The Regressive Antidote -- what the heck is Obama doing?

[Nay]

This essay at Regressive Antidote perfectly encapsulates the feelings of unease and anger I started to have when, first, Geithner was hired, and second, when AIG is outrageously allowed to keep BONUSES. I was, and still am, willing to give Pres. Obama the benefit of the doubt, but there is a point at which I, as a rational person who is much farther left than Obama ever will be, say: WTF are you doing, Mr. President??






If you think that I’m exaggerating when I say that Obama may be betting his entire promising presidency by taking the wrong side in this AIG scandal, think again. His presidency rises and falls on essentially one question: Is he doing everything he can to fix the economy? In order to fix the economy, given the astonishing mess he’s inherited, he is going to continue to need unprecedented forbearance from the public and Congress so as to take unprecedented steps. People are already freaking out at what has been done and what has been spent, and we’re only just starting the rescue, with all its enormous costs. The Republicans, who made this mess, are going to try to block Obama at every turn. The president needs to convince the public to trust him and follow him, if he is going to win the legislation necessary fix the economy.

But if people see that Obama is using their hard-earned tax money to reward the predatory parasites at AIG, even after they’ve wrecked everything in sight, how is he ever going to get public support for spending another trillion bucks to repair the economy? And if he can’t get the tools necessary to do the job, how can he ever expect it to get fixed? And if it doesn’t get fixed, how can he expect to have a successful presidency?

He can’t, and he won’t. And, thus, it is no exaggeration to say that this vibrant and well-liked president, who carries the hopes and aspirations of a nation on his shoulders with a robust foundation of good will to match, is potentially giving away everything in order to make sure that a band of corporate pirates keep their stolen taxpayer money. And doing that, ladies and gentlemen, is as dumb as... Well, you know.



More at the link:

http://www.regressiveantidote.net/Articles/Barack_Obama_and_the_Altar_of_Greed.html