I hope that Obama manages to:
1) tells the Republicans that Paul Ryan's plan is half good.
2) unites the Democrats as they have not been for years and years.
3) stops worrying about the election
He can use the opening the Ryan has opened (his team is very thankful for that) to say, "Reducing spending (after we get out of the recession) is a great idea. Revising the tax code is a good idea. But reducing revenue puts a hole in the bucket we're using to bail out the economy." And putting all the cost savings on poor people might make you and the people who pour money into your coffers feel OK, but it has never been the American Way. And, by the way (he can't say this because he's expanded spending on wars), Defense must be the largest place to cut spending since it is the largest expense in the economy.
Obama convened a task force on the deficit. They came up with lots of ideas. They were not working out of fear, but out of, as far as they could, economic reality. The GOP largely did not sign on, because they are not reality based. They throw around numbers (read Proofiness:
by Charles Seife for an interesting take on how numbers give an air of validity even when made up - aka McCarthy's there are 207 communists in the State Department) but they ignore the facts that disprove their hypotheses - of course they never call them hypotheses, they are the facts as we all know them. Bur Ryan takes half of the ideas, the ones that say we have to take the perks out of the no-cut zone, does not address defense and proposes tax cuts such that his suggestions if adopted would put the US in more debt.
Psychology. The brain has all the older fear mechanisms from when self preservation was paramount (how many millions of years ago was a brain able to sense things that could do the body harm and reacting to that made the fear sensors survive). We do not, for the most part (another Democrat failing - giving credit to ideas rather than saying, THIS IS THE TRUTH), live in such an age, in particular not in this country. But the GOP in particular play on this. Fear Uncertainty Doubt. . Easy to sow. Our brains are ever fearful, even if only of spiders and centipedes and silver fish. So Obama passes a major health care plan (but not a budget nor a bigger debt ceiling) and the Republican gain control of Congress. Whoops.
Obama is worried about re-election. No sitting pres has ever not. But I think he's ill-advised to think that triangulating will win him points. The GOP with its tea-party ignoramuses can be highlighted for what they are. But not if Obama is trying to come to a reasonable compromise.. He's right - if it's HIM and some idiot Republican - the most thoughtful, I have to say is Romney, but he gave up thought 3 years ago - then I'll vote for HIM, but I'll hold my nose unless he gets serious.
.
