I think that the phrase "Trojan horse" conjures up a rather different image -- one that is far more dire. Troy fell when the horse entered the city.
One of the best analyses available is, surprisingly enough, Martin Wolf's piece in the Financial Times. (I say "surprisingly" because Wolf is a big globalization apologist.) He argues that there are two ways of looking at this crisis:
1. Financial institutions are beset by "assets" that have been temporarily and irrationally undervalued.
2. Financial institutions are insolvent and beyond salvage. The choo-choo fell into the gorge and no-one can lift it back onto the tracks.
Wolf thinks that the latter scenario is correct, and he fears that Obama has bet the nation's future on scenario #1.
Why then is the administration making what appears to be a blunder? It may be that it is hoping for the best. But it also seems it has set itself the wrong question. It has not asked what needs to be done to be sure of a solution. It has asked itself, instead, what is the best it can do given three arbitrary, self-imposed constraints: no nationalisation; no losses for bondholders; and no more money from Congress. Yet why does a new administration, confronting a huge crisis, not try to change the terms of debate?There will be no recovery until all three of those constraints have been shredded -- especially the first. Americans must overcome their cultural phobia against nationalization.
Right now, each day, each hour, right-wing propagandists keep repeating one message the way Steve Reich repeats a musical phrase: Obama and the Dems are socialists. The ignorant American public will swallow that nonsense, even though the problem requires the opposite diagnosis.
Obama and Giethner insist on leaving the banking industry in the hands of the suicidal capitalists who destroyed it. In other words, Obama hopes somehow to hoist the choo-choo back onto the rails and to keep the same engineer on the job.
The correct name for such a policy is not socialism but corporatism.
Obama, as always, thinks he can charm his way out of this one. He thought he could charm the Republicans into supporting his plan, but they proved to be charm-proof. They see failure a-comin', and they see no advantage in giving that failure a bipartisan label. If Obama's plan had any chance of working, they'd have signed up.
By the way: Do you recall those "house parties" that Team Obama wanted the bots to hold in order to drum up support for his economic rescue plan? Did anyone hold any parties? If so, did anyone show up?
2 comments:
Obama must believe that his supporters can be on campaign mode 24/7, like he is. Obama is the " Bolt " of politics. Soon Obama will have to wake up and recognize he doesn't have the talent or experience for his dream job.
The ignorant American public will swallow that nonsense, even though the problem requires the opposite diagnosis.
A very good reason why Americans remain ignorant is because Democrats have done nothing to explain the situation. They are either grossly incompetent or bought out by the same interests as the Republicans.
I knew the Obama people were desperate when I received two emails about holding one of those house parties. I never donated a cent to the Obama campaign and even told Obama campaign callers that he didn't represent me. This prompted one Obot to start screaming at me while still trying to get me to make a donation. I just hung up. Anyway, I sent my email response to them about the house parties and told them that I didn't support the stimulus bill because too much of it (about 33% at that point) was devoted to tax cuts.
old dem
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