The Big Economic Story, and Why Obama Isn’t Telling It

[Hawkowl]

"Quiz: What's responsible for the lousy economy most Americans continue to wallow in?

A. Big government, bureaucrats, and the cultural and intellectual elites who back them.

B. Big business, Wall Street, and the powerful and privileged who represent them....

But A is the story Republicans and right-wingers tell. It's a dangerous story because it deflects attention from the real problem and makes it harder for America to focus on the real solution - which is more widely shared prosperity. (I get into how we might do this in my new book, Aftershock.)

A is also the story President Obama is telling, indirectly, through his deficit commission, his freeze on federal pay, his freeze on discretionary spending, and his waivering on extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich."

By Clinton's former Labor Secretary Robert Reich http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/12/04-1

He neatly sums up the most infuriating economic policy incompetence of Obama.

[dkf]

1. Why isn't it both?

[ixion]

2. well, I would say both

The government and large corporations have worked in tandem to produce our new disaster-based economy.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

3. Big business owns and controls the government

Remove that ownership and control and it would be more apt to work for the common worker and middle class families instead of favoring big business all the time. . But they're not going to do it when they have 31 bankers from Wall St. in their offices demanding otherwise, and lobbyists swarming the place to twist arms, and not when Comcast controls the FCC, Monsanto controls the FDA, and Goldman Sachs controls the Fed., and Exxon-Mobil controls the FEC.

The main problem is still - big business. They even control the Supreme Court (remember Citizens United?)

[txlibdem]

4. you're right, but there's only one way to do that

And that is to remove the money from political campaigns. Public funding should be mandatory and we should limit campaigning to 60 days prior to a Presidential and congressional election and 30 days prior to state elections. Remove the money, the lobbyists have nothing to give except a warm handshake (as long as we crack down on these outside business deals that congressmen seem to just magically fall into: Charlie Rangel I'm talking about you).

[pscot]

5. Unfortunately the conversations we have around here

are like the mice trying to decide how to hang a bell around the cats neck.Unless we can get 300million mice squeaking in concert, it aint gonna happen. We're way beyond the point where a mere election is going to initiate real change. I'm too old for street-fighting, but I'm afraid that's what it will take. Our rulers won't let go of power without a fight.

[txlibdem]

6. I can't argue against what I know to be true

:scared: