Visual source: Newseum
NY Times:
Armed with worrisome poll data and seeking to maintain the legislative upper hand, Congressional Republicans who have spent the balance of the year pouring buckets of criticism on the Obama administration are shifting to a more restrained approach as they ponder how to respond to the president’s jobs plan.
Oh? Do they finally get that
people disapprove of them?
Gail Collins:
The president is urging people to contact their elected representatives and tell them to pass his proposals: “I want you to call. I want you to e-mail. I want you to tweet. I want you to fax. I want you to visit. I want you to Facebook ... Send a carrier pigeon.”
Now that last one might really work. Truly, if the Republican House Conference was inundated by a couple hundred thousand angry carrier pigeons, there would probably be a real reaction.
You may want to do the other stuff, too, because you are concerned citizens, people. But the idea that the president’s opponents are going to come around to his way of thinking because they’re buried in tweets and faxes is not a likely scenario.
“In a Frank Capra movie, maybe,” said Michael Beschloss, the presidential historian.
Charles Blow:
Yes, Thursday’s speech was an encouraging shift in tone with a meaty jobs plan of the president’s own design.
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, even gave USA Today a glowing review of the plan. The paper reported it this way: “The plan, if enacted would boost economic growth next year by 2 percentage points and create two million additional jobs.” Of course, it will never be passed as is, but the positive analysis is still a nice feather in the president’s cap.
But, in the end, it was just another speech.
If all the pundits are in agreement, that's when you wonder if they're wrong. Alas, most of the time, the cynics are dead on. But cynicism and pre-formed opinion on occasion stops you from seeing current goings-on (see first link: Republicans are not smelling blood from that speech other than their own.) Blow is right; it's just a speech. But it has changed the conversation for now since they are all talking about it.
WaPo:
Obama jobs plan: Economists give good reviews but say more needed on mortgage debt
Joe Nocera:
Small businesses need credit more than tax breaks in this dire economy. Three years ago, the taxpayers saved the banks. It’s time for the banks to return the favor.
Banksters aren't elected like Congress is, so don't hold your breath.
Michael Gerson: Why George Bush was right about 9/11. You know, the guy who didn't kill bin Laden and got us stuck in Iraq for a decade by lying about why we went in.
There are at least three camps of 9/11 remembrances: 1) the real, touching stories of ordinary people including the first responders, 2) the media talking heads who are pushing ratings (watch this on this network) and in some cases—perhaps because they work in NY and DC—more fearful than the ordinary people they cover, and 3) the "Bush and Cheney were right" self justifiers. Thank goodness that latter is the smallest group, though I wouldn't mind hearing more from the first group and a lot less from the second. The media review doesn't include any introspection of how much they propped up George Bush right through "Mission accomplished" and the flight suit stuff they gushed over. Until it does, they can put a lid on it, be quiet and feature ordinary people exclusively.
