DU - and much of the left blogosphere - seems to have devolved into least-common denominator. On one side you have people who are relentlessly critical of anything Obama has done, claiming he's the same as Bush, etc. On the other you have people who dismiss any criticism with the "ponies" strawman or defer to whatever the Obama Administration does.
I admit that between the two, I come closer to the latter. I generally am happy with this administration, and I'll be happy to detail why. But I think it's important that we all step back and realize a couple of larger points, which is that any president is going to make decisions you disagree with and any president is going to make some wrong calls. And we shouldn't be afraid to point those out.
There are several things I think Obama has done very well on. Rather than rehash the list of whatever 100-or-so accomplishments that has been floating around, I'll focus on a few key areas.
- Change in tone to the rest of the world this may seem like nothing, but it's fairly significant. Obama may not have solved all the world's most intractable problems and remember that given the rising power of Europe, China, India, Russia and other emerging powers, a relative decline in American power is inevitable. The Bush Administration only accelerated those trends, and I would argue what little influence we have is due to Obama's prestige.
- On foreign policy, where Obama has seen real achievements are in dealings with Russia and nuclear disarmament, where it appears quite likely that we will get an agreement to drastically cut our nuclear arsenals. Although it has gotten relatively little press, the drawdown in Iraq is going fairly well, and all U.S. troops should be out by the beginning of 2011 as pledged. There have also been smaller breakthroughs like the Armenia-Turkey rapprochement, and an easing of restrictions on Cuba.
- In domestic policy, Obama's economic record is mixed. But there have been some real achievements. As the NYT pointed out last week, the stimulus is believed by almost all credible economic forecasters and macroeconomists to have kept unemployment 2-3 points lower than it would otherwise have been and what little GDP growth we've had as been heavily impacted by it. Remember too that the stimulus contained billions of dollars in spending priorities that would otherwise have been in several other bills - home weatherization, electronic medical records, infrastructure investments, universal broadband, etc.
- There have also been a number of other achievements, such as SCHIP expansion, the Lily Ledbetter Act, and the Credit Card reform.
- On health care, my perspective is that every other president has failed at comprehensive health care reform. This is only a start, but he is set to succeed where everybody else failed. No, it won't be perfect, but it will do several good things, ending major insurance company abuses, guaranteeing coverage to 30+ million more people, and expanding Medicaid. It also creates an alternative structure that can and likely will be expanded in coming years as the employer-based system inevitably declines.
- The Auto Bailout: As unpopular as this policy was with the general public, I actually think this was an enormous achievement for the administration, and something with pretty lasting consequences. While I'm somewhat conflicted on whether Chrysler should have been saved, the bailouts saved millions of jobs in the Midwest and gave GM especially a real fighting chance at survival. The Obama Administration essentially got GM to finally do what it had failed to do on its own for decades, and the company has a real chance at revival. And while it's doubtful Americans will turn a profit on it, much of the investment will be recouped by the government's equity stakes. What was predicted to be a drawn out debacle, instead proved to be extremely swift and well-run. If the government stays involved in a serious way in the industry, this could prove to be a new, more competitive model for industrial policy. I wish a similar model was followed with the big banks, frankly.
- Environmental protection: Obama's EPA is by far the best that agency has ever had. The administration has been extremely aggressive in CAFE standards, supporting new environmental regulations and protection, and there's a strong chance that if Congress fails to pass cap and trade, carbon limits will be imposed by the EPA directly.
Where
I think Obama deserves criticism, IMO is on some of the following issues:
- Financial reform: While the Obama Administration's plan is reasonably good on things like resolution authority, capital requirements for large banks, and a Financial Products Safety Commission, it doesn't do enough to break up overly large banks at present and does not do enough to regulate derivatives. While Ken Feinberg, the pay czar, has been more aggressive in curtailing pay than many predicted, there still is little effort to systemically change the incentive structure.
- The politics of financial reform: As I've said, I think the administration's policies on financial reform are better than some have argued, but arguably not good enough. Regardless, the politics have been atrocious. The good things that have been done haven't been communicated at all, and instead there's the widespread - and in many cases, correct - perception that they're too close to Wall Street and unwilling to really take them on.
- Economic recovery: The administration has done a good job stabilizing the economy, but a poor job stimulating job growth beyond it's current level. They are running into real limits in Congress, but there isn't enough willingness to consider messy but relatively effective policies like direct federal employment, public works programs, etc.
- Foreclosure Relief: While the housing market has recovered somewhat, foreclosures are still rampant, and the soft-stick approach is failing. I wish the Administration would be more aggressive and adopt Dean Baker's proposal for allowing people to rent their homes at market rate rather than forcing them out.
- Gay rights: The administration has been extremely disappointing on this issue. There's really not much more to say about that, except that I suspect they're basically being political cowards and want to avoid any controversy over social issues. They're wrong.
- Afghanistan: This is an issue that I must admit I myself am conflicted on, and I'm waiting to here the president's plan. I do think we have some obligation to help rebuild the country, having contributed to its collapse, but there's the obvious question of whether that's actually doable. A short-term troop increase may sound reasonable, but pretty soon you get trapped into an endless loop of self-justifying escalations. I'm not as critical on this as a lot of DU'ers, but I see where most of them are coming from and, while I'm keeping an open mind, I find myself in agreement with the critics an awful lot.
- Israel/Palestine: This is an issue where they have very much botched an initially-promising path. The situation is a mess and they walked right into a trap set by Netanyahu while totally alienating the Palestinians. There needs to be a total recalibration here.
- Torture prosecutions: It's excellent that Obama has stopped the torture and is putting most of the detainees on release or tried in civilian courts. The problem is indefinite detention for others, and the covering up and unwillingness to prosecute legal advisers and CIA agents that committed torture. We demand more of the rest of the world, and we need to follow our own advice.
I understand some people's frustrations. Many of us were disappointed by the Clinton and Carter Administrations, and demoralized hugely by the Bush Administration. We wanted - and still want - radical, root-and-branch change, and many chose Obama because as a new face, he was someone who seemed to some to offer that possibility.
But Obama is a politician too. And our system and institutions are practically immune to radical change. Congress is an inherently conservative body, mostly by design and structure, the bureaucracies are sprawling and slow-to-change, and the problems intense and deep. Nor can any president solve or reform every injustice in every federal jurisdiction. Even a true radical would find it hard to change everything as dramatically as s/he would hope. In some ways FDR did, but FDR came to office in extreme circumstances, and many pilloried him for being too accommodating and not radical enough.
I suspect that by the end of the Obama's term(s), there will be many substantial things he will have done that I will agree with and several other things I will disagree with. I believe our country will be a fundamentally better place but still far from perfect, with many things left to change and many battles still left to be fought or refought.
I'm still thankful that he's our president. But I think it's important to realize that reasonable people can have differing opinions on his actions, and we have a duty to call him out where we think he is wrong.
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