The most striking feature about the debt ceiling negotiations/agreement was how both parties firmly committed to a prolonged age of austerity. Democrats, in particular, seem to have abandoned the notion that there’s anything the government can do to help stimulate the weak economy (even though the much-derided stimulus bill saved or created 3 million jobs). I examined the embrace of austerity politics in a new Nation article, “The Rise of the Austerity Hawk Democrats.”
Needless to say, I don’t think this trend bodes well for President Obama, the Democratic Party or the country going forward. Now that the debt deal is over, Obama is promising to return his focus to jobs. Let’s hope he keeps it there and can actually do something to ease the nation’s jobs crisis.
I also discussed the issue on MSNBC’s “The Dylan Ratigan Show” yesterday. Here’s the clip:
Bottom line: Prioritizing the debt crisis over the jobs crisis and cutting the social safety net in the midst of a prolonged recession is bad politics and bad policy for Obama and Democrats.
I’m at my first Netroots Nation in Minneapolis this week, speaking on a panel, covering for The Nation and gathering material for the paperback version of Herding Donkeys, which is out from Picador in February 2012. I’m also planning to attend the dueling conservative/Tea Party conference, RightOnline. Yesterday afternoon I was on a fascinating panel with Darcy Burner of ProgressiveCongress.org and David Waldman of Daily Kos called “Structural Barriers to Progressive Success.” Don’t let the depressing title deter you from watching! I start speaking about 20 minutes in.
I have a new piece in The Nation about the GOP and corporate lobbying campaign against Elizabeth Warren and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It’s the most comprehensive article on this topic to date.
I also recently discussed the campaign against Warren and whether President Obama should give her a recess appointment to head the CFPB (short answer: yes) with Cenk Uygur on MSNBC. You can watch the clip here.
I was a guest on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” on Sunday with host Howard Kurtz and co-panelists Matt Lewis of the Daily Caller and Julie Mason of Politico. In the first segment, we discussed media coverage of the budget debate.
The second segment was about, what else, Donald Trump, and coverage of his crazy “Birther” rants.
I have a big new piece out in The Nation this week about Obama 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina. “Obama’s Enforcer” is the first major profile of Messina, looking at his work in the White House and for Montana Senator Max Baucus, and previewing how the Obama 2012 campaign might be different from Obama 2008. Here’s a short excerpt:
Unlike [David] Plouffe, who became a revered figure among Obama supporters, Messina begins the re-election campaign with a significant amount of baggage. As a former chief of staff to Baucus and deputy to Emanuel, Messina has clashed with progressive activists and grassroots Obama supporters both inside and outside Washington over political strategy and on issues like healthcare reform and gay rights, alienating parts of the very constituencies that worked so hard for Obama in 2008 and that the campaign needs to reinspire and activate in 2012. Obama’s fixer has arguably created as many problems as he’s solved. “He is not of the Obama movement,” says one top Democratic strategist in Washington. “There is not a bone in his body that speaks to or comprehends the idea of a movement and that grassroots energy. To me, that’s bothersome.”
I discussed the article on “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell last night. Here’s the clip:
Also discussed the piece during a more in-depth segment on “Democracy Now” with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez this morning. Here’s that clip:
I’ll be back in Colorado this weekend for the annual dinner of the Larimer County Democratic Party in Fort Collins. Colorado is one of the key states where Herding Donkeys takes place, so I’m looking forward to going out there and talking with Democratic Party activists in a key battleground state.
Just a reminder: if you’d like to hear me speak in your city or state, use the “contact the author” button on the right hand side of the site.
I offered my thoughts on the Obama Administration’s budget and the prospect of a government shutdown in a series of blog posts for The Nation recently. Posting them below:
The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the longtime mainstay of the New Democrat movement, announced this week that it will soon “suspend operations” and close their doors. I wrote about the DLC’s clashes with Howard Dean and the grassroots wing of the Democratic Party in Herding Donkeys, and offered a few thoughts on their passing in a Nation blog: “The DLC Is Dead.”
I also discussed the topic with MSNBC host Cenk Uygur and Matt Bennett of the Third Way, the DLC’s de facto successor. Here’s the clip:
