Obama's Challenge, by Robert Kuttner: on Government Reform
Bill Clinton:
OpEd: Triangulation fails to defend party principles
The economy thrived on Clinton's watch. His foreign policy was competent and occasionally inspired, as in the Camp David Accords and in the Kosovo settlement. He presided over fiscal discipline and reform of government agencies. His appointments
were generally first-rate. But he failed to defend or advance his party's principles, reinforcing Republican ideology. His signature was "triangulation"--splitting the difference, simulating leadership often at the expense of his own party.
The economy thrived on Clinton's watch. His foreign policy was competent and occasionally inspired, as in the Camp David Accords and in the Kosovo settlement. He presided over fiscal discipline and reform of government agencies. His appointments
were generally first-rate. But he failed to defend or advance his party's principles, reinforcing Republican ideology. His signature was "triangulation"--splitting the difference, simulating leadership often at the expense of his own party.
Source: Obama`s Challenge, by Robert Kuttner, p. 57-58
Aug 25, 2008
Bill Clinton:
1996: The era of big government is over
Who said this? "We know big government does not have all the answers. We know there's not a program for every problem. We have worked to give the American people a smaller, less bureaucratic government in Washington. And we have to give the American
people one that lives within its means. The era of big government is over."George W. Bush? Actually, that was Bill Clinton, in his 1996 State of the Union address. Clinton added with pride, "Today our federal government is 200,000 employees smaller
than it was the day I took office as President."
The irony is that the rest of Clinton's speech went on to propose a long list of goals that only the government could achieve--clean up the environment, improve job security, restore educational
opportunity. His conceit was that he could combine smaller government and even disparagement of government with a commitment to more nimble government. But his headline message undermined the details of his program and his ability to win support for it.
Source: Obama`s Challenge, by Robert Kuttner, p. 87-88
Aug 25, 2008
Bill Clinton:
1993: Motor Voter law to increase electoral participation
There are two complementary strategies for enhancing citizenship. One is reducing barriers and welcoming people into the process of participation; the other is giving them a reason to participate. More than a decade ago, there was great enthusiasm for th
new invention of the "Motor Vehicle" law signed by President Clinton in 1993. This law promotes voter registration at motor vehicle bureaus, welfare offices, and other retail government agencies. The entire psychology is circular. Competent government an
engagement of the people restores faith in the enterprise of government, and in turn restores the civic impulse. My friend Marshall Ganz, former director of organizing for the national farmworkers union, wrote an article for "The American Prospect" whose
title says it all: "Motor Voter or Motivated Voter?" Easing the process of registration is enhanced when people feel they have a reason to vote. At this writing, Marshall Ganz is director of organizer training for Barack Obama.
Source: Obama`s Challenge, by Robert Kuttner, p.198
Aug 25, 2008
Deval Patrick:
2007: Deny myth that government only serves the powerful
Many progressives need to relearn the art of talking up government. But as the free market demonstrates its genius for financial catastrophe, at least some Democratic leaders are speaking in a stronger voice.For example, Deval Patrick, the first
Democratic to be elected governor of Massachusetts in sixteen years, began his inaugural address in January 2007 with these words: "For a very long time now we have been told that government is bad, that it exists only to serve the powerful and
well-connected, that its job is not important enough to be done by anyone competent, let alone committed, and that all of us are on our own.
Today we join together in common cause to lay that fallacy to rest, and to extend a great movement based on shared responsibility from the corner office to the corner of your block and back again."
Source: Obama`s Challenge, by Robert Kuttner, p. 91-92
Aug 25, 2008
Hank Paulson:
Oversaw federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
In the last months of the lame-duck Bush administration, something very odd happened. As the situation became more dire, with threats to the largest banks and to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as the looming risk of a general
financial collapse, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson became a reluctant paladin of big government. Paulson had assumed office in June 2006 with an agenda of further financial deregulation. However, by March 2008, reality had overtaken his design.
In mid-2007, credit makers had suddenly frozen because of a fallout from the subprime collapse. The Federal Reserve had to advance hundreds of billions of dollars to banks to keep credit flowing. So Paulson's 2008 report was a thoroughly contradictory
overlay of two documents--one expressing his earlier dogma praising the genius of unregulated markets, the other promoting government rescue and promising stricter supervision of large banks that posed systemic risks.
Source: Obama`s Challenge, by Robert Kuttner, p.133
Aug 25, 2008
Jimmy Carter:
1978: Government cannot mandate goodness
Who said the following? "Government cannot solve our problems, it can't set our goals. It cannot define our vision. Government cannot eliminate poverty or provide a bountiful economy or reduce inflation or save our cities or cure illiteracy or provide
energy. And government cannot mandate goodness."Ronald Reagan? No, those were the words of President Jimmy Carter, in his 1978 State if the Union address. And who said this?
"We know big government does not have all the answers. We know there's not
program for every problem. We have worked to give the American people a smaller, less bureaucratic government in Washington. And we have to give the American people one that lives within its means. The era of big government is over."
George W. Bush? Actually, that was Bill Clinton, in his State of the Union address, in January 1996. Clinton added with pride, "Today our federal government is 200,000 employees smaller than it was the day I took office as President."
Source: Obama`s Challenge, by Robert Kuttner, p. 87-88
Aug 25, 2008
Ronald Reagan:
1981: Government is not the solution; it is the problem
Just for the record, here is the original rather than the imitation, from
Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address: "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."
Just for the record, here is the original rather than the imitation, from
Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address: "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."
Source: Obama`s Challenge, by Robert Kuttner, p. 87-88
Aug 25, 2008
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