Well, it looks like President Obama has a plan after all on how to fix the horrible mess the country is in. It involves convincing the American people that divided government right now is a bad idea:
The good news is that I think there has been enough frustration at Washington -- it sort of reached a fever pitch last week -- that we're now looking at 16 months in which there's going to be a clear contrast and a clear choice to be made.
I think people understand that -- they thought maybe divided government might make some sense. They didn't think dysfunctional government was going to make a lot of sense, and that's what they're seeing right now. And I think the American people are not persuaded that an agenda of simply slashing commitments to things like student loan programs or privatizing or voucherizing Medicare are somehow going to be the solutions; they're not buying that bill of goods.
Drawing a contrast and pivoting away from accepting the Republican agenda and their framing of the issues - that would be good!
Because, as he says, it's become clear that on problem after problem, the solutions are neither unknown nor particularly difficult to implement. Action on them is simply being blocked by a stubborn political opposition.
We have an education system that is failing too many of our kids. And if we don't fix that, then we're not going to be able to compete with China or India or Brazil, who are very hungry and know that whichever country has the best workforce, the most highly skilled workforce, is going to be the country that succeeds economically.
We've had a health care system that, for too long, costs way too much and doesn't produce good enough results. And so we started with health care reform to move that in the right direction, but we've still got more work to do, particularly in Medicare and Medicaid, which is the main driver of our federal debt.
We're going to have to fix our tax code, because for years it has been rife with loopholes, and for years it's been inefficient, and for years it hasn't been fair. And we're going to have to raise more revenue to close our deficit and deal with our debt over the long term, but we've got to do it in a way that is reflective of who we are as Americans, and that means that everybody pitches in in order to make sure that the country is successful.
We know that we've got to invest in basic research, and nowhere is that more necessary than in the energy sector, because whatever is happening on any particular day in the spot oil market, we know what the long-term trends are going to be, which is oil consumption is going to be going up, and not only is that going to be a millstone around the neck of the economy, but we also know that if we keep on using fossil fuels at the pace that we're using right now, it's going to have an impact on the environment....
This is not rocket science in terms of how we can create more jobs in this country. Let me just use an example like infrastructure. I don't know if anybody here recently has been to Asia, and you go to Shanghai or you go to Beijing or you go to Singapore. The notion that these guys have better airports than us is astonishing.
Well, the truth is now would be a great time for us to rebuild America. Interest rates are low. All these folks who worked in the housing bubble, construction workers and contractors, they're ready to work. They're willing to come on a job on time, under budget.
We could transform America right now, rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our airports and also rebuilding a new infrastructure for the 21st century -- high-speed rail and a new generation of air traffic control that could actually save 15 percent of fuel costs and as a consequence reduce global warming.
Sounds like he does want a second term. And that he's going to start drawing sharp contrasts with the very different vision Republicans have for the country.
This is a democracy, and that means that we've got an entire other vision that's out there. And the Republican Party has been presenting its vision quite vividly over the last six months. And their basic vision is, is that they don't believe in government as a partner with the private sector in creating the kind of growth that we need.
And they've made a decision that in terms of how to deal with the budget deficit, all they want to do is they just want to cut. And they don't want to cut selectively and surgically. Their basic attitude is, you know what, Medicare, we can voucherize, even if it means $6,000 more in expenses for our seniors. And Pell Grants, we can cut some of those, even though it means that young people aren't going to be able to go to college.
And when it comes to medical research and when it comes to the kind of innovation agenda that's always been the hallmark of America, you know what, that's not important. The private sector can do it, even though the private sector will acknowledge that they're not going to be willing to put up the costs that helped to create things like the Internet.
And so, they've got a very different vision.
Maybe this time around though he'll be questioned a little more closely about his own vision. No more taking for granted that what liberals think are appropriate policy on education, health care, taxes, energy, infrastructure, and jobs are what Obama and the Democratic leadership have in mind. If all he means is privatizing public education, cutting Medicare and Medicaid, "equalizing" the tax burden so that lower incomes pay more, handing more subsidies to Big Oil, and throwing a few dollars at the states for them to back-fill the bleeding of jobs caused by tax cuts, well...just, meh.
But if it's the real thing, and they seriously plan to push that message of sharp contrast with Republican policies instead of bipartisanship and focusing on deficits and austerity (and not just in the friendly environment of a Dem fundraiser), it's what we've been waiting to hear.