Obama taking advantage of the crisis
From education to health care reform, President Obama has used the crisis to his advantage and tackled several issues right away. But Commentator Will Wilkinson says by taking advantage of the crisis, it's deepening from neglect.
Commentator Will Wilkinson (The Cato Institute)
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TEXT OF COMMENTARY
Steve Chiotakis: By the number of initiatives President Obama's trying to tackle, it seems like he's been in office a lot longer than 50 days. Education, greenhouse gases, health care reform -- the list goes on and on. Commentator Will Wilkinson says the wish list should take a back seat to more pressing economic issues.
Will Wilkinson: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has said. "Never waste a good crisis" is how Secretary of State Hillary Clinton put it before a European audience last week.
The author, Naomi Klein, has dubbed the exploitation of crisis for political ends "the shock doctrine." Klein says it's a special tactic of the right, but as Emanuel and Clinton make clear, it's just how politics works.
Not about to waste his opportunity, Obama's going big. A cap and trade carbon permit system, a fundamental overhaul of American health care, and huge new subsidies for "green" technology are just a few of the big-ticket items the president wants to nail down before his window of crisis closes.
Meanwhile, there's the crisis itself, which only continues to deepen. At its heart is the wreckage of the American banking system. So what is the administration's plan? Even the experts are struggling to say what it comes to. The transparency Obama promised has not been forthcoming.
And the new Treasury seems about as cozy with the banks it's bailing out as the old one. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has already been honored with a Saturday Night Live sketch portraying him as the embodiment of indecisive ineffectuality. The markets, unnerved by the government's lack of clarity, continue their free fall.
During the campaign, Obama repeatedly said, "We took our eye off the ball when we invaded Iraq." The real problem, he said, was al Qaeda. And he was right. But now I fear Obama has taken our eye off the ball. While focusing so much energy on not wasting the crisis, the crisis itself has deepened from neglect. So let's get our eye back on the ball before the crisis wastes us.
Chiotakis: Will Wilkinson is a fellow at the Cato Institute.
Comments
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From Falcon, CO, 03/12/2009
I agree with Will Wilkinson's comments in the main. I think it will be interesting to see how much of a positive or negative effect any government action will have on the economic situation. I also think that Will brings a different point of view to the program than many of the commentators and it is good to hear from all points of view.
From FLG, AZ, 03/11/2009
By Mary Farquhar wrote: "The collapse of unregulated free market greed is going to take more than 50 days to turn around."
You progs live in alternate reality.
"So you can take a market and beat it, tax it, regulate it, subsidize it, flood it with fake money, punish its performers and reward its losers, hobble its capital sector, strangle consumers, nationalize stuff at will, and erect every barrier to trade and cooperation, and STILL call it a [free] market. When the scheme fails, it's the free market that failed, so clearly we need the totalitarian state to sweep into action."
--Jeffrey Tucker
From Cambridge, MA, 03/11/2009
I didn't know who Mr Wilkinson was , but after reading that he is from the Cato institute the shallowness and duplicity of his comment made perfect sense, I completely agree with what other readers say and in particular that Mr. Wilkinson's comment is shared only by those who cannot walk and chew gum at the same time and I would add that these are the kind of comments that are pouring in from those (mostly republicans) who wish that the actions these administration are taking would fail for simple political reasons.
It's so incredibly clear to see how the health care crisis and the poor education level of this country are so interconnected with the current dire economic crisis that only the right wing "free market at all cost" supporters could deny it. After all what they wish for is zero government and no taxes (for the wealthy of course). And we can observe the result of such recipe unfolding now every single day.
All in all, a very poor choice for a comment/commentator on an usually very objective and informative program such as Market Place.
The only good thing? the mention of Naomi Klein and her Shock Doctrine book, a must read for all in these days....
From Dallas, TX, 03/11/2009
There you go again, Mr. Wilkinson, you complain and moan about choices others make in their effort to do something about our economy, however, you never say what you would do in their place. It is easy to complain but very difficult to be constructive and provide solutions. Until you can clearly define a plan, you really should be quiet. This constant barrage of disparaging remarks only makes you seem to be a petty, tiny little man with no ideas. Where were you when the bankers and all those wealthy people who cashed in before the downfall were selling their wares to the public? Did you descry the worthlessness of all the bad paper that was sold to the unsuspecting public as A-One securities? Did you cry out aloud when there was no regulation on the financial industry and the Wall Street thieves were doing their thing and robbing us blind? The answer is no. You have said that the unregulated markets were the solution to our problems, on that you have been proven Dead wrong. Solutions, Mr. Wilkinson, that will help us through this mess not complaints.
From Minneapolis, MN, 03/11/2009
Fortunately the Cato Institute is not a Republican Party think tank, nor should it have to defend the policies of the previous administration. Mr Wilkinson realizes that President Obama is using our economic dilemma to porkbarrel the liberal wishlist of the past several decades. My wishlist would would include Mr Wilkinson on Marketplace weekly.
From Siler City, NC, 03/11/2009
Will Wilkinson can't be serious. Chastising Obama, who has been in office less than 60 days, for failure to fix the financial melt-down, while ignoring his sacred Cato Institute mantra of "no government regulation", "free markets know best", blah, blah, blah. If the laissez-faire types like the Cato Institute hadn't spent the past 30 years warring against oversight and regulation, maybe we wouldn't be here.
From Minneapolis, MN, 03/11/2009
I couldn't disagree with Wil Wilkinson more. The collapse of unregulated free market greed is going to take more than 50 days to turn around. President Obama ran on and was elected on more than one issue. He has vision which includes addressing global warning. For some of us, Wil, we appreciate someone being able to combine ideas to bring our world to a better place.
From Silver Spring, MD, 03/11/2009
Exactly WHAT should his eye be on? More tax cuts? That's the only solution I've heard from the right. What could they have accomplished by now, in the human realm, that you aren't seeing? "Fix it now" is not a strategy. Gathering the information required to act appropriately takes time, is the right thing to do, and is certainly going on behind the scenes. Read David Brooks and Tom Freidman today.
From Dallas, TX, 03/11/2009
In his commentary entitled "Obama taking advantage of the crisis" (3/11/2009), Will Wilkinson uses his audio soapbox to disparage President Obama and even to make fun of several of the president's appointees. But it is easy to criticize. And it is difficult to govern. Until Mr. Wilkinson is able to present solutions — including quick turnaround solutions to the banking crisis about which he is so worried — he should stay silent.
From Dallas, TX, 03/11/2009
In his commentary entitled "Obama taking advantage of the crisis" (3/11/2009), Will Wilkinson uses his audio soapbox to disparage President Obama and even to make fun of several of the president's appointees. But it is easy to criticize. And it is difficult to govern. Until Mr. Wilkinson is able to present solutions — including quick turnaround solutions to the banking crisis about which he is so worried — he should stay silent.
From Plano, TX, 03/11/2009
Well, what could we expect from a member of the Cato Institute? These folks from the right see that President Obama is very capable, and they want to slow him down as much as they can. So, their latest ploy is to talk about how scary it is for our government to attempt to do more than one thing at a time. If they had their way, we would be back in the Bush administration where little or nothing got done. How did that work out?
03/11/2009
Mr. Wilkinson's comment is shared only by those who cannot walk and chew gum at the same time, as the old saying goes. It is true that President Bush 'took his eye of the ball' by invading Iraq. But that is not what President Obama is doing. Most Americans agree that Health Care, Education and all those different areas the president is tackling are tied to our economy, and it will be foolish to leave those behind and focus narrowly on only one thing. Most businesses, for example, are collapsing because of their difficulties dealing with high health care costs. How then can you justifiably say that this is not a time to tackle healthcare. If not now then when? I suppose Mr. Wilkinson will want to suspend all policy making because of this crisis ( remember Senator McCain during the campaign) but he has forgotten this is America and when we set our sights and focus on big things, in times of crisis or not, we get them done. Mr. Obama has not taken his eye off the ball, he is just the right and capable leader we need at this critical time to handle the many parts to this crisis.
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