dagblog - Comments for "Obama vs. The Magicians"

Thanks, Quinn.I don't think

Doctor Cleveland — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 16:24:59 +0000

In reply to Sorry I missed this the 1st

Thanks, Quinn.

I don't think I'll repost it as much as link to it when similar issues come up.

Sorry I missed this the 1st

quinn esq — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:13:43 +0000

In reply to Obama vs. The Magicians

Sorry I missed this the 1st time, Doc. It's top-notch. Might want to repost it for the new crowd?

Yes, the undersized stimulus

Doctor Cleveland — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:37:07 +0000

In reply to The halfway stimulus just

Yes, the undersized stimulus was a big mistake. There's no way to compromise with this opposition, so the only thing to do is the right thing to do.

And really, no one can afford for the Democrats to botch this, but they have.

The halfway stimulus just

DF — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:40:52 +0000

In reply to Obama vs. The Magicians

The halfway stimulus just wasn't good enough. Now the Dems are stuck trying to talk about how bad the counter-factual would have been and the economy is just stuck. When you have a roughly $1.2T hole in the economy, an $800B stopper just doesn't do the trick. The Dems could have pushed harder for the right stimulus. The final vote holds evidence that they could have done it with a thinner margin.

Of course, the counter-argument is that they were just never going to get it as big as it needed to be. Perhaps that's true. However, what does that say about the ability of the federal government to manage economic crises when a minority party can essentially just kill any such measure? What does it mean for the future of governance when nothing less than a congressional super-majority in a country that is politically split 50/50 would provide the climate necessary for a completely mainstream and highly recommended economic strategy? It seems to mean that we're basically going to get one brand of economic policy no matter who is in office.

That's not going to bode well for the Dems in November, but it's worse for the country and the world.

Excellent as always, doctor.

acanuck — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:24:19 +0000

In reply to Obama vs. The Magicians

Excellent as always, doctor. Depressing as hell, but excellent.