I certainly agree with maxnyc in http://www.dailykos.com/... And his link to the article in the Nation is appreciated, but the view of the President is so very different from the perspective of a little distance as reflected in the Financial Times last week.
We need to appreciate the wisdom of Senator Sanders and others with a "to do" list, but we need a few kind words first, just maybe.
The US fashionable D view is reflected in this piece, today, from Frank Rich about all that is wrong as shown by the Senate race last week, which I think reflects more on the mess of the Democrats in Mass when Senator Kennedy is no long there to lead and the committees of Senator Kerry and Congressman Frank apparently decided to go off on long ski trips over the holidays instead of helping assure a victory for the Kennedy seat
In any event, here is a sample from Frank Rich-
Frank Rich NYT 1/23/10
And yet Tuesday’s special election was a dire omen for this White House.
If the administration sticks to this trajectory, all bets are off for the political future of a president who rode into office blessed with more high hopes, good will and serious promise than any in modern memory. It’s time for him to stop deluding himself. Yes, last week’s political obituaries were ludicrously premature. Obama’s 50-ish percent first-anniversary approval rating matches not just Carter’s but Reagan’s. (Bushes 41 and 43 both skyrocketed in Year One.) Still, minor adjustments can’t right what’s wrong.
Obama’s plight has been unchanged for months. Neither in action nor in message is he in front of the anger roiling a country where high unemployment remains unchecked and spiraling foreclosures are demolishing the bedrock American dream of home ownership. The president is no longer seen as a savior but as a captive of the interests who ginned up the mess and still profit, hugely, from it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/opinion/24Rich.html?hp
On the other hand, the top of the page headline in the Friday Financial Times above a glowering duo of the President and Paul Volker, was this:
Obama hammers the banks
By Tom Braithwaite in Washington and Francesco Guerrera,in New York
Published: January 22 2010 02:00 | Last updated: January 22 2010 02:00
The global banking industry was thrown into turmoil yesterday after US president Barack Obama, responding to public rage over the financial crisis, proposed the most far-reaching overhaul of Wall Street since the 1930s.
In reforms that could force the restructuring of some of the biggest names in US finance - including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs - Mr Obama promised that "never again will the American taxpayer be held hostage by a bank that is too big to fail".
Flanked by Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, who has advocated the move for months, Mr Obama called for banks to be banned from running their own trading desks and "owning, investing in or sponsoring" hedge funds and private equity groups.
Tim Geithner, the US Treasury secretary, who has come under attack from Democrats on Capitol Hill, backed the plan, officials said, even though his own regulatory proposals have stopped well short of the sweeping Volcker reforms.
http://www.ft.com/...
And a few days earlier the same paper had this banner about the President teaching Wall Street and all capitalists a think or two about how to make money--
Fed makes ‘a killing’ on AIG contracts
By Henny Sender in New York
Published: January 20 2010 00:00 | Last updated: January 20 2010 00:00
The Federal Reserve is sitting on billions of dollars in paper profits from its controversial effort to unwind credit insurance contracts that AIG provided to banks such as Goldman Sachs, people familiar with the matter said.
The Fed rescue has generated criticism because the banks received 100 cents on the dollar for credit insurance they bought from AIG on collateralised debt obligations – financial instruments that promise the buyer cash flows from pools of bonds or loans. This had led to claims that AIG’s rescue was a "backdoor bail-out" of big banks.
However, the central bank is in a position to reap profits from this part of the rescue, which involved the purchase of the underlying CDOs by a New York Fed-financed vehicle, called Maiden Lane III, so that the insurance contracts written on them could be terminated.
At the time of their purchase, the CDOs had a face value of $62.1bn and a market value of $29.6bn. Now, the estimated market value of the CDOs is at least $45bn (£27.5bn), according to several people with direct knowledge of the portfolio.
http://www.ft.com/...
So while I agree with most all of the list of things to do in Senator Sander’s list and I wish Speaker Pelosi would just call a vote and tell her D House members to stand in the well of the House and declare their vote and then come see if they still have their fancy offices or a closet, junkets and pork, or nothing to do or take home, and whether they can tell the spouse they are or are not any longer on the White House guest list, I do think that we need to step back and look at the President from a longer distance and see him as the rest of the world sees him.
Some support and appreciation for what the President has done and is doing is in order like others in the world, rather than the drum beat of Frank Rich and his ilk would be nice.
Maybe even get ready for some open support of the State of the Union speech and make up for the nutters and shouters of the Right Wing who will be there once again.