Dana Milbank on Christina Romer

September 2nd, 2010

Wow.

WSJ’s Political Diary offers up this Quote of the Day from Dana Milbank at the Washington Post:

Christina Romer, chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, was giving what was billed as her ‘valedictory’ before she returns to teach at Berkeley, and she used the swan song to establish four points, each more unnerving than the last: She had no idea how bad the economic collapse would be. She still doesn’t understand exactly why it was so bad. The response to the collapse was inadequate. And she doesn’t have much of an idea about how to fix things. What she did have was a binder full of scary descriptions and warnings, offered with a perma-smile and singsong delivery.

(Emphasis added.)

Again: wow.

A gajillion dollars in stimulus was inadequate but the Obama Administration did it anyway despite not knowing how to fix things.

Obama and his economic advisors are loud, disruptive and clueless, but they insist that they be allowed to be louder, more disruptive and more deeply clueless — all with taxpayer money.

Someone should suggest that they hush, get out of the way and let others get on with the needed work.

Remember in November.

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WSJ Headlines From One Year Ago Today

September 2nd, 2010

On the front page of the Wall Street Journal deadtree edition for Wednesday, September 2, 2009:

Global Economy Gains Steam
Jobs Still a Worry, but Factory Output Rises in U.S., China, France; Markets Falter

Warlord’s Defection Shows Afghan Risk

Shamed Governor Battles to Save Job

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A Quiet August Leads Into November’s Election

September 2nd, 2010

In contrast to last year’s noisy and dramatic confrontations at district meetings, this year has not yielded a bumper crop of online videos showing angry voters demanding answers from their Congressional representatives.

Yet according to well-regarded independent political analyst Larry Sabato the outgoing political tide is sucking the sand from beneath the feet of incumbent Democrats (and Republicans who went along to get along):

2010 was always going to be a Republican year, in the midterm tradition. It has simply been a question of degree. Several scenarios were possible, depending in large measure on whether, or how quickly, the deeply troubled American economy recovered from the Great Recession. Had Democratic hopes on economic revitalization materialized, it is easy to see how the party could have used its superior financial resources, combined with the tendency of Republicans in some districts and states to nominate ideological fringe candidates, to keep losses to the low 30s in the House and a handful in the Senate.

But conditions have deteriorated badly for Democrats over the summer. The economy appears rotten, with little chance of a substantial comeback by November 2nd. Unemployment is very high, income growth sluggish, and public confidence quite low. The Democrats’ self-proclaimed “Recovery Summer” has become a term of derision, and to most voters—fair or not—it seems that President Obama has over-promised and under-delivered.

Why no voter-on-representative verbal violence?

Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA40) answers questions after an August townhall meeting; photo: cehwiedel

The photo above shows Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA40) last month surrounded by voters from his district here in Southern California. He stuck around for a while after the official end of a townhall meeting in Cypress to answer more questions before heading to a second townhall meeting in Fullerton.

The questions asked, for the most part, revealed voters were well-informed and concerned about not just the economy and jobs but also the country’s overall direction.

(One fellow seemed to think that the government has been holding his payroll contributions to Social Security for decades. He was just about ready to redeem them. I do not envy the SSA worker who may need to explain that Social Security works as transfer payments — the money collected from current workers is immediately mailed to current pensioners. Al Gore’s lock box was and remains mythical.)

So here is how I explain the noticeably lower level of confrontation last month.

Many Democrats avoided townhall meetings entirely.

After August 2009, voters went home and self-organized. They showed up at the Washington march last year, went home and self-organized*. They watched the health care reform debate, turned off the television and self-organized.

They read and talked and pondered.

Really.

The recent Glenn Beck rally went some ways to confirm a new self-confidence in regular folks. They aren’t angry and surprised anymore.

They know what’s what. They know who’s been doing what to them. They have a plan. They have their eyes on the prize.

They’ve already collected the heads of three incumbent senators. More heads will roll (figuratively speaking, it should not need to be said).

Them’s my peeps.

* The Flint Hills Tea Party (FHTP) is a sterling example of self-organization. FHTP has its own candidate, Lee Modesitt for KS-66. The organization did not exist before last year’s March on Washington. It is entirely grassroots, a vigorous “green shoot” of democracy.

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Hurricane Earl Over Outer Banks Tonight

September 2nd, 2010

Here’s the track forecast from the National Weather Service:

Hurricane Earl 5-day track forecast; graphic: National Hurricane Service

And here is the scary visible-light satellite photo from NOAA:

Hurricane Earl, visible light satellite photo; source: NOAA

Outlines of the states along the East Coast are superimposed by NOAA. Note that the outermost cloud bands were already over South and North Carolina early this morning.

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WSJ Headlines From One Year Ago Today

September 1st, 2010

On the front page of the Wall Street Journal deadtree edition for Tuesday, September 1, 2009:

Disney Nabs Marvel Heroes
Company Bulks Up With $4 Billion Deal but Must Contend With Tangle of Licenses

Syria Cracks Open Its Frail Economy

General Seeks Shift In Afghan Strategy

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