I am getting really tired of conservatives of all stripes and some of my old friends who fit that description blaming the Obama administration for the woes of the country. I heard from an old friend last week who had a family member that lost her job after 25 years of loyal work. The layoff occurred in June, and the guy was blaming Obama for it. By my calculation the layoff was 5 months after he took office. No way he could have been a factor.
There are many families, including my own, that are living with increased expenses and reduced earnings. In January when the talking heads were still using the "D" (depression) word lots of us were scared. Then when someone gets laid off in the face of this, the "being scared" becomes real fear. I remember someone defining a recession as when your neighbor is out of work and a depression is when you are out of work. With nearly 400,ooo jobs being lost last month alone, I think "fear" is to be expected. And, unemployment is a lagging indicator, so it will be the last to recover. But recover it will, and America will emerge stronger than ever. Remember Camus " In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer" So also is America in a winter, but in us is an invincible summer. Hang in there y'all. We'll get there.
On to a bit of discussion.
The meltdown in the various sectors such as housing, financial, manufacturing and related industries started before Obama took office. They were the product of 8 years (really more than that since Republicans had control of the congress for more than that) of failed policies that de-regulated as much as possible and hoped that the industries would self regulate. They left out at least one important factor in their calculations: greed. During the last 8 years the major operating premise was making as much money as possible by getting as close to the line of disaster as possible. So mortgages were approved for people who couldn't pay them. Then they were "bundled" and sold as an investment commodity. They were rated highly by raters (paid by the folks they were rating for) and when the simple people of this country couldn't pay their mortgage payments the whole thing came apart. This has been going on for at least 8 years and exploded before Obama took office. How can anyone blame him?
Manufacturing has been moving "offshore" for years and jobs have been lost for years as a result. Remember Ross Perot? "The sound you hear is JOBS being sucked out of this country." This substantially weakened our manufacturing sector. So then when a credit crisis hits, the industries that depend on bridge credit can't get it and they go down. Like the giant car makers. Obama's watch. No.
Cars. Bigger is better. Hummmmmm in a Hummer. Drive an SUV. Why? Cost more to buy and drive and insure and you don't need the space. The auto industry was ripe for a fall and fell it did. Hard and far. But the problems that caused it were not on Obama's watch.
Suppose you bought a store that sold clothes and a few days before you were to open it the roof fell in and ruined everything inside. It took months to get the insurance settled and the store repaired and the stock back in. In the mean time you had to lay off some employees. Did they lose their jobs because YOU caused the roof to fail? No, they lost their jobs because the former owner delayed maintenance. His fault not yours. You worked like hell to get things opened and going again and your workers blame you for their joblessness. You know damn well that wouldn't be fair.
Obama is in the same situation. He CAME INTO OFFICE IN A S**T STORM caused by 8 years of failures and he is trying to get the whole country going again.
Don't get me wrong here. I don't like some of the things the current administration is doing and supporting, and some of the things they are doing may not work. But nobody with a brain in their head can BLAME them for the problems. They are trying to find solutions. And by the way, the Republicans are saying "NO" to everything proposed. Most of them even think Clarence Thomas was a better choice than Sotomayor. More HUTA looks like.
If you are offended by my opinions here, I'm truly sorry. But before you get POed at me, stop and think about the causes of all the problems we now face. And you won't see Obama's name on any of those lists.
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5 comments:
The historian Barbara Tuchman said that it takes 50 years of distance before we can really see the threads that make up the fabric of history. While history's happening, we're all too busy living our lives to really see the details: they're too complex, too fractal, and the concerns of the moment distract us too completely. It takes the cold light of hindsight to make all the details come clear... the weakness, pettiness, greed, foolishness, cruelty, and vanity, as well as the heroics, the self-sacrifices, and noble acts in the face of ridicule and unreason. Tuchman concluded, at the end of her career, that the best practice of "history" is to live your life critically, honorably, and compassionately, and leave the praise and blame of things to your grandchildren, who will have the benefit of knowing how things turned out.
I suspect, in the end, that there will be plenty of praise and blame to go around, but that here, in the moment, we can best predict where the blame will settle by asking: who has gained -- in power, in wealth, in self-certainty -- from causing, and sustaining these troubles?
Well, Tuchman may have grandchildren to know how things turn out but so far I don't. Therefore I feel obligated to voice opinions as clearly as I can based on what I think to be the truth as I see it. I know, lot's of "weasel" words there. Truth is I am so convinced that I am right in this that I don't really see the point in waiting for History to prove it.
I take your point, though, and mostly agree. So, do you have an opinion on the scenario as outlined in the essay?
My opinion is pretty much in line with yours, that the first duty of any public adminstration is to follow the campsite rule -- leave it in better shape than you found it -- that our outgoing administration threw that rule out the window, and the current administration has been left to set up their tent on a trash heap.
Nevertheless, although I support the Obama administration, at least as much as I'm likely to support *any* administration, I'm concerned about their actual ability to bring about any significant change. I watch the news, and see (for example) how pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and the AMA have bought and paid for a Health Care Reform they can live with, and I see echoes of the ways in which Halliburton et al arranged for a very profitable war, at terrible expense. I don't trust our elected officials to act in the interests of the public good, and I don't trust my fellow citizens to speak up in any meaningful or useful way to ensure good governance.
It's a funny old world.
I agree completely with your thoughts. It is a funny old world, but not one that makes you laugh.
Thank you for being so smart. I am so sick of people on this "hate obama" kick..I guess they need someone to blame.
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