What the F*** Has Obama Done So Far?

My new favorite website

The Criticism of Obama

Maureen Dowd has a moronic op-ed out today. Drew Westen's is even dumber. I would link to them but the quota of ignorance in society has been reached. Check back tomorrow.

Regardless, Andrew Sprung and Jonathan Chait have dismembered Westen's stupidity well enough.

The important point in all of this is that liberals need to stop fantasizing about how they think the political system ought to work but never, never, ever has. Hey Krugman, you think the stimulus bill wasn't big enough and relied too much on tax cuts? Me too. When we play fantasy politics, maybe we can invent a political system run by liberal economists. In the real world, Obama got what he could get. Hey Moulistas, you think Obama sold us out on the public option? Show me the 60 votes you rounded up in the Senate in support of it.

Barack Obama is President in the real world where Republicans control the floor of the House of Representatives and have a veto over legislation on the floor of the U.S. Senate. For all his rhetorical gifts, Obama cannot move these unmovable objects. Neither could Reagan. Neither did FDR. Those are myths and fantasies.

What S&P Did Wrong

S&P downgraded US debt and argued it did so because the debt ceiling was not raised in a timely manner and because the US Congress and the administration are not working together well to resolve the long-term debt issues.

Now the blame game begins. Republicans will blame Obama and Obama will blame Republicans. That's how most Americans will see it anyway. Ezra Klein argues S&P was right to downgrade US debt, even arguing it was overdue. As a purely economic matter, S&P probably is right. But what Klein fails to point out and what the media will ignore (because of their "norm of objectivity" which is not actually objective) is this: S&P is to blame for the downgrade ... because they did not blame congressional Republicans. Had S&P and the larger Wall Street community stepped in and asked Republicans to be more reasonable and to stop playing around with the nation's debt ceiling, none of this would have happened. Because S&P tried to stay out of politics even when they knew who was right and who was wrong in this dispute, the Republicans pushed ahead with this outrageous and destructive political strategy. And worse, they now feel empowered to do it all over again and again and again. Even in the downgrade, S&P could have said that Republicans need to compromise on taxes. Instead, S&P said Republican intrangisence on taxes is equivalent to Democratic intrangisence on entitlements. That's just not true. It is untrue. It is wrong. S&P is lying ... in order to appear objective.

In essence, S&P is causing the downgrade

GOP Opposition to Obama's Birthday

No agreement had been reached so Obama was forced to act unilaterally.