THE PLANK SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
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Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson argues, in today's Washington Post, that President Obama took advantage of the economic crisis to enact health care reform:
America has an ongoing crisis -- an economic crisis of rising unemployment and negative economic growth. Obama clearly believed the economic emergency would give him the opportunity to do anything on the progressive agenda that he wished. Actually, it gave him the burden to do one thing well: respond to the economic emergency. Insofar as health reform is seen as complicating this task -- particularly by the addition of massive, inflationary debt -- the narrative of crisis will continue to work against Obama instead of for him.
Right -- it's unfair for Obama to take advantage of an economic crisis to try to ameliorate a major cause of wage stagantion, job lock and economic anxiety. A president's actions, Gerson believes, should respond to the crisis at hand in the most narrowly-tailored way possible. Like, for instance, responding to the 9/11 attacks by pushing through more tax cuts for the rich.
5 comments
Let me get this last sentence correctly understood. President Bush has been accused of illegally tapping phone lines, torturing prisoners, starting two wars, alienating countries and continents over sanctions for terrorist countries, and uniting about 100 different law enforcement agencies into the Homeland Security Administration. And Jon Chiat claims he responded to 9/11 with only tax cuts for the rich. Maybe someone should let Eric Holder know and he can shut down the 30 different investigations. Keep this up and you could get a reputation.
- CRS9TNR
September 9, 2009 at 5:52pm
CRS- I don't see the word "only" anywhere in Chait's last sentence.
- ratnerstar
September 9, 2009 at 7:29pm
Just when I thought the GOP was trying to convince people that it agrees there is a health care crisis. Perhaps Gerson is responsible for Bush's claim that everyone has access to health care because they can simply go to the ER? No doubt he'd take credit, regardless.
- csmiller
September 9, 2009 at 7:56pm
good call ratty, in fact, after his massive surplus busting tax cuts in 2001 before 9/11, he took his congressional victories in 2002, which were a result of rallying around the President, and pushed through that massive tax cut while in the midst of a war and with intent to start another one. And we all know what an absolute disaster it has been.
- blackton
September 9, 2009 at 8:02pm
(In a little defense for CRS) CRS does put up a nice list otherwise of Bush using 9/11 to his advantage. Otherwise, I agree with what's been said by everyone above. Adding that before I finished Jon's post, I was already thinking Ha! Gerson; lies.
- jet
September 9, 2009 at 8:15pm