Symbolic Importance of Obama-Clinton Meeting

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Friday December 10, 2010 · 6:40 PM PST

2010/12/10 · 18:40

Today's meeting between former President Clinton and President Obama is interesting not just for what they discussed (the President's tax bill compromise) but for the symbolism of what it represents. President Clinton was the exemplar of a moderate Democrat who worked most effectively with fellow moderates from both parties and who generally shunned the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. Some on the left and the right found Clinton to be a slippery unprincipled politician without any core values. While he was unquestionably slippery at times, Bill Clinton stood for incremental change that was supported by a large majority of Americans. By choosing to seek Clinton's advice and support, President Obama is signaling again that he plans to pursue Clinton's successful moderate path instead of the politically disastrous path of the most liberal members of our party (as exemplified by the election last month).

YoGo

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Wednesday December 08, 2010 · 6:18 PM PST

2010/12/08 · 18:18

The President had it exactly right yesterday when he tore into his liberal critics. These critics, including a ton of people writing on this site, insist, as the President accurately observed, on "having a purist position and no victories for the American people." What the critics really want, as the President again so rightly pointed out, is to "feel good about ourselves and sanctimonious about how pure our intentions are and how tough we are." Here's the plain fact - we lost the election and when you lose elections, you lose control of the agenda. No amount of angry posturing or taking misguided potshots at President Obama is going to change that.

YoGo

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Friday November 12, 2010 · 8:33 AM PST

2010/11/12 · 08:33

Yesterday, the White House bowed to reality and signaled that it would accept a two-year extension of all the Bush tax cuts. The plain fact is that the President had no other choice following our "shellacking" last week. But it is worth pointing out that it did not have to work out this way. We arrived at this point because of sheer political incompetence with perhaps a dash of arrogance thrown in.

I'm, of course, not arguing some new position that no one's raised before. I mean, DKos was flooded with similar diaries and comments yesterday when the Huffington Post piece was first published. But I remember when I wrote an earlier diary before the election pointing out the likelihood of this happening when it appeared that Congress was about to adjourn, I got plenty of comments telling me that I had completely misread the situation and that Speaker Pelosi would never let the House adjourn without passing a good tax bill. So I apologize in advance if you find this repetitive with other diaries here but this issue is important enough, I think, to deserve a little repetition. And, perhaps the White House and the Democratic leaders will notice the volume of comments and begin to realize that they've touched a raw nerve with the base of the party.

YoGo

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Saturday September 25, 2010 · 8:47 AM PDT

2010/09/25 · 08:47

This week, the Democratic Congressional leadership announced that they planned to adjourn without acting on the Bush tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year. Rather, they proposed to deal with this after the election in a lame-duck session. I'm at a total loss to understand their "strategy" in dealing with this issue.

YoGo

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Thursday September 02, 2010 · 5:54 PM PDT

2010/09/02 · 17:54

Earlier this summer, Senators Conrad and Bayh bucked White House opposition by calling for extending the Bush tax cuts for all taxpayers, including the wealthy. President Obama and his advisors have strenuously opposed any extension for the wealthiest taxpayers. But now with the recession lingering on (or, at best, a very anemic recovery limping along), more Democrats are joining the call for extending the Bush tax cuts for all taxpayers. With the President's political standing at or near an all-time low and the Democrats facing disaster in November, I expect to see more Democrats joining Conrad, etc. in resisting the President's opposition to these tax cuts. And with the Republicans likely to make major gains, it's hard to see how the President will be able to resist this wave when the new Congress convenes.

YoGo

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Friday August 27, 2010 · 7:57 AM PDT

2010/08/27 · 07:57

Today, the Commerce Department revised the second quarter economic growth number downward to an anemic 1.6%. We may not be heading into a second recession but the economy clearly isn't growing enough to make a dent in the high unemployment rate. The traditional prescriptions, as reflected in the various stimulus bills, don't seem to be working. It appears that the President and his advisors don't have any answers other than urging patience and telling us that this is just a speed bump in the road to economic recovery. They may be right but I doubt the voters will be so understanding come November.

YoGo

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Thursday August 19, 2010 · 6:06 PM PDT

2010/08/19 · 18:06

Earlier this year, President Obama and Speaker Pelosi guaranteed us that once the President's healthcare bill passed Congress, Democratic fortunes would dramatically improve as the public got to know the particulars better. Speaker Pelosi famously said that we had to pass the bill to discover what was in it and President Obama said that he welcomed a fight this November on the healthcare bill. Today, with the bill's continued unpopularity and the Democrats facing a very unfavorable political climate for the November elections, the White House signaled a tactical retreat. The question though is whether this retreat may be the first of many to come, particularly if the Republicans make major gains this November as now seems very likely.

YoGo

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Thursday August 12, 2010 · 5:51 PM PDT

2010/08/12 · 17:51

A few months back, Vice President Joe Biden famously proclaimed the arrival of "Recovery Summer." At the time, the Administration had hopes that the growing strength of the recovery during the latter part of 2009 and early 2010 would translate into an increasingly robust job market and a significant drop in the unemployment rate. The passage of last year's stimulus bill and this year's healthcare reform legislation, it was felt, had set the economy for a period of dynamic and sustained growth. These bright hopes, however, have turned out to be a mirage as the economy languishes and job growth remains stagnant. Indeed, it is increasingly apparent that, not only isn't the economy gaining speed, it is losing strength. While we haven't, thankfully, returned to the disastrous days of late 2008/early 2009, we are far from where we should be at this stage of the recovery.

YoGo

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Sunday June 20, 2010 · 5:50 AM PDT

2010/06/20 · 05:50

The economy is now beginning to recover from the worst of the recession. Industrial production is increasing. So too are sales, durable goods orders and housing sales (the latter admittedly in a far from definitive manner). Companies are beginning to rehire. But how strong is this recovery? Are we on the road to full employment or are we limping to some state of long-term stagnation? Or perhaps something in-between these extremes? In answering that question, I thought it would be useful to compare the changes in the unemployment rate during the last three severe recessions. Of course, the unemployment rate by itself doesn't give us the full picture but it is certainly an important measure.

YoGo

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Friday March 19, 2010 · 5:28 PM PDT

2010/03/19 · 17:28

With the near-certain passage of President Obama's plan for comprehensive healthcare reform, I think it is important to address one criticism that has been leveled against HCR - namely, that there was something underhanded or even undemocratic about its passage. There could be nothing further from the truth.

YoGo

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Friday February 12, 2010 · 11:08 AM PST

2010/02/12 · 11:08

Of all the foreign policy decisions made by the Obama Administration, none was more unpopular than the decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the reputed planner of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, before a civilian court in New York City. The President has been attacked by the entire spectrum of political opinion, including even Democratic allies like Senator Schumer and Governor Patterson. It is clear now, three months after Attorney General Holder announced this decision, that the President needs to reverse course.

YoGo

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Tuesday February 02, 2010 · 7:12 AM PST

2010/02/02 · 07:12

Yesterday, the White House issued its budget report for the 2011 fiscal year. Overall, this is pretty dry reading, as one can imagine, even for those of us who are politically obsessed. But there is one section that I always examine with a close eye - that's the economic assumptions underlying the report. And looking at the White House's assumptions leaves me a bit worried.

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Symbolic Importance of Obama-Clinton Meeting

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Obama Bows to Reality on Bush Tax Cuts - But It Didn't Have to Be This Way

Democratic Leadership Punts on Bush Tax Cuts

More Democrats Call For Extending Bush Tax Cuts for Wealthy

Economic Growth Stalls: What To Do

White House Retreat on Healthcare Bill

How Goes the Economic Recovery? Not So Well.

How Goes the Economic Recovery - An Historical Comparison

Nothing Undemocratic About Enactment of Healthcare Reform

Obama Moves To Reverse Decision on Trying 9/11 Plotters

Worrisome White House Economic Forecast