Finally … The Change We’ve Been Waiting For
This was a throw-down-the-gauntlet speech.
We have ourselves a leader.
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UPDATE: E.J. Dionne equates this speech with FDR’s second inaugural speech and Reagan’s first one, in its importance. I hadn’t thought of Reagan’s–and of course the substance of today’s speech was the mirror image, the opposite, of Reagan’s–and I wasn’t alive for any of FDR’s speeches. But my very first reaction to the speech today was to think that it probably was similar in its essence to FDR’s 1937 inaugural speech. Just an instinct, but apparently I was right.
PS: Also, be sure not to miss Greg Sargent’s specific comparison of the speech to FDR’s second inaugural one.
It’s happening, folks. It’s finally happening. It’s finally our turn.
Beverly was it FDR or Churchill who suggested victory on this front would require “Blood, Sweat, Toil, and Tears”?
Yeah I dig me some “Four Freedoms” but suspect we might need to appeal to Tory turned Reform turned Conservative Churchill to see this through.
The heroes of Social Democracy in the 20th century were FDR, Harry Truman, DDE, JFK, LBJ,and for our sins even RMN. And of those only FDR would remotely fit the definition of “left” in world context.
Yeah it os “our turn” but at best we are looking at getting back to ADA Humphrey status. Onward to 1968!!
Churchill. His first major speech as prime minister, a few months after the beginning of the war.
Beverly
I thought the O man was a bit ominous in calling for ending outdated programs.
I hope your enthusiasm is justified by events. But even if I thought Obama’s heart was in the right place, I don’t think much of his head or his backbone.
what he said
“We understand that outworn (ph) programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. So we must harness new ideas…”
That is almost exactly what Bush said about privatizing SS.
I admire your optimism, Beverly. The rest of us will continue to judge the man by the actions of the Biden Administration.
Start from the context of the 2005 Bankruptcy Reform Bill.
Now take the 2009 Inaugural Address and compare it to the outcomes 2009-2012, inclusive.
The President said he would discuss chnges to SS/Medicare/Medicaid…”on my terms.” Alas, we know that his offers to Boehner et al. have included raising the full retirement age and adopting the chained CPI along the lines of the unadopted Simpson Bowles proposals. No joy here, I think, although I am sorry to say so. NancyO
Nancy, Ken and Dale, I think we’re in a new ballgame. Just as it took the Repubs until the last few days to recognize the full effect of the election, I think it took Obama almost that long to do that. I think the fiscal-cliff negotiations and the early post-fiscal-cliff debt ceiling negotiations were the swan song of the old Obama/House-Repubs order–the final remnants of the Tea Party/2010 election norm. And I think the ‘post-partisan” nonsense as a goal in itself ended in about the summer of 2011, when he started gearing up for the campaign.
I do think that Obama will be open to some changes in Medicare and Social Security, but they’ll be along the lines of higher FICA taxes for higher-income people, a higher “tax cap,” and higher Medicare premiums for higher-income seniors.
About the “outworn programs” quote, here’s what he said:
“We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. So we must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.”
He doesn’t seem to be talking about SS or Medicare there, He seems to be talking about economic mobility and inequality, including maybe things like tax loopholes, tax credits, tax deductions, tax “expenditures.” And maybe medical cost controls. And energy efficiency and green fuel technology.
I could be wrong, of course. But it seemed to me today almost like a rebirth.
While I was working for the succession of men who were Presidents of this country, I became progressively more impressed with Eisenhower and Nixon’s domestic policies and less impressed with Carter and Clinton’s.
The current President has four years to complete his work in office. I don’t expect him to make me happy as he manages the economy and social insurance legislation, in particular. Rather the reverse. We’ll see. NancyO
wow!
for those who haven’t noticed, NancyO is not a right winger, or even one of those horrible “centrists,” but one of the last New Dealers who actually understands what it was about.
it’s funny that i find her standing here to the left of the Leftists who don’t understand the New Deal and think they are making Progress by sounding like inside out Rightists.
Ike and Dick to the left of Obama? you better believe.
Yes, Ike and Dick were to the left of Obama in his first term, and Clinton. Ike and Dick were pre-Reagan. Obama and Clinton are/were post-Reagan. Obama is post G.W. Bush–as in, the Bush tax cuts.
But things may be changing. At least, that’s what Obama’s speech yesterday seemed, to me and to a lot of others, to indicate. We’ll see.
Beverly you and me both.
I heard the last two thirds of the speech and it knocked my socks off. Where the hell was this formerly triangulating guy a few years ago? But two sayings come to mind:
“Trust but Verify” and “Burned Me Once—“. Oh and a third: “The Proof is in the Pudding”
Three good sayings…