Simpsons Decision Making Time:
Today at 11:10 AM ET, I’ll be appearing on CNBC’s The Call discussing the negative impact on the markets due to the political uncertainty in the United States.
Last night, the White House leaked out a portion of their State of the Union platform and it was a good start. Actually at this point with spending, the markets want any start, hope, action on reigning in government spending that doesn’t contribute to job growth. Why is Obama shifting/morphing in this direction?
The NYT writes, “With his poll numbers down and Democrats fearing disaster in this year’s midterm elections, Mr. Obama is at a particularly rocky point in his presidency and has been shifting his rhetoric lately to adopt a more populist tone. He heads into his first formal State of the Union speech in a radically reshaped political climate from even one week ago.” Call it the Brown effect, call it the race to the middle, call it Clintonism, or whatever you want. This is what occurs when a new president doesn’t get what he wants on his agenda.
Although I’m not a huge fan of Thomas Friedman (I liked his first book, not the rest), he did have some interesting advice for the president. “Well, here’s my free advice to Obama, post-Massachusetts. If you think that the right response is to unleash a populist backlash against bankers, you’re wrong. Please, please re-regulate the banks in a smart way. But remember: in the long run, Americans don’t rally to angry politicians. They do not bring out the best in us. We rally to inspirational, hopeful ones. They bring out the best in us. And right now we need to be at our best.”
Granted, it’s a bit trite on the inspirational message, but I think Friedman has a point. It’s about doing what is best for the country in trying to solve problems and not solve declines in opinion polls. At one point in the Simpsons movie, President Schwarzenegger is faced with a difficult decision on what policy to follow. He has 5 choices and all will cause varying degrees of misery. Before his adviser can tell him about the details, he shouts out, “I pick Number Three!” When asked if he wants to review them first, he says, “I was elected to *lead* not to *read*.”
This is what ultimately Obama has to choose to do: not read the opinion polls and go with what may be currently unpopular to his party. The spending freeze is the start of the process.
Tags: fiscal deficit, obama, Simpsons, State of the Union, Thomas Friedman