner says he sounded more like FDR than Obama himself does. He is angry because he says the president should run as one who wants to put people back to work, and not leave it to someone like Perry.

I agree. I am seeing ads being run now every day by right wing Republicans where I live in which they are defending Medicare and Social Security from a Democratic president.

I understand Kuttner's frustration.

[madfloridian]

1. Quotes about the debt ceiling bill...

from the American Prospect. One paragraph stands out. Kuttner quoted among others.

"Paul Krugman calls the deal “an abject surrender on the part of the president.” Robert Reich says that with this deal, “Democrats and the White House have proven they have little by way of tactics or strategy.” And speaking on behalf of the House Progressive Caucus, Rep. Raul Grivalja, a Democrat from Arizona, condemned the architects of the agreement: “Today we, and everyone we have worked to speak for and fight for, were thrown under the bus.” The progressive anger is focused on Barack Obama. Writing for the Prospect, Robert Kuttner sums up this critique: “President Obama was going to change the tone in Washington-remember? Well, he delivered on that promise. The tone is now one of Democratic capitulation and two-party conservative ideology.”

http://prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=08&year=2011&base_name=blame_where_its_due_1

[Fumesucker]

2. Look.. Obama's a political freakin' genius..

I mean we're kind of used to him now, but he's a black guy with a distinctly Muslim sounding name who came out of nowhere and was elected POTUS in a landslide, it's bloody stunning.

Now we are supposed to believe that he's a political naif, just a babe in the woods.

Bullshit, what Obama's getting is a lot closer to what Obama wants than we are being led to believe.

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. That's exactly what bothers me. nt

[madfloridian]

4. Bothers me also.

:hi:

[emsimon33]

18. Yep, that's the problem--Obama is a DINO who would be Republican

if he thought they'd take him....seriously, I mean.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SteveM]

23. What bothers me is all this seems planned and not a fall-back compromise. nt

[madfloridian]

30. It is planned.

It's not just a compromise.

[indepat]

13. Suspect BHO has played all of us like a violin

:patriot:

[hifiguy]

54. Your conclusion is 100% correct

He is the "kinder, gentler" face of plutocratic corporatism and nothing more.

We were gulled. Spectacularly so.

[Dystopian]

5. KandR

peace~

[pansypoo53219]

6. george wasn't elected.

he was appointed and ohio stolen in 04'. we need to remove his SCOTUS pics.

[tavalon]

9. Correct and correct

But we haven't done a damn thing to correct either of those things. That's a big problem.

[chervilant]

36. AND,

it will remain a gaping, festering wound, until it GETS fixed.

[certainot]

40. and carter was sabotaged by bush/reagan- october surprise

[xocet]

7. K & R n/t

[tavalon]

8. Rick Goodhair Perry has definitely hired better image makers than Palin

because he is as dumb as a toaster in the off position and if that isn't just plain obvious yet, well, Palin needs to hire them away. Wait until he says he can see Mexico from his porch. It'll happen.

[madfloridian]

14. That's a good point.

Trouble is too many still haven't caught on to Palin yet. Their lack of knowledge is so obvious, and I find myself wondering how long it took our country to get so dumbed down that we must cater to such.

[SteveM]

25. The "dumbing down" works in mysterious ways, esp. with none-baggers...

The young voter, the one not concerned about racial divides, gay marriage, war (hell, I don't have to go), independent of either party -- they got sucked in, too. And there is quite a bit of pop-up, style-driven worldly cynicism out there which can be easily taken advantage of by the Right as well. You get someone in the presidency like Perry, demanding some big plan for jobs (public-private, whatever), stealing FDR's thunder, shrugging off gay marriage, perhaps (if he wants) advocating local action on pot legalization, Obama would sound incredibly disingenuous at this stage to claim something similar. Call Perry dumb (such a persistent thing among liberals, to assume GOP "winners" like Perry are slow out of the chute), but he has a signpost of high intelligence: He surrounds himself with folks who know what he doesn't. He's won 10 elections so far. And lost none.

And that crap about the unlikeliness of "another Texan winning after Bush?" Yeah. Like no one was ever elected outta Ohio.

[SteveM]

24. Hell, wait til he wins. Sheesh. nt

[McCamy Taylor]

10. "Jobs" and "Save Social Security and Medicare" will sound more believable coming from Dems.

I am heartened by a headline two days ago in the Fort Worth paper. "Obama promises more jobs." Keep in mind that FW is no Austin. This paper is about 90% behind Rick Perry.

[madfloridian]

11. Agree on that.

I want to hear more of it. :)

[w0nderer]

12. k&r n/t

[madfloridian]

15. Kuttner on Obama and austerity.

http://blog.prospect.org/robert_kuttner/2011/07/obamas-austerity-altar.html

"The right has succeeded in dominating the framing of the entire budget issue, and tragically they have the perfect accomplice in Barack Obama. President Obama’s willingness to throw crown jewels like Social Security onto the austerity altar grows more flagrant by the day. The press--even some of the progressive press--is treating the main issue as whether we include significant tax increases as part of the package of $4 trillion in budget cuts over ten years. But even that issue is a sideshow.

...."The June jobs numbers just came out, and they signal the need for a recovery program, not deeper austerity. As EPI reports:

Virtually every single measure was devastatingly weak: only 18,000 payroll jobs were added, average hours declined, nominal wages fell, unemployment was up in almost all age groups, over a quarter of a million workers dropped out of the labor force altogether, and the public sector continued to bleed jobs. Furthermore, a downward revision to last month’s data means that this is the second month in a row with job growth at 25,000 or less. This is a remarkable, across-the-board backslide.

Hidden in the fine print of a likely deal is a “trigger,” which would require automatic cuts if Congress failed to hit the target. A trigger mechanism is a long-standing goal of the fiscal right. But whether Congress hits a predetermined target is partly a function of whether we have a double-dip or triple-dip recession."

[SteveM]

27. "The right has succeeded in dominating..."

"The right has succeeded in dominating the framing of the entire budget issue, and tragically they have the perfect accomplice in Barack Obama."

And the GOPers announced they would so dominate the framing just after the 2010 blow-out. They do want you to know when they are going to do it to you. And they do it.

[madfloridian]

29. They don't even make a secret of it anymore.

They just dominate, and sadly we have too often let them.

[certainot]

43. of course they did- the left allows it by ignoring RW talk radio, not because of Obama

it doesn't matter what dem is in the white house if the left keeps ignoring the right's best weapon- 1000 radio stations repeating think tank coordinated talking points campaigns and framing that kicks left wing internet ass, and for which the left has NO organized response.

the right's best weapon can message around and over anything the white house does and the left has no fucking clue because there is no written record and it gives them headaches to listen to it.

[bertman]

16. Another excellent post. Thank you, madflo. REC. nt

[emsimon33]

17. K&R

[tooeyeten]

19. With Bush

he wasn't running against an incumbent, however Democrats should take heed of Reagan's election. They're not one in the same.

[Desertrose]

20. Excellent points, madflo.

I was going to add some quotes, but then I'd just quote the whole article. :)

[madfloridian]

21. Go ahead, we need to keep repeating.

:hi:

[SteveM]

22. Great post, "good use of resources," as my poly-sci prof. used to say...

We are seeing the fruits of the DLC hold on the Democratic Party: Pro-corporate all the way, retreat from belief, philosophy and policy, rejection of ANYONE to the left of LBJ, and attacks on "their own," re, "professional left." This is a hard truth for us:
The Democratic Party, the Administration, MSM wants NOTHING to do with the "left," which by now is anything which does not comport with center-right outlooks.

I noted Huntsman (R) this morning decrying the usual polarization of politics, fearing the GOP was moving so far to the right that it was jeopardizing its chances of beating Obama (understandable, given his precarious situation). But he said something more revealing by inferring Obama was facing pressures from the Democratic Party "liberals," essentially conceding that Obama was not a liberal. This is not news to any of us, but it is interesting to see how Huntsman views the president in the same manner.

I am assuming a GOP victory next year. That being the case, Democrats -- or more accurately, liberals and progressives -- should begin now to re-form, either within the party or from without, be in position to challenge the GOP in 2016, and be able to take seats in Congress before then.

The GOP has blown through the city gates. The have done this to some degree by their own prowess as a true political party, but mainly because there is no meaningful opposition. When Democrats win it is essentially by default, but they cannot govern because the far right is now firmly in charge of defining the debate and dictating terms, even when not in the White House. The Democrats cannot establish a true philosophy and set of bright-line policies; to do so would threaten their tenuous relationship with corporate power. So it's "all about gathering the stakeholders to build consensus for a win-win so we can move forward." Meh.

But Huntsman is not correct about "polarization." The country is not polarized. The Far Right is trying to straighten out its own ideologies so that they can gain the "permanent majority" (and permanent power) they are nearing.

[Rex]

26. Can't recommend this post enough!

[amborin]

28. kr

[treestar]

31. This country is not supposed to have "strong leadership"

People who need that to survive need to find another country. I'll stick with the government of the people, by the people and for the people, however flawed and unable to quickly solve problems it is.

[AlinPA]

33. Congress does not function anymore; there is no way anything worthwhile can be accomplished.

[AlinPA]

32. If one of those nuts picks Rubio (another nut) they can win.

[Motown_Johnny]

34. Nobody said W. couldn't get elected. After the Clinton Lewinsky scandal

a ham sandwich had a shot


What we said was that he was to dumb to be a good president and we were right.

[upi402]

35. chicken Dems end up served on a plate. n/t

vichy Dems hold power at the pleasure of the elites that despise them and only tolerate them in the interim.

suckers.

done.

[defendandprotect]

37. Certainly a side issue to these elections was "October Surprise" and a SC steal -- !!!

[dogmoma56]

39. hey... there's no one too dumb for the GOP to elect.. look at their present candidates, they are

nothing but cartoon characterizations of dumb.. they'd elect Daffy Duck, if wasn't Union.:rofl: :spray:

[certainot]

41. aside from bush and reagan's elections being stolen, kuttner blames obama for left's own ignorance

ignorance of RW talk radio and the power it has had to dominate US politics.

like most analysts, kuttner reads and watches so he operates in a talk radio free world. he observes what happens AFTER 50 mil people a week have been pounded with think tank coordinated talking points from 1000 unchallenged and ignored RW radio stations. so like many, his evaluation of obama is deficient. he, like most analysts on the left, have no clue what the right's best weapon is so how can he accurately evaluate obama and the dems?

for instance the suggestion that obama should have 'messaged' better is a common criticism and completely ignores the ability of RW radio to dominate political messaging. any time the left manages to get something going the think tanks notice, formulate a response, and can distort, distract, minimize, and make excuses to their heart's content from 1000 coordinated radio stations. the mainstream goes along because the media owners like the tax breaks, expensive elections, and ownership deregulation that the dems/obama threatens. the mainstream media alone cannot do the coordinated unchallenged repetition only possible with talk radio. they need the unchallenged liars on RW talk radio to make the irrational acceptable to enough people (dittoheads=teabaggers=republican (radio) base) to enable media and politicians to get us into this mess and now many of the same 'left' that let team limbaugh stop clinton health care reform, let team limbaugh lie us into iraq and sell a pack of corporate lawyer and insane fundy supremes, are now blaming obama for their own ignorance of what is blasting all around their heads from the same 'community' radio stations that are endorsed by university and pro sports on weekends, because it gives them a headache to listen to it.

[certainot]

42. aside from bush and reagan's elections being stolen, kuttner blames obama for left's own ignorance

ignorance of RW talk radio and the power it has had to dominate US politics.

like most analysts, kuttner reads and watches so he operates in a talk radio free world. he observes what happens AFTER 50 mil people a week have been pounded with think tank coordinated talking points from 1000 unchallenged and ignored RW radio stations. so like many, his evaluation of obama is deficient. he, like most analysts on the left, have no clue what the right's best weapon is so how can he accurately evaluate obama and the dems?

there is NO organized opposition to the right's best weapon.

for instance the suggestion that obama should have 'messaged' better is a common criticism and completely ignores the ability of RW radio to dominate political messaging. any time the left manages to get something going the think tanks notice, formulate a response, and can distort, distract, minimize, and make excuses to their heart's content from 1000 coordinated radio stations. the mainstream goes along because the media owners like the tax breaks, expensive elections, and ownership deregulation that the dems/obama threatens. the mainstream media alone cannot do the coordinated unchallenged repetition only possible with talk radio. they need the unchallenged liars on RW talk radio to make the irrational acceptable to enough people (dittoheads=teabaggers=republican (radio) base) to enable media and politicians to get us into this mess and now many of the same 'left' that let team limbaugh stop clinton health care reform, make excuses for reagan bush and rewrite their history, make bush acceptable, swiftboat dem and progressive candidates, lie us into iraq, and sell a pack of corporate lawyer and insane fundy supremes, are now blaming obama for their own ignorance of what is blasting all around their heads from the same 'community' radio stations that are endorsed by university and pro sports on weekends, because it gives them a headache to listen to it.

[madfloridian]

44. Agree about RW radio dominance. Disagree about Obama's role.

I do expect a Democratic president to have understood that anger would come when he put our social safety nets on the table in the face of such extremism. Our president is a very bright man, so I would say either he is unaware of what he doing to seniors...or he doesn't care.

RW radio dominance does NOT excuse our party from making wise decisions.

[certainot]

45. but RW radio dominance makes wisdom less important than political calculation IMO and that's where

it forces the compromises.

it can make wisdom politically suicidal. the republicans vote lock step on energy and climate change not because they all believe global warming is a hoax but because they all fear being chewed out by limbaugh and sons because the heritage foundation put their name in the talking points. the tea party game of chicken was made possible by months of talk radio propaganda assurances that that defaulting was no big deal and the tea party would have gotten what they wanted.

right wing radio dominance, and its ignorance by the left, makes rational national discussions about any major issue impossible, and wisdom can now be taken off the table before the discussion starts.

[madfloridian]

46. That's the problem. Compromising instead of boldly telling the truth.

We have been doing it for years now until we don't know how to be bold anymore.

[certainot]

47. i've heard bold and i've heard truth from dems and it doesn't matter, the right is louder and has

more friends in media.

until the left challenges the radio they decide where the center is, what and who is and isn't acceptable (like the weatherman who says "global warming"). dan rather got bold and was made an example of. paul wellstone was also bold. obama does it with subtlety because they're just waiting for the 'angry black man' but it's there and then what actually gets done is something else. and on the other hand they can be as bold as they want- to steal elections and sell enough excuses to keep Americans from the streets, and they can wait five days for black on white violence at the NO superdome because they know they can have it both ways- if it works the lmbaughs and roves can use it to galvanize the racist base for several election cycles and if it doesn't they know they can distort and shift the blame to local La. dems.

they create their own reality that allows people to stand up in town halls and scream 2+2=3 with full certitude and boldness.

i can't figure out how the left can accurately or fairly evaluate obama while having no organized response to the right's best weapon.

[madfloridian]

48. Most of us can't buy media, but we post our feelings.

They are aware of our feelings, but they have their course set.

In a case like this I expect our leaders to speak for us. There is no reason they have to equivocate and capitulate so quickly.

[certainot]

49. i just can't expect our reps to stick their necks out very far as long as

we ignore the opposition's best weapon. RW talk radio beats the crap out of the one's whos backs we promise to get.

should our reps have to keep a shotgun by the door?

and why, for instance, would it be easier for obama to do health care reform if the clintons couldn't do it in the earlier stages of the right wing media machine, before rove refined it and the media was LESS consolidated?

until the left is in a lot of streets and picketing some of those stations the right doesn't have to pay attention because those pillars of society, those radio stations that do weather and traffic and our local college and pro sports and sell our favorite local restaurants and plumbing services, are a lot louder.

[madfloridian]

50. I do expect them to do that...

[certainot]

51. we are not doing our duty as citizens if we allow republicans to degrade democracy to the point that

our reps have to be ex military or police or keep a shotgun by the door.

[DeSwiss]

52. ''Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system.'' ~Dorothy Day - n/t

[judesedit]

53. The thugs steal every election they win or what amounts to stealing -redistricting

changing/closing democratic polling places, changing registration rules, buying people's votes, crooked legislators, manipulating software (shown on national television in less than 5 minutes), voting twice, such as Coulter did, among others. The GOP never wins an election legally and they know it. So whether their candidates are dumb (such as Bush, Reagan, Palin, Bachmann) far right (like McConnell, Boner), two heads, they don't care. Their presidents are puppets for the lobbyists and corporations, banks, etc. Wake up, people! Billionaires in other countries are also buying our slimy government leaders. Pay attention to what's happening in your own country. The media is trying to take your mind off of this huge debacle every chance they get. Murdoch is a thief and liar. Vote these crooks out of office as soon as you posslbly can!