Paul Krugman has a lot to say about Obamas policies and lauds his accomplishments inspite of Republican Obstructionism: Krugmans case in a nutshell: Though Obamas hasnt been able to elevate the national discourse through empathy and understanding, and his surveillance-state policies are troubling, hes done an excellent job domestically digging out from the situation he inherited and pointing the country in the right direction for the future. His health reform is imperfect but still a huge step forward – and its working better than anyone expected. Financial reform fell far short of what should have happened, but its much more effective than youd think. Economic management has been half-crippled by Republican obstruction, but has nonetheless been much better than in other advanced countries. And environmental policy is starting to look like it could be a major legacy. To be frank, Krugmans piece feels a little perfunctory, and its light on details; none of it will surprise you if you follow writers like Jonathan Chait and Michael Grunwald who have been making the case for years that Obama has been an effective president, policy-wise, given the constraints of our political system and electorate. Krugman also, somewhat surprisingly given the source, doesnt mention President Obamas lack of interest in the lobbying/corporate-money-in-politics issues that Candidate Obama talked about often. And then there is the not super-great state of American race relations. Of course, you could file both lobbying and race under things Obama couldnt have done anything about even if hed tried, and in any case, Krugmans overall project of taking a moment to look at the long view isnt the worst idea at a time when the day-to-day view is so depressing. Read the whole piece here. *Its called In Defense of Obama.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 23:25:06 +0000
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