Summers was the worst pick ever, along with that weasel Geithner and Rahm "Karl Rove" Emanuel. At least Romer was a progressive voice to counter the the Harvard/Chicago axis that represents Goldman Sachs, Wall St and the kind of unfettered, unregulated, "free"-market larceny that has been eroding this country's economic vitality for 30 years, while making the rich much richer still. Summers and company are the same ding-dongs and charlatans posing as economic gurus who have enabled the on-going plunder of America. Looks like Romer finally got fed up with the status-quo Obama admin that only pays occasional lip-service to doing what's needed after 30 years of systematic dismantling of the New Deal and consumer protections. From the beginning, it was obvious she was only picked as part of the economics team to provide window dressing to placate progressives, while it was always Summers and Geithner who ran the show.
I'm sickened by the Obama admin at this point. Time and time again they have shown an overly eager willingness to throw progressives under the bus - whether it's chucking key principles immediately while getting almost nothing in return, or quickly firing progressives when the Right whines too much. People like Van Jones and Romer should be held onto - while Rahm, Summers and Geithner should never have been appointed in the first place. Hell, Rahm is quite outspoken about taking progressives for granted - he doesn't even hide his disdain for them.
From foreign policy to domestic policy, this admin can best be described centrist or a hair center-right. Better than the previous admin, to be sure, but you can't really say they are up to the challenge of this time in history. Obviously I am more to the left, but I'm not dogmatic about it. For progressives, it's really not about getting our pet programs enacted or our pet ideologies catered to - it's about addressing the unique times we find ourselves in. After 30 years of uninterrupted free-market policies that have seen regulations gutted, our manufacturing base shipped over-seas, and general plunder run amok to the point where most of the economy is built on fraud... well, the times scream for a more vigorous progressive rollback of the damaging, failed policies of the corporate right. Incrementalism, splitting the difference, triangulation, and all the usual fluffy bipartisan crap (read: capitulation to corporate interests) isn't going to begin to address the fundamental problems this nation is saddled with - and everytime those are tried, it only blows up in the administration's face. The needed solutions are watered down to the point where they cannot address the problems effectively, and the wingnuts STILL demonize the president as a radical and vote in lock-step against him on every initiative. No matter how watered down the policies, and how many progressive principles and programs are dumped overboard, the wingers foam at the mouth, get concessions, and then end up voting No. And support for the adminsitration continues to ebb. So what is getting accomplished here?
Mr President, your lame centrist policies and constant sops to the Right are not what the country desperately needs, and they will never result in the Right hating you less. You end up with ineffective policies not up to the moment, and losing ground politically - not so much with progressives as with Independents. Contrary to the CW, Indy's are not centrists and moderates - they are pragmatic and results-oriented, and respect a president who shows strong commitment to a set of values, be they right or left. Ronald Reagan was on the worng side of the majority of Americans on almost every issue - and yet he won Indies and more than a few democrats because he stuck to his principles and defended them vigorously. Will you ever get that, Mr President? Tell your political team and Rahm Emanuel to stfu, and do what you know is right for the country at this moment in history. And for God's sake, don't ever act on anything because you're afraid the right will say bad things about you.
Dump the corporate Wall St toads in your admin, and get some progressives back on your economics team. Show Summers, Timmy, and Rahm the door, and recruit a new team. Bring back Romer, bring back Van Jones, and appoint some people committed to providing some counter-balancing antidote to this 30 year long experiment in free-market theivery. And tell Fox News to kiss your radical black ass.
Martin S Friedlander, Esq.
Comments