Jan. 21, 2009
Obama Can Talk, But Can He Walk?
Declan McCullagh Wonders If Obama Can Live Up To His Rhetoric On The Economy
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Play CBS Video Video Obama's 'To Do' List Beginning a long day, the White House ordered a review of pending regulations and halted trials at Guantanamo Bay, reports Bill Plante.
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Video President Obama: Day One After partying until 1 a.m., the president went right to work early in the morning, reports Jeff Glor.
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We should applaud Obama's call for an "era of responsibility." But it remains to be seen if he's serious - and, if so, how he and his advisers will square that rhetoric with the reality of Washington's newfound love of bailouts, says Declan McCullagh (AP Photo/Robert Glass)
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Opinion Other People's Money Declan McCullagh writes on politics and the economy.
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Special Report First 100 Days Follow the Obama administration as it gets to work after the inauguration.
Barack Obama took the oath of office Tuesday with his hand on Abraham Lincoln's bible, a symbol of the historic beginning of his presidency. Even amid dark economic times - or perhaps because of them - the outpouring of goodwill and the sense of expectation has been astounding. The crowds thronging Pennsylvania Avenue showed it.
The celebrations in cities around the country showed it. So did a recent CBS News/New York Times poll suggesting that 68 percent of Americans believe Obama will be a good or very good president.
After the inaugural parties are over, though, and after the millions of visitors who shivered for hours on the National Mall head home, the task of governing begins.
Even today, we have only a hazy idea of how Obama will approach it: his voting record was the most liberal in the Senate, but his personnel choices over the last two months have signaled a more moderate approach. The sobering truth is that on his first challenge - the economy - there's little that Obama can do right away.
The Federal Reserve has already lowered interest rates almost as far as possible in part to encourage Americans to continue to borrow, which is a little like offering another hit to a meth addict. Bad investments made during the boom need to be liquidated; government action will most likely slow down that vital process.
Contrary to what politicians claim, the Democrats' half-trillion in proposed spending will take years to flow through the economy, with only a small fraction spent by the end of the 2009 fiscal year.
That's according to no less an authority than the Congressional Budget Office.
Then there's the corruption and waste that tend to accompany massive government projects with billion-dollar price tags attached to them. Does nobody remember the government's estimate that $8.8 billion was stolen or otherwise unaccounted for in Iraq? (See this 60 Minutes report.)
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To Obama's credit, he seems to recognize the limits of deficit spending. The 258-page draft bill that was published last week includes $275 billion in tax cuts aimed at business and some (but hardly all) Americans. His own pick for top economic advisor, Berkeley professor Christina Romer, has estimated that a dollar of tax cuts raises economic output by about $3. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to By an overwhelming margin, Americans have given Obama a chance to do good by them. Soon we'll know whether the new president's policies live up to his rhetoric.
Declan McCullaghThis points to a more pragmatic approach than many liberal Democrats, and even some Republicans, would have him take. Other Obama personnel choices have been equally unpredictable.
There's Paul Volcker, chairman of the new Economic Recovery Advisory Board and someone best known for taking an ax to inflation in the early 1980s and publicly worrying about a weak dollar. Treasury Secretary-designate Tim Geithner, on the other hand, seems to be a fan of bailouts, cheap money, and creative interpretations of 1099 forms.
Eric Holder, Obama's choice for attorney general, is another puzzle. As a partner at the Covington and Burling law firm, he generally represented corporate clients. Last year, though, he signed a brief saying the Second Amendment protected only a "collective" right; as a Clinton administration official he supported expansive anti-gun laws including federal licensing of handgun owners and national gun registration.
Last month the Brady Campaign offered similar suggestions.
These are all points that legislators should explore during the nominees' Senate confirmation hearings. In his inaugural address, Obama said: "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."
We should applaud Obama's call for an "era of responsibility." But it remains to be seen if he's serious - and, if so, how he and his advisers will square that rhetoric with the reality of Washington's newfound love of bailouts.
Is bailing out failing companies like General Motors a way to teach "responsibility," especially when rivals who didn't lobby for a handout are now at a competitive disadvantage? Should responsible homeowners be taxed to bail out speculators?
How about the long line of industries queuing up for bailouts? Does rewarding irresponsible behavior encourage responsibility?
By an overwhelming margin, Americans have given Obama a chance to do good by them. Soon we'll know whether the new president's policies live up to his rhetoric.
Declan McCullagh is the chief political correspondent for CNET. He previously was Wired's Washington bureau chief and a reporter for Time.com and Time magazine in Washington, D.C. He has taught journalism, public policy, and First Amendment law. He is an occasional programmer, avid analog and digital photographer, and lives in the San Francisco Bay area. His e-mail address is declan.mccullagh@cnet.com
By Declan McCullagh
Copyright ©2009 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved.
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See all 71 CommentsPosted by brannigon at 10:20 AM : Jan 24, 2009
You mean the same media that gave us 8 years of Whitewater, Ken Star and Monica Lewinski? Give me a break.
The Repubs got everything they wanted for the last 8 years and pushed the American economy off a cliff. George W. Bush''s picture will forever hang in the Hoover Hall of Shame.
If you can''t tell the difference you''re an idiot.
A little late to be asking these things,no?
It looks like the media is going to wake up and crawl out of the Obama tank they all have been swimming in for the past year......
Thanks a lot, we who have been trying to point this out and have been called racist, ignorant and Palinized idiots, salute you!
You made your bed, journalists, sleep well.....
Methinks your gall has overloaded the skill(s) you thought you might have had...
who knows, he''s never had to.
Just where is all the money coming from to sustain all of Obama''s promises?
Here are some figures you might want to keep and check them again in 2 and 4 years.
Obama should be held responsible if these figures go up to support all the promises he made. NO more selling of America to pay today''s debts.
More foreign debt?
Like so many politicians that borrow to pay today''s
debts and leave the problem of repayment to their successors, i.e., the U.S. taxpayer, Obama seems to be falling into that trap.
Obama has the opportunity to become a great president,
yet, I foresee the U.S. becoming more indebted to foreign nations to fulfill all the promises he has made.
Our debt to foreign countries (Fall, 2008):
Japan, $585.9 billion
China, $541 billion
England, $307.4 billion
OPEC Nations*, $179.8
Caribbean banking centers**, $147.7 billion.
*Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Venezuela.
**Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, British Virgin Islands.
Their "system" put us so deeply in the hole that we can''t even see the light (believe me, what you hear from the corporate media is just 1984 Newspeak). Daddy Obama can''t bail us out of this fiasco by himself. The rich must pay their fair share or maybe even more than that. Conservatives want another daddy Hitler to save them.
1/20/09
Lowery also brought a smile to the president with a recitation he''s used before, asking God to
... help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right."
Agreed. And there should be a balanced budget amendment (or NOW there should be a budget amendment that mandates surpluses of 10% until the debt is gone). If Congress wants a chicken in every pot, it''ll have to pay for it or make them smaller chickens. Its my hope that after the Obama stimulus package, he comes up with a combination of tax increases/smaller government that performs this function. They really need to pass a balanced budget amendment: I just feel that after Repubs double the nat''l debt on tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, its a little unfair to impose one now.
"As for your tax point, the top 5 percent of taxpayers pay over half of federal income taxes, and the Tax Foundation estimates that under Candidate Obama''s plan, almost half the country would pay no income taxes. How to jibe that with...shared sacrifice "
The top 5% easily own 50% of the country, the bottom 50% easily own none of the country. If ownership begets responsibility, then a progressive tax code is ''fair''. But, there needn''t be anything fair about the tax code. Sending jobs overseas isn''t ''fair'', but they''ve been doing it for decades.
"I really think you''re trying to pick a fight when there''s no real need for one." Sorry. And thanks for the responses. Gotta go.
Unrelated bills should get an up-or-down vote, not glued together, and our elected representatives should insist on it. This really should be common-sense.
As for your tax point, the top 5 percent of taxpayers pay over half of federal income taxes, and the Tax Foundation estimates that under Candidate Obama''s plan, almost half the country would pay no income taxes. How to jibe that with the "responsibility" and shared sacrifice that President Obama mentioned yesterday?
You''re correct that Republicans over the last decade have talked a good line about small government but done the opposite once elected. That''s why I wrote in my column in November that they deserved to lose. I really think you''re trying to pick a fight when there''s no real need for one.
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