So, here I am on this cool and windy first of October. It’s been exactly two months since my last posting, and what an eventful two months. The academic job search is winding up. I’ve got seven positions picked out, I’m getting my C.V. in order and I’m drafting my first cover letters. My dissertation’s data collection continues. I say again, the scarcity of subjects on the one hand, and the economics of paying them (namely out of my own pocket) on the other, continue to plague me. But all in all it’s been a good start to this, my fourth and final year in Illinois. “One day at a time” is my mantra. For the moment, I’m collecting subject data, teaching, preparing job applications, getting ready to do a couple of invited presentations and looking forward to Nicole coming up for Thanksgiving or thereabouts. Today, things are alright all in all. And now on to the topic of the moment.
I try to talk about politics only in moderation, and there are several good reasons for this. First, I’m not a political theorist, so my opinions on this subject are on the level of the laity. That wouldn’t stop me from commenting, except that it’s also not a subject that passionately drives me. That’s not to say that I don’t have a developed political philosophy or set of beliefs at the very least, but it’s one of only many important and interesting issues. Still, the time has come to take it up again.
One thing that has disturbed me of late is the almost willful ignorance of people on the right and the left concerning government issues and government power. Now, I have good and dear friends on both right and left, and that’s ok with me. What’s interesting is how both sides view the president. The president, being the visible head of the country, comes in for all the praise, and more often all the flack, that the citizenry has to shell out. This is generally unfair. People often forget what they learned in civics class about the system of checks and balances, how the legislative branch and the executive branch of government balance each other or, more often, antagonize one another. In short, if Congress develops a truly amazing bill which the president supports and signs into law, then the president should rightly be praised for his support and his signature, and Congress would, in its turn, deserve the praise for developing such a fine law. When they’re at odds, the same applies. It wasn’t Congress who didn’t want to see draw downs in troops overseas over the last three years of the Bush administration. It was Bush himself who vetoed a number of spending measures that included troop reductions. See how it works? Now, let’s get to a few things of today.
One thing that I hear people slamming Obama over these days is the numerous near-shutdowns of the federal government. The closest call probably came in early August, when a number of people came within a hair’s breadth of not receiving their social security payments due to a government shutdown. Now, the causes of the government’s spending crunches are numerous, increasingly complex, and wide open to debate. I’m not interested in the causes. I’m interested in the back-and-forth between Obama and congressional leaders. It seems to me that the problem with Congress is that there is just enough of an imbalance between parties so that either party can block, stall and obfuscate until Hel freezes over when the other party sponsors a bill that the first party doesn’t like. It’s like a board meeting where you’re one or two votes shy of a majority, and the opposition digs in its heels just because it doesn’t want to see your item pass. When you strip away the political language, the high government positions, and the scope of the bills and measures we’re talking about, the general tendency of the behavior on both sides is petty,, counterproductive, and self-serving. Big surprise? So, why blame the president? In this model of behavior, the president is less the commander and chief and more the mediator. He has no dictatorial power here. He cannot order John Bainer, Harry Reed or any of the rest to do this or that. It is Congress who must pass or fail to pass a spending bill. In that situation, Obama is nearly as helpless as you or me. This is not me praising Obama. This, ladies and gentlemen, is me stating facts about the dynamics of the powers involved. It’s not Obama who pisses me off when the government is about to shut down. Rather, it’s the Congress at large and the wrangling congressional leaders in particular.
Let’s move on to the ongoing recession and the unemployed. Here again, Americans love spouting off at the mouth about what caused it all or who’s to blame for today’s unemployment rates. People, Democrats and Republicans, moderates and independents, do me a favor and listen for a moment. The causes of the recession are numerous. People on both left and write have written book after book trying to figure out what caused it. Those books go all the way back to 2007 and are still rolling off the presses. Some are thoughtful and thorough examinations of the causes of the recession, while many others are little more than book-length rants against one side or another. One thing that is clear is that the recession’s causes are not going to be summed up in a few words over a cup of coffee. The same holds true of the solutions.
Solving our economic woes remains a nasty and protracted business. Whatever solutions, plural, we ultimately find to be successful, they will be solutions that encompass everyone. It may be that the upper 1% should pay more taxes. Warren Buffett seems to think so in any case. It may be that unemployment laws are rewritten. It may be that tax credits, deferments and so on are extended. I don’t know. And I have no idea what the best thing to do would be. Once again, I’m not writing this blog to provide solutions. That is beyond both my knowledge and my interest. However, let me point out a couple things about how we talk of such things.
I know a lot of people who are out of work. I may soon be one of them. That being said, why are the unemployed blaming Obama? Well, he’s visible. But is it right to do so? Let’s not forget that Obama inherited the current economic crisis. The market collapses happened under Bush’s administration; though, blaming him for the collapse of the markets is just as questionable as blaming Obama for their continuing struggles. Now, what’s important to me is not whether Obama has a magic solution. Unlike most Americans, I don’t expect him to, because I know my history. The Great Depression was not solved overnight. It was not ended with one or two sweeping initiatives. Roosevelt’s New Deal didn’t succeed in every one of its programs. In fact, a good chunk of them were dry wells, and if anyone will please study your history, you will see that only the massive industrial boom brought on by America’s involvement in the second world war finally closed the doors on the Great Depression. No, I don’t think we should start a world war, folks. But my point should be obvious. Obama is correct when he observes that the causes of this current recession did not arise overnight. Nor, too, will the solutions take effect immediately.
Because I have some perspective on the economic crisis, I am watching Obama for different reasons. I am not waiting for his all-inclusive solutions. Rather, I am watching his initiatives. His efforts are what concern me. Right now, the American Jobs Act is up for debate, and once again, most people have no idea what they’re talking about when they begin slamming it. The Whitehouse has published a fact sheet on the proposed law, breaking down the effects of its proposed measures. I’ve read it, and I won’t summarize it here, because I want you to read it too and form your own opinions about it. Just Google the phrase ‘American Jobs Act.’ It’s the first entry that comes up.
Now what I do want to invite you to do is this. Compare the American Jobs Act and the rest of Obama’s proposals with the New Deal. Look up the New Deal, the measures and programs that Roosevelt initiated, the ones that failed and the ones that worked. Finally, if you have been criticizing Obama lately, ask yourself after getting informed whether your criticisms are fare and constructive, or whether you’re doing what a lot of people I’ve run into are doing, and making yourself look foolish. And yes, democrats have been as foolish about Obama as republicans. And you cannot infer from this blog what I think of these issues. My point has not been to advocate a plan or a bill or to support Obama. My goals have been two: to remind us all of some of the basic realities of how the government works, and to invite all of us to consider our opinions and what we say about the president, especially before we say it. I don’t care what conclusions you come to, for or against the president’s initiatives. I care about whether or not your opinions are as well-informed as they should be and whether you actually do understand, to the extent that we can without being economists, the nature of the mess we’re in. If I’ve accomplished even one of those goals of mine, I’m happy. If I have actually managed both, I’m quite satisfied with this blog.
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