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Stop the Democratic Suicide
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If the Obama administration doesn’t start to deal with the populist wave headed for Washington, Republicans will tap a reservoir of resentment that could destroy his presidency.
First they came for the bankers. Then they came for the CEOs. Then they came for the liberals. That might be the epitaph of the Democratic Party, if Democrats cannot learn to surf the tsunami of populism created by the economic earthquake.
Already across the world you can hear the rumble. Nations are scrambling to bail out their industries and protect them against foreign competition. The Indian government is slapping restrictions on Chinese imports. In Britain, workers have struck, demanding “British jobs for British workers.” In the US, popular support for “Buy American” provisions is as high as disapproval of the same provisions in the elite press.
As more Americans lose their jobs and their homes, as more businesses crater and banks topple, popular anger is rising like a wall of water over a suddenly quiet beachfront resort. You’d think that the Democrats in Washington would be aware of the danger.
As more Americans lose their jobs and their homes, as more businesses crater and banks topple, popular anger is rising like a wall of water over a suddenly quiet beachfront resort. You’d think that the Democrats in Washington would be aware of the danger. After all, the massive expansion of Great Society spending in the 1960s, followed by the stagflation of the 1970s, allowed the marginal conservative movement to tap populist anger and dominate American politics for a generation. Substitute stimulus for Great Society and years of possible “stag-deflation” for stagflation, and you have a scenario in which the Obama’s overwhelming majority could collapse as quickly as LBJ’s.
To date, however, the Obama administration has seemed more concerned with reassuring Wall Street that it will be protected against Main Street hotheads than in disciplining Wall Street on behalf of Main Street Americans who have lost jobs, homes, and savings. First Obama appointed an economic team dominated by Robert Rubin proteges, like Timothy Geithner, who were considered safe by the Street. Then Geithner put forth a plan which many economists warn might force the public to pay too much for toxic assets held by the banks.
Geithner himself is a lightning rod for populist wrath. Ordinary Americans who fail to pay their taxes can expect strict punishment. When Geithner forgot to pay sizeable sums, he was quickly forgiven and made Treasury secretary. Most Americans cannot afford maids, legal or illegal. Geithner’s violation of US employment laws, in paying an illegal-immigrant maid, was also judged to be a minor indiscretion. After all, he is simply the latest in a series of political appointees with illegal-immigrant maid problems. Let’s be reasonable. Important people can’t be expected to do their own housework, and ten minutes otherwise spent saving the world might be wasted on ascertaining whether their servants are violating US immigration laws or not. As the late Leona Helmsley might have said, immigration laws are for the little people.
How Rich People Smoke Pot
Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
Obama's Midwest Blunder
Michael Lind is the editor of New American Contract at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., and the author of The American Way of Strategy. He has been a staff writer or senior editor at the New Yorker, Harper’s magazine, the New Republic, and the National Interest.
What He Should Have Said
Michael Lind is the editor of New American Contract at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., and the author of The American Way of Strategy. He has been a staff writer or senior editor at the New Yorker, Harper’s magazine, the New Republic, and the National Interest.
Obama Owns the Room
Michael Lind is the editor of New American Contract at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., and the author of The American Way of Strategy. He has been a staff writer or senior editor at the New Yorker, Harper’s magazine, the New Republic, and the National Interest.
kilroy
"If the Obama administration doesn't start to deal with the populist wave headed for Washington, Republicans will tap a reservoir of resentment that could destroy his presidency."
That's the GOP game plan, all right, but as SNL made the point on Saturday night - the guy's only been President for 3 weeks. The American people aren't that dumb.
MaliciousDisorder
It's said the tipping point is when taxes go above 50%. We're there.
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n--Y--JoshyDDBSMITH
This article desperately needs a strict editor with a sharp pencil.
There may be some valid points in there, somewhere, but who has time to wade through the muck to find them?
hockeydog
DB- Like you, I quit reading the thing upon entering one of the dense, overly long paragraphs. But he could have summed up the whole populist enchilada by not referring to Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase as "wall street".
The populist tsunami is being powered by Americans seeing our noses pushed into the sand, while watching Billions and Billions, and Billions of dollars disappear into the pockets of the good old boys running the show: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and their big investment bank brethern!
We, who live in the heartland, who DID vote for Obama have come to realize that we bought a pig in a poke. He was already in the banker's pocket before his rocket left its launching pad.
Sahas24
kilroy:
You're kidding, right? Quoting SNL about all things GOP? Pathetic. You might be correct, however, in that "American people aren't that dumb." It's Liberals that are the idiots. Don't you get it? You may hate Republicans because that's what you've been brainwashed to do, but they are no worse than the Democrats. All of these political hacks are cut from the same corrupt cloth. Obama is a puppet, as was Bush, Clinton, etc., etc. The only way things are going to really "change" is if we have another viable political party. Look to Campaign for Liberty to ensure that happens by 2016--if not 2012. I just hope the U.S. hasn't been destroyed by the Democrats and/or the Republicans by then.
DeaconDrJones
blah blah blah liberals blah blah blah shut up already.
Maezeppa
Nonsense. We're going to give this guy years. As long as it takes.
sophia5
Obama doesn't have " years. " More like one term and done.
Small businesses will collapse under the weight of Cap and Trade
and those small businesses will lay millions more off.
When Obama suffocates innovation with his narcissistic
government power grab, and obscene tax hikes, 57% in New York;
Americans will wake up,
no longer blinded by the agent of change and his charisma.
He wasn't kidding when he said he would change America.
As China and India grow and become more like us,
under Obama we are regressing into some government controlled
socialized community with the head " organizer "
destroying any last remnants of free enterprise by swallowing
private industry.
Interesting halo around Obama's head in the photo.
Fits that out of control ego of his.
How dare anyone question the man.
Pretty soon that aura of invincibility is going to wear off.
Pretty soon all the liberals on the Upper West side will
have to leave the city because they won't be able to afford
to live there, thanks to Obama's out of control budget,
four times more than incompetent George W.
But Obama is so cool. Yah, well cool ain't gonna pay your bills.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
MaliciousDisorder
RIP
MaliciousDisorder
RIP
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
MaliciousDisorder
RIP
Sahas24
EdinNJ:
Seriously? This coming from someone who goes out of his way to leave a comment calling the people on this blog--and Michael Lind--irrelevant, moronic, arrogant, pretentious and a douchebag? Talk about deflection.
Banjo1
Lind provides an astute analysis from the non-crazy left -- see examples of crazy-left thinking in the comments above -- that I fervently hope the Obama administration ignores.
joymars
The pic with the blurred seal symmetrically placed around his head and shoulders --- LIKE A HALO! -- is the most off-putting part of this off-putting blog.
Don't go there folks. It will end badly.
sspsllc
Sorry, you're sadly mistaken. That "populist wave" is what Obama rode to the Whitehouse on. He went in "hanging ten" on that wave; the Big Kahuna baby. AND he's from Hawaii! ha! The populists are not going anywhere until they get satisfaction. The Republicans need to come up with a new song to sing before the little squeaks we're still hearing turn into a faded distant memory. You're fooling with a new generation and you've still got an old message. Obama knew that. That's why he won. Get up to speed with the rest of the nation or risk your own party's demise.
flyoverland
I think you are smoking too much Maui Wowie if you believe that. Obama swept in when people voted against something, not for him. Bush wasn't running, but they voted against him anyway. Now, people are seeing this guy for what he is. The article is correct. Here in flyoverland we've seen auto plants close. Obama threatens to raise our electric bills (only in the Midwest where we use coal), we see industry picking up and saying they can't afford to be here anymore and moving overseas. All for global warming. By the way, the high today here will be 72. We are no longer buying it. Now, Obama wants to take away our parents healthcare with rationing. He will lose so huge next time you are not going to believe it. His welcome out here is worn out.
swanie
Lind is just another WASHINGTON DC INSIDER telling those of us OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY what America is "really thinking".
There are two shards of truth in what he writes, and the rest of the "article" is INSIDE THE BELTWAY BS ! !
PS: To me reading this article it is like watching CNBC and listening to all the "analysts" tell us HOW BAD THINGS ARE, and they do it all from a Wall Street perspective. Wall Street GREED started all this, was supported by politicians and administrations, mortgage bankers, and everyone else who was in it for the GREED of money.
F*** all of you!! YOU are the problem with this country, and it is YOU that Barack is fighting.
Enough.
.
sspsllc
BTW, the other nations aren't running to protect themselves from America, they're positioning themselves to get a piece of the pie when our President is done cleaning up this Republican mess Bush made.
You've had your chance to prove that the "answers" are in tax cuts. They're not. It didn't work. It appears the answers may be in paying more taxes so we can fix this mess. That tax-cut-trickle-down thing never worked with any Republican in office except with people who were accustomed to slavery and menial labor and pay and didn't have a problem with it.
This is not that generation. They're gone. For good.
Nowadays, everybody wants their own thing happening and they want to work from home and make their own money, get affordable benefits, and be at autonomous peace; Pres. Obama seems to be on top of it. If corporate America had followed through on that and stopped being controlling and greedy, none of this would have happened.
The only folks that benefited from those Republican tax cuts were the ones making, in McCain's words, more than $5m a year. That represents less than 10% of this nation and the other 90% is tired of getting push aside waiting for Republicans to unzip their pants and "trickle" on us. Even Donald Trump has pitched out. He's a wobbling Weeble though - he might get knocked down, but he doesn't stay down.
sspsllc
BTW, the other nations aren't running to protect themselves from America, they're positioning themselves to get a piece of the pie when our President is done cleaning up this Republican mess Bush made.
You've had your chance to prove that the "answers" are in tax cuts. They're not. It didn't work. It appears the answers may be in paying more taxes so we can fix this mess. That tax-cut-trickle-down thing never worked with any Republican in office except with people who were accustomed to slavery and menial labor and pay and didn't have a problem with it.
This is not that generation. They're gone. For good.
Nowadays, everybody wants their own thing happening and they want to work from home and make their own money, get affordable benefits, and be at autonomous peace; Pres. Obama seems to be on top of it. If corporate America had followed through on that and stopped being controlling and greedy, none of this would have happened.
The only folks that benefited from those Republican tax cuts were the ones making, in McCain's words, more than $5m a year. That represents less than 10% of this nation and the other 90% is tired of getting push aside waiting for Republicans to unzip their pants and "trickle" on us. Even Donald Trump has pitched out. He's a wobbling Weeble though - he might get knocked down, but he doesn't stay down.
MaliciousDisorder
How's that 401k doing since Obama? Maybe as a feelgood gesture you should toss out everything you bought during the past 8 years. Cleanse your soul..
sspsllc
Ooops, sorry for the dups at 9:40 and 9:47. I thought it had not gone through.
zzzzz5
NO WE JUST THOUGHT,YOU THOUGHT, WE WERE ALL STUPID!!
If you duplicate it a 3rd time...it is still vacuous ramblings. So give it up. before
you look really stupid!
hockeydog
Oh, I think the trickle down image is a beaut!
LeighBeast
Another pathetic attempt to find a way for the Republicans to "rise again!" Come on. Can't they just - for once - care about the country instead of attaining power. Today, we need problem solvers not crybabies. Just do the right thing and FIX IT!
Thank you.
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